is as good as an other which is the prevailing doctrine of these days Therefore Mr. Bold one whom I shall afterwards account with was much mistaken when he said he never hardly appear'd on a fashionable subject Rep. p. 3. for this Opinion and that One religion is as good as another is the Modish doctrine every where This Country Gentleman is in the Fashion and doth not know it And thence you may judge of the Truth of what Mr. Lock saith of him that he takes not up his Opinions from Fashion Pref. to his Vindicat. Now this is a fair step towards Rome for if one Religion be equivalent to an other and our Salvation is not concerned in the belief of the Necessary Articles of our Faith then we are at liberty to embrace what Form and Model of Articles we please and those of the Church of Rome will perhaps be thought as good as any There is a strange passage in this Writer p. 217 218. which speaks his favourable opinion of the Pontifician way I have often wondred saith he to hear men of several Churches so heartily exclaim against the Implicit Faith of the Church of Rome when the same Implicit Faith is as much practis'd and required in their own though not so openly profess'd and ingeniously own'd there First he lets us know that from that Converse which he hath had with persons of several Churches whether of the Communion of the Church of England or those of the Dissenters he finds that they are against the Church of Rome Secondly that though they are against the doctrine of Implicit Faith in the Church of Rome yet they like it well enough in their own Thirdly they not only like it but practise it yea the very same Implicit Faith Fourthly they not only practise but require it they command and enjoyn those of their Communion to believe all they say with an Implicit Faith But fifthly they do not this with so good a grace as those of the Roman Church do For those latter are very open and ingenuous in their profession and practise of implicit Faith but the former are not so Protestants have not that Candor and Fairness which are to be seen in Papists they neither so openly profess nor so ingenuously own this doctrine but yet as strictly practise it and require the practise of it as they do I leave it with the Reader to determine from the Premises which of these two those of the Roman or of the Reform'd Churches have the happiness to be most in favour with this Gentleman In the known stile of the Roman Priests and Writers he declares that the Scripture serves but like a Nose of Wax p 213. And as the Heads of the Church of Rome deny the Bible to the Common people so he is advancing towards this apace for he lops off three of the Evangelists for one he saith will suffice and all the Epistles And further to shew his good will to the Roman Catholicks and to their Beloved Notion of Transubstantiation he tells us p. 408 409. that if a man understands those words of our Saviour's Institution This is my body and This is my blood in a Literal sense he must believe the Bread and Wine in the Lords Supper are changed really into his Body and Blood though he knows not how And afterwards he saith He is obliged to belive it to be true and to assent to it And presently afterwards To deny assent to this as true would be to deny our Saviour's Veracity and consequently his being the Messiah sent from God Here he lets us know that his One Article is quite renounced if Transubstantition be not admitted You see what his making of Iesus is the Messias to be the Sole Article of Christian Faith comes to But this doctrine of Transubstantiation is so grateful to him that he brings it over again p 413 414. assuring us that the Old Gentleman at Rome who hath an Antient Title to Infallibility may make Transubstantiaâ—on a Fundamental Article necessarily to be believ'd as well as I make the Divinity of Christ and his Satisfaction c. for these he means by the Sense of any Disputed Texts of Scripture because the Texts concerning these Points are disputable with him Fundamental Articles necessarily to be believ'd It is brought to this issue it seems that Transubstantiation is as Fundamental an Article of the Christian Faith as any that can be nam'd besides Iesus's being the Messias Thus by the Over-ruling Providence of Heaven this sort of Writers discover the inward bent of their thoughts and inclinations though they labour to hide them from the world This Gentleman would be thought to have no kindness for Rome and yet his own words confuâ—â— him As I observ'd before that he stoutly Rails whilest he is remonstrating against that practice so here he stiffly patronizes Popery even when he had pretended to shew himself displeas'd at my charging him with it And I could produce several other passages out of his Writings which makes it appear that our Prester Iohn is inclined to receive the Roman Missionaries I could make it evident that he is Indifferent as to the Reform'd Religion and the Doctrines professed by the Owners of it and that he inspires mens minds with a dis-esteem of those Articles which the Christian Churches since the Reformation have unanimously asserted and vindicated and that he represents them as Ridiculous You must not saith he give ear to what the Preachers and Pulpit Orators of these Churches tell you about more Articles than One as necessary to be known and believed in order to making you Christians If you assent to this Single Proposition Iesus is the Messias I declare to you that you are as to matter of Faith as Good Christians as St. Peter and St. Paul were When your Parish-Priests endeavour in their Popular Harangues to perswade you that this is not the sum Total of the Christian Faith but that there are other Necessary and Fundamental Doctrines which are of the Essence of Christianity you must roundly tell them from me that the Catalogue of Fundamentals every one alone can make for himself no body can collect or prescribe it to an other but this is according as God hath dealt to every one the measure of light and faith and hath open'd each mans understanding that he may understand the Scripture These are the express words of our Vindicator p. 85. and from them it undeniably follows that though no body must be a Creed-maker yet every one may be a Fundamental-maker Mr. Hobbs was pleased to give this power to the King only but this Gentleman is more liberal and grants it to every Subject He may make what Catalogue of Fundamentals he pleases and put this into it among the rest that the Pope is Infallible and that the Religion of the Church of Rome is to be prefer'd to that of the Reformed Fundamentals depend not upon the Scriptures but upon mens Understandings and
either true or false if we can suppose the former yet no Discreet man would publickly mention it out of respect to the the Honourable Robe Especiallâ— this Writer should not have exposed any of that Order seeing he had particularly commended and urged decency of words p. 256. Educat and had declared that it is the part of a Well-bred Man to express a respect to persons according to their Rank and Condition p. 258. But on the other hand if this Imputation be false then he deserves to fall into the hands of those Ministers of Iustice and to be sentenced according to his Crime But I return to his Treatise of Education It is observable that the Softer Sex have found no Protection from this Rough Man He is not only an University Hater but a Hater of Women He exposes the behaviour of two Ladies of Quality that fell out with one an other in Company and relates the Paritculars of it p. 265 266. It is likely that one or both of them have been told of this passage in his book and they can't but think it is an Affront to them and must needs be so far from believing him to have any of that Good Breeding which he pretends to teach the world that they will raâ—her stigmatize him as a Scandalous Blab that tells all he hears a Tom Coriat that relates whatever he picks up in his perambulations Joyn this with his Reflections on those Persons of Honour before mention'd and then give me your opinion of the Breeding of our Gensorious Tutour That he hath an Antipathy to the Whole Sex one would guess from what falls from his Pen p. 14. If women were themselves to frame