agree in a Third agree also together If therefore we all receive the Word of God as our Soveraign Rule might we not probably hope that we may be Re-united in other things which are but dependances on that especially if after we have cast away from us all our passions and prejudicate Opinions we bring only with us a true Zeal and an ardent Charity Moreover being perswaded that the Doctrine contained in these Holy Scriptures is Divine that it is true that it is infallible and that it is perfectly Holy we shal without doubt conclude that it is our Soveraign Rule That it prescribes to us what we should all believe and receive for our Salvation And as this word expresly forbids us to add diminish or alter any thing in the Doctrine which it lays open to us we should look upon all other Doctrines received in any other Society of Christians us very suspicious We should not receive them tili after a careful examination of them and upon sure conditions how specious soever the pretences were under which they would make them pass to us Although they should give them to us meerly as Explications Illustrations and consequences drawn from this word we should however look upon them but as Essays of Man's wit whose infirmity appears in all his actions All his meditations his application his reasoning his Humility his Prayers and his Fastings cannot hinder but that there will remain still great weaknesses of Flesh which wil render him lyable to contempt and errour There is none but God only who is able to declare to Us the things which are of God because there is none but God who knows God as an excellent Author of our times has very well expressed What Men say of Him is but babbling Whatsoever they bring thither of their own is but weak and doubtful De divinis etiam vera dicere periculosum est We must go to the very Truth it self and ascend up to the Fountain Head We must suspect all the Waters which have not passed through this Channel although they appear never so excellent Oh that we had but made known with a little diligence amongst Christians the value of this important Principle as we have sown the seeds of Division that we had avoided unprofitable questions and disputes And had made Christian Religion easy and intelligible as carefully as Particular Doctors have taken upon them the liberty of expounding this Scripture Every one giving it the sence which his Genius or rather his capricious Fancy or Interest suggested to him Every one having drawn the consequences from it which must favour his inclinations Nay and without sticking there every one has endeavoured to give to these consequences an authority equal to that of the Original from whence he pretends to have drawn them In this very manner have we seen Disputes and Contentions arise also Heresies Schismes Divisions and different Communions Every Society has made his particular confession which they pretend ought to be of as great authority as the very Creed of the Apostles themselves And thus as this Practice has strengthened it self in the Church after the same rate also has Division been strengthened and augmented It is therefore absolutely necessary for the establishing a good Peace in the Church to reject all Inventions of Men and 〈◊〉 to lend an Ear but to God only speaking in his Word It is thus that the great Persons have practised who lived in the most pure Age of the Church They have ever confined their mindes to the Holy Scriptures as to the only Foundation of our Faith and of our Salvation CHAP. IV. The Third means Rightly to distinguish between the Doctrines which the Holy Scriptures propound to be believed by true Christians and what regards only the outward Government of the Church and its Ceremonies THis Sacred Word which we have said is the only Foundation of the Churches subsistence and of the Union of its Members offers Us three sorts of things to be learnt by Us. It declares to Us First what we are to believe for the Peace of our Consciences and for obtaining Salvation and Eternal life It teaches us next what relates to the Government of the Church in the Exercise of its Discipline and in the outward Practice of its Ceremonies And Lastly it gives Us saving Precepts which serve for the Direction of our Lives and Manners Not only to be the outward Guide of our Actions and of our Words But also of our Affections Inclinations and most secret Motions of our Souls This distinction being well established and all its Members truly considered We shall find that in the right management hereof there will be no occasion of quarrelling unless it be about the Rules proposed to our Faith For as to what concerns the Precepts of Virtue they are so clearly laid open in the Holy Scriptures that in them there can be no ground for Controversie All Christians know that God will be most highly loved and adored All agree that we must honour Father and Mother according to the Commandment of God All accord in this Point that the Law of God forbids Murder Adultery Lying c. All acknowledg that these Laws are not meerly established to Rule the outward Form of Men in Society But that they oblige us to conform the most secret thoughts and inclinations of our hearts to the Purity and Sanctity which they command After this we need not any other Rule than that Abridgment of the Law which the Son of God has reduced to these two admirable Precepts To love God with all our affections and our Neighbour as our selves The Observation which might be made from hence would Rule as every one may perceive all our actions Insomuch that no Person could defire any thing more for the living holily and justly I know very well that there have been certain Doctors formerly amongst Christians who by their interpretations have gone aside from the strict observation of these Laws But they have not only wanted the approbation of others as well of their own Communion as strangers But also they themselves have always made profession of acquiescing as others in these sacred and inviolable Rules They did not pretend to weaken them by their interpretations they only sooth'd Men's consciences with a favourable sence which they give to the circumstances of particular actions Behold here one of the principal Articles of Faith Nay I dare say the most important and wherein consists the very Essence of Religion which can give no cause of Division As to the Rules which the Holy Scriptures afford us for the Government of the Church relating to its Discipline and to its Ceremonies 'T is a strange thing that they should have so often given occasion of Disputes and been the cause of separation and division If the Holy Pen-men had punctually prescribed and ordered every thing that ought to be done in this matter we should be obliged indispensibly to observe them And we should
