affirm things contrary to propâ—sitions so evident and certain as it is impossible any man shâ—uld not understand them to be true to wit those maximes out of which the said things are demonstrated But therefore it is that those maximes to some men are evident and firm who wil not believe such things as follow from them by necessary consâ—quence because they are not aware of that streight tie and fiâ—m connexion which is between the said maximes and such things as follow therefrom otherwise since no man is ignorant of the truth of those principles from whence the Demonstrations are raised every body would know the truth of such things as might be demonstrated and so we should have all men Geometricians Arithmeticians all men Musitians and Astrologers And because it may fall out that what follows from some other thing may not be discerned by some man to follow the same and he may therefore believe the former and not the latter doubtless it is no proof that because a man denyes a necessary Consequence he must therefore deny the Antecedent being a point which ought of necessity to be known especially if he shal be so strongly perswaded of the truth of the Antecedent that rather then he wil deny the same he wil allow of the Consâ—quent for Truth But in case he would rather deny the Antecedent then allow of the Consequent the case is dâ—fferent So to do were at least not fiâ—mly to believe the Antecedent It is manifâ—st therefore that such Testimonies of Scripture as prove a point ought necessarily to be known do not prove that such things as necessarily follow are of like necessiâ—y to be known This part of our discourse is subtile and acute requiring that the reader give great heed to the end he may understand the same howbeit it is very necessary to be known for the taking away of rash judgments by means whereof the Church is torn in pieces into Sects These things being thus cleared we are in the next place to enquire what those points be which are propounded unto us in the Scripture as so necessary to be known and believed that he which shal not know and throughly understand them ought not to be accounted one of Gods servants or a member of his Church and whosoever shal believe them all may be judged capable of Salvation though he very much err in all other points Concerning which question I would much rather hear the judgments of other men then propound mine own to the rash and haply irreligious censures of many howbeit the hope of procuring the Tranquillity and peace of the Churches of Christ hath more prevailed with me then any private respect of mine own We do not prescribe any thing to any man as a decree from which he may not dissent but look what the Lord hath vouchsafed to discover unto us we thought good in such wise to propound as to be ready with a very good wil to give credit and place to him that shal propound matters of greater certainty Our endeavour truly is not by all means possible to obtrude our own judgment upon men and to make that it may be of authority but rather that Truth it self may be brought to Light For look as it often comes to pass that a musician that could not be intreated by any means to play a lesson if some unskilful person shal be his untoward fingering of some in-it-self excellent instrument grate and vex his ears with his rude scraping wil take the instruments in hand and begin to play even so our hope is that in case we shal seem to have said little to the purpose in a matter which without all Controversie is of the greatest moment that can be we shal at the least provoke some man of greater spirit and wisdom to accomplish with good success what we had unhappily undertaken In the mean time we do again again beseech all pious and good men that what ever they shal think of our judgment here delivered they wil notwithstanding take in good part our care to preserve peace and concord and that not of any kind but such as may become Christians and that they wil joyn with me by fervent prayers to beg of him who is the only Author as of all other good things so likewise of peace that he would at the length bestow the same upon his Churches to the praise and glory of his own name Let us weigh then and examine such places of Scripture wherein Salvation is either promised or denyed because of believing or not believing Our Lord says Be ye sure of this he that hears my words John 5. and believes in him that sent me he shal enjoy eternal life and shal not come into Judgment but is passed from death to life Again John 6. This is the wil of him that sent me that whosoever hath seen the son and hath believed on him shal obtain eternal life And again Go ye through the whole world preaching the Gospel unto all be that shal believe and be baptized shal he saved he that believes not shal be condemned Which places and their like it may be questioned how they ought to be understood For some man wil a k what it is to believe in the Son of God or his Apostles for even he doubtless believes who is perswaded that the person speaking ought to be credited as one that speaks only the Truth although he undeâ—stand not what it is he says In which sense there is no Christian not one but so far believes the word of God as not to doubâ— but whatsoever is conteined therein is true there is not in the mean time one perhaps there never was who understands the true sence of every place Much more may that man be said to believe who being peâ—swaded of the Truth of the speaker doth likewise understand that which he speaks Now I conceive it is out of Controversie that every man ought to hold for Truth whatsoever the Son of God hath taughâ— either by himself or by his Apostles For these things cannot stand together that any man should believe that Jesus is the Sonn of God and nor pâ—rswade himself that what ever he says is true and that he is adorned with all kinds of vertue But whether or no it be likewise necessary to Salvation to know what ever our Lord commanded as wel in person as by his Apostles and rightly to understand the same so as to imbrace the same not only with a confused that is to say a general but with a distinct and particular faith this is that which may be questioned Now it is altogether necessary that either whatsoever things are set down in Scripture are all necessary to be known so that a man may not be ignorant of or mis-understand any of them under pain of damnation or that such things are of a different nature so that some of them are altogether necessary to be known and highly to be accounted
