Part 7 (1/2)
SECTION 1.
Such power is granted by the reformed churches and orthodox writers to the political magistrate, in reference to church affairs. Take it in these particulars.
A defensive, protecting, patronizing power to the church, and all the members thereof. ”Kings shall be thy nursing-fathers,” &c., Isa. xlix.
23. ”The magistrate is the minister of G.o.d for good to well-doers, as well as the avenger, executing wrath upon evil-doers; a terror not to good works, but to the evil,” Rom. xiii. 3, 4; he is called _an heir, or, possessor of restraint, to put men to shame_, Judges xviii. 7. And as the church ought to pray for kings and all in authority, so consequently all in authority should endeavor to defend it, that the church and people of G.o.d should lead a quiet and peaceable life, (under the wing of their protection,) ”in all G.o.dliness and honesty,” 1 Tim.
ii. 2; and this is evident from the end and scope of these prayers here prescribed, as interpreters unanimously agree. And hereupon are those promises to the church, ”The sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee,” Isa. lx. 10; ”and thou shalt suck the breast of kings,” Isa. lx. 16. Now, this nursing, protecting care of magistrates towards the church, puts forth itself in these or like acts, viz: He,
1. Removes all external impediments of true religion, wors.h.i.+p of G.o.d, &c., by his civil power, whether persons or things, whether persecutions, profaneness, heresy, idolatry, superst.i.tion, &c., that truth and G.o.dliness may purely flourish: as did Jehoshaphat, Asa, Hezekiah, Josiah. And hereupon it is that G.o.d so oft condemns the not removing and demolis.h.i.+ng of the high places and monuments of idolatry, 1 Kings xv. 14, with 2 Chron. xv. 17; 1 Kings xxii. 44; 2 Kings xii. 3: and highly commends the contrary in Asa, 2 Chron. xv. 8, 16: in Jehoshaphat, 2 Chron. xvii. 3, 4, 6-10: in Hezekiah, 2 Chron. x.x.xi. 1; 2 Kings xviii. 4: in Mana.s.seh, 2 Chron. x.x.xiii. 15: in Josiah, 2 Kings xxiii. 8, 13, 19, 20, 24: whereupon the Holy Ghost gives him that superlative commendation above all kings before and after him, ver. 25.
2. Countenanceth, advanceth, and encourageth by his authority and example the public exercise of all G.o.d's ordinances, and duties of religion within his dominions, whether in matter of divine wors.h.i.+p, discipline, and government, maintaining for the Church the fulness of spiritual liberties and privileges communicated to her from Christ: as did Asa, 2 Chron. xv. 9-16: Jehoshaphat, 2 Chron. xx. 7-9: Hezekiah, 2 Chron. xxix., x.x.x., and x.x.xi. chapters throughout: Josiah, 2 Chron.
x.x.xiv. and x.x.xv. chapters. And to this end G.o.d prescribed in the law that the king should still have a copy of the law of G.o.d by him, therein to read continually, Deut. xvii. 18-20; because he was to be not only a practiser, but also a protector thereof, a keeper of both tables.
3. Supplies the Church with all external necessaries, provisions, means, and worldly helps in matters of religion: as convenient public places to wors.h.i.+p in, sufficient maintenance for ministers, (as the Scripture requireth, 1 Tim. v. 17, 18; 1 Cor. ix. 6-15; Gal. vi. 6:) schools and colleges, for promoting of literature, as nurseries to the prophets, &c.; together with the peaceable and effectual enjoyment of all these worldly necessaries, for comfortably carrying on of all public ordinances of Christ. Thus David prepared materials, but Solomon built the temple, 1 Chron. xxii. Hezekiah commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem, to give the portion of the priests and the Levites, that they might be encouraged in the law of the Lord; and Hezekiah himself and his princes came and saw it performed, 2 Chron. x.x.xi. 4, &c., 8: Josiah repaired the house of G.o.d, 2 Chron. x.x.xiv.
Nor need the magistrate think scorn, but rather count it his honor to be an earthly protector of the Church, which is the _body of Christ, the Lamb's wife_, for redeeming of which Christ died, and for gathering and perfecting of which the very world is continued.
An ordering, regulating power is also allowed to the magistrate about ecclesiastical matters in a political way, so that he warrantably,
1. Reforms the Church, when corrupted in divine wors.h.i.+p, discipline, or government: as did Moses, Exod. x.x.xii.; Joshua, Josh. xxiv.; Asa, 2 Chron. xv.; Jehoshaphat, 2 Chron. xvii.; Hezekiah, 2 Kings xviii.; Josiah, 2 Kings xxiii.; 2 Chron. x.x.xiv.