the bodies of their children in their wombs we should certainly have no perfect children born which perhaps may go down very glib with his Admirers but you see he ventures to border upon Prophaneness and Blasphemy rather than he will not express his dislike of the Female Order Whether this be done in revenge to the Sex who generally where some body comes dub him the Hard-favour'd Man and sometimes upon occasion make use of him to scare their Children I will not dispute Or it may be he that hath been used to play with the Young Ones thinks he may make bold to be rude even with the Mothers Else he would not have given them the odious name of Munkies p. 15 and in reproach have called the House of Office Madam Cloacina p. 36. This is the cleanly genteel and polite language of Iohn Lock that writes himself Gent. And this stile and behaviour are the more strange because they are observ'd in one that hath been freely admitted to the Concerns of that Sex I might here harmlesly divert the Reader with his Scotchhoppers and Dibstones p. 115 237 275. with his Documents about Milk-potage and Water-Gruel p. 18. and his teaching Children to evacuate dextrously p 33 to p. 38. Which latter succeeds only when the Party is present it being promoted by his Vespasian-Looks He hath spent some time he saith in the study of Physick p. 40 and especially of the Guts which he very feelingly and concernedly discourses of p. 34 35 36. as if they were that part of the Body which he most minds Which is one reason perhaps why he hates Colledg-Commons and for their sake the Universities But I will not make any farther Additions because I will not prevent my self in what I design at an other time and because what I have before produced out of his Pages is sufficient to convince us what a Talent of Education he hath and how fit a person he is to have Youth committed to his charge He hath been consulted of late he saith by many about the breeding of their children Epist. Ded. but let me request such to consult their Reason and demand of that to tell them whether a Rash Censor of the Studies and Learning of our own Academies whether a Rude Reviler of those in the most Honourable Station whether a Defamer of Laudable Arts whether a Supercilious Innovator and a Fantastick Reformer in the Methods of Teaching and lastly whether a Corrupter of our Holy Faith and a profess'd Depraver of the Chief Articles of the Christian Religion of which I shall speak anon be a person fit to be consulted about the breeding of their Children The Orthodox Parents and I hope we have some of them left in England still will surely be caution'd by this not to commit them to this bold Patron of so Bad a Cause who prides himself in his Heterodoxy and boasts that he hath renounced the receiv'd doctrines of the Christian Church And thus having in a preliminary way descanted on some part of his book concerning Education that the Reader might thence have some insight into the Man I was to deal with I shall proceed now to take notice of his other Papers which relate to Religion for his New Education was in order to the introducing of a New Religion He had spoken before against the Learning in fashion and now he comes to censure the Religion in fashion as he calls it and the Fashionable and Titular Professors of it as he Stiles them p 93 i. e. the establish'd Ministers of it He had shew'd his perverse spirit in his Notions about the breeeding up of Children next he will try how successful he can be in the perverting of Men. He will see what he can do with Grown people as well as with his Young Masters Having taken upon him to reform the Universities and Schools and to cast off their Studies and Learning he is encouraged to go on and to reform Religion and to give us a New Model of Christianity Accordingly he publish'd a Treatise entituled The Reasonableness of Christianity wherein he pretends to teach the world what they have been so long ignorant of viz. that if a man acknowledg a God there is but One Article of Christian Belief which is necessarily required to be embraced by him in order to the constituting him a Christian. As for all other Articles and Doctrines delivered by Christ and his Apostles in the Writings of the New Testament he pronounces them to be unnecessary and useless as to the making a man a Christian and capacitating for Life and Salvation This Novel Conceit which is an unwarrantable Restraining and Confining of the Christian Faith and makes Christianity a far different thing from what it is represented by our Blessed Saviour and his Apostles hath been Vindicated by him once and again And as I thought my self obliged to reflect upon his First Vindication in a Discourse which I published and enâ—ituled Socinianism Unmask'd so now I am designing to attack his Second Vindication and by exactly setting down his own words which I shall very faithfully do and by impartially examining them to convince the Unbiass'd Reader of the Vanity Weakness and Inconsistency of the Absurdity Falshood and Dishonesty of his Arguing and on the contrary to establish this
Westminster Eton Winchester and all the rest of you that are of that so Useful and Honorable Employment you are all of you a company of Tyrants Oppressors Task-masters Herd-drivers Overseers of Gallies You unmercifully as well as unjustly treat the poor Children that are under you cruelly chaining them to the Oar and at the same time driving them like Beasts as this Man of Sense expresses it And you that are their Parents how unreasonable do you act when you put them to School You commit them to the Common Gaol as you know Westminster-School is but one Remove from the Gate-house you enter them Gally-flaves and you make their condition equal with that of your very Brutes And all this you do to get them a little Latin and Greek which might be had at a great deal cheaper rate of pains and time p. 268. And then after all this you and their Masters give some of them their Mittimus to the Universities where they are in Bondage and Jail again There they tug at the Oar there they run the Gantlet through dry Systems of Logick and Philosophy p. 164. yea which is worse far worse dull Systems of Divinity p. 283. So that it seems not only the Logick but the Philosophy and the Divinity of the Universities are expos'd by this Instructer Paramâ—unt No Books whatsoever that contain any Set Rules so he phrases it of any Art even Graâ—mar it self must be taught or sold and so St. Paul's School and Chuâ—ch-yard must both of them be laid aside together Hence we may interpret what he saith p. 267. where he calls himself a Bookish man not because of his reading of Books but because of his condemning the Sale of them What think you Is this not a new sort of Bookish man What think you doth he speak like one that is in a Post for the encoâ—raging and improving of Trade in this Kingdom I had almost forgot an other freak of our New Tutour and that is his undervaluing and vilifying of Musick and Poetry two signs of an Ill-natured man and one that hath a Harsh and Unâ—un'd Soul The former he censures together with the Persons that are Masters of it p. 346. â—elling us that he hath scarcely heard among men of Parts and Business any one comended or esteâ—med for having an Excellency in Musick And it hath the last place among all Accomplishments according to our Grâ—ff Tutour p. 347. The latter viz. Poetry is condemn'd by him p. 302 where he is falling upon the Schoolmasters and their way of educating of Youth If a Child hath a Poetick vein it is to me saith he the strâ—ngest thing in the world that the Father should desire or suffer it to be cherish'd or improved p. 302. He would have the Parents stifle and suppress it as much as may be p. 303. His School master must not so much as enter him in Versifying p. 304. Yea our Rough Reformer who câ—n rail only iâ— Prose is against making of Verses Verses of any sort p. 302. Who gives us a tasâ— of the strange Genius of this Projector and shews that he prefers his own Conceits and Whims to the judgment of the Wise and that he hath the hardiness to censure and defame all those Brave Men of our own and other Countries that have been esteem'd and honour'd for their excellent