there be some one thing at which as the mark and end all the Doctrine of Christianity doth aim whatever thing being known conduceth nothing to the attainment of that end all questioning about that thing wil be vain Wherefore it concerns us to see if there be any such end what it is and what those things be which may conduce thereunto Now John testifies that such an end there is and what it is in these words Many other signs also Jesus did which are not contained in this Book but these are written that ye may beleeve that Jesus is the Messiah the Son of God and that beleeving ye may obtain life by him By which words we are plainly taught that the end scope of Christian Doctrine is eternal life whereupon it follows that whatsoever may be of any use for the attaining of eternal life that thing may be accounted profitable to be known and whatsoever can confer nothing to that end ought not to be regarded How now may some man say not a word of the honor and glory of God in this consideration I answer whatsoever things make for the glory of God without doubt the knowledg of all such things further our salvation neither is the glory of God in any thing more manifested then in the salvation of man If so be then there be any thing that we are obliged to do to the end we may attain eternal life for as much as we cannot do that thing unless we shal understand that it is our duty so to do the same it is necessary that we know so much And for as much as God hath made a Law which who so keeps not exactly hath imposed upon him the punishment of eternal destruction which Law because a man cannot keep and there is some other thing which if he do he shall notwithstanding obtain salvation he ought to understand both that he cannot satisfie the Law and what that other thing is which if he shal do wil be a means to save him And seeing that same other thing is if he shal be perswaded that the Son of God being made man satisfied his Father in respect of the punishment due unto his sins and that he is by his blood made clean from all the defilement of sin howbeit holiness of life and innocency of conversation is required not that in confidence thereof we should promise our selves salvation but that our manners may be such as becomes the children and servants of God bought with so great a price These things I say being so it is necessary both that a man know the promises which are made concerning Christ and that he be not ignorant wherein holiness and innocency of life and conversation do consist And for as much as there are many things which may either induce us to place all hope of our salvation in Christ and according to our power to keep the commands of God or hinder us from so doing and delay us it is very profitable to know what those things are which may either help or hinder Now we are perswaded to place all our confidence in God and enflamed to love him by which love we are drawn to endeavor obedience to his Commandments by the knowledg of his nature not as Philosophers desire to know it that they may subtilly argue about it but so as to understand how he is beyond all conceit wise good gentle merciful how exact and punctual he is in keeping his promises That his nature is such his works witness viz. The Creation of the world and all things therein contained but especially examples of his care for such as have worshipped him with a pious and holy fear how he hath helped them in times of exigency how he is wont to defend them from the lying in wait of the Devil and the world also how great and grievous sinners he hath upon their repentance comforted and saved how great a hater nevertheless of sin he is wont to shew himself and the like To the knowledg of his nature the remembrance of his frequently repeated promises being joyned doth exceedingly confirm and strengthen faith and forcibly puts men upon a serious resolution of amendment of life Hereunto may be added the explication of Prophesies especially such as concern the present times which being a clear testimony of the providence of God make exceedingly to the confirmation of mens minds Whatsoever matters of this nature are very profitable to be known and discoursed of by all men at home and abroad in private and in publick And because we can perform none of those things lately mentioned unless assisted by the help and spirit of God and God wil have us ask this spirit and assistance of him we must both know that God would have us so to do and keep in mind the promises that he wil give us these things upon our asking in a word we must in no case be ignorant in what manner we ought to call upon God and how we ought to render to him thanks for benefits received Contrariwise we shal be much hindred concerning the premises if we shal judg otherwise concerning the nature of God concerning his wil and whatever may come to pass then his Word directs us A great hinderance too is the corruption of our nature which very forcibly withdraws our mind and thoughts yea ravishes us to contrary intentions Whereupon we being necessitated to wage perpetual war with our inbred pravity to the end we may render our nature subject to the divine wil it is in like manner very necessary that we know our natural sinfulness and whatever the Scripture shews us for the mitigation and subduing thereof And for as much as it is not sufficient that a man care for himself alone but every man is bound according to the measure of the spirit he hath received and the course of life whereunto he is called to seek the good of the whole Church not only of the Members thereof now living but likewise of posterity whatsoever is of that tendency as to make any doctrine profitable to life hard to be attained or may give occasion either to forsake or lightly to esteem the same it is of great consequence that we be not ignorant thereof And in as much as the Scriptures admonish us that we have a great and most cunning adversary who is named from his enmity who without ceasing plots against us whereby to ruin us and divert us from God who can doubt but that it wil be very profitable wel to understand his arts and by what wis om they are to be avoyded in a word no doctrin can be profitable unless it have some use if it consist only in speculation tend to no aâ—tion it is to be accounted vain and foolish Yea verily every doctrine that may any wise refer to the attainment of salvation is not to be counted profitable to as that it should be requisite to hanâ— e 〈◊〉 cuâ—â—â—usly oâ— diffeâ—â—â—ce â—â—ne â—hat 〈…〉 muâ—â—
a man that every opinion he takes up is a most serious and weighty point without the knowledg wherof there can be no salvation Rules to distinguish curious unprofitable questions that are to be avoided from sober serious and profitable ones that ought to be handled The End of all Christian Doctrine What ever is profitable to that end is useful to be known An enumeration of useful Doctrines A Doctrine that reaches no further then speculation is vaine Every Doctrine that any ways makes for the attainment of the aforesaid end is not of such moment as that a controversie should be raised therabout forasmuch as some other Doctrines unquestioned may perform the same service Passion in the Persons dissenting makes a point in controversie seem far weightier then in truth it is which may be seen in the eager bickering of the Ancient Christians about Easter day and other matters of smal moment The right way to bring men from vain and unprofitable questions What Ministers Professors in Vniversities Writers of books ought to do to that end To stand long upon and to affect to make many Sermons upon one text a great occasion of starting curious and unprofitable questions Large Commentaries guilty in the like kind LIB I. THe best way to find out the divels Stratagems is to taâ—e into serious consideration what the end is at which all his consultations aime which is not Very hard to tel For seeing that he is defined in Scripture A MAN-SLAYER from the very BEGINNING what can we think he should rather aime at then the DEATH of MAN and that ETERNAL Being therefore as the oldest so the craftiest fox in the world wee may assure our selves that nothing can escape