Instance we have of this kind is that of St. John in the Revelations falling down to Worship the Angel who we see puts him off it with the same kind of general Words that our Saviour uses in the former Instance See thou do it not I am thy fellow servant Worship God Rev. 22.18.19 Here I would observe as in the former Case that the Worship which the Angel rejects and appropriates to God is falling down at his feet to Adore him And in the next place I would observe that had Adoration been due to an Angel the true Answer to St. John had been that he should have a care not to mistake him to be God who was but an Angel and so give him more than was due to him but we see he throws off the whole without any reserve or distinction and for a Reason that will hold against all Creature Worship that he was his Fellow-servant In a word it had been no great secret for the Angel to tell St. John that God was to be Worshipped or that God only was to be Worshipped with an inward apprehension of his being God neither of these were any great Mystery or to the purpose And therefore his meaning must be that Religious Worship such as that Adoration was ought to be given to none but God I shall name but one more place of Scripture in which this Creature Worship is taken notice of and that is Coloss 2.18 Let no man beguile you of your reward by a voluntary humility and Worshipping of Angels The Apostle in this and the following Verses makes use of Two Arguments against the Worshipping of Angels First that it is a voluntary Humility that is tho' Men may pretend a great deal of Humility that it is not fit for such mean Creatures as they to go directly into the Presence of God but that they ought to apply to the Angels of God to be their Introducers yet all this is Humility of their own inventing such as God has not required at their hands 2. That this Worshipping of Angels is leaving Christ their Head He is the only Mediator betwixt God and Men and therefore applying to any other is leaving him who is the Head of the Church and then no wonder if it beguile us of our reward This Argument is very plain and very strong against the practice of Praying to Saints or Angels and it hath this one thing very observable in it That if this Text proves it unlawful to set up any more Mediators but Jesus Christ it must be understood of Mediators of Intercession for no body could so much as pretend that Angels were Mediators of Redemption as those of the Church of Rome without any ground at all make the distinction I might shew farther the Idolatry of this Practice of praying to Saints and Angels from this that it must suppose Divine Perfections in the Creatures to whom we pray as of Power to be able to supply our Wants especially in those Prayers that are put up to them directly to beg such or such Blessings from them and so of Knowledge because Prayer at least Mental Prayer supposes that the Persons we pray to know our Hearts and the secret thoughts and sincerity or insincerity of all the Men and Women in the World and that they can perfectly attend to them all at the same time which are Perfections that the Scripture never attributes to any but God and in the Nature of the thing it is hardly conceivable of any Creature but I shall content my self to have named these things and shall conclude this whole Matter with just proposing those two short Considerations 1. I desire it may be considered that in the Church of Rome there is no External part of Religion appropriated to God and incommunicable to Creatures but the Sacrifice of the Mass and if in the preceding Discourses I have overthrown the foundation of that there is then nothing at all remaining 2. I desire it may be considered that the Reasons commonly given to justify Prayers to Saints and Angels would if well followed hinder Men from ever praying to God at all as in fact this has much estranged Men from God in those Countries where they have had no Protestants among them to make them ashamed of it and even nearer our selves I believe we may justly say that at least Ten Prayers are put up to Creatures for one that is put up to God Of the Pope's Supremacy I now come to consider the Oath of Supremacy which consists of Two Parts I. A Declaration of the Unlawfulness and Impiety of taking up Arms against the King upon Account of His being Excommunicated or Deprived by the Pope II. A Renunciation of the Pope's pretended Supremacy over the Church of Christ particularly over that part of it in this Kingdom As to the First of these I need not insist upon it becanse if I can prove the Second That the Pope has of right no Spiritual Power here the other must of course fall with it I would only observe before I proceed That if those of the Roman Communion among us do believe that the Pope has a Power from God to Excommunicate and to Deprive Princes of their Kingdoms for Heresy and that therefore they are bound to concur with the Pope as far they can to put his Sentence in Execution this must make them Enemies to all Protestants and consequently they have reason to expect that Protestants should have a care of them But if they do believe that God has not given any such Power to the Pope they have then Reason to have a care of their Guide who is doing what he can under pretence of Authority from God to carry them to Treason and Murther and all the Villanies which must follow an attempt to turn out their King and all his Protestant Subjects that will stand by him But I have in some measure taken notice of these things already and therefore shall not now inlarge upon them but proceed to consider the Grounds of the Popes pretence to Supremacy The Opinion of the Church of Rome with relation to his Supremacy is this That Jesus Christ made Saint Peter the Supreme Governor and Head as of all the rest of the Apostles so also of the whole Church That St. Peter was afterward Bishop of Rome and that by Divine Appointment his Successors the Bishops of Rome are to enjoy the same Supremacy over the Church which he had Their Opinion about the Supremacy of St. Peter is founded chiefly upon those Words of our Saviour Mat. 16.18,19 Vpon this Rock I will build my Church And I will give unto thee the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven They say our Saviour does by these Words promise to St. Peter to make him Monarch of the whole Church We say that tho' these Words were spoken to St. Peter upon occasion of his speaking to our Saviour immediately before yet that this Promise does as much belong to the rest
