come to pass afterwards is fit for them only to believe that can believe that the World was made by a casual hit of Atoms To name these things is enough to confute them 2. All that can be farther desired is to be well assured that these Prophecies were not forged by the followers of Jesus but that they were indeed contained in the Ancient Writings that had been delivered down to the Jews of our Saviour's time by their Ancestors and the constant testimony of the Jews themselves who were most bitter enemies to Jesus and to his Doctrine were enough to satisfie us in this point 4ly And Lastly Whereas these Predictions are said to be a more sure word of Prophecy the meaning is this that they are a more convincing Testimony to Jesus than any other taken by its self they are indeed a more permanent Testimony and withal less liable to Cavil and Objection I cannot stand to shew this by making particular comparisons but shall only observe That Prophecy includes all other Testimonies and adds strength to every one of them It comprehends the Miracles of Jesus and of his Apostles his resurrection and ascension the descent of the Holy Ghost and the excellency of his Doctrine because these were all foretold It includes all other proofs as well as the thing proved and those proofs are the more convincing because they also had been foretold by the Prophets From all this it follows That allowing the Scripture that Tradition which other good Histories have and which they have more of than any other Ancient Writings in the world then the Prophecies of the Old Testament and the accomplishment of them in the New do prove the Divine Authority of the Scriptures and this without the help of the Churches Authority and well is it for the Christian Religion that the Scriptures may be proved without the Authority of the Church for otherwise Christianity must never look an Infidel in the face since the Church hath no Authority at all till we are assured of the truth of the Scriptures themselves And I will make bold to add That when all those objections against the Authority of the Old Testament from the time wherein it was put into this form of Books from the light oversights of Transcribers from various readings and all the cavils upon any part of it are put together the word of Prophecy which runs through it all will bear all this reckoning and still remain an invincible argument that the first Authors were inspired that the Prophecy came not in Old time by the will of man but that holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost Well therefore might St. Peter commend the Jewish Converts for taking heed to the Word of Prophecy since this was the way to come to a well-grounded Faith indeed and to grow every day to greater assurance and stedfastness therein and for the same reason let us I beseech you be exhorted to like diligence in conversing with the Holy Scriptures that our minds may be more enlightned with the knowledge of Divine truth and that every doubt if any there be that shakes our Faith may be removed And this Exhortation is so needful that I shall shew that there is no good reason in their objection against it who have taken a great deal of pains to exclude all but the Clergy and those that have special license from reading the Scriptures the sum of what they say is this That the promiscuous Liberty of reading the Scriptures leads the People into pride and self-conceit makes them insolent and ungovernable and ready to throw off all Respect to their lawful Guides That almost all Heresies have proceeded from Misinterpretation of Scripture and that there are so many obscure and difficult places in the Old and New Testament that to translate the Bible into Vulgar Tongues and to encourage the People to read it is to betray them into the danger of infinite errors which they are likely enough to fall into by mistaking the sence of the holy Text which therefore is to be kept out of the hands of the Laity as we would keep Children from medling with edged Tools and lay Swords out of mad-men's way Now if this charge be true the Bible is a very dangerous Book if it be not true there is some other reason doubtless why they that pretend this have no kindness for the Bible I shall omit several advantages that may be taken against this flourish because I think it may be shown very briefly that it pretends things that do by no means hang well together that it takes things for granted that are not true and that it concludes as strongly against the Scriptures being read by the Clergy as by the Laity It pretends some things that do not hang well together On the one side they tell us that the liberty of reading the Bible is apt to make the People throw off all dependance upon the Priest as to instruction on the other side that there are obscure and difficult passages in it by mistaking the true sense of which they will be led into Heresie and consequently into the way of Damnation Now indeed the Scriptures say this of themselves that there are diverse things hard to be understood in them which ignorant and unstable men have wrested to their own destruction But if this be true the best way to keep the People in modest dependance upon the instruction of their Spiritual Guides is to lay the Bible before them and not to keep it from them since there cannot be a more convincing Argument of the necessity of attending to their Pastors in order to farther Instruction than the several difficulties that occur in the Scriptures and the warnings that the Scriptures themselves have given of the danger that unlearned and unstable men are in of wresting them to their own destruction If it be said that experience shews the contrary and that neither this nor any other argument can make People modest if they are geneally permitted to have the Scriptures I add 2. That this arguing takes things for granted which are not true in point of fact all the Faithful anciently had the Scriptures but we find little complaint by the Bishops and Clergy then of the Wantonness and Insolence of the People so little in comparison of the frequent and earnest exhortations that all would diligently Read the Scriptures that it may be said to be none at all Christian People that had been trained up in the first Rudiments of the Faith were not only allowed then but required to Read the Bible and yet they modestly attended upon their Spiritual Guides for farther Instruction out of the Bible And therefore if some men in later Ages have grosly Misinterpreted the Scriptures and would not be set right by those that had more skill to Interpret them this doth not prove that the reading of the Scriptures makes the People ungovernable for then it must always have
now having given you this Account of the State of the Church of Pergamos as it was represented by our Lord himself I am much mistaken if from this Authority we may not be able to justifie the Reformation of the Church of England against the most specious and popular Exceptions which they of Rome make against our Reformation And this I shall endeavour to do under these three heads First That in this Church whilst it was in Communion with and Subjection to the Church of Rome there were notorious Abuses and Errours both in Doctrine and Worship added to the Profession of the Common Faith. Secondly That upon this Supposition we might and ought to reform our selves as we have done Thirdly That the main Objections which they of the Roman Church do bring and whereby they seek to stagger those of our Communion and to fright them into their own may by this instance of the Message of Christ to the Church of Pergamos be demonstrated to be vain and fallacious and therefore by no means fit to remove us from our stedfastness First That in this Church as in all others that were in Communion with the Church of Rome there were notorious Abuses and Errours introduced into the Faith and Worship of Christians And first as in the Church of Pergamos so in these Churches there were Doctrines and Practices leading to Idolatry I wish that were all but it is not all for Idolatry it self if it be possible for us to know what it is was practised and that practice not only connived at but encouraged and commanded and of this sort were the practices of Adoring the Host Praying to Saints to dead Men and Women and Worshipping of Images contrary to the whole tenor of the Scripture providing that we should worship the Lord our God and that him only we should serve And it is very observable that when we urge them with these things they defend themselves from Idolatry by the use of such distinctions as 't is impossible for the common People to save themselves by if indeed these distinctions would do the business As for Doctrines tending to licenciousness of Life and Manners what can be more evidently such than the easie terms upon which they promised forgiveness of sins and security from Hell Confession to a Priest with attrition being reckoned sufficient to receive a Pretorial Absolution which shall be valid in Heaven as also the invention of Purgatory and the Power of the Church to