4. When people in the same church do gather into private meetings, not under the guidance of their pastors, to edify one another in holy exercises in love and peace, but in opposition to their lawful pastors, or to one another, to propagate their singular opinions, and increase their parties, and speak against those that are not on their side; schism is then ready to bring forth and multiply, and the swarm is ready to come forth and be gone.
5. When these people actually depart, and renounce or forsake the communion of the church, and cast off their faithful pastors, and draw into a separated body by themselves, and choose them pastors and call themselves a church, and all without any just, sufficient cause: when thus churches are gathered out of churches, before the old ones are dissolved, or they have any warrant to depart; when thus pastor is set up against pastor, church against church, and altar against altar; this is schism ripe and fruitful; the swarm is gone, and hived in another place.
6. If now the neighbour churches, by their pastors in their synods, shall in compassion seek to reclaim these stragglers, and they justify their unjust separation, and contemn the counsel of the churches and ministers of Christ; this is a confirmed, obstinate schism.
7. If they shall also judge that church to be no church from which they separated, and so cut off a part of the body of Christ by an unrighteous censure, and condemn the innocent, and usurp authority over their guides; this is disobedience and uncharitableness with schism.
8. If they shall also condemn and unchurch all the other churches that are not of their mind and way, and renounce communion with them all, and so condemn unjustly a great part of the body of Christ on earth, this is to add fury and rebellion to an uncharitable schism. And if to cover their sin, they shall unjustly charge these churches which they reject, with heresy or wickedness, they do but multiply their crimes by such extenuations.
9. If the opinion that all this ado is made for, be a damning error, against some essential point of the true religion, then it is heresy as well as schism.
10. If this separation from the church be made in defence of an ungodly life, against the discipline of the church; if a wicked sort of men shall withdraw from the church to avoid the disgrace of confession or excommunication; and shall first cast off the church, lest the church should proceed to cast out them; and so they separate that they may have none to govern and trouble them but themselves; this is a profane, rebellious schism. This is the common course of schism when it groweth towards the height.
11. Besides all these, there is yet a more pernicious way of schism, which the church or court of Rome is guilty of: they make new articles of faith, and new points of religion, and a new worship--of God, shall I say, or of bread as if it were a god? And all these they put into a law, and impose them on all the other churches; yea, they put them into an oath, and require men to swear that without any doubting they believe them to be true: they pretend to have authority for all this, as Rome is the mistress of all other churches. They set up a new universal head, as an essential part of the catholic church, and so found or feign a new kind of catholic church: and he that will not obey them in all this, they renounce communion with him; and to hide this horrid, notorious schism, they call all schismatics that are not thus subjected to them.
12. And to advance their schism to the height, as far as arrogance can aspire, they not only refuse communion with those from whom they separate, but condemn them as no pastors, no churches, no christians, that are not subject to them in this their usurpation; and they, that are but about the third or fourth part (at most) of the christian world, do condemn the body of Christ to hell (even all the rest) because they are not subjects of the pope.
Besides all this criminal, odious schism, of imposers or separaters, there is a degree of schism or unjust division, which may be the infirmity of a good and peaceable person. As if a humble, tender christian should mistakingly think it unlawful to do some action, that is imposed upon all that will hold communion with that particular church (such as Paul speaketh of Rom. xiv. if they had been imposed); and if he, suspecting his own understanding, do use all means to know the truth, and yet still continueth in his mistake; if this christian do forbear all reviling of his superiors, and censuring those that differ from him, and drawing others to his opinion, but yet dare not join with the church in that which he taketh to be a sin, this is a sinful sort of withdrawing, because it is upon mistake; but yet it is but a pardonable infirmity, consistent with integrity and the favour of God.
[Sidenote: What separation is a duty.]