of the Apostles as it does to him and that therefore whatever Power may be here promised to him over the Church there is none promised over the rest of the Apostles and that consequently his Successors can claim nothing from hence over the Successors of all the Apostles the other Bishops of the Christian Church But to consider this Matter more particularly we may take notice 1. That the rest of the Apostles did not apprehend that St. Peter had here any peculiar Power promised him above them for we find that not long after they were contending who should be the greatest by which it's plain they did not then apprehend that our Saviour had already determined the Matter And as for our Saviour himself he does not at all endeavour to put them right as it was of great consequence he should do supposing that he designed St. Peter for their Governour but he endeavours to teach them all humility and not to affect Power or Authority over one another And the same instance we have in the Case of Zebedee's Children when their Mother came to desire that the one might sit on his right hand and the other on his left in his Kingdom that is that they might be the Persons of chief Favour and Authority with him their Petition plainly implies that they knew nothing of St. Peter's Prerogatives and our Saviour's Answer which you may see at large Mat. 20. implies as plainly that neither St. Peter nor any body else was to have such Power in the Church as the Bishops of Rome have since pretended to 2. I would observe that these Words of our Saviour to St. Peter do not actually invest him with any Power but are only a Promise to him and therefore the best way to see what was peculiar to him in it above the rest of the Apostles will be to see the fulfilling of the Promise and his being Actually invested in it That this is only a Promise appears from the Words themselves which run in the future tense I will give thee the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven And I believe they of the Church of Rome will not deny this because they say that the Apostles were not Priests till our Saviour made them so in the Institution of the Lord's Supper Now if we consider the Actual Investiture into this Power there is nothing peculiar to Saint Peter Our Saviour gives them all their Power together in Words much of the same Nature with that Promise before to St. Peter Receive ye the Holy Ghost whose soever sins ye remit they are remitted and whose soever sins ye retain they are retained And as for the Expression Vpon this Rock I will build my Church there is much the same said of all the Apostles The Church is said to be built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Jesus Christ himself being the chief Corner-stone 3. The best way to see whether St. Peter had any such Supremacy will be to see whether he exercised any whether he did any Acts or Offices which belonged to so high a Power There must be constantly so many occasions for the exercise of that Power that if he had any such we could not miss of Instances of it The Times of the Apostles were indeed Times of greater Simplicity than these later Ages and therefore I do not expect they should shew me St. Peter Commanding after the manner of our Modern Popes But if they can shew me any one single Act of Authority over the rest of the Apostles if they can shew me St. Peter of himself making Laws and Orders for the good Government of the Church or so much as presiding in the College of the Apostles if they can shew me any Appeals made to him or Controversies ended by him or among so many Controversies as happened any advice to repair to him or command to obey him I shall not shut my Eyes against the discoveries But to consider this Matter a little more particularly As soon as our Blessed Saviour was Ascended there was an occasion given to exercise this Supremacy in chusing a new Apostle in the room of Judas Acts 1. But we see that the method taken was that the whole Multitude chose Two and then they cast Lots which of the Two should be the Apostle And so as to the choosing of Deacons Acts 7. the whole Multitude chose them and presented them not to Peter but to all the Apostles to be Ordained If we look a little further into the Acts of the Apostles to Ch. 8. We shall find the Apostles not sent by St. Peter up and down to their business as occasion required but St. John and him sent by them to Samaria which was not very mannerly nor very fit had they known him to be their Sovereign Acts 11. we find those of the Circumcision contending with him and forcing him to give an account of his Actions and that without any Ceremony or deference proper for one in so high a Place and we see he patiently submits to it without standing upon his Prerogative of being unaccountable without chiding them for their Insolence or any thing of that kind Acts 15. we find a solemn Meeting of the Apostles and Brethren at Jerusalem where St. Peter speaks indeed as any other Man might have done but does not preside or determine any thing The Appeal was to the Apostles and Elders at Jerusalem not to him alone and if any thing in the whole Meeting was done Authoritatively by any single Person it was by St. James