 A third group of divines were known as <unk> , a term for those who believed that the state should have significant power over the church . The entire Assembly was Erastian in the sense that the body had been called by Parliament and was completely under state control . Those labelled " Erastian " at the Assembly believed the civil authority , rather than church officers , should hold the power of church discipline . This included the power to <unk> communion from unrepentant <unk> . They did not see any particular form of church government as divinely mandated , and because of this the dissenting brethren allied with them when it became clear that a presbyterian establishment would be much less tolerant of <unk> than Parliament . There were only two divines at the Assembly who held the Erastian view , John <unk> and Thomas Coleman , but the presence of members of Parliament , especially John <unk> , as well as the fact of parliamentary oversight of the Assembly , gave Erastian views <unk> influence . 