shorten the pains of it by Indulgences by applying the treasure of the Churches Merits by Masses and Prayers with a great many abuses of this nature And besides all these what shall we say to their Doctrine of Transubstantiation their Half Communion their Latin Service their Sacrifice of the Mass for which there is no President or Rule in the Scriptures or in Antiquity but plain and full consent there is both of the one and of the other against them But now to all this they make one general Reply and tell us that the Church meaning the Roman Church hath not erred in these points because she cannot err at all for she is the Mother and Mistriss of all Churches and the Standard of Catholick Unity and Faith she is that One Catholick Church which cannot fail to which Christ has promised his perpetual Presence and Assistance that the gates of Hell shall never prevail against her and of which St. Paul said that she is the pillar and ground of the Truth In a word that whatsoever is by her defined is infallibly true and therefore that these Doctrines and Practices are neither damnable errors and sins nor errors and sins at all Now if indeed such promises were made to that Church we should be brought into a very great strait and not very well know whether we should believe the Scripture speaking against the Doctrines and Practices imposed by that Church or the Scripture speaking to us to believe and do as that Church requires But first of all we say that whatsoever Promises were made to the Catholick Church they do not belong only to the Church of Rome which is but a part of it and that these Promises that the gates of Hell should not prevail against the Church and that Christ would be with his Church to the end of the world amounted to no more than this that she should be preserved from so much error as would utterly destroy the Being of a Church not from all Error whatsoever but that no Promise in particular was made to the Church of Rome so much as to secure her from fundamental Errors utterly destructive of the Being of a Church especially since St. Paul writing to the Church of Rome plainly supposes that it was possible for them to be quite cut off from the Body of Christ Rom. 11.21 22. where speaking of the rejection of the Jews he hath these words For if God spared not the natural branches take heed lest he also spare not thee Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God on them which fell severity but towards thee goodness if thou continue in his goodness otherwise thou also shalt be cut off Which had been vain words if it had been impossible by virtue of any Priviledge conferred upon the See of Peter for the Church of Rome not to continue in God's goodness or it be an infallible truth that she shall not be cut off We do what we can to find the Infallibility of the Roman Church in the Scriptures but if we cannot find it there is much more reason to conclude that she hath erred because some of her Doctrines and Practices do seem to us apparently to contradict the Scripture than to believe she is infallible because she says so of her self But to this they say that we mis-interpret those Scriptures which seem to condemn what they profess and practise and in short that we cannot arrive to certainty of the true sence of Scripture without the Testimony of an Infallible Interpreter which the Church is Well for the present I will suppose this but then this will be the consequence of the Supposition that 't is impossible for that Church ever to convince me or any reasonable man of her own Infallibility by the Scriptures For when she tells me that Christ hath said Thou art Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it and that the Church is the pillar and ground of truth and Lo I am with you alway even unto the end of the world she supposes that the Promise of Infallibility to her self is so plainly made that every man who has a mind to understand the truth may be certain of the true sence of the words But if I may arrive at a certain sence of these Scriptures without the Testimony of an Infallible Interpreter then why may I not be as certain of the sence of other Texts as plain as these without such an Interpreter It
reasonable so it is a safe Rule upon this account that if it be followed it will secure us from the greatest Offences as those Opinions and Practices are which are evidently contrary to God's Word 2. Let us keep close to the Ancient Creeds which our Church faithfully delivers for no Man has yet been so bold as to offer the least doubt against that nay all that we are challenged for is that we do not receive those additions to the Creed which in comparison were but of Yesterday These Ancient Forms of confessing the Faith shew what Articles of meer Belief were thought by the Primitive Church necessary to be known and held by all And because the Faith was at once delivered to the Saints no more can be necessary now than was then Now if we observe that the Profession of this Faith is sufficient to make a Christian or a Member of the Church we shall be the better guarded against all erroneous Doctrines which are propounded to us by any Party under the Notion of Necessary Truths For whilst we are sure we profess all that was thought necessary at first we shall be at ease and feel no disturbance in examining what is moreover propounded and determining to receive it if it has Authority from the Scriptures and to reject it if it has none much more if it be contrary thereunto Which Rule I hope you perceive is to take place in judging what you are to believe not in judging whatsoever is to be done for even in the Worship of God there are several things of an indifferent Nature for which there is no particular Precept in the Scripture and in which we may be and ought to be concluded by the Custom of our Church and the Will of our Superiours And he cannot miscarry greatly but is in great measure secured from the mischief of Offences who in matters of Faith will be determined by nothing less than Divine Authority and who in matters of external Order which are no way determined by the Authority of the Scriptures is still ready to be concluded by the Authority of Man. But then 3. Let us keep our selves always in the proper disposition and preparation to judge and conclude aright for our selves i. e. by Sincerity which consists chiefly in a vehement desire to understand the Truth and to do our Duty We must lay our Hands upon this that we will be honest and good and then we shall use all good Rules well to be sure we shall not be a whit the more inclined to embrace Doctrines for our Belief or Practice because they make for our worldly and carnal Interests And this goes a great way to enable men to distinguish between Truth and Error Good and Evil. Offences from without would not stumble us if we were not weakned and blinded by the Offence of a vitious disposition within our selves And therefore our Saviour having given warning against the former in the words of the Text doth in the very next words proceed to direct us how to secure our selves against them and that by preventing the latter Wherefore says he if thy right hand or foot offend thee cut them off And if thine eye offend thee pluck it out and cast it from thee That is subdue thy dearest Lusts and if there be any one that is harder to part with than the rest and is grown a part of thy self though it cost thee as much pain to divide thy self from it as it would to cut off thine hand or pull out thine eye for that very reason do thou mortifie it in the first place For when the World will be full of Offences i. e. encouragements to Sin and of deceitful Errors if thou also art an Offence to thy self for want of a sincere and honest heart and purifying thy mind from worldly and carnal Lusts thou wilt not be able to withstand the Arts and Force of outward Temptations Now the way to gain this Honest Mind is to fix our thoughts steadfastly upon the Life to come which is the means our Saviour directs to the use of in this place too And if thine eye offend thee pluck it out for it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye rather than to be cast into Hell-fire Lastly Let all our other care be begun continued and ended in earnest Prayer to God that he would enlighten the eyes of our minds and purifie our intentions and lead us in the right way and keep us in it by his Grace For the effectual fervent Prayer of a righteous man availeth much for another but much more for himself and most of all when he asketh the best things when he asketh those things that please God best a Mind purified from worldly Lusts and an Understanding enlightned with the knowledge of the Truth He that doth these things shall never fall The Fourth Sermon MATTH XXVI 41. Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation The spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak IN these words are contained an Exhortation to watch and pray that we enter not into temptation and a Reason upon which the Exhortation is made The spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak In the Exhortation we may observe a Direction to the use of means watch and pray and then the end why we should do so That we enter not into temptation As to the means watching and praying the use of them both supposes a great concern for the event For if I am not only to be careful my self but to get all the help I can nay if I am to go to the God of Heaven and Earth for his help and to seek it constantly to be sure as the end I aim at ought not to be in it self trivial so neither ought I to be trivially affected with it A great concern for the end is supposed in the use of such means as Watchfulness and Prayer But more particularly as to watching That signifies such a care of our selves as supposes danger and that was the case of the Disciples to whom the Exhortation was immediately given Our Saviour was now preparing them for his approaching Passion he would therefore have them consider before-hand what a terrible Temptation it would be to see their own Master forsaken and contemned and almost every body ashamed or afraid to own him he would have them reflect upon their own Infirmities and examine their own Hearts and to consider whether they were likely to hold out against such a Temptation as was coming upon them He would have them furnish their minds with all the Powers of Faith with all the Reasons of Constancy which they might infer from the Holy Doctrine he had taught them they were now to consider the value of their Souls the vanity of the World the promise of Everlasting Life and what-ever they had learnt from Jesus which was proper to confirm them in that good mind they were in at present he would have them to
For though it was something a nice and elaborate business to observe all the Traditions yet this was much more grateful not only to fancy but to flesh and blood than to observe the Rules of true Piety by keeping the Commandments of God For instance though it was something troublesome to be washing at every turn yet if this would keep a man's mind clean it was a much easier care than to keep the heart pure v. 19. from evil thoughts murders adulteries fornications thefts false-witnessings and evil speakings which according to our Saviour's Doctrine were the things that defile the man v. 20. How was it possible but that People should be fond of believing such a conclusion as this whosoever lives in the Land of Israel and eateth his Meat in cleanness and speaks in the Holy Tongue and Morning and Evening says over his Phylacteries let him never doubt but he shall obtain Life in the World to come This was the Doctrine of the Masters and certainly they must be very unreasonable People that could not be content to go to Heaven upon such terms as these if they could be made such Fools as to believe it And truly Men are very apt to hearken to such Follies because they save them the labour of being truly good No wonder therefore that the Scribes were so universally believed and obeyed by the People inasmuch as they undertook to carry them all to Heaven infallibly by such slight and cheap performances as were required by their Tradition And in such a case as this it would cost more than ordinary pains to undeceive them our Saviour himself being constrained to repeat his Instructions over and over again to his Disciples to get these Fancies out of their heads And thus much concerning the nature of that Charge which the Pharises laid against our Lord's Disciples and concerning that which is implyed in it the zeal of the Priests and the Scribes for their Traditions and the fondness of the People that were addicted to them I proceed now to the 2. Point And that is the Answer which our Saviour made to this Charge viz. Why do ye also transgress the Commandment of God by your Tradition Which doth of itself appear to be a plain and wise way of answering their bold Question because it turned the difficulty upon them and that a thousand times a greater difficulty to say if they could by what Authority they advanced their Traditions against the Law of God and since they thought it was so heinous a fault in the Disciples not to observe their Traditions to purge themselves if they were able of a notorious fault in keeping their Traditions and teaching them to others inasmuch as their Traditions could not be kept without transgressing the commandment of God. Which general Charge our Saviour makes good also by one particular inference so plain that there was no fencing against it For God says he commanded saying Honour thy Father and thy Mother and he that curseth Father or Mother let him die the death But ye say whosoever shall say to his Father or his Mother it is a gift by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me and honour not his Father and his Mother he shall be free thus have you made the Commandment of God of none effect by your Tradition The Tradition was this that if a man had vowed never to relieve or to give any thing to such or such a Person though it were his Father or his Mother he was held by his Vow and if afterwards he should change his mind and be willing to relieve his Parents and in order thereunto go to the Priests to be dispensed with and absolved of his Vow the Priests should challenge all that he now designed to relieve his Parents withal but of his Vow he could not be released and the Money was put into the Treasury of the Temple so that if his Father or Mother came afterwards to him and asked an Alms of him he might say It is Corban or devoted to the Service of the Temple whatsoever I can have a mind to give thee and in St. Mark our Saviour concludes And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his Father or his Mother For they held him to his Vow and whatever Money he could be willing to give them afterwards being under the Religion of a Vow it became Sacred and was to go to the Temple In which most wicked Tradition they had their Ends for the Wealth of the Treasury being partly employed in the Reparation of the Temple partly for the Relief of the Poor partly for the enriching of the Priests and Levites the Pharises who were no small part of the Priests had their share in all that was brought into the Treasury By this Traditionary Doctrine and Practice they had eluded a Law of God not of lesser moment but of great moment that the transgression of it was capital and such a Law too as the light of Nature shews no less than the written word of God and therefore well might our Saviour Conclude Thus have ye made the Commandment of God of none effect by your Tradition But if it be now asked why our Saviour did not keep to that instance which the Pharises produced and answer to that but rather chose another instance The account of this I think very easie viz. That he saw it was necessary to run them down by one of the most undeniable instances that could be imagined of their contradicting the Law of God by their Traditions for the boldness of the Pharises and Priests was so excessive and the fondness of the People about these Traditions was so hard to be broken that it was necessary to make way for their conviction by such an argument as must needs make some impression upon them And when he had made an end of that he did not forget to speak directly to the point they had begun withal for ver 10. we find that he called the multitude and said unto them Hear and understand not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a Man but that which cometh out of the Mouth defileth a Man that is do not suffer your selves to be deluded by these confident Men who use their Authority to that degree as to carry you under a pretence of keeping their Traditions to the transgression of the plainest Commandments of God as I have evidently shewn in the case of the Fifth Commandment and now be willing to be instructed in that other point of pretended Tradition which they blame my Disciples for not observing and know that no Food whatsoever is unclean or unlawful in its own nature to be used nor can any Man's touch make it so nor can any of these things defile a Man's Conscience but a Man's Conscience is defiled by that which comes from his heart by evil thoughts by evil words and by actions contrary to the Command of God such as murders and adulteries c. These are the things
