already setled by Law you thereby introduce Confusion into the Church which may soon become Anarchy in the Government which to prevent in my humble Address to the Parliament I thought the Laws now in being about such things might be executed and if in their Wisdom they thought fit new ones be enacted What Papists believe or do as to Authority about Interpretation of Scriptures is no Rule nor Precedent for us there is a sad Experience in the World of the nature of the Spirit which they are acted by and of the Methods they have taken to support their spiritual Tyranny over the Consciences and Souls yea Lives of Men they made themselves Parties and Judges and would admit or hear of no Reasons contrary to theirs which were grounded not upon God's Word tho' in some things they pretend it but their own Traditions and Practice to their Church Now among us you find no such thing the Law is open for you if you take Scripture to be it whereof you sadly wrest the Words contrary to their natural Sense without giving any good Reason for it and you stand by your selves in defiance and opposition of the general Consent of the Universal Church which condemned those unsound Men when they appeared against the Person of our Saviour and Lord. And here I must say we no more than you receive the Authority of Antiquity or of Fathers upon their own bottom for we agree they were fallible when they said so and so but whether in so saying they spake truth is well worth enquiry into I will compare them with Scripture and if they agree with it I will agree with them And this is to me a strengthning Evidence that I am not singular seeing others as well as I could in the Word of God find those Truths which I do believe Wo be to him that is alone abounds in his own Sense and thinks he knows more than all the World besides for the application of Scripture Truths it may be every ones Right to direct himself by his own Reason enlightned by the Spirit as to the Explication a very great care ought to be had and still according to the Rule of God's Word with all the help he can get besides but when they have Opinions which they find are generally opposed People so modest so quiet and of the Character they give of themselves not to disturb others should keep it within themselves and not be so servent as ye are to spread it abroad whether your Zeal be without or against Knowledg And if every one who pretends to be a Member of the Church be so busie as ye are to promote their Opinions and no Curb be put upon Interpretations then no end of Heresie Blasphemy or of all sorts of the worst Opinions But before I proceed I think fit to pull down that Strong-hold of theirs as they take it to be tho' rather Sandy Foundation of a free liberty for every one to make what interpretations they please and that I shall the more willingly do tho' as briefly as I can because 't is a Matter controverted between them and us which I had no occasion to meddle with in my Book To begin I say as there is a Right so there is a false Interpretation of Scripture The Right is that which gives the true sense and meaning the False on the contrary Now if every private Man might Interpret Scripture what monstrous Interpretations would there be as we see it too much in the World and this is the ground of Heresy Blasphemy and Fanaticism which to prevent the Lord Jesus as St. Paul saith in those two places where he mentions the Offices in the Church hath settled Prophets and Teachers Every private Man may Read but not Interpret Scripture which in this Case is the first thing to be known For saith the Apostle knowing this first that no Prophecy of the Scripture is of any private Interpretation so the Interpretation must come from whence the Revelation came 't is but one and the same Spring therefore in the next Verse he clears the Matter For Prophecy came not in old time by the Will of Man but holy Men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost which doth exclude as humane private Revelation so also humane private Interpretation And herein Paul joineth with Peter when he puts this Question Do all Interpret Which contains an Exclusive how all do not no more than all are no workers of Miracles Furthermore we must know how Scripture hath a binding Power not only directive but also decisive over the Conscience so that thereby the Conscience far from having that free liberty is tied and bound to the determination of the Word or else no Man that believes an Opinion contrary to sound Doctrine and never so heretical and blasphemous could be guilty of Sin But we are assured of the contrary for they who wrest the Scriptures do so unto their own destruction tho' a man must be very cautious not to go against his Conscience yet where there is a Competition between God and Man the Word of God and the Judgment of Man when each challenge of us a Consent we must give it the Word which certainly is true and infallible preferably before the Conscience which may be seduced and erroneous which happens often when 't is guided by humane Reason In Scripture is in matters of Faith a convincing and constraining Power which in Conscience we are bound to submit to in Humane things the Judge is not properly Judge except he Judges according to the Law for he hath no power to alter or corrupt but to declare the true sense of it The Interpretation of the Divine Law which the Question is now about may happen to be mistaken but the Law never for 't is Infallible as being the Word of the True and Infallible God hence is derived its Divine and Undisputable Authority beyond that of any thing else and it should work upon men more than Miracles even than raising from the Dead which may be called the greatest of all for they that hear not Moses and the Prophets will not be perswaded tho' one rose from the Dead The reason is because therein the Spirit of God speaks and thereby leads us into all Truth And indeed if Scripture was not the end of Debates in matters of Religion our Conscience could never be settled nor quiet for that same thing no Humane Reason Power or Judgment is able to effect but we aquiesce to rest and depend upon the Word of the God of Truth and if at the Bar of Conscience there was no such binding Rule but men were left to their own private Judgment none would be bound to believe Scripture but always live amidst Doubts Difficulties and Conjectures not to say singular Notions Fancies and Dreams and so we could never be at a certainty Besides that after this there were no Sin in any man to receive any