malice Charity is not envious but envy raigns particularly in division where each party respects the obligation of their proper Interests Charity is not insolent nor puffed up with Glory whereas Division is fierce proud and insupportable It inspires those who possess it with a desire to abase and oppress others if it be possible that they may raise up themselves and Rule without Competitor Charity seeks not its own ends is not dispiteful and thinks no evil These ill qualities are the true Characters of Division in which it hath no other end than the advancement of its own party to the detriment of all others Charity rejoyces not in injustice but altogether in the truth Division oppresses the truth and is never pleased but with unrighteousness and violence Charity endures believes hopes and bears all things Division causes suspicions and jealousies to arise gives ill interpretations to actions and even to the most innocent words and drives us into passion and impatience into murmuring and extravagances And to draw the last Line to this parallel God grant that as Charity never fails but is maintained in the very ruine of all that which is most Glorious and most firm in Society so on the other side by the rule of contraries that we may quickly see this unhappy Division utterly decay and cease by a perfect uniting of all Christians CHAP. IV. The Third Effect of this Division That it makes Men Irreligious and causes Atheisme IN all Divisions which tear in pieces Kingdomes and Monarchies each side at the first does boast by their Manifestoes and Declarations that they took not up Armes but for the Publick Good and for maintaining the Crown and Authority of the Prince And although those Parties be so contrary and averse that their Swords are drawn and in a readiness to decide their quarrel yet both of them have the confidence to alledge in their Vindication the Justice of their cause and interest of their Soveraign whilst in the end all tend to the utter subversion of the State and total change of the Government And it will many times happen in these contests that the most mutinous and most sedicious do make themselves Masters of Soveraign Authority So is it ordinarily seen that in the division of Opinions in Religion every one protests that no other Argument or Interest perswades him to follow the Religion that he embraces but the real love of truth and desire of his Salvation All those who would be the promoters and spreaders of some new Opinion show an extraordinary Devotion and Zeal at the beginning But by little and little all that degenerates and all the overtures which Division makes serve but as so many doors by which at last Impiety Irreligion and Atheisme do slip in 'T is amidst these differences that we commonly see some new Religion thrust in it self among us which differs but very little from the disclaiming of all Religion Just so was it by means of the divers Sects which heretofore sprang up in the Church that the Doctrin of Mahomet has taken such footing in the World Every one knows how wide the Division of the Eastern and Western Churches was at that time And I do not believe but that the great diversity of Judgments and Religions which we see at present in Christianity hath been the cause of this coldness and want of Devotion amongst us in what we call Christian Society Insomuch that Piety and Religion seem only to be left in full Authority amongst Women and the Vulgar This Evil arises from hence that the greatest part of Men either cannot or will not give themselves the trouble of searching into these different Opinions to determine which they might close with so they choose rather to believe nothing absolutely than to be always in suspence about what they ought to believe As the great diversity of Medicines which are prescribed to a Patient do very often make him refuse all thinking it better to resign up all to venture at once rather than stand so long about making his choice of the Remedies which are proposed to him Some go towards it but with such a kind of negligence and natural sloath that makes them apprehend a great deal of trouble in it And these esteem it better to suspend all manner of action than undertake any thing that requires so much care and intensness of thought concerning it These are like lazy Souldiers who suffer themselves to be kill'd rather than they 'l couragiously take up their Armes and stand to their own defence Or those who out of a desperate Fury thrust a Dagger into their own Breasts for fear least their Enemy is pressing upon them to do it There are others who dare not venture upon this tryal through the distrust which they have of themselves and of their own power They do not feel themselves strong enough to sustain such a weight nor able to break through all those difficulties which they meet with This obliges some blindly to follow the first that is presented them and suffer themselves to be led by those who pretend to have skill herein Supposing they are in a good condition if they put themselves under the conduct of their Leaders And others stand Newters not daring to adhear to any Party out of a Distrust which they have of all such as offer themselves to them And this it is that causes Irreligion and Atheisme Yet are there some whose Fault is not neglect of examining these different Questions but the true Reason of it is because they are not indeed capable of it Such are all Pesants and Mechanicks and others who know nothing more than what belongs to their employments and who being taken out of that are as if they were in an unknown Country where they are ignorant both of the wayes and Language It puts them to a stand as though they had neither sense nor Motion They make all their Devotion and all the Service which they should pay to God to consist in the well observing these outward actions of Religion in which they have been trained up Witness the poor Christians of Muscovia all whose Religion is no more than just a showing to those who desire to be informed of their belief the Image of some Saint which they carry about with them And others also who think that if they know but how to make the sign of the Cross aright may pass for very good Christians Therefore if instead of puzelling our selves about so many questions and controversies we would study to bring back the Christian Doctrin to its true Principles which are but few in number and easy for all sorts of Persons to comprehend it would be the ready way to make true Christians who would know what is really essential in their Doctrine and so would quickly be brought to a true piety and to the fear of God which is the only design of Christian Religion Here it may also be added that this great diversity of
the rage and fury of contrary Elements but by the negligence of those within her and misunderstanding of her Conductors This Evil is also very communicative 'T is like a Gangrene which never stays in one place but corrupts all the neighbouring parts States and all Bodies Politique are very sensible of the effects of this Division We might say of this evil as of the Leprosie described by Moses that it not only infects Men but the very Towns and Places where they dwell I dare affirm that of Thirty Wars which have happened in Europe within these Hundred and fifty years five and twenty have had the differences of Religion for the occasions of them or at least that they have either been accompanied or followed by some Interests of Religion If any would throw the Apple of Discord into a Nation to trouble it and raise civil Wars at home to the end that Foreiners might have an opportunity of attacking it They need but use means to cause some differences to be moved about the Government of the Church Find some fault with the Ornaments of the Altars Cloath in a different manner those who are to administer Divine Service or introduce some diversity in the Liturgy and in the Publique Prayers This will be sufficient to disturb the Peace of a Nation and absolutely turn it upside down Examples of this are so fresh and so dreadful amongst us that I need not produce them to confirm what I lay before you If we would favour the Rebellion of any Country or back the pretensions of some Usurper 'T is but publishing that the reason why we take up arms in their favour is to give Liberty to weak and tender Consciences and to be instrumental in giving poor distressed Christians a freedom of praying to God Almighty and to perform all