Scripture that belongeth to a Discourse be agreeable to the designe and scope of that Discourse to which it belongeth This Rule as it is necessary for all to observe so it is especially to be urged upon men that are apt to interpret places that are not of themselves plain by those Opinions that they are already possessed with a belief of but for which they have little ground besides the mere sound of some Texts which at first hearing seem to be of their side but which if they were compared with the designe of the holy Writer in that Chapter or Book would be found to mean quite another thing All that I shall say besides of this Rule is that the difficulty of many places that are not of themselves plain will be removed by observing it For instance by this way we shall easily be satisfied that that forementioned place of St. Paul Who maketh thee to differ from another was chiefly meant of those extraordinary gifts which were distributed amongst believers in the first Ages of the Church and therefore though in a qualified sence this is true of all saving Graces it is very consistent with all those Scriptures that suppose the difference between the righteous and the wicked to depend upon something which is in the power of the righteous If we mangle coherent Discourses and take a shred or a phrase of Scripture by it self without regard to the main scope of the place and this to prove what what we would have we do not try our Opinions by Scripture but we interpret Scripture by our own Opinions Thus I have shewn what Cautions are to be observed in judging by Scripture I doubt not but all will acknowledge them to be very reasonable and equal and if all men had observed them who have a just veneration for the Scriptures the Word of God had been better understood and less wrested unsound Divinity had not easily passed for Scriptural Truth and all occasion of those unjust Reproaches had been taken away which the Church of Rome throws upon us for allowing to all Christians the free use of Gods Holy Book And thus much for the Rules of Reason and Scripture 3. The third I mentioned was Antiquity and Catholick Tradition Now if this Rule as I said at first be of excellent use then they are in the best way to find out what is the true Christian Religion by it who stick to the Holy Scriptures though they are not capable of using it otherwise For if that be true which was most anciently taught and believed in the Church and which was received all along in the best Ages of the Church then he that can prove his Faith by Scripture has the Argument of Antiquity and Catholick Tradition unquestionably on his side because the Scriptures are the most ancient Records of our Religion and they have been delivered down to us as such from the beginning through all Ages to our present times But we acknowledge also the testimony of Antiquity of something of a later date that is of the antient Fathers of the Church to be of very good use for the clearing of some places in Scripture for shewing what Order and Discipline was left in the Church by the Apostles for confirming us in points of Faith grounded upon the Scriptures but which have been disputed and opposed by Hereticks and likewise for confuting those gross errours in Belief or Practice which of later days have been brought in amongst Christians especially those of the Church of Rome But how things are to be examined by this Rule I shall not here direct because this is the subject of an excellent Discourse already published And thus much concerning Rules whereby to try Opinions in Religion § 7. III. The Dispositions wherewith we are to search for the Truth by these means are also of necessary consideration for whatever other advantages we have if we be greatly defective in these we shall very often lose our labour and fall into mistakes of dangerous consequence To qualifie a man for receiving Truth when propounded with sufficient evidence or to find it out by his own search there must be these three things 1. A prepared mind 2. Competent Diligence 3. Prayer to God for his blessing upon that Diligence 1. A prepared mind which our Saviour calls a good and honest heart Now this consists in Humility Ingenuity and Sincerity Humility is necessary because overweening and self-concit makes a man apt to despise what those of a different Perswasion can say for themselves before their Arguments are considered and in general to neglect that help which may be had by the advice and reasoning of others So likewise vain-glory fixeth a man in an errour he hath once defended and while he is unwilling to acknowledge a mistake he strains all his Wit to delude himself into a stronger belief of it and of his ability to defend it In Controversies he is desirous of victory and would fain be thought some-body and therefore he studies more to expose an adversary than to inform himself And if he be yet to chuse his side of a Question he takes the wrong one if it be more fashionable than the right Therefore says our Saviour Whosoever doth not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child i. e. with a meek and pliable spirit shall not enter therein Again says he My sheep hear my voice intimating that they would be easily convinced who were of tractable and humble minds And therefore he adds concerning the Pharisees that they rejected him because they were not of his Sheep i. e. because of their haughty and inflexible dispositions Prejudice is apt to bar the mind against conviction as well as Pride and therefore to Humility we must adde