his indeavours which may prove pernitious to mankind to be put upon and as certain it is that he endeavours to divert them from whatsoever may prove conducible to their Salvation Now the Salvation of Man consists in obeying God as his death and misery in disobedience Wouldst thou obtain life said our Lord keep the Commandments by Commandements or Law in this place we understand whatsoever we are commanded not only to do or not to do but to beleive whence it follows that the MAN-KILLERS grand design is to keep us from obeying the commands of God Now the Commands of God may be violated as soon by those that know them not as by those that know them for though he be much the greater delinquent who disobeys that command of God known then he that through ignorance transgresseth yet shal not ignorance make any one guiltless for it is almost impossible that any one should be ignorant without his own fault Howsoever certain it is the ignorance of Gods Law and the violation thereof are so nearly allyed that the one is mutually the others cause By not knowing the mind of God thou doest that which moves his anger oft times when thou thinkest highly to please him for which cause amongst the rest thou art deprived of all light of sound judgment and dayly overwhelmed with more gross and palpable darkness If thou knowest his law and doest not obey it it wil by the just judgment of God come to pass that thou shalt fall from the knowledg thereof and slip into some great errors This then being the end of all Sathans Counsels forasmuch as it is MAN-KIND he labours to undoe that we way more easily understand his deceits let us diligently consider the nature of MAN Though MAN at the first was created of a good right and every ways perfect Nature and disposition yet breaking the command of God he became of another NATURE quite contrary exceedingly corrupt and lyable to all manner of vice Hence it is that 1 he loves himself immeasurably but with a kind of blind and intemperate affection wherewith being led he loaths his true good and seeks his own hurt and dammage 2 As our first Parents credited the Serpent when he said as soon as ye shal taste the fruit ye shal be as it were Gods knowing good and evil so hath there ever since stuck such a perswasion in Mankind that every man takes himself to be a kind of Diety which disposition upon the least occasion presently discovers it self For as soon as he is a little advanced in dignity or hath but scraped together some considerable heap of Earth he judges every body bound to give him all the respect that may be yea to seek his commodity with their own loss If he get a little Learning presently he imagins he knows all things and he alone so that the whole world ought to be governed by his wisedom leaving nothing undone which may beget such an opinion of him not knowing or little caring how unjust he is in so doing 3 He is wonderfully addicted to bodily pleasures and exceeding intemperate in the use of such things as are thereunto conducing 4 He loves this life and thereabout spends all his thoughts not so much as thinking of the life to come He dreams this life wil last for ever and though he see daily millions of men fall before his eyes he cannot be brought seriously to be perswaded that himself came into the world upon like terms of mortality 5 And since he sees that riches wil furnish him with what ever he desires and while they do so they must needs wast and that an infinite quantity is requisite towards the expence of an endless life hence it is that he hath an insatiable desire to gather wealth Some such conceit it was together with a strange weakness of mind that made the Soveraignty of the whole world seem too too little for Alexander the great 6 In reference to the knowledg of God and his wil of his own proper good and evill which consists wholy in the favour or offence of God he is altogether blind thinking himself in the mean time as quick-sighted as an Eagle To give assent unto truths of this nature and to reject the contrary errors is as repugnant to his disposition as it is for heavy things to fall Heaven-ward Not that he hates truth as truth or is delighted with lies as lies but because of the corruption of his Judgment in things of this nature taking truth for falshood and falshood for truth it self 7 And look how he himself is disposed though he perceive it not so he imagins the blessed God to be worshipping him accordingly with Gold Silver Precious stones and Jewels with great costly and magnificent buildings yea and sometimes with such things as should one man honour another with it would be interpreted a great reproach and mockery He wil needs have him to be a visible God and therefore paints him and shapes him out according to his own fancy He cannot in good earnest perswade himself that God knows cares for or moderates the affairs of mankind that he wil give rewards or inflict punishments whence it is that neither by pious affection to God nor through fear or punishment can
himself hath seduced others shal not have his Error clearly demonstrated unto him he which takes upon him to oppose shal not understand what the seducer affirms and so shal not refute it but what himself by a false suspition hath imagined and shal defend the doctrine received not with such reasons as he ought to do but with such silly ones as rashness and a mind madded with anger could collect which may be easily refelled and the erroneous person shal have cause to think himself not vanquished but with many and grievous injuries after an insolent manner abused such disputes however they may seem intended to resist the Devil yet are they so far from frustrating any of his plots as that nothing could be invented more expedient to promote his designs For they do not fight against Errors but make them invincible they do not pluck them up but spread them abroad they do not destroy but propagate them and that in a wonderful manner They render Errors invincible because when the person erring finds it easie to avoyd the dint of such arguments as are brought to oppose him it gives him great occasion to think that there cannot any thing more strong be objected against him and when he shal see confuted not his own reasons but I know not what other arguments such as he never so much as once thought of he may very wel think the cause to be that not having any thing they could oppose against his arguments and yet desirous to seem to have answered them they have cavilled at and mis-interpreted his words Hereupon he is altogether compelled to conclude with himself that not he but his opposites are in the Error And if there be joyned sharp insolent and injurious language yea and it may be threats too and such like what can he do other but strongly perswade himself that his adversaries being unable to defend their cause by dint of Argument have guarded and fortified themselves meerly with force and insolence And since hatred is bred of injuries what is there that can settle Errors with greater pertinacy And when a man shal leave his posterity heirs both of his Errors and his Hate it comes to pass that they can never be rooted up out of the minds of men Thus is the people divided into Sects which hate one another with deadly feud abstaining from no kind of injuries and taking the more liberty unto themselves in this kind in that men do