therefore they despise all Antient Doctors of the Primitive Church and I think in Tertullian's Words against Montanus we may say it to be the Socinians opinion Truth waited for their Coming without which it had been quite lost yet according to their Principles we must all be Scepticks and Pyrhonians always doubting of every thing and never sure of any then in the Word of God is no Truth that we can be certain of we know no Man hath dominion over the Faith of another nor ought to impose his Opinion upon others neither could they who went before us be Masters of our Faith nor we of the Faith of those who are to come after You see I make use of your own Expressions but withal I must tell you that if any one would in former or present times offer to force things of their own upon us to believe we would reject it by their own we mean any thing different from or contrary to the Word of God 't is not their offering to us or of us to others can bind the Consciences but the things offered do if they be the Word of God no human Authority doth per se and of it self tye my Conscience but God's Word doth therefore if any thing be proposed as an Article of Faith we must see whether it be contained in the Word of God which bears Record of it self and so stands in no need of the Testimony of Man 't is not the hand that gives Alms which can make Gold to be Gold or Silver to be Silver nor the Lawyers quoting the Law that can make it to be Law 't is so in it self so is Gospel Gospel in it self without any human help or else you make the Gloss and Interpretation more than the Text and as according to your Principles you may alter your Interpretation one to day and another different from it the next what a Confusion would you leave us in when you are so sickle and cannot agree with your own selves as indeed you make an Alteration in the Questions from what they were in Socinus's days By what they say of Doctrines which according to circumstance of times may be convenient or inconvenient I find them inclined to blame the times to excuse themselves but the Faults which too often are committed the Times are not to be accused of but the Malice or Weakness of Men there being no Season so troublesome as can keep a good Judge from doing Justice or a good Divine from giving a good Interpretation of Scripture so Mens Faults ought to be chastised and not the Times which are as Men govern themselves to be complained of but good and holy Laws ought to be enacted by those whom it belongs to having the Glory of God and the Good of the People before their Eyes new Distempers require new Remedies and new Laws are necessary against new Crimes wherefore I lay hold on this new occasion and once more make bold to both Houses of Parliament humbly to commend the Cause of God and of his Son the Lord Jesus according as I formerly besought them in my Epistle in earnest to mind it or else with David I say Arise O God plead thine own Cause However as to Faith and Practice they give a good Character of themselves as to the first they believe all the Articles of the Apostles Creed but still they reserve unto themselves to give what Interpretation they please but sure we are 't is not that contained in the Nicene and Athanasian Creeds Still there is a Jesuitical Jugling Equivocation and Mental Reservation Ask them which is the true sense of the Words in Jesus Christ his only Son they will not say 't is of his own Nature and Substance and from Eternity which Creed say they was heretofore thought a full and sufficient Summary of Faith till some Men perverted the true and Orthodox Meaning and brought false Glosses upon 't contrary to the plain and natural Interpretation received by the Universal Church then indeed to refute unsound and Anti-scriptural Expositions and wresting of the true Sense to explain and enlarge was found necessary 'T is their Principle thankfully to lay hold on the Message of Redemption by Jesus Christ This seems fair but is very defective for according to them Christ came into the World as a bare Messenger a meer Man to declare the Will of God unto us which others tho not so fully and plainly had done before to die only for our good but not in our stead nor to purchase us by the Merits of his Death So they say the Lord Jesus is God by Favour not by Nature robbing him thus of his Divinity When we seriously come to the matter they are full of Quiblings and Cavils As to the receiving the Message of Redemption 't is according to them by strength of Reason and not of Faith for no true Faith in Christ except Men believe him to be true God as well as true Man As to Practice this Character they give of themselves They fear God walk humbly before him hold no Correspondence with any known Sin c. This is well but not enough for the moral Virtues of the Heathen carryed some of them as far as this But a sound Knowledg in the Mind is required and no sound saving Knowledg of Christ except one knows him for such as he is that is God and Man or else he is but half a Christ an imperfect Mediatour whole Christ is the true Object of Faith These things are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God as well as the Son of Man I am glad to find something like the Matters in question in the first Letter we are told what ground they go upon concerning their Opinions Scripture they own to be the Rule of Faith but unto themselves they reserve the Interpretation which is as bad as what they condemn in Papists to depend upon the Authority of their own Interpretation and so can turn it which way they please so may every Socinian as well as every Quaker have their private Interpretation but to say that Protestants for the interpretation of Scripture do rely upon their own Reason is without warrant and doth not consist with Truth except by Protestants they mean Socinians if this were a fit place I could shew that they have not the same regard as we for Scriptures tho they assert it for they dispute the Truth and Authority thereof but I must come to human Reason which in one page is twice asserted to be the onely Guide God hath given us in matters of Religion for under that head I reduce the three he there mentioneth about Revelation but this is not the Judgment of true Protestants if a Man hath no other Guide but his own Reason 't is a blind one and very defective 't is but one part of three and the least too for to the end that human Reason may be a fit
