The Practical Works of the Rev. Richard Baxter: With a Life of the Author ... - Richard Baxter - Google Books

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Q. 13. Can one be prodigal in giving to the church?

Q. 14. May one give too much to the poor?
Q. 15. May the rich lay out on conveniences, pomp, or plea-

ibid.

sure,

when multitudes are in deep necessities ?

Directions against Prodigality

ibid.

Cases and Directions against injurious Lawsuits, Witnessing,

Tit. 1. Cases of Conscience about Lawsuits and proceedings ibid.

Q. 1. When is it lawful to go to law?

Q. 2. May I sue a poor man for a debt or trespass ?

Q. 3. May I sue a surety whose interest was not concerned in

Q. 4. May I sue for the use of money?

Q. 5. May lawsuits be used to vex and humble an insolent,

Q. 6. May a rich man use his friends and purse to bear down

a poor man that hath a bad cause?

Q. 7. May one use such forms in lawsuits (declarations, an-
swers, &c.) as are false, according to the proper sense of the
words?

Q. 8. May a person plead not guilty?

Q. 9. Is a man bound to accuse himself, and offer himself to

Q. 10. May a witness voluntarily speak that truth, which he

knoweth will be ill used?

Q. 11. May a witness conceal part of the truth?

ibid.

Q. 12. Must a judge or jury proceed secundum allegata et
probata,' when they know the witness to be false or the
cause bad, but cannot evince it ?

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Cases of Conscience and Directions against Backbiting, Slan-

dering, and Evil-speaking .......

Tit. 1. Cases of Conscience about Backbiting and Evil-speaking ibid.
Q. 1. May we not speak evil of that which is evil?

ibid.

.......

Q. 2. May not the contrary be sinful silence and befriending
men's sins?

ibid.

ibid.

Q. 3. What if religious, credible persons report it?

Q. 4. If I may not speak it, may I not believe them?
Q. 5. May we not speak ill of open persecutors or enemies of
godliness?...

....

Q. 6. What if it be one whose reputation countenanceth his

ill cause, and his defamation would disable him? ........

Q. 7. If I may not make a true narrative of matters of fact,
how may we write true histories for posterity?

Q. 8. What if it be one that hath been oft admonished?

Q. 9. Or one that I cannot speak to face to face?

Q. 10. In what cases may we open another's faults?

Q. 11. What if I hear men praise the wicked, or their sins?..

Q. 12. Are we bound to reprove every backbiter?

Tit. 2. Directions against Backbiting, Slandering, and Evil-

ibid.

ibid.

Cases of, and Directions against Censoriousness, and sinful

Tit. 1. Cases of Conscience about Judging others

Q. 1. Am I not bound to judge truly of every one as he is?.. ibid.

Q. 2. How far may we judge ill of one by outward appear-

ance, as face, gesture, &c.

Q.3. How far may we censure on the report of others?
Q. 4. Doth not the fifth commandment bind us to judge bet-
ter of parents and princes than their lives declare them to be? ibid.

Q. 5. Whom must we judge sincere and holy Christians? 400

Q. 6. Is it not a sin to err, and take a man for better than he is? ibid.

Q.7. Whom must I take for a visible church-member? ibid.

Q. 8. Whom must I judge a true worshipper of God?

Q. 9. Which must I take for a true church?

Q. 10. Whom must we judge true prophets and true pastors

Tit. 2. Directions for the cure of sinful Censoriousness

Tit. 3. The Evil of the sin of Censoriousness

Tit. 4. Directions for those that are rashly censured by others 410

Cases and Directions about Trusts and Secrets

Tit. 1. Cases of Conscience about Trusts and Secrets

Q. 1. How must we not put our trust in man ?

Q. 2. Whom to choose for a trust?

ibid.

ibid.

ibid.

Q. 3. When may I commit a secret to another?

Q. 4. Must I keep a secret when I am trusted with it, but

promise it not?

Q. 5. What if a secret be revealed to me, without a desire to

Q. 6. What if it be against the king or state?

Q. 7. What if it be against the good of a third person ?

Q. 8. What if a man in debt do trust his estate with me to

defraud his creditors?..