2. Convenes or convocates synods and councils, made up of ecclesiastical persons, to consult, advise, and conclude determinatively, according to the word, how the church is to be reformed and refined from corruptions, and how to be guided and governed when reformed, &c. For, 1. Pious magistrates under the Old Testament called the Church together, convened councils. David, about bringing back the ark, 1 Chron. xiii. 1, 2, and another council when he was old, 1 Chron. xiii. 1; Solomon, 1 Kings viii. 1; Hezekiah, 2 Chron. xxix. 4; and Josiah, 2 Kings xxiii. 1, 2. 2.
All ought to be subject to superior powers, who ought to procure the public peace and prosperity of the Church, Rom. xiii. 1, 2, &c.; 1 Pet.
ii. 13, &c., 17; 1 Tim. ii. 2. Therefore superior powers may convocate councils. 3. Christian magistrates called the four general councils: Constantine the first Nicene council; Theodosius, senior, the first council of Constantinople; Theodosius, junior, the first Ephesian council; Marcian Emperor, the Chalcedon council; and, 4. Hereunto antiquity subscribes, as Dr. Whitaker observes.
3. Supports the laws of G.o.d with his secular authority, as a keeper of the tables, enjoining and commanding, under civil penalties, all under his dominion, strictly and inviolably to observe the same: as ”Josiah made all that were present in Israel to serve the Lord their G.o.d,” 2 Chron. x.x.xiv. 33. Nehemiah made the sabbath to be sanctified, and strange wives to be put away, Neb. xii. 13, &c. Yea, Nebuchadnezzar, a heathen king, decreed, that ”Whosoever should speak amiss of the G.o.d of Shadrach,” &c., ”should be cut in pieces, and their houses made a dunghill,” Dan. iii. 28, 29. And Darius decreed, ”That in every dominion of his kingdom men tremble and fear before the G.o.d of Daniel,” &c., Dan.
vi. 26, 27.
And as he strengthens the laws and ordinances of G.o.d by his civil authority, so he ratifies and establishes within his dominions the just and necessary decrees of the Church in synods and councils (which are agreeable to G.o.d's word) by his civil sanction.
4. Judges and determines definitively with a consequent political judgment, or judgment of political discretion, concerning the things judged and determined antecedently by the Church, in reference to his own act. Whether he will approve such ecclesiasticals or not; and in what manner he will so approve, or do otherwise by his public authority; for he is not a brutish agent, (as papists would have him,) to do whatsoever the Church enjoins him unto blind obedience, but is to act prudently and knowingly in all his office; and therefore the judgment of discerning (which belongs to every Christian, for the well-ordering of his own act) cannot be denied to the Christian magistrate, in respect of his office.
5. Takes care politically, that even matters and ordinances merely and formally ecclesiastical, be duly managed by ecclesiastical persons orderly called thereto. Thus Hezekiah commanded the priests and Levites to do their duties, 2 Chron. xxix. 5, 24, and the people to do theirs, 2 Chron. x.x.x. 1; and for this he is commended, that therein he did cleave unto the Lord, and observed his precepts which he had commanded Moses, 2 Kings xviii. 6. Thus when the king is commanded to observe and do all the precepts of the law, the Lord (as orthodox divines do judge) intended that he should keep them, not only as a private man, but as a king, by using all care and endeavor that all his subjects with him perform all duties to G.o.d and man, Deut. xvii. 18-20.
6. A compulsive, coactive, punitive, or corrective power, formally political, is also granted to the political magistrate in matters of religion, in reference to all sorts of persons and things under his jurisdiction. He may politically compel the outward man of all persons, church officers, or others under his dominions, unto external performance of their respective duties, and offices in matters of religion, punis.h.i.+ng them, if either they neglect to do their duty at all, or do it corruptly, not only against equity and sobriety, contrary to the second table, but against truth and piety, contrary to the first table of the decalogue. We have sufficient intimation of the magistrate's punitive power in cases against the second table; as the stubborn and rebellious, incorrigible son, that was a glutton and a drunkard, sinning against the fifth commandment, was to be stoned to death, Deut. xxi. 18-21. The murderer, sinning against the sixth commandment, was to be punished with death, Gen. ix. 6; Numb. x.x.xv.
30-34; Deut. x. 11-13. The unclean person, sinning against the seventh commandment, was to be punished with death, Lev. xx. 11, 12, 14, 17, 19-25; and before that, see Gen. x.x.xviii. 24. Yea, Job, who is thought to live before Moses, and before this law was made, intimates that adultery is a heinous crime, yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges, Job x.x.xi. 9,11. The thief, sinning against the eighth commandment, was to be punished by rest.i.tution, Exod. xxii. 1, 15, &c.
