A Christian Directory, Part 4: Christian PoliticsBaxter, Richard
Religion
A Christian Directory, Part 4: Christian Politics
Baxter, Richard
Casuistry; Christian sociology
10. Another cause of murder is, a wicked impatience with near
relations, and a hatred of those that should be most dearly loved.
Thus many men and women have murdered their wives and husbands, when
either adulterous lust hath given up their hearts to another, or a
cross, impatient, discontented mind, hath made them seem intolerable
burdens to each other; and then the devil that destroyed their love
and brought them thus far, will be their teacher in the rest, and show
them how to ease themselves, till he hath led them to the gallows, and
to hell. How necessary is it to keep in the way of duty, and abhor and
suppress the beginnings of sin!
11. And sometimes covetousness hath caused murder, when one man
desireth another man's estate. Thus Ahab came by Naboth's vineyards to
his cost. And many a one desireth the death of another, whose estate
must fall to him at the other's death. Thus many a child in heart is
guilty of the murder of his parents, though he actually commit it not;
yea, a secret gladness when they are dead, doth show the guilt of some
such desires while they were living; and the very abatement of such
moderate mourning, as natural affection should procure, (because the
estate is thereby come to them as the heirs,) doth show that such are
far from innocent. Many a Judas for covetousness hath betrayed
another; many a false witness for covetousness hath sold another's
life; many a thief for covetousness hath taken away another's life, to
get his money; and many a covetous landlord hath longed for his
tenant's death, and been glad to hear of it; and many a covetous
soldier hath made a trade of killing men for money. So true is it,
"That the love of money is the root of all evil;" and therefore is one
cause of this.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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