Ingenuity and Sincerity by which a man is qualified to distinguish between the suggestions of Prejudice on the one side and the force of good Reasons on the other Ingenuity is opposed to those Prejudices that are either unavoidably contracted or taken up through weakness of understanding Of the former sort are the Prejudices of Education or conversing altogether with our own Party Men are generally prepossess'd with great favour to those Opinions in which they have been all along trained up and which have been instilled into them by all that they have conversed with And therefore we cannot be meet Inquirers after Truth if we want the ingenuity of suspecting our selves on this side and trying those Perswasions in which we have been bred up with the greater impartiality and severity Some men are prejudiced by an unaccountable inclination toward an Opinion or an antipathy against it and these ought the more carefully to distinguish between the warmth of their imaginations on the one side and the force of Arguments on the other and not to take a passionate fondness for a conclusion or an aversion from it to be a Reason one way or other It is very incident to weak minds to prejudg in favour of
led to a Practice where there is danger of such a complicated sin 3. I am to consider that differences in Religion and Worship do dangerously affect the Peace of Kingdoms and all other Societies especially where the interests of Church and State are so mixed and interwoven together as they are in England They that agree in Religion are the most likely to be at peace and to agree together in other things But it seldom happens that they maintain hearty correspondence in any thing who are of opposite Communions in the service of God When the Unity of the Church is broken there is a foundation laid of those uncharitable censures and animosities which for the most part end in violence and bloudshed very often to the dissolation of Kingdoms and Nations It were easie to put this out of question by several instances of the sad experience which Christendom hath had of it But the late and sad Example hereof at home is enough to make all others needless for our conviction The Rebellion here was supported by nothing more than by difference about Religion This was the principal cause that brought together so many People against the King and that inslamed them with anger and resolution to venture all till they had secured the King and enslaved the Kingdom I need not say for sure every body must be sensible of that how diversity of Religions weaken the Government and render a People unable to do well for themselves to oppose foreign Enemies and to use the most likely opportunities for the common safety and prosperity Therefore in love to our Country and for the sake of Peace at home and of success in all just Enterprizes abroad we should be very backward to violate the present Constitution of the Church and to unsettle the state of Religion and never separate from the establish'd Communion till we find our selves forced to it by Reasons so plain and weighty that there is no avoiding of it if we would keep our selves honest men and good Christians 4. The setting of a bad example to others should in this case be most considered For if where a necessary Reformation in things of Religion is made by just Authority or a lawful separation made by private persons from a Communion polluted with unlawful conditions it is yet very hard to keep the Example from being abused by others in reforming or separating without any such cause and will still be of worse consequence to set an example of wanton and unjustifiable separation for this is so plain a contempt of Authority Order and Unity that others will be afraid to subdivide into more Parties as Self-conceit Ambition or Revenge or the like evil dispositions shall prompt them 5. If separation should not be made but with very great caution for fear of incurring the guilt of Schism by a causeless and unlawful departure from the Assemblies of the Church and setting up other Assemblies in opposition to them This in the judgment of the ancient Christians was no less than for a man to cut himself off from the Catholick Church of Christ and if the body of Christ be but one as the Scripture plainly tells us he that divides himself from any particular Church that is a Member of this Body divides himself from the whole Body And therefore Schismaticks were not accounted by the Ancients to be within the Church although they retained the profession of the Common Faith And surely a man would well advise with himself about an action whereby he may be in danger of putting himself into that condition The Vnity of Christians in one Body and Communion was instituted by our Lord for very great and weighty reasons and particularly for the securing of Brotherly kindness amongst his Disciples who being Members of the Body of Christ should therefore love and care for one another more than other men are wont to do and for the retaining of Professors within the Rules of a true Christian life from which if they should break away by any scandalous practice they were to be punished for it by the shame of being turned out of the Communion of the Church and by the loss of the great advantages thereof But it is evident that they who are guilty of dividing the Communion of Christians and setting up one Communion in opposition to another without necessary cause do what in them lies to render this provision for the maintenance of Charity and purity of Manners amongst Believers