PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
A Christian Directory, Part 4: Christian Politics
Baxter, Richard, 1615-1691 · 274,957 words · 366 reading sections
Part 1
Produced by Colin Bell, Chris Pinfield and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net Transcriber's Note: The text of Part IV of A Christian Directory has been transcribed from pages 737 to 948 of Volume I of Richard Baxter's Practical Works, as lithographed from the 1846 edition. The greater pa…
189 wordsSECTION 2CHRISTIAN POLITICS.
Table of Contents Page To the reader. 737 I. General rules for an upright conversation. 737 II. Memorandums to civil rulers for the interest of Christ, the church, and men's salvation. 741 III. Directions for subjects concerni…
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The reformed liturgy. The ordinary public worship on the Lord's day. 921 The order of celebrating the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ. 930 The celebration of the sacrament of baptism. 934 Of catechising, and the approbation of those that are to b…
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Think not by the title of this part, that I am doing the same work which I lately revoked in my "Political Aphorisms;" though I concluded that book to be _quasi non scriptum_, I told you I recanted not the doctrine of it, which is for the empire of God, and the interest of government, order, and honesty in the world. T…
717 wordsSECTION 5GENERAL RULES FOR AN UPRIGHT CONVERSATION.
Solomon saith, Prov. x. 9, "He that walketh uprightly walketh surely." And perfection and uprightness are the characters of Job, Job i. 1, 8; ii. 3. And in the Scripture to be upright or righteous, and to walk uprightly, and to do righteously, are the titles of those that are acceptable to God. And by uprightness is me…
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4. As the upright, so their upright life and duties are specially delightful and acceptable to God, Prov. xv. 8. The prayer of the upright is his delight, Psal. xv. 2. Therefore God blesseth their duties to them, and they are comforted and strengthened by experience of success. "The way of the Lord is strength to the u…
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5. He that will walk uprightly, must have both a solid and a large understanding, to know things truly as they are, and to see all particulars which must be taken notice of, in all the cases which he must determine, and all the actions which his integrity is concerned in. 1. There is no walking uprightly in the dark. Z…
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12. He must be impartial, and not lose his judgment and charity in the opinion or interest of a party or sect: nor think all right that is held or done by those that he best liketh; nor all wrong that is held or done by those that are his adversaries. But judge of the words and deeds of those that are against him, as i…
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Though it be my judgment that much more of the doctrine of politics or civil government belongeth to theology,[22] than those men understand, who make kings and laws to be mere human creatures, yet to deliver my reader from the fear lest I should meddle with matters that belong not to my calling, and my book from that …
944 wordsSECTION 10MEMORANDUMS TO CIVIL RULERS FOR THE INTEREST OF CHRIST, THE CHURCH, AND MEN'S SALVATION.
_Mem._ I. Remember that your power is from God, and therefore for God, and not against God, Rom. xiii. 2-4. You are his ministers, and can have no power except it be given you from above, John xix. 11. Remember therefore that as constables are your officers and subjects, so you are the officers and subjects of God and …
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_Mem._ VII. Remember that the people that are seriously religious, that love, and worship, and obey the Lord, with all their heart, are the best of your subjects, and the honour of your dominions: see therefore that serious godliness be every where encouraged, and that the profane and ignorant rabble be never encourage…
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_Mem._ XV. Believe not the accusations that are brought against the faithful ministers of Christ, till they are proved; and judge not them, or any of his servants, upon the reports of adversaries, till they have spoken for themselves; for the common corruption of depraved nature, doth engage all the ungodly in such an …
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"If you will draw the picture of a good prince, delineate some celestial wight, liker to God than to a man; absolute in all perfections of virtue; given for the good of all; yea, sent from heaven for the relief of mortal men's affairs; which being (_oculatissimum_) most discerning, looketh to all! To whom nothing is mo…
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[28] When Hunnerichus the Arian Vandal king, was resolved to banish, imprison, and otherwise persecute the orthodox bishops and pastors, he first trieth them by threatenings and divers cruelties, and after appointeth a public disputation; where his bishops and officers, having no better pretence, cruelly beat the peopl…
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[34] Luke xviii. 22, 24; Deut. xvii. 20; Prov. xxix. 14; xxii. 29; xvi. 13; xxxi. 3, 4; 2 Chron. xxxii. 25; xx. 16; Ezek. xxviii. 2, 5, 17; Luke xii. 19, 20; xvi. 19, 20, 25. It is a sad observation of Acosta, lib. v. c. 9. p. 474. Ac reipsa ceutoque usu observatum est, eas Indorum nationes plures ac graviores supersti…
213 wordsSECTION 16DIRECTIONS FOR SUBJECTS CONCERNING THEIR DUTY TO THEIR RULERS.
