the largest portion shall know that there is a wide difference between Earth and Heaven and that they are yet but Pilgrims and in their wilderness-state though he sometimes gives them for their encouragement a Pisgah-sight of that Heavenly Canaan towards which they are passing But what must all the forementioned joys and refreshing comforts that the Holy Scripture speaks of and the experience of the Saints bears witness to be counted no better than a juggle or a cheat the transport of frantick raptures or the mere illusion of an Enthusiastick fancy refresh'd with brisk and active spirits and filled with warm and sprightly imaginations Was it such an imaginary comfort that David pray'd for when he says Make me to hear joy and gladness that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice And again Restore to me the joy of thy Salvation And when the Psalmist says In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my Soul And again To the upright there ariseth light in the darkness Is this nothing but the raising of the Blood and the breaking out of the natural spirits from the oppression of melancholick fumes and refreshing the drooping fancy When the Apostle professeth that he was filled with comfort and exceeding joyful in all his tribulations Was this nothing but the effect of a Sanguine Complexion or the product of pleasing Phantasms Did this make Paul and Silas sing in their chains or was it this that cheer'd the hearts of those Blessed Martyrs who with so much joy and triumph embraced the Stake and clapped their half-consumed hands in the midst of the flames To say nothing of the many instances that might be given both in elder and later times of Persons eminent for Wisdom and Holiness who in languishing sicknesses when their Bodies have been so wasted and their strength so impair'd that they could not stir to feed or help themselves the whole frame of nature being broken by cruciating and consuming pains yet have then felt those inward Joys in their Souls which they could not siother but as Men that stood upon the threshold of Glory and had a ravishing sight and sense of the unconceivable pleasures of that other World have with that vigor and alacrity and yet with judgment and prudence poured out Praises and Thanksgivings to their Gracious Redeemer that it hath at once delighted and astonished the hearts of their intelligent Friends that came to visit them I cannot think it possible that the truth of these things should be question'd by any that do indeed believe the Scriptures and have felt the power of the Word upon their hearts But there is a Scoptick Generation of Men whose minds are so tinctur'd with a profane gaiety that the whole Bible is become to them no better than a Play-Book or a Romance upon which they love to exercise their drolling Wits by putting the Doctrines and Discourses of the Prophets and Apostles into a ridiculous dress the better to expose them to the scorn of Infidels as if they read that sacred Volume to no other purpose than as a late Author speaks of some to enable them to blaspheme God in his own stile I have indeed oft wonder'd what should betray any to this fond and iâ—rational conceit of resolving the Agonies of distress'd Consciences and the contrary Joys of serious Christians under assurance into the different temperature of their Bodies and the suitable workings of their Fancy till I met with a piece of new Divinity in a late Belgick Tractator and then I began to suspect out of what Chimny came all this smoke For this account doth that Gentleman give us of the Holy Prophets mentioned in Scripture That their Revelations proceeded from the strength and heighth of Imagination and were diversified according to the different temper and constitution of their Bodies which caused different workings in their fancy Hence he says those Prophets that were of cheerful and debonair complexion prophesied altogether of Peace and Prosperity Victory over Enemies and all things to Mens hearts content these being such things as best suited with their Imaginations On the other side those Prophets that were sad and melancholick or of angry and morose tempers they altogether prophesied of War and Blood-shed Desolation and Destruction these being such things as their drooping and dejected Fancy did most run upon Accordingly he tells us that whatsoever Revelations the Prophets received they did not at all better or advance their Understandings or beget in them any solid knowledge They were good honest Men indeed but none of the wisest for Men of note for Wisdom never were Prophets that being a work that belong'd to the Imagination and not to the Judgment In the same Chapter he undertakes to give us a reason why Josiah when he had heard the Book of the Law read in his ears and was thereby made apprehensive of some impendent calamity would not send to the Prophet Jeremy though then living because forsooth he was a Melancholick Man and one who by his many sufferings and hard usage was grown weary of his life and therefore was not likely to prophesie any good But he chose to send rather to the Prophetess Huldah who being a Woman and so it seems according to the softness of that Sex more inclined to tenderness and compassion was a fitter instrument for God to reveal his Mercy by This is a piece of that Authors Political Atheology And truly I know no kind of Divinity if we may call any such thing by that name from which this conceit that we have under consideration can more fairly be thought to derive its original But if we must look any higher for its pedegree I cannot tell whom to father it upon next to the Father of Lyes unless it be that Arabian Philosopher of great note for Learning who is said to ascribe the Miracles wrought by the Primitive Christians to the power of an exalted Imagination by virtue of which he says they had entertain'd a strong conceit of the Deity of their Master and this fancy in his apprehension was that which wrought such Wonders in Christs Name Whether that which heightened this Pagans confidence to so bold and absurd an assertion were any extraordinary skill he had in the Anatomy of the Brain or the Laws of Mechanism I know not But whatever grounds he might be supposed to have I think none that heartily owns the Christian Name will ascribe such a ridiculous perswasion to the depth of his Philosophy but to the heighth of his Infidelity CHAP. III. 1. Regular Zeal in the Duties of Religion justified 2. And vindicated from the charge of Enthusiasm 3. Madness 4. Dissimulation and placing the whole of Religion in such fervors 5. And of aiming at ill ends I Come now in the last place to speak something of the prejudices taken at those fervors that appear in some in the Exercises of Religion breaking forth
that we may know him that is true And this was promised of old when the Lord says by his Prophet I will put my Law into their inward parts and write it in their hearts which besides an external Revelation implies necessarily an internal Illumination Most true it is that as the light of the body is the eye so the light of the Soul is Reason but if as our Saviour says this light which is in us be darkness how great is that darkness And that it is so with this internal eye as to matters Heavenly till the Spirit of Grace enlighten it is evident by Scripture and all experience But as far as I can understand there are two things in the present point that are especially quarrell'd at viz. That the Spirits enlightening of our minds is affirm'd to be Supernatural and to be Immediate I shall say something to them both First Some are angry at our Divines for maintaining such a thing as Supernatural Illumination The Exercitator rejects all Supernatural Light as a Figment And Velthusius for whose Orthodoxy Wolzogen's credit lies at stake denies the distinction of Natural and Supernatural Light and affirms peremptorily that our knowledge of whatsoever Object whether natural or reveal'd is attained by one and the same Internal Light and that with him is no other than the natural light of reason Now if his meaning were no more but this that whatsoever Objects are presented to us Natural or Supernatural they are all perceived by the same natural faculty of Reason or Understanding I know no Man so absurd as to deny it But if he means as he must if he mean any thing that our Reason or Understanding