altogether ineffectual And we see by experience that hatred and ill will and looseness of life gains ground more by the Schisms that are amongst Christians than by any thing else and no wonder since men that are of different and opposite Communions do not use to love one another and vicious persons do not value the Communion of a true Church nor care if for their ill manners they be turned out of it when they can take Sanctuary in a pretended Church of another Communion that makes as loud a claim to all the Priviledges of a Chruch-Society as that Church can do from which they have divided themselves Which things being considered we are not to wonder that in St. Cyprian's time Schism was accounted no less but rather a greater fault than to sacrifice to Idols for the avoiding of persecution For though Idolatry simply considered be in it self worse yet Schism in its consequences is more pernicious He that is the Head of a Schism does more mischief to the Church than if he turned a Pagan or a Mahometan The conclusion from hence is this That it concerns every man that separates himself from an established Church it concerns him I say as much as his Soul is worth to look to it that the cause of his separation be just and necessary and such as will throw the guilt of Schism upon that Church from which he separates But alas how few are they that examine the reasons upon which they have broken away from the Church of England How many that when they are pressed in good earnest can say no more for themselves than that they have better preaching and more spiritual praying elsewhere than in our Parish-Churches How will they abuse our Prayers and call them Porridge and such other vile names who never in all their lives so much as read them and are not ashamed to own that they have not They call the Bishops Antichristian and the Rites and Ceremonies of the Church Idolatrous or Superstitious who yet never well considered what Antichrist means what is Idolatry or Superstition who have little or nothing to say if they be asked what evil is in Bishops in Liturgies and in the Rites of our Worship How many others are there who read the Books written to defend the separation but will not vouchsafe so much as to look upon any one that is published in behalf of the Communion of our Church God of his mercy give a better Spirit to such people and Repentance to those that
their Opinions whose persons they admire and mostly to that degree as not to hear with any patience an Argument against them Such a Precious man said this or that and therefore no body must say otherwise But it is at once disingenuous and silly to entertain such an opinion of any man as to take all that he says for Gospel for the best men are fallible and 't is easie for an Hypocrite to make himself pass for a Saint in the opinion of ordinary people and therefore men may be led into great errours whose judgments are captivated in this manner To this we may adde that Prejudice which arises from conceiving hard things of mens persons which an ingenuous man will by no means yield to but will consider what another says though he does not fancy the man It is reason enough with some people to reject all that their Minister says to convince them of their mistakes if he be called a High Church-man or goes for an Arminian and all this while they stand in their own light and will not suffer themselves to be instructed in many profitable Truths which they might learn Thus the Jews though they were astonished at our Saviour's Doctrine and Works yet believed not and this because they were offended at him for the meanness of his Parentage Some are so weak as to be prejudiced against Opinions and Practices meerly because they have heard them often abused nicknamed and inveighed against in a rude and reproachful manner And this goes a great way with some Dissenters to make them deaf to all our Reasons that when they are got together they hear the Rites and Prayers of our Church scoffed at and called by vile names But it stands not with the least ingenuity to run away with prejudice against things that are abused and laugh'd at without examining whether there be reason for it Sincerity is opposed to those Prejudices that arise from vicious affections and worldly interests and it consists in a firm resolution to do the Will of God and a vehement desire to know it for that end And this is a most necessary preparation to know the Truth because nothing is more common than the perverting of mens judgments by the inordinacy of their lusts and the serving of a corrupt interest The love of any Vice makes a man partial and insincere in examining the truth of that Doctrine by which he stands condemned The belief of it is uneasie to him it is not for his interest that it should be true This is the reason why the fool saith in his heart There is no God The worldly interests of men do strangely byass and fashion their Judgments It were a thing never enough to be admired that so many men of Parts and Learning should not be ashamed of those pitiful grounds upon which they maintain the Supremacy of the Pope the Doctrine of Purgatory the Half Communion the Sacrifice of the Mass the Invocation of Saints and the like but that those things do notoriously serve the Wealth and Grandeur of the Roman Church If it be needful to go to a Conventicle for the getting of a rich Fortune or the bettering of a mans Trade a little enquiry will for the most part serve his turn and satisfie him that the Separation is lawful and the Causes of it are just