not observe how in so doing they obey their own passions but think they very much please God whereas in the mean time by this means they incur the wrath of God daily more and more and become enveloped with thicker clouds of darkness Such disputes do spread Errors abroad because the clamours there made the brawls thence arising afford much occasion of discourse to many people and according to the diversity of mens minds and Judgements matters are very variously both reported and resented And it is wont to fall out that if many dislike the Error yet some wil approve of it yea and some wil as much disapprove of the means used to resist the Error viz. insolence reproaches and the like as of the Error it self and wil thereupon begin less to like of those that set themselves to oppose the Error whence it may come to pass that they may the more easily admit some other Error afterwards He that likes the Error can hardly refrain in his narrations to favour that part he approves so as to add leave out change many passages at his pleasure and thus by a kind of Contagion the evil is spread far and near In a word by controversies ill-managed errors are propagated and bred divers ways For first he that opposes himself against an Error can hardly avoid but that he himself shal fall into some Error either because as the Proverb speaks while he shuns Charybdis he slips into Scylla ignorant to keep the mean as that man should do who in opposing those that attribute all to the Word of God and the reading thereof not marking the necessity of the Spirit of God to be their guide and interpreter to the right understanding should endeavour to reduce the minds of such men to the meer inspirations of the holy Ghost whereas the spirit is so far to be looked at as that the written word be not contemned and lose its dignity as if it were a matter of humane invention and not of divine tradition or because he wil grant somewhat to the Adversary not to be granted which some of the ancient Fathers peradventure did who in such a manner resisted the Philosophers as that they defiled the purity of Christian tenets with Philosophical ratiocinations Likewise it may fall out that whiles thou thinkest to express that Doctrine which thou holdest for truth with more significant and clear expressions then it is in Scripture expressed and better to shun occasion of cavil for the wit of man wil ever be more wary and wiser then God thou wilt use such words or forms of expression as from whence another less true and godly tenet may sometimes be collected Furthermore whereas on both sides they are wont to produce many allegations each for his own judgment as the case requires if it fall out that striving shal sharpen and inflame their minds you shal soon see on both sides many matters affirmed and denied which in a calm mood they would never have affirmed or denied as the Poet spake Furor arma ministrat Rage weapons doth afford Every dart accidentally offered is caught hold on fury suffers not a man to mark what an one it is and what ever hath rashly scap't a man especially in the interim of the dispute Pride wil have it ratified and firm and thereupon new controversies arise and new errors in like manner without end Yea it is seen that by disputes both the matters themselves and mens wits are confounded truth is lost and many are brought to that pass as to perswade themselves that nothing can be certainly concluded and so to cast away all care of Religion Yea and it seems impossible to fall out but that whiles men are perpetually wrangling about some one point of Religion they wil slight and forget many others and they perhaps of the chiefest note and it wil grow to a custome that a godly man shal be distinguished from an ungodly by this one thing be his life what it wil in that he seems to abhor and exceedingly loath that Doctrine which in some one or two points is accounted heretical O that we could but see at one view how many and how great overthrows Sathan hath given to the Kingdom of Christ what desolations he hath made by this one weapon of Controversies he must be a man of iron that could chuse to weep Nor do I now complain of those fanatical spirits the emissaries of Sathan who never cease sowing curious vaine and impious controversies for from them what other could a
labor to assure our selvs what to hold but this condition must be adjoyned that there be not other points that wil easily supply the defect thereof That this is so appears because it being necessary that we should beleeve that Jesus is the Messiah the Savior foretold by the Prophets and to this end all the miracles which he did were directed that thereby it might be known who he was yet were they not all committed to writing but such and so many as were sufficient that men might readily know who he was So that if so be any should content that our Lord wrought some miracle not mentioned in those books which we have of his life and doings it would not be worth the while to search out the truth of that matter or to make Controversie thereabout forasmuch as though it should be found to be true there could be no other profit reap'd thereby but that Jesus should be prov'd to come from God and to be the man he pretended himself to be which thing many other miracles do so fully witness which are out of question that greater certainty cannot be desired on the contrary though we had no assurance of any such miracle the Authority of other miracles recorded in Scripture by the holy pen-men thereof is not a jot thereby diminished Whereby it would come to pass that whether we shal beleeve that miracle or beleeve it not we should neither win nor lose by the means And forasmuch as in case Christian Doctrine should seem to contain any absurdity or to maintain contradictions it would hinder those that are unconverted from imbracing the same whatever tends to the removing of such absurdities and to reconcile such contradictions cannot but be profitable Unless happily such reconciliations cannot be accomplished without great stirs Controversies and dissentions By such like ways then it seems easy to know profitable questions from vain and unprofitable provided that mens judgments be not before hand disturbed with partiality and the heat of contention and before they have already begun to contend about the point in question as about some weighty matter but when men are once bewitched as it were with the opinion hereof their inbred pride hatred indignation custome in Error and Sathan suffer not their judgment to execute its office Who amongst us at this day doth not admire that the ancient professors of Christianity did contend with such heat and earnestness of mind about the day on which Easter as they call it was to be celebrated and about other matters of very light concernment whereas in those times they were thought very weighty points we looking upon them with unbiassed judgments plainly perceive what an unworthy thing it was for the Church of God to be divided into sects upon so slight occasions My advise therefore is that as soon as thou shalt perceive somewhat untrue to be taught before thou set thy self to contradict it thou consider if it be not a matter of little or no weight and if it be that thou make no contention about it or according to that opportunity which the time place thine own person and his thou