the Exercises of Devotion without constraint There is nothing impossible to be effected under this specious pretence There is no manner of excess and violence which on these occasions they do not dress up in the Cloke of Piety and Zeal Tantum Religio potuit suadere malorum Moreover there are no sewds to be compared to those which spring from dissenting in Religion And till these cease and an union be made we must never expect to see that the States of Christendom should agree together to resist the common Enemies of their Profession put a stop to their progress Who prevail by means of our Divisions and advance their Conquests by help of our misunderstandings If one only place scituate in an Island which was all Enemies to it were capable to withstand for so long a Time the whole Ottoman Power What would it do if the Armies of all Christians were joyned together to Repress the insolency of an enemy detesting so much the Name of a Christian I am perswaded that he is not victorious but because we do not defend our selves He gains no ground but meerly for want of our Opposition and gives us no wounds but by those gashes which wo give our selves If we would stir by Agreement for the glory of our common Master all those advantages which we promise our selves from the Victories we gain over our Fellow-brethren are not comparable to those which would accrue to us by our Conquests of strangers And let not those Christian Princes whose Territories lye far distant from Constantinople flatter themselves in their own thoughts with the advantage of their scituation For those Frontiers which serve at present for a Bulwark to Christendom being once mastered by the Turks they will easily force a passage into the heart of the most remote Countrys If they but once have a liberty of entering upon our Borders and Confines they will soon strike up an Alarm within the very Bowels of Europe And it is too well known how some of these parts have lately been weakned I wish with all my heart that the Drums and Trumpets of these Infidels may be a means to gather Us once more together and be as a signal to put us in mind of uniting our selves quickly and labouring altogether for our own preservation In the last place this consideration might be added to the precedent ones to make us see the Evil that this Division causes in States Let us suppose that in a Kingdom or any other Christian State those who Govern it should perceive that they have been mistaken in the Opinion which they have held and that seeing they have not the truth on their side they are in danger of losing their Souls I dare affirm that the Nature of this Division is such that it would be almost impossible to procure their own Salvation and the Salvation of those who are under their Authority The Interests of State are so mixed and woven with those of Religion The intrigues and alliances which are made with those of the same communion are so strong that in going about to separate them it would endanger a loss of all As for Example who does not conceive that if a King who is a Roman Catholick should come to believe that the Foundations of his Religion are not sound that as the Protestants alledg they contain certain Principles that are prejudicial to the Salvation of Souls this Prince would not meet with impregnable difficulties to set his Conscience at rest Is it not certain that so soon as he should discover his Thoughts his Subjects would rise up in Rebellion against Him The whole Body of his State would oppose his Designs and his Allies would forsake him to side with that Party that should be against Him The same might be said of Protestant Princes The Politicians who oppose themselves to any change or innovation in Religion of what nature so ever it be who look upon it as a Flame that must be quenched in the instant would render all the endeavours of a Prince unprofitable that should have any such thoughts Therefore by this it is evident that it is the Ground and Interest of all Christian States to endeavour the healing of these Divisions as well for their own subsistence and preservation as for the safety and quiet of the Consciences of those who Govern them THE REVNITING OF CHRISTIANITY PART II. Of the Causes of this Division which is among Christians CHAP. I. That the Frame and Temper of Men's Minds doth much contribute to this Evil. WHatsoever things pass through the Hands of Men they alwayes savour of that quality which is predominant in them As Waters take their Tincture from the Channels through which they run if the Channels be impure the Waters quickly lose that Purity which from the Fountain Head they deriv'd So Christian Doctrine the same which was given us by the Son of God and proposed to us by his Apostles is most pure and most Holy But it has been much abused by the ill qualities of such as have handled it since those blessed Times It hath passed through soul hands which have made it lose much of its Original
they might substitute another in its roome Thus by their subtilty they Arm the Secular Power against those who would promote Doctrines perchance were innocent or better Founded than theirs CHAP. II. That there has never yet been made a true distinction in Christian Religion of what is really Essential and Fundamental and what is not ALthough the minds of those who have embraced Christianity may be diversly disposed yet they all agree in this one Point that there are certain Doctrines in Religion which are Essential and Fundamental and others likewise of less importance They all acknowledge that there are some from which they cannot depart without doing a manifest prejudice to Religion and to the Salvation of Souls and that there are also others to which they may adhere without wounding their consciences But there could never yet any Boundaries be agreed upon which should be established for the right setling all People in their proper and natural Limits Every one would make his own Opinion pass for Fundamental and absolutely necessary to Salvation Whereas had we but well distinguished betwixt these two sorts of Doctrines had we but laid good Foundations to keep these Tenets hereafter from being confused this Evil of which we complain might easily be remedied and all Parties might be Re-united as I undertake to make appear to You in the Third Part of this Treatise In the mean time who does not evidently see that for want of knowing rightly how to distinguish between these two sorts of Doctrines the greatest part of the Divisions which are amongst Christians is observed to arise How many questions are there as unprofitable as curious which have made a separation in Men's Judgments How many persons without ever having exammed or understood them have sided some with one and some with the other only that they might not be suspected to be without Religion without Devotion and without Knowledg How many Disputes likewise are there which have no other Foundation than certain different terms and expressions whilst all agree in the substances and make all their quarrels but about words 'T is certain that would they examine the Foundation of their Contentions without passion and without prejudice they would be ashamed for having lost so much time and exprest so much heat about a thing which merited it not Every one knows how many disputes the subject of Grace hath caused amongst the Roman Catholicks 'T is well known with what ardour the Defenders of an Irrespective Science which they attribute to God have maintained their Doctrine against those who establish an Absolute Decree This is that which has formed two Parties amongst their Doctors