that defile a man but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man i. e. doth not by any means affect his Soul or his Conscience for in this respect he is neither better for washing nor worse for letting it alone and to think otherwise is a Superstition hurtful to your selves and dishonourable to God and of very bad consequence though it be not so impudent and notorious an abuse as the making void of God's Law by the other leud Tradition that I mentioned before It is to this purpose that we are to understand the method and design of our Saviour's Discourse in this place in answer to the Objection of the Pharises brought against the Disciples From which answer there are some things to be gathered well worth our observation 1. That it is sufficient to overthrow the Authority of a pretended Tradition that it is contrary to the Commandment of God. 2. That if there be one Traditionary Doctrine that notoriously contradicts the Law of God that one instance is sufficient to overturn the credit of that Tradition which pretends to deliver unwritten Doctrines of equal Authority with those that are written 3. That the universal consent of some one Age or more that such and such Doctrines were delivered by word of mouth many Ages before is no argument that they were so delivered 4. That we have a great reason to stick to the word of God delivered to us in the Scriptures and to examine all Doctrines and Rules which are said to be necessary to Salvation by that Rule and to reject the Authority of unwritten Traditions 1. That it is sufficient to overthrow the Authority of a pretended Tradition that it is contrary to the Commandment of God For if when Tradition is pretended for any Doctrine or Practice it be not enough to shew that the same Doctrine or Practice is inconsistent with what is plainly required in the Scriptures which are acknowledged by all to contain the word of God I say if this be not enough then our Saviour used an insufficient Argument against the pretended Tradition of not suffering the Son that was under a Vow of the contrary to relieve his Father or Mother that it made void the Commandment of God. But doubtless our Saviour was so far from using a bad Argument that he used the best and most convincing of all And truly if we did not in this case consider our Saviour's Authority yet it must be a monstrous prejudice that keeps any Man from discerning the strength of this Argument against the Authority of any unwritten Doctrine that it is contrary to what is written for nothing is more certain than that Contradictions cannot be true and yet they must be true if that Doctrine for which unwritten Tradition is pretended can be of God though it contradicts the written Tradition which is by all acknowledged to be Divine But as plain as this argument is yet it is very well for us that we find our blessed Saviour giving such Authority to it because there are Christians in the World bearing up themselves upon the Tradition of the Church that are loth to admit this Argument which we have no cause to be amazed at because it is an utter Confutation of all their pretences We charge them with having brought into the Church new Articles of Faith and new Doctrines of Worship which are not only very different from what was taught at first by Christ and his Apostles but some of them contrary thereunto as we can shew them out of the Scriptures But this way of proceeding doth by no means content them and they insist upon it that the Cause may be tryed otherwise For say they You acknowledge that our Church was once a pure Church and taught the Gospel sincerely but if as you say she departed from the pure Faith and Worship which the Apostles left it is impossible but this must have been very notorious because it could not have been done without opposition and resistance from some that must needs observe it Tell us therefore when were these new and false Doctrines introduced Who were the Men that brought them in Who were the first that made the discovery What Council condemned them after they were discovered For if none of these things can be shewn it is absurd to think that any such alteration should have been as you say Which reasoning amounts to thus much that it is impossible we can be sure that in the compass of a thousand Years there was a great alteration happened in the state of Religion unless withal we can tell how it came about and just when it came about the precise time and the punctual manner and circumstances thereof which is just as if a Man almost desperately sick of a Disease that had been for some Years growing upon him should prove to his Friend that he is as well as ever he was in his Life for says he You know I was well once and if I am now so ill as you say pray shew me the time when this Disease first happened the manner how and what Physitians were called about me which kind of arguing would certainly prove no more than that the Disease had taken his head When the Servants came and told their Lord that the tares came up with the wheat it was excusable in them to say We sowed good seed whence hath it these tares But when their Master told them An enemy hath done this if they had disputed and told him It was impossible there should be any Tares at all because he could not tell punctually that very Night when they were sown and who the Persons were that took the malicious pains to sow them then they had been very inexcusable thus to renounce their own certain knowledge for the sake of a vain Speculation Now we are very sure that the Apostles did at first sow nothing in the Church but good and true Doctrine Our Fathers that lived about fourteen hundred Years after found quite another sort of Doctrine gotten into the Church and some of them contrary to what the Apostles taught as the Scriptures manifestly shew and yet there have been a long time and still there are certain Disputers that go about to stagger others with such like questions as we have been speaking of and teach them to defie all reasoning out of the Scriptures till these questions are satisfied What Age What Year of our Lord were these Errors brought into the Church Who were they that brought them in and who first complained of them Now although a very reasonable account both may be and hath been given of the Persons the Time and the Manner and the Degrees by which such Corruptions got into the Church yet it is very unreasonable to expect that every Christian should be able to answer these Questions punctually because it requires more Labour and Reading than generally they have either leisure or ability to go through with but withal it is very needless because
been so which is notoriously false And whereas it is said that almost all Heresies have come of Mis-interpreting Scripture this doth not prove that Christian People must not read the Scriptures for it cannot be denied that those Heresies which have given any considerable disturbance to the Church of God were begun not by Laicks or illiterate Persons but by such men as the objectors do allow to have a right of reading and studying the Scriptures i. e. by Bishops or Priests Wherefore In the last place The Arguing of these men against the common use of the Bible concludes against the Priest as strongly as against the People For if to prevent Heresie the Scriptures are to be kept from Lay men who may bring Heresie into the Church by Misinterpreting the Scriptures then for the same reason men in Orders should not be suffered to read them since they have actually been the founders of Heresie Nay the reason is something stronger since the wresting of the Holy Text by men of Office or Learning will be of greater Authority and do more mischief than the mistakes of private and unlearned Persons But if the danger of perverting difficult places be a good reason to deprive men of all use of the Bible this reason hath a particular force upon some men that they should never look upon a Bible more For the best way to Judge how the Scriptures are likely to be used by any sort of men is to consider how they have constantly used them heretofore and let any indifferent man judge of them by these following instances Because God said Let us make man after our own Image therefore it is lawful to fall down before an Image of Wood or Stone Because Christ said to Peter Feed my sheep Therefore his pretended Successors have power to depose Heretical Princes Because Peter said to Christ Lord here are two Swords therefore they have a Temporal as well as a Spiritual jurisdiction Because Jacob in Blessing Ephraim and Manasses prayed that his Name might be Named on them Therefore it is lawful to pray to Saints Because it is said the Disciples met together to break Bread therefore the Laity may be deprived of the Cup. Because St. Paul saith of him that prayeth in a Tongue not understood by others Thou verily givest thanks well but the other is not edified therefore it is in it self good to appoint publick Prayers in a Language unknown to the People that is Because he that understands what himself says doth well for himself because he understands therefore he doth well for others that understand not a word and are therefore not edified Because the Apostle saith we must Glorifie God with one mouth therefore in all publick Offices of Liturgy there is to be but one and that the Latin Tongue in all places of Christendome Because that many Languages at Babel caused confusion therefore for God to be served in the many Vulgar Tongues of Christian Nations would breed Schisms in the Church Because the Beast that touched the Mountain was to die and because Christ said Give not that which is Holy to Dogs therefore ordinary People are not to have the Bible These expositions are not invented but there are good Authorities for them and for a great many more of the like sort I know not what can farther be objected but this That if Priests and Learned men have been so foully mistaken in the