not impos'd tyrannically without reasons or arguments to inforce its necessity and usefulness but with all the proper methods to engage our assent We believe because we have all the Reason in the World so to do And Faith becomes our choice upon the noblest and strongest Motives that can be I do Reason all the justice and honour which it can expect or deserve by saying that our most Holy Religion is built on this most rational Principle than which Man has none stronger none more evident Whatsoever God reveals is true and therefore the Mysteries of Christianity are true because God has reveal'd them There is no exception against the first of these Propositions In abundance of other things Reason is in the dark but it meets with no sort of obscurity in this The second then is its work and exercise to which it ought to be apply'd Reason must satisfy it self whether God has reveal'd what Religion offers It is highly just that it should be so or else every thing will be call'd Revelation and every folly consecrated by pretending to have God for its Author Men will see vanity and divine lyes saying thus says the Lord when the Lord has not spoken Ezek. 22.28 Thus St. Paul exhorts the Thessalonians 1 Thess 5.21 to prove all things and hold fast that which is good Compare all the Sects which have pretended to instruct Men in relation to a better Life Try even those Systems which boast an infallible Judge Let nothing that assumes the Name of Truth escape a severe inquiry But when all is done hold fast that which is good to wit that which we are perswaded cannot deceive us even the Revelation of God You see then a large Province for Reason to act in And at the same time how easy is that task which brings us at last to the Author of our being to receive the Truth at his hands Socin All this is well But still vast difficulties present themselves First Where is this Revelation which you suppose I know you will answer immediately that it is to be found in the Sacred Writings But then you make it to be the Province of Reason to satisfy it self in the Truth of the Revelation If by this you mean the certainty of the Divine Records you plunge your self in endless and I will say unsuccessful questions about their Inspiration You will be forc'd to shew which of them are inspir'd and which are not You will find them who have pleaded for the Gospels of Basilides Apelles and Tatianus For that according to St. Peter St. Paul St. Thomas c. For the Acts of the Apostles by St. Andrew St. Philip c. For other Epistles of St. Paul than those which we have and several Writings related by St Hierom de Scriptor Eccl. in Luc. and censur'd by Gelasius you will meet with Prochorus and Abdias the Babylonian and a world of spurious Writers pretending the Divine Revelation Secondly If you pass from the certainty of the Records to the particular places by which you affirm that God has reveal'd your Doctrine their sence will be still disputed It will be said that God indeed has reveal'd them but not in the sence which you understand them in And it will be the same as if you had no Revelation at all Thirdly Supposing that Reason can effect all this whose Reason must it be Is it that as you were pleas'd to speak of the common Saylor the Souldier the labouring Man Indeed the Principle will stand unmoveable what God has reveal'd is true But your Assertion that he has reveal'd the Mysteries of Christian Religion will be disputed partly from the uncertainty whether the Records are truly Divine partly from the doubt of the sence of the particular places which you alledge So that Reason in most Men will have nothing to do because they are not capable of learned inquiries and the few that are will wrangle with you to the end of the World Orthod The first of your objections cannot be propos'd by a Socinian It is of some force in the Mouth of a Heathen or of a Deist Were I to argue against either of them I ought not to take it ill if they oblig'd me to prove the certainty and inspiration of the Divine Records Nor is this so difficult as you imagine Criticks have made that a Controversy which is none in it self and never was so before So great and venerable are the Arguments by which the Divinity of the Sacred Writings is prov'd that nothing has yet been said of any moment against it It is to no purpose to insist on this with you who own the Scripture to be a compleat and infallible rule of Faith Nor is it more necessary to make it appear that the Books in dispute in the Primitive Ages of the Church were spurious For besides that we have nothing left of them but their Names and that too with some diversity and that they obtain'd very little because the cheat was presently found out it would not be fair in you to put one to the trouble of disproving Books which you disprove your self You admit with all the rest of Christians the Canon of the old and new Testament Pag. 6. of the Answer to Mr. Edwards Whereas Mr. Edwards says the Author