multitude professing true Faith in Christ though their lives be not so regular as they ought to be are not unserviceable to our Religion Nay in some cases by their steadiness in the Truth give no small support unto it Especially when they likewise continue united together by partaking constantly of the same Sacraments Whereby they are joyned to those who are truly good and remain a part of the Christian society till their lives be so bad that they are thrown out of the Church as not fit to have Communion with it And therefore out of such a Church consisting of those that profess the Faith of Christ intirely and worship him purely without any dangerous mixtures no Man ought to depart merely because every one therein is not knit to Christ by such hearty love and obedience as that Faith ought to produce For they that are only in outward Communion with such a Church are in a good way to something more and therefore ought not to be rejected as no Christians For by external Communion the inward lively Communion with God our Saviour is produced set forward and promoted and it is something to own Christ and acknowledge him for our Lord and Master and receive constant instructions from his Ministers whereby we are convinced of our duty Which though it doth not at present make them good and faithful Servants yet they may be so in time and the way to make them so is not to leave them to themselves by separating from them but to admonish reprove and exhort them to become living Members of Christ's Body that they may do him greater service by recommending his Religion effectually to the World. As all those do who separate from the wickedness of the World though they continue mixed with the wicked that are in the Church till they can in an orderly manner and after regular proceedings be thrown out of it Whereas on the contrary they who upon pretence of the wicked being mixed with the godly depart from the external Communion of the Church have very much dishonoured Religion and help to destroy the Church by endless separations For when they have so departed from the Church they are not sure they depart from the wicked though it be sure they have left the Communion of a great many good Men and Women who are mingled in common with the bad And what advantage can such Men propound unto themselves or unto true Religion and godliness when they certainly forsake the society of a great many truly good Men for an imaginary departure from the wicked Because after all the care they can take they cannot be sure there are no wicked among them but they leave a Church in which it is notorious there are a great number of holy People and erect Congregations for ought they can certainly know of such as conceit themselves Religious merely from this separation This is not the means therefore of upholding Truth and of promoting godliness But if we be seriously bent on that the Apostle hath shown us the way in the next Epistle 2 Tim. II. 19. Let every one that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity Whosoever doth so he is an excellent Servant of Jesus Christ and of his Truth which was promoted by nothing more I might say by nothing so much as by the eminent Piety and Vertue of the first Preachers of Christianity and of the generality of those who were called by Christ's name Some bad people there were among them as we learn by the Church of Corinth which did not unchurch them nor make them unfit for communion with them For in a great House as the Apostle there speaks in the next verse 2 Tim. II. 20 21. there are not only vessels of Gold and Silver but also of Wood and of Earth and some to honour some to dishonour But if a Man purge himself from these he shall be a vessel unto honour sanctified and meet for his Master's use and prepared unto every good work Thus the Apostle writes immediately after these words Let every one that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity Whatsoever becomes of others he shall become an useful Servant of his Master Christ a vessel of Honour or an instrument to do him honour by being fitted to every good work There are eminent testimonies of this not only in Christian but in Pagan Writers also that hereby the Truth of Christ prevailed and got the upper hand in the World. For Julian * Epist XLIX aâ— Arâ—arium in fragm p. 557. himself upbraids the Priests of his Religion with the marvellous piety of the Galilaeans as he calls Christians whose singular Humanity and Charity even to Strangers nay to Pagans when those of their own Religion neglected them together with the gravity of their manners and composed behaviour though he call it feigned had such great effect that by this means as he acknowledges Christianity so increased that its growth could no way be hindred but by their outdoing Christians in these worthy qualities And such an eminent vertue it must be and that alone which can restore our Religion to its primitive lustre Nay that which will preserve it from being lost where it is planted For as fast as true piety and vertue decays so fast doth the Church go to ruin And therefore if we have an hearty love to our own Church and