This Difference has continued and is renewed in our time betwixt the Jansenists and the Jesuits although under other terms There is no person ignorant unto what a degree of Division they have come about this business and the strange consequences which are apprehended from it In the mean time how a new Doctor who hath caused the Memoires of Grace to be printed maintains that all the difference is but only in words He undertakes to put an end to it by showing that they all agree in the Foundations and are all in the same mind with St. Augustin Fulgentius St. Thomas Aquinas all the School men and the Council of Trent If it be so who will not suspect that the like thing may not possibly have happened in many other points wherein to our misfortune different Opinions have made a separation and division I place in the rank of Questions which are not essential and fundamental in Religion such as are made about the business of the Government of the Church and the Ceremonies instituted for ruling the exteriour part of its Worship For how much stir has been made concerning those things which have no other ground than the general Rule proposed by St. Paul namely That all things be done with Order and Decency in the Church 'T is sufficient thersore that in these Matters we have always before our eyes that which may advance the Glory of God and edifie his Church For indeed we may dress in a different manner the proper means for obtaining so good an end The use and application of this general Rule might be left to the Liberty of each particular Church to do what they should judg most expedient according to the Circumstances of the Place times dispositions of Mens Spirits and such like They should only take heed of introducing in these things some practice which might be directly opposite to any of the essential and fundamental Doctrines Some require that the Teachers of the Church should be equal and others would have a Superiority and Inferiority amongst them Some are for an outward Pomp in the Church and others would have a great plainness Some believe that the Ornaments of the Places of Devotion breed a respect to the exercise and others think that the meanness of the place takes off the thoughts of the faithful from material carnal things to lift them upward to those which are Coelestial and Divine Some love Musick and the sound of melodious Instruments in Divine Service and others say that it disturbs the mind and carries away the devotion which should be fixt in those Holy places Some are of Opinion that the Riches of the Ministry their Train and outward Pomp gains them the veneration of the People who are apt otherwise to despise them Others judg that the poverty and simplicity of the Ministers of the Church does better accord with the Genius of the Gospel and produce more saving effects in the minds of Men than all Worldly splendour It is in these kinds of Questions and Differences that I shall let you see we should bear one with another for I hold that there may happen occasions where one of these practices may be most expedient and most edifying and others or that which is opposite to it may likewise prove of very great benefit always provided that order and decency be preserved Thus must there be a mutual Toleration amongst Christians and a charitable and brotherly support one towards another CHAP. III. That Men have departed from the true Fundamentals of Christian Religion to take up others which have nothing of Solidity in them and which put these Divisions amongst Them 'T Is a general Opinion amongst all Christians that it is from God alone that we must receive the Articles of our Faith and the Rule of our Actions They agree also in this that it is in his Word contain'd in the Old and New Testament that those two things are compriz'd and that it is from thence as from two Fountains that they must be drawn down to us The Councils themselves namely those which are called General and to which some Christians do attribute as much authority and infallibility as to the Holy Scriptures confirm this truth For they have never undertaken to decide any point of Religion but by the Holy Scriptures They have concluded that
they ought to ascend up thither for establishing of any Doctrine which must have power and authority amongst Christians And yet have we departed insensibly from this principle We have quitted this saving Tenet by attributing to Man that which is not due but to God alone We have made such Doctrines as are meerly humane to pass crowded amongst those which are handed down to us from God Just as they put off false Money by making it glister as much as may be and then mixing it amongst such as is currant Coin that it may not be suspected This is it that has given scope to contentions and afterwards been the grand cause of Division Some have been of Opinion that whatsoever specious pretences and whatsoever plausible names have been given to the decisions of the most famous Assemblies are all this while but Humane Sentiments which ought to be examined before they are received They say that they are but particular Men who have proposed their Opinions in these Assemblies That many times in these occasions 't is the credit readiness of wit eloquence or some force of argument more specious than solid which makes these Opinions pass for Articles of Faith That those particular Persons who compose these Assemblies may be mistaken notwithstanding all their Lights and Knowledge That by consequence a Company of them how numerous soever they be are subject to defects and to the errours of the Members whereof they are composed Lastly That the very diversity which is sometimes sound in the decisions made by them justifies enough their Opinion and makes us see that all these decisions are subject to tryal Others who are of a different sence maintain that without the decisions of the Councils we should have but an imperfect Rule of our Belief That the Holy Scripture does not comprehend all that which is taught us in the Church That there are also many things in the Holy Scriptures that have need of explaining and interpretation That on these occasions there is none to whom we can have better recourse than to the Church to whom God has promised the ordinary conduct of his Spirit That the Church cannot make her Voice be better understood and declare to us her sence in a fashion more authentique than when she is represented and as it were united in these Solemn Assemblies They are perswaded that when such an Assembly is lawfully gathered it does of Right enjoy an Infallibility equal to that of the Holy Scripture that it is God himself who speaks as much in one as the other In the mean time both one and the other agree in this point that the Scripture is infallible that it is the foundation of the truth and the soveraign Rule of all Holiness The latter also pretend that although they plead in favour of the authority and infallibility of the Church they find argument enough in the Scriptures for maintaining their doctrine and confounding of Errour But let us for the present lay by this controversy of the Authority of the Church and return back to that principle which all agree upon It may be we may draw Rules and Directions enough from thence so that we shall not be obliged to enter upon this other Dispute which shall be more particularly examined in the third Part of this Treatise Let us therefore only hear what Tertullian says upon this Subject Apolog. Chap. 47. Where giving a Reason of the Divisions which he saw in his time about Christian Religion He says that Those who have separated themselves from the