for he passes Sentence as you may see Verse 19. If we go to the Epistles we shall find as little evidence of his Authority as we have in the History of the Church in the Acts of the Apostles The first Epistle is that to the Romans not from St. Peter but from St. Paul where there is not the least notice taken either of St. Peter or of the great Prerogatives of that Church which one would think could hardly be avoided if St. Paul had known any thing of them nay he says some things which directly contradict their Pretences which you may see Chap. 11. He tells them there that he speaks to them who were Gentiles as being the Apostle of the Gentiles and if so St. Peter must not have had so near a relation to them because he was the Apostle of the Jews Then he proceeds to advise them to have a care of themselves lest they should fall away and be cut off as you may see ver 20 21. Be not high-minded but fear for if God spared not the natural Branches take heed lest he also spare not thee It 's plain that St. Paul at that time knew nothing of the great Privileges of that Church of its being the Mother and Mistris of all Churches of its being the Center of Church Vnity and of its being Infallibly secured from Error and Apostacy If we go on to the Epistle to the Corinthians we shall sind there a
convinced that if Popery should prevail in England we should not long enjoy our Estates or perhaps Lives if we would not comply with it and we are sensible that more than once we have been in great danger of this efpecially lately when it was almost a Miracle that we were saved from it We are sensible also that they are a restless uneasie Party that they have mighty dependencies abroad which have much prevailed of late that we can't tell what Foreign Power may be invited over or in succeeding times what incouragement they may have at home and therefore we do conceive that meerly in our own defence we may justly take as effectual measures as we can to keep their Priests from among them who we are satisfied have been and are like to be Incendiaries and to divert their Estates into better Hands of their own Relations that they may not be turned against us To conclude this matter notwithstanding these Reasons we have to guard our selves against Popery yet there are here no Cruelties of an Inquisition no Burning no taking away of Life no Dragooning nay the greatest part the Traders and those of the poorer sort are scarce touched in this Act and as for others on whom it is hardest those of Estates yet there is nothing done of a sudden and irremediable there 's Time allowed for Consideration and Place left for Repentance and better Thoughts and in the mean time their Persons are secure and they are at Liberty to go into any other Country with all the Money and Goods they can get without danger of being sent to the Gallies if they are caught which are Privileges a great many poor Creatures we have lately heard of would take to be very great Mercies Reasons to persuade those of the Church of Rome to examine the grounds of their Religion As far as a private Man may venture to give his Opinion of the Actions of his Superiors these I suppose joyned with some peculiar Insolencies at this time very well known in the Kingdom were the chief Reasons the King and Parliament went upon in making this and former Laws against you and if our Religion be true and yours false I believe you your selves will hardly condemn us for it And this is the next thing I would desire you to consider of that you would not take it for granted that you are in the right and so call this Persecution for Conscience sake but that you would take this Opportunity to examin the grounds of your Religion which will be an advantage to you which way so ever the matter end If upon Examination you find your selves to have been in the wrong you will then have the Benefit and Comfort of being converted from very dangerous Errors and Practices and of living quietly and preserving your Estates to your Families but if otherwise you find reason for your present Opinions it will be a mighty comfort to you in whatever you suffer that you do it upon evidence and conviction of Conscience and not upon Fancy and Prejudice from your Education And so much I think in Justice you owe to your Children not to Breed them up in a Religion which must deprive them of their Estates till you have well examined the Truth of it your selves It will indeed be the greatest Blessing to them to Breed them up in the true Religion let the consequences as to this World be what they will but at least Matters ought to be well weighed before you do what will be on all accounts so great an Injury to them if your Religion should prove false which perhaps I may give you just reason to suspect before I conclude this Paper if you will but read it without prejudice and partiality Only one thing I would desire you to have a care of that you be not too nicely sensible of the dishonour of changing your Opinion now it may seem to be for your Interest This I know is a Consideration apt to work very strong and to give a greater Biass to the Minds of some Persons than the greatest Interest in the World But a good Christian should be contented with the Apostle to go through evil report and good report and should despise the Censure of the World so he can but please God and save his Soul And this suggests another Consideration that not only your Interest in this World but your Souls are very much concerned in this Examination Your Church is accused by Protestants as guilty of a great number of dangerous Errors and of very sinful Practices of Superstition and Idolatry of being the Authors and consequently having the guilt of a great Schism in the Church and it concerns you to consider whether this Charge be true or no Whatever Charity Protestants may have for those among you who have