would intimate that we reject divers Books of Scripture on the contrary we receive into our Canon all the Books of Scripture that are receiv'd or own'd by the Church of England and we reject the Books rejected by the Church of England So then all this difficulty is over Your second objection is as easily resolv'd When ever any thing is propos'd as Faith the business of Reason is to see whether it is to be found in those Writings wherein we all confess that God has reveal'd what we ought to believe Thus the Beraeans Act 17.11 at the preaching of Paul Search'd the Scriptures daily whether the things which he said to them were so They sound his allegations true and therefore many of them believ'd Nor will this as you insinuate resolve it self into a dispute about the sence of the places alledg'd For as we have said before those places are so plain so uncapable of any other sence than what they offer The deductions from them are so Natural and easy that all disputing is wholly exciuded For instance the Debate between you and me is about the Holy Trinity You deny and I affirm it We both agree upon a Medium to find whether it is so or no And that is the Authority of the Sacred Writings If in them there is a clear Revelation that God is one and if I produce those Texts which plainly and naturally attributes those qualifications to Father Son and Holy Spirit which are communicable to no created Being and cannot be diverted any other way without changing the sence of the proposition you must as the Noble and Candid Spirits of Beraea certainly yield Against your third objection I say that the
Reason and the Superiority of the first over the last establish'd and the bounds of both assign'd I hope that having no other end in this but doing good they will satisfy him for whom they are written and work on those whom a mistaken Conscience has made to persist in so dangerous an errour All this is treated by way of Conference and Dialogues A manner of Writing usual in the Primitive times as appears by Justin Martyr Theodoret St. Jerom c. And famous amongst us by several late excellent Books of that kind It has that advantage that being properly an imitation of Conversation all is easy and natural in it A Reader is not put on the rack by that intense study which a tedious Argument requires And even the Repetitions and Digressions which in a Conference are unavoidable have somewhat in them which is very taking I have been as sparing as I could of citations hard words or any thing which might obscure or perplex the Subject For besides the Solidity of our Reasonings there must be an exquisite plainness and familiarity in Dialogues which if an Author can attain nothing more is to be desir'd in that sort of Writing But before I conclude this I must say that of all Writers these Gentlemen ought not to value themselves because they have rais'd a great deal of dust which their own prejudice hinders them from laying They complain of difficulties and at every word cry out Unreasonable Contradictory Incomprehensible Whereas no People who attempted to put our Holy Religion out of doors ever oppos'd to it a more Vereasonable Contradictory and Incomprehensible System than they have done I will not speak of their Incomprehensible explications such as are that of Joh. 1. that of Phil. 2. Coloss 1. Heb. 1. c. which no Man in his right senses can make any thing of and are a direct Contradiction to the other part of the Divine Oracles But I will only beg of them to reconcile their robbing Christ of his Divinity to the adoring of him praying to him and making him an object of Divine Worship I should be glad they would shew us how it is consistent with Reason that A meer Man A meer Creature such as they make Christ to be can offer himself a sufficient Expiation a propitiatory Sacrifice for the Sins of the whole World This the Author of the Brief History has granted This is reported to have been acknowledged by Charitable Mr. F. at his death This Mr. T. one of their writers so largely commended by the Author of the last Answer to My Lord of Worcester's late Vindication of the Holy Trinity has plainly call'd an Extravagance I am mistaken says he Christianity not Myster pag. 25. if either the Socinians or the Arrians can make their Notions of a DIGNIFY'D AND CREATURE-GOD CAPABLE OF DIVINE WORSHIP appear more reasonable than the extravagancies of other Sects touching the Article of the Trinity When they have justify'd all this and a great deal more which may be objected to them then and not before they may lay claim to and stand by their pretended Inconsistencies But till that is done they must only be look'd upon as a remarkable instance of humane infirmity which not contented to rely on that solid Foundation which the Redeemer of the World and his Apostles have left us settles in a barren and dry Ground where no Water is There is no Man but what can easier pull down than build up Let us but want Humility and abound