Poetick Vein and by their Ravishing Number have obliged the Learned World as some of them by their Pious Raptures have been extreamly serviceable to Religion But neither Universities nor Schools nor the Studies and Arts they profess nor the Persons that teach or learn them the Books which are read by them can find any acceptance with our Quaint Educator If he be for any University it is Rakow though as yet he defers his Matriculation If he be for any Library besides his own Set of Books it is Bibliotheca Fratrum Polonorum though he pretends he hath read nothing in it That the true Worth of this Gentleman who is now under our consideration may be further evidenced out of his Writings and that the world may see that he who defames the Academick Bodies is disposed to be a Catholick Railer I will in the next place remind the Reader how abusively he treaâ—s the Nobility and Gentry of this Realm who send their sons to Travel He ridicules both the Father and the Mother upbraiding the one for his Want for he cannot stay any longer for the Portion which is to come into his hands when his Son is married and jeering the other for her Fondness and Childishness for she must have new babies to play with p. 372. And my Young Master is laugh'd at for his Marrying and Propagating as if these were two Ridiculous things especially the former This would well enough become a Town-Wit and have pass'd in a Play but it sounds odly and prodigiously from a Grave Tutour from a Stanch Metaphysitian from a Formal Breeder up of Youth and from one who lays down Rules of Civility Good Manners and Breeding p. 256 257 258 c. and in several other places inculcates this that a Teacher and Governor of Children of which rank he thinks himself the Chief must be a well-bred man nay he must not fail to be a well bred man he must be exactly well bred Surely some Persons of Honour of either Sex will set a Mark on that foresaid passage in his book and observe the Lightness and Scurrility of his expressions and in â—he Margin note this that this Writer hath no regard to his own Rules that he teaches men to trample upon his own Dictates and that he gives the world to understand that his Foppish Gravity is to be hiss'd at If there were some real ground for what he saith yet a Writer of a book on purpose as he pretends to chastise the Indiscretion and Ill Breeding of others would not have used terms of that nature Or if a discreet man had censured the practice it self yet he would have been careful to do it without those unmannerly and indecent Reflections on a great part of the present Nobility of our Kingdom with others of the Gentry Or if he had made bold with my Young Master as he calls him yet he might have forborn reflecting so rudely on their Honourable Parents and speaking so disrespectfully of some on whom our Dependence hath been and making himself and the reader merry with his Lampoons upon them Is this the man that cries up himself for the Gift of Educating Is this deportment which I have been mentioning the Character of a Well-bred man Or is it not rather the Idea and Pourtraiture of an Ill-bred and Wandring Pedagogue of an Itinerant Tutour who scampers from one Shire to an other to give documents about reading Reynard the Fox p. 279. which he calls Education and hath writ a Book about it He flings at the Reverend Iudges by fixing a Pasquil upon one of them p. 105 106. of his Second Vindication Which is
Doctrine in mens minds that there are More Articles then One in the Christian Religion which are the necessary and indispensable matter of our Faith in order to our being True Christians Only first let me be permitted to observe how the Vindicator to bubble the Reader insinuates that in my Socinianism Vnmask'd I used ill language and railing and again in the same place his Preface he complains of my Stile as rude and scurrilous whereas any impartial Reader may satisfy himself that I always kept my self close to the matter which was before me I attended to the Merits of the Cause and made no Reflections but what his way of Discoursing drew from me I will not deny that I labour'd to assert the Truth with that Concern and Earnestness that Zeal and Ardour which so Good a Cause deserves I don't love to dally with the Grand Articles of our Religion for I look upon Languid and Timerous Assertors of Evangelical Truths as a sort of Betrayers of them There is as much of Iudas as Nicodemus in such persons It is one of the most Ominous Defects and Miscarriages of this Age that such numbers of men are Faint and Indifferent in matters of this nature I thank God I am not of so Phlegmatick a Mold I have not so groveling and dastardly a spirit as tamely to suffer this Upstart Adversary to shock Religion and pervert the Faith and not to stand up in defence of it and to detect his Errors and Cheats Therefore I am now treated as his Mortal Enemy because I tell him the Truth and that without timerous mincing of it It is this that hath rais'd in him an Angry and Malicious Ferment and hath made him rage and huff and fill the world with Clamours One hath rightly observ'd concerning his Second Vindication that it is an Angry piece of work and that he was in a Storm whilst he was writing it It is easily discernable that all along he is swell'd with Coler and Revenge Being touch'd home he equally raves against the Truth and Me. We see the Physick hath work'd as all the Filth and Excrements of his Papers shew Dirt and Ordure and Dunghills are the frequent embelishments of his Stile I am charg'd with popular calumnies falshood absurdity bawling talking at random malicious untruth leger-demain Nay I am a Conjurer though I never took him to be such I am a petulant Scold I am Villainous and I am e'en what he pleases I am sometimes an Innocent with him and sometimes a Iesuite for our Scurrilous Tutour is very happy in his wise and significant tacking of Calumnies together I 'm a Reprobate with him as to my Parts and Breeding I am honour'd with the Epithets of a Buffoon and with an Innuendo a Devil I have Lying and Impudence laid to my charge Yea this Well-bred Governour calls me a downright Impudent Liar And abundance of such Rhetorical Flowers I could present the Reader with out of the Vindicator's Garden for you must know that though he is a deadly Enemy to Poetry yet he is a Great Rhetorician The Strangeness of the Scene is that though he plentifully Rails every where yet he cries out against me as if I did so It is plain that he would suffer no body to Rail but himself He is clearly for the Monopoly of this Trade He seems to be of the Humour of him that would let no body where he was Swear but himself Let him then engross the whole Commodity I 'll not pretend to be a Sharer or Rival with him One that hath spent the greatest part of his time among Nurses and Gossips and the Loquacious Fry is not to seek in the Art of Scolding nay is supposed to Excel in it To such a one I am ready to give the Precedence because I question whether any of the Sisterhood at Billingsgate can outstrip him This Thorow-paced Railer flies to Personal Reflections that is such as he counts to be of that nature or else he would not have fill'd his Papers with them I am a Preacher and a Pulpit-Orator p 61 206 352 386. which are very scandalous imputations with him Wherefore he often insists upon these and touches upon my Parish and Parishioners p 203. and the very naming of an Use of Exhortation p. 393. is a Jest and a piece of Stinging Wit with him In one place p. 14â— he is so Logical that he infers I am no Good Arguer or Writer because I am a Preacher And yet he will grant that a Man may be a Commissioner for Trade to the Barbado's and yet be a Good Writer But whether he can be so as he is a Conceited Tutor I leave to be consider'd He hath such a rude way of treating the most Eminent Persons as you heard before that I could not expect to escape him who am in an other Level But it is observable that whilest he maliciously strikes at me he defames most of the Best Writers of our Age who are known to be Preachers and Pulpit Orators and this hath been the main Employment of their Lives Nay I could take notice that in his Vindication he uses the Testimonies and Authorities