shalt deal with may afford that thou do only exhort the man to leave such speculations and apply himself to more weighty matters and I would have thee do it as artificially as may be so as not to put him into any passion But the true way of bringing men from vain questions is this if those whose place it is either to teach the people or to read divinity in the Schools and those that apply themselves to write omitting curious questions and abandoning vain ostentation of wit would insist upon and urge only such points as tend to the confirmation of faith to the exptirpation of vice to instil the fear of God cherish piety comfort the afflicted and keep them from desperation to keep such as would be counted Christian brethren in brotherly love with a sweet harmony of affections and the like Neither are these Subjects such as are to be slighted for their commoness For in the first place though the heads themselves of such Doctrine are not very many yet they are of very large extent and then all weary somness in the auditor may be taken away by the variety of handling them especially if the preachers of the Gospel shal mark what Doctrines at every season the people most stand in need of As in case they be lift up by prosperity and give the reyn to luxury let them fear them by the prophetical threatnings and so reduce them into order If affliction lye heavy upon them let them be comforted If they languish with sluggishness let them be stirred up to honest imployments If they seem too intent upon the world let them be admonished of the shortness of this life and diverted from too much care for worldly things and thus let them insist upon such Doctrines as are most suitable to every season Neither see I cause why we should count those arguments too common which can never sufficiently be imprinted in our minds So that time wil always be wanting for such arguments so far shal we be from wanting matter to take up the time though we keep within the bounds prescribed Now this is that which may often give occasion to start vain questions if in expounding the holy Scriptures to the people a man shal as it were make a Law to himself to dwel long upon every word without distinction which seems now to be the common practise For when they cannot always find profitable matter to discourse of they are forced to give way to curiosity Such men there be haply who being ful of matter and abundant in wit and therefore able to take an occasion of discoursing upon what Subject they please from any text or word may handle largely any Scripture without just cause of reprehension But this is not every mans Lot as it is in the Proverb Non omnibus datū est adire Corinthum They that are not so wel stored shal do much more discreetly if they wil suit their endeavors to their abilities Where many things profitable to be heard suggest themselves let them insist long if the text afford not many things let them not be ashamed to put a little shoo on a little foot and to proceed in their explication the faster For what matters it if having made twenty Sermons upon some one Chapter of the Gospel thou shalt go over the next in one discourse The holy Ghost would not teach all things in every place but one in one place another in another Neither let they knowledg be all powred forth upon one place though thou mightest do it handsomely enough much less be thou so absurd and unreasonable as to desire rather to descend to foolish commentations or to inculcate such matters as all thy auditors eares are already ful of then to be thought not to have made many Sermons upon the explication of every word Some offend
greatest of sinners especially by so cruel and bloody a death Oh had we but the least suspition concerning any man that he should hereafter be a King yea the best of Kings suppose his present condition to be never so mean and obscure how far would we be from contemning such a man And what I pray you is the dignity and soveraignty of a King compared with that dgnity and lustre which is laid up for Gods elect And shal we account that man unworthy of our humanity and good wil who for ought we know is born to this glory Again it wil be very effectual to move thee to a gentle opinion concerning such a man if entring into thine own heart thou shalt take a diligent and strict survey of all thy actions of thy whole life and cogitations and examine them by the Law of God And if so be thou shalt find thy self tainted in the presence of God with many and great sins and yet dost comfort thy self that he wil not deal severely with thee nor punish thee according to thy deserts but rather carry himself towards thee as a tender God and Father why mayst thou not hope that he shal be partaker of the like gentleness And since in regard of this hope of thine thou lookest upon thy self as one no ways to be despised what reason is there thou shouldest not judg the same of another Further with such meditations as these we must ioyn frequent and fervent prayers to God that he would soften our heart and would plant therein with his own hand a true and living charity which wil direct us unto such apt and convenient ways of dealing with our brother that it wil be a miracle if we do not shortly reclaim him And whereas no man can understand the things of God but by the spirit of God before we begin any dispute let us wrastle with God by prayer taking to our assistance some other godly persons that he by his spirit would be present with the person erring and open his heart and eyes that he may acknowledg the truth yea and we ought to exhort him to make the like prayer to God in his own behalf As for demonstrations they wil be then available to manifest the truth when God is their Author as it is writen I wil instruct you with such a tongue and such wisdom that no body shal be able to resist you And again as the rain and snow descend from heaven and return not thither again but do moisten and soften the earth making it to bud and bring forth and yeeld bread to sustain the life of man so my word that proceeds out of my mouth shal not return to me fruitless but shal accomplish all my will shal prosper towards those to whom I shal send it Here then we see that prayers are again necessary unto the Lord that he would not only open the heart of the person erring but also suggest unto us such words as maybe most fitting to demonstrate the truth And if it shal not seem absurd to allow some place for such arts which though they be termed humane yet if a man shal no other ways use them then as knowing that while he plants and waters it must be God that can give the encrease and putting all his confidence in him no man can deny but they are the gifts of God I shal further add that those demonstrations have power to perswade which taking their rise from things evidently known and from such places of Scripture as are most clear and uncapable of different interpretations in a due order and with a perpetual connexion no medium being overpast or misplaced do arrive unto the point in controversie or else which shal begin at the Tenet to be disproved and some other point out of all question inferring by degrees until such time as the party erring shal be brought to some great absurdity which when by no means it can be maintained it is impossible but the party dealt with shal confess that somewhat untrue hath bin laid