apprehends all Objects of what kind soever by no other inward light but what is connatural to it needing no supernatural light to help it he must pardon us if we prefer the Authority of Scripture and the Judgment of the Catholick Church before his Novel Conceits Surely when David pray'd for the opening of his eyes to see the wonders of God's Law and when St. Paul pray'd that the Ephesians might have the eyes of their minds enlightened they did not conceive that by the Spirits enlightening no more was meant than the natural light of Mans Reason for they knew that themselves and those they pray'd for had that already as they were Rational Creatures and therefore there was no more need to pray for that than to pray that God would make them Men. But for the further clearing of this the word Supernatural may have respect either 1. to Mans nature as finite and so far innocently imperfect or 2. to Mans nature depraved and so sinfully defective If we consider Man in his first state though his actual knowledge was short of what by further experience he might have attain'd and at the best had its bounds from the finiteness of his being yet I doubt not but he had sufficient light connatural to his understanding for the perception of the highest Mysteries whensoever they should have been propounded to him with clear Objective evidence But it is not so with Man fallen The light of Mans natural understanding is now so weak and dim that there needs a new supervenient light raising and quickening the mind to a greater perspicacity than lapsed Nature hath or can of it self attain to for the right understanding of spiritual things how plainly soever propounded And in this sense we own and assert the saving light of the Spirit to be supernatural in that it elevates the understanding to such a power or ability of knowing heavenly Mysteries as Nature in its â—apsed state hath not of it self nor can recover by its own greatest industry without the special Grace of God It is an acknowledged truth that every thing is received according to the capacity and fitness of the Recipient To a right understanding of any thing there is required a suitableness between the Faculty and the Object The eye cannot perceive smells nor the ear hear colours Nor can any sensitive power reach to the apprehension of things purely intellectual so neither can the mind of a mere natural Man that is darken'd and depraved by sin while it so remains duly apprehend matters spiritual and heavenly It is the Observation of a late Author that the best and most effectual remedy for the thorow curing of our Intellectual diseases is that which alters the Crasis and disposition of the mind because as he very well argues 't is suitableness to that which makes the way to Mens Judgments and settles them in their perswasion there being few as he further adds that hold their Opinions by Arguments and dry reasonings but by congruity to the understanding and consequently by relish in the affections Now as sound Philosophy doth according to the aforesaid Author go far for the cure of Mens mistakes by giving their minds another tincture to wit in such things as lie within the sphere of Nature so where this comes short as in things of supernatural Revelation it certainly doth there is need of supernatural aid This Mr. Baxter hath very well exprest I think says he that in the very hearing or reading Gods Spirit often so concurreth as that the Will it self shall be touched with an internal gust or savour of the goodness contained in the Doctrine and at the same time the understanding with an internal irradiation which breeds such a sudden apprehension of the verity of it as Nature gives Men of Natural Principles And I am perswaded that this increased by more experience and love and inward gusts doth hold most Christians faster to Christ than naked reasoning could do And were it not for this unlearned ignorant persons were still in danger of Apostasie by every subtile Caviller that assaults them And I believe that all true Christians have this kind of internal knowledge from the suitableness of the truth and goodness of the Gospel to their new quickened illuminated sanctified Souls The Apostle tells us God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Where he manifestly compares the great Work of God in enlightening the dark heart of Man with spiritual knowledge to the first forming of Light which was the Act of a Creating Power when Darkness cover'd the face of the Deep Let the greatest External or Objective Light be afforded if there be not likewise in order to the reception of that a Subjective Light infused it will prove as we find in Joh. 1. 5. The Light shineth in Darkness and the Darkness comprehended it not Two passages in the Exercitator I shall here take notice of The one is where he says That the opinion of our Divines concerning this Supernatural Light seems to him to have had its Original from the received Axiom of the Aristotelick Philosophers
miraculous Works spoken of in Scripture were not any thing against or besides the established order of nature absolutely concludes that whatsoever the Scripture affirms to have been done did all necessarily come to pass according to the Laws of Nature and if any thing contrary to this could be found in Scripture or truly gathered from any thing in it that was certainly added to the Scripture by some sacrilegious hand as being against Nature and therefore against Reason Secondly Men that resolve to make their Reason the Rule of Interpretation will not stick to charge the Scripture with obscurity in its plainest Propositions if they suit not with their preconceived notions The experience of the present age puts it past all denial or dispute that when Men have espoused an Hypothesis which they are not willing to relinquish they will quarrel with the most evident Scripture accusing it of obscurity and to make their charge good they will endeavour by their strain'd glosses to raise a dust and darken the Sense of it though it shine never so clearly by its own light to every impartial and unprejudiced Reader Hence it is that the Papists do so frequently with open mouth charge the Apostle Paul with obscurity in his Writings because indeed he speaks more clearly and plainly than they would have him for that great Doctrine of Justification by the imputed Righteousness of Christ and against Justification by our own Works And it may be some will be as ready to find fault with the same Apostle when he says Ephes. 5. 18. Be not drunk with Wine wherein is excess but be filled with the Spirit as speaking too darkly because indeed they think he speaks too broadly against the debauchery that they practice and so plainly for the Spirit which they scorn and deride Thirdly Nay more some are grown to that heighth as I shall have occasion to shew more fully in my second Part as to assert that the Scripture is plain in nothing but universally obscure and make this their great ground for their setting up Reason and Philosophy as the Rule to determine the Sense of the Bible And let this be granted them they will soon make the Scripture speak whatsoever themselves please and so the Bible shall be but as a dead Image and Mans depraved Reason like the Daemon within shall give the Oracle 2. Come we next to matters of Practice It is easie to instance in several commands of God in Scripture that are directly opposite to the whole corrupt interest of lapsed nature As when he requires the mortifying of our earthly desires the love of our deadliest Enemies the denying our of selves in whatsoever is dear to us in this World even to the laying down of our lives for the defence of his Truth upon the bare hope of an invisible happiness in another World Now considering how Mans Reason is darkned and enslav'd and no where perfectly cured if Mens Reason must by its own Principles interpret the Sense of Scripture how numerous are the objections that will be made against these and all other Precepts that are not to the Gust of Mans degenerate nature Thus did the Gnosticks of old plead for denying the Faith in persecuting times to save their life for what said they Doth God delight in the death of Men he stands in no need of our Bloud Christ came to save Mens lives and not to expose them to hazard And with these reasonings they shisted off the-command of owning the Truth in the face of danger