though it is true he hath mistaken them of some of those Writers that have been famed for their Preaching and Pulpit Oratory Now if Preachers be no Arguers then why doth he make use of their Authority If they be why doth he vilify them Good Mr. Vindicator be perswaded to leave off these Contradictions and Nonsense But any discerning man may see that here as well as in several other places of his Vindication and some of his other Writings his design was to ridicule the Sacred Office of Preaching and to blast the whole Function We may guess what honourable thoughts he hath of it when he attempts to apply the term Post in way of a rascally Quibble to the Ministry and the Persons concern'd in it p. 422. Therefore his Bitter Reflections on the Ministers of the Gospel and their Office are deservedly taken notice of and censured by a late Writer Occasional Paper Num. 1. and Num. 5. Truly there should be some care taken of this Gentleman for the very mentioning of Preaching though it be from his own mouth inflames his blood renews his Frenzy and makes him Rave This poor crazed Tutor should be look'd after and soundly dosed with Hellebore lest in the fits of his over-heated Brain he should lash out and revenge himself on the Wainscot of our Pulpits and with them of the Reading Pews for the sake of the Epistles of which hereafter And it is well if our whole Bibles escape his fury for the same reason But our Scolding Tutor falls upon me again p. 30. and now the Topick is Preferment and Admission to Preferment in the Church of England p. 24. It may be this is done to invite me to take notice of his Preferments and therefore though he be so rude as to upbraid me for my want of Titles and Dignities
to be Fundamentals he before hand asks why he should take them from me rather then from an Anabaptist p. 52. And in the same place he saith he hath as much reason to believe an Anabaptist or Quaker c. as me Which is as much as to tell me in express terms that he hath taken up a resolution to attend to no Articles of Faith that I shall propound Where were the Thoughts of our Pilgrim Tutour when his unwary tongue dropt such words as these Even when he is soliciting me yea challenging me to give him a List of Articles he proclaims to the world that he will not accept of any of them he declares that he would sooner take a Set of Articles and Fundamentals from a Socinian or a Papist for he particularly names them both on this very occasion than from me p. 52. And Sir we will believe you without swearing IV. An other Question I shall put to you and require an Answer to it Seeing you have taken part with the Follower of Socinus and have adopted several of their Notions and Tenents and interpret some Scriptures which relate to the Trinity in the same way that they do and thereby have given occasion to be thought one of the Party and yet you pretend to disown all acquaintance with them p. 222 223. seeing you appear thus with a double face and amuse the world with these disguises I require of you to return an Answer to this Query and the several parts of it Whether you verily believe that Iesus is so the Son of God that he is really God and that in the Unity of the Divine Essence there is a Trinity of Distinct Persons or Subsistencies that the Father is God the Son is God and the Holy Ghost is God and that these Three are One God as the Scriptures plainly and expresly declares Seeing you are so brisk in your demands I expect a positive Answer to mine and hereby shall we know whether you are a True Man or a Spie When I see you have performed this work I will still find you more employment I had proved Socinianism Unmask'd chap. 2. that his Opinion of One Article was founded among other things upon this Notion that all things in Christanity must be so plain that they may be easily comprehended and that there may be nothing difficult to mens understandings This I made clear from the tenour and coherence of his words from his 〈◊〉 of reasoning from the scope of his book and from the plain sense of his expressions But our Vindicator cannot bear this and therefore puts himself into a posture of shifting and evading whatever was brought against him and by all imaginable arts he labours to stifle my Reasonings and Arguings on that Point One of his knacks is to frame a Dialogue between me and him p. 34 35 36. and he is so silly in the contriving of it that it baffles him instead of favouring his Cause Fearing that the Dialogue would not do the feat he appears in the shape of a Syllogizer p. 39. though the Inconsiderate Man had derided Logick and Syllogism because they are University-Learning The next he falls into the old trade of Questions Where and When and after this is done he begins his Dialogue again This is one of the Distracted Scenes of his Vindication and the Reader may thence form an idea of the Whole Work and see with amazement what little Knacks and Conceits he applies himself to that he may juggle men out of the Truth He hath so accustom'd himself to shewing of Tricks among his Young Frie whom he hath had the Tutorage of that we must never expect any other of him whatever Subject he handles P. 93 94. he will not admit of any Mysteries in Christianity and therefore opposes what I had asserted viz. that there are some Doctrines in the Gospel which are not plain and clear and yet are of necessity to be believ'd If he had been Master of any Sincerity he would have observ'd how I explain'd my self and shew'd that all the Doctrines and Articles of the Christian Religion are not alike some of them are in themselves Evident and Illustrious others because of the Transcendency of their Matter are Obscure and Mysterious and not level to our humane understandings as the doctrine of the Holy Trinity Christ's Incarnation c. but yet are believ'd with a firm and unshaken Faith This is so Rational that none but the hood wink'd Masker would have excepted against it And he doth it after a very poor rate He nibbles at the distinction I make between the Certainty or Reality of some Evangelical Doctrines and the exact manner of the things themselves contain'd in those Doctrines But he finâ—s it pricks his chaps and so he gives it over However like the Gentlemen of Racovia he cannot endure to hear of Mysteries in Christianity and therefore here he takes occasion to express his great dislike of those who assert that in the Christian Religion there are Mysteries properly so called i. e. such Truths and Articles that as to the Manner of the things contained in them are not Intelligible but exceed humane Reason and cannot possibly be fathom'd by it The denying of this is one of his last Artifices and Contrivances for if we brieflâ— recount the Methods of this New Projector we shall find them to be in this order first he presented the world with odd Conceits of the Idea's of things thereby to undermine the Principles of Truth and to discompose the receiv'd Notions in Philosophy and Divinity as a very Reverend and Learned Writer though one of the chiefest and most Eminent of the Pulpit Orators hath lately proved against him Then that his Sentiments might prevail he prescribes a new way of Bringing up of Youth and seasoning them betimes in some Private Nurseries with such Principles as he and his Associates shall dictate and accordingly all Publick Schools and Universities and their Studies are cried down by him Next there comes forth a New Plat form of Religion all the Fundamental Articles and Doctrines of Christianity are discarded by him excepting One bare single Article which he thinks fit to retain till he hath a fair opportunity of throwing that off too Then he further advances and every where very warmly inveighs against Ministers and Preachers partly because of their University-Learning but chiefly because they oppose his groundless notion of One Article and assert the Fundamentals of Christianity And lastly to compleat his design he strikes in with the Deists and Socinians and laughs at the Mysteries of the Christian Religion and thereby encourages men to cast off all Reveal'd Religion the greatest part of which consists of Profound and Inexplicable Mysteries and such as Humane Reason neither found out nor can comprehend when reveal'd These are the Ways and Methods he hath applyed himself to in order to the undermining of the Orthodox Faith Here I will observe to the Reader how profoundly skill'd
