esteemed so dispersed so constantly read could be suffer'd to be lost among Christians If it be Objected That they were not all so esteemed at first as appears by the Epistle to the Hebrews and therefore might more easily be lost I Answer That however they were not universally received at first yet they were by those Churches to whom they were written and among them they were not kept up but mightily dispersed so that there was no way to lose them from the first spreading of them abroad unless we can suppose such multitudes of Christians to conspire together to suppress a Book of so great Concernment to themselves As if Persons who claim an Estate by virtue of some Deeds should all agree to imbezel them or any material part of them Here was no pretence for Registers and Abridgments which some make use of to lessen the Authority of the Books of the Old Testament for here we have the very Authentick Writings of the Apostles and their own Epistles in their own style and Expressions And supposing the Churches to whom they were sent to have received them as their Writings and to have communicated them to others as they did I do not see under these Circumstances how a Book containing Divine Revelations could be lost II. He Objects That the Canon of Scripture was not entire but deficient for some hundreds of years till the whole Canon was collected and acknowledged and therefore so long the Church had no Perfect Rule of Faith. I Answer I. I distinguish between a Compleat Rule of Faith and a Compleat Canon of Scripture For if the Books owned and universally received contain in them all Matters of Faith then the Rule of Faith is Compleat although some particular Books may be still in Dispute As for Instance it is certain that in St. Jerom's Time the Church of Rome did not receive as Canonical the Epistle to the Hebrews Had not that Church therefore a Compleat Rule of Faith If God hath so abundantly provided for his Church that there may be a full Revelation of all Points of Faith in the rest then the disputing the Authority of such an Epistle doth not derogate from the Compleatness of the Rule of Faith. For if they have all Points of Faith they must have a Compleat Rule of Faith. II. It is no Prejudice to the true Canon of Scripture that some particular Books of the New Testament were for some time disputed by some particular Churches For if it were done without Ground it doth reflect more on those Churches than on those Books especially when those very Churches afterwards received them And this was the Case of the Church of Rome as to the Epistle to the Hebrews St. Jerom affirms That not only the Greek Churches all received it but that all the Ancient Writers did so and not meerly as an Ecclesiastical but as a Canonical Epistle Therefore this must be a late thing in the Church of Rome and in probability began upon the Novatian Controversie which Epistle was thought too much to favour the Novatian Doctrine and when that Controversie did abate that Epistle recovered its Authority in the Church of Rome But Mr. S. is angry with me for reflecting on the Church of Rome for not receiving the Epistle to the Hebrews in St. Jerom 's Time which he thinks was an Act of Prudence antecedent to the Judgment or Determination of any Church whether Greek or Latin. One may see by this how well versed he is in the Canon of Scripture when St. Jerom declares that not only all the Greek Writers received it but all the Ancient and that as Canonical Was here no antecedent Judgment of the Church in this Matter Doth not the Consent of all Ancient Writers even in St. Jerom's Time make a Judgment of the Church But he adds That what I make a heinous Crime in the Church of Rome was a commendable Caution in it That which I said was That it hence appear'd that the Church of Rome was far from being believed then to have the Authority of making the Canon of Scripture or being Infallible in Faith. And what saith J. S. in Answer to this Not one Syllable but runs it off to another thing But why do I not as well blame the Greek Churches for not receiving the Apocalypse They do not pretend to such Authority and Infallibility in this Matter as the Church of Rome doth I do not deny that there were some Greeks then to blame in rejecting the Apocalypse but Bellarmin saith they were but few and obscure Persons and he produces the Testimonies of Justin Martyr Irenaeus Theophilus Antiochenus Melito Sardensis Dionysius Alexandrinus Clemens Alexandrinus Origen and Athanasius all approving it And the Occasion of disputing it arose from the Millenary Opinion which some thought they could not confute as long as the Apocalypse had such Authority in the Church And such Disputes as these which wore off by degrees are no real Prejudice to the Canon of the New Testament which was at first generally received and although some few Books were contested for a time yet they recover'd their Authority and have ever since been received by the Universal Consent of all Christian Churches III. He Objects against this Universal Consent the Testimonies of Marcion Ebion Valentinus Cerinthus and Epiphanius his other Hereticks who rejected the Canon of the New Testament Could any Man but J. S. make such an Objection as this But he had a mind to bring me in as a Favourer of all Hereticks and as such another Man of Integrity hath done of all Anti-Catholick and Anti-Christian Doctrines But where have I given any Occasion for such spiteful Reflections