Protestant Christian Toleration

Introduction: 

Christians have long debated how far should toleration be extended to other beliefs in regard to matters of religion. Does liberty of conscience mean that every false religion, heresy, form of idolatry, and blasphemy should be allowed in the nation? Historically, many Protestant Christians have argued for toleration being extended amongst the denominations of Protestant Christianity, but that toleration should not extend to heresy, idolatry, and false religions. This position which can be called Protestant Christian Toleration or Limited Toleration rejects the idea of a state Church on the one hand and religious anarchy on the other hand. True Christian brethren are allowed to worship God according to their consciences while still restricting false religions from infiltrating and subverting the nation. This is the position of Reformed Truther Ministries. Below is a list of historical quotations and resources that advocated for Protestant Christian Toleration.

This list is split into two sections. The first section is ecclesiastical quotes, and the second section is political quotes. The ecclesiastical quotes come from Presbyterian, Congregational, and Baptist sources. It should be noted that the Westminster Standards have been included on this list although many of the Westminster Divines did want a unified Presbyterian state Church of England which goes farther than what is being advocated for in this document. However, it should also be noted that the Presbyterians of this era had good relations with their Congregationalist brethren, so it is unfair to say that they had no charity to those outside their own denominational circles. Many of the political quotations come from the state constitutions of the states that were a part of the United States prior to the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Under the Articles of Confederation, many states had religious tests for those who could stand for public office. These states required profession of the Christian faith and even in some states a profession of Protestantism. This type of requirement would go a long way to stop antichristian subversion of our government if this was in place today. This document is intended to serve as a supplemental document to the Christian Liberty Declaration written by Joe Harper of Reformed Truther Ministries.

Ecclesiastical Quotes:

Westminster Confession of Faith (1646)

III. The civil magistrate may not assume to himself the administration of the Word and sacraments; or the power of the keys of the kingdom of heaven: yet he hath authority, and it is his duty, to take order, that unity and peace be preserved in the Church, that the truth of God be kept pure and entire; that all blasphemies and heresies be suppressed; all corruptions and abuses in worship and discipline prevented or reformed; and all the ordinances of God duly settled, administered, and observed. For the better effecting whereof, he hath power to call synods, to be present at them, and to provide that whatsoever is transacted in them be according to the mind of God.

(Westminster Confession of Faith, Ch. 23, Par. 3)

Westminster Larger Catechism (1647)

Q. 191. What do we pray for in the second petition?

A. In the second petition, (which is, Thy Kingdom come,) acknowledging ourselves and all mankind to be by nature under the dominion of sin and Satan, we pray that the kingdom of sin and Satan may be destroyed, the gospel propagated throughout the world, the Jews called, the fulness of the Gentiles brought in; the church furnished with all gospel officers and ordinances, purged from corruption, countenanced and maintained by the civil magistrates; that the ordinances of Christ may be purely dispensed, and made effectual to the converting of those that are yet in their sins, and the confirming, comforting, and building up those that are already converted: that Christ would rule in our hearts here, and hasten the time of his second coming, and our reigning with him for ever: and that he would be pleased so to exercise the kingdom of his power in all the world, as may best conduce to these ends.

(Westminster Larger Catechism, Q. 191)

John Owen on The Magistrate

Errors, though never so impious, are yet distinguished from peace-disturbing enormities. If opinions in their own nature tend to the disturbance of the public peace, either that public tranquility is not of God, or God alloweth a penal restraint of those opinions. It is a mistake, to affirm that those who plead for toleration do allow of punishment for offences against the second table — not against the first. The case is the same both in respect of the one and the other. What offences against the second table are punishable? Doubtless not all, but only such as, by a disorderly eruption, pervert the course of public quiet and society; yea, none but such fall under human cognizance. The warrant of exercising vindictive power amongst men is from the reference of offences to their common tranquillity. “Delicta puniri publicè interest.” Where punishment is the debt, “Bonum totius” the creditor to exact it. And this is allowed as to the offences against the first table. If any of them in their own nature (not some men’s apprehensions) are disturbances of public peace, they also are punishable. Only, let not this be measured by disputable consequences, no more than the other are. Let the evidence be in the things themselves, and “Actum est,” let who will plead for them. Hence, Popish religion, warming in its very bowels a fatal engine against all magistracy amongst us, cannot upon our concessions plead for forbearance; it being a known and received maxim, that the gospel of Christ clashes against no righteous ordinance of man. And let this be spoken to the third argument of the fore-named reverend persons, from the analogy of delinquencies against the first and second table. (Works of John Owen, Vol. 8, Of Toleration and the duty of the magistrate about religion)