in our own Sence which is as often our Sin as our Misfortune and we shall easily have objections in store against the Christian Faith But then we leave the Rock to build on the Sand And when we have done all that we can by our fine discourses it will be Sand still The Structure will tumble to the ground and great will be the fall of it If these Gentlemen think fit to say any thing to these Papers they are humbly intreated that they will not use them as they did the Four Letters that is put out an Answer where nothing either directly or indirectly is answer'd If they only write to satisfy me that they are Men of Learning and Masters of all the Graces of Elocution I am convinc'd of it already and they may spare themselves that trouble 'T is not so much Language and Oratory as Argument and Reason which we expect at their hands Books Printed for Thomas Bennet at the Half-Moon in St. Paul's Church-Yard REmarks on some late Writings of the English Socinians in Four Letters done at the Request of a Socinian Gentleman By H. de Luzancy B. D. Minister of Doverc and Harwich The Inspiration of the New Testament asserted and explained in answer to the Six Letters of Inspiration from Holland c. By Mr. Le Moth. A Conference with a Theist in two Parts By W. Nicholls Rector of Selsey in Sussex The Certainty and Necessity of Religion in General or the first Grounds and Principles of Humane Duty Established In eight Sermons at Mr. Boyle's Lecture for the Year 1697. By F. Gastrell B. D. and Studient of Christ-Church Oxon. Certain Considerations for the better Establishment of the Church of England with a Preface by James Harrington Esq A Sermon Preach'd before the Honourable House of Commons on the Anniversary Fast for the Martyrdoom of King Charles the first By E. Langford D. D. A Sermon before the Lord Mayor Judges and Aldermen at the Cathedral of St. Paul on the thirtieth of January 1697. By S. Estwick B. D. and Chaplain of Christ-Church Oxon. In the Press Twelve Sermons upon several Occasions By Robert South D. D. Never before Printed Dr. Bentley's Dessertation upon the Epistles of Phalaris c. and the Fables of Aesop Examined By the Honourable Charles Boyle Esq A Conference Between an Orthodox Christian AND A SOCINIAN The First DIALOGUE Socinian WELL I see there is no end of disputing and if that spirit once possesses Men they have the misfortune never to know when to have done Yesterday at four in the afternoon the Doctor and your Friend enter'd the lists It was Nine at Night before they could be perswaded to sit down and take their share of a Curious entertainment which Mr. N. at whose House they were had prepar'd for them Every thing was neat and fine the Company select and good and yet all this which makes Men Sociable and inclin'd to please one another had no such effect on these two great Spirits They had much ado to forbear breaking out and if they had been let alone I really believe that they would be disputing still Orthodox Pray what was the subject of this long dispute Socin The great Controversy of the Age Socinianism That which the Church of England endeavours to run down with so much vehemency and has been lately defended by several ingenious Men whose Writings I am satisfy'd you are no stranger to Orthod What could they say in all that time They are
both Men of Learning and I suppose method too without which Learning is of no use and becomes only a large heap of rich Materials without beauty or strength because without order or disposition Socin All that I could perceive of both sides was very little reason or Argument But a World of heat and clamor Perpetual reflections either on the Church or the Socinians rude expressions and an insufferable shifting and running from one thing to another Orthod Truly this is the misery of disputes which for want of good and sincere management become a fatigue and a labour not to be overcome Books come as much short of it as Conversation The Writers and the Readers are equally unfortunate in this the one not giving that which they promise and the other being disappointed of that which they look for and that is Information Socin For this very reason I have almost vow'd to dispute no more I will hate the very Name of Controversy and no Book of that Nature shall find Room in my Library Time may be spent much better than in endeavoring to understand an Author who does not understand himself An infinite Stock of Patience is necessary to bear with a dull flat and insipid Writer Nor was I ever made to be a Witness to all their heats and follies who load their Adversary with ill Language because he is not of their Opinion Orthod I am not of your mind That which is good cannot cease to be such because it is abus'd Inquiry after Truth is the Noblest endeavour as well as the most Natural inclination of Mankind And disputing is the way which leads to it It is by comparing Argument with Argument and Reason with Reason that at last it does appear In the State