Communion of the Church have in the doing it violated their faith to Jesus Christ For he it is that hath taught us the rule of truth which he caused to be delivered to us by those holy Men who had the happiness to hear his Word and receive his divine Instructions That all which is not conformable to that Rule has been invented by new Doctors who came not till after those Blessed Disciples of the Son of God In this manner hath this worthy Man ascended up to the very Fountain Head of this Evil and discovered the Original of those miserable Divisions And St. Augustin in that remarkable passage against Maximin the Arrian Let us lay aside said he all prejudices which we may conceive I from the Council of Nice and thou from that of Arimini Let us both one and the other be guided by the Authority of the Holy Scripture which is no partial witness but is as well common to one as to the other Therefore as when a Man hath once given way to some dangerous Principle what care soever he takes to avoid the ill consequences therof he is sure to fall insensibly upon them Likewise whatsoever corrective may be brought for the taking away from the Antimony its malignant qualities there shall nevertheless break forth some ill effects of it So this Doctrine being once setled that Men must be consulted and followed concerning the Articles of Faith we do give them by little and little an Authority which appertains only to him who is truth it self The consequence of which is that we become in a condition of acquiescing blindly on whatsoever the Caprichio's of Men can invent in matters of Religion Every one believes himself to have as much right herein as his Companion Every one endeavours to make his particular Opinions pass for essential truths Every one condemns as Heretiques and as People out of the way of Salvation all those who do not submit themselves absolutely to their Rule In brief every one maintains that there is no true Church but that which receives the Opinions which he has promoted to whom alone belongs the Right of Governing all that which concerns Religion And although many make a difficulty of attributing insallibility to the Church nevertheless they hold that they ought to submit to these decisions at least if they themselves cannot pass for Deciders All which has much contributed to the forming of Division and to the fomenting it after it is kindled CHAP. IV. That the dislike which has been had at the simplicity of Christian Religion has been an occasion that Men have given it a different aspect from that which it had in its beginning I Do not believe that there is any Christian who will not agree with me that Christianity was never more pure more Holy and more proper to induce its Professors to Vertue than in its Birth That was a time wherein the saving Principles of the Gospel were only received from the mouth of the Son of God and from those holy Men whom he had inspired This was the true Golden Age of the Church abounding in Saints in Confessors and in Martyrs And I believe that this truth will also be granted me that then at that time when Christian Religion was so pure and exempt from Errour its Doctrine was also most simple and most naked It was free from all those subtil questions which some caused to be statted up in the succeding
Ages It was not subjected to the burthensome observation of so many Ceremonies which are as strange habits and ornaments wherewith it has been since cloathed There are to be found amongst us two sorts of Persons which have much contributed to this Evil. The first are those subtil Spirits who besides their own natural wit are still more refined in the Schools of the Philosophers The second are such as are pleased at some showe and appearance who have not yet been able to quit the inclinations which the World has inspired them with for these outward things and who cannot forbear the having some esteem for the pomp of the Jewish and Pagan Ceremonies The first sort have thought that Christian Religion would be much more considered if it should contain many Misteries which were obscure and difficult to comprehend Judging that as plainness causes contempt obscurity would gain it respect and veneration They have formed difficulties upon all the points of Religion to exercise their wits on and to show their skill and learning which they bring with them from the Schools They have caused doubts to arise from the things which are most easy In a word they have changed the Christian School into a School of Branglings and Disputes Which heretofore caused a certain Person to say that the Philosophers had been the Patriarches of the Heretiques The other Spirits who are for having some show in Religion fancy that if the Christian Church were but reduced into the simplicity which it had in its first rise it would have but a few Followers They see that Men naturally do love that which pleases the Senses and which conveys devotion into the heart by the Eyes and Eares It is from this notion that all these several different Ceremonies are crept in amongst us which we see practised among Christians They have retained Jewdaisme nay more they have brought in such Paganisme as they have deemed most proper to imprint by outward objects some inward Motives to Devotion and Zeal They have imagined that they could with profit make use of those things which the others abused They have supposed that that was the way to sanctifie the profane Vessels of the Egiptians and bring back that to its true use which nourished the Pagan Superstition In the mean time how specious soever the Reasons and Pretences are which one and the other alledg in their own favour These are they who have given the first stroke to the Peace and Union of the Church For if at first they had religiously kept themselves to the small number of Rules which the Gospel prescribes us they had never soparated into so many Sects as have been formed concerning such questions as the curiosity of Men has caused to be raised Jesus Christ tells us that his Yoke is easy to bear He invites all even to the very little Children to believe in Him which he would not have done if the Faith had certainly brought with it all those abstruce Rules and Misteries which are proposed to us now The Holy Scriprures do present but very few Doctrines in comparison of the Exhortations to Vertue which are there made us And the Gospel is not given us but that we should believe that Jesus is the Messias and that in believing it we may have life through his Name John 20. To be lawfully Baptized It is sufficient to believe from the Heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God Acts 8. Saint Paul reduces all his preaching to this only Point That Jesus Christ is the Messias foretold by the Prophets that he was to be crucified and rise again from the dead Acts 17. The same reports that the extent of his knowledg is to know Jesus Christ and Him Crucified The Epistle to the Hebrews requires not more of him that would approach neer to God but the knowledg of two things that there is one God and that he is the Rewarder of those who seek after Him And St. James makes pure Religion and blameless before God to consist in visiting the Widow and Fatherless in their afflictions and in keeping themselves from being defiled by this World As if they would have said that the Principal design of Religion is to bend all ones study to Sanctity to Purity and to Charity The Creed of the Apostles contains whatsoever is Essential in the Rules of Christian Religion And what that teaches us is sufficient for the Consolation of our Souls and to induce us to a holy Life Let