All that I said was We have the Universal Consent of all Christian Churches for the Canon of the New Testament i. e. Of all since the time that the Epistle to the Hebrews was receiv'd in the Latin and the Apocalypse in the Greek Churches notwithstanding all the Divisions they have since fallen into yet they had no Difference as to the Canon of the New Testament And this I insisted on as the Ground of our Certainty viz. The Unanimous Consent of all the great Bodies of Christians that have continued under different Denominations to this day To this he gives no other Answer but that my Answer to the Fifth Question is co-incident with that to the Fourth I thought J. S. in the Self-evident way would have liked my Answer the better for it But he doth not comprehend the design of it I had said before That we relied on the Universal Testimony of the Christian Church upon that the Question was asked What I meant by the Christian Church My Answer was That it was that which was made up of all Christian Churches i. e. saith J. S. That all the Parts make the Whole and what Incongruity is there When Mr. G. said That the Christian Church may be taken in several Latitudes he desired to know in
Ground they went upon and so we are come to the Debate between Scripture and Tradition II. All Traditionary Christians believe the same to Day which they did Yesterday This is capable of a threefold meaning I. That they do actually believe the same to Day which they did Yesterday Which is a meer contingent thing and proves nothing Or II. That they are bound to believe to Day as they did Yesterday And that may be on several Accounts I. Because they see Evidence from the Word of God to Day as well as they did Yesterday II. Or because their Guides of the Church teach them the same to Day which they did Yesterday whom they believe to be Infallible III. Or meerly because they receive it by an Oral Tradition and not on the other Accounts and then it proves no more than that they are bound to do it and it is too well known that many fail to do what they are bound to Or III. That they do Infallibly believe the same to Day which they did Yesterday But then this ought to have been inserted in the Proposition That Traditionary Christians cannot fail to believe to Day what they did Yesterday If it be said That this is implyed in their being Traditionary Christians then I say the whole is a Fallacy of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for he supposes all true Christians to be Traditionary Christians and then that they Infallibly hold to Tradition as their Rule and from thence he proves Tradition to be Infallible But if the Body of Christians may go upon another Rule or if going upon Tradition they may misunderstand it then there is no inseparable connexion in the several Links of this Chain And there is a further Fallacy in supposing that if any change in Faith happens it must be as sudden and remarkable as if all Men should to day refuse to believe what they believed Yesterday Whereas the changes of Opinions are oft-times wrought by insensible Degrees and many concurrent Causes and sometimes the very same Words may be used and the Faith altered as in the Case of Merit Sacraments Sacrifice c. which sheweth Men may continue the very same Terms and yet believe quite a different thing And where Changes are gradual it is very unreasonable to pitch upon such a precise and narrow space of time as between to Day and Yesterday By the same Method one may demonstrate it to be impossible that any Language should be changed for People speak the same Language to Day which they did Yesterday and the same Yesterday which they did the Day before and so up to the very building of Babel and yet we all know that Languages are continually changed and to such a degree that in some Ages they cannot understand what was at that time intelligible by all In such cases it is enough to assign the general Causes and Reasons of Alterations without fixing a precise and determinate Time. And those I shall speak to afterwards III. And so up to the time of our Blessed Saviour To prove any thing from hence it must be shewed I. That there can be no Pretence to Tradition taken up without Ground for if there may it can by no means follow That if Men pretend to Tradition that Tradition must run up to the Time of Christ. But then they cease to be Traditionary Christians What then Not in pretence for they may call themselves so still but in reality they are not II. That if Men lay claim to a Rule they must always observe it We do not pretend to it as to the Scripture And what Reason is there for it as to Tradition But if Men may pretend to follow Tradition and do not then from their being Traditionary Christians it can by no means follow that this Tradition must be carried up to the Time of our Blessed Saviour II. The second Proposition is And if they follow this Rule they can never err in Faith. This is palpably self evident saith J. S. So say I too but it is only to be a meer Fallacy To follow this Rule is to believe the same to Day which they did Yesterday and so up to Christ or downwards If they did this from Christs time and so forwards they must continue to believe the same to the End of the World. If they really believe the same Doctrine which Christ taught no doubt they cannot err But the Question is Whether this be an Infallible Rule for us to Judge they could never mistake in this Rule nor follow any other For if