450 2he HISTORY of the PURITANS. Chap. 1*. hingJames I. 1605. lsV'o -7 Ciar. V. Of church cenfures. r. " They hold, that the fpiritual keys of the church are committed " to the afole,aid fpiritual Officers and governors, and to none others. 2. " That by virtue-of thefe keys they are not to examine and make " inquifition into the hearts of men, nor moleft them upon private fuf- " picions, or uncertain fame, but to proceed only upon open and noto- " rious crimes. If the offender be convinced, they ought not to fcorn, " deride, taunt, and revile him with contumelious language, nor procure " proélors to make perfonal invectives againft him ; nor make him give " attendance from term to term, and from one court day to another, af- " ter the manner of our ecclefraftical courts ; but to ufe him brotherly, " and if poffible to move him to repentance ; and if he repent they are " not to proceed to cenfure, but to accept his hearty furrow and contri- " [ion as a fufficient fatisfaelion to the church, without impofing any " fines, or taking fees, or enjoining any outward mark of fhame, as the " whitetheet, &c. " But if the offender be obftinate, and film no figns of repentance, " and if his crime be fully proved upon him, and is of fuch a high na- " tune as to deferve a cenfure according to the word of God, then the ecclefraftical officers, with the free confent of the whole congregation " (and not otherwife) are firft to fufpend him from the facrament, " praying for him at the fame time, that God would give hire repen- " tance to the acknowledgment of his fault; and if this does not hum- " ble him, they are then to denounce him to be as yet no member of " the kingdom of heaven, and of that congregation; and fo are to leave "`him to God and the king. And this is all the ecclefiaftical jurifdic- " tion that any fpiritual officers are to ufe againft any man for the greateft " crime that can be committed. " If the party offending be a civil fuperior, they are to behave towards " him with all that reverence and civil fubjeétion that his honour or high " office in the flare may require. They are not to prefume to convene " him before them, but are themfelves to go to him in all civil and hum- " ble manner, to $and bare-headed, to bow, to give him all his civil " titles; and if it be a fupreme governor or king, to kneel, and in rnoft " humble manner to acquaint him with his faults; and if fuc'n, or any " other offenders will voluntarily withdraw from the communion, they " have no farther concern with them. They hold the oath ex officio on the impofers part to be moft dam- nable
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=