Parliament, when they deliberate about matters of war or matters of
religion, are not, at least formally and properly, a civil court, else how
makes he these so clearly distinct? 2. That ministers may be called civil
officers, for consider his words in his _Re-examination_, p. 11: "I do not
exclude ministers, neither from ecclesiastical nor civil government, in a
ministerial way, doctrinally and declaratively." Compare this with his
present answer, it will amount to thus much: That different denominations
being taken from the different subject matter, ministers, when they handle
doctrinally matters of religion, are ecclesiastical ministers; and when
they handle doctrinally matters of civil government, which himself
alloweth them to do, they are civil ministers. But now to apply his answer
to the argument, How doth all this solve the repugnancy of his doctrine to
the covenant? If he had examined my arguments, he had found that most of
them prove from the covenant a church government distinct from civil
government, subjective as well as objective; that is, another government
besides magistracy; different agents as well as different acts; different
hands as well as handling of different matters. I know the Christian
magistrate may and ought to have a great influence in matters of religion;
and whatsoever is due to him by the word of God, or by the doctrine either
of the ancient or reformed churches, I do not infringe, but do maintain
and strengthen it. But the point in hand is, that the covenant doth
undeniably suppose, and clearly hold forth a government in the church
distinct from magistracy, which is proved by these arguments (which, as
they are not yet answered, so I will briefly apply them to the proof of
that point which now Mr Coleman sticks at): 1. The church covenant
mentioned in the covenant is as distinct from the privileges of
parliament, as the first article of the covenant is distinct from the
third article. 2. The church government in the first article of the
covenant, the reformation whereof we are to endeavour, differeth from
church government by archbishops, bishops, &c., mentioned in the second
article, as much as a thing to be reformed differeth from a thing to be
extirpated; so that the church government formerly used in the church of
England is looked upon two ways in the covenant, either _qua_ church
government, and so we swear to endeavour the reformation of it (which I
hope was not meant of reforming