of Weakness that we are in Thinking and Reflection are the only helps we have and it is from striking the steal and the flint together that the blessed fire breaks out which improv'd removes our darkness We have very few Self-Evident Principles and from them we do not always draw true and exact consequences The Mine must be open'd and digg'd with a great deal of Labour till we come to the precious Ore But once found it yields an inestimable treasure In a word it is by the opposition and difference of Men in their opinions that we come to examine reflect inquire and at last find out the Truth Socin I grant all this But when disputing is so wholly perverted as to become a sanctuary to Error When two contending Parties are so obstinate as not to yield the least Point and it is no more whether what I say is true but what I say must be true When Books are fill'd up and grow to large volumes and yet nothing to the purpose When all degenerates into heat and passion I think it time to have done keep my sense of things to my self and meddle no more with disputes Orthod What you say is too true We have a large experience that several have Writ of subjects which they never understood and others have pretended to answer objections which they have wholly mistaken Like those Translators Who have assassinated several Authors and disfigur'd many admirable and Original Pieces for want of understanding both the Language out of which they translated and their own which they translated into It is also evident that Divine Matters have been treated with very little piety As if God was not to be consulted when Man presumes to speak of him and the heart as well as the mind was not to guide the hand of the Writer But yet for all this there are Books of this kind which cannot be sufficiently admir'd so clear they are and yet so concise so eloquent and yet so grave so Candid and yet so home that it is hard to say whether they are more commended by the present Age or shall be more admir'd by posterity Socin Pray where are those Phoenix's to be found For they are so rare that they really deserve that name Orthod Not so very rare neither What Curious Writings did the Reign of Charles the Second produce in Defence of the Unity and Peace of the Church How was Popery treated in that of James the Second With what solidity and clearness did our Divines argue with the Emissaries of Rome never starting from the state of the question or the main stress of the difficulty propos'd And in this of William the Third when the Socinian Controversy which had slept some years began to awake again and to promise it self some increase from the looseness of Men's principles and from some other unhappy Circumstances unknown but to very few How did the Church rowse up and with what Zeal what Learning what success did they oppose the growing Heresy Socin I own that some good Books have been written against the Nonconformists and many excellent ones against the Church of Rome But for your success against Socinianism it is indeed much to be admir'd Is it not notorious that all your Writings have not brought one over to a Recantation and that though the Sect does not thrive much in the Country where Conversation is more rare yet it visibly gets ground in the Town There is scarce a Wit but what is a Socinian If Socinianism is a rank Poison I can assure you that the young Gentlemen swallow it with greediness One whisper'd me not long since that it is got even amongst some eminent Lawyers Many of your Clergy themselves are not free from the aspersion Socinianism is publickly disown'd and hated but privately much made of and caress'd I am afraid if your Universities were search'd it would be found that the sinful Weed grows there too Orthod What you say is that which we now exclaim'd against and that is Reflecting But when all is done the trick is stale and not like to take There never was yet so despicable a Sect in the World but what was willing to insinuate that their numbers were far greater than what really they appear'd A piece of Vanity laugh'd at every where by Men of Sence But in this the Socinians are unhappy For they are a Sect and no Sect a Body and no Body Some particular Persons have been Intoxicated with reading Socinus Crellius c. They have corrected and improv'd many of their Notions These they have put into several short and truly Elegant Writings and having had the happiness to be answer'd by Men every way Great it gave a general curiosity to read what these Authors had said which should arm so many famous Pens against them This has perswaded them into a belief that they have a croud of followers And as formerly the Arrians in the disputes against Arrianism so in these against Socinianism they fansie that the whole World is become Socinian But I will presume to say that it is nothing but fancy Men do not so easily part with the Faith in which they were baptiz'd and in which the hope of their Eternal Salvation consists