the saving truth of God which is there professed and asserted we must study to uphold it by this means Not by seeking for a purer Church which is impossible as to Faith and Worship and Manners too to be found but by endeavouring to amend one another by purifying our selves in the first place from all filthiness both of the flesh and of spirit and then by admonishing others that do not live as they ought of the error of their ways and calling them to Repentance Which course I wish all they who have separated from our Communion would consider whether they ever took Did they not first forsake us and then say before they tried that we have people incorrigibly wicked among us This is not the way to say nothing of what sort of people they have among themselves of saving us all from perishing but as it proceeds commonly from too much pride and conceitedness and from great want of Charity so it produces lamentable effects For under a pretence of making the Church more holy it destroys both holiness and the Church by breaking the unity of it by disgracing Religion by turning it into disputes and vain jangling by endless separations under the notion of great and more refined purity till the Church be crumbled into so many little bits and fractions that little more than the name of a Church remains Let us therefore preserve Union among our selves as much as is possible that we may preserve the Church and Truth And then there may be the more hope of reclaiming the ungodly who will receive an admonition or reproof far
a contrary mind hoping though they do not convince them of their errors yet they will help to establish the People of our Church in the present Truth Which I doubt not they will see to be the truly Catholique Apostolique Faith which they ought not to part withal but preserve as carefully as they do their life And so the cannot fail to do if they add to Faith Vertue In order to which I have endeavoured to make this Treatise as practical as I could that we may not fall into that grand error of thinking it enough to hold the Truth though we hold it in unrighteousness God of his infinite mercy deliver us all from that damnable delusion and establish our hearts unblameable in Holiness before God even our Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his Saints 1 Thess III. 13. PART I. INTRODUCTION IT is a pious reflection which Clemens Alexandrinus makes upon a saying of Plato that if truth could never have been learnt L. VI. Stromat p. 675. but either from God himself or from his dependents then we who have the testimonies of the Divine Oracles do justly boast that we are taught the truth by the very Son of God. Which he hath revealed unto us so plainly in all things necessary to our Salvation and transmitted unto us so intirely in the Holy Scriptures that it cannot but be a great trouble to all those who love him and his Religion to see such wranglings about it in his Church as if there were no more certainty among us what is truth than there was among the Philosophers The contention about this is so sharp and fierce that while Men seek after Truth they are in danger to lose the very aim and scope of it which is Charity the love of God and of one another This S. Paul determines to be the very drift of the Gospel when he tells Timothy the end of the commandment is charity 1 I. 5. Nay they have raised so many doubts about this matter that poor People are many times to seek for Truth it self even in the clearest light thereof It being some Mens business so to confound their thoughts that they know it not when they see it but are still in great trouble about it even when they have it And where to seek for it is now grown a great question also It is to be found no doubt in the Church but about that there are so many disputes that Men are to seek as much as before if they go to find it there In short there are no words more abused than these two Truth and Church and therefore I hope it will do some service to Souls if for their plain and safe direction in these matters I rescue those words of S. Paul to Timothy 1 III. 15. the Church of the living God the pillar and ground of truth from those false glosses that are put upon them to the great dishonour of our blessed Lord and of his Holy Truth And for that end I shall distinctly treat of these four things First What that truth is of which either the Church or Timothy or both were the Pillar and Ground Secondly What it is to be a Pillar and Ground of the Truth Thirdly Who it is to whom this Office and Honour belongs of being the Pillar and Ground of the Truth or what we mean when we say the Church is intrusted therewith Lastly How it discharges this Office. I. What is the Truth Here we must begin because we must first know what the Truth is before we can know a Society of Men to be the Church which is constituted and made by believing and professing the Truth And this in effect is a resolution of that question which Pilate askt our Saviour but would not stay for an answer What is Truth Which though it be made a great difficulty by those whose interest it is to make things intricate and perplexed yet in my