either of these could happen the Demonstration is lost If it were possible for Errors to come in some other Way or for Persons to misapprehend the Doctrine delivered then it is not possible for us by this Way to be convinced they could not err The latter I have already spoken to I shall now shew that there were some other ways that Errors might come in And here I shall pass over the Common Infirmities of Human Nature which I think Oral Tradition can never Cure and which leave Men always lyable to Error but I shall name some more particular Ways of introducing them I. By the Authority of False Teachers And for this I shall not run back to the False Apostles and Seducers in the Apostles times and afterwards but I shall bring a present Instance in the Church of Rome and that is of Michael de Molinos a Person solemnly condemned at Rome Aug. 28. of this Year for 68 Propositions taken out of his Books and owned by himself as the Decree saith which are there said to be Heretical Erroneous Blasphemous Offensive Rash Seditious and contrary to Christian Discipline This Man is said to have had Thousands of Disciples in Italy in the very Heart of the Traditionary Church Now I desire J. S. to inform me If Tradition be Infallible and that be the Way followed in the Church of Rome how it was possible for such Multitudes to be deceived in Matters of such Consequence To say they were not deceived is to expose the Authority of the Guides of the Church of Rome to the greatest Contempt To say they were deceived is to own That notwithstanding Tradition a single Priest may gain such Authority as to deceive Thousands and where lies then the Infallibility of Tradition II. By Enthusiasm or a Pretence to Immediate Revelation For this I shall not produce the Old Instances in Ecclesiastical History as of Montanus Asclepiades Theodotus Manichaeus Arius AEtius c. who all pretended to Revelations for their particular Opinions But I shall keep to the late Instance of Molinos who asserts That the Perfection of a Christian State lies in a Simple Pure Infused and Perfect Contemplation above the Vse of Ratiocination or Discursive Prayer and that in order to this nothing is so necessary as Self-annihilation This Doctrine is now condemned at Rome but how came it into the Church Did not they believe the same to Day which they did Yesterday
that none are saved but Metaphysical Speculators that perch upon the specifick Nature of Things and dig into the Intrinsecal Grounds of Truth If this be his Opinion How few can be saved But if Salvation be the End the Means must be suitable to the Capacity of Mankind and I do not think the Intrinsecal Grounds of Truth are so But aftey all he saith that I stifle any further talk of the Certainty of Protestent Faith. How can that be when I own no Protestant Faith but what is contained in Scripture or may be deduced from it according to the Sixth Article of our Church I am not conscious to myself of any Art in the matter which he charges me with and he saith I avoid what cannot be performed What is that To make out that Protestants are absolutely certain that they now hold all the same Doctrine that was taught by Christ and his Apostles If all that Doctrine be contained in Scripture and they hold the Scripture by Grounds of Absolute Certainty then Protestants must be certain that they hold all the same Doctrine that was taught by Christ and his Apostles Afterwards Mr. S. starts something that comes nearer to the business which is that Certainty of Faith and Certainty of Scripture are two things For those who have as much Certainty of Scripture as we may have not only an Vncertain but a Wrong Faith and therefore I am concerned to shew not only that Protestants have Certainty of their Rule but of the Faith which they pretend to have from that Rule That which I am now upon is to settle the true State of the Controversie about the Certainty of Faith. In the Conference my first Answer was that We are absolutely Certain that we now hold all the same Doctrine that was taught by Christ and his Apostles And when the Question was asked By what Certain Rule do we hold it I answer'd By the Divine Revelation contained in the Writings of the New Testament So that the Certainty of Scripture was that which I was obliged to answer to Now comes J. S. and he finds fault with Mr. G's management because he asked Questions about the Certainty of the Rule whereas he ought to have gone another Way to work So that now Mr. G. is given up and a New Controversie is begun upon other Grounds and the Words which I used with Respect to the Rule are applied to particular Doctrines He saith The Certainty of Scripture was not the Point for which the Conference was How comes he to know better than Mr. G. unless he directed the Point and Mr. G. mistook and lost it in the Management But I am now bound to manifest that Protestants have Absolute Certainty not only of the Scripture as the Rule but of the Faith they have from that Rule or else to own that I cannot It seems Mr. G's good Nature betray'd him when he asked Questions about the Rule of Faith and so the main Point was lost Yet methinks it was not meer good Nature in Mr. G. For when we are asked about the Grounds and Certainty of our Faith how is it possible we should answer more pertinently than to assign the Rule of our Faith And we declare it to be the Scripture by which we judge what we are to believe and what not And therefore if any ask us of the Matter