Interpretation of Scripture how much more are the Unlearned in danger of falling into mistakes which though perhaps will never come to be Heresies in the Church may yet prove damnable to themselves as St. Peter plainly saith To which I answer That St. Peter's Vnlearned Men were such as had not yet attained to the knowledg of the necessary Doctrine of Faith and good Life as appears by his calling them unstable not yet fixt in a persuasion of the plain truths and great ends of the Gospel and such as those whether they were men of good parts or not were likely enough to Interpret the hard places of St. Paul's Epistles to a sense conttary to the plain and open truths of the Gospel But if a man be instructed in the necessary and plain Doctrine of Christianity and moreover furnished with Modesty and a sincere Love of the Truth and willingness to learn qualities that ought to be common to all he shall be as far from wresting the difficult Scriptures to his own destruction as one that hath vastly greater abilities Nay I will add one thing which if it be true there is no force at all in the objection and that is this That the service of a Cause and espousing the Interest of a by-Party doth more fatally lead to Misinterpretation of the Scripture than bare weakness of understanding and there is this plain reason for it because Modesty and Love of the truth will secure a man of no great abilities from rash concluding upon the difficult Places of Scripture but Partiality and the service of a by cause shall engage a man of parts and learning to trouble the clearest and to pervert the plainest Texts as the forementioned instances evidently shew So that either the danger of Misinterpreting Scripture is no sufficient reason to prohibit the Laity from reading it or else it were better that no Order of Men were trusted with it at all and if that be true I think it will follow that it had better never have been written at all which no man will say whatever he thinks But to speak to the thing the Scriptures were written for an universal good and in order thereunto for common use Here are all Divine truths and reasons of Christian Faith and Practice that are necessary to be known of every man plainly exprest for the use of the meanest Capacities Here are also difficulties and mysteries of several sizes fit to imploy the Industry of the Learned according to the several degrees of their abilities and to exercise the Modesty the Humility and the Reverence of all But still we confess that they may be perverted and abused and if this be a sufficient reason to Interdict the general use of them then farewel at once to all the Comforts of this Life and to all the means of grace in order to a better with every one of which men in their folly and wickedness may and very often have hurt themselves and others St. Peter was aware of this that some men wrested those hard things in St. Paul's Epistles and in other Scriptures to their own destruction but did he therefore dissuade the Faithful from reading them No but in the very same Epistle he commends them all for taking heed to the words of Prophecy of the Old Testament in which there were some things as hard to be sure as any are in St. Paul's Writings and I hope St. Peter was as Wise a Man in this point as any that have come after him And now I beseech you let us not say That we
submission to her Authority in every point of Religion so much greater reason there is to examine every one of her particulars and if I find that she is mistaken in any of them I am verysure that she is not infallible in all And if she will not allow me to make a Judgment of the Particulars 't is just as if a man should try to hinder me from castingup my own Accounts by going about to prove that he cannot possibly mistake in doing it he might indeed shew some Wit in working his Demonstration but I should shew a great deal more folly in trusting him To conclude We have a Rule whereby to try the Doctrine I will not only say of a Church or a Pope or a Council but even of an Angel from Heaven if an Angel should come and Preach to us and that Rule is the Holy Scripture especially the Writings of the Evangelists and Apostles These are by all Christians acknowledged to be the undoubted and the most ancient Records of our Holy Religion and they have had a Tradition so uncontroulable as no Books in the World ever had the like Whoever therefore is our Guide it is very reasonable that this should be our Rule And of all Churches in the World I will never trust my self to her discretion that will not trust me with the Knowledg and Study of this Rule Here we may if we please make our selves very sure that we are of those whom God will justifie for here we may discern what kind of persons St. Paul and the Christians of whom he speaks in this place and what all the Apostles and Primitive Disciples of our Lord were For those Books which acquaint us with their Names and which were written by some of themselves do also discover to us what Faith they profess'd what Doctrine they taught and what Lives they led Now if we profess that very Faith and teach no other Doctrine and frame our practise by their Rules and good Examples then without all question we are such kind of Christians as they were and then altho we should be used by the world as they were too yet the encouragement and comfort which they had will also belong to us and we too may say Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect it is God that justifieth who is he that condemneth it is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again Having therefore the Infallible Rule of God's Word whereby to guide our selves We beseech you Brethren and exhort you by the Lord Jesus that as ye have received of us how you ought to walk and to please God so ye would abound more and more that while evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse deceiving and being deceived ye may continue in the things which ye have learned knowing of whom ye have learned them even from the Sayings of our Lord Jesus and his holy Apostles delievered to us in the Scriptures which are able to make us wise unto salvation through saith which is in Christ Jesus Let us remember that it had been better for us not to have known the way of righteousness than after we have known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered to us not forgetting by any means that 't is a way of righteousness we have been made to know and an holy Commandment that hath been delivered to us from which therefore we may depart as damnably by an impure Conversation as by letting go our pure Profession in which case we are so far from being justified that we shall be the more condemned by our Faith We have no false Principles to save our hearts from condemning us if we allow our selves in any way of wickedness and God is greater than our hearts and knoweth all things Whoever else condemns us that is more than recompence enough if God justifieth But who is he that shall justifie us if God condemns FINIS THE SUMM OF A CONFERENCE On Feb. 21. 1686. BETWEEN Dr. Clagett and Father Gooden About the Point of TRANSVBSTANTIATION LONDON Printed for William Rogers at the Sun over against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet MDCLXXXIX The SUM of a CONFERENCE On Feb. 21. 1686. BETWEEN Dr. Clagett and Father Gooden About the POINT of TRANSUBSTANTIATION Introduction IT will perhaps appear to some a little strange that I do not say almost Incredible that there should have pass'd a Conference above two years since in which Mr. Gooden was concern'd and the World yet to learn the Substance of it The Vanity of that Gentleman to thrust himself upon all Occasions into Disputes with the most Learned Men of our Church first and then to boast of his own Performances in them was fogreat that there is scarce a Coffee-house in the Town that has not been filled with the Noise of his Impertinent Vapours And if those of the Other Communion have been always remarkable for an Assurance becoming the pretended Infallibility of their Church I may venture to say that next to Father P the Jesuit and his friend Mr. M I scarce know any among them that have ever talk'd so loud or made such Heroical Defiances of the Champions and Armies of our Israel in all Places and upon all Occasions as Mr. Gooden these late Years has done among us But thus shallow Waters always run with the Greatest Noise and Violence and little Sophisters who either want Capacity to see into their own Fallacies or think they have forehead enough to carry that off with Clamour and Confidence which they cannot do by Reason and Argument delight to expose themselves and their Religion to the most dangerous Tryals whilst Men of Learning and Judgment are modest and ingenuous and know it to be neither for the Honour of their Church nor their own Reputation to challenge all Mankind to answer Paradoxes and to shew that not to be Demonstration which when brought to the Tryal is hardly sence See Mr. G's Pap. p. 10. I hope this will not be thought too severe a Reflection on the late Pretenders of this kind among us which I speak out of a just respect to the more Learned and Charitable Persons of the Church of Rome who have been no less Scandalized at these forward Zealots than our selves and to whom I ought to give this Testimony That during a long acquaintance with many of them I never met with any thing of the Vanity of those I have before mentioned Our Differences in matters of Religion made no Disturbance either in our Friendship or Conversation with One Another If the discourse at any time led to a Controversie of Faith we argu'd it upon the same Principles and with the same Calmness that we did any other Subject whatsoever by Arguments drawn from the Authority of the Holy Scriptures or from the Testimonies of the Ancient Fathers as the Nature of the thing required us to do If these did not Convince they never flew off to the Common-Place Topic's of the
