unspotted from this present World and escape the Corruptions that are in the World through Lust let us take these few following Rules along with us 1. Let that which is on all sides acknowledged to be the Word of God be of more power and force with us than all Human Authorities whatsoever which Rule as it is most 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 mere 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 Superiors 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 vicious 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 mortify 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 stedfastly 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 purify 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 ye 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
between the Prophets and Jesus so many hundreds of years after they were dead and before he was born Or are these Predictions and their Events to be imputed to Chance It is possible indeed that some one thing may be foretold and happen accordingly but that so vast a number of particulars should be foretold concerning one Person at all adventures and by strange luck 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 enlightened 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 sense 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-mens 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 one 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 divers things hard to be understood in them which ignorant and unstable men have wrested to their own destructien 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 generally 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 deligently 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 them 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 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 illeterate 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 depriv'd 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 understands 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 Christendom 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 tho' 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 unlearned Men were such as had not yet attained to the knowledge of the necessary Doctrine of Faith and good Life as appears by his calling them unstable not yet fixt in the Perswasion 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 contrary 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 bear 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 employ 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 S. Paul's Epistles and in other Scriptures to their own destruction but did he therefore disswade the Faithful from reading them No but in the
Accidents of Bread it might be broken as to the substance of Christ's body which is mentioned in St. John it is not broken unless you mean as Christ's body was broken upon the Cross And if the bread which is broken be really that which is spoken of in St. John as aforesaid 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 Doctor 's Argument it includes a Sophism as will appear when brought into form because it involves four 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 only 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 only are broken Now if St. Paul speaks of nothing but what is broken and Accidents only 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 Doctor 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 Doctor 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 ancient Fathers cannot be such a Rule because they are accounted Fallible Nor Councils 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 doubtful 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 Christian 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 Sense 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 ancient Fathers had made wise work with Christianity if they
many Ages afterwards till at length falling again into great Corruption 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 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 justify 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 Errors 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 Errors 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 licentiousness of Life and Manners what can be more evidently such than the easy 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 Mistress 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 Privilege 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 sense 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 sense of the words But if I may arrive at a certain sense of these Scriptures without the Testimony of an Infallible Interpreter then why may I not be as certain of the sense of other Texts as plain as these without such an Interpreter It seems to me that our Saviour said Drink ye All of this and therefore that you of the Roman Church may as well take the Bread as the Cup from the Laity It seems to me that St. Paul calls the Communion of Christ's Body Bread The BREAD which we break is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ and your Church says 't is Bread no longer after Consecration It seems to me that the same St. Paul speaks for a whole Chapter against Praying in an unknown Tongue and yet your Church doth it It seems also to me that the Author to the Hebrews doth absolutely say That Christ was offered once for all and that he sat down thenceforth at the right hand of God but you pretend to fetch him down from Heaven and offer him a thousand times in a day It seems to me that God has forbidden the making of Images to worship them as absolutely and universally as words could do it and yet you Picture God and make Similitudes of the Blessed Trinity and Images of the Saints and worship them when you have done I demand now why I may not be certain of the true sense of these places upon as reasonable grounds as you suppose I may be of those which in your Judgment conclude for the Infallibility of your Church If I may then I am sure the Scripture condemns what you say and do in these Points but if I may not be reasonably assured that I understand these in my judgment plain places of Scripture because I want an Infallible Judge to interpret for me then I demand again Why do you urge me with those Scriptures that as you pretend prove the Infallibility of your Church For as yet I am not persuaded of the Infallibility thereof though I would gladly be persuaded of it If you say this is the Interpretation of the Church concerning them which is Infallible and therefore you are to believe it I think any body but a Child would reply That that is the very thing in question and therefore that you cannot convince any man of your Infallibility unless he will take your word for it because he cannot infallibly know the true Sense of Scripture giving Testimony to it before he believes it without any Testimony from Scripture at all So that it is to no purpose to go about to persuade any reasonable man that your Church is Infallible till he doth already believe it that is till it is a needless thing to do it because he does believe it already And therefore when all is done we must be content to understand the plain places of Scripture without an Infallible Judge and to find out the rest as well as we can and if the Scripture plainly condemns what you say and do we have more reason from thence to conclude that you have erred than to conclude that you cannot err because you say so of your selves And indeed I look upon this Pretence to Infallibility to be an Error of the most pernicious consequence because it seals them up under all the rest and adds incorrigibleness which is the highest degree of obstinacy to all their other Errors and it is so much the more shameless because the whole World that was in Communion with them groaned for a Reformation before the Council of Trent One of their own Popes said We confess many abominable Abuses and Grievances have been for these many years last past in the Holy See and we look upon our selves concerned to endeavour a Reformation the more because we see the whole World doth most earnestly desire it At the Council of Trent the Ambassadors of several Princes desired earnestly the Cup for the People the Marriage of the Clergy Service in a known Tongue and the Reformation of divers other matters in which Christendom would have reformed it self if Italy would have suffered it Italy I say who to hinder a general Reformation filled the Council of Trent with more Bishops than came from all parts of Christendom besides Secondly Upon this Supposition the Church of England might and ought to reform it self as it hath done for we find that the Church of Pergamos which was not over-run with so many false Doctrines and corrupt Practices as those of the Roman Church I have mentioned was required by our Lord Jesus himself to remove those Errors and Corruptions which had crept into her and if she did not presently return to her Primitive Purity she was threatned to be cut off Indeed it had been a much more desirable thing that the whole Western Church and more desirable still that the East and the West had both united in a Reformation it had been a blessed thing if by a Free and General Council of all the Bishops in the Christian World an Universal Reformation had been made but the latter perhaps was improbable by reason of the vast distances of some Christian Churches from one another and the former was made impossible by the over-ruling Power of Italy which therefore was to be done upon particular Churches by common consent and perhaps there must never be a farther Reformation till the Day of Judgment It was very reasonable and very necessary therefore that Christian Kingdoms should proceed in Provincial and National Councils to reform themselves as this Church hath done under her Kings and Bishops Parliaments and Convocations that is by all that Authority which could be desired to make a publick Reformation within the limits of this particular Church And this proceeding has been authorized by the Examples of the best Ages of the Church when it was thought fit not always to tarry for General Councils but very often for particular Churches to proceed out of hand to the rooting out of Error and Heresy and to the reforming of whatsoever they thought amiss amongst themselves And for this we are to appeal to the Councils of Laodicea Gangra Carthage and many others which are no General Councils To conclude Such Errors as had overspread the Church before the Reformation were in their own nature and in their consequences so pernicious that every Christian Man ought to reform himself from them inasmuch as it is better to obey GOD than man Much more might a publick Reformation be made by due Authority But we had no regard to the Bishop of Rome in this matter who was to be consider'd either as Head of the whole Church or the Patriarch of the West or as the Converter of the English Nation and we were not only in Communion with him but in subjection to him when the Reformation was made So that what Cause soever there might be for it the