opinion it is very easie to give satisfaction to it and we need not go far neither to seek it For the Apostle himself immediately explains what he means by Truth in the words following and without Controversie great is the mystery of godliness God was manifested in the Flesh justified in the Spirit seen of Angels preached unto the Gentiles believed on in the World received up into Glory Where we learn two things in general concerning this matter First that the truth here spoken of is that which was formerly a Mystery or Secret which lay hidden for many Ages and Generations in the unknown purpose of God but now is revealed and manifested by the Son of God and his holy Spirit to make Men godly Which is the other thing we learn from thence that the truth which the Apostle intends is the Mystery of Godliness or as he he speaks in the VI. Chapter v. 3. the Doctrine which is according to Godliness And therefore whatsoever doth not tend to better Mens lives by making them do their duties faithfully both towards God and towards Men to some of which the duties that are owing are in this very Epistle called shewing Piety or Godliness v. 4. we are not to reckon it among the truths which were deposited with Timothy to be preferred and upheld in the Church For God did not design by the discovery he made of his Mind and Will in the Gospel merely to enlarge our knowledge but to rectifie our wills and affections by the right information of our minds and by acquainting us with such weighty truths especially such wonderful revelations of his love as cannot but irresistably sway us if we lay them to heart unto his Obedience But that we may not be left to guess at this truth or mystery of Godliness without any certainty he sets down a particular of it and reduces the whole mystery of Godliness to these Six heads I. The principal is this that the eternal Son of God came down from Heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary and was made Man that he might suffer for us and make himself an offering for our sins All this I take to be included in these words God was manifested in the flesh Which cannot be meant of God the Father for it is expressly said in other places that it was Jesus Christ who came in the flesh 1 Joh. IV. 2. and is here declared to be God that is the eternal Son of God the Word made flesh 1 Joh. 14. Which doth not denote merely his being made Man but likewise his suffering for us he taking our flesh on purpose for this very end that therein he might by his Death make an atonement for Sin. And so the very phrase flesh and blood signifies in Scripture as it doth commonly in the Hebrew Writers this weak frail mortal suffering State wherein we are at present into which our blessed Lord put himself when he manifested himself in our flesh So we read expressly II. Hebr. 14. where to
Age wrote an Epistle to the Philippians wherein they that had a mind and took care of their salvation L. III. Cap. 3.4 Euseb Hist L. IV. c. 14. might learn the character of his Faith and the Doctrine of Truth which was the very same as Irenaeus relates in the forenamed Chapter with that set down by him which he calls that one and only Truth which he received from the Apostles and delivered to the Church And what they taught in Asia and Irenaeus in France that Tertullian in the latter end of the same Age taught in Africk that there is but one only immoveable irreformable Rule of Faith (h) L. de Velandis Virg. C. 1. that is there is no other form of believing but this as de la Cerda honestly interprets the word irreformabilis in one God Almighty the Creator of the World and in his Son Jesus Christ born of the Virgin Mary crucified under Pontius Pilate raised the third day from the dead received up into Heaven and sitting now at the right hand of the Father and shall come to judge the quick and the dead by the resurrection also of the Flesh This he calls in that place the Law of Faith which he sets down in more words in another Book where he Prefaces to it by this remarkable proposition as he calls it (i) L. de praescription c. 9. that there is one and the same certain Doctrine instituted by Christ which all people ought to believe and consequently to seek that when they have found it they may believe Now the inquisition of one certain appointment cannot be infinite which is an incouragement to seek till one find and believe when he hath found because there remains saith he Nothing more but to preserve and keep what thou hast believed For thou believest this also that there is nothing else to be believed And therefore no further inquiry to be made when thou hast found and believed that which was appointed by him who did not command thee to enquire after any thing but what he appointed Upon which principle having a little further enlarged he proceeds to lay down the (k) Ib. Chap. XIII Rule of Faith that one certain appointment which if one believe there is nothing else to be believed whereby we believe there is one God alone and no other but the Creator of the World who made all things of nothing by his Word emitted before all things That Word called his Son seen variously