no means of being better Informed they have just reason to look upon such Errors and sinful Practices as like to be fatal to those among you who might be better informed and will not But there is another Consideration which perhaps may weigh more with you in this Matter than the Opinion of Protestants which is That if this Charge against you be true if you are guilty of Schism and Idolatry and such gross Errors by the Opinion of your own Divines you cannot be Saved This is a Matter that they themselves often urge against that Charity which Protestants are apt to have for sincere honest People among you that are invincibly Ignorant besides the very same Reasons which they urge to shew the danger that we are in do equally hold against you supposing that you are in the wrong If it be Heresy in us to deny the Articles of your new Creed supposing they are true it must be Heresy in you to believe them supposing they are false the Reason is the same in both and so as to the Schism if your pretended Head of the Church be guilty of Tyranny and Usurpation and Heresy and Idolatry and of imposing these upon Christians it is He and his Followers are in the Schism and not We. And then all those dreadful things which your own Writers say against Schism and Heresy do as much belong to you supposing you are in the wrong as they do to us if we are so And therefore if what they say have any weight with you it ought to make you consider seriously whether you are in the right or no. I the rather urge this because it contains a full Answer to that piece of Sophistry wherewith you often deceive your selves and endeavour to delude us That you are safe by the confession of all Sides but we are not and that therefore we ought in prudence to come over unto you Which is false for by your own Opinion you are not safe but in a Damnable Condition supposing that you are in the wrong There is no difference at all betwixt us and you in this Matter except only where the Truth lies For if our charitable
any Prayer put up to any Creature It may be it will be said That the Saints were not then in Heaven and so were not in a condition to hear the Prayers that should be put up to them and had not so much Favour with God as they may be supposed to have now since the Resurrection of Christ that he has admitted them so nearly into his Presence Now in Answer to this I shall not at present pretend to determine whether the Saints of the Old Testament were in Heaven before Christ's Resurrection or not nor whether they and other Saints since are there now because a great many Christians of no mean Authority in the Church of God have been of different Opinions in these Matters only I think these two or three Things are very plain 1. That Enoch and Elias were supposed by a great many before our Saviour's time to be in Heaven and they must have been looked upon by them to be very great Favourites of God by being taken out of this World in so strange and wonderful a manner as the Scripture tells us they were and yet we hear as little of praying to them as to any other Person 2. Supposing it not agreed upon then whether Saints were in Heaven yet all agreed that the Angels were And they were altogether as well capacitated to hear and answer Prayers which should have been put up to them then as they are now and yet we find as little of Mens praying to Angels as they did to Saints in those Times 3. Whatever Reason can be assigned for praying to Creatures now would have held as well then whatever necessity or conveniency or advantage or fitness there may be in it were all the same and indeed much greater then than they are now upon these Two Accounts 1. Because the Christian Religion is of it self a State of much greater Perfection than any Dispensation that was before it God has in it revealed himself more clearly and plainly to the World has more evidenced his Love and Tenderness to Mankind has given us greater incouragements to draw near to him He speaks to us in the Gospel as a Father to his Children as a reconciled Father in Jesus Christ and therefore accordingly in that Form of Prayer which our Saviour has left us that is the Appellation which he has taught us to make use of Our Father which art in Heaven Now why should a Child be afraid to approach the Presence of his Father Or what need has he of any body to introduce him Under the Jewish Dispensation when the Law was given with Thunderings and Lightnings when God was called by the terrible Name of the Lord of Hosts there might be more reason to think of some body to introduce them to his Presence which yet we do not find was ever recommended or practised among them How much more may Christians come with boldness to the Throne of Mercy and expect to find Grace to help in time of need But what is more considerable 2. Christians have Christ for their Mediator who is able to save to the uttermost all those that come to God by him He is in Heaven ready to plead their cause and to get their Prayers heard and their Persons accepted and they that have such an Advocate need not fly to any else But it was not so with the Church before Christ and therefore if the thing had been at all lawful they had much more reason to make Saints and Angels their Patrons than Christians have And yet we see that in the Account which we have in the Bible of the Church of God before Christ for near 4000 Years there is not the least hint of any thing of this kind 3. What I have said already that all along in the Old Testament Prayer is appropriated to God and that without any reserve or distinction may be sufficient to shew the Mind of God in that Case But I have this further to add That the same Scripture adds with the same general words condemn as Idolatrous all the Old Heathen Worship Now I have shewed before that much of this Worship was paid to Creatures under the same Notions and