Reformation was however Schismatical To all which I answer in short 1. As to the Universal Supremacy it is a Point to which Antiquity is wholly a Stranger Scripture and the Fathers say nothing of it Ignatius who so often requires that nothing should be done of moment in the Church without the Bishop would have found out some one occasion at least to have said Let nothing be done without the Bishop of Rome if he had known of any such Privilege and Power conferred on him by our Lord. But if Pergamos were justifiable in removing those Corruptions which were crept into that Church without staying for the consent of the Bishop of Rome England in removing more Corruptions and of equal danger was to proceed also without his leave if it could not be had 2. As to his Patriarchal Power over this Nation it did not anciently belong to him he had it not when the Council of Nice confined him to his own Province nor when the Council of Ephesus decreed That no Bishop should presume to invade any other Province which from the beginning had not been under his or his Predecessors Jurisdiction or if any do and make it his own by Force that he should restore it And then the Church of Britain was free acknowledging no Foreign Jurisdiction the Power that the Bishop of Rome gained here in After-Ages was got by Fraud and held by Force and was ever and anon disputed and gainsay'd and over-ruled and surely no Injury was done him when that Authority was resumed which he had usurped 3. As to the Conversion of the Saxons by Austin sent hither by Pope Gregory I say it follows not if long since the Inhabitants of this Island received any Benefit from Rome therefore they should in all Ages be exposed to the Usurpations of that Place afterwards nor that because we once received true Religion from Rome therefore Posterity must receive also false Doctrines from thence when it should please her to send them hither But in truth Christianity had been planted here long before by St. Paul himself in all probability and that in the Reign of Tiberius before Rome her self had received the Christian Faith And the British Bishops whom Austin found here would by no means submit to the Authority of the Roman Legate And so much for the Right that this particular Church had to reform her self I come now Thirdly To consider some of those specious Pretences and Objections by which they go about to weaken the stedfastness of our People in the Communion of our Church and to draw them to theirs 1. They say How was it possible that Errors could creep into the Church of that nature with those which we charge upon them There must have been great Opposition made to any the least design of such an Alteration in the state of Religion and we meet with no such account of things in History Therefore these are not Innovations but the ancient Doctrine and Practice of the Church To omit this That concerning most of their Innovations we can very nearly shew the time when they were brought in but can plainly shew that there was a time when they were not I answer It is much more easy to conceive that in a thousand Years time Error should creep into that Church by degrees and without noise than that in a Church planted by an Apostle as Pergamos was guarded by the Angel or Bishop placed there by an Apostle as Pergamos was should so soon tolerate the Doctrines of the Balaamites and Nicolaitans even while their Apostle was alive and therefore very soon after he departed from them 2. They say That the perpetual Succession of their Bishops from St. Peter is an Argument of the Succession of true Doctrine amongst them in the Purity thereof but behold an Apostolical Church in which a Bishop succeeded an Apostle yet alive corrupted in her Doctrine and Worship Can they have greater can they have as great an assurance of a perpetual uninterrupted Succession after so many Ages as the Church of Pergamos had before one Age was gone Or does their Infallibility grow with their Succession Or the farther they are removed from the beginning of the Church are they the surer still that they teach nothing but what was taught at first 3. They say We are departed from the whole Church of Christ that was visible every where upon the face of the Earth when the Reformation was begun seeing there was then no Communion in the World nor had been long before that professed the same Doctrine in all Points which the Reformation brought in Now in great liberality to admit for once that the whole visible Church had corrupted its way as the Church of Rome has done which yet is not true but I say admitting it what will then come of it That we departed from the whole Church of Christ No But that we departed from the general Errors and Corruptions of it and by that could not be said to depart from the whole Church whereof we our selves were a part unless we departed also from our selves Nay but say they this is to fall into another damnable Error and that is That the whole Church of Christ had failed from the Earth and so that the visible Church had perished for some Ages till the Reformation brought it to Life again Not so neither for we do not say That the Errors of the Church were of that nature as to make it cease to be a Church but that they were in themselves damnable and that they made the Salvation of all that were in it extremely hazardous but yet that we hope well of those who believing the Fundamental Doctrines of Christianity maintained in the Church and wanting means to discover her Corruptions served God according to their knowledge So that we do not say the Church had perished but that her Purity had been lost even as Pergamos was a Church and so acknowledged by our Lord himself because she held fast the Foundation of the Creed while yet she was corrupted with notorious Errors To this according to their usual way of arguing they would reply That the Case is not the same between a particular Church as Pergamos was and the whole Visible Church from which Luther and those that followed him separated themselves But then I would answer That the Case is the same as to the matter we are upon for if a particular Church though under great Errors may yet be a part of the whole Church by like reasons if the whole Church were overspread with foul Errors it would nevertheless still remain the whole Church and there is as great an obligation to depart from those Errors in the latter case as in the former and a particular Church by departing from such Errors does no more depart from the whole Church than she did from her self 4. They pretend Antiquity for their Errors and are often asking that shrewd Question as they deem it Where was your
pursued upon this account if upon no other That it may appear that the Certainty of Offences coming did not arise from any defect or fault of the Blessed Gospel of our Saviour If we consider the harmless and Dove-like Temper of Christianity the Excellency of its Design the Richness of its Promises the Divinity of its Rules and Precepts the Comforts it has in store for all honest Minds and that instead of running cross to the Interests of Mankind either here or hereafter it shews an infallible way to single Persons and to Communities to be happy in this World and to all men to be for ever blessed in the World to come we would rather have expected it should have been fortold That no man in any Age would ever set himself to oppose the design of the Gospel either in whole or in part If likewise we observe what clear and undeniable Testimonies of Divine Revelation God approved and owned it by how highly reasonable the Principles thereof are and how those things which could not be known but by Revelation yet being once revealed do satisfy our Reason and approve themselves to it How evident the design thereof is how plain the Precepts how few the positive Instructions of it are and how significant and profitable they are and how full of Instruction finally How manifest those necessary Doctrines are the belief whereof is necessary to make a man a Christian and what that Mystery of Godliness is which in the Apostles days was confessed and without controversy If we look upon these things and no farther we should rather have expected that the Doctrine of our Saviour should never have been gainsaid never perverted never mingled with Error never have given occasion to wrangling and discord and never have become the matter of nice and angry Dispute but only of an unblamable Faith and Practice The Gospel of Christ is undoubtedly a faithful Saying or Doctrine clearly revealed and standing upon evident Testimonies of Divine Revelation it is also worthy of all acceptation Why then must it needs be that offences come To which I shall give a plain answer in our Saviour's words to Nicodemus That light is come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil Joh. 3.18 and therefore it must needs be that offences should come For the Religion of Christ is not suitable to the Spirit of this World and therefore the World hateth it and therefore no wonder if it hath one way or other always sought to obstruct the Progress and Design