down especially if this shal be done with words and expressions noways obscure doubtful or intricate but plain clear and familiar Howbeit to say the truth few there are that can thus do and the reason is because there are very few that had not far rather be writers and speakers then Meditators Now it is not enough if the argument which thou shalt bring shalt seem unto thee to the purpose but it ought to be accommodated to the wit and judgment of him that is to be perswaded therewith As for example if thou haply shalt so prize the Authority of Origen as to think thou oughtest to credit what ever he says and shalt alleadg some place of his writings wherein he seems to take thy part this may seem to thee to make much on thy side but if he with whom thou hast to deal shal give little or no credit to Origen this Testimony wil stand thee in no stead and as little shalt thou prevail if having to deal with a Turk or some other enemy to Christianity thou shalt make use of Testimonies of Scripture Thus likewise it will come to pass if dealing with reasons thou shalt take such things for grant which howbeit to thee they seem out of question yet thy Adversary is not perswaded of their truth For thou oughtest to assume such things as are true not only in thine own but in his account also As if thou shalt say we must not confess our sins to a Priest because God hath not commanded it and there stop for he which doth not as yet know or at least for the present remembers not that we ought to observe nothing but what God himself shal command wil not a whit be moved with that reason There is a like but more obscure passage in Tullies book called Laelius the words are these Scipio denied that any speech could be more contrary to friendship then his that said a man ought so to love as remembring that he may hate where he loves neither could he perswade himself that as it is believed Bias should utter any such thing who was accounted one of the seven wise men but that it came from some base ambitious spirit from a man that would reduce all things to his own power For how is it possible any man should be his friend to whom he conceives he may become an enemy Yea he must of necessity desire and wish that his friend may frequently offend that he may give him the more occasions to reprehend him Again he must of necessity be vexed greived and moved to envy by the wel-doing and profit of his friends So far Loelius Now a man wil wonder how these absurdities should follow from the speech of Bias whereas haply had the Argumentation bin compleat all occasion of mervail would have bin taken away And that thou mayst understand what the way of prevailing in this case is what reasons wil move thine
of others howbeit profitable to be understood and such as are no ways to be slighted yet are they not altogether so necessary yea rather although there happen to be some Error concerning them the person so erring may notwithstanding be saved And our Lord himself professes that he teaches nothing John 17. but such things as he had received from his father and look what he had received from his Father that he delivered to his Disciples and that they imbraced it and did believe that he was sent from his Father and therefore he prays for their salvation and for the salvation of all those likewise who should believe through their preaching And to the Apostles this command was given Go ye through the whole world declaring the Gospel to all persons and teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you he that shal believe and shall be baptized shal be saved he that shal not believe shal be condemned In which words is implyed that unless a man shal understand and believe all these things he shal not be saved so Paul when to the Jaylor asking what he should do he bad him believe in the Lord Iesus and so he should be saved and his family is afterward said to have instructed him in the Doctrine of the Lord So that the meaning of those words believe in the Lord Iesus and thou shalt be saved must be this imbrace the faith and Doctrine of Christ and thou shalt be saved And that this is so seems especially proved by what the same Apostle elsewhere writes If any one shal teach you otherwise then we have taught let him be accursed For he teacheth otherwise who mis-interprets any part of that Doctrine On the contrary even as Paul to prove that righteousness was not by the Law among others uses this Argument If so be the inheritance belonged to them that kept the Law since no man could keep the same no body could be saved wherefore since the promise must not be void there must needs be another righteousness then that by the Law In the very self same manner we may reason in this place that forasmuch as no man can rightly understand all that the Lord hath commanded and it is necessary to salvation that a man understand all things rightly and err in nothing therefore no man shal be saved But certain it is Rev. 7. a very great and innumerable company shal be saved it must needs therefore follow that men may be saved though they do not rightly understand some part of that which the Lord hath delivered and be possessed with some Error And Paul witnesseth that in this life we know things but in part and not fully 1 Cor. 13. and we prophecy but in part But what could we desire more plain then this Our Lord before his death testified that his Disciples had imbraced all those things which he having received of his Father had declared unto them and prayeâ— for them howbeit they did not as yet understand that Christs Kingdom was spirituall not worldly neither did they know that the benefits purchased by Christ did belong unto the other nations of the world as wel as to the Iews Which things notwithstanding he had taught them and they were matters of very great concernment It is manifest therefore that when our Lord said his Disciples had received such things as he had taught them his meaning was such of them as were of necessity to salvation not that they had wholly attained to the knowledg of all that he had taught them Hence it must be concluded that all things which Christ taught were not so necessary to salvation as that if a man were ignorant of some part of them he could not be saved And it is very wel worth our observation that when as the Disciples did not as yet understand that Christs Kingdom was spiritual and that the Gentiles were in a special manner to be shaters in the salvation purchased by him he did notwithstanding distribute unto them the representative figures of his body and blood Inasmuch therefore as it is out of all question that every Truth of God is not of like condition and rank but that some must of necessity be known and perfectly understood some may be without inevitable damnation unknown doubtless it is necessary either that we should have some mark of difference whereby to distinguish the one from the other or we must take it for granted that those points of Christian doctrine are only necessary to be known concerning which there are special and particular testimonies of Scripture signifying the necessity of their knowledg As for any general note or difference though I have diligently enquired into the matter yet have I not been able to find one For if any man shal say that all the principal heads of doctrine are to be reckoned among the necessary points his