of our Faith we must answer It is whatever God hath revealed in the Scripture which is our Rule If they ask us How we come to know these Books to be written by such Persons we say It is by the Vniversal Tradition of the Christian Churches If they ask us Why we believe the Doctrine contained in those Books then our Answer is From the Divine Testimonies which make us certain that it came from God. And thus we answer both to that which is called the Material and Formal Object of Faith and if we are absolutely Certain of these we must be so of our Faith. If we ask a Jew about the Certainty of his Faith he saith he is Certain of it because all his Faith is contained in the Books of Moses and he is well assured they were written by Divine Inspiration If we ask a Mahometan of his Faith his Answer is That his Faith is contained in the Alcoran and by proving that he proves the Certainty of his Faith and if that be disproved the Certainty of it is overthrown Those who resolve their Faith into a Written Rule must go thither when Questions are asked them about the Certainty of their Faith. For if I believe every thing in it and nothing but what is in it there lies my Faith and the Certainty of it depends upon the Certainty of my Rule But I must shew the Certainty of the Faith of Protestants as it is pretended to be taken from the Rule Not certainly when the Question is asked about the entire Object of our Faith or when we are to shew how we hold all the same Doctrine that was taught by Christ and his Apostles for the word All makes it necessary for us to Assign our Rule wherein that All is contained If he ask us of the Certainty of any particular Point of our Faith then we are to make it out that this is contained in our Rule and our Certainty is according to the Evidence we are able to produce for it For the Case is not the same as to particular Points of Faith with that of the General Grounds of the Certainty of Faith. A Jew firmly believes all that is contained in the Books of Moses and with the highest Degree of Certainty but whether the Resurrection can be proved certainly from those Books is a particular Point and he may have Absolute Certainty of all contained in those Books though he may not have it as to such a Particular Point And when we come to Particular Points their Case is not only different from the General Rule of Faith but such Points are very different both among themselves and as to the Certainty of them For 1 There are some Points of Faith which were necessary to be Revealed because they were necessary to be Believed in order to our Salvation by Jesus Christ. For as Mr. S. saith Salvation is the thing of greatest Importance and therefore on Supposition that it is to be by Jesus Christ the Nature of the thing requires that we have a firm and established Faith in him And of these Points of Faith the Church hath given a Summary in the Creeds which were proposed to those who were to be Baptized and not only St. Augustin but Aquinas saith these were taken out of Scripture and the Certainty of them to us doth depend not upon the Authority of the Church proposing them but the Evidence of Scripture for them which is very much confirmed to us by the Concurrent Testimony of the Christian Church in all Ages from the Apostles times i. e. as to the main Articles for that there
Which are there received as in the Lump and if we receive the Book which contains all we must by the same Authority receive all contained in it As if a Purse be left to a Man by his Fathers Will full of Gold and Silver and this by the Executors be declared to contain all the Gold and Silver his Father left him they who deliver this Purse to him from the Executors do certainly deliver to him all the Gold and Silver left him by his Father But if he suspects there was both Gold and Silver left him by his Father which was not in that Purse then he must call in Question the Integrity of the Executors who declared that all was contained therein This is now the Case of the Christian Church as to all Divine Truths which respect Mens Salvation the Primitive Church who answer to the Executors in the other Case did unanimously declare that all such Truths were undoubtedly contained in the Written Word Although therefore there may be a real Difference in the nature of the Doctrines therein contained as there is between Gold and Silver yet he that receives all must receive one as well as the other and the Matters of Salvation being of greatest Moment they that receive the whole Will of God upon Grounds of Certainty must be assured that therein they receive all Matters necessary to our Salvation Never was any Purse so rifled as this is by J. S. he examines not only the Coin in it but the very Strings and Linings of it He is a dreadful Man at Ransacking a Metaphor He tells me My Similitude is so far from running on four Legs that it is in many regards lame on the right and indeed only foot it ought to stand on and which is worse perhaps against my self The sum of it amounts to this that because Scripture contains all and Protestants have Scripture therefore they have all A strange kind of Discourse As if because they have it in a Book therefore they have it in their Minds and Souls in which and no where else Faith is to reside But was not the Question put whether we had All the Points of Faith which our Saviour taught And how could I answer a Question about All but by shewing where we had All If All the Doctrine