Contents
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Contents
- Close section Front Matter
- Close sectionOf the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity
- A PREFACE. To them that seek (as they term it) the reformation of Laws, and orders Ecclesiastical, in the Church of ENGLAND.
- What things are handled in the Books following.
- Close sectionTHE FIRST BOOK
- The matter contained in this first Book.
- The cause of writing this general discourse.
- Of that law which God from before the beginning has set for himself to do all things by.
- The law which natural agents have given them to observe
- The law which Angels do work by.
- The law whereby man is in his actions directed to the imitation of God.
- Men's first beginning to grow to the knowledge of that law which they are to observe.
- Of man's will which is the thing that laws of action are made to guide.
- Of the natural way of finding out laws by reason to guide the will to that which is good.
- The benefit of keeping that law which reason teaches.
- How reason does lead men to the making of human laws whereby politic societies are governed
- Wherefore God has by scripture further made known such supernatural laws as do serve for men's direction.
- The cause why so many natural or rational laws are set down in holy scripture.
- The benefit of having divine laws written.
- The sufficiency of scripture to the end for which it was instituted.
- Of laws positive contained in scripture
- A conclusion showing how all this belongs to the cause in question.
- Close sectionTHE SECOND BOOK
- The matter contained in this second Book.
- The first pretended proof of the first position out of scripture. Proverbs 2:9.
- The second proof out of Scripture. 1 Corinthians 10:31.
- The third scripture proof. 1 Timothy 4:5.
- The fourth Scripture proof. Romans 14:23.
- The first assertion endeavoured to be proved by the use of taking arguments negatively from the authority of Scripture
- The first assertion endeavoured to be confirmed by the scripture's custom of disputing from divine authority negatively.
- Their opinion concerning the force of arguments taken from human authority for the ordering of men's actions or persuasions.
- A declaration what the truth is in this matter.
- Close sectionTHE THIRD BOOK
- The matter contained in this third Book.
- What the Church is
- Whether it be necessary that some particular form of Church-polity be set down in scripture
- That matters of discipline are different from matters of faith and salvation
- That we do not take from scripture anything which may be thereto given with soundness of truth.
- Their meaning who first did plead against the polity of the Church of England
- The same assertion we cannot hold without doing wrong to all Churches.
- A shift to maintain that Nothing ought to be established in the Church which is not commanded in the word of God. Namely that commandments are of two sorts
- Another answer in defence of the former assertion whereby the meaning thereof is opened in this sort
- How laws for the regiment of the Church may be made by the advice of men following therein the light of reason
- That neither God's being the author of laws nor his committing them to scripture nor the continuance of the end for which they were instituted is any reason sufficient to prove that they are unchangeable.
- Whether Christ have forbidden all change of those laws which are set down in scripture.
- Close sectionTHE FOURTH BOOK
- The matter contained in this fourth Book.
- How great use ceremonies have in the Church.
- The first thing they blame in the kind of our ceremonies is that we have not in them ancient Apostolic simplicity
- Our orders and ceremonies blamed in that so many of them are the same which the Church of Rome uses.
- That whereas they who blame us in this behalf
- That our allowing the customs of our fathers to be followed is no proof that we may not allow some customs which the Church of Rome has
- That the course which the wisdom of God does teach makes not against our conformity with the Church of Rome in such things.
- That the example of the eldest Churches is not herein against us.
- That it is not our best policy for the establishment of sound religion to have in these things no agreement with the church of Rome being unsound.
- That we are not to abolish our Ceremonies, either because Papists upbraid us as having taken from them
- The grief which they say godly brethren conceive in regard of such Ceremonies as we have common with the Church of Rome.
- Their exception against such Ceremonies as we have received from the Church of Rome, that Church having taken them from the Jews.
- Their exception against such Ceremonies as have been abused by the church of Rome
- Our ceremonies excepted against for that some Churches reformed before ours have cast out those things which we notwithstanding their example to the contrary do retain still.
- A declaration of the proceedings of the Church of England for establishment of things as they are.
- An advertisement to the Reader.
