The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University

Although ministers are not properly governors but only leaders, are not to make new laws but only to teach Christ's laws; yet for the same reason as they may teach and instruct their flocks, they may instruct the people who it is amongst them that doth those laws

and who not; this is part of theirMS: "his." business and teaching. For the same reason, 'tis their business to instruct who are worthy of the name of Christians among them and who not, and the people are as much obliged to believe these instructions as they are the rest, and no more. If Christ has given to him the administration of the sacraments, he has given to him the administration of them to them that he thinks Christ would have him.

As for the power one church has over another, we know that adjacent churches have power, if they think they ought, to withdraw communion with them and to deny them the name of Christians amongst them. Now this is really a punishment, as well as [is] excommunication, and differs only in degree; because it is an advantage to have communion with other Christians. And the more of other Christians...Except for "Christians" and part of "other," the beginning of this sentence has broken from the lower margin since Dwight's copy was made; even in his day the rest of the last sentence (about half a line on the MS) was illegible. There are several smaller lacunae in this entry which have also been supplied from the copy.