of Christ be there we must be certain we have all if we have the Scripture which contains all But it is not enough to have it in a Book I grant it But still if you ask where all my Faith is contained I must refer you to that Book which contains All. For I profess to believe every thing there and nothing as a Point of Faith but what is there We do not pretend that it is enough for Persons to say their Faith is in such a Book but we grant that they ought to read and search and actually believe what ever they find in that Book but still all Points are not equally necessary to all Persons that are therein contained but all such as are necessary to Salvation lie there open to the Capacities of all who desire to know them Now this is one of the things J. S. finds fault with this similitude of a Purse for viz. That People think it is an easie thing to open and as easie to come at the Sense of Scripture as to take Money out of a Purse 'T is but plucking the Strings and the Deed is done And is this any Disparagement to a Rule of Faith to be plain and easie If it were not so it could not be a Rule of Faith for all Persons We do not say that any Person by opening the Scriptures may presently attain to the Certain Sense of all Places of Scripture but that which I assert is That no Man who sets himself to read and consider the Scriptures as he ought and prays for Wisdom from God shall miss of knowing all things necessary to his Salvation But Mr. S. is for mending the Similitude and truly he doth it after an extraordinary manner He will allow the Scripture to be a Purse provided the Purses Mouth were tied up with a Knot of such a mysterious contrivance that none could open it but those who knew the Mind of the Bequeather and that the Church to which it was left as a Legacy had knowledge of his Mind and so could open it whilst Others only perplexed themselves more while they went about it The Point then between Us is whether the Scripture were left only to the Church to Interpret it to the People in all Points or whether it were intended for the general good of the whole Church so as thereby to direct themselves in their Way to Heaven and consequently whether it may not be opened and understood by all Persons in Matters that are necessary to their Salvation One would think by the Church of Romes management of the Scripture keeping it so much out of the Peoples hands and talking so much of the Danger and Mischief that comes by it that they did esteem it just as the Old Romans did the Sybillin Oracles which were to be kept up from the view of the People and only to be consulted in Cases of great Difficulty and no farther Questions were to be asked but what the Keepers of them declared to be their meaning was to be so received without any farther Examination And this is the Sense of the Politicians of that Church concerning the Scripture But when they have written like Divines and have been driven to state the Controversie truly they have been forced to such Concessions as have overthrown the Political Hypothesis For I. They cannot deny that the Scripture was designed to be a Certain and Infallible Rule of Faith to all This Bellarmin proves in the beginning of his Controversies where he shews at large That the Law was the Rule in the Old Testament To the Law and to the Testimony Blessed are they that search thy Commandments c. That in the New Testament Christ proves his Doctrine by the Scriptures and refers the Pharisees to the Scriptures and confuted the Sadduces out of them That the Apostles direct Christians to honour and esteem and to rely upon them And then he proves that a Rule of Faith must be Certain and Known and for the Scriptures he saith Nihil est Notius nihil Certius Nothing is more Known nothing more Certain How can this be if there be such Mystical Knots which tye it together that none but the Church-Guides can unloose How can this then ever be so Known as to be a Rule of Faith to the People And not meerly a Rule but a most Certain and Safe Rule Which is the greatest Non-sense in the World if it cannot be understood by those who are to make it their Rule They may as well say That Algebra was a Rule for Masons and Carpenters and a Jacob's Staff for a Taylor 's Measure But Mr. S. hath beaten his Brains so long about Rules
suspect any Fraud or Design in the Alterations that appear in the Manuscript Copies And as to Translations that have been made among us the People who are not able to examin them by the Originals have no Reason to suspect them as to any Matter of Faith. Not meerly from the Skill and Integrity of the Persons and the Care that hath been taken but because it was so much the Concernment of some Men to have lessen'd the Credit of our Translations as much as was possible and they have not been able to produce any thing that might shake the Faith of a considering Man. If it be said after all This is but Human Faith and not Divine I answer IV. We must be careful to distinguish the Certainty of Human and Divine Faith in this Matter We do not pretend that we have an Absolute Divine Certainty of things that are only capable of Human Certainty and we do not say that we have only Human Certainty of things capable of Divine Certainty If the Question be put concerning the Objects of Divine Faith then we do answer That we have a Divine Certainty of them from those things which are the proper Evidence of Divine Revelation We believe the Doctrine of Christ with a Divine