Wesley Corpus

I answer: (I) If there is a law that a minister of Christ who is not suffered to preach the gospel in the church should not preach it elsewhere, I do judge that law to be absolutely sinful. (ii) If that law forbids Christian people to hear the gospel of Christ out of their parish church when they cannot hear it therein, I judge it would be sinful for them to obey it. (iii) This preaching is not subversive of any good order whatever. It is only subversive of that vile abuse of the good order of our Church whereby men who neither preach nor live the gospel are suffered publicly to overturn it from the foundation, and in the room of it to palm upon their congregations a wretched mixture of dead form and maimed morality. (4) 'If these premises be allowed.' They cannot be allowed. So, from nothing, nothing follows. 3. It was objected farther, -- (1) 'In every nation there must be some settled order of government, ecclesiastical and civil.' There must; but put civil out of the question. It only tends to puzzle the cause. (2) 'The Scriptures likewise enjoin this.' They do, that all things in the church be done in order. (3) 'There is an ecclesiastical order established in England, and it is a lawful one.' I believe it is in general not only lawful but highly commendable. (4) 'But Mr. [Downing] tells you: " You are born under this Establishment. Your ancestors supported it, and were ennobled on that account." These points, I think, are not very material; but that which follows is. " You have by deliberate and repeated acts of your own engaged yourself to defend it. Your very rank and station constitute you a formal and eminent guardian of it."'