us but examine all the Apologies of the first Christians written on purpose to discover their Opinions in Religion They justifie all that which I assert They comprehend but a very few Articles of Faith as concerning the existence of God the Incarnation of our Lord his Birth Life Death and Resurrection Hence it is that they have defended themselves from the accusations which were brought against them that they have resisted the strongest temptations and sustained with courage the most violent Persecutions If they had continued in that course and had not consulted the Schools of Plato and Aristotle concerning the Rules of Religion there had been no change made then had there been no separation in Christianity If the wit of Man had not been ambitious to mix his own with the Divine Oracles the Church would have still been in its innocency and in its purity Such are all these new Opinions which being destitute of the evidence of truth have separated Mens Spirits and caused this unhappy Division And as to this matter of Ceremonies and of the outward show of the Church If they had considered them as simple Ornaments which are nothing of the Essence of Religion If they had not multiplyed them to so vast a number If herein they had kept up themselves to the simplicity of their practice in the Primitive Church They had had no occasion for any contests concerning these things and every one might have easily found wherewithall to be satisfied But since they have without measure increased the number of Ceremonies So that they have not left Christians the Liberty of making the least step in Religion without upholding it by some Ceremony They have put things to a tryal Every one has pretended to have a right to speak his sence thereof which has made many to separate and given occasion of Division CHAP. V. That many do make use of Religion to serve their particular Interests and the advantages of a temporrl Life THe greatest Evil which Reigns in Society is that a right distinction has never been made between the solid and true goods and those which have no foundation but in the imagination of Man We often prefer a Worldly interest before all the advantages of the Soul and the hopes of that which is to come Sometimes also after a most wicked and detestable manner there are those who make Religion and an appearance of Devotion serve for the obtaining or preserving some temporal and passing good Insomuch that as it is
their own colour How would you have a Man whose spirit is filled with an infinite number of Ideas upon which he is already fixed be able after this to make room for those which are opposite to them although they are really more effectual to his salvation They must be all excluded to compare them together without prejudice they must be seen naked and that held which shall be judged most reasonable There has been not long since proposed in Philosophy an excellent way of right disputing and keeping a direct course for searching out the truth They say that for effecting of this all preconceived Opinions and prepossessions of spirit must be absolutely cast away That then they must not take up any but the most plain notions and such Propositions as cannot be quarreled at by any who have the least use of reason Why then cannot we imitate this manner of procedure in Religion Can we not for a while set aside all these Opinions which we defended heretofore with so much eagerness and heat to examine them afterwards more freely and without any passion holding closely to our common Principle which is the Holy Scripture Can we notwithout any prejudice look upon the Foundations of Religion which all they who are called Christians do generally acknowledg and the Principles which they all agree upon Would it not be an infallible means to know with a disinterested mind how we should advance in a right way and how we might build upon a solid Foundation and such as should be approved by every one My desire therefore is that these prejudices and strong fancies of our own Opinions may be quitted which bind us in a Religion rather by false appearances than by Judgment and Reason Hence is it that some boast of their antiquity the succession of their Pastors the Government of their Communion their temporal advantages the riches splendour and magnificence of their Temples and Ornaments Hence is it that others glory in their plainness and the smallness of their number the contempt which is made of them in society and other things of this nature which the World cannot relish Lastly there are others extolling the knowledge and talents of their Doctors the sanctity austerity and mortifications of their Votaries the Zeal of their Martyrs and other exteriour things and accidentals to Religion For it may so happen that all these may meet in Societies which are not approved of by those who boast of them as so many titles in their favour There are likewise some who although they seem not to regard any thing but Religion by putting away whatsoever is not essential to it yet cannot forbear falling into prejudices and errours of dangerous consequence Such are those who believe that their Doctrine is to be prefered before others by reason of the number of the learned Men which defend it the Arguments with which they appear to be supported and the great motions of Virtue which they seem to inspire They consider not that all these things may be also observed in the Societies whose Doctrine they do not approve That at least the Followers of the rest might make a like Judgment of their Doctrine seeing the friends of each of them are prepossessed with reasons in favour of their own We ought therefore for a while to cast off all these particular Sentiments which form the divers Societies of Christians in such manner that it should not be the Authority of any one amongst them that should bear sway over the rest but the sole infallible Rule of truth which is the Word of God For seeing that is universally received by all Christians there ought to be no difficulty in submitting to whatsoever it clearly teaches us This being so how can we doubt of the blessing of GOD upon such an Enterprize since we have no other thing for our Interest than his Glory for our Rule than his Word and for our End than our Salvation CHAP. III. The Second meanes That we should not have for our Direction more than one known and generally approved Rule for all Christians to walk by VVHen we say that for the attaining to a perfect Re-union we must be free from all obstinate prejudices I mean not therby the establishing of an indifference and leaving Mens minds in a suspence without knowing what to resolve on 'T is only to render many unsure foundations suspected and to search out for one which may be firm and solid and which the whole World should agree to be so Now there is but one of this nature and that is the Sacred Word of God which he hath given us by the Ministry of his Servants He hath given it us expresly to be the Rule both of our Faith and all our Actions in what concerns his Service And it is too evident that all do not agree on other matters All do not hold that the Church is infallible All do not acknowledg that there is an unwritten Word which is of as much Authority as that which is in the Writings of the Prophets and Apostles All do not pretend that we must be guided by that which the Holy Ghost shall dictate by his secret motions in the Hearts of the Faithful But all Christians without exception hold that God speaking to us in his Holy Word must be hearkened to and that we must obey him without any restriction If besides this there shall be found any