A man ought to set aside all consideration of his worldly interest and to propound eternal life to himself as the end of his inquiry when he labours to know the Truth The affectation of Popularity and the love of Praise and Flattery cannot consist with a sincere love of the Truth and does very often hinder the attainment of it It is hard to convince men of those things that check their vainglorious ends and purposes And therefore says our Saviour How can ye believe in me that receive honour one of another and seek not that honour which cometh of God onely The wise man exhorts us to buy the truth intimating thereby that we must quit all our sinful lusts and affections and our carnal interests in prosecuting of it In a word we must be in mind prepared to believe all truth by being resolved to do whatsoever appears to be the Will of God let what will come of it in this World having our hearts evermore fixed upon the great concernment of eternal life And this is more necessary for the best knowledge than vastness of Parts and Learning Where the mind is thus prepared there will be little need to press the two remaining Dispositions whereof the former is 2. Competent diligence Errour is sometimes made to look so like the Truth that a superficial examination will not serve to distinguish one from the other Sometimes the Truth must be had by laying a great many things together and the proof does not lie in one but in many Arguments pointing the same way Sometimes also a conclusion is offered with the shew of many Motives of credibility which neither singly nor joyntly prove what is intended And here patience and industry commonly helpeth more than quickness of judgement Our Saviour bad the Jews search the Scriptures those very men who in all probability had read them but as it seemeth not with diligence enough It were very well if those that begin to study Divinity would not presume upon the diligence and honesty of others whose Books they see full of Citations of Scripture but take some pains to judge whether that be the true sence in which they are quoted For want of this several have miscarried in their first entrance upon this work and the errours of men of name and authority have been propagated It would also be very happy for this Church and for themselves too if the dissenting people would not presently conclude that what they read in the Books of their own way is all agreeable to Gods Word because they see abundance of Scripture in them but would use some diligence to judge whether that be the true meaning in which the Scripture is there understood It was doubtless with designe to catch such slothful people that the Catechism of H. T. was published in our Language wherein he pretends to prove all the lewd Doctrines of the Romish Religion by Texts of Scripture But if any man will take the pains to examine his pr̄oofs he shall find such miserable wresting and perverting of the Scripture that he will never trust a Book more merely for store of Scripture-Phrases and Citations but go to the Fountain of Truth it self the pure Word of God to see whether the interpretations of men are indeed the unpolluted streams of that Spring from whence they are said to come We must be willing to sift things to the bottom if we would not be imposed upon A very little pains will serve to make a man confident but 't is not a little that will make him confident upon safe grounds 3. To Diligence we must adde Prayer for the divine Illumination
yield more easily to the antecedent Arguments of the Infallibility of that Church But if the Doctrine for which she vouches this Authority does upon the most impartial tryal that I can make appear to be worldly unscriptural or contrary to common sence then I am bound to examine the grounds of her Pretence more severely than in the former case And there is no question but such Doctrines may be taught by men pretending to Inspiration or Infallibility which will justifie a man in rejecting that Pretence out of hand and troubling himself no more about it If a Physician of never so great name should tell me that he would infallibly cure my Disease and then prescribe a dose of Arsenick I think Reason would advise rather to question his Infallibility because he goes thus madly to work than to take his Poyson because he promises an Infallible Cure Now if I am not to do violence to my own understanding in things that concern my bodily health much less should I do the same in things that regard my everlasting state And they are a strange sort of men who will allow people the liberty of using their Reason as well as they can for the security of their worldly interests but will have them be led in the great affairs of Religion and Eternity as if they had no reason at all For to judge aright and to know the truth in matters of Religion which is our highest concernment was the principal end for which we have Reason and are Creatures of judgment and choice And they may as well say that 't is dangerous for a man to walk abroad with his eyes open as that 't is dangerous for him to take upon himself to judge as well as he can whether he be in the right way to Heaven or not § 2. If we consider what has been already said it will not be difficult to answer the second Question 2. Whether a liberty of examining and judging in matters of Religion doth mischief in the Church and be the cause of Heresies and Schisms To which I answer that To affirm this is in effect to say that it had been much better in order to the peace of the Church and the prevailing