And what the Author of the Leviathan hath written of this with a specious though falacious pretence of Reason is not unknown But I shall instance in two extraordinary commands given to particular persons The one is that which God did by immediate Revelation give to Abraham requiring him to offer up his onely Son Isaac for a Burnt-offering What would the Principles of Natural Reason have said to this might they have been admitted to interpret this Command What Can infinite goodness require such an unnatural act as this for a Father to lay violent hands on his own Child Hath not God strictly forbidden Murder Hath he not always manifested his tender regard to the life of Man And hath he not planted that tender affection in the Heart of a Parent that makes him abhor to embrue his hands in Childs Bloud Therefore surely would Mans Reason say the meaning of this injunction is something else far different from what the words seem to sound there is some more mysterious sense to be found out and a milder interpretation to be made of this Divine Oracle such as may consist with those Notions of God which we are taught by that Internal Light that shines in the Hearts of all Men. It is most rational therefore to interpret it by an Allegory Isaac must be sacrificâ—d in Effigie or a Lamb out of the Flock must have Isaac's name put upon it and so offer'd up to God or according to the notation of his name we must sacrifice that joy and delight that we have had in our Son Isaac wherein perhaps we have exceeded by mortifying our affectious to him and have him hereafter as if we had him not The other instance shall be in the command given by our Saviour to the Rich young Man to sell all and give to the Poor and follow Him in hopes of a Treasure in Heaven We may probably suppose by the Mans turning his back what objections his Reason made against it Are not my Possessions the good Gifts of God and shall I unthankfully cast away what he hath given me I am to love my Neighbor as my self therefore surely not to strip my self of my subsistence to help my Neighbor and so lose the use and benefit of what I have True here is a plain Command But could not this mans Reason have excogitated some hidden Sense to satisfie the Command and yet save his Goods Yes sure had the Man learnt but this new Art of Interpreting that some have got now adays he might have thought within himself That selling all was the disengaging of his affections from them and giving to the poor his relieving them in a convenient proportion so as still to preserve his Estate and follow Christ he might in a good and holy life though he did not always personally attend him But now would not this way of Interpretation in either of the forenamed instances have been a plain eluding of an express command And yet I am sure the bold attempts of some in our Age who are great Pretenders to Reason have in sundry considerable and clear Points of Religion gone as far as this comes to and much further in torturing the Scriptures into a Sense as contrary to that which they fairly give us of themselves as darkness is to light And indeed by the help of this Engine what will not be adventured by audacious Wits that have cast off the awe of God and of
Authentick Record of his Mind to conduct us in our way to Blessedness and is this all it is good for It seems by this Mans account all the Knowledge that we have any use for is in us already by Natures Light and whatsoever is delivered in Scripture must be tryed by that What could a blind Pagan have said more to the Scriptures dishonour As it is past all doubt that the Lord of Heaven and Earth in whom we live and move and are ought to be worshipp'd and served by his Rational Creatures so me thinks it should be as unquestionable that he cannot be served rightly and acceptably but by such a Worship as is according to the appointment of his own Will The meanest Man living that hath any depending on him looks they should serve him according to his Mind and not according to their own arbitrary choice And shall we think the Great Sovereign of the World will be pleased with a Worship of Mens own â—â—aming without any order or direction from him Now by which way or means could we know what that Worship is which God approves if we were in this inpsed state left to the meer conduct of Natural Light and had nor Divine Revelation to inform and guide us What piâ—…ful Work did the â—…st and learnedst of the. Heathen make about this 〈◊〉 what 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 did they admit into their Religious Worship as I have already 〈◊〉 in the first part of my Discourse Besides there are in Scripture many things Historicalâ— and many Prophetical Can these 〈◊〉 known by Natural Light or can we judge whether these be true or no by the help of Philosophy Moses gives us the Hâ—story of the Creation 〈◊〉 the general Deluge of the Destruction of Sodom of Israels Deliverance out of Egypt by strange Wonders and the bringing of them after forty years wandring into the Promised Land and their Establishment there for some years till for their Idolatry and other sins they were removed is recorded by other sacred Writers besides many other remarkable Histories of more personal concernment Now if we must not take these for truth from the testimony of Scripture which way shall we be satisfied Reason indeed may convince us that these things are not impossible But whether they were really so or so done as is reported all the Principles of Reason all the Maxims of Philosophy will never resolve us The like may be said of the many Prophesies concerning Christ and the after-state of the Church and about the four great Monarchies that were successively to arise with their progress and period If these and such like be examined by Philosophy what can it say to them Must these be all rejected So it seems by this Author's Discourse for he hath no kindness for any thing in Scripture but what may mind us of what we know naturally and may by the Principles of Reason be examin'd and determin'd And then what shall we say to the great Doctrine of Mans Salvation by Christ which is the grand Subject and principal Scope the of Scriptures Was there ever any syllable of this made known to the World otherwise than by Revelation There is indeed a Natural Theologie but I could never yet see ground to be perswaded that there is a Natural Christianity The knowledge of God as our Creator and Preserver is in some measure but very imperfectly attainable by Natural Light But the knowledge of Christ as the Redeemer of Sinners reconciling them to God and delivering them from the power of Satan had never been attained had there not been something above Nature to discover it If any think otherwise let them tell me how it comes about that in those Countries where the Doctrine of the Scriptures was never published there is not the least print or footstep of this great Mystery to be found But certainly he that talks of the Scriptures after the rate of this Author cannot be thought to apprehend himself to stand in any need of a Redeemer or to have any better esteem of the Gospel than that Triple-Crowned Gentleman at Rome is said to have manifested long since in his discourse with Cardinal Bembus For ought I see this Man owns nothing in the Scripture but what may be reduced to three Heads 1. The Being of God and his Attributes 2. The Immortality of the Soul and consequently Man 's future state in another World and 3. The Rules or Laws of Moral Duty because of these we have some notice by Natural Light But how miserably defective is that Light even in these So that here also we stand in need of a further Guide Some knowledge the Heathens had of God and of Mans future state but alas what does all that they have written hereabout come to but some faint guesses and probable conjectures And though they have in their Ethicks many excellent things and of great use yet they fall extream short in sundry particulars of very weighty concernment whereof we should have been utterly ignorant if the Holy Scriptures had not afforded us a more clear and perfect Rule of practice And it hath been observed by some that those Gentile Philosophers who flourish'd after the general promulgation of the Gospel though they continued still in their old Gentilism yet they wrote much more clearly and sublimely of the Nature of God and