Confession of Faith which has been drawn from the Holy Scriptures and drawn in such a manner as that it retains a Doctrine so pure that all Christians may securely receive it It may very well be joyned with this Word delivered to us from God And such in my Opinion is the Apostles Creed there never having been hitherto as I have ever heard any Christian who denyed to entertain it as being an Extract and Compendium of the Gospel And if that had been well practised which the Council of Chalceden enjoyned of not adding any other Doctrine to this Symbole we had never seen Christianity divided into so many Sects as at present it is I shall not here undertake to prove the Divinity of this Holy Writing as having â—ow only to do with Christians who all acknowledg it This is a thing that I may possibly handle in the third Treatise which I have promised to publish in the Preface to this Piece For my design therein is to let all People of the World see the advantages of the Christian Religion above others I shall also there endeavour to give to every one a means of looking into it without these obstinate prejudices which would certainly make us reject any Doctrine now tending soever to our Salvation At the present me thinks for the working with success towards a good Reunion we should rise to a Principle wherein we all agree It would be a very good step towards a Peace when we should find a Subject wherein we could all Unite For according to that Universal Maxime Things which
have reason to separate our selves from those who did depart from them But seeing that this sacred Word is contented to give us for this purpose certain general Precepts For St. Paul plainly tells us that These things must be done with Order and Decency Liberty is given without doubt to Christians to dispose of these according as they shall think convenient having regard to the circumstances of Places of Times and of Persons in keeping always within the Bounds of Decency and Order For besides that the Scripture has thus declared it self hereupon The nature of the thing seems palpably to lead us to the same There is no Body who does not put a great difference between that which is essential to a thing and that which is meerly accidental All acknowledg it is on the preservation of the first that the subsistence of its subject does absolutely depend that it can be very well maintained without the second and that also more conveniently Likewise that we should act quite otherwise for the first than we should for the other So to preserve health or to recover it though we strictly observe the Diet which is obsolutely requisite we can freely and without prejudice change the Relishes and Tinctures which we give to the Fod and to the Medicines This being once well setled every one sees how unreasonable a thing it would be to separate about the occasion of any difference which might happen in outward matters and accidentals to Religion should there be any Schisme in the Church concerning the Order which is to be amongst its Governours Must this Holy Union be broken because some would have the Church be governed by Bishops and others would have an equality amongst its Pastors Must we because of some diversity in the Habits of those who officiate in the Church break the knot which should tye all Christians together Is it just that for the Ornaments of the Temples the postures wherein private Persons should be during the acts of Devotion and other such Ceremonies the peace of the Church should be ruined and the Unity of its Members Has not the Primitive Church made it well appear that there was no such matter of scruple when it freely changed the practice according as the times and occasions required it Did not Tertullian one of its principal Doctors teach us that the Rule of Faith continuing firm and constant other things which regard the Discipline do sometimes suffer alterations and changes Were the Temples always set out in this magnificence which they are in at present among Christians Were Fastings always after the same manner observed Were the Garments of Ministers of the Church always in the sâ—me mode Have they at all times and in all places received the holy Eucharist after the same fashion as to their outward Gestures Has there not always been great diversity in the practice of these things and can we not still be able to suffer it without being forced to separate and dismember the Church as we do at this present time I confess that in certain Ceremonies some things may fall out to be practiseâ— which would directly oppose to the Fundamental Points of Religion But it would be easy to give a Remedy to this Evil following the Order which I shall propose We should in this case look back to the very Precept it self upon which we should all agree together For if we all accord in what concerns the Doctrine we shall find no great difficulty to accord or at least to maintain a charitable judgment in the use of the Ceremony If we were once but well Reunited together in the Opinions which we should have of the Doctrine I am assured that we should bear with one another in things which are not of that importance If we joyned in the main essential matters the necessaries would not easily separate us Behold then how this happy means of Peace must be ordered It is by establishing immediately with great care the bounds which are to be given to these two things That is First that a right distinction be made between what serves for the outward conduct of the Actions of true Believers and the essence and internal concern of a good Christian Next that we labour and seek out by all the ways imaginable how we may be Reunited in what respects the essence of Christianity But for that which respects the outward Government and the Ceremonies of the Church some liberty should be given to the particular Societies of Christians Herin regard must be had to the difference of Places and Climates where they dwell which often create more disgust to one sort of Government than to another Also there should be considered the diversity of their Politique Government which may imprint some stamps of its Character upon that of the Church Lastly We should likewise have in consideration what these Societies may have practised hitherto with success in this respect and leave them the entire disposal thereof after having represented to them what shall be judged more prositable and more commodious for them This diversity must not alter the peace of the Church It is not just that agreeing together in the essential Points we should break the bonds of our amity for things which are not essential How many Brothers are there who although they be of different employments yet for all this leave not off their living together as Brothers and making up one and the same Family I would therefore have an accomodation made herein according to the Customes and Practices of the Places in which they live That in all parts where they should inhabit and sojourn they might be subject to the Community of Christians which should be there established without condemning or blaming other Customes That we should rather believe charitably that every one has followed herein the Order which has been supposed to be most convenient and most requisite to Salvation seeing that still the Principal which is comprehended in few Articles continues firm Thus St. Paul was accustomed to do 1 Cor. 10.33 Endeavouring to please and accommodate all matters without seeking after particular conveniencies but only the Salvation of many And when he saw any who would be contentious in these things He only answered them thus 1 Cor. 11.16 We have no such Custome Showing that it argues a contentious spirit and an enemy to the Peace of the Church to be unwilling to follow Order and Custome in things of this nature We should always six here that we ought not barely upon account of humane Institutions to separate one from another seeing we break with those who embrace the same Doctrine which we do clearly taught us in the Word of God under pretence that they have not the same practice with us in the outward part of Religion CHAP. V. The Fourth meanes To distinguish between that which the Scripture proposes to us to believe as Doctrine of Salvation and that which it delivers to us as Histories of things which have