saying wil be very true yet not a whit satisfactory For I shal presently demand which are those principal points And if any doctrine be called into question I shal desire to know whether it be one of those principal ones I shal ask him by what note or mark I may know whether it be to be reckoned among the principal or not So that we are stil as far to seek as ever For it is all one to be in doubt which are those points of doctrine that ought of necessity to be known and to doubt which are the chief heads of Religion both are alike obscure so that the one cannot receive light from the other We must therefore make diligent enquiry what things they are by name which must be of necessity known and beleeved Our Lord says Herein consists life eternal if they shal know thee the only true God John 17. Ioel 2. and him whom thou hast sent Jesus Christ And the Prophet says Whosoever shal cal upon the name of the Lord shal be saved And the Apostle This is that doctrine of Faith which we publish abroad that if thou shalt both confess with thy mouth that Jesus is the Lord and shalt beleeve with thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved But that place of John is very remarkable and many other miracles did Jesus in the presence of his Disciples which are not contained in this Book But these are written that ye might beleeve that Jesus is the Messias the Son of God and that beleeving ye might obtain I fo by his name In which place we may observe First That whatsoever things are written of Jesus are written to this end that men might beleeve that Iesus is the Messias the Son of God Secondly That if any man shal beleeve that through him he shal obtain salvation that man shal not be frustrated of his hope Iohn 11. So that when Peter had confessed that Jesus was the Christ the Son of the living God he was pronounced Blessed forasmuch as that knowledg of his was not from Man
but from God So Martha after that our Lord had told her that he was the Resurrection and the Life and that if any man beleeved in him though he were dead yet he should live and all that should live and beleeve in him should never dye She made answer I beleeve that thou art the Messias the Son of God who wer 't to come into the world And to the Thief who begged of Lord that he would remember him when he came into his Kingdom he gave this answer Luke 23. This I promise thee that thou shalt be with me this day in Paradise And the Eunuch after he had confessed that Jesus Christ was the Son of God Acts 8. he was baptized Likewise when four men carrying the pulsied man and endeavoring to bring him to be cured were not able to come near for the press but let him down in his bed through the roof into the midst before Jesus Jesus knowing their so great faith said unto the man Son thy sins are forgiven thee By which place we may conjecture what was the faith of that palsied person For he beleeved in all probability that that same man whose name was Jesus came from God and was in favor with God and therefore he hoped that by his means he might recover his health But that he knew all those things which the Church hath for a long time accounted as articles of Faith necessary to be beleeved to Salvation how likely a matter it is I leave it to every man to judg There are likewise many other texts to the very same purpose For to that same unclean woman that washed our Lords feet with her tears it was said Thy Faith hath saved thee The same was spoken to that other woman having the flux of blood who hoped If she might touch the hem of his garment she should be healed The same was done to that one of the ten cleansed lepers who returned thanks to God And Iohn says Hereby ye shal know the Spirit of God whatever spirit shal confess that Iesus Christ is come and that he is made man that Spirit is of God and again Whosoever shal confess that Iesus is the Son of God God abides in him and he in God Also Paul denies That any can say that Iesus is the Lord but by the holy Spirit And forasmuch as Abraham is called the Father of Beleevers and we are taught chiefly by his example that Righteousness consists in Faith Truly it wil be labor wel bestowed to consider what that was which when he beleeved it was counted unto him for righteousness He was promised that he should be the Father of many Nations he was promised that happiness should betide to all the Nations of the world by his seed Finally he had the Land of Canaan promised to him and very great prosperity But of those points of Religion which it is judged every body is bound to know upon pain of damnation we read not a word Yea and the mystery of Salvation it self by his seed is very closely and obscurely promised And truly these are the only points which I find in the Scriptures recorded as necessary to be beleeved for the attainment of Salvation Let us now consider who they be unto whom in Scripture Salvation is denyed in respect of unbelief Unto the Apostles it was said in general terms Go ye through the whole earth publishing the Gospel to all persons he that shal beleeve and be baptized shal be saved but he that shal not beleeve shal be condemned Which words as is manifest by what we formerly said are not so to be understood as if he had said He that shal not rightly understand whatever you shal teach but shal in some point mis-interpret your words shal be condemned but by the word Gospel we must understand that same blessed message of redemption by the name of Christ He that shal beleeve that by the name of Christ he shal be saved he shal be saved he that shal not so beleeve shal be condemned In the same manner are those words of Paul to be expounded Gal 1. If any shal teach you different from what you have learned let him be accursed as if he should have said If any shal teach you that you must obtain salvation by any other way then by faith in the name of Christ let him be accursed Howbeit whosoever shal teach any thing otherwise then the Apostles taught although it be none of the principal heads of Religion yet is he so far forth to be accursed in as much as all false doctrine comes from none but the Devil the father of lyes But it is not presently to be concluded that such a person is quite out of the way of Salvation for our Lord rebuking Peter himself because he dehorted him from suffering death calls him Satan Iohn 6. More particularly our Lord says Vnless you shal both eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of man ye shal not obtain life Which imports as much as if he had said Unless ye shal beleeve that I am the Son of God and that I am sent from God my Father and that you shal obtain Salvation by my Name you shal not obtain life And again Vnless ye shal beleeve that I am he ye shal dye in your sins 2 Iohn 2. 1 Iohn 4. And John says Who is a lyar but he that denies Jesus to be the Son And hereby shal you know the Spirit of Goâ— whatever spirit confesseth that Iesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God But whatever spirit shal deny that Iesus Christ is come in the flesh Gal. 5. the same is not of God Paul adds If you be circumcised Christ shal profit you nothing And a little after Ye have no part in Christ who lace your righteousness in the Law ye are fallen from Grace And Peter there is no other name among men under heaven Acts 4. by which we can be saved By which testimonies of Scripture we are taught that such places as witness that he which beleeves that Jesus Christ is the Son of God shal be saved are not so to be understood as that if a man shal so beleeve that Jesus Christ is the Son of God as he beleeves that Iulius Caesar was the first who brought the Roman Commonwealth into bondage and made himself Emperor of Rome or any other matter wherein himself is not concerned that he shal be saved but that he truly beleeves that Jesus is the Son of God who beleeves it as a thing that concerns himself that is to say who beleeves that he whom we call Jesus is the Son of God his Jesus and his Christ that is his Savior and his King in whom alone he places all the hope of his Salvation Unless we shal admit of this interpretation neither Pauls nor Peters words will hang together These very few points are all that we can find expressed in Scripture as being necessary