of Mans Duty here and his Eternal state hereafter than those who were before them Whether the cause of this were the converse they might have with Christians and their Writings or whether that plentiful effusion of the Spirit that was vouchsafed in those times might in some degree as to common enlightenings extend it self beyond the Churches Pale I will not determine But sure something there was beyond mere Natural Light that made them in their Notions of God and Religion so much 〈…〉 of their Predecessors I shall shut up all with this hearty and serious Wish That all who call upon God by Jesus Christ would highly honour and esteem the Holy Scriptures making them their study and delight in order to the bettering of their Hearts and manifesting the power and purity of this Word by a sober righteous and godly Conversation which would more effectually vindicate this Blessed Book from the Scorns and Reproaches of Atheists and Antiscripturists than all Disputes AN APPENDIX Concerning Internal Illumination And other Operations of the Spirit upon the Soul of Man Vindicating the Doctrine of the Protestants and the Practice of all Serious Christians from the Charge of Enthusiasm and other Unjust Criminations In the SAVOY Printed by Tho. Newcomb for Robert Boulter at the Turks Head in Cornhill over against the Royal Exchange 1677. A brief Account of the Contents of the following Appendix CHAP. I. THe Protestants Doctrine concerning the Spirits Illumination explained and defended CHAP. II. The Nature of Distresses of Conscience and Spiritual Joys open'd and the reality of them proved CHAP. III. True Zeal in the Exercises of Religion justified An
Appendix concerning Internal Illumination and other Operations of the Spirit upon the Soul of Man c. CHAP. I. 1. What our Protestant Divines mean by that Illumination of the Spirit which they assert as necessary to the understanding of the Scriptures and the Exercitators censure of it as Enthusiasm approved by Wolzogen 2. The Falshood of that Calumny discovered 3. Wolzogen ' s disingenuity and inconstancy 4. The necessity of the aforesaid Illumination proved 5. In what sense it is supernatural 6. Some of the Exercitators Cavils answered 7. In what sense this Illumination is immediate IN the foregoing Papers designed to clear and vindicate the Protestant Doctrine concerning the Supreme Bule of Interpreting Seripture I have had occasion frequently to deal with the Belgick Exercitator and to take notice of what he hath said that seems to be of any moment so far as concerns that point But whereas he is pleased in the procedure of his Discourse to step out of his way and deridingly to oppose the Doctrine of the Reformed Churches about the Spirits assistance in the Interpretation of Scripture as savouring of Enthusiasm I then waved medling with that part of his Book thinking it more expedient to say something to it in an Appendix by it self this being a Question altogether distinct from that other of the Rule of Interpretation In the Fourteenth Chapter of his oft-mentioned Exercitation he quotes several of our Protestant Authors of great Name and Worth giving in the words of some of them and referring us for others to the cited places The drift of their several Discourses about this point seems to be that there needs an effectual operation of the Holy Spirit to enlighten Mens understandings and cause them rightly to apprehend and readily to approve the Mind of God in Scripture That their meaning may be more clearly propounded we must distinguish of a twofold understanding of Scripture There is a Natural and merely Grammatical perception of the truth of Scripture-Propositions which a Man destitute of the Spirit of Grace may attain by common assistance in the use of ordinary means And there is a Spiritual apprehension of the things themselves contain'd in those Propositions which includes in it a hearty believing and embracing them that is not attain'd without the sanctifying work of the Spirit renewing the mind by enduing it with an heavenly supernatural Light This I find thus express'd and illustrated by the late Reverend Bishop of Norwich Natural Men says he have their Principles vitiated their Faculties bound that they cannot understand spiritual things till God have as it were implanted a new understanding in them framed the heart to attend and set it at liberty to see the Glory of God with open face Though the Veil do not keep out Grammatical Construction yet it blindeth the Heart against the spiritual Light and Beauty of the Word We see even in common Sciences where the Conclusions are suitable to our innate and implanted Notions yet he that can distinctly construe and make Grammar of a Principle in Euclide may be ignorant of the Mathematical sense and use of it Much more may a Man in Divine Truths be spiritually ignorant even where in some respect he may be said to know For the Scriptures pronounce Men ignorant of those things which they see and know In Divine Doctrine Obedience is the Ground of Knowledge and Holiness the best Qualification to understand the Scriptures To this Spiritual Understanding there is need of the aforesaid Supernatural Light And this is that which as far as I can understand our Divines mean when they assert the necessity of the Spirits Illumination Thus speaks the Church of England The Revelation of the Holy Ghost inspireth the true meaning of the Scripture into us In truth we cannot without it attain true saving knowledge Yea of this mind was Erasmus no Enthusiast who thus speaks He erreth vehemently who believes he can ever attain to the true understanding of the Canonical Scriptures unless he be inspired by the same Spirit that endited them And again They have the Book of Scripture but not the Scripture that want the Spirit without which the Scripture is not understood And M. Luther quoting a Speech of Aben-Ezra Sine supra infra i. e. without Points and Accents the Scripture cannot be understood adds a third sine intra without somewhat within viz. the Light of the Holy Spirit Now let us hear the Judgment of the Exercitator and his pretended Answerer Wolzogen about this As for the former If says he the meaning of these Divines were this that no sense of Scripture by what way or method soever found out can be fully certain to any unless by the Natural Light of our understanding we can clearly and distinctly perceive it and be fully perswaded of its truth and that this clear perception and the sense a Man hath of it be that inward perswasion and testimony of the Spirit which they intend this will be granted them But if they mean not the Natural Light of Mans understanding or what is built upon that but a Supernatural Light above and beyond Mans Natural Reason not included in the Mind or acquired by it but infused and inspired from above this says he we disclaim and condemn for Enthusiasm This is the sum of the censure that he passeth upon this Doctrine And Lud. Wolzogen who pretends to take up the Bucklers against him in defence of the Protestant Cause in stead of vindicating the forecited Authors and their Doctrine joins with the Exercitator in the calumny as appears undeniably by his own words for thus he speaks Because the Holy Spirit doth indeed still exert some power in the minds of Men therefore some have believed that he opens the sense of the Scriptures and interprets them to the Faithful Which opinion the Exercitator doth justly decry and determine that it contains mere Enthusiasm Where he expresly approves and applauds what the Exercitator had said against the Doctors of the Reformed Churches charging them with Enthusiasm for maintaining a necessity of a Supernatural Light for a saving perception of the Mind of God in Scripture And himself doth so frequently strike upon this string in several places of his Book that he seems to design the blemishing and defaming of our most eminent Protestant Writers and the Doctrine which they have asserted against Papists and Pelagians These Men cannot be ignorant that the Divines whom they thus impeach have all along in answer to the like imputation from Popish and Socinian Authors expresly and vehemently disclaimed all compliance with Enthusiasts and that some of them have written learnedly and smartly against that sort of Men. They utterly disavow their expecting any such Illumination as was given to the Prophets and Apostles and do plainly deliver their minds that what they assert doth not consist in discovering any new Doctrine unreveal'd in Scripture but in qualifying and