and because in several places he distorted the Evanelists words Yet according to his never-failing art of Falsifying he represents me as one that vilifies the Four Evangelists Such another daring Falshood is that that I think the Gospel the Good News of Salvation tedious from the mouth of our Saviour and his Apostles p. 126. For which apparent forgery I claim the forfeiture of his Ears if he hath not as he hath deserv'd lost them before And from this you may gather what Sincerity there is in his objecting to me that I make bold with Truth and that what I say is utterly false p. 403. you must not credit one word of it for once a Forger and always so This is his master piece of Art to cheat and abuse the world with downright Falsities and to betray Christanity and yet whilst he is doing this to accuse others of being False He grants p. 127 what I had urged about the Four Gospels being writ to and for Believers as well as Unbelievers and yet immediately after he revokes his Grant and sophistically shifts it off so that no man alive knows where to have the Gentleman But it is worth our remarking that it hath pleased God to leave this Man to his own infatuations and to suffer him to produce and insist upon a protion of Scripture which is an absolute Conâ—uration of what he brings it for p. 125. He quotes a great part of the fifth chapter to the Hebrews to prove that the Necessary Articles and Principles of Faith are not to be gather'd out of the Epistles particularly he makes use of those words You have need that one teach you again which be the first Principles of the Oracles of God v. 12. And the Apostle in chap. 6. v. 1. particuarly sets down these Principles of the doctrine of Christ as he also stiles them Who but this Obstinate and Senseless Vindicator would hence infer as he strenuously doth that the Apostolical Epistles and this especially were not written to teach men the Fundamental Principles of Christianity We have seen what a Talent he hath of Grammar and Criticism now behold the mans Improvements in Logick If you please wee 'l reduce what he saith into a Syllogisâ—â—â— because this profound Logitian hath set us a Pattern before and he will take it ill if we don't follow him If it be plainly express'd in the Epistle to the Hebrews that they have need to be taught again the First Principles of the Oracles of God and of the doctrine of Christ and accordingly the Apostle distinctly tells them what some of these Principles are then neither this Epistle nor any other Epistles of the Apostles distinctly shew what were those doctrines which were absolutely necessary to make men Christians I use the Logitian's own words But it is plainly expressed in the Epistle to the Hebrews that they have need to be taught again the first Principles of the Oracles of God and of the doctrine of Christ and accordingly the Apostle distinctly tells them what some of those Principles are Ergo neither this Epistle nor any other Epistles of the Apostles distinctly shew what were those doctrines which were absolutely necessary to make a Man a Christian. Or more briefly he argues thus This and other Epistles tell us what are the Necessary Principles of Christianity Ergo they do not tell us You have a tast of his Logical Faculty and I doubt not but you likewise have been drawing a Conclâ—sion from the Premises viz. that such Wild Reasonings argue a flaw in his Skull that uses them Is this the Thoughtful man A Creature that goes on all four if it could speak would talk much better Sense Here is such a Heap of Contradictions and such Impiety in citing the Holy Text to patronize them that I question not but the Judicious Reader will hence form such thoughts of this Gentleman as his great merits require But surely in his next quotations out of an Epistle though it be a part of Scripture which he so much dreads he will take care to speak tolerable sense and not to abuse the Sacred Writ in this palpable manner Let us see then how it is with him in his Citation out of the first Epistle to the Corinthians In order to prove his former wild Conceit that the Epistles of the Apostles are not to be consulted for Fundamentals of Christianity he alledges chap. 3. v. 2. I have fed you with milk and not with meat for hitherto ye were not able to bear it neither yet are ye able The plain meaning of which words without doubt is this that the Apostle had hitherto taught them and continued still to teach them the Necessary and Indispensable Doctrines of Christianity such as were as needful for them as Milk for babes Because they were not able to bear any heavy Superstructure he made it his chief business to lay the Foundation and this Foundation is Iesus Christ v. 10 11. The plain way of Salvation by this JESUS the Son of God the Plain and Easy Articles of the Christian Faith all of them Plain as to the Truth and Certainty of them though some of them not Plain as to the manner of the things comprehended in those Articles these plain and simple Truths which are as Pure and Unsophisticated as Milk and therefore are so termed here are those Doctrines which the Apostle taught the Corinthians And now then let us see how this Man of Logick argues from the Apostle's words and to give you the better light into his excellent way of Arguing we will present it in Mode and Figure for Mr. Chillingworth saith he bid his Adversary write nothing but Syllogisms p. 228. and besides we find that Good Mr. Bold is for Syllogisms p. 4. of his Reply So that upon these Weighty Authorities we must betake our selves to this way of Disputing Thus then he argues If the Apostle fed the Corinthians with milk i. e. taught them the Plain and Necessary Articles of Christianity and delivered such in his Epistles to them then we are not to think that any Fundamental and Necessary Articles of the Christian Religion such as are to be received to make a man a Christian are to be found in this or any other of the Epistles But the Apostle fed the Corinthians with milk i. e. taught them the Plain and Necessary Articles of Christianity and delivered such in his Epistles to them Ergo we are not to think that any Fundamental and Necessary Articles of the Christian Religion such as are to be received to make a man a Christian are to be found in this or any other of the Epistles Risum teneatis If the Vindicator can clear this from Nonsense I promise him that the Reader and I will leave off laughing at him for his cashiering of Burgersdicius But in the mean time we see the reason why this Itinerant Innovator is so zealous against Logick and University-Learning He trembles at the thoughts of Strict Sense
be believ'd as a Necessary Point in order to give a man the denomination of a Disciple of Christ or a True Christian and for this reason our False Masker conceals this place even when he was pretending to give an account of those Texts which mentioned our Blessed Saviours Commissions to his Apostles This shews what a Perfidious Scribe we have got one that makes nothing of wilfully leaving out any Text of Scripture to further his design and purpose and at other times he as wilfully perverts plain Texts to the same end The consideration of which strange behaviour will I doubt not obtain me an Excuse among Impartial and Intelligent Readers for my manner of handling this Adversary whose obstinate Hypocrisy and dissimulation call for no other than the severest Chastisements and Correptions though I confess it is with no mean regret and reluctancy that I put my self upon this way of writing but tâ—ere is no help for it in the present case he must of necessity be disciplined and taught as the men of Succoth with Thorns and Briars I should not have undertaken this task upon my own private and personal account because Contempt and Neglect are the best Return in this case but when I saw our Holy Religion endanger'd by his sacrilegious attempts of depriving us of the greatest part of it and when I observ'd his Rude encroachments on the Profess'd Schools of Learning I found it was a Publick Cause and that every one who would had a right to engage in it and to oppose him as a Common Foe as a Proclaim'd Rebel as an Out-Law as a Pest of the Community and to treat him accordingly I will stay a little to examine one ridiculous passage p. 304 I had offer'd to prove that there is more than that One Article Iesus is the Messias to be believ'd to make a man a Christian by producing that place Rom. 10. 