 Savoy Declaration (1658)

Although the magistrate is bound to encourage, promote, and protect the professors and profession of the gospel, and to manage and order civil administrations in a due subserviency to the interest of Christ in the world, and to that end to take care that men of corrupt minds and conversations do not licentiously publish and divulge blasphemy and errors, in their own nature subverting the faith and inevitably destroying the souls of them that receive them: yet in such differences about the doctrines of the gospel, or ways of the worship of God, as may befall men exercising a good conscience, manifesting it in their conversation, and holding the foundation, not disturbing others in their ways or worship that differ from them; there is no warrant for the magistrate under the gospel to abridge them of their liberty.

(Savoy Declaration, Ch. 24, Par. 3)

A Declaration of Several People called Anabaptists (1658)

To the forth: Whereas we are further charged with endeavoring an universal Toleration of all miscarriages, both in things Religious and Civil, under pretense of Liberty of Conscience; it is in both respects notoriously false. And we do before the Lord, that shall judge both quick and dead, yea, before Angels and men, declare our utter detestation of such a Toleration; for in matters Civil, we desire there may not be the least Toleration of miscarriage in any, much less in our selves.

Nor do we desire, in matters of Religion, that Popery should be tolerated, the bloud of many thousands of the people of God, having been barbarously shed, by the Professors thereof; or any persons tolerated, that worship a false god; nor any that speak contemptuously and reproachfully of our Lord Jesus Christ; nor any that deny the holy Scriptures, contained in the books of the Old and New Testaments, to be the Word of God: And yet, we are not against tolerating of Episcopacy, Presbytery, or any stinted form, provided they do compel any others to a compliance therewith, or a conformity thereunto: for whatever Composers of any form of worship, may possibly err; it is derogating from God, and his holy Word, and injurious to men, to compel any to practice thereof.

 John Gill on the Magistrate (1769) 

2a. First, of magistrates; for though the duties of subjection and obedience are incompetent to them; yet there are duties incumbent on them, arising from their relation to their people, and covenant with them. And,

2a1. They are to make and pass such laws as are for the good of their subjects. The government of the people of Israel was very peculiar; it was a Theocracy; God was their King in a civil sense, and made laws for them, which he delivered to them by the hands of Moses; and their kings had no power to make any new ones; nor did they, not the best and wisest of them, as David, Solomon, &c. but governed according to the laws made to their hands. Our kings have a concern in the making of laws; that is, they have a negative voice, and can put a check upon any laws, and refuse to sign them made by the other branches of the legislature; and it is their duty to refuse to sign such laws as are not salutary to their subjects, or are contrary to the laws of God, and to the fundamental laws of the state.

2a2. They are to govern according to such righteous and salutary laws, and to execute judgment and justice, as David did, and other good kings do; and then magistrates do their duty, when the king reigns in righteousness, and princes decree judgment, #Isa 32:1.

2a3. They are to discountenance and suppress impiety and irreligion; and to countenance and encourage religion and virtue; even Aristotle {8} observes in his book of Politics, that the first care of government should be the care of divine things, or what relate to religion. Civil magistrates are appointed for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well; they are to discourage vice, and vicious persons; a king, by his eye, the sternness of his looks, and the frowns of his countenance, should scatter away evil, and evil men; and these being removed from him, his throne will be established in righteousness, #Pr 20:8 25:5. Kings are the guardians of the laws of God and man; and Christian kings have a peculiar concern with the laws of the two tables, that they are observed, and the violaters of them punished; as sins against the first table, idolatry, worshipping of more gods than one, and of graven images, blaspheming the name of God, perjury, and false swearing, and profanation of the day of worship: and those against the second table; as disobedience to parents, murder, adultery, theft, bearing false witness, &c. most of which, under the former dispensation, were capital crimes, and punishable with death; and though the punishment of them, at least not all of them, may not be inflicted with that rigour now as then; yet they are punishable in some way or another; which it is the duty of magistrates to take care of.

(John Gill, A Body of Doctrinal and Practical Divinity, 1769)

Political Quotes:

John Winthrop on coming to the New World. (1631) 

It will be a service to the Church of great consequence to carry the Gospel into those parts of the world, to help on the coming of the fullness of the Gentiles, & to raise a Bulwark against the kingdom of Antichrist which the Jesuits labor to rear up in those parts.