Faith because it was confirmed by Miracles and Prophecies We believe the New Testament to be written by the Holy Spirit because the Promise of the Spirit was fulfilled upon them and especially in a thing of so great Concernment to the whole Christian Church But if the Question be asked only concerning a Matter of Fact as whether the Books that bear such Names were written by the Persons whose Names they bear then I can have no greater Certainty than belongs to a Matter of Fact but then it is so circumstantiated that I have a greater and more absolute Certainty as to this then any other Matter of Fact which wants the Proofs that this hath And if as to Books and Copies and Translations we have as high a Certainty as the thing is capable of it is madness to expect and require more For where there is but a Human Testimony there cannot be the Certainty of Divine Faith which must not only have a Divine Object but must rest on a Divine Testimony but where the Testimony is Human the Certainty must be such as relates to the highest of that kind But still such a Faith may have Absolute Certainty of its kind and although in regard of its Testimony it be Human Faith yet in regard both of its Object its inward Cause and its Effects it may be truly called Divine IX The last Objection is concerning the Number of Canonical Books Pray satisfie us saith Mr. S. about this exact Number of Books and how many will just serve turn One would think by his Objections J. S. were preparing Matter for the Critical History of the New Testament he seems so concerned to lessen the Authority of it But I shall Answer the Objections he offers 1. There may have been Books lost that were written by Persons divinely inspir'd and we have no unanimous Consent of the Christian Church that there is none lost and those Books might contain Matters different from or to be superadded to the Canon we have now and without this we can have no Certainty that the Books we have now contained all the Divine Revelations I Answer I. If we have the unanimous Consent of the Christian Church that we have the Canon of the New Testament entire then we have their Consent that there is no Book written by Divine Inspiration lost And this appears by the Contest in the IV. Century about the just Number of the Canonical Books The Churches then differ'd about some Books not then Universally receiv'd as the Apocalypse in some and the Epistle to the Hebrews in others Which shews that the Churches were then so solicitous to preserve any Books that appear'd to be written by Persons Inspir'd that although these did then want Universal Consent yet they were still kept and read and dispers'd till upon further Examination they came to be Universally read It is not therefore in the least probable they should suffer any Apostolical Writings to be lost II. This is to charge the Christian Church with so gross a Neglect as overthrows the force of all his Arguments for Tradition For we must suppose an Apostolical Writing sent to some Church by Direction of the Holy Spirit and yet that Church be so notoriously careless as to lose a Book containing in it many Points of Faith now I appeal to any one of common Sense whether he could trust their Word for Matters of Faith who could be so negligent as to lose a great many Points of Faith at once And the more such a Book were dispersed the Argument is still stronger against Tradition Besides this shews the great Insufficiency of Oral Tradition if these Points of Faith are lost because such a Book was lost wherein they were contained If Tradition had been so effectual a Means of Conveying Matters of Faith it should have appear'd in such a Case viz. in preserving such Matters of Faith though the Books were lost But we find nothing like this so much as pretended Although it were much easier pretended than proved III. This is to suppose the Providence of God not to be immediately concerned in preserving Books written by Divine Inspiration Mr. S. doth really suppose that Books written by Divine Inspiration may have been lost or at least that we cannot prove that they are not But we think it a considerable Proof that they could not because the Divine Providence doth so immediately concern it self in preserving that which tends so much to the Good of his Church If a Hair doth not fall from our Heads nor a Sparrow fall on the Ground without the Providence of God as our Saviour affirms is it not very unreasonable to suppose that a Divine Book written for the Benefit of the Christian Church should be wholly lost Especially considering the extraordinary Care the first Christians took in Times of the greatest Persecutions to preserve the Scriptures and no force or violence could extort them out of their hands On Mr. S's Supposition it was no hard Matter for a Book of Scripture to be lost viz. if the several Books had been committed to the Custody of some Men in Trust for the whole Church but if we consider the things as they really were it will appear hardly possible For the Books were not kept up at first in a few hands but dispersed abroad in multitudes of Copies and received with mighty Veneration both on the Account of the Authors of them and the Matters contained in them They were read both in Publick and in Private they heard them in their Assemblies and they made them their constant Imployment at home they were their Rule of Life as well as of Faith. And how is it possible to suppose any Book so received so