9. If thou shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him i. e. Christ Jesus from the dead thou shalt be saved where the belief of Christs Resurrection is propounded as absolutely necessary to salvation and if so then Iesus is the Messias is not the Only Article as he often inculcates What is his Answer to this To believe the Resurrection of Christ saith he is in effect the same as to believe him to be the Messias and so is put to express it And again p. 305. Believing Christs Resurrection is put for believing him to be the Messias so that these which seem to be Two Articles are but one and the same And if they be so then why throughout all his Collection of places out of the Evangelists and Acts did he not mention all those Texts which are very many that speak of our Saviour's Resurrection and why did he not reckon them to be the same with those that speak of Iesus's being the Messias Why did he not all along tell us that one is put to express the other The true Reason is because he thought of no such thing at that time but hath invented it since to shift off what I said This is such an other piece of Invention as that in his First Vindication p. 6. that he designed his Treatise of the Reasonableness of Christianity chiefly for Infirm Christians such as disbeliev'd or doubted of the Truth of Christianity and again in his Second Vindication p. 152. he saith he chiefly design'd his book for Deists though bâ— the way we may take notice of his Contradicting himself for Deists are no Christians and if he design'd his book chiefly for one he cou'd not design it chiefly for the other And yet if you consult his whole Treatise of the Reasonableness of Christianity you shall not find one syllable that intimates any such Design though there if any where he was obliged to discover and declare it that the Reader might not mistake the Intention of his book This proves that what he hath since added in both his Vindications is mere Fiction and Sham and he was forced to fly to this Asylum when I hâ—d laid open the mischief of his Papers This may convince us that he will first assert and print any thing and then afterwards he will in his Sniveling way come and Retract it or gloss it over with some pitiful Evasion But where is the Probity where is the Integrity of the Man all this while Nay to return to the Present Matter it is plain that he designedly omitted those places which mention our Saviours Resurrection because it was his perswasion that they belong not to this Proposition Iesus is the Messias He declares as you lately heard that in St. Peters Sermon Christs Resurrection as well as his Sufferings and Death was brought in only by the bye and was not a Principal Article was not principally aym'd at but that this Proposition Iesus is the Messias is the sole Truth the Apostle labour'd to bring them to the belief of and lately we were told by him that the Resurrection of Christ is no more to be believ'd to make a man a Christian than any Ordinary Truth or Proposition recorded in the New Testament Yet after all this he palpably contradicts what he hath said and in plain terms tells us that Christ's Resurrection and his being the Messias are the very same and one is put to express the other Before he held them to be distinct and so distinct that where he found the one he could not find the other as in several places of the New Testament that he consulted The Resurrection of our Lord was not taken notice of by him as appertaining to the Messiaship When St. Peter in the main part of his Sermon preached concerning Christ's Resurrection our Expositor told us that it was made use of only as an Argument to perswade them of this Fundamental Truth that Iesus is the Messias p. 269. and yet now all of a sudden this Proposition is equivalent nay is the same with Iesus rose from the dead There is no account in the world can be given of this but that he will be saying something though it be to his own apparent Confutation See here the Influence of Company It is a Common Topick but the Reality of it could never be more evinced than in this Instance Here we see how it tinctures mens Manners and transforms them into the shapes of those they associate with Here is one that hath spent his days among Talking and Gossiping people and they have made him such a one as themselves He hath learnt of them the knack of Perpetual Jabbering and his Tongue will wag when the Sexton is covering him with Moulds But if this were all we might pass it off with a little mirth But alas it is dismal and horrid to consider what a Profligate Writer shews his Head in the World who is neither ashamed to contradict himself nor the Holy Writings of the Apostles And so he brings a contempt on the things of God and Religion and
think that he should at this time of day have the confidence to talk after this rate and to impose such dangerous and pernicious notions upon the world Or at least one would think that this Writer and his Fellow should not stare and shew themselves so extraordinarily concern'd when we tell them that they are Betrayers of Christianity Having descanted on his Main Propositions and seen what the dismal Contents of them are I 'll look into some other things which are most obvious in his Reply I expected he would have attempted to purge himself of those Self-Contradictions which I laid to his charge and proved in the plainest manner imaginable from his own words which I faithfully set down but he like his brother-Criminal deniâ—â—â— but gives no reason why he doth so He follows the example of the Vindicator and unmercifully Repeats what he had said before And all the rest is studied Evasion Subterfuge Whiffling It is in vain to mention all the Particulars it shall suffice to propound to the Reader 's view one of them and from that let him guess at all the others I had been proving in my Reflections on Mr. B. the Absurdity of the Opinion of One Article and had shew'd how he contradicted himself one Instance whereof was this that he had said that a True Christian is as much oblig'd to believe that the Holy Spirit is God as to believe that Iesus is the Christ which are his own words and yet he saith There is but that One Article Iesus is the Messias to be believ'd to make a man a Christian Whence I inferr'd and whether justly or no let the Reader judge that he spoke things repugnant and contradictory for if a True Christian be as much oblig'd to believe one as the other then it is certain that a man can't be a True Christian without believing both and if there be a necessity of believing both to make a man a True Christian then the belief of one only is not enough Now mind what the Replyer saith to this and how fallaciously and sophistically he discourses p. 19. It is as necessary for me saith he to believe that Iesus was at Cana of Galilee and turn'd Water into Wine there as it is that he was crucified without the Gates of Jerusalem because I have the same evidence for the one that I have for the other But I can not say it is of as much Importance for a man to know the one as it is to know the other much less can I say that no man can be a Christian till he knows and believes that Iesus was at Cana in Galilee c. Which is so extraneous and foreign and every ways so impertinent and inconsistent that if one did not know with what Writer this Gentleman symbolizes it might create astonishment to hear such a sensless and incoherent application of these words for whereas I had asserted that a man can't be a True Christian unless he believes other Articles and Doctrines viz. such as I have mention'd before as well as that One of Iesus's being the Christ and accordingly to disprove this he should have shew'd that those Articles are not as necessary to be believ'd as that Single one he mentions he not regarding the matter he was about