(John Winthrop, Reasons to be considered for justifying the undertakers of the intended Plantation in New England, & for encouraging such whose hearts God shall move to join with them in it, 1631) 

Henry Ireton Whitehall Debates (1648)

But here’s the case. The question is now: Whether you shall make such a provision for men that are conscientious, [in order] that they may serve God according to their light and conscience, as shall necessarily debar any kind of restraint on anything that any man will call religion? That’s the very question; truly, it is so, or else you will make no question. If you could bring it to such a restraint for [the power of] the magistrate to punish, only [in the case of] men that are members and servants of Jesus Christ, all that are here would give an ay to it. But whether, admitting that to be never so good, as I think it is, [and] our great duty and our great interest to endeavor [to secure it]—yet whether we shall make our provision for that in such a way as shall give to all men their latitude, without any power to restrain them, [though they were] to practice idolatry, to practice atheism, and anything that is against the light of God? [That is the question.] ...

[I ask] whether this be not the question [really at issue]: that [all that] will join with you in civil things [shall be free from any restraint in spiritual things]? Now I come to tell you of what kind those things are that conscientious men do think the magistrate ought to restrain. I do not think any man conscientious [that says] that the magistrate ought to restrain a man from that which Jesus Christ does teach him; but men have consciences to say that there are many things that men may own and practice under pretense of religion, that there may, nay there ought to be the restraint of them in; and that is the ground of our question. But if I have mistaken this, I shall willingly be mistaken. However, I am sure of this in general, that there is no exception to the putting of this in this Agreement but this: that you cannot so provide for such a reserve as this is for men really conscientious, that they shall not be persecuted, but you will by that debar the magistrate of a power that he ought to have to restrain.

Henry Ireton Whitehall Debates (1648)

And therefore if you would consider this question, whether the magistrate have anything to do in anything which men will call religion (for you must go so large), you must not confine it [to the inquiry] whether Jesus Christ have under the Gospel given it, but you must look to the whole scripture.

Samuel Adams Speech (1776) 

Our forefathers threw off the yoke of popery in religion: for you is reserved the honor of levelling the popery of politics. They opened the Bible to all, and maintained the capacity of every man to judge for himself in religion. Are we sufficient for the comprehension of the sublimest spiritual truths, and unequal to material and temporal ones? Heaven hath trusted us with the management of things for eternity, and man denies us ability to judge of the present, or to know from our feelings the experience that will make us happy. "You can discern," say they, "objects distant and remote, but cannot perceive those within your grasp. Let us have the distribution of present goods, and cut out and manage as you please the interests of futurity." This day, I trust the reign of political protestantism will commence.

(Samuel Adams, Speech given August 1, 1776) 

Constitution of Delaware (1776) 

Every person who shall be chosen a member of either house, or appointed to any office or place of trust, before taking his seat, or entering upon the execution of his office, shall take the following oath, or affirmation, if conscientiously scrupulous of taking an oath, to wit:  “I, do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His only Son, and in the Holy Ghost, one God, blessed for evermore; and I do acknowledge the holy scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by divine inspiration. 

(Delaware Constitution 1776, Art. 22) 

Constitution of Maryland (1776)

That no other test or qualification ought to be required, on admission to any office of trust or profit, than such oath of support and fidelity to this State, and such oath of office, as shall be directed by this Convention or the Legislature of this State, and a declaration of a belief in the Christian religion. 

(Maryland Constitution, 1776, Declaration of Rights, Art. 35) 

Constitution of New Jersey (1776)

That there shall be no establishment of any one religious sect in this Province, in preference to another; and that no Protestant inhabitant of this Colony shall be denied the enjoyment of any civil right, merely on account of his religious principles; but that all persons, professing a belief in the faith of any Protestant sect. who shall demean themselves peaceably under the government, as hereby established, shall be capable of being elected into any office of profit or trust, or being a member of either branch of the Legislature, and shall fully and freely enjoy every privilege and immunity, enjoyed by others their fellow subjects.

(New Jersey Constitution, 1776, Art. 19) 

Constitution of Pennsylvania (1776)

I do believe in one God, the creator and governor of the universe, the rewarder of the good and the punisher of the wicked. And I do acknowledge the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by Divine inspiration.

And no further or other religious test shall ever hereafter be required of any civil officer or magistrate in this State.

