1647 THOMAS MANTON. A Plea for Unity in the Church During the English Civil War.

A superb sermon preached in the heat of the English Civil War under the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell. The Presbyterians and other Puritan Independents and Congregationalists were engaged in a heated philosophical debate regarding the right of more fundamentalist Presbyterians to utilize their new-found power to establish a Covenanted Kingdom based on establishment of something very like Scotland's Solemn League and Covenant. It would, by default, mean persecution of Anglicans, Baptists, and of course Catholics at the National level.  Some of the Presbyterians were so-inclined, which led to Rogers Williams labeling them as no better than the Priests & Popes with their persecuting and narrow spirit.  Manton was definitely of the moderate school, calling for unity among all dissenters and warning the imperious spirit that resided in exclusive Presbyterians and the rebellious and individual spirit among other dissenters could the Satanic "hook" used to destroy England.  Manton, Thom