of Truth that men had been nearer to stocks and stones than endued with natural Abilities of judging and natural propensions to use those Abilities which I think would be to reflect upon the Wisdom of our Maker For certainly it had been better for men to have wanted the faculties of judging and proving if it be so dangerous a thing to the Church to make use of them Nor is it much for the credit of the Church that it should be against her interest for men to examine her Doctrine and use their Reason about it as well as they can To speak to the thing It is not the liberty of examination and judgment in order to the knowledge of the Truth that causeth Heresies and Schisms but the not making a right use of this liberty i. e. mens entring upon this work with Pride and the prevalency of Lust and Passion and worldly interest their want of care and diligence and of proving things sufficiently their taking up Opinions without reasonable examination and then seeking for Pretences to colour their obstinacy The Lusts and Vices of men are against the peace of the Church and the interest of Truth but not the use of that Reason which is the divine part of our Natures and which God hath given us to restrain and govern our inferiour Faculties 'T is true indeed that if few or none troubled themselves at all to judge in matters of Religion there would be no Heresies But 't is true too that if they had no reason to judge of these things at all there would have been no Heresies and 't is as true that if there had been no Religion at all it were impossible that there should be Heresies in Religion But will any men say that Reason or Religion is therefore the cause of Heresies And yet there is as much reason to say this as to conclude that the use of our own understandings in the things of God is the cause of Heresies These things are too gross to need a Confutation And yet this Pretence against the liberty of proving what is propounded to us in Religion is intended chiefly against private and ordinary persons but not against the publick Guides and Officers of the Church whereas in truth if there be any thing in it it holds more strongly against these than against the other And that because the most pernicious Heresies that ever came into the Church were brought in by men of Learning and Authority in the Church And if this Pretence be good they of all men should be forbidden to inquire into matters of Religion because if they fall into any dangerous mistake their Authority is likely to give reputation to it and to make it go down more easily with the common People than if it had been started by one of themselves So that we must not lay the Heresies that have been in the Church to the liberty we have been contending for unless we will be content to exclude all from the duty of proving what they have been taught to 〈◊〉 And no man can think this reasonable unless he 〈◊〉 all Religions to be equally true that is every one to be alike false And he that believes this needs not care what Heresie he is of § 3. 3. But if every man hath a just liberty and right to examine for himself is not this a good reason for Toleration or for the universal liberty of practising according to a mans Conscience or Perswasion For to what purpose is liberty of enquiry if after all I must be concluded by the Authority of my Superiours or else suffer under those Laws by which they provide for Uniformity in Religion To this I answer That every mans right and duty to judge for himself in matters of Religion is no good reason for Toleration unless it were also apparent that every man used that Right as he ought to do i. e. with industry deliberation and impartiality If all men were sincere and would examine without prejudice without that byass to one side which is made by lust and passion and worldly interest if they all intended to know the truth that they might do their duty then doubtless it were very fit that all should enjoy an undisturbed liberty of practice according to their Judgment for then no man would err in things plain and necessary to his own salvation and the peace of Church and State For our Lord hath assured us that if any man will do the will of God he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God But so long as there is that Hypocrisie in the World whereof men are conscious to themselves so long as all those Vices also reign which insensibly corrupt the Judgment and make men disloyal to the Truth
wrong way while they never use that liberty of examining the grounds of their Perswasion to which the Church so vehemently perswades them by her Ministers If it be urged that when a man sets himself with honesty and diligence to examine the Case of Communion with the Chnrch and doth all that he can to inform himself aright in this matter but cannot be satisfied that he may lawfully conform and this through mere weakness of understanding it is not reasonable that he should suffer any thing for that It may be said on the other side that there are many more who fail of understanding their duty in this kind for want of examination and inquiry and through the prevalency of Prejudice and passion than there are of those who continue erroneously perswaded through mere weakness of understanding But as for those who in perfect weakness remain unconvinced if I may suppose any such I wish the Laws could distinguish them from the rest and that they could be known by some visible characters that they might be exempted from undergoing any penalties But since this cannot be it must be endured