Apprehensions that those of the Church of Rome Worship Saints and Angels indeed there was this difference that most of those Worshipped in the Church of Rome were probably good Creatures as most of those whom the Heathens Worshipped were bad ones and it may be Devils But this distinction of good or bad Creatures may make the Worship more or less Impious but not more or less Idolatrous whatever will make it Idolatry in the one Case will make it so in the other The Worship appropriated to God is no more due to a good Creature than it is to a bad one since therefore I have shewed that the Scripture every where condemns the Worship which the Heathen gave to what they owned not to be God and which they did not intend to Worship as the Supreme God I say since this is condemned not only as Impious for choosing ill Creatures but as Idolatrous for giving what belonged only to God this must equally prove all Creature Worship to be Idolatrous 4. This Creature Worship is as litle heard of in the New Testament as it is in the Old Heard of it is indeed but what approbation it met with we may see by considering these particulars The first Instance is that of the Devil desiring our Saviour to worship him upon promise to give him all the Kingdoms of the World But let us see what our Saviour answers he does not put him off with telling him either the Dignity of his own Person or the unfitness of the thing in Worshipping him because he was a Devil but he gives such a Reason as will hold against all Worshipping of Creatures Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve From which words I would observe these Two Things 1. That the Worship which the Devil desires and which our Saviour says must be given only to God was not to offer Sacrifice to him which the Writers of the Church of Rome make the only outward Worship appropriated to God but it was to fall down and adore him from whence we may inferr that to fall down and adore any Creature must be Idolatry which part of Worship its apparent the Church of Rome give to their Saints and Angels 2. I would observe here that the Devil did not pretend to be the Supreme God but plainly the contrary for when he shews our Saviour all the Kingdoms of the World he tells him that all these things were given to him Luke 4.6 in which he plainly professes not a Supreme But a Delegated Power so that had not our Saviour in his Answer condemned the Worship of Creatures tho' owned and acknowledged to be Creatures he had not given a full Answer to the Devil for the Devil did not desire to be Worshipped as the Supreme God Another
order to hold Communion with one another which as it is left off since the Pope's Authority came up so the use of it must have been inconsistent with it for it was taking the Judgment of Things and Persons into their own Hands which must not have belonged to them but to the Sovereign High Priest In a word their forging so many Decretal Epistles for the Bishops of Rome for so many Ages is a plain Argument that they have no true Evidences of the exercise of such Authority in the Ancient Church as is now pretended to Had such Authority been then exercised they needed not have been put to the forging Evidences of it we could not easily have miss'd of as many true Decretal Epistles as we have now forged ones something or other we must at least have heard of theirs upon all the Emergent Controversies and Difficulties that happen'd in the Church In short We must have known of the Authority of the Popes of those Ages by the same methods we know of the Authority of the then Emperors by their Actions by their Laws by their Rescripts by their Bulls and by the whole Course of their Government And therefore we must not judge of a thing of that Nature by some few accidental and general Expressions in Authors or by Compliments which the Bishops of so great a See could not easily miss of The last Argument I shall make use of is this That it is not easily to be believed that Jesus Christ has left such an Authority in his Church without leaving at least some Rules about it such as how and by whom the Person who is invested with it is to be Chosen how his Authority is to be executed and what are the bounds and limits of it or whether it has any bounds or no These are Matters of great consequence which have been the occasion of a great many Schisms and might have been or may still be the occasion of a great many more Besides that so vast an Office without any set limits is mighty apt to degenerate into Tyranny and to betray Men into great Exorbitancies to tempt them to leave the Simplicity of the Gospel to Usurp upon the Rights of other People and to affect at last a Secular Dominion instead of a Spiritual Office In fact the want of some such Rules to limit and confine his Authority has made great differences in the Church of Rome about this Matter Some say he has a plenitude of Power others say that he is confined to the Canons of the Church some say that he is above a General Council others deny it some say that he has the Supreme Authority over all the World not only in Spirituals but also in Temporals that he has a Power to Erect Kingdoms to give away Kingdoms to deprive Princes of their Dominions and to take away the Obligation of Subjects to their Allegiance others there are who either qualify this with distinctions or else quite deny it lastly some there are who say that he is Infallible that what he solemnly determines ought to be a Rule and Law to all Christians and to be taken as the Dictate of the Holy Ghost but many there are who deny this too besides all which thereare many Disputes about his Power of granting Indulgencies his dispensing with Oaths and Vows and with the Laws both of God and the Church These are Differences of great moment both with relation to Faith and Practice and may carry Men as different ways as Light and