Authority and Infallibility of the Church much less to that Exploded refuge of Oral Tradition but the Controversie Ended And when all was done they were content to hope well of those of our Church who being sincere in their Enquiries and willing to be led by Truth whereever it was still continued to differ from them Instead of calling Vs Hereticks or Schismaticks or Thundring out Damnation against Vs as such a mutual Charity concluded the discourse We hoped and prayed for the Conviction of the Erring Party which ever it was but made no question but that the same Heaven might receive us All tho we should continue to disagree to the last But this was not the Temper of Mr. Gooden and the rest of the little Herd of that Church who gave so much Trouble and Disturbance to their own and the Nations repose and have contributed what in them lies by their Heat and Folly to ruine both themselves and us As for the Occasion of the present Conference it was this A Gentlewoman of a Goood Estate and intimately acquainted with divers R. Cs. was by a frequent Conversation with them wrought up by degrees into an Extraordinary Opinion of the advantages of a Recluse Life for the better performing the Exercises of Religion Insomuch that the desire she began to have for such a sort of retirement made her almost willing to leave our Church and go over to the Roman Communion but that she still look'd upon their Doctrine in those points wherein they differ from us to be False and Dangerous and to one so perswaded as she was Destructive of Salvation Being thus prepared for their Seduction they let slip no Opportunity to finish their work and gain their Proselyte For which purpose care was taken first by one of Her Acquaintance to represent to Her all the Popular Pretences of that Church by which many are Prejudiced in Favour of it and the Advantages it Had in point of Antiquity Unity Universality Infallibility and what not beyond Ours and them in the next place to get Father Gooden brought to Her as one that would give Her a fuller satisfaction in all these matters if she would but afford him the Opportunity of Discoursing with Her. And to the End his Arguments might make the deeper Impression upon Her it was thought fit to set forth the Priest to Her not in the Glorious Idea of the Great Master of Demonstration one who had devoured all Mr. I. Ss. Principles and was thereby become such a Mighty Man of Controversy that none of our Divines durst Cope with him He in whose hands the Dean of Pauls himself was nothing who had a certain Paper that in a few lines baffled all that could be said or written in favour of the Reformation which was a greater thing than the Representer's answering in a few sheets all the Books and Sermons that had ever been publish'd or preach'd against them But in the humble Character of a Countrey Priest a little inconsiderable man amongst them and his Dress was accommodated to hâ—s Character that so under this disguise he might talk with the greater Advantage to â—er But Mr. Gooden forgetting the person he had put on presently fell into his usual strain He began to talk of nothing but Infallibility Antiquity Demonstration That all the Fathers and Councils were on their side That he had baffled our most considerable Divines and particularly the Dean of Pauls who had in truth all of them so little to say for themselves when he came amongst them that he desired nothing more to convince her of the Truth of their Doctrines than that she would pitch upon some Point and bring one of our Men to meet him and she should see what work he would make with him Such a noise as this from one of the little inconsiderable Priests of the Church of Rome amazed the poor Lady and had he prudently contented himself with the Boast of the Victories he had already gain'd without aspiring after the Honour of adding one more for the increasing his Triumph he might possibly have saved himself from the shame of that discovery the following Conference made of his Abilities and have gain'd his Proselyte But as great Wits are too often a little inconsiderate and before they are aware run themselves into difficulties out of which they cannot tell afterwards how to extricate themselves so it fell out with Mr. Gooden on this Occasion For the Lady presently took hold on his Offer and applied her self to Dr. Clagett and the Time and Place and Subject being fix'd Mr. Gooden and the Doctor met accordingly at Grays-Inn Feb. 21. 1686. I shall say nothing of the Menage of the Conference its self but that it was with much Noise on Mr. Gooden's side who in Discourse let fall some very extraordinary things and which might have pass'd into the Abstract too had not another Person who was with him and seem'd much more modest and understanding than himself observed what pass'd and corrected his Blunders After the Dispute was ended which lasted about Four or Five Hours a new Discourse arose about the Paper which Mr. Gooden made such Boasts of about the Town and had so often represented to the Lady and others as unanswerable He was very unwilling a great while to let the Doctor have a Copy of it tho he promised to give him an Answer to it till at last it was declared That if he refused to let him have it the Company would look upon it as an idle Paper that had nothing in it and that therefore he durst not trust him with it Vpon this he gave him a Copy of it and the Doctor in pursuance of his Promise the next day sent him the following Answer to it For what concerns the Sum of the Conference here Published it was taken in Writing and signed by both Parties upon the place so that there can be no cause for any one to question the sincerity of it And tho the Abstract be very short yet I am perswaded it is enough to satisfie every impartial Reader why Mr. Gooden did not care to make any boasts of it And those who were present at the Meeting and heard all that pass'd between them as well as the Lady for whose sake they met were very well satisfied that he would not force them to publish the History of it But tho the Doctor was willing to let this matter die and shew'd himself as careful of Mr. Gooden's Reputation after the Conference as he was of the Ladies Conviction in it yet being now by the Providence of God removed from us I thought it a just debt to his Memory to subjoin here a true Copy of these Papers there being several of them abroad both to prevent an imperfect Edition from some other hand and least Mr. Gooden and his Friends who were so silent in his Life-time should take occasion to raise any false Reports of this Encounter if they thought they could not
both as to the Accidents and nature of Bread I grant that the Accidents of Bread would be the Body of Christ and if it be not the same both as to the Nature and Accidents I deny it This I profess not to understand Fath. As to the Doctors Argument it includes a Sophism as will appear when brought into form because it involves 4 Terms because he supposes in one Proposition for the Accidents of Bread and in the other for the Nature Dr. In the Argument I used I went upon this Supposition That the Accidents of Bread were onely to be understood as the Answerer supposes and therefore I have not confounded the Nature and the Accidents of Bread together Besides the Distinction between the Nature of Bread and the Accidents of Bread was not to be remembred any more by the Answerer because I proceed upon his Supposition That the Accidents onely are broken Now if St. Paul speaks of nothing but what is broken and Accidents onely are broken and yet if he speaks of the very flesh of Christ too then the Accidents of the Bread are the very flesh of Christ And whereas the Answerer by his last Answer means the Nature of Christ's Body as he says I understood him of the Nature of Bread. And now once more I desire him to shew me where the four Terms are Fath. The Text of St. Paul the Dr. takes for his Medium and argues from a double Supposition as first taking it for the Accidents of Bread which were broken and afterwards for the substance of Christ's Body under the Accidents in which latter sense it signifies the same that is meant by our Saviour in St. John. Dr. I observe the Answerer