of it In a word it is not the defect but the exceeding Excellence and Purity of true Christianity that has given occasion to the World to oppose it to pervert it and to discourage the Profession or Practice of it For it is a Religion too wise and too good for them that have no mind to be wise and good themselves and therefore considering the great corruption of human Nature which God would not over-bear by an irresistible Power but cure by rational means and methods no wonder that Offences have come nay that our Saviour said It must needs be that offences come To argue more particularly 1. The Doctrine of the Gospel is a Doctrine of Manners lays a severe Restraint upon all the unreasonable Lusts of men and makes a great many Liberties unlawful which they are for the most part violently inclined to take And therefore every carnal man while he so continues carries within himself a terrible prejudice a secret Enmity against the Truth as it is in Jesus and his Heart riseth with as much Anger against that Doctrine of God that telleth him it is not lawful for him to pursue his worldly and fleshly desires as he would but to subdue and mortify them as Herod when he took his Brother's Wife expressed against John the Baptist for saying It is not lawful for thee to have her Man's Nature affecteth a lawless Liberty and cannot endure to be confined it is diseased and cannot endure to he healed and it was therefore likely enough that very many would reject the Physician and be angry with those very Remedies that our Heavenly Father has sent The true and sincere Doctrine of Christ my Brethren if it be believed cannot but make us very uneasy and unquiet while we are conscious of Sin and are not willing to be reformed because it reveals to us the Wrath of God against all our unrighteousness and ungodliness it forewarns us of a dreadful Sentence at the last day and of an everlasting Punishment which we are unwilling at the same time to venture in which we are unwilling to part with our sins and to reconcile our selves to God by Repentance And men that are lovers of Pleasures and lovers of Gain cannot easily admit a Doctrine which gives them as much uneasiness and disturbance as if the point of a Sword were always turned toward their very hearts For this reason the Pharisees could not endure the Doctrine of Jesus and this was one reason why the Heathens opposed it and persecuted it and is one reason why Christians have corrupted it by finding out other ways to avoid Damnation than by a lively Faith and true Repentance and effectual Reformation and keeping the Commandments of God It is this that hath made way for satisfactory Commutations Merits of others and the absolute Power of the Keys and all those devices which are good for nothing but to reconcile a wicked Life to the hopes of Heaven and to entangle the plain sense of those Words of Christ He that heareth these sayings and doth them not I will liken him to a foolish man that built his house upon the sand and the winds blew and the rain fell and the floods came and beat upon that house and it fell and great was the fall thereof that is it suffered an irreparable Ruin 2. If we consider the Doctrine of Christ as it is a Doctrine both of Faith and Manners it is no way framed to serve the ends of ambitious and worldly-minded men or to help them in pursuing those ends by a pretence of Religion and therefore it was not to be expected but in process of time it would be by some or other moulded for that purpose when opportunity should serve Our Saviour taught the World no other Principles of Morality no other Articles of Faith than what were equally for the Interest of all parts of Mankind to believe and follow a common good and an equal benefit was intended in them all For let them prevail without corruption and alteration the Honour and Safety of Sovereign Princes is secured and a quiet and peaceable Life to Subjects Neighbour-Nations shall give strength and confidence instead of creating jealousies to one another the Master shall be better served and the Servant better used the Church by her Doctrine and Spiritual Authority will be a Guard to the State and receive at the same time Protection from it Here was no
some awakening Reproof from men or some merciful Providence of God may make the Truth which he is already provided with the belief of effectual to his Conversion But there is little reason to hope this of a man whose very Principles are corrupted and has no fears within himself for a charitable man to take hold upon And therefore that Saying of our Saviour may be well applied to such a Person If the light that is in him be darkness how great is that darkness Moreover as there is little hope to reform that man's evil Practices whose Persuasions make him secure and easy all the while so there is no little difficulty to be met with in trying to undeceive him for men will hold comfortable Errors as long as they can find the least pretence for it And which is not the least mischief of this Offence though such Errors are not laid down without a great trouble yet they are taken up with much readiness they are apt to spread far and wide And to this I believe the experience of the world agrees viz. That although there are mistakes that lead to Trouble of Mind and over-much Restraint yet for one that is led away by such Mistakes an hundred there are that believe comfortable Lies which either wholly take off the Restraints of Religion or in such part as to render them ineffectual 3. Perverse Disputes and an obstinate maintenance of Error by all the Arts of Sophistry has this lamentable evil commonly attending it That it renders many persons utterly careless to examine on which side the Truth lies Perhaps they are but few in comparison that are framed to an inquisitive Spirit and they who are not so framed by Nature or by Education must force their Tempers to Patience and take pains with themselves which is an Employment that men soon grow weary of and commonly they break off pretending it is to no purpose to search any farther but that when there is so much to be said on both sides when there is such an appearance of Reason for and against the same thing it is time for them to give over being Judges for themselves And indeed in things that are either really disputable or of less moment this were not much to be blamed But in matters of high consequence and questions that touch the very Vitals of Religion it often happens that men grow weary of searching Truth and give up themselves wholly to be led by the Authority and Judgment of others after the Controversy is stifly maintain'd for some time on both sides And it were well in this case if it were an even Lay whether they chuse the true Guide or not But when a Guide is to be chosen and followed with an implicit Faith the false Guide hath this Advantage always that he exceeds in Confidence in lofty Pretences in swelling Titles in positive denouncing Damnation to all that are not of his way And though a modest man that speaks justly of things and claims not to be infallible deserves the most credit yet 't is great odds that the other has most Followers amongst those that understand not the Merits of the Cause 4. The same Cause has too often a yet worse Effect and that is to run some persons into Infidelity and an utter neglect of Religion as if no Certainty could be had of the Principles of Religion seeing there is so much Controversy about it And some have said That it will be then time enough for them to believe in God and to worship him when they that pretend to oblige them to it are agreed about it The truth is were it not for that secret Impression of his own Being which God hath left upon our Nature it is not improbable but the monstrous Errors that have been obtruded upon a great part of mankind under the name of Faith and the Force and the Fraud wherewith they have been maintained had let in Atheism like a Deluge upon the world especially considering that there are those in the world who are so full of Zeal for their own way that they have no tenderness for the common Principles of Faith but are rather content that all should sink together than that their own Doctrines should not stand We have been born in hand that no assurance can be had of the Truth of Christianity but from the Authority of such and such men and they that believe upon other Grounds had as good have no Faith at all That if it were possible for them to propound any thing that is false we cannot be certain of any one Article that is true That the same exceptions may be made to the Miracles of Christ and his Apostles that are made against the Stories of latter Miracles And finally That by the same reason that any of their Traditions are rejected the Holy Scriptures may be rejected too and indeed we have lived to see the utmost that can be done by Wit and Learning to diminish the Authority of the Bible Now this I say is a most dreadful Offence and has done infinite mischief in the world that men who are violently engaged in a wrong way of Religion care not for the most part what they venture in the service of their own Cause for whilst they lay the same stress upon false or at least disputable Points that they do upon the most necessary and acknowledged Principles of Religion and bend all their Wit to shew that no difference ought to be made they give occasion to men that would fain be Atheists to deceive themselves into what they would be For a very little Consideration will serve to satisfy them that something is false which is propounded to them as an Object of their Faith and they know they have then leave given them to conclude that nothing is true 5. There is another great mischief of Offences that are given by Errors in Doctrine or Practice and a mischief that often happens in the world which is that of running into a contrary Extreme The Church found this by sad experience in the Fourth and Fifth Ages when men of no small Note disputing against one Heresy fell into another of an opposite nature to the no small trouble of Christendom Truth sometimes as well as Virtue lies in the Mean and they that transgress on any one side do not only this mischief to give what authority they can to the wrong side they are of but they do this mischief too of giving occasion to others to offend on the other Extreme Thus the abuse of Church Authority on the one side has bred in some men contempt of all such Authority on the other The Scandals that have been given by propagating Opinions by Force and Violence have produced in many a fond persuasion that there ought to be no restraints whatsoever in matters of Religion Superiors have required unlawful things in Divine Service and to be revenged upon that abuse it has been said that they are not to