in the name of GOD by the Patriarchs heard in the Prophets and at last brought down by the Spirit and power of God the Father into the Virgin Mary made flesh in her Womb and born of her became Jesus Christ and thereupon preached the new Law and the new promise of the Kingdom of Heaven wrought miracles was crucified rose the third day was taken up into Heaven sitteth at the right hand of the Father sent the vicarious power of the Holy Spirit who works in believers shall come in glory to take holy persons to the enjoyment of eternal Life and the celestial promises and to condemn the prophane to everlasting fire both parties being raised up again with the restoring of the flesh This is the Rule about which he there saith there are no questions the Rule in which Faith intirely consists that Faith which will save a Man unto which curiosity ought to yeild for to know nothing against the Rule is to know all things And beyond this Rule he there expresly argues (l) Ib. Cap. X. XIV Vbi enim erit finis quaerendi Vbi statio creaendi c. there is nothing to be believed for if we still be to seek for Faith where shall we rest Where shall we make an end of seeking Where shall we make a stand and stay our believing Or where shall a full st p be put to finding And that this was the constant Doctrine of those times and places it appears from hence that as Irenaeus often repeats this Rule and this alone so doth he a third time insist upon this even after he became a Montanist as the only Rule that had run down to their times from the beginning of the Gospel which he had always professed and now much more being more fully as he fancied instructed by the Paraclete the leader into all Truth Who durst not it seems though he pretended to Revelations adventure to alter this Rule which Tertullian recites again (m) Adv. Praxeam Cap. 2. in the same terms without any inlargements as he had done in his former Books And thereby satisfies us that he did not casually make this the Rule of Faith but that it was his constant sense which though he do not express in the very same words and syllables it only shows they had no other sense but this in their minds And as Vigilius (n) L. IV. adv Entychiâ—nos speaks about this very matter nec praejudicant verba ubi sensus incolumis permanet the words do not make a wrong opinion where the sense remains safe and sound Which may be applied to all the forms of belief which were in the Church of Rome of Aquileia and in the Churches of the East before the great Council of Nice none of which differ in sense though in some words they do nor have one Article of Faith more than the Creed now contains which Tertullian (o) Apolog. Cap. 47. once more calls the Rule of Truth which comes transmitted from Christ by his companions or Apostles and in another place most significantly that ONE EDICT of GOD which hangs up as the Edicts of the Emperor did in a Table to be read by all (p) De Resurrect Carnis Cap. 18. Nor was there any other Faith in the next Age to this in the third Century as we may be satisfied from Origen who in his Preface to his Books 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thinking it necessary first to lay down a certain line and manifest rule by which to inquire concerning other things and having distinguished between things necessary to be believed and those which are not necessary he gives the summ of those things which were manifestly delivered by the Apostolical Preaching and it is nothing else but the present Creed about which he saith there is one sense of the whole Church And in his first Book against Celsus who said the Christian Religion was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a clancular Doctrine which they hid and concealed he avows that the Christian Doctrine was as well known in the World as the Opinions of Philosophers For who doth not know that we believe Jesus was born of a Virgin was crucified rose again from the Dead will come to Judgment and punish Sinners and reward the Righteous according to their Deeds Nay the Mystery of the future Resurrection is divulged though laught at by unbelievers These were the great things which were commonly taught and all obliged to believe as for others which were not
but that Church which pretends to it hath thereby forfeited the Authority which otherwise it might have had As the Church of Rome hath done which in the conclusion of that Council contradicted what it asserted in the beginning For there in its entrance as I observed (d) Sess III. Decretum de Symbolo fidei they thinking it necessary according to the example of the Fathers to make in the very first place a confession of their Faith and pretending to arm themselves thereby as with a Shield against all Heresies they repeat the Creed quo Sancta Romana Ecclesia utitur which the holy Roman Church useth as that Principle in which all that profess the Faith of Christ necessarily agree and the firm and ONELY Foundation against which the Gates of Hell shall not prevail And they think fit to express it totidem verbis in so many words as it is read in all Churches And then they say the Nicene Creed and not one word