Being now to speak of the duties which I must practise, and to those of my own rank, I shall do it with some more freedom, confidence, and expectation of regard and practice. _Direct._ I. Though I shall pass by most of the theory, and especially of the controversial points in politics, and not presume to play the lawy…
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As, when God hath already determined what authority the husband shall have over the wife, the wife by choosing him to be her husband, giveth him not his power, but only chooseth the man, to whom God giveth it by his standing law: though about the disposing of her estate, she may limit him by precontracts; but if she co…
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_Object._ I. But, saith worthy Mr. Richard Hooker, Eccl. Polit. lib. i. sect. 10. p. 21,[40] "That which we spake of the power of government, must here be applied to the power of making laws, whereby to govern; which power, God hath over all, and by the natural law, whereto he hath made all subject, the lawful power of…
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_Answ._ If you had included himself, it is certain that he cannot be greater than the whole, because he cannot be greater than himself. But seeing you speak of the whole in contradistinction from him, I answer, that indeed _in genere causæ finalis_, the sovereign is _universis minor_, that is, the whole kingdom is natu…
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_Object._ VIII. Lib. viii. p. 210, "When all which the wisdom of all sorts can do is done for the devising of laws in the church, it is the general consent of all that giveth them the form and vigour of laws; without which they could be no more to us than the counsels of physicians to the sick. Well might they seem as …
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_Object._ XII. Lib. viii. p. 218, 223, 224. "What power the king hath, he hath it by law: the bounds and limits of it are known; the entire community giveth order," &c. p. 223. "As for them that exercise power altogether against order, although the kind of power which they have may be of God, yet is their exercise ther…
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And I confess, that other authors of politics say as much as Mr. Hooker saith, both papists and protestants; but not all, nor I think the soundest: I will instance now in Alstedius only, (an excellent person, but in this mistaken,) who saith, Encyclop. lib. xxiii. Polit. cap. 3. p. 178. _Populus universus dignior et po…
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_Direct._ III. Having begun with God, obey your governors as the officers of God, with an obedience ultimately divine.[49] All things must be done in holiness by the holy. That is, God must be discerned, obeyed, and intended in all; and therefore in magistrates in a special manner. In two respects magistrates are obeye…
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_Direct._ V. Do not either divulge or aggravate the vices of your governors to their dishonour; for their honour is necessary to the public good. If they have not care of their own honour, yet their subjects must have a care of it. If once they be dishonoured, they will the more easily be contemned, hated, and disobeye…
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_Direct._ VII. By all means overcome a selfish mind, and get such a holy and a public spirit, as more regardeth God's honour, and the public interest, than your own. It is selfishness that is the great rebel and enemy of God, and of the king, and of our neighbour. A selfish, private spirit careth not what the commonwea…
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_Direct._ X. Trust God, and live by faith; and then you will find no need of rebellious or any sinful means. Do you believe, that both the hearts and lives of kings, and all their affairs, are in the hands of God? If not, you are atheists. If you do, then do you not think that God is fitter than you to dispose of them?…
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_Direct._ XIV. Keep humble, and take heed of pride. The humble are ready to obey and yield, and not only to be subject to magistrates, but to all men, even voluntarily to be subject to them that cannot constrain them. "Be all of you subject one to another," 1 Pet. v. 5. It is no hard matter for a twig to bow, and for a…
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_Answ._ 1. As I said before, they keep the hearts of subjects in an obedient, holy frame. 2. Were it not for prayers, those few good ones would be fewer, or worse than they are; and the bad ones might be worse, or at least do more hurt to the church than they now do. 3. It is not to be expected, that all should be gran…
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_Direct._ XIX. Consider as well the benefits which you receive by governors, as the sufferings which you undergo; and especially consider of the common benefits, and value them above your own. He that knoweth what man is, and what the world is, and what the temptations of great men are, and what he himself deserveth, a…
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_Direct._ XXI. Set yourselves much more to study your duty to your governors, than the duty of your governors to you; as knowing, that both your temporal and eternal happiness depend much more upon yourselves, than upon them.[65] God doth not call you to study other men's duties so much as your own. If your rulers sin,…