be obeyed in matters of Prudence and Expedience Religion has been made to run out into Shews and Ceremonies and this has begotten prejudices against all appearance of Beauty and Reverence in the external Worship of God And on the other side the excesses of men in departing from one extreme are scandalous to those whom they left and do confirm them in their Errors Thus because there are some who abuse the Liberty this Church gives to all of using the Holy Scriptures and who reject the assistance of their Guides they that are concerned the People should know as little of the Bible as is possible argue from the Folly and Vanity of the former how dangerous an Instrument it is in the hands of the Laity And because 't is impossible but that a Judgment of Discretion in matters of Religion being allowed to all must be liable to be abused they that abuse it to the making of Sects and Parties and the bringing in of Innovations give a Candle to that Church to glory in her Dissention which provides that all should believe as she believes because of her Authority and that no man judges of the particulars of his Faith for himself The truth is the Instances of this mischief are so many and so undeniable that whenever any great Scandal is given by Communities or Churches that consists in one Extreme a man may without the Spirit of Prophecy foretel that if the great Mercy of God prevent it not it will in time beget the other Extreme It is the great unhappiness of Mankind that opposite Errors which look as if one would destroy the other do really strive to support one another And yet there is hardly any foolish Advice more frequent than to run from an Extreme as far as is possible as if that were the way to make an end of it But by this means woful Mischiefs have happen'd in the world Divisions have been multiplied Uncharitableness increased and men more and more hardned in their ways of Error and Sin 6. The Scandal of mixing absurd and impious Doctrines with the Truth and unjustifiable Practices with such as are to be commended has this notorious mischief still attending it that it hinders the Conversion of Infidels and is a terrible obstruction to the propagating of Christianity Averroes did not speak his own sense alone when he said Since the Christians eat their God let my Soul be with the Philosophers The Scandals that are given to Jews and Turks I need not name But to make an end of this unpleasing Argument 7. And lastly The mischief of these and all other Offences is so much the greater because when once Offence is given no man can tell where the mischief will end For instance Suppose by my Example I animate another to sin in like manner or that I do not only corrupt his Manners but his Principles too and so do him all the hurt I can Who can say that this is all the mischief I have done Is it not likely that he will infect others as I have infected him And that they may go on to propagate the mischief which had its beginning from me And that the next Age may be the worse for me And that my Guilt may be growing Ages after I am dead Apply this to all the Offences that are given in the world and consider not only the greatness of the mischief they do but the spreading nature of it and we shall find great reason in those sad words of our Lord Wo to the world because of offences But 2. Whence comes it that Offences are taken and so all this mischief done by them In general it might be sufficient to answer That for whatever Causes some men are apt to give Offence for the same others are apt to take it and therefore it would not be impertinent to call over in this place the unsuitableness of the Gospel to the Lusts and to the Vanity of mankind whether it be considered as a Rule of Faith or Manners or Worship But to this it may be added 1. That there are a great many in the world who for want of either good natural Abilities or good Education have little ability to judge for themselves and therefore the most part take their Impressions from the Authority of other mens Examples or Instructions And therefore when they fall into ill hands they fare accordingly to which our Saviour seemed to have a particular regard in the Verse before the Text Whosoever shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me it were better for him that a milstone were hanged about his neck and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea So that because there would be some Persons sincerely disposed who in many things could not judge for themselves but must be led by Authority our Saviour for their greater security provided this frightful Threatning to deter all men from taking the advantage of their weakness to mislead them 2. Some stumble at Offences laid before them and take up pernicious Doctrines merely from impatience of considering and taking time to lay things together He that judges rashly and hastily may by chance make a true Judgment but he shall as often judge falsly it being no difficult thing as I observed last time to lay such colours upon Error as will require some leisure to see through them And in such cases if a man be unwilling to take pains and desires to come presently and easily to the Conclusion he gives the Seducer all the advantage he could desire and is indeed just the Person he desired to meet with one easily deceived by a false appearance of Reason 3. The strange Influence which the carnal Affections of men and their worldly Interests have upon their Judgments is a fatal cause of laying them open to the mischief of Scandals We are too apt to desire Doctrines and Examples in favour of liberty to sin and therefore when they are offered we are not so apt as we should be to guard our selves against them Thus it was among the Jews as God said by Jeremy Jer. 5.31 The prophets prophesie falsly and my people love to have it so To these I might add other Causes viz. The prejudice of Education undue admiration of mens Persons prejudice against Truth arising from prejudice against Persons an Inclination to Opinions suitable to our own Temper and Complexion love of Novelty on the one side and on the other hatred to change though it be for the better all which Dispositions and Circumstances expose those that are under them to the mischief of Offences But I should be over-tedious to run into all the Particulars under this Head which may also be more profitably supplied by Directions in the Close of all And so I come to the third intention which was to reduce what has been said to matter of Exhortation And I shall leave with you these two necessary Cautions I. Be careful to give no Offence II. Be
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 tho it be not so impudent and notorious an abuse as the making void of God's Law by the other lewd 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 Pharisees 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 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 tho 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 tried 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 Physicians 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 defy 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
in those Errors than it hath been and perhaps utterly impossible to maintain them amongst Christians without destroying the Bible out of the World But then by the same reason that such cautions had been necessary a thousand times as many more had been necessary too For so many Additions by way of caution must have been made as there are ways of eluding and perverting a Rule which are so many that to have provided expresly against them all would have made the Bible a more voluminous Book than any is in the World not to say the most odd and uncouth Book that ever was seen For whoever wrote or spoke in that manner as to provide against all possible ways of being mistaken or having his words perverted According to this rate a man must not expect to make an end of a sentence in an hour and when he has done all he can his explications may be perverted too And therefore we are not to wonder if God has not provided express Cautions against all possible Mistakes and Abuses of this nature but thought good to leave a Rule of Faith and Manners and Worship which would be sufficient to guide all honest Persons and lovers of Truth though not sufficient to exclude all Cavil and Abuse For this reason it was that our Saviour did not pretend that all who saw his Works and heard his Doctrines must necessarily believe in him but he required constantly a certain temper of mind consisting of Humility Sincerity love of the Truth and in a word A good and honest Heart in order to a Man's being his true Disciple Common Sense and Reason was not sufficient for this purpose but there must be also a peculiar Probity or teachable Spirit a Mind ready to believe all Truth and to do all Duty These were the Sheep that would hear his voice and the Ground that would receive his Seed and bring forth Fruit Such were the Men that would hear and understand and know of the Doctrine whether it were of God But as for others they would make a shift to reject it with some colour for so doing or to pervert it if they once admitted it This was the first things to be considered the temper and design of the Gospel which delivers Truth that does by no means gratify the Lusts of Men or please their Imaginations or serve the interest of particular persons to the disadvantage of all others and then that this Truth was delivered in that way which though it be apt to