more Which is a plain Confession that this was the Faith of all Christians and no more till that time that it was the Only firm Foundation that which was read in all Churches in which all agree the Shield against all Heresies the whole Faith then used in the Roman Church And therefore with what Conscience could they make such a division and miserable destruction in the Christian World as they have done by a vast number of new Articles in which all Christians neither do nor can agree and which were not to be found in their own Creed before No reason can be given of this but the immense ambition of that Church to give Law to all others Unto which we cannot with a good Conscience submit especially when they impose such a heavy Yoke as this belief Which is the true Makebate between them and us the manifest cause of that fearful Schism which they not we have made by altering the true Catholique Faith and Church and Communion into a Roman This is the true distinction between them and us We are Catholiques they are Romans We believe the Catholique Faith of all Christians they as distinguisht from us believe the Roman Faith which none believe but themselves We believe that which hath been ever believed they believe that which was never believed till yesterday in comparison with the Ancient Faith. Ours is the belief of the whole Body of Christian People their 's the belief of a Sect. For the Truth I have shown which ought to be supported in the Church in nothing else but those uncontroverted mysteries of godliness contained in the Apostles Creed which I have proved to be the only Catholique Doctrines embraced by all Churches whatsoever They being not the Doctrines of a Sect meerly but in which we the Roman the Greek the Ethiopian the Syrian and all other Christians are perfectly agreed There are particular Men and some small companies of them here and there who understand some few of these Doctrines otherwise than they ought but there is no national Church of any Country but entertains all these intirely and sincerly as they have been expounded from the beginning according to the Nicene Creed which by the way is the only Creed the Abassines have that Creed called the Apostles being not found among them (e) Ludolph Histor Aethiop l. 3 c. 5. num 20. and therby are members of Christ's Body though they do not believe other Doctrines which are only boldly called Catholique by the Roman Church but are not truly so but only particular Doctrines of their own Church in which the Catholique Faith and Church is not concerned As they themselves confess by admitting persons into the Catholique Church which I noted before unto remission of sins and eternal life without any other belief but that which we profess Which makes us think that we might more safely swear they themselves believe this to be sufficient than they swear as they do that none can be saved without the new Faith which they have added to the ancient Creed I have been the larger in this second observation because it is of great moment for the setling of our minds in peace about right belief and this being setled I may sooner dispatch those that follow III. And the next is that these therefore and these alone are the fundamental Truths upon which our Religion and the very Church it self is built By fundamental Truths or Doctrines we mean such Catholique principles as are necessarily to be distinctly believed by every Christian whereby they being built as it were upon them become a Church Such truths no doubt there are for the Church being called here the House of God must have a Foundation Which Foundation is either Personal or Doctrinal The personal foundation is Christ the chief Corner-stone and the Apostles and Prophets as Ministers of his who laid this foundation Ephes II. 20. The Doctrinal are those grand Truths taught by them which make up our Faith in Christ That Common Faith as it is called Titus I. 4. that Faith which is alike precious in all 2 Pet. 1.1 the first principles of the Oracles of God Heb V. 12. or as it is literally in the Greek the Elements of the beginning of the Oracles of God the principles of the Doctrine of Christ or the word of the beginning of Christ Hebr. VI. 1. the form or draught the breviate or summary as it may be translated of sound words or doctrines 2 Tim. I. 13. the Faith once or at once delivered to the Saints Judge 3. and particularly committed to the trust 1 Tim. VI. 20. of those who were to instruct others in the common Salvation And what can those truths be but those great Doctrines contained in the Creed which it appears from what I have said the Apostles left in all the Churches which they planted For we find these were in every Church as Irenaeus assures us and these altogether one as Tertullian speaks and the immovable unreformable Rule of Faith and therefore may thence conclude they were that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which S. Paul deposited with Timothy 1. VI. 20. that good or that fair most excellent thing deposited with him or commended as an ancient Writer translates it to his trust to be preserved by him the Creed as Cyril * Catech. IV. p. 24 edit Paris 1640. of Hierusalem pithily speaks being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a brief summ of necessary Doctrines In some sense it is true there is nothing revealed in Holy Scripture but it may be called fundamental if we respect only the divine Authority by which it comes unto us upon which account nothing there delivered may be denyed but ought to be believed with all humility when the knowledge of it is offered to us But if we respect the matter and moment of all things contained therein we cannot but see there is a great difference and that the knowledge of every thing there is not equally necessary but we may be truly pious