will allow nothing to be broken but Accidents I observe also that nothing is said to be the Body of Christ or the Communion of the Body of Christ but what is broken If therefore nothing is broken but Accidents then Accidents are either according to the Answerer's long proof the very Body of Christ or according to the Apostle the Communion of the Body of Christ But neither are the Accidents of Bread the Body of Christ nor the Communion of the Body of Christ And this I say is not answered and believe will not be answered by any man that maintains that St. Paul does not here speak properly of Bread. Fath. All along in my Discourse I have supposed that when St. Paul speaks of this bread he spoke of the H. Eucharist in which were contained both the Accidents of Bread and the true body of Christ How the Dr. has disproved this Doctrine so clearly as to justifie the Reformation I understand not Because I conceive no private Persons or particular Church ought to pretend a Reformation without clear evidence whether the Dr. has given such I leave to the consideration of the Readers And whether having broken off from the great body of the Vniversal Church and its testimony he can possibly have any certain Rule to arrive at Christian Faith If Scripture be pretended interpreted by a fallible Authority how Certainty can be obtained or why a Socinian following Scripture for his Rule of Faith is not to be believed as well as any other Reformer following the same Rule I see not Signed W. Clagett Peter Gooden Dr. CLAGETT's Answer TO A PAPER Delivered to Him by Father GOODEN The Paper ARticles of Christian Faith are Truths Truths are Impossible to be False Therefore Articles of Christian Faith are Impossible to be False Therefore those who obtain Articles of the Christian Faith must have some Rule to Acquire them by which cannot deceive them To a Parliamentary Protestant the Antient Fathers cannot be such a Rule because they are accounted Fallible Nor Councels because they also are accounted Fallible Nor Scriptures sensed by a Fallible Authority because all such Interpretations may be False And therefore Faith cannot be Obtained by any such means For that which is Doubtfull can only Create Opinion which is also Doubtful And He that doubts in Faith the Apostle says is Infidelis And a Company of Doubters are not a Church of Faithful but a Society of such as the Apostle calls Infidels Signed Peter Gooden The Answer Pap. Articles of Christian Faith are Truths Ans The Design of the Disputer is to prove that we are Doubters and therefore Infidels But never did any man begin a business more unluckily for at the very first dash he takes it for granted that we do undoubtedly believe Articles of Christan Faith to be Truths for otherwise he ought to have proved that they are so But there is another Misfortune he is faln into no less than that for his Argument to prove that we must needs be Doubters is that we want an Infallible Rule Now if he is sure that we want an Infallible Rule and that without such a Rule there can be no Faith I am sure he does notoriously contradict himself by supposing that we believe all Articles of Christian Faith to be Truths though we have no such Rule This is a very hopeful Paper and like to make wise Converts which ends in making us Infidels and begins to prove it by an Argument that manifestly supposes Us to be Believers which also pretends that we have no Infallible Rule and therefore can be sure of no Point of Faith but yet manifestly supposes Us to be Assured of Some without it which shews the Paper to be a trifling Paper and worth no more Consideration But because the Disputer is said to boast so much of the Argument Contained in it I will go on with every Clause of it to Convince him if he does not already know it that there is not a Line in it but is either false or nothing to the purpose Pap. Truths are Impossible to be False Ans By Truths the Disputer means the Truth of Things or of Propositions and therefore this is a vain and fulsome saying which does not Advance his Reasoning one jot farther than it was before For this is no more than to say That which is true is true and it cannot possibly be but truths must be truths I think he applies himself to us as if we wanted not only Christian Faith but Common sence Pap. Therefore Articles of Christian Faith are Impossible to be False Ans There is no doubt of this supposing that they are Truths So that the Argument he begins with being put into the right order and into other words is this It is Impossible but truths must be truths but Articles of Christian Faith are Truths Therefore it is Impossible but they must be Truths The Antient Fathers had made wise work with Christianity if they had gone this way to work to Convert Infidels Pap. Therefore those who obtain the Articles of the Christian Faith must have some Rule to acquire them by which cannot deceive them Ans This is an obscure saying and I must make the best of it By obtaining Articles of the Christian Faith I
suppose he means believing them and by a Rule by which to acquire them He must understand a Rule or means whereby to know what the Articles of the Christian Faith are and then his meaning is That those who believe the Articles of the Christian Faith must be provided of some such Rule or Means to know what they are as cannot deceive them Now whether this be in it self true or false it does not at all follow from what he had laid down before For though the Truth of Things or Propositions is so sure that as he wisely says 't is Impossible they should be false yet it does by no means follow that the Reasons upon which I believe these things must necessarily be as sure as the Truth of the Things themselves And this I make no doubt the Disputer was well aware of But because I am sensible who they are whom he designs to pervert by this Paper and for whose sake I Answer it I will explain this matter by an Instance that will bring it down to all Capacities If there was such a man as Henry the 8th It is certainly Impossible that there should be no such man but my Belief that there was such a Man is grounded upon such Reasons as do not imply an absolute Impossibility of the Contrary because it is grounded upon the Testimony of Fallible men And yet I should be very little better then a mad-man if I should entertain the least doubt that there was such a man which plainly shews that I may have sufficient Reason to believe a thing without any Evidence of the Impossibility of the contrary and this is enough to overthrow his Consequence I shall now inquire what truth there is in the Conclusion it self To which end I observe That there are two things which may be understood by those words cannot deceive them either first that the Rule it self is so plain and certain that no man who uses it can be deceived by the Rule or secondly that 't is Impossible any man should be mistaken in the Vse of it If he means the former then I shall shew him presently that we have such a Rule as he speaks of and that he hath said nothing to make us ashamed of it If he means the latter then I say it is absolutely false That those who without doubting believe the Articles of the Christian Faith must have such a Rule to know what they are as that they cannot possibly mistake in the Vse of it To make which plain to every bodies understanding I shall add another Instance easy to be Applyed If a man skilful in Arithmetick hath a great many Numbers before him and desires to know what Sum they make when they are put together he has the Rule of Addition to do it by which Rule cannot deceive him Now there are these two things to be observed farther which I think the Disputer himself will not deny first that it is in the Nature of the thing Possible that this man may be mistaken every time that he puts these several Numbers together to bring them all into one Sum but secondly that notwithstanding this Possibility of being mistaken yet after he has tryed it over and over again he may be sure without the least doubt that he has done his work right Even so we may have a Rule of Faith that cannot deceive us and though it is not Absolutely Impossible that we should be mistaken in the use of it yet we may for all that be Assured and believe without the least doubting that we have learn'd what the true Faith is by that Rule For all the World knows that it is no sufficient Reason to Doubt of any thing that the Contrary is barely Possible Pap. To a Parliamentary Protestant the Antient Fathers can't be such a Rule because they are Accounted fallible Ans We never said they were such a Rule This therefore is Impertinent Pap. Nor Counsels because they also are accounted fallible Ans This is Impertinent also for we never said they were our Rule of Faith. But we have better Reasons to give why Fathers and Councils cannot be our Rule of Faith than this that the Disputer has made for us And one is this That we cannot make them the Rule of our Faith but by so doing we must depart from the Primitive Fathers and the ancient Councils in as much as all agree That the Holy Scriptures are the Rule of Faith and they made it theirs Pap. Nor Scriptures senced by a fallible Authority because all such Interpretations may be false Ans This is the Place where I shall tell the Disputer what we beleive and why we believe it And when I have done I shall consider whether he hath said any thing in this clause to shake our Assurance We firmly believe all the Articles of the Creed into the Profession whereof we have been Baptized We moreover believe all other Doctrine that is Revealed in Holy Scriptures The Grounds of this our Faith are these That in the Holy Scriptures are Recorded those Testimonies of Divine Revelation by which the Doctrines therein contained are confirmed That these Testimonies were too notorious and Publick to be gainsaid in so much that the Doctrine built upon them could not be overthrown by the Powers of the world engaged against it That the holy Books were written by the Inspired Preachers of that Doctrine which they contain And that for this we have the Testimony of Vniversal and uncontroulable Tradition which is a thing credible of it self This is the Sum of that External Evidence upon which our Faith is grounded In assigning of which I do by no means exclude that Internal Evidence that arises from the Excellent Goodness of the Doctrines themselves which shews them to be worthy of God. Now whereas this Disputer says That these Scriptures cannot be an Infallible Rule to us because they are sensed by a fallible Authority that is because we who are fallible understand them as well as we can I answer That no man needs to be Infallible in order to the understanding of plain Scripture I who do not pretend to Infallibility am yet certain which is enough for me That I do find the Articles of the Creed in the Scriptures and many other Doctrines besides which I do understand I am sure that I know what these words of St. John signifie 1 John 2.25 And Chap. 5.3 This is the Promise that he hath promised us even eternal life And this is the love of God that we keep his Commandments and the like The Antient Fathers thought the Scriptures to be so plain that they argued out of them without pretending to an Infallible Authority of Interpretation as I will shew this Disputer when he pleases If nothing less then Infallibility will serve to understand or as he says to sense words why does this Disputer put into my hands this Paper of his which is none of the plainest neither I am sure he does
And because this Exhortation is also added to the Epistle sent to the Church of Pergamos part of which I have now read to you I may also exhort you to hear or rather I need not since our Lord Jesus himself hath required you so to do St. John who had been the Founder of the Church of Pergamos was now in the Isle of Patmos banished thither for the Testimony of Jesus as he witnesseth himself chap. 1. ver 9. I John who also am your brother and companion in tribulation and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ was in the Isle that is called Patmos for the Word of God and for the Testimony of Jesus Christ. But he had committed this Church to the care of a Bishop in his absence who is here called the Angel of the Church and to whom this Epistle was directed in behalf of the Church under his care and it consists of these three general parts I. Of a Commendation II. Of a Reproof III. A Warning to Repent I. A Commendation I know thy works and where thou dwellest even where Satan's seat is and thou holdest fast my name and hast not denied my faith even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful Martyr who was slain among you where Satan dwelleth Which Commendation consists of two parts 1. That the Church of Pergamos retained the profession of the Name of Christ in all points necessary to the being of a Church for if she had parted with any point necessary she must then have ceased to be a Church but a Church she was by our Lord 's own acknowledgment and therefore by holding fast his Name and not denying his Faith we must needs understand that she had kept intire that form of sound words the Apostolical Creed which St. John had left amongst them 2. That which heightned her praise was that she had done this in such a place where there was so great Temptations to Apostacy First Where Satan's seat was i. e. where there were so many Idol-Temples that no place in Asia could shew so many as if Pergamos had been Satan's Principal Court in that part of the World. Secondly Where by consequence there was likely to be and where indeed there was a great Persecution of the Gospel under which Antipas a faithful Martyr of Jesus Christ whose Zeal and Courage was an Example to the rest was slain This is the Commendation of the Church of Pergamos that in such a place and at such a time she had held fast the Profession of the fundamental Truths of the Gospel that she had held fast the Name of Christ and had not denied his Faith. But there follows II. A Reproof But I have a few things against thee because thou hast there them that hold the Doctrine of Balaam who taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the Children of Israel to eat things sacrificed to Idols and to commit fornication So hast thou also them that hold the Doctrine of the Nicolaitans which thing I hate i. e. Although she had the foundation of the Faith yet within the Communion of that Church the Doctrine of Balaam and the Doctrine of the Nicolaitans was taught and practised She had suffered damnable Doctrines and wicked Practices to take place which were likely enough to endanger the subverting of the whole Christian Faith professed amongst them But more particularly 1. The Doctrine of Balaam was openly taught amongst them and that was the lawfulness of joyning with Idolaters in the Worship of their Idols for this was the Stumbling-block which Balaam laid before the Children of Israel not only drawing them to carnal fornication with the Daughters of Moab but spiritual fornication also with their Idols Now it seems there was such a grievous Persecution of the Church at Pergamos that some of that Communion to ease the Church from it taught that it was lawful to sacrifice to Idols and to have External Communion with Idolaters in their Worship to wit by eating things sacrificed to Idols pretending as we may gather from the Commendation given them in the former verse that if they did but still hold fast the Name of Christ and not deny any necessary point of his Faith their External Compliance with Idolaters in their Worship would not deserve any severe Reproof but that because they should still retain the Name and Essence of a true Church they should therefore sufficiently approve their fidelity to Christ notwithstanding their burning Incense and offering Sacrifice and giving Divine Honours by their outward Acts to that which is not God. 2. The Doctrine of the Nicolaitans was also held amongst them that is a Doctrine that tended to a licencious Life and the corruption of good Manners and it is called the Doctrine of the Nicolaitans from Nicolas the Deacon who being upbraided for doting too much upon his fair Wife to shew that he was not to be blamed upon that account made a prostitution of her to all Comers which lewd Example had it seems spread its Contagion into some of the Asian Churches especially at Pergamos where many of them held Community of Women to be lawful which was so vile and detestable a Doctrine that God is here said to hate it So that the Doctrines for tolerating of which the Church of Pergamos is here reprehended were such as grated very near upon the Foundations of Christianity the former leading to Idolatry the latter to an impure and vicious Life A very strange corruption of the State of that Church in so short a time from the first plantation of it Now III. We have in this Message of Jesus to the Church of Pergamos a warning to repent and to make haste to repent too Repent or else I will come unto thee quickly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth And what was she to repent of but of suffering those Coruptions in Doctrine and Practice to prevail in her Communion for which she was reproved before And how was she to repent but by reforming those Abuses and casting out of her Communion those that would not be reformed and returning to the Primitive Purity of her Faith and Worship and Manners And if she would not do this Jesus threatned that he would suddenly take the matter into his own hands and cut them off by the Sword of his mouth from being a Church at all who were so soon degenerated from a pure Church and it is reasonable to believe that upon this warning she did repent and reform for she was not speedily cut off as God had threatned she should be if she did not repent but continued a Church for many Ages afterwards till at length falling again into great corruptions of Doctrine and Manners she with all the other six Churches of Asia written to by our Lord fell to be no Church at all and the Temples wherein the Name of Christ was called upon are now become Turkish Mosques and so the burden of Pergamos was fulfilled And