instruct and convince all honest Men yet will not infallibly bear down a spirit of Contradiction Now to this we must add 2. The consideration of the general temper of Mankind for whose sake the Gospel was made known viz. that it is very corrupt and exceedingly prone to Sin and therefore to Error impatient of true Virtue and Piety and therefore of true Doctrine Human Nature does affect a lawless Liberty and cannot well bear to be confined and it is so diseased that it doth not take it well to be healed it is therefore no wonder if the Remedy which God hath provided hath been so tampered withal by Men as to make it ineffectual for that purpose for which he hath sent it to us and Doctrines have been taught which give that liberty that Truth denies It was not to be expected but that if the Doctrine of Christianity should not effectually overcome those Lusts that reign in the World those Lusts would corrupt and pervert that Doctrine and bring in Heresies Ambition and Covetousness would bring in Heresies for the establishing of a worldly Power and Dominion in the Name of Christ Licentiousness would bring in Heresies for making void the Commandments of God Pride would bring in Heresies though for nothing else but a Man's satisfaction and glory in drawing many People into a Party and becoming the Head of it and when they were brought in the natural inconstancy and wavering of some would carry them away from the Truth the natural stiffness and inflexibility of others would detain them in Error the very desire and love of Novelty would at first help to bring in some and in process of time the pretence of Antiquity would be every day more and more able to gain others Finally the unwillingness of most Men to take pains in the search of Truth and the greater ease of depending upon the absolute Authority of others would give a farther advantage to Error which fears nothing more than an Examination and therefore discourages all Persons from giving themselves so needless a trouble since they have the word of those for their security who cannot possibly mislead them considering the diseases of Human Nature which the Doctrine of Christ doth not cure miraculously and irresistibly it could not be expected but there would be Factions and Heresies against the Truth If therefore it be thought strange that the Apostle should say there must be Heresies let us consider that this is no more than if he had said after all the care that God hath taken to restore Mankind there will be Pride and Ambition there will be Covetousness and Injustice and the Love of this World there will be Luxury and Licenciousness there will be both Inconstancy and Stiffneckedness there will be Laziness and Slothfulness and Unaptness for Instruction and therefore there must be Heresies for God hath provided no infallible Remedies against Sin and Wickedness and as certainly as the Vices of the World would break out in the Church so certainly would Errors get into it by degrees and usurp the Name and Authority of Truth 'T is true that God if he pleased could absolutely have hindred it by his over-ruling Power But in this saying it is implied that he would not do so and Experience has shewn that he has not done so and we have no reason to wonder at it since he is not pleased to make all Men good by an irresistible Grace and there was less reason to expect that he should make all Men Orthodox by an irresistible Illumination And so I come to the second point Which concerns the reason assigned why God is pleased to permit Heresies That they which are approved may be made manifest i. e. that it may most evidently appear who are sincere and honest and who are not so for opposition to the Truth and the ways that are taken to advance Error do prove what Men are at the bottom and distinguish between those that would appear all alike if the same Truth were equally professed by all The great difference that breaks out is that between the probity of some Men on the one side and the falseness and hypocrisy of others on the other side which appears in these instances 1. In a more diligent search after Truth which is the effect Heresies have upon honest and godly Men while they give occasion to Hypocrites to consider what is most for their ease their safety their advantage in this World whilst the several parties
with them and we and they are not Members of one another as all the Members of the Church are Which kind of reasoning how likely soever it may be to confound and amuse a Man is by no means fit to unsettle a prudent nor so much as an honest Person if he will give himself leave to consider The plain Answer to these Harangues is this That Christians are not united into one Body or Church in all respects but in some they are There is the Unity of one Lord and one Faith and one Baptism which makes them one Body But then alas they are not always one Body in respect of Unity and Affection and good will towards one another nor in respect of Unity of Communion in the Service of God or of Discipline and Government as they ought to be But now the profession of the same Faith which was once delivered to the Saints and Admission into the state of Christian Duties and Privileges by Baptism is that which makes a Christian and which unites all Christian Societies into one Body They indeed who are defective in this are no Christians and they who come thus far are so because we are all baptized into one Body But then we grant there ought to be a farther Unity and in particular an Unity of Communion for the uniting of the Members of this Body more strictly to one another But tho' there be not Unity of Communion they do not therefore cease to be Members of one Body but all that can be truly said is that some of the Members are contentious and either give just cause of Offence or take Offence when none is given which is indeed contrary to the Duty of the Members of the Church but not utterly inconsistent with their being Members of it And for this we have the Authority of St. Paul in the two Verses next but one to the Text If the foot shall say Because I am not the hand I am not of the body is it therefore not of the body That is if the Members of the Body of Christ do contrary to their Duty in some respect it doth not follow presently that they are no longer parts of the Church and if one Church will have no Communion with another but upon most unjust and unreasonable Terms it is very certain that Unity of Communion is not likely to last between them But so long as there is an Unity of Faith i. e. a consent in professing the necessary Articles of Christianity they are yet one Body tho' one part of it doth not perform the Duty incumbent on it as it is a part of the Church but will perhaps be the whole or nothing and is not content to profess the first Faith but moreover adds new Doctrines thereto contrary to the Scriptures and would impose them upon the rest of the Christian World We may therefore in respect of Faith and Baptism grant That Church which would be all in all to be within the Unity of the Catholick Church tho' we are not in Communion with it but then in respect of Unity of affection and Charity and Unity of Communion in the Service of God and in opposing all dangerous Errors and Unity of Government in these respects I say she is not within the Unity of the Body in as much as she doth contrary to her Duty in all these respects So that tho' the Church be one in respect of Baptism and the principal Articles of Christianity yet because it is not one in other respects I am by no means startled at that charge You and we are two Churches because we are of opposite Communion and therefore if you grant us to be a true Church you must conclude your self not to be so For I have this to answer That Faith which you profess with us that Baptism which you administer and receive with us is that which makes you to be of the Church and thus far you are one with us 'T is true indeed there ought to be Unity in maintaining Communion in all Christian Offices and to that end no false Doctrines are to be added to the profession of the Faith nor any unlawful Practices to be brought into God's Worship but this is that which we cannot help though you can and by such things as these you have departed from the Unity that ought to be in the Church but we have not To make which Answer more plain let it be remembred That one instance of that Unity which ought to be in the Church is keeping all the Commandments of God Now all unholy Persons professing Christianity do depart from this Unity yet inasmuch as they are baptized and profess the Creed we own that they are visible parts of the Church But now because they are so if they should charge all those that take not the same Liberties they do with being out of the Church because the Church is one Body and they are ganted to be of it I think nothing could be more ridiculous and it is little better that they say who under the Protection of this Principle That the Church is but One would exclude all from being Parts of the Church who do not run into the same Enormities about Doctrine Worship and Government with themselves In a word the Church is one in respect of the common Faith which is professed every where amongst Christians and it ought to be one but it is not in respect of purity of Profession and of Worship and Government But it doth not from hence follow that they who are in the right must go over to those that are in the wrong in order to being a part of the Church for that they are already but they that are in the wrong should learn to do their Duty better that they may become a purer part of the Church which yet they are not 2. We are born in hand also That where there is most Unity there must of necessity be the True Church and this because there is but One Body Concerning which I say That if by Unity be meant Agreement in all Points of any great consequence they that advance this Principle have advanced it against themselves for it must be a very uncomfortable one to those that in many matters differ notoriously amongst themselves But. 1. The Principle it self is false for there may be Unity in Error as well as in Truth and there hath been so The false Prophets in Elias's time were at Unity so were the Scribes and Pharisees that consented to our Saviour's Death no not is Satan divided against himself It is not meerly Unity that is a Mark of a true Church unless it be Unity in the true Faith nor is Unity the Mark of a pure Church unless it be upon Terms of Obedience to God of Charity to one another of keeping the Faith unmixed with Errors and Innovations and the Worship of God free from material Defects and forbidden Practices Unity in Error and Sin is to be broken