produces some Historical passages out of the New Testament viz. Christ's being at Cana of Galilee and turning Water into Wine there c. and then thinks though one would think it is impossible he should he hath effected what he undertook But doth not any considerate man see that there is no comparison between these things which he alledges and those other before spoken of between the belief of some Historical Circumstances and the belief of the Grand Fundamental Points of the Christian Religion Is there not a vast difference between these Inferiour Truths and those that are of an Higher nature even such as are of the Essence of Christianity and have Immediate respect to the Salvation of our Souls Though the belief of the former be not absolutely necessary to make a man a Christian doth it follow thence that the belief of the latter is not necessarily requisite for that purpose Who but the Replyer and the Vindicator for he takes his part as to this very thing in his Vindication could first imagine any such thing and then puhlish it to the world What Talent of Reasoning Mr. B. had before he undertook this Cause of the One Article I can't tell but since I am sure he is a very poor Arguer and makes out nothing of what he pretends to but fills up his pages with weak dilute stuff yea without any dash of what is sprightly and generous And that he and his Cause run very low is evident from what he saith p. 24. in â—efence of his One Article The Notion saith he of One Article may induce those who embrace it to esteem more Persons Christians than the other Notion can allow of And thus far I fancy and you say right Good Sir it is no more than a fancy the advantage is on the former's side for I conceive there is no hurt in letting Charity as well as Patience have its perfect work Thus he and he is pleas'd to confess that this is the suggestion that comes from a cold Phlegmatick temper If he means that it is very flat and dull I think every body will agree with him Tho truly we must grant that here are some footsteps of Ingenuity such as it is for here is set forth the True Cause why this doctrine of One Single Article is so vigorously urg'd at this day and even upheld by Pensions Old Reynard would not say a syllable of this throughout his whole Treatise of the Reasonableness of Christianity and his two Vindications of it He thought it was too gross and broad therefore the Dissembler conceal'd it But Unwary Mr. Bold who tells all he knows acquaints us with the true and proper design of the setting up of One Article and the furious appearing against all the rest By this means saith he we shall have more Christians such as they are then ever were before There are many that will imbrace One Point of Christianity who will refuse to own the rest so that we shall have Christians in abundance But whether they be True Christians or whether they be esteem'd to be such that is his word is not material but we shall have the Number of these latter much increas'd and that 's enough And besides saith he we shall have more Charity and there is no hurt in that when there is but One Single Article of Christian Faith we shall all Agree and what a fine world shall we have then Ay but Sir would it not be a better world if there were no Article at all and then besure there could be no Contention whereas now there is occasion for it for some will not allow of the One Article you speak of Therefore according to your own way
of Expression but with great freedom and boldness declares it to be his Opinion and Belief that these men are in the next capacity to be Atheists and that their Principles and Doctrines directly lead to Atheism as well as to Impiety and Blasphemy And that we may know he is in good earnest he repeats this over and over again This is the very thing which I undertook to prove in my late Discourse and I hope to the satisfaction of every unbiass'd Reader by that plentiful Enumeration and Induction of Particulars which I offer'd whence I demonstrated that a great number of the Socinian Articles naturally tend to the promoting of Irreligion and Prophaneness and even to the effacing of the Sense of a Deity But what saith our present Author to this who hath taken upon him the Office of an Answerer Why truly he Skulks and hides his baffled head and hath not one syllable to say for himself or against me This is a new kind of Answerer a Silent one because he is conscious to himself that nothing can be offer'd It is not to be doubted that if the foresaid Charge could have been evaded any ways he would have attempted it Had there been any thing said by me against his Party which he could have disproved questionless he would have undertaken it Had there been any shew of Reason or Truth on his side he would have let us known it Had there been any Excuse to be invented he would not have fail'd to publish it and that with open Mouth Wherefore all persons of Understanding must conclude that he acknowledges the Truth and Reality of what I objected to the Socinians viz. that most of their Doctrines and Principles damp Religion and nourish Vice and foster Atheistical and Licentious Practises which is the thing that makes Socinianism so Fashionable at this day and gains it so many Proselytes And now from the whole what a Strange Prospect have we of the Undertaking of this Doughty Champion for the Socinian Cause I appeal to the Reader whether his Incoherent and Shatter'd Pamphlet can be call'd an Answer and consequently whether the Men of Racovia who have much pretended to Grammar and Criticism speak Properly lyâ—and which is a higher Consequence whether they have not abâ—ured all Modesty in obtruding such a piece of work upon the world This shews that their business is to make a Noise whether there be any Sense or â—ignificancy go along with it or no. They make a great stir but effect nothing they are very busy but yet to no purpose This we may truly say Their Heads are a proof against some Philosophers that there may be Motion where there is Emptiness I promisâ—d the Gentlemen before hand that if any thing substantial in the way of Reply were offer'd by them I would not be backward to meet the Answerer with a Rejoynder but here is nothing that looks like it he is so far from offering any thing of Substance that he doth not so much as pretend to a Shadow of any thing that is of that nature There is not one Proposition that I laid down which is shaken by him and he hath not so much as started One Objection against all I writ and yet he hath the Confidence and Effrontery to dub his Pamphlet an Answer But it may be this will end well it seems to argue that the Socinians are drawn to the very dreggs and have nothing to alledg in their behalf This looks as if their Plenipotentiaries were inclined to a Treaty of Peace and were forward to put an end to the Seven Years War between the Unitarians and Trinitarians For what can we think else when all their Ammunition is spent and they can fight no longer This Champion who was chosen and cull'd out of the whole Host of the Unitarians to engage the Contrary Side leâ—s fall his Weapons His Courage abates and his Spirits flag and dwindle He dares not grapple with the Arguments I propos'd neither doth he produce any of his own He raises no Exceptions against me nor takes any notice of mine against him Nay which is Wondrous and Astonishing his Invention is so barren that he can't coyn any new Cavils against what I deliver'd nor rally up any old ones Thus when they have no Forces to bring into the field the War must needs cease When they surrender their Garisons and Holds as I have shew'd they do and fairly give up the Cause what can we conclude but that they are coming over to us And as for my self particularly whatever the matter is they are very Complaisant and surely they intend in a short time to take me into their favour For though this Infallible Judge is pleas'd to tell the world that I have writ some trifling books those he means that I have writ against his Brethren of Racovia and some indifferent ones those I suppose which I have writ against a Friend of theirs lately yet out of abundant grace and good-will he vouchsafes to declare that somebody hath been serviceable to the Common