in earnest and pathetical Expressions whether in bewailing of Sin oâ— petitioning for Mercy or Thanksgiving for Blessings received or dispensing the Word of Reconciliation to the People This is sharply censured by the aforesaid Author Lud. Wolzogen as savouring of Enthusiasm or bordering upon Frenzy and cunningly designed for the driving on of some ambitious ends To this I Reply We are commanded to be fervent in spirit serving the Lord and that whatsoever our hand findeth to do we should do it with our might The Psalmist says I cried with my whole heart And even that Heathen Prince to whose Royal City the Prophet Jonah was sent with a threatning message requires his Subjects to cry mightily unto God The Apostle says It is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing And is there any thing so good as that it can better challenge the heighth and heat of our affections and endeavours than Religion in the services whereof we have so immediately to do with God who calls for the heart and hath declared his abhorring of a dull luke-warm temper I grant that it is too possible for Zeal to have its excesses and irregularities And among the rest there is an indiscreet Zeal sometimes appearing in some well-meaning Persons that wants the conduct of a well-order'd Judgment which as I take to be much more pardonable than a careless or prophane indifferency so I conceive it may have ministred some occasion to those vile reproaches that are cast upon all that are seriously and heartily Religious But that fervor of spirit that I undertake for and assert to be not only justifiable but commendable in the Duties of Religion is that which is raised by a right apprehension of the Object about which it is conversant guided by a composed understanding and attended with an humble awful Reverence becoming sinful dust in its appearance before the Great and Holy God Should not Sinners in their addresses to the Most High have their hearts deeply touch'd with sorrow for the sins that they apprehend themselves or others for whom they are concern'd to be guilty of or liable to Doth it become an Offender that is to beg his Pardon to do it in a stupid manner as if he had no more sense of his fault than a Stone or a Brute And what incongruity is it for us in our Petitions for Mercy to have our desires raised to the highest pitch that we can reach Is the pardoning and purifying Grace of Christ of so little worth or use to us as they need be but coldly or carelesly askt as if our words freezed between our lips or as if we did not greatly pass whether we were heard or no Or can we expect that God should hear those Petitions which we our selves scarce feel when they go from us Did ever any Malefactor plead at the Bar for his Life or an hunger-starv'd Begger crave an Alms at the door after this dull and sleepy rate And when we are blessing God for his Benefits should we not with the Psalmist call upon all our powers to praise him And should not those whose work it is to dispense the Word of Life deliver their Message in such a manner as that their Hearers may discern they are in good earnest and that the Word spoken to them is that whereon their Eternal Life or Death depends Is it not requisite that the Servants of Christ should in this work be as is recorded for the honour of Apollos fervent in spirit especially considering the quality of most Hearers who are so hardly raised to a due point of zeal and fervency that as Mr. George Herbert speaks they need a Mountain of Fire to kindle them The said worthy Author adviseth Preachers to make choice of moving and ravishing Texts and to dip and season all their Words and Sentences in their Hearts before they come into their Mouths truly affecting and cordially expressing all that they say so that the Auditors may plainly perceive that every word is heart-deep with other passages of like import In short what cause of blame is it for any in the exercises of Devotion whether publick or private to endeavour what they can to have their own and others hearts affected in some measure suitable to the work in hand and to have their expressions in some due proportion answerable to the affections of their hearts This is all I plead for and the utmost as far as I know that can be charged upon the Generality of the Persons accus'd What some particular here and there may be guilty of I am not concern'd to vindicate That there are many follies and extravagancies in some of all Perswasions he must be a great Stranger in the World that knows not and miserably enslaved to the Interest of a Party that confesseth not But the Lord knows we have all more cause to blame our selves for our coldness and remissness than others can have to blame us for too much fervor I heartily wish that both they and we were all more thorowly Baptized with this Fire But let us a little examine the pretensions of our Accusers As for the charge of Enthusiasm which some make use of to asperse what they dislike in Religion The Word saith a late Learned Author is of it self good but fallen into discredit by the vice of Men for there is an holy Enthusiasm when the Soul is wholly irradiated or enlightened of God But taking it in the worst sense as it is by these Objectors I may say of it as Mr. â—iales of Eaton once said of the words Schism and Heresie that it is made a Theological Scare-Crow For it being inconsistent with some Mens Principles to acknowledge any efficacious supernatural Operations of the Spirit of Grace upon the heart of Man and as contrary to their disposition and practice to be seriously fervent in Religion it becomes their Interest to brand whatsoever lies out of their road with the opprobrious name of Enthusiasm that is as they sometimes explain it a pretence of being acted by the Holy Spirit or a false conceit of Inspiration What the Sect of Enthusiasts was appears sufficiently by the testimony of those Learned Men who have written against them both in former and later times From whom we have this account That those who were censured and condemned by the Church of Christ under that Notion were such as slighted if not rejected the Scriptures as a dead Letter a lame and imperfect Guide insufficient to be the Rule of Faith or Practice in room whereof they profess'd to be acted by Immediate Revelations which they call'd the Internal and Spiritual Word teaching them higher Wisdom than any contain'd in the Scriptures And whatsoever was strongly suggested to them or made any vehement impression upon their minds as that which they thought they should believe or do they embraced it as a Divine Inspiration and Magisterially imposed it upon others were it
never so inconsistent with or opposite to the Doctrine of the Holy Scriptures or the Dictates of sound and sober Reason And being by this means laid open to Satanical Delusions they were easily drawn to believe the grossest absurdities and some of them to practice the vilest wickednesses contrary to common Honesty and the Publick Peace justifying all by their pretended Revelations This is the Character we have of Enthusiasts both Antient and Modern from Authors of unquestionable credit And if there be any where in this World any of the remainders of that Sect as it 's probable enough there are that entertain such wild and frantick Conceptions let them bear their sin and shame But of this I am sure that the Persons thus charged by Wolzogen and his Complices can safely appeal to all unprejudiced Persons that know them and to the most Wise and Holy God who is greater than all that they are as clear from any compliance with that Infatuated Generation as the best of their Accusers For 1. They heartily own and submit to the Holy Scriptures as the only sure and sufficient Rule of Faith and Life Accordingly whatsoever Conceptions may rise within them or be suggested to them in matters of Religion they bring them to the Bar of Scripture to stand or fall according to its Judgment not imposing their Sentiments upon the Scripture but receiving the sense of Scripture from the Scripture it self according to what hath been asserted in the precedent Discourse 2. In matters difficult and obscure that are more darkly laid down in Scripture especially in the Prophetick