Even if the civil magistrate is so gifted as to prophesy in the church, yet in the sphere of his civil duties he is forbidden to call down fire from heaven, that is, to procure or inflict any corporal punishment upon offenders in religious doctrine or practice, remembering Christ's admonition that He came not to destroy men's lives, but to save them.
Roger WilliamsWhatever tumults and strifes await God's witnesses, it remains clear that the doctrine of persecution for the sake of conscience is most evidently and lamentably contrary to the doctrine of Christ Jesus, the Prince of Peace.
Roger WilliamsAll who are entrusted with spiritual and temporal talents must lay them out for the Lord and Master's advantage.
Roger WilliamsWe find not in the Gospel, that Christ hath anywhere provided for the uniformity of churches, but only for their unity.
Roger Williams