A Christian Directory, Part 4: Christian PoliticsBaxter, Richard
Religion
A Christian Directory, Part 4: Christian Politics
Baxter, Richard
Casuistry; Christian sociology
_Answ._ The sum of all this objection is, That there is a God.
For if that be not denied, no man can deny that he is the Universal
Governor of the world; and that he hath his proper laws and judgment,
and rewards and punishments, or that magistrates are his ministers,
and have no power but from him; and consequently, that the commands,
and threats, and promises of God, are a thousand-fold more to be
regarded, than those of men.[95] He is a beast, and not a man, that
feareth not God more than man, and that feareth not hell more than
bodily sufferings: and for the Scriptures, 1. Are they any harder to
be understood than the law of nature itself? Surely the characters of
the will of God _in natura rerum_, are much more obscure than in
the Scriptures. Hath God sent so great a messenger from heaven, to
open to mankind the mysteries of his kingdom, and tell them what is in
the other world, and bring life and immortality to light, and yet
shall his revelation be accused as more obscure than nature itself is?
If an angel had been sent from heaven to any of these infidels
by name, to tell them but the same that Scripture telleth us, sure
they would not have reproached his message with such accusations. 2.
And are not the laws of the land about smaller matters, more
voluminous and difficult? And shall that be made a reproach to
government? And for misinterpretation, it is the fault of human
nature, that is ignorant and rash, and not of the Scriptures. Will you
tell God, that you will not obey him, unless he will make his laws so,
as no man can misinterpret them? When or where were there ever such
laws? God will be God, and Judge of the world, whether you will or
not; and he will not be an underling to men, nor set their laws above
his own, to avoid your accusations. If there be another life of joy or
misery, it is necessary that there be laws according to which those
rewards and punishments are to be adjudged. And if rulers oppose those
who are appointed to promote obedience to them, they must do it at
their perils; for God will render to all according to their works.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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