parts of it they forbear to determine peremptorily chusing rather to satisfie themselves with a modest hesitancy and abhorring to make their Judgments the measure of anothers Faith or superciliously to censure or despise any for their different apprehensions 3. They plead for no other Spirit of Revelation than what the Apostle prays for in behalf of the Ephesians Chap. 1. Vers. 17 18 19. which Revelation consists not in discovering any New Object to be received unreveal'd in Scripture but only in qualifying the Subject by curing the native and acquired blindness and carnality of our minds that we may rightly understand and embrace the Truths which the Scripture propounds 4. They solemnly profess and declare to all the World that whatsoever they are taught by the Holy Spirit as it is by and from the Scripture so it is in the regular exercise of their rational Faculties and such as they are â—eady at all times to give an account of from Scripture-grounds to any sober intelligent Person that shall demand it They therefore disown and reject the absurd Principles and arrogant Presumptions of the falsly-call'd Mystical Theology set on fooâ— antiently and revived in later years that pretends to Ecstatick Raptures and Deifications of the Soul by an utter cessation of all Intellectual Operations The Original of which Phantastick Theology Dr. Meric Casaubon derives from the Heathen Philosophers intimating withal the great Affinity between this and the New Method so much cried up of late Which those whom it concerns may consider of at their leisure In the mean time I take that for granted which hath been agreeably to plain and evident Scripture the acknowledged Doctrine of the Catholick Church however denied and derided by some late Innovators That the Holy Spirit of God is according to Christs own promise given to dwell in the Hearts of Christians to beget and preserve spiritual life in them to conduct them in their way to strengthen them with might in the Inner Man to shed abroad the love of God in their Hearts and witness their adoption to assist them in holy services and gradually to perfect the work of Sanctification in them To spend many words in proving this which is already so clear to all unbyass'd Judgments were to to light a Candle before the Sun As for that ridiculous sense that some have endeavour'd to fasten upon these or some of these Scriptures as if they were to be understood only of the Spirit as given to the Church in common and not to particular Christians it is so utterly inconsistent with the scope of those respective places and runs so contrary to the whole stream of Scripture and all Antiquity that I think it needless to waste time in refuting it He that will but considerately read over the several places and faithfully examine the Context may easily see the vanity of it That of the Learned Grotius is clear and full Not only the whole Collective Body of the Faithful but also particular Believers are rightly call'd the Temple of the Holy Ghost because the Spirit of God dwelleth in their Minds And if those who are careful according to the Apostles counsel not to quench the Spirit but to stir up the Grace of God in them have their hearts more warm'd and enlarged in holy Duties than others who either want that measure of Gifts or are defective in improving them I cannot conjecture why this should be made a matter of reproach but that some Men are angry at every thing that is not just of their own size or not suitable to their gust and therefore are resolved to revile and calumniate it though by those wounds the heart and life of Religion be found to lie a bleeding To shut up this I might here mind the Objector and those of his way how much it concerns them to acquit themselves of that Enthusiasm which they impeach others for It 's known to be one of the first Principles of that Grand Enthusiast Valentius Weigelius That he who would know the truth must forget whatsoever he hath learnt from Men and Books and lay it all aside as if he had never been acquainted with any thing and retreat into himself and fetch all his knowledge from thence Let this be referr'd to our Authors Consideration wherein this differs from the great Principle of his admired Master But let us hear what is further Objected to justifie these Mens prejudices Secondly It is said by some These heats are but the Frantick Freaks of a Crazed Brain and the product of a Religious Frenzy I answer 1. We need not be much moved with this sensless charge when we find the Pen-men of Sacred Writ to have little better measure made them by the same hand For of them we are told that they wrote many times they knew not what and gave forth Oracles when they were beside themselves his word is alienata mente which was one of the vile Positions of the Montanisis and Cataphrygians rejected and condemned both by Antient and Modern Divines And yet to justifie this Assertion our Author gravely cites Cicero de Divinatione calling the Raptures of their Pagan Vates by the Name of Furor and Virgil calling Sibylla a Mad Prophetess and Justin the Historian Lib. 24. where speaking of the much-famed Oracle at Delphos he tells us of a very
Devotion as may stand with the quiet enjoyment of their lusts and not disturb their dead and sleepy Consciences And therefore the less life and vigour there is in those exercises of Religion wherein they think good to bear a part the more pleasing they are to them they dread all other as much as a Child doth the sound of a Trumpet or the terrible crack of Thunder as that which amazes and affrights them and breaks them of their beloved ease Who is there that looks abroad in the World and sees not this And therefore whenever any have harden'd themselves into the confidence of casting reproaches upon such as are observed to be most hearty and fervent in the Worship of God they usually have the Vogue of the profane multitude to side with them and are by that advantage embolden'd more freely to pour out their venom though sometimes they run so far beyond all bounds of Candâ—r Modesty and Truth that they give the deepest wounds to their own reputation in the esteem of those who are sober and ingenuous Did the Persons thus accused take to themselves the honour of what good they have or do or did they endeavour or attempt to gain or exercise any Dominion over the Faith or Consciences of their Brethren there might be some better colour for this Imputation But it is evident to all that they disown all such self-admiring and self-exalting conceits making themselves Servants to all in order to the furtherance of their Masters honour to whom they desire to sacrifice all they have not seeking their own emolument or advancement but the profit of many that they may be saved But it 's usual with those whose Worldly Interest is their Summa Ratio to measure others by themselves and to lay that at the doors of those whom they distaste which they are conscious of in their own hearts and which every one can discern to be too conspicuous in their lives I shall conclude this with those words of the Apostle Judge nothing before the time till the Lord come who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts and then shall every Man have praise of God FINIS Books to be sold by Rob. Boulter at the Turks-Head in Cornhil over against the Royal-Exchange FOLIO RUshworth's Collections Baronage of England in two parts by William Dugdal Esq Hooker's Ecclesiastical Policy Cursellei Opera Bishop Taylor 's Cases of Conscience Spiritual Refinings in two parts by Anthony Burgess His 145 Sermons on John 17. His Treatise of Original Sin Curia Politiae or the Apologies of several Princes justifying to the World their most eminent Actions by Reason and Policy A Concordance to the Holy Scriptures with the various Readings both of Text and Margin by S. N. Sixty five Sermons by the Right Reverend Father in God Ralph Brownrig late Lord Bishop of Exeter Published by William Martin M. A. sometime Preacher at the Rolls in two Volumes QUARTO An Exposition with Practical Notes and Observations on the five last Chapters of the Book of Job by Jos. Caryl Husbandry Spiritualized or the Heavenly use of Earthly things by J. Flavel A Treatise of the Sabbath in four parts by Mr. Dan. Cawdry Vindiciae Legis or a Vindication of the Law and Covenants from the Errors of Papists Socinians and Antinomians by Anthony