Christianity by some Learned Books p. 17. I wish I could say as much of our Author and again that he hath writ divers Good Books and one Excellent one p. 3. Though one would be loth to take a Disciple of Socinus upon his bare word and though it would be immodest and vain-glorious to attribute or apply any such thing to my self yet as it is the frank Testimony of an Adversary who would not esteem it as a singular Mark of Favour who would not resent these Obliging Kindnesses from an Enemy especially when they are mixed with Reflections as in the present case for then it is a sign that the Approbation forced its way through Calumnies and Falshoods In short I perceive they have a mind to be Friends with me they would have at least a Cessation of Arms if I would agree to it On which occasion I will take leave to say that I am most heartily Glad that I have appear'd in this Cause maugre all the insults of the Adversaries I thank the Father of Lights that he was pleas'd to dispose me to this Honourable Service and in such a Juncture when the whole Posse of the Unitarians and their Allies attack'd the Christian Faith with such Force and fury When these Granadiers came on so fiercly who could but expect an Assault who was not sensible that Religion was invaded and that Christianity it self was in extreme danger It is a Comfortable Reflection to me that I have born up against the Bold Aggressors and that I have according to my mean powers asserted and vindicated the Truth with that warmth and zeal which become every Christian Breast And now I must tell them I scorn to flinch from so good a Cause as I have undertaken and I will never submit to gratify the humour and genius of Deists and Scepticks or any Well Willers to Racovia Though I am as great an Admirer and Lover of Civility
and Good Temper as any Man yet I will never be bribed to a faint-hearted Relinquishing of the Truth No I will by the Divine Aid vindicate the Religion of the New Testament and the Faith of the Christian Church in all ages and that with open face And particularly as to what I last writ and publish'd I will make it stand the shock of the most daring Socinian in Christendom But to let these Gentlemen see that I am no Man of Contention I declare to them that I am not averse from complying with their Offers if they be Sincere and in Good Earnest and if they resolve not to violate their own Articles of Peace I will forgive their Colts teeth as this pleasant Gentleman words it if for the future they use not as they have done in most of their Writings those of the Bear And why indeed should I contend with these Catholick and Orthodox Men for that is the Stile now in their last Print Who will fall out with those that profess Agreement with the Catholick Church But especially the Title of Orthodox which they so abhorr'd is much courted by this Author as the Reader cannot but observe Which may be an occasion to us to think that these Persons are inclined to do something to deserve that Name It is my hearty Prayer and Wish that they may shew themselves to be of this number And I promise them thus far to yield to the Terms of Peace that if they renew not the Quarrel and assault me not afresh this shall be our Last Campagne and so here is an End to our Debates and Rencounters ERRATA PAge 8. Line 29. read and if those p. 11. l. 14. r. Vnreasoâ—ably p. 12. l. penult r. which p. 13. l. 6. r. numbers l. 11. r. nor the p. 19. l. 15. r him for p. 33. l. 22. r. assented p. 34. l. 27. r. task l. 31. for they r. you p. 38. l. 21. r. declare p. 39. l. 15. dele the p 42. l. 20. r. more to p. 46. l. r. peruse p. 56. l. 17. r. owns p. 5â— l. 31. r. bandied p. 64. l. 4. dele and p. 75. l. 13 for give r. go p. 94. l. 22. before to insert it BOOKS written by the Reverend Mr. John Edwards AN Enquiry into several Remarkable Texts of the Old and New Testament which contain some Difficulty in them with a Probale Resolution of them in two Vol. 8â— A Discourse concerning the Authority Stile and Perfection of the Books of the Old and New Testament with a Continued Illustration of several Difficult Texts throughout the whole Work In three Vol 8â— Some Thoughts concerning the several Causes and Occasions of Atheism especially in the Present Age with some brief Reflections on Socinianism and on a Late Book entituled The Reasonableness of Christianity as deliver'd in the Scriptures 8â— price 1 s. 6 d. A Demonstration of the Existence and Providence of God from the Contemplation of the visible Structure of the Greater and the Lesser World In two Parts The first shewing the Excellent Contrivance of the Heavens Earth Sea c. The second the wonderful Formation of the Body of Man 8â— price 4 s Socinianism Unmask'd A Discourse shewing the Unreasonableness of a Late Writer's Opinion concerning the Necessity of only One Article of Christian Faith and of his other Assertions in his Late Book Entituled The Reasonableness of Christianity as deliver'd in the Scriptures and in his Vindication of it with a brief Reply to another Professed Socinian Writer 8â— price 1 s. 6 d. The Socinian Creed Or a Brief Account of the professed Tenents and Doctrines of the Forreign and English Socinians wherein is shewed the Tendency of them to Irreligion and Atheism With Proper Antidotes against them 8â— price 3 s. A Brief Vindication of the Fundamental Articles of the Christian Faith as also of the Clergy Universities and Publick Schools from Mr. Lock 's Reflections upon them With some Animadversions on two other late Pamphlets viz. of Mr. Bold and a Nameless Socinian Writer 8â— price 1 s. 6 d. Brief Remarks upon Mr. Whiston's New Theory of the Earth and upon another Gentleman's Objections against some Passages in a Discourse of the Existence and Providence of God relating to the Copernican Hypothesis 8â— price 6 d. BOOKS Printed for Jonathan Robinson and John Wyat. A Practical Exposition on the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer in two Volumes in Quarto The Vanity of the World with other Sermons in 8 vo Sermons or Discourses on several Scriptures in Four Volumes in Octavo The Almost Christian discovered in some Sermons on Acts 26. 28. All these written by the Right Reverend Father in God Ezekiel Hopkins late Lord Bishop of London-derry Bishop Usher's Life and Letters By Dr Parr in Folio 's Body of Divinity or the Sum and Substance of the Christian Religion Folio 's 22 Sermons on several Subjects Fol. Iosephus's History of the Jews Folio Dr. Bates's Harmony of the Divine Attributes Octavo 4th Edition 1697. Charron of Wisdom in three Books All Dr. Antony Walker ' s Works viz. The Sinfulness and Danger of delaying Repentance The Vertuous Woman or the Life of the Countess of Warwick The Vertuous Wife or the Life of Mrs. Eliz. Walker His Sermons of Water-drinking Preached at Tunbridge wells c. The worthy Communicant a Treatise shewing the due Order of Receiving the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper The 17th Edition By Ieremiah Dyke Newly reprinted 1697. The Poor Doubting Christian drawn unto Christ. By Thomas Hooker Ovid's Metamorphosis in English Verse By George Sandys Aesop's Fables in Prose with Cuts Solitude improved by divine Meditation By Nathaniel Ranew late Rector of Felsted in Essex Practical Discourses concerning Death and Heaven By Nathaniel Ranew Correction Instruction or a Treatise of Afflictions By Tho. Case The Principles of Christian Religion with a brief Method of the Doctrine thereof By Bishop Usher The sinfulness of Sin and the fulness of Christ In two Sermons By W. Bridge Brinsley's Posing of the parts reprinted 1697. Sir Simon D'ews Journal of all Queen Elizabeths Parliaments Folio Bacons Historical and Political account of the Government of England FINIS * Occasional Paper Numb 5. p 38. * Answer to the Archbishop's Sermon p. 44. * Bâ— of Worcester in his Vind. of the Trinity ch 10. * Letter to the Bishop of Worcester p. 69. * Smalc cont Frantz Disput. 4 †Homil 4. in 1 Iohan Catechism de morte Christi Qu. 12. ‖ The Antitâ—luâ—tarian Scheme of Religion p. 18. * Mr. Norrâ—'s Accoâ—nt oâ— Reason and Faith p. 13. * Bishop of Worcester's Pref. to his Vind. of the Doctrine of the Trinity †Pref. to the Account of Reason and Faith