(Pennsylvania Constitution, 1776, Sec. 10)

Constitution of North Carolina (1776)

That no person, who shall deny the being of God or the truth of the Protestant religion, or the divine authority either of the Old or New Testaments, or who shall hold religious principles incompatible with the freedom and safety of the State, shall be capable of holding any office or place of trust or profit in the civil department within this State.

(North Carolina Constitution, 1776, Art. 32) 

Constitution of Georgia (1777)

The representatives shall be chosen out of the residents in each county, who shall have resided at least twelve months in this State, and three months in the county where they shall be elected; except the freeholders of the counties of Glynn and Camden, who are in a state of alarm, and who shall have the liberty of choosing one member each, as specified in the articles of this constitution, in any other county, until they have residents sufficient to qualify them for more; and they shall be of the Protestant religion, and of the age of twenty-one years, and shall be possessed in their own right of two hundred and fifty acres of land, or some property to the amount of two hundred and fifty pounds.

(Georgia Constitution, 1777, Art. 6)

Constitution of Vermont (1777)

A quorum of the house of representatives shall consist of two thirds of the whole number of members elected; and having met, and chosen their speaker and clerk, shall, each of them, before they proceed to business, take and subscribe, as well the oath of fidelity and allegiance hereinafter directed, as the following oath or affirmation, viz:

I ______________ do solemnly swear, by the ever living God (or I do solemnly affirm in the presence of Almighty God), that as a member of this Assembly, I will not propose, or assent to any bill, vote or resolution, which shall appear to me injurious to the people; nor do or consent to any act or thing whatever, that shall have a tendency to lessen or abridge their rights and privileges, as declared in the Constitution of this State; but will in all things, conduct myself as a faithful, honest representative and guardian of the people, according to the best of my judgment and abilities.

And each member, before he takes his seat, shall make and subscribe the following declaration, viz:

I do believe in one God, the Creator and Governor of the universe, the rewarder of the good and punisher of the wicked. And I do acknowledge the scriptures of the old and new testament to be given by divine inspiration, and own and profess the Protestant religion.

And no further or other religious test shall ever, hereafter, be required of any civil officer or magistrate in this State.

(Vermont Constitution, 1777, Ch. 2, Sec. 9) 

Constitution of Massachusetts (1780) 

Article I. Any person chosen governor, lieutenant-governor, councillor, senator, or representative, and accepting the trust, shall, before he proceed to execute the duties of his place or office, make and subscribe the following declaration, viz:

"I, A.B., do declare that I believe the Christian religion, and have a firm persuasion of its truth; and that I am seized and possessed, in my own right, of the property required by the constitution, as one qualification for the office or place to which I am elected."

(Massachusetts Constitution, 1780, Ch. 6, Art. 1) 

Constitution of New Hampshire (1784) 

Every member of the house of representatives shall be of the Protestant religion. . . . That no person shall be capable of being elected a senator who is not of the Protestant religion. . . . The President shall be chosen annually; and no person shall be eligible to this office, unless at the time of his election, he . . . shall be of the protestant religion.

(New Hampshire Constitution, 1784, Part 2)

Abraham Lincoln on Liberty of Conscience (1884)

The Mormon and the Jesuit priests are equally the uncompromising enemies of our constitution and our laws; but the more dangerous of the two is the Jesuit—the Romish priest, for he knows better how to conceal his hatred under the mask of friendship and public good; he is better trained to commit the most cruel and diabolical deeds for the glory of God.

“Till lately, I was in favor of the unlimited liberty of conscience, as our constitution gives it to the Roman Catholics. But now, it seems to me that, sooner or later, the people will be forced to put a restriction to that clause towards the Papists. Is it not an act of folly to give absolute liberty of conscience to a set of men who are publicly sworn to cut our throats the very day they have their opportunity for doing it? Is it right to give the privilege of citizenship to men who are the sworn and public enemies of our constitution, our laws, our liberties, and our lives? 

(Abraham Lincoln, quoted in Fifty Years in the Church of Rome by Charles Chiniquy, 1884) 

James Henley Thornwell, Proposed Amendment to Confederate Constitution, 1861 

We, the people of these Confederate States, distinctly acknowledge our responsibility to God, and the supremacy of His Son, Jesus Christ, as King of kings and Lord of lords; and hereby ordain that no law shall be passed by the Congress of these Confederate States inconsistent with the will of God, as revealed in the Holy Scriptures.