Burgess The Saints Everlasting Rest or a Treatise of the blessed state of the Saints in their enjoyment of God in Glory by Richard Baxter His plain Scripture-proof of Infant-Baptism The saurus medicinae practicae ex praestâ—ntissimorum tum Veterum tum Recentiorum Medicorum Observationibus Consultationibus Consiliis Epistolis summa diligentia collectus ordineque Alphabetico dispositus per Tho. Burnet A Treatise of the right use of the Fathers by John Dailly Annotations on the Book of Ecclesiastes by a Reverend Divine The Doctrine of Justification by Faith by John Owen D. D. Man of Sin or a Discourse of Popery wherein the numerous and monstrous Abominations in Doctrine and Practice of the Romish Church are by their own hands exposed to open sight that the very Blind may see them By no Roman but a Reformed Catholick De Origine Moribus rebus Gestis Scotorum Libri decem Authore Joanne Lesâ—aeo Episcopo Rossensi Large OCTAVO A Discourse of Growth in Grace in sundry Sermons by Samuel Slater late of St. Katherines near the Tower The Grounds of Art teaching the perfect work and practice of Arithmetick both in whole Numbers and Fractions by R. Record A Cloud of Witnesses or the Sufferers Mirrour made up of the Swan-like Songs and other choice Passages of several Martyrs and Confessors to the end of the Sixteenth Century in their Treatises Speeches and Prayers by T. M. M. A. A Treatise of the Divine Promises in five Books by Edw. Leigh Esq The unreasonableness of Infidelity in four parts by R. Baxter His Method for getting and keeping Spiritual Peace and Comfort His safe Religion against Popery Quakerism no Christianity clearly and abundantly proved out of the Writings of their chief Leaders with a Key for the understanding their sense of their many usurped and unintelligible words by John Faldo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hesiodi ASCRAEI quae extant Cum notis Cornelii Scrivelii A Treatise of the Bulk and Selvedge of the World wherein the Greatness Littleness and Lastingness of Bodies are freely handled with an Answer to Tentamina de Deo by N. Fairfax M. D. Small Octavo and Duodecimo A Saint indeed or the great Work of a Christian opened and pressed from Prov. 4. 23. by J. Flavel Artificial Arithmetick in Decimals shewing the Original Ground and Foundation thereof by R. Jagar § I. * Flac. Illy Cl. Scr. parte 2. Gerard. Loc com de Int. Scr. cap. 2. Glass Philol lib. 2. pag. 280. And. Riveâ— Isagog cap. 18. § 2. Lud. Croc. praeloq in S. Theol. c. 3. ex Ludov Granatensis § 3. * Dr. Stillingflect Dr. Tiliotson Mr. Pool c. §. 4. Philosophia S. Scr. Interpres Exerciâ—atio Paradoxa In Prologo Ib. cap. 5. par 1. Cap. 16. par 8. §. 1. * Ph. Scr. Int. c. 5. par 1. * Lud. Walzog in Censura Censur p. 59. § 2. Aqu. 2. 2â— Q. 2. 〈◊〉 4. § 3. * Lib. de Author Script cap. 1. p. 16 c. 4. p. 66. 71. * Phil Scr. Int. cap. 16 par 7. 8. * Aâ—g Retract cap. 14 de utilitate credendi cap. 1. § 1. Arg. 1. § 2. Duâ—…or Dubitâ—… l. 1. c. 2. Exception 1. Schlicâ—tingiâ—â— Velâ—husius alii Sol. 1. Expos. ep ad Coloss. in cap. 2. 8. Exception 2. Phil. Scr. Int. cap. 7. par 4. Sol. 1. §. 3. Aug. de C. D. l. 61. c. 10. § 1. Exception 1. Sol. § 2. Exception 2. Sol. Duct Dub. lib. 3. c. 3. Inst. Sol. §. 3. Exception 3. Sol. Exception 4. Phil. Scr. Int. cap. 5. par 7. c. 8. par 1.
in them that may exercise the study of the ablest understandings Now in our searching out the Mind of God in Scripture especially in those darker places the question is what course we are to take and by what Rule we must be guided that we may not bewilder our selves or wrong the Scriptures by our mistakes To prepare the way for a Resolution of this Question I must briefly premise somewhat touching these three Terms the Scripture the Interpretation of Scripture and the Rule of that Interpretation The Scripture we speak of is the entire Volume of Holy Writ containing all those Books both of the Old and New Testament that are generally acknowledged to be Canonical Whereby I mean not the Words or Phrases of Scripture taken singly by themselves but as they are conjoin'd in Propositions or Sentences and as those Propositions stand in such a contexture and with such a dependence on and relation to what goes before and after and as in this Frame and Order they are the Instrument of declaring the Mind of God to Men. Now whereas the whole Scripture though it have the same Divine Original and be directed to the same ultimate end yet contains in it great variety of Matter Doctrine History Prophesie c. It is the two former that we are especially concern'd in and therefore shall wave the Prophetick part what is yet â—…fulfill'd further than it may fall in with any of the other the best and most convincing Interpreter of Prophesies being the event unless God should beforehand unfold them by extraordinary Inspiration which we have not in our days any ground to expect It is therefore the Doctrinal and Historical parts of Scripture that I chiefly intend in this Debate Interpretation is either Verbal or Real The former is all one with that which is commonly called Translation This I shall not meddle with further than as it is a necessary requisite to the latter which is usually called Exposition which is the opening of the true Sense of Scripture or unfolding the Mind of God signified to us by those Words and Sentences of Scripture that we are searching into Now we here suppose two things which to a sober and considerate Reader need no proof First That the Scriptures are not a heap of insignificant Words or unsens'd Characters as some late Romanists who cry up Oral Tradition for the only Rule of Faith so great is the power of prejudice and partial Interest have ridiculously and profanely affirm'd but that they have a true sense Originally and Essentially in themselves given them by their Author when they were first indited To deny or question this were to impute that to the most Wise God that common Civility forbids us to charge upon any man of ordinary understanding Secondly That the Sense of Scripture is fixt and immutable not varying with the times or altering according to the differing practice of the Church which was most absurdly asserted by Cardinal Cusanus in Epistola contra Bohemos as I find it attested by many credible Authors the Sense of Scripture is no other than what it always had and ever will have to the Worlds end The next thing to be considered is the Rule of Interpretation By which we can understand no more than the Measure by agreement or disagreement to which we judge of the Sense of the Scripture whether it be right or wrong whether it be indeed what it pretends the true Sense of the Scripture under Inquiry or a mistaken Sense unduely fasten'd upon it Or in fewer words the Rule of Interpretation is that which gives us the objective Evidence by which the true Sense of Scripture is discern'd and for which it is received Here let it be observ'd that it is one thing to inquire what means we are to use in searching out the Sense of Scripture and another what is the Rule that must guide us in determining what that Sense is For though the Rule he also a Means yet every thing that is to be used as a Means hath not the place of a Rule The Means are many the Rule but one understanding it not of any subordinate or Ministerial Rule but of that which is Supream and Autocratorical For that is the Rule under our present inquiry The Means subservient to the Interpretation of Scripture are either General or Special The General are two Méditation and Prayer 1. There must be a fixed intending of the Mind to consider of what we either read in or hear from the Scripture and of whatsoever we meet with that may help us to understand it This the Psalmist speaks of as the daily practice of every Holy-Blessed Man Psal. 1. 1 2. and professeth it of himself Psal. 119 15. 97. But secondly there is need of Prayer also for Divine Assistance to enable us to understand the Mind of God aright This the Psalmist used Psal. 119. 18. 19 26 27 73. Though he had the Copy of the Law by him according to that command of God which we have upon Record in Deut. 17. 18 19. and did use daily to read it and meditate on it yet he thought not this enough but begs of God to have his Eyes opened c. When our Saviour discoursed with his Disciples after his Resurrection concerning Himself and his Sufferings it is said Luke 24. 