he bewails in another place in the very same Language only putting both the foregoing parts of their Character together 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * Epist CCCXLIX c. whom I account the Pillars and Ground both of the Truth and of the Church and honour them so much the more the further off they are banished from their Churches and account that separation the greatest punishment In the very same Language S. Gregory Nazianzen addresses himself to S. Basil (m) Orat. XIX beginning whom he calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Pillar and Ground of the Church the prop of Faith the habitation of the Spirit And so he calls Athanasius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 (n) Orat. XXI the Pillar of the Church and in another place (o) Orat. XXIII 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the prop or stay of the Faith. And writing to Eusebius Bishop of Samosat (p) Epist XXIX Tom◠he thus begins What shall I call thee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Shall I call thee the Pillar and Ground of the Church or a Light in the World c. or the Stay of thy Country or the Rule of Faith or Embassador of the Truth or all these together and more than all these But that which is most worthy to be noted under this head is that S. Gregory Nyssen (q) De vita Mosis Tom. I. p. 226. expounds this very Text of Timothy and makes him not the Church the Pillar and Ground of Truth For discoursing concerning the Ministers of the Divine Mysteries as Pillars of the House of God he saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. S. Paul wrought and fashioned Timothy to be a goodly Pillar making him as he speaks with his own voice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Pillar and Ground of the Church and of Truth As if he took the sense of these words to be this But if I tarry long that thou who art the Pillar and Ground of Truth maist know how to behave thy self in the Church c. And indeed the Apostles are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pillars in the II. Gal. 9. not only S. Peter but James and John also And here we are taught as he truly observes that not only Peter James and John were Pillars not only John the Baptist was a burning Lamp 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but all that by themselves support the Church all that by their work are shining lights are called both Pillars and Lamps Which names were afterward applied to Christian Bishops by the most eminent Persons in the Church who hereby plainly declared what they understood by these words of S. Paul and that they lookt not upon this as a priviledge peculiar to any one Bishop or any one Church but common to all Churches and especially to the principal Persons in the Church who were the Leaders and Guides of the rest and so more peculiarly intrusted with the preservation of Divine Truth and the chief Pillars and Supporters of the Faith. And thus Origen or whosoever he was that wrote the Homilies upon the Song of Songs * Hom. III. Basil p. 598. seems to have understood this place for having observed from hence that the Church is God's House and applied these words to the explication of the last Verse of the first Chapter of the Canticles where it is said the beams of our house are Cedar he concludes that hereby are meant those who are validiores of greatest strength in the Church Et puto quod convenienter hi qui episcopatum bene ministrant in Ecclesia c. And I think that they who well discharge the Office of a Bishop in the Church may conveniently be called Beams by which the whole Building is born up c. viz. by supporting and defending the Christian Faith upon which the Church is built And thus the Abyssine Christians at this day call not only S. Mark but their great Doctor S. Cyril by the name of Columnae Ecclesiae Alexandrinae (s) Ludolphi Histor Aethiop L. III. c. 12. n. 51. the Pillars of the Church of Alexandria because Cypril was a mighty assertor and defender of the Truth against the assaults of Hereticks Upon which account Rupertus Tuitiensis (t) L. VII oper de Sp. Sancto cap. 19. calls S. Austin by the same name that S. Paul here calls Timothy columna firmamentum veritatis the Pillar and Ground or strong stay of Truth Which Language is common among the Jews who call Abraham for instance the Pillar of the World (u) Maimon de cultu stell c. 1. n. 5. More Nevohim Pars III. c. 29. with respect to the true Religion which