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_Answ._ It hath many a time grieved me to hear so easy a question frequently propounded, and pitifully answered, by such as the public good required to have had more understanding in such things. In a word, judgment is public or private. The private judgment, which is nothing but a rational discerning of truth and duty…
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1. If it be a matter wherein God himself hath first determined, and his officers do but judge in subordination to his law, and declare his will, then we must obey him that speaketh according to the word of God, if we can truly discern it; and not him that we know goeth contrary to God.[70] As if the magistrate should f…
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2. But if the matter be not fore-determined by God, but left to man; then, 1. If it be the magistrate's proper work, we must obey the magistrate only. 2. If it be about the pastor's proper work, the pastor is to be obeyed; though the magistrate gainsay it, so be it he proceed according to the general rules of his instr…
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No doubt but the king is the supreme governor over all the schools, and physicians, and hospitals in the land, that is, he is the supreme in the civil coercive government: he is supreme magistrate over divines, physicians, and schoolmasters; but not the supreme divine, physician, or schoolmaster. When there is any work…
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_Direct._ XXV. Give not the magistrate's power to any other; whether to the people, on pretence of their _majestatis realis_, (as they call it,) or the pope, or prelates, or pastors of the church, upon pretence of authority from Christ, or of the distinction of ecclesiastical government and civil. The people's pretensi…
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_Direct._ XXVIII. Do nothing that tendeth to bring the sacred bonds of oaths into an irreligious contempt, or to make men take the horrid crime of perjury to be a little sin. Sovereigns have no sufficient security of the fidelity of their subjects, or of their lives, or kingdoms; if once oaths and covenants be made lig…
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_Answ._ All this did signify something if there were no God, that can easilier restrain and destroy them at his pleasure, than they can destroy or injure you. But if there be a God, and all the world is in his hand, and with a word he can speak them all into dust; and if this God be engaged to protect you, and hath tol…
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_Answ._ The word obligation, being metaphorical, must in controversy be explained by its proper terms. The law doth first _constituere debitum obedientiæ, et propter inobedientiam debitum pœnæ_. Here then you must distinguish, 1. Between obligation _in foro conscientiæ_, and _in foro humano_. 2. Between an obligation _…
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_Direct._ XXXV. Think not that it is unlawful to obey in every thing which is unlawfully commanded. It may in many cases be the subject's duty, to obey the magistrate who sinfully commandeth him. For all the magistrate's sins in commanding, do not enter into the matter or substance of the thing commanded: if a prince c…
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_Direct._ XXXVIII. The question is much harder, whether the violation of every human penal law be a sin against God, though a man submit to the penalty. (And the desert of every sin is death.) Master Richard Hooker's last book unhappily ended, before he gave us the full reason of his judgment in this case, these being …
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_Object._ I. The painters of the leviathan scorn all politics, as ignorant of the power of monarchs, except the atheistical inventions of their own brains. And the adversaries of monarchy say, The reading of politics will satisfy men against monarchy; for in them you ordinarily find that the _majestas realis_ is in the…
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_Object._ V. But their chief calumniations are against divines. They say, That divines make a trade of religion; and under pretence of divine laws, and conscience, and ecclesiastical discipline, they subjugate both prince and people to their will, and set up courts which they call ecclesiastical, and keep the people in…
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_Answ._ 1. As if there were no difference between the contempt of riches and worldly prosperity, and the contempt of government. He is blind that cannot see that riches and authority are not the same: yea, that the overvaluing of riches is the cause of seditions, and the disturbance of governments, when the contempt of…
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_Answ._ The sum of all this objection is, That there is a God. For if that be not denied, no man can deny that he is the Universal Governor of the world; and that he hath his proper laws and judgment, and rewards and punishments, or that magistrates are his ministers, and have no power but from him; and consequently, t…
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_Answ._ 1. There is no doctrine in the world so much for love, and peace, and concord as the doctrine of Christ is. What doth it so much urge and frequently inculcate? What doth it contain but love and peace from end to end? Love is the sum and end of the gospel, and the fulfilling of the law. To love God above all, an…