45. that he opened their Undestandings that they might understand the Scriptures He did not only open the Scriptures by External Instruction as it is said before vers 27 and 32. But as the Learned Grotius observes upon the place he opened their Minds by the Internal Illumination of his Spirit This the Apostle prays for in the behalf of the Ephesians and Colossians Eph. 1. 16 17 18. Col. 1. 9. though they had the Doctrine of the Scripture already published to them And the same Apostle writing to Timothy having exhorted him to consider what he had said to him he adds this Prayer for him The Lord give thee understanding in all things I would gladly suppose there are none that call themselves Christians but do own the need and use of Prayer for the understanding of Gods Will which necessarily carries with it an interpretative acknowledgement of the need we have of something from God above our natural abilities to understand the Scriptures And I do profess my self to have had the better and more honourable esteem of that great Schoolman Thomas Aquinas since I read this of him that it was his manner whensoever he was either to study in private or discourse in publick to pray fervently to God for assistance that he might learn of Him what he was to teach others and that he did candidly acknowledge in secret to his intimate Friend Reginaldus that what Divine Knowledge he had was attained by Prayer more than by any humane Wit or Labor But whose expects success in seeking Divine Assistance it behoves him to bring with him a meek and humble Heart awed with the holy fear and
reverence of God and of his Word For want of which too many have greatly polluted these Holy Mysteries with the wanton conceits or prophane excursions of an unhollwed Wit and mortally poisoned themselves and others by their corrupt handling this Bread of Life The Special Means of Interpretation are two-fold Some are more remote which I shall only name not intending any Discourse about them because my work lies another way These remote helps are 1. Some competent knowledge of and recourse to the Original Tongues wherein the Scripture was first penned with a due observation of the proprieties of each Language 2. Skil to discern between the proper use of the Words and Phrases of Scripture and that which is Tropical and Figurative In these Grammar and Rhetorick have their use 3. Some insight into the peculiar Laws Customs and Proverbial Speeches of those times and places that the Scripture relates to which requires some knowledge in History There are sundry passages both in the Old and New Testament that have respect to the known Customs of the Gentiles as in their Divinations Idolatrous Worships Publick Games and many more that have relation to the peculiar Rites and Modes of speech in use among the Jews So that there is no part of Phylology but may have its use in the Interpretation of Scripture 4. There is great use of the several parts of Phylosophy not only moral but natural for the clearing of many things in Scripture that are of natural cognisance as about the structure of Mans Body and the faculties of the Soul the nature motion and influence of the Heavenly Bodies the temperament of the several Regions of the World as also about the Elements and Meteors about Numbers and Measures the Nature and Properties of several Creatures Beasts Birds and Plants and many other things treated of in the Bible either by way of History or Parable 5. Logick hath also its use here for the better discerning the dependence of one thing in Scripture upon another and collecting of one thing from another The more immediate Means are chiefly two 1. A due observation of the several circumstances of the Scripture to be Interpreted who it is that speaks where when and to whom upon what occasion Here also comes in the consideration of the coherents with antecedents and consequences together with the scope and design of the Speaker all which are of great use to discover the Sense of Scripture 2. Comparing Scripture with Scripture or consulting other Scriptures whether paralel with or seemingly opposite to the place under consideration Now to the use of all these forementioned Means or Helps both General and Special Remote and Immediate I think all agree But about the Rule of Interpretation there is not so universal an accord The Romanists for the most part will have this Rule to be the Judgment of the present Church meaning their own But I shall not deal with this It 's weakness in what Sense soever taken for they agree not among themselves hath been sufficiently discovered by the worthy labours of many both formerly and of late Some few there are who tell us that the Scripture supposes the Rule and Summary of Religion delivered from one Age to another which we are to be guided by in searching out the meaning of Scripture And this Rule they say is to be found in the Monuments of the Church that is in the Writings of the Fathers and Determinations of Councils from whence we are to receive the Sense of the Catholick Church and thereby know what was the Doctrine delivered by Christ and his Apostles in the first Age and according to that interpret the Scriptures But if this must be our way of proceeding we may very well despair of ever understanding the Scriptures except when they speak with so much plainness that they stand in need of no Interpretation For what a heap of uncertainties must we lay for the Foundation of our Faith It is sufficiently known that the Fathers do oft differ from each other and many times are not consistent with themselves Councils have determined contrary one to another And some things that were as far as appears to us by all extant Monuments of Antiquity agreeable to the common Sentiment in our Age were laid aside in another Besides either the far greatest part of the Doctors of the Church in the first Ages wrote nothing or their Writings are lost and of those that now go under venerable names many are plainly spurious and many dubious nor is it easie in several of them for the most sagacious Reader to find out the right Insomuch as we cannot have any tolerable assurance what was the consentient judgment of the Catholick Church in any one age about the whole Doctrine of Faith if we set the Scriptures aside Therefore to frame such a Rule of Interpretation as this is no better than to build a House of Straw upon a running Stream There were very few Writers in the two first Centuries and in the two following not very many and after this the Church did much decline and degenerate as well in Doctrine as Manners Now suppose we were sure that the Writings in each Age were undoubtedly theirs whose names they bear as it is past doubt we are not who can assure us that what was published by those few was the consentient Judgment of all or the major part of the Doctors of that Age wherein they lived Might there not be a greater number differing from them who either wrote nothing or whose Works are perished The plain truth is That this way of Interpretation does in the upshot resolve the Faith of Christians not into the certain authority of the Divinely-inspired Writings but into the fallible Testimony of the most uncertain Tradition But for the Readers further satisfaction I refer him to Monsieur Daille's learned Treatise about the right use of the Fathers a Piece of that worth that the Lord Vicount Falkland and his dear Friend Mr. Chillingworth did highly esteem it and made great use of it in their Writings against the Romanists as we are informed by Mr. Tho. Smith sometime Member of Christ's Colledge in Cambridge in his Epistle prefixed to the English Translation of that excellent and elaborate Discourse who further also tells us that we have in that Tractat a sufficient Confutation of Cardinal Perron his Book against King James and by consequence of the Marquis of Worcester against King Charles and of Doctor Vane and other Epitomizers of the Cardinal which I do the rather take notice of that it may obviate the groundless prejudices that some have of late entertained against that Incomparable Piece The received Doctrine of the Reformed Churches both ourown and those abroad hath been hitherto that the Scripture is its own Interpreter But of late there hath been an attempt to justle the Scripture aside as to this use and place Reason and Phylosophy in its room There is a Belgick