that a few or none in comparison come to have hard measure by means of that which is necessary for the common and publick good § 4. Having premised thus much concerning this subject I shall proceed in this method following I. To consider in what cases we are to enquire most of all into the Truth II. To shew how or by what Rules or Tests we are to try and examine Opinions in Religion III. How we ought to be disposed and qualified that our Inquiries may be profitable and successful IV. To lay down some Motives whereby to perswade men to such Inquiry and examination V. To consider what becomes us and is our duty after the discovery and knowledge of the Truth I. I shall consider in what cases we ought to be most careful in making inquiries after the Truth lest we be imposed upon or mistaken All inquiries about Religion are either concerning the truth of Religion in the general or supposing the existence and providence of God which is the true Religion whether the Pagan or the Jewish or the Mahometan or the Christian or the truth of the Christian Religion being granted what Communion of men professing Christianity is to be chosen for instance whether the Church of Rome or the Church of England or the Communion of the Dissenters who separate from this Church But now all things are not alike needful to be proved or are equally proper matters of inqniry For 1. Every man is not bound to know all the false ways of Religion that are in the World and therefore not to try and examine every one of them It is sufficient for most men that they well consider the Faith and Profession to which they have been educated that if it be the Truth they may be well-grounded in it if it be false that they may upon good reason depart from it 2. Things that are self-evident need not to be examined for no Argument can make them plainer to us than they are already We may without any hesitation assent to such Principles as these That God cannot lie That men ought to observe fidelity and justice to one another and the like If there were not some Principles that needed no proving it were impossible to prove any thing and the more plain any thing is in it self the less need there is to examine it If I am told that white is black I shall not go about to disprove it because the thing is evidently false of it self and I can use no Argument that can make the matter plainer than it was at first In like manner if any man pretends that there is no difference between Vice and Virtue but in name and that all things are equally lawful this shall not put me to the trouble of examining the thing because 't is contrary to the common sense of mankind And for this reason any man is to be excused that dismisses the Doctrine of Transubstantiation without taking much pains about it because upon a very little consideration there appears so many gross contradictions and inconsistencies in it that I can have no greater reason to believe any thing is true than I have to believe that is false 3. Some things are hardly worth the examining and it signifies little or nothing to understand the right side of the Question If the Doctrine of the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary were true yet it were not worth a quarter of the pains they have taken about it in the Church of Rome It is by no means true that an infallible living Judge is necessary upon Earth and that for the deciding of all Controversies in Religion since all such Controversies are not necessary to be decided some of them being of so little concern to us that it is no great matter if they remain Controversies to the Worlds end But we ought to use our Reason as well as we can to find out the truth in all those cases wherein it will be dangerous to be deceived and therefore in these four First When any man or company of men would gain us over to their way by lofty and extraordinary Pretences Secondly When Doctrines are propounded to us with considerable Authority which seem to encourage licentiousness and to render all care of living well needless Thirdly When we are tempted to separate from the Communion of the establish'd Church where we live or if we are in a state of Separation from it Fourthly When Opinions in Religion are propounded to us by those that would get us to yield up our Judgments wholly unto them and do what they can to keep us from examining them A prudent man would examine in all these cases First When men make extraordinary Pretences The reasonableness of which I have already shewn with reference to that Pretence of the Church of Rome to Infallibility And the like is to be said of those that pretend to work Miracles or that talk of immediate Revelations of knowing the Truth by Inspiration and of more than ordinary Illuminations For it is not onely a childish thing to be frighted with big words from looking what is under them but a very dangerous sort of cowardize to be afraid of calling those things into question which are set off with such highflown Pretences For from hence it has come to pass that Superstition and Idolatry Enthusiasms and Impostures have prevailed so much in the World It is somewhat strange that we should believe men the more for that very reason upon which we should believe them less that is for magnifying themselves And yet if this had not been common Mahomet had not imposed upon so great a part of the World nor the Church of Rome upon so great a part of Christendom nor our Enthusiasts upon so many People in England as they have I would not be backward to give that man a hearing that