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_Object._ V. What witness need we more than their own accusations of one another?[99] For the papists, how many volumes have the protestants written against them as enemies to all civil government; alleging even the decrees of their general councils, as Later. sub Innoc. III. Can. 3. And for the protestants, they are a…
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_Answ._ 1. If it be clear that christianity as to its principles, is more for love, and concord, and subjection, than any other rational doctrine in the world, then if any sect of christians shall indeed be found to contradict these principles, so far they contradict christianity: and will you blame religion because me…
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5. And why are not all the other christians taken into your enumeration? the Armenians, Abassins, and all the Greek churches? whom the papists so frequently reproach as flatterers or servile, because they still gave so much to their emperors. Have you any pretence for your accusation as against them? Unless perhaps fro…
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5. Christianity teacheth subjects to obey not only good rulers but bad ones, even heathens themselves, and not to resist when we cannot obey. Whereas among heathens, princes ruled no longer than they pleased the soldiers or the people; so that Lampridius marvelled that Heliogabalus was no sooner butchered, but suffered…
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13. Christianity teacheth men to forbear and to forgive, as ever they will be forgiven of God, and the strong to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please themselves, but one another to their edification; not to be censorious, harsh, or cruel, nor to place the kingdom of God in meats, and drinks, and days, bu…
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2. Take heed in reading history that you suffer not the spirit of your author to infect you with any of that partiality which he expresseth to the cause which he espouseth. Consider in what times and places all your authors lived, and read them accordingly with the just allowance. The name of liberty was so precious, a…
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_Direct._ XL. Take heed of mistaking the nature of that liberty of the people, which is truly valuable and desirable, and of contending for an undesirable liberty in its stead.[111] It is desirable to have liberty to do good, and to possess our own, and enjoy God's mercies, and live in peace: but it is not desirable to…
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_Prop._ 1. The act or the habit of conscience is not capable of being the subject obliged; no more than any other act or duty: the act or duty is not bound, but the man to the act or duty. 2. The faculty or judgment is not capable of being the object, or _materia ad quam_, the thing to which we are bound. A man is not…
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3. That it is given, 1. Finally for God's glory and pleasure, and for the common good (comprehending the honour of the ruler and the welfare of the society ruled). And therefore obligeth not when it is, (1.) Against God. (2.) Or against the common good. 2. And it is subordinate to God's own laws, (in nature and Scriptu…
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11. Laws may change their sense in part by the change of the lawgiver; for the law is not formally to us his law that is dead and was once our ruler, but his that is alive and is now our ruler. If Henry the Eighth make a law about the outward acts of religion, (as for coming to church, &c.) and this remain unrepealed i…
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[41] Bishop Andrews in Tortur. Tort. p. 385. Actuus homo non distinguit inter formam, atque authoritatem regiminis; forma de hominibus esse potest: de cœlo semper est authoritas. An rex sit supra leges, Vid. Seb. Fox. lib. ii. de Instit. Reg. [42] Dion Cass. saith, that when Euphates the philosopher would kill himself…
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[62] Object. Si id juris orbis obtineat status religionis erit instabilis; mutato regis animo religio mutabitur. Resp. Unicum hic solatium in Divina est providentia; omnium animos Deus in potestate sua habet; sed speciali quodam modo cor regis in manu Domini. Deus et per bonos et per malos reges opus suum operatur. Int…
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[75] Lege Epist. Caroli Calvi ad Papam inter Hinc mari Rhemensis Epistolas Cont. Papæ Usurpationes. Isidor. Hispal. sent. iii. cap. 51. Cognoscant principes seculi, Deo debere se rationem reddere propter ecclesiam quam a Christo tuendam suspiciunt. Nam sive augeatur pax et disciplina ecclesiæ per fideles principes, siv…
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[92] Just such occasions as papists bring against the reformers, did the heathens bring against the christians, as you may see in Eunapius in Ædesio. At egregii illi viri et bellicosi confusis perturbatisque rebus omnibus debellasse Deos incruentis quidem, sed ab avaritiæ crimine non puris manibus gloriabantur, sacrile…
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[102] Bishop Bilson ubi sup. p. 259. As bishops ought to discern which is truth before they teach; so must the people discern who teacheth right before they believe. Pag. 261, 262. Princes as well as others must yield obedience to bishops speaking the word of God; but if bishops pass their commission, and speak beside …
710 wordsSource & rights
Public domain in the USA; original historical text digitized by Project Gutenberg.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.