he had said the living God according to an usual way of speaking in Scripture when the Abstract is put for the Concrete thus God is called the Lord our Righteousness that same Word that was God was made Flesh and dwelt among us to dwell denotes a Person and we Beheld his Glory not the Glory of Reason or Wisdom but the Glory as of the only begotten of the Father here is a Relation of a Son to a Father and surely a Son is a Person not a Thing and of this same John bare witness of him saying this was he of whom I spake he that cometh after me is preferred before me read on till ver 19. all along the Word is spoken as of a Person and in ver 17. he declares who that Word is by a Comparison between Persons the Law was given by Moses but Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ This Jesus Christ he hath been speaking of all this while and his Design is to shew that Jesus Christ is the Word so often by him mentioned and to that effect he speaks of John's Evidence about him if the Word be a Thing and not a Person Christ was so and so Moses who was a Person and Christ after he was made Flesh is compared to him O the Perverseness of some Mens Judgment who read Scripture not to find out Truth or be guided by it but out of it to wrest some things to support their Prejudices Papists to set up the Pope's Supremacy think after much seeking to have found a Text to serve their turn he that is spiritual judgeth all things yet he himself is judged of no Man with them the Pope is that Spiritual Man the Socinians whose Design is not to set up one as Papists do but to pull down and destroy the great Work of Incarnation say because it serves their turn no Word or Divine Person but only the Reason of God was made Flesh Out of what I have said I think it plainly appears how the Scope of the Place and the Design of the Evangelist is to speak of a Person and not of a Thing But to prove our Interpretation let us further search into Scriptures Paul speaks to our purpose for as John saith the Word that was God was made Flesh so he declares that God was manifest in the Flesh which he calls the great Mystery of Godliness and the whole Verse tho in different Branches as preached unto the Gentiles believed on in the World received up into Glory do plainly demonstrate the Lord Jesus to be that God or Person of the Godhead manifest in the Flesh and in another Place he saith when the Fulness of the time was come God sent forth his Son made of a Woman that Person which in another place is called God in this is called the Son of God and in another God's own Son or proper Son in these several Texts mention is made of an Incarnation or of being made Flesh manifest in the Flesh made of a Woman and God sent his own Son in the Likeness of sinful Flesh and the Subject is called the Word God Son of God God's own and proper Son is there in all this any Metaphor or any Ground to say that the Word made Flesh signifieth Reason communicated to Jesus all this proves that our Interpretation is according to the Analogy of Faith and shews a sweet Harmony of several Texts of Scripture to demonstrate the adorable Mystery of the Incarnation of the Son God Thus far we proved our Interpretation of that Text of Scripture we do not perceive they are in a Condition to do the like for theirs for if they could we should hear of it they have not one Text to do it Magister dixit is no Reason with us the Vnitarian may say but that is not enough what he saith he must prove upon true Grounds and to the purpose well for want of Scripture the Author of the Letter gives a Reason of his own which is this And we all know that Divine Wisdom may be communicated to Man without the Incarnation of God Did ever any one read such a pitiful coming off in so weighty a matter as this is how sawcy with God are some Men in the World in setting out their foolish and wandering Fancies and where is a due Respect for his Holy Word hath not God made foolish the Wisdom of these Men if ever they had any doth this Interpretation hold any proportion with that high and noble Idea which the Evangelist would give us of the Person whose History he writes first of all we defy them to shew that this is the Sense of any Text concerning this Matter Secondly suppose they could yet it being against the usual Meaning they ought to shew reason why in this place it should be taken otherwise and then must such a silly Reason weigh down the Authority of so many Texts of Scripture what will become of all the glorious Attributes and Prerogative of the Lord Jesus over Angels and Men what of that Name which is above every Name God's own only begotten Son in whom he is well pleased if all comes only to this God's Reason and Wisdom were communicated to him which God in a high degree did to Solomon and to others of his eminent Servants whereby he must make them equal with his Son and he with them we all know that God if he pleases can create another World must we conclude therefore he hath not created this God if he had pleased could have delivered his People out of Egypt otherwise than by the hand of Moses must we say therefore he delivered them not by his hand Out of what God can do we must not infer that he hath not done what he hath done because God can communicate Reason to Man therefore the Word the Son of God was not made Flesh Ye great Logicians is this a good Consequence risum teneatis I could almost say if the thing in question was not of the highest importance Before I leave this Point I shall skip over to another place of the Letter for tho' he there speaks not to me but to another whose Notions I am not concerned for yet what he saith relating to the Cause I ought to take notice of the more because it belongs to that Text of John which hitherto we were upon 't is said Tke Incarnation of God is no where expressed in Scripture it can be no more than meerly a deduction from thence 'T is well you are so kind as to grant 't is in 't in some way As to the first part if you say in so many Letters according to your cavilling way we know 't for the word Incarnation is Latin and so none of the Books of Scripture being originally written in that Language we must not think to find it in 't but we say a word altogether equivalent and which signifies the same thing is in 't Doth not to be made Flesh