he maintained which is the very Language of Ignatius concerning the Apostles of whom he thus speaks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 (y) Epist ad Philadelph the Pillars of the World the Apostles mentioning together with them the Spouse of Christ viz. the Church I have been the more copious in this because it shows that the ancient Doctors thought all Bishops to be equally concerned in this Office and Honour it never entering into their minds that any one had an interest in it more than the rest much less that one the Bishop of Rome had it solely to himself III. But further I observe that the Martyrs though not Bishops are frequently called by this name So the Churches of Vienne and Lyons in their Letter to the Churches of Asia and Phrygia concerning the blessed Martyrs who had suffered among them say that God delivered the weaker sort and opposed to the fury of the Enemy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those who were firm and steady Pillars able by their Patience to draw all the violent assaults of the Devil upon them (x) Apud Euseb L. V. Histor Eccles cap. 1. p. 155. edit Vales Among whom they mention Sanchis a Deacon and Maturus a meer Novice and Attalus born at Pergamus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 (z) Ib. p. 157. Who had always been the Pillar and Ground or stay and strength of Christians in this place that is settled and sustained others in the Christian belief And so Eusebius speaks of other Martyrs at Alexandria in the time of Decius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * L. VI. Eccles Hist cap. 41. c. firm and blessed Pillars of the Lord who strengthned by him and having might and power answerable to the strength of their Faith became admirable witnesses of his Kingdom For they could not be shaken with the fear of death and torment and so by their stedfastness confirmed and established others in the Christian Faith and were eminent Instruments likewise of converting strangers to our Religion who saw their pious and meek constancy under the greatest sufferings joyned with the greatest charity bowels of mercy and compassion towards their bloody persecutors For whom they beg'd pardon and forgiveness of God desiring nothing more than they might come to that heavenly Kingdom which they testified to them by parting with life
it self for the sake of it Neither is this meerly the Ecclesiastical Language but the Holy Scripture it self gives those this honourable title who constantly indured tribulation for the Gospel sake though it did not cost them their lives Thus our blessed Lord speaks to the Church of Philadelphia III. Revel 12. Him that overcometh will I make a Pillar in the temple of my God. Which signifies partly that he should be an eminent Instrument of upholding the Church and preserving many in the profession of Christianity by his constancy and firmness in it and partly that he should be so established himself by the grace and power of God that he should never fall according to that of S. Peter 1 V. 10. But the God of all grace who hath called us unto his eternal glory after that ye have suffered a while make you perfect establish strengthen settle you and partly that he should be made in the highest sense a PILLAR that is an Apostolical Man who should be advanced to the most eminent imployment in the Church of teaching and instructing of Governing and Ruling as a principal Pastor in the Temple of God. In one word be an Angel of the Church as he speaks in the beginning of this Letter v. 7. and in all the rest an illustrious Minister and Messenger of God to publish the glad tidings of Salvation to the World. Such the Apostles were whom Theodoret calls the Pillars of the Truth with peculiar respect to their sufferings Behold saith he †Orat. de providentia Tom. IV. p. 441. Peter and John 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. the Towers or Bulwarks of Godliness the Pillars of Truth supporting the Structure of the Church being scourged by the Jews but rejoycing and glorying V. Act. 41. that they were counted worthy to suffer shame or to be disgraced for his Name And such like were these victorious Souls as Arethas * Comment in III. Rev. 12. expounds our Saviour's words to this Church For he that conquers saith he the adverse powers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is constituted a Pillar and Ground of the Truth rejoycing himself immutably so he interprets in the temple of my God and establishing others in goodness that they may not fall from their stedfastness IV. Any eminent person also in the Church though not a Martyr is sometime called by this name in Ecclesiastical Writers For instance Jo. Damascen thus addresses himself to Jordanes the Archimandrite 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 (b) Epist ad euâ—n de Triâ—agio O most Divine Father the Pillar and Ground or stay of Truth Nay thus zealous persons in the Laity especially if they were of great quality contributed to the support of the Faith by supporting these Pillars of it So S. Basil in one of the forenamed Epistles having bewailed the banishment of their