Darkness are different or as different as Truth is from the most monstrous Heresies in the World Thus if the Pope be not above a General Council he may carry those into a State of Schism and Disobedience who believe he is if he cannot dispense with Oaths and Laws and Vows he may carry those into great Sins who believe he can if he cannot Depose Princes he may carry those into Rebellion Perjury Murther and all sorts of Villanies who are led by him and if he be not Infallible as he pretends to be God knows whither he may carry those who follow him And so on the other side if he has all these Prerogatives they are in as much danger who say that he has not If Christ had thought fit to appoint a Head of his Church I cannot imagine but He would have given the Church some Rules about his Power and the Obedience that was due to him And I cannot but wonder how the same Church holds Persons that are of so contrary Opinions in Matters of this consequence Let us only consider that single Point of the Pope's Infallibility I have already shewed that those who do believe it must have a different Rule of Faith from those who do not because his Determinations must be part of the Rule of their Faith and consequently they must have a different Religion from those who do not believe it But that which I would insist upon at present is this That for a Person to affirm himself to be Infallible and to be appointed by God for the Supreme Guide and Conductor of the Faith of Christians so that whatsoever he shall solemnly determine must be believed true without examining I say for a Person to affirm this of himself supposing it be false is downright Heresy and that as gross and dangerous Heresy as almost any Man can fall into Now to illustrate this I would only propose one thing Suppose Henry VIII instead of those other Matters in which he differed from the Church of Rome had affirmed only this one Point That God had made him Infallible and appointed him to be the Guide of all Christians Would this have made him a Heretick or wâ—…d it not There is no Question but they must say this would have made him and all his Followers so or if there be any worse Name by which they could call them for if he were in their Opinion a Heretick for pretending to be the Head only of the Church of England and that without Infallibility How much more must the other have made him so Now what is Heresy in one must be Heresy in every body supposing it equally false for Heresy is not made so by difference of Persons but by the Nature of Things All therefore that believe the Pope not to be Infallible must as much believe this Pretence to be Heresy in him and his followers as they would in the Case of Henry VIII for the Matter is the same in both and the Pretence supposed to be equally false in both but must be much more dangeroâ—… in the Pope because more People â—…e like to be seduced by him That Reason which makes those of the Roman Church who deny his Infallibility yet not speak or think so severely of it as they would do of the same Pretence in another Man is realy so far from excusing it that it aggravates the Matter and makes it worse and much more dangerous than it would be in any other They do not speak out because the Person who pretends to this Privilege has great Authority among them and is at the Head of their Church whereas this is the very thing which makes such a Pretence the more pernicious that he has great Authority even with the whole Body of that Church and has a very great Number of them who say That if he determines Vertue to be Vice and Vice to be Vertue and the same if he determines Infidelity to be Faith yet he must be followed God knows how many People such a one may carry with him into Heresies or Immoralities or even to Hell it self Perhaps they think that God will take care of his Church and will not suffer any thing of that kind to happen but sure they have little reason to expect such a miraculous care over them who encourage the Pope and his Followers in such a pestilent Heresy by living in Communion with him and owning him for the Head of their Church But besides how do they mean that God will take care of his Church when he has suffered a Person whom they own to be the Head of it to fall into such a dangerous Heresy Will God preserve him that he shall fall into no other Heresies How do they know that or how can they expect it If any thing puts a Man out of the care and protection of God certainly such a false pretence as that is most likely to do it And as for those who will stick by such a Person notwithstanding they see the falseness of his pretences they have reason to expect that God should give them over to strong delusions rather than take any extraordinary care of them while they are in such a way I have now done with what I at first proposed to speak to And I cannot but hope that I have said enough to give you just reason to comply with the Laws of your Country in these matters This I am sure of that I have not willingly misrepresented any thing or made use of any reasoning which did not first convince my self If in this short Address I have not answered all the difficulties in these matters or if you desire satisfaction in the other points of Controversy betwixt us and your Church I must renew my request to you that you would consult some of our Divines or read some of those Books which have been written upon the several Subjects which I am perswaded can hardly fail of Convincing you if they are read impartially As for my self if I find by the success of this that any thing I can do may help forward your Conversion I shall be very glad to take any further pains in it And in the mean time shall not fail to put up my Prayers to Almighty God on your behalf that he would be pleased to take away all Prejudice to open your Eyes and bring you to the knowledge of the Truth FINIS