The false witness, sinning against the ninth commandment, was to be dealt withal as he would have had his brother dealt with, by the law of retaliation, Deut. xix. 16, to the end of the chapter, &c. Yea, the magistrate's punitive power is extended also to offences against the first table; whether these offences be against the first commandment, by false prophets teaching lies, errors, and heresies in the name of the Lord, endeavoring to seduce people from the true G.o.d. ”If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your G.o.d, which brought you out of the land of Egypt,” &c., Deut. xiii. 1-6. From which place Calvin notably a.s.serts the punitive power of magistrates against false prophets and impostors that would draw G.o.d's people to a defection from the true G.o.d, showing that this power also belongs to the Christian magistrate in like cases now under the gospel.
Yea, in case of such seducement from G.o.d, though by nearest allies, severe punishment was to be inflicted upon the seducer, Deut. xiii.
6-12. See also ver. 12, to the end of the chapter, how a city is to be punished in the like case. And Mr. Burroughs,[27] in his Irenic.u.m, shows that this place of Deut. xiii. 6, &c., belongs even to us under the gospel.
Or whether these offences be against the second commandment, the magistrate's punitive power reaches them, Deut. xvii. 1-8; Lev. xvii.
2-8; 2 Chron. xvi. 13, 16. ”Maachah, the mother of Asa the king, he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove.” Job x.x.xi. 26-28, herewith compare Exod. viii. 25, 26. Or whether the offences be against the third commandment, ”And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Whosoever curseth G.o.d shall bear his sin: and he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him, as well the stranger as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the Lord shall be put to death,” Lev. xxiv. 15, 16. Yea, the heathen king Nebuchadnezzar made a notable decree to this purpose, against blaspheming G.o.d, saying, ”I make a decree, that every people, nation, and language, who speak any thing amiss against the G.o.d of Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill,” Dan. iii. 29: and the pagan magistrate, king Artaxerxes, made a more full decree against all contempt of the law of G.o.d: ”And whosoever will not do the law of thy G.o.d,” saith he to Ezra, ”and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment:” and Ezra blesses G.o.d for this, Ezra vii. 26, 27.
Besides all this light of nature, and evidence of the Old Testament, for the ruler's political punitive power for offences against G.o.d, there are divers places in the New Testament showing that a civil punitive power rests still in the civil magistrate: witness those general expressions in those texts--Rom. xiii. 3, 4: ”Rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. If thou do that which is evil, be afraid, for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of G.o.d, a revenger _to execute_ wrath upon him that doeth evil.” 1 Pet. ii. 13, 14: ”Submit yourselves unto every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether it be to the king as to the supreme, or unto governors which are sent for the _punishment_ of evil-doers,[28] and the praise of them that do well.” Now, (as Mr. Burroughs[29] notes,) seeing the Scripture speaks thus generally, except the nature of the thing require, why should we distinguish where the Scripture doth not? so that these expressions may be extended to those sorts of evil-doing against the first as well as against the second table; against murdering of souls by heresy, as well as murdering of men's bodies with the sword; against the blaspheming of the G.o.d of heaven, as well as against blaspheming of kings and rulers, that are counted G.o.ds on earth. That place seems to have much force in it to this purpose, Heb. x. 28, 29: ”He that despised Moses' law, died without mercy under two or three witnesses. Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under foot the Son of G.o.d, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?” Yea, what deserve such as deny the Spirit to be of G.o.d? Papists exempt their clergy from the judgment of the civil power, though they be delinquents against it; and their states, both civil and spiritual, from civil taxes, tributes, and penalties, both which we deny to ours: for, 1st, This is repugnant to the law of nature, that church officers and members, as parts and members of the commonwealth, should not be subject to the government of that commonwealth whereof they are parts. 2d, Repugnant to the laws and practices of the Old Testament, under which we read of no such exemptions. Yea, we have instance of Abiathar the high-priest, who, for his partners.h.i.+p with Adonijah in his rebellion, was exiled by king Solomon, and so consequently deprived of the exercise of his office, 1 Kings ii. 26, 27.
3d, Inconsistent with our Saviour's example, who, as subject to the law, held himself obliged to pay tribute to avoid offence, (Matt. xvii. 26,) which was an active scandal; and he confesses Pilate's power to condemn or release him was _given him from above_, John xix. 11. 4th, And finally, contrary to the apostolical precepts, _enjoining all to be subject to superior powers_, Rom. xiii. 1-4; 1 Pet. ii. 13-15.