Earls of Cromartie > [NSLBLANK]

the invisible church by prescribing more conditionall characters then God hath
determined ; and therfore the extending of confessions of faith to articles not of
infallible divine autority, or to cutt off fundamentall articles, are equally danger-
ous, both founded on implicit atheism, — the one on bold presumption, the other
on foolish superstition. Such was, " yow may eat a forbidden fruit, why it's a
triviall transgression, and yow will find it may have pleasant effects, and such a
triviall cannot reasonably be judged a fundamentall article and condition of God's
favour, so cut it of from the category of the necessarly credenda." Such also was,
" offer your children to Moloch," i.e. to what yow beleeve to be God ; for it will
shew much love, zeal, and respect to God so to doe : tho' he hath not expresly
comanded it, yett reason sayes it should be acceptable, a good effect of a devot
temper, and therfor wee should seriously examine if what yee put in the cata-
logue of things to be beleeved or practised, on the cer[ti]fication of damnation to
our selfs, or on the exclusion of others from the comunion of saints, or church-
membership, be things infallibly revealed or comanded by God ; if they be, then
place them in the memoriall of your undoubted duties, and, above all humane
dispensation ; if they be not, but are only asserted such by logicall undemon-
strative inferences, or by human autority, whither be practise or precept, then
they may be lawfull, they may be laudable, they may be fitt, but not so adopted
as to bind in among the necessar divine truths and comands, and so no groond to
cutt of a member of Christ's body from the so much praised and comanded
vnity by charity among all the members ; for this were to sett thy owne reason, or
fallible autority, or example, on equall foot with the Eternall — a dreadfull sinne.
By this I wish wee examine if modes of worship, which differ in evry nation,
disciplin, and church government in evry point, that is not expresly commanded
by God, and wherin all churches in all tymes and all places doe differ each from
other ; and so, if true church membership, or to be members of Christ's misticall
body, depend on church discipline or church governments in things and points
which are so farr from being expresly comanded that all the churches of Christ
have differed in, it were ane uncharitable position, and fals under the evil of be-
leeviug too much ; wheras these tolerable and lawfull opinions may be practised
safely, but most be pernitious if joined to the conditions and qualificationes of
Christian vnion and comunion.
By this also wee should bound our opinion concerning the Sabath, for a tyme
is comanded for God's peculiar worship by the primitive law of nature, a specifi-