Unity only in Faith and Goodness is to be preserved 2. It is possible that where there are discords there may be yet more truth professed than where there are none and that for the former Reason because there may be Unity in the worst Errors Besides the common Faith that is professed by all Christians one part of the Church may maintain the Purity of that Profession against another that hath superadded new and false Doctrines to it and yet the Reformed part may labour under Discords that affect their very Communion while the other doth not There may be on the one side disobedience to Authority overvaluing of Questions of no great moment a greater stress laid upon Opinions or Practices than the Cause will bear and this shall be sufficient to break Christian Communion and at the same time whilst gross Errors are maintained on the other side with one consent the differences that happen by the bye may be so over ruled by Authority by Force and Power and by the sensible Interests of this World that how wide soever they are they shall not yet rend Communion But in such a case it were the fondest thing in the World to chuse a Doctrine by the mark of Unity among those that profess it Therefore in this divided State of Christendom it is easie to see what Christians are to do to preserve the Unity of the Body of Christ as much as in them lies and to be sure that they are within the Unity of the Church in all respects 1. I need not say that they are to stand fast in the Faith which was first delivered to the Saints in the Common Faith of Christians for without this they could not so much as continue in that Body into which they were baptized only I may add That they are to lay it up in their hearts and to value it as the greatest Treasure and to proclaim their esteem of it and to acknowledge all that profess it to be of the same Body with them This being that Faith which Christ came down from Heaven to establish in the World and which he sent the Holy Ghost to inspire his Apostles withal to reveal it to us and to confirm it for us by the Writings and by the Miracles of inspired Persons 'T is by this Faith and this Profession therefore which includes Baptism that they are Christians who will not allow us to be of the Church 2. Let them keep themselves from entertaining any corrupt or false Doctrines not only any that are contrary to the Scriptures but any as necessary to Salvation which are not to be proved by the Scriptures for thus they will be sure to keep themselves from any dangerous Errors and continue not only true but pure Believers and they sure are not the less but the more in the Unity of the Church who receive nothing as necessary to be believed in order to Salvation but what by the undoubted Records of our Christian Faith appears to have been taught by Christ and his Apostles 3. Let every private Christian be most careful to observe the Commands of our Lord Jesus in the Government of all his Affections and all his Actions for Unity in this thing ought to be amongst all Christians since without Obedience no Man how qualified soever he may be in the Church upon other accounts shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven not every one that saith Lord Lord Without this it is not the being of the one Church it is not the professing of the one Faith no nor the being of a pure Profession and a pure Communion that will unite us really and effectually to our Lord Jesus the Head of the Church but we shall be cut off from him as Branches that bring forth no fruit 4. Let him maintain an universal Charity to all Christians Good will to those that are misled and seduced in endeavouring to reduce them as he hath opportunity in praying for them readiness to be beneficial to all his Brethren to forgive Injuries and to overcome evil with good compassion to the miserable pleasure in that which is for the particular good of any one of his Brethren and much more in what is for the general good of all Thus he shall preserve himself in the other Unity which is the Duty of the Church the Unity of Charity and Good will 5. Let him live in strict Communion with the particular Church whereof he is a Member in subjection to the Authority of it in observing the Rules of it for the guidance of Religious Assemblies for the ordering of all things that fall under human Authority i. e. the Authority of the lawful Guides of the Church in order to the Edification and well Governing of it Thus he shall maintain an Unity of Communion with his Brethren and his Guides and so in effect with the whole Christian Church where the Parts of it do as they ought to do and most undoubtedly we are not to be united to any of them in things wherein they do as they ought not The Sum of this Advice is easie to be understood and to a good Man as easie to be practised There is no need for him to trouble his own Mind with nice and intricate Questions about Unity because he will maintain his part in order to the Unity of the Church by doing his plain Duty by sticking to the Faith which is professed by all Christians the Faith into which we were baptized by rejecting whatsoever is contrary to the Scriptures and making them the Rule of his religious Perswasions which all Christians ought to do by observing the Rules of the Gospel for the Government of his Life and Actions in which yet undoubtedly all Churches and every Member of every Church ought to conspire though this part of Unity is hardly remembred when Men talk of the Church by bearing Christian Affection towards all that name the name of Christ whereby he performs the Duty of Unity towards them which whether they do or not they ought to perform too Finally By frequenting the Service of God in publick Prayers and Exhortations in the Administration of Sacraments according to the Order of the Church whereof in particular the Grace and Providence of God hath made him a Member and which observes the Institutions of our Lord Jesus in all the publick Offices of Religion For thus he performs his part of Unity towards the whole Church with respect to Communion nor is he nor can be to blame if others will not be perswaded to it It is a fond thing to think of seeking a True Church that is the only Church in opposition to all others or to be scandalized at the divided State of the Church which we cannot help and under a pretence of seeking for Unity to mind nothing else We are to preserve our selves in the Unity of the Church by professing true Doctrine and by leading good Lives by a charitable Spirit and Behaviour towards all Christians by frequenting
Verdict should be according to the Evidence if it were only for this that a Controversie might be righteously decided instead of establishing some instance of Iniquity by a Law This therefore is a farther Aggravation of the Sin of Perjury in all these Cases That the Oath which is violated did not only bind to that Sincerity which is the Duty of all Men every where but to that Truth which was particularly demanded by the Magistrate which was to be an Instrument of Justice and publick Security which was necessary for the preventing of Wars and the doing of Right But these are light Aggravations in comparison to those that arise from the nature and particular Obligation of an Oath it self At least they will receive great weight from these as you shall see presently 'T is an excess of impious boldness to worship God with a Lye at the Tongues end but Swearing is an Act of Worship Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and swear by his name Swearing is a direct acknowledgment of the Divine Attributes and to swear falsly must needs be as bad as making long Prayers to devour Widows Houses But he that Swears does not barely worship God he takes him to witness in his behalf too so the forsworn Man calls him to attest a Lye To imagine the wickedness of this what would you think of a Man who should appeal to some worthy Person for the truth of a Matter which he is sure the Gentleman knows to be a Lye Farther what if he should dare to appeal to the Judge himself or to the whole Court of Judicature tho' he knew that every one there would utterly deny it however that they would not confess it without being Lyars like unto himself But this is a shameless Insolence that no Man ever ventured upon What think you then of him that appeals to God's Testimony for the credit of a Lye To the Testimony of God I say who is infinitely greater and to be had in more Reverence than the most venerable Assemblies of Men. When we are guilty of other Sins we sneak away from the thoughts of God The Drunkard and the Adulterer and the Thief are ashamed and afraid to think there is so great a Witness of their Crimes and in Comparison to the false Swearer they retire with some sort of Modesty from his Presence hiding him from themselves at least tho' they cannot hide themselves from him 'T is only the forsworn Wretch that must of necessity Sin without any shamefacedness that tells a Lye to the very Face of God and desires him to observe it be the Witness of his his own dishonour And yet a more desperate degree of Wickedness is implied in Perjury than this and that because an Oath is an Appeal to God's Justice For the Swearer by consenting to fall under the Rigour of Justice unless he deals uprightly as far as in him lies he calls himself off by Perjury from any Appeal to Mercy afterward By other Sins we make an ill use of the Mercy of God but by this we set it at defiance The perjur'd Man deprives himself as much as he can of the last hope of Sinners who though they put many Affronts