for every man to believe to the end he may be saved viz. That he acknowledg the one only true God and him whom he hath sent Iesus Christ his Son being made man and that he believe that God hath raised him from the dead and that by his name he shal obtain salvation and that he place not his righteousness in the works of the Law But that he be verily perswaded that there is no other name under heaven whereby we can be saved Now let us make enquiry what other thing there is that being inferred from these may be in like manner necessary to be known And forasmuch as the Scriptures teach that every man is liable to the severe judgment of God as being by reason of the fall of Adam born in sin and of such a natural constitution that he continually offends God and consequently guilty of eternal punishment and since they further teach that this world at length coming to an end all persons shal be raised at the last day the just unto eternal happiness the unjust and wicked unto eternal torments No man can understand what it is to be saved neither consequently what it is he should believe unless he have some tollerable knowledg both of his own condition of the Law of God and of Gods purpose to judg the quick and the dead For the Apostle declares that from the Law springs the knowledg of Sin and he should not have known Sin but by the Law But it follows not from what we have laid down that such a degree of knowledg either of the Law of God or of mans natural condition is necessary as that if any man shal err in the interpretation of some Commandment of God or in judging of the nature of man and the abilities thereof he cannot be saved Thus much only follows that a man ought to believe that he is liable to eternal condemnation and to trust he is freed therefrom by Christ and by his benefits ordained unto eternal blessedness Again seeing Paul says that they have no title to Christ who place their righteousness in the Law in the Law I say of God What shal we say of them who place their righteousness in the Laws mandates and inventions of men They may doubtless much rather be said to have fallen from the righteousness and benefits of Christ Semblably since the Scriptures teach that by the name of Christ alone we must hope for salvation it follows that he that shal hope for salvation by the name of the blessed Virgin or Peter or Paul or any Saint whatsoever hath no share in Christ Likewise it being a thing necessarily to be believed to salvation that Christ was raised from the dead and it cannot be understood that any is raised to life that was not first dead it follows that it ought of necessity to be believed that he dyed In a word forasmuch as our Lord hath commanded that all be taught the Gospel and baptized in the name of the Father Son and holy Spirit whose work this Faith is inasmuch as he opens our hearts and reveals unto us this goodness of God towards us both this command ought to be known and that it is the holy Spirit by whom we believe and by whom God dwels in us and whom we ought by incessant prayers to begg of God that he would bestow him upon us I confess ingeniously I cannot find any other points that I can from Scripture demonstrate and prove to be of necessary knowledg to the attainment of salvation If any man can shew any more there is nothing that I would sooner wish then to understand what ever other points there are over and above what we have laid down and to heare those Texts by whose authority we are obliged to acknowledg them for matters that ought of necessity to be known Now for us to reckon up particularly all such points as we judg not necessary to be known to the end a man may be saved there is no necessity neither were it convenient and it would be an endless work A right line is the measure both of right and crooked Only to the end that it may be the better understood when any points comes into question how it may be manifest to be either of necessity to be known or not of necessity we wil examine and couple of Doctrines to the end that as we shal try these all other may be tryed Sabellius as Vigilius Martyr Bishop of Trent relates did so acknowledg the Father Son and holy Spirit as that he would not have it to be understood that the Father was one person the Son another But he said that he who was the Father filled the womb of the Virgin and in that man whom he assumed is termed the Son when as not two persons but one Father is understood by both termes And he that thus understands the matter worships but one God Some man may therefore enquire whether or no this point be of such concernment as that it is necessary for him that would be saved not to err therein that is to say whether Sabellius holding such an Error could be saved or whether he ought absolutely to be reckoned for an Heretick as hitherto he hath bin ever accounted We have already proved that it is necessary that men should believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God But to believe that he is the Son of God is no to pronounce these words nor yet in thought to give unto Christ the title of Son of God but rather by a sincere faith to attribute unto him that which these words signifie Now the word Son signifies not any such thing I say the notion of that word is not such as that any person may be understood to be his own Son neither can the term Father be so understood as that any one should be his own Father but he is called a Son who hath for Father not himself but some other person and he a Father who hath for Son not himself but some other Forasmuch then as Sabellius did confound the Father and the Son and denied that they were two distinct persons it is very plain that he did not believe that Jesus was the Son of God which it was altogether necessary for him to believe By which example we are taught that concerning such points as are propounded unto us by God as necessary to be believed we ought diligently to examine what the words signifie least retaining only a certain vain shadow of words we come to deny the things themselves by those words intimated let us labour to understand the words that we may sincerely embrace the things themselves Having examined this Tenet let us consider another point which as these times go is perhaps no less worthy of our knowledg There hath been a long and very Tragical controversie about the interpretation of those words Take this is my Body Let us consider therefore whether this be a matter of such consequence that therefore