Q.9. What if a delinquent intrust his person or estate with

me to secure it from penalty?

Q. 10. What if a friend intrust his estate with me to secure it

from some great taxes to the king?

Q. 11. What if a man that suffereth for religion commit his

person or estate to my trust?

Q. 12. If a Papist or erroneous person intrust me to educate
his children in his error when he is dead, I being of his
mind, must I perform it, when I am better informed?
Q. 13. What if one turn Papist, &c. after another hath com-
mitted his children to him?

Q. 14. Must I wrong my estate to satisfy a dying friend in

taking a trust?

Q. 15. What if after the trust prove more to my hurt than
I could foresee ?

ibid.

Q. 16. What if he cast the trust on me, without my promise

......

Q. 17. May I not ease myself of a trust of orphans, by cast-

ing it on the surviving kindred, if they calumniate me as

Q. 18. What is a minister to do if a penitent confess secretly
to him a heinous or a capital crime?

Tit. 2. Directions about Trusts and Secrets

Directions against Selfishness, as it is contrary to the love of

our neighbour. The Nature and Evil of the sin, and the

Cases and Directions for Loving our Neighbours as ourselves 425

Tit. 1. Cases of Conscience about Loving our Neighbour.. ibid.

Q. 1. How must I love another as myself, in degree, or kind,

or only reality?....

........

Q. 2. What is the true nature of love to myself and others?..
Q.3. If none must be loved above their worth, how doth God
love sinners?

ibid.

Q. 4. Must I love all in degree as much as myself?

Q. 5. Must I love any more than myself?

ibid.

ibid.

Q. 6. Must I love other men's wife, children, &c. better than
my own, when they are better?

Q.7..Who is that neighbour whom I must love as myself?..

Q. 8. Must we love and pray for antichrist, and those that sin

against the Holy Ghost?

Q. 9. Must we not hate God's enemies?

Q. 10. May I not wish hurt to another more than to myself?

Tit. 2. Directions to love our Neighbours as ourselves ...... ibid.

Tit. 3. The Reasons and Motives of love to our Neighbour.. 433

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Cases of, and Directions for the Love of Godly Persons as such 436

Tit. 1. Cases of Conscience about Love to the Godly..

........

PAGE

Q. 1. How can we love the godly, when none can know another

to be sincere ?

Q. 2. Must we love them as godly that give no account of the
time, manner, or means of their conversion ?

ibid.

Q. 3. What if they are so ignorant that they know not what

faith, repentance, conversion, &c. are?

Q. 4. Must I take the visible members of the church for truly

Q. 5. Must we take all visible members equally to be godly

Q. 6. Must we love all equally, strong and weak, that seem

Q. 7. Must we love those better that have much grace and
little useful gifts, or those that have less grace and more
profitable gifts for the church?

ibid.

Q. 8. Must we love him as godly who liveth in any heinous sin? ibid.

Q. 9. Must an excommunicate person be loved as godly or

Q. 10. Can an unsanctified man truly love a godly man?

Q. 11. Can he love him because he is godly?.
Q. 12. May he love a godly man because he would make him
godly?

Q. 13. Doth any such love the godly more than others?

Q. 14. Do all true Christians love all the godly that wrong
them, or differ from them ?

ibid.

ibid.

ibid.

ibid.

............

Q. 15. What is that love of the godly which proveth our sin-
cerity, and which no hypocrite can reach to?....

Tit. 2. Directions for true Loving the children of God

Tit. 3. Motives or meditative Helps to Love the godly

Tit. 4. The Hindrances and Enemies of Christian Love

Tit. 5. The Counterfeits of Christian Love .............

Tit. 6. Cases and Directions for intimate, special Friends

Q. 1. Is it lawful to have an earnest desire to be loved by

others; especially by some one above all others?

Q. 2. Is it lawful, meet, or desirable, to entertain that ex-

traordinary affection to any, which is called special friend-

ship? or to have one endeared, intimate friend, whom we

prefer before all others?

Q. 3. Is it meet to have more bosom friends than one?

Q. 4. Is it meet for him to choose any other bosom friend,

that hath a pious wife? and is any so fit for this friend-

ship as a wife?

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