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The Protestant-dissenter's catechism [signed S.P.]. By S. Palmer .
The Protestantdissenter's catechism By S Palmer - signed S.P. Author:Samuel Palmer Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: THE REASONS OF THE PROTESTANT DISSENT FROM THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH. Q. 1. What are the grand principles on which the Protestant Dissenters ground their separat... more »ion from the Church by law established ? A, The right of private judgment and liberty of conscience, in opposition to all human authority in matters of religion; the supremacy of Christ as the only head of his church, and the sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures as the rule of faith and practice. Q. 2. Doth not the Scripture require us to be subject to the civil magistrate, as the minister of God, for conscience' sake ? A. Yes, doubtless, in all civil affairs, but not in matters of religion, much less in things contrary to the law of God, for God cannot deny himself; so that all human laws which are inconsistent with the divine ought to be disobeyed. Rom. xiii. 1—5 ; 1 Pet. ii. 13, 14. Q. 3. But is every private man to judge for himself, whether the laws of his country are agreeable to the laws of God ? A. Certainly, in the affairs of religion every man ought to judge for himself, since every man must render an account of himself to Godf, who has given us an infallible rule in his word to guide us, and reasonable faculties to understand it; which private persons are as capable of using, to discover the way of truth and duty, as magistrates and large bodies of men. Besides, religion is a personal thing, and no further deserves the name than as it is the effect of conviction and choice. t Rom. xiv. 12. Q. 4. But are we not required in Scripture to obey our spiritual rulers ? A. We know of no spiritual rulers who have a juster claim to implicit faith and unlimited obedience than civil magistrates. The word of God expressly forbids Christians giving up conscience to the directions of any manf; and the...« less