upon the rest of God's Attributes yet study to keep a reserve in his Goodness and Compassion but he throws himself according to his own Will and Consent to the hands of Divine Justice and its utmost Severity Yet farther through all these Obstacles does the false Swearer make his way that he may come to pervert Justice and Equity A Man should be horribly afraid at the thought of so much impiety if his end were to help the Fatherless and Widow and to save the Poor from wrong or to secure his Country out of danger but how much more when he hunts for the precious Life when he betrays the Simple and protects the Crafty or serves the designs of Faction or Oppression For I should guess that Forswearing is never practised but upon the wrong side at least that 't is call'd in very rarely in comparison to assist the Right 'T is the unjust Man that seeks to defend himself by artificial delays by indirect Proceedings and at a dead lift by downright Perjuries while the Righteous trusts to the Honesty of his Cause and the Wisdom of the Judge and the Providence of God But if I should be mistaken in this if Forswearing should be more ordinary than I imagine even on the Right side surely it must be because 't is so common on the Wrong that nothing is believed to be safe without it Behold then what horrible confusion it makes in the World while it confounds Right and Wrong Truth and Falshood Justice and Injustice blotting out the clearest Characters by which they can be distinguisht from one another in Courts of Judgment 'T is this which levels an honest Cause with the unjust one that is advanced against it nay which creates Confidence of Success in the Oppressor and fills the good Man who dares not be damn'd with Mistrust and Fear It is this which makes the Fortune of Verdicts as uncertain as that of Arms and gives Courage to the Villain to go to Law with the Innocent it robs Vertue of much of its Defence and Security in this World and puts Power into the hands of the Malicious and affords Protection to the Murderer and the Traytor The detestable Effects thereof in the present Life cannot be described but by the Cries of the Oppressed the Sighs of Orphans the Tears of Widows the Ruin of Families and the shedding of innocent Blood And tho' every Man that dares be forsworn has not arriv'd thus far in doing mischief yet he only wanteth a gainful Opportunity or an unlucky Provocation and then a Devil to put it into his head To conclude What should I say farther to enkindle your Zeal against a Sin already swell'd into so vast a bigness but this That so far as it prevails it is always likely to intercept between us and the most happy Influence of the Honourable Judges wâ—â— they come to us full of the invaluable Blessings of Government they in whom good Subjects and wronged Innocents expect to meet with powerful Patrons while none but the Criminal and Seditious shrinks away with Shame and Fear who to the State bring along with them Peace by deciding our Controversies and Plenty and Honour and Safety by enforcing Obedience to the Laws Who to the Church bring the Securities of her Patrimony and Rights making the Benefits of their Justice to bear good proportion with the Authority of their Commission which they have received not only from the King but by him from God who are the faithful Dispensers of the Justice of the King and the most welcome Messengers of his Love and Care for the People Who from the Sovereign convey Life and Spirit through the whole Body of the Nation returning the same in grateful Loyalty and Duty from his Subjects and in their Blessings
the Temptation Men of Probity and Lovers of Truth should upon diligent examination hold it faster than otherwise they would have done This is one of the great advantages to which that opposition tends which Truth has met with in the World And therefore the more lofty those Pretences are by which the other Church would bring us to an intire 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 very sure 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 casting up 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 Knowledge 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 professed what Doctrine they taught and what Lives they led Now if we profess that very Faith and teach no other Doctrine and frame our practice 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 Gods 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 you 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 delivered to us in the Scriptures which are able to make us wise unto Salvation through Faith 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 leting 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 TRANSUBSTANTIATION The Third Edition LONDON Printed for William Rogers at the Sun over-against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet 1698. 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 so great 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 sense See Mr. G's Pap. 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 anytime 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 Topicks 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 where-ever it was still continued to differ from them Instead of calling me a Heretick or Schismatick or thundring out Damnation against me 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 good Estate and intimately acquainted with divers R. C's 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 persuaded 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 then 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. S's Principles and was thereby become such a mighty Man of Controversie that none of our Divines durst cope with him He in whose Hands the Dean of Paul's 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 answering in a few Sheets all the Books and Sermons that had ever been published or preach'd against them but in the humble Character of a Country Priest a little inconsiderable Man amongst them and his Dress was accommodated to his Character that so under this disguise he might talk with the greater Advantage to her 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 gained 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 Gray's-Inn Feb. 21 1686. I shall say nothing of the Menage of the Conference it 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 pas'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 persuaded 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
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 than 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 Use 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 Use of it To make which plain to every bodies understanding I shall add another Instance easie to be applied 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 put 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 ancient 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 Councils 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 sensed by a fallible Authority because all such Interpretations may be false Ans This is the Place where I shall tell the Disputer what we believe 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 insomuch 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 universal 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 ancient 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 than 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 not take me to be Infallible and yet I am confident he would be angry if I should say his Paper was not to be understood without an infallible Interpreter let him answer this if he can The Reason he gives why Scripture sensed by a fallible Authority cannot be the Rule of Faith is because all such Interpretations may be false That is to say because there is a bare Possibility of any fallible Man's mistaking the sense of plain Texts Which kind of Reasoning makes impossible that every Man should come to be a Believer unless himself be first Infallible And this I shall demonstrate so plainly that no Man who has any share of Understanding and Modesty shall be able to deny it There is no possible way for any sort of Christians to make known either the Articles or Reasons of Faith to those that are yet ignorant of them but by Words or Sentences written or spoken He who hears or reads the words and sentences cannot tell either what is to believe or why he should believe till he understands or in the Disputers Phrase till he senses those Words and Sentences but as yet his Authority is but fallible and Words sensed by a fallible Authority can never give a Man certainty either of the Rule or of the Reason of his Faith if this Disputer be in the Right therefore 't is impossible to make him a Believer unless you can make him Infallible first that it may not be possible for him to be mistaken in sensing the Words which he hears or reads And thus farewel to all Advantage that any Man can have by the Infallibility of Popes and Councils or Oral Tradition as well as by the Scriptures nay and to all possible means of arriving to certainty in any matter of Faith unless every body be Infallible first so that upon supposition that God would have all Men to be sav'd and therefore to believe it inavoidably follows from the wild reasoning of this Man that God has made every Man Infallible But if it be evident that Men are fallible Creatures then this Disputer has advanced a Principle the most destructive to all certainty of Faith that ever was heard of in the World But the comfort is that 't is so very absurd that no body well in his Wits can be misled by it Pap. And therefore Faith cannot be obtain'd by any such means Ans Which is as much as to say that Faith cannot be obtain'd till a Man have the Gift of Infallibility And if every Man has it before he can be taught to any purpose what need can there be of an infallible Interpreter to teach him But as I observed before 't is impossible to make Believers of those that are not Infallible unless the Disputer or his Church has a way to make known the Doctrines and Reasons of Christian Faith without Words