happened and that which it reports to us as predictions of things to come FOllowing the distinction made in the foregoing Chapter of all the things which are proposed to us in the Holy Scripture We must first examine what it declares to us as truths which the true Believer ought to receive by Faith These are not all of a like nature and must also be carefully distinguished to take away likewise all cause of contention among Christians I believe therefore they may all be brought under these three Heads As first the Mysteries of Religion which ought to be believed for setting the Conscience at rest and procuring its Salvation Secondly the Historical Narrations which the Scripture makes us of many things that have happened as well in the Disposition of the Order of the Universe as in the Government of the Church under the Old and New Covenant Thirdly the predictions there made as of things which must happen and whereof we see not yet the accomplishment This being concluded we should generally recerve as unquestionable truths whatsoever God has revealed to us in his Word Wherein there are many things which should not neither can they give any matter of contention much less of Division As for Example the Historical Relations of the Holy Scriptures are such that all Christians generally receive â—â—â—m as certain and indubitable and if there be any diversity of Opimons upon any difficulties of Chronology That should not cause a separation in the Church The Opinions may be left to the Liberty of particular Persons to follow therein what they shall judge most probable I say the same of interpretations which may be given to some obscure passages which should not cause any Division be the diversity never so great which is there met with There is but one sole occasion for allowing it and that is when a particular interpretation overthrowes some one of the Fundamental Doctrines or that they would make it to pass as issued out from the very mouth of God himself For all these interpretations are but so many attempts of Man's wit which may fail Insomuch that we should leave to every one the liberty of examining them to receive them afterwards or to reject them without prejudice to Salvation and without breaking the Union which is had with those of contrary Opinions As to what concerns suture predictions neither ought these to be the subject of any Division It may suffice we are all in general perswaded that whatsoever has been foretold in the Holy Scriptures shall have its accomplishment notwithstanding all the obstacles which intersere 'T is sufficient to believe that the first Cause absolutely disposing of second causes will bring about its designs in despite of all resistance of the Creatures This hinders not from advancing our thoughts higher searching into the sense of the prophesie and making our conjectures of the times of its execution We should in this give Liberty to certain particular persons especially when these kinds of Meditations may contribute to the Consolation of true Believers and to excite them more to sanctity It is in this I make that happiness consist which the Book of the Apocalypse attributes to those who read it carefully and understand it But he who would apply himself to this study must not do it but with great precautions Here it is that much strictness must be observed and principally not the least stirring be made but from a principle of deep humility He must on all occasions distrust himself but more in this than any other For although these Oracles be not conceived in ambiguous termes as those of the Pagans were yet are they proposed in obscure and dark expressions They are such hidden mysteries and so profound that they can scarcely be faâ—…omed When predictions are accomplished they change their nature and become Histories easy to be understood But before the Event they must be looked upon with that profound respect as causes naturally a silence But yet if any think they have espy'd some light they may utter their thought with modesty And should rather propose it as a conjecture than as a certain Doctrine For truly there is nothing so dangerous nor so prejudicial to the peace of the Church as the desire of making pass our sence upon things foretold for constant truths There needs but a forc'd Opinion of these Prophesies to stir up a whole Nation to tumult to disturb the peace of States and ruine the Unity which should be amongst Christians The Examples of this are as well known as they are Dreadful to Consider There might some kind of Parallel be made between this Reflection and those dangerous obstinate Opinions wherof we have already made mention and which must be entirely cast away to attain to a perfect intelligence in Christianity CHAP. VI. Fifth Advice Touching the Mysteries of Christian Religion which we must believe as being Revealed in the Holy Scriptures and concerning the distinction which must be made of them AFter having considered methodically of what the Word of God teaches us touching the Rites Ceremonies and outward Order of the Church as also the Histories and Prophesies which it contains After having shown that in all these things there should be no matter of Contention among Christians I have nothing less to examine but what concerns the Rules comprehending the Holy Mysteries of Christianity which Believers should own and receive for their Salvation And because it is a most important matter it must be clearly open'd and explained to remove whatsoever might give any occasion of Contention and procure herein as well as in the rest a Reconciliation of all Christian Societies I cannot now absolutely disapprove the Distinction which all Doctors make in this matter and of which I have already spoken If I acknowledge there be in Religion some important Precepts essential fundamental and necessary to Salvation I acknowledg therein also others less important which might be let alone as where some Errour may slip in Yet this may be done without prejudicing our Salvation â—â—e Peace of Consciences and tranquility of the Church But what I cannot approve of in this is the Application which these Doctors make of this distinction to their Cause They commonly fall concerning this matter into the same faults which have been observed Namely their prejudicate Opinions and particular Interests which for the most part bear sway in the Judgment which they make of what is Fundamental and what is not So that they would oblige all who enter into their Communion to acquiesce in Humane Doctrines as if they were so many Fundamental Points They oblige Men also to Reject the Doctrines which agree not with theirs as if they tended to overthrow the Foundations of Religion although they may not be so prejudicial as they would make them believe For who has Authority of fixing that which is Fundamental and distinguishing it from that which is not If it were left to the disposition of Men every Society