Puritans, Conscience, Authority

[CharlieJ]

Hi, I'm looking for one (only one, the most representative) Puritan text dealing with conscience in its relationship to religious authority (Scripture, church, etc.). This is for a Catholic peer of mine who is studying the issue of conscience for comprehensive exams. It's ok if the book has a polemical edge, but I would like it to give a fairly comprehensive, constructive treatment.

 

[CharlieJ]

Thanks, Joshua. The Rutherford treatise is certainly useful, but its approach is probably a bit too heavy on the side of the role of the civil magistrate. If there is something a bit more tightly focused on the role of Scripture and church in forming the conscience, that would be better.

 

[MW]

Ames' Conscience with the Power and Cases Thereof is the best representative, although it is not structured explicitly around the question of the authority of Scripture and Church. It presupposes the authority of Scripture. For the Romish debate Perkins' Reformed Catholic would be ideal; or the specific subject of the authority of Scripture is dealt with at large by William Whitaker's Disputation.