Pap. For that which is doubtful can only create opinion which is also doubtful Ans Therefore since all Words are doubtful to him that has but a fallible Authority to sense them as no Man has more before he believes 't is impossible for the Disputers Church to create any thing more than opinion which is also doubtful in those whom she teaches unless as I have already said she can make them Infallible first and teach them afterwards And even then there would be no need of teaching them at all because they are now Infallible themselves Of all the Papers that ever I read I never met with any thing more absurd and contradictious than the reasoning of this In which the Disputer out of a vehement desire to overthrow our Faith and the Grounds of it has laid down Principles that do effectually overthrow all ways of making Men sure of any thing and in particular the use of those very Methods by which his own Church pretends to lead Men to Faith Pap. And he that doubts in Faith the Apostle saith is Infidelis and a company of Doubters are not a Church of Faithful but a society of such as the Apostle calls Infidels Ans What Apostle says this if the Disputer refers to Rom. 14.23 as I think he does he has shewn his skill in the Interpretation of Scripture to be equal to his mastery in Reasoning If in the Infallible Church they can Interpret Scripture no better than thus give me the honesty and industry of a Fallible Church before it The Conclusion AND now after all this Paper is as absurd in the design as it is in the management for the business of it is to prove That Protestants have no Faith but are Infidels and that by this Argument they are and must be Doubters Now whether I doubt or do not doubt is a Question concerning a matter of Fact that I have more reason to know the Truth of than the Disputer can possibly have and if I know that I do not doubt and he can yet prove that I do doubt he is an extraordinary Man indeed For then I am sure he can prove That Truth not only may be but is false which perhaps such a Man as he can reconcile with what he said at first That truths are impossible to be false And this alone had been a sufficient Answer to his Paper for nothing can be more frivolous than to go about to prove to a Man by fine Reasoning that he does doubt of a thing when hâ— is as sure that he does not doubt of it as he caâ— be of any thing in the World But the design of this Paper seems to be as impious as 't is absurd And that is to bring weak Persons to Infidelity first that they may afterwards be setled upon Romish Grounds I do acknowledge 't is a very proper way to bring us over to the Church of Rome to make us Infidels first But this they will not find so easie a mattter for we trust that we are not of those who draw back to Perdition but of those that believe to the saving of the soul I have omitted nothing in the whole Paper but to take notice of that little and mean Reflection in calling the Protestant a Parliamentary Protestant I have told this Disputer the Reason and Ground of our Faith If we moreover are protected in the Profession of it by the Laws of the Land I suppose 't is no more than what he would desire for the Profession of Popery and he would think never the worse of himself for being a Parliamentary Papist Thus I have answered this Paper through every Clause of it And I am confident destroy'd all that little Appearance of Reasoning that it made Let the Disputer build it up again if he can I promise him by God's Grace that I 'll pull it down again FINIS
Prayers and Sacraments and submitting to the Authority of our lawful Guides in all things of Indifference and Prudence and then we may be sure that whatever others do we keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of of peace And though after all the Church is not that One Body which it would be if all Men did their Duty yet that we our selves are such Members of that One Body as we ought to be and as all others ought to be likewise The Eleventh Sermon GEN. XV. xvi But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full ABraham was now in the Land of Canaan and this was the third time God had appeared to him and promised him That his Seed should possess that Land In which repetition of the Promise there is this remarkable Circumstance That God told him how long it would be before they should possess it and likewise mentioned one reason why they should possess it no sooner it should be Four hundred years before his Seed should come hither and not sooner because the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full This was the case That the Seed of Abraham could not possess the Land of Canaan otherwise than by dispossessing the Canaanites So that the Bounty of God to the Israelites was likely to prove a terrible Judgment upon the Canaanites But these were not grown to that height of Ungodliness and Vice which God usually punishes by Destruction in this World but God foreseeing that in four hundred Years more their Sins would be ripe for Vengeance determined to reprieve them so long and in the mean time to dispose of the Seed of Abraham otherwise That which I intend to discourse upon is the long sufferance of God in bearing with Mankind till their Wickedness grows intolerable of which this is a most remarkable instance That altho' he might justly have destroyed the Amorites four hundred Years before they were destroyed yet he gave them so long time and bore with them all the while Before I proceed to this I shall premise two Enquiries 1. What the Iniquity of the Amorites was 2. Whether the only Reason why God would not yet put them out of possession was That their iniquity was not yet full 1. What was the Iniquity of the Amorites I answer That they were guilty of Idolatry of Violence and abominable Uncleanness for they were for these Sins cut off by the Children of Israel when they were grown to that height to which they came in four hundred Years time And it is not improbable that the Amorites were at that time when God appeared to Abraham the worst of all the Canaanites in all these respects and therefore that God mentioned them rather than any of the rest as they were afterwards one of the first Nations that were destroyed as we read in Numb 21. and that with this particular Remark That their Spirits were hardned and their Heart obstinate as you may find Deut. 2.30 2. We must not say that the only Reason why God deferred the Punishment of the Amorites four hundred Years was because their iniquity was not yet full and that because there were other Ends of Providence to be brought about in the time some of which are mentioned in this place viz. That the Seed of Abraham might in the mean while be proved and tried by many Hardships they were to undergo and thereby instructed in their Duty and prepared for the Land of Promise For thus we find God said to Abraham v. 13. Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a Land that is not theirs and shall serve them and they shall afflict them four hundred years i.e. before the Four hundred Years are expired and also that nation whom they shall serve will I judge and afterwards they shall come out with great substance and in the fourth generation they shall come hither again for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full Where you see there are more ends than one for which God would not put the Seed of Abraham into a present possession of the promised Land nor do it in haste neither partly because God would still bear with the Canaanites partly because the Israelites yet to be born were to be instructed by the variety of Conditions through which they were to go and be prepared by the Discipline of Divine Providence for the obtaining of that Promise which was made to Abraham and his Seed And this is the admirable way of God's Providence in governing and disposing all things that by the same means he brings about several ends fitting and accommodating things to one another in that manner that every event seemed to be his particular and only care while all the rest were as particularly aimed at and the means directed to it as certainly as to any one of them These things seemed needful to be premised for the better understanding of this place And now I proceed to the main points of Instruction which are suggested in the Text and they are these two 1. The Patience of God in bearing so long as he doth with the Provocations of his Justice from wicked Men. And 2. His untaxable Justice in bringing upon them that Punishment at last which their incurable obstinacy deserves For both these Observations are clearly suggested by the Text The Seed of Abraham should not come four hundred Years because the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full but then they should come the former being as I said a great Demonstration 1. Of the Patience of God for the Amorites were already faln into the Sins for which they were at last cut off only they were not come to that intollerable heighth of wickedness to which they were grown in process of time now all the while they were Examples of God's Patience because he might justly have appeared against them to destroy them even at that very time when he determined to give them yet Four hundred Years to repent and escape No sooner is Sin committed but Punishment is presently due and therefore it is Goodness to forbear the inflicting of it the very next moment but to forbear so long a time is properly Patience and Long-sufferance and it is such Patience as is proper only to him who is God and not Man For the Illustration of which I have two things to commend to your Consideration which will I doubt not be useful to assist us in framing worthy and honourable Apprehensions of God with respect to this matter The first is 1. That God never wants Power and Means and Opportunities to be avenged of wicked Men. 2. That he hath always the same displeasure against and hatred of sin for these things put together do clearly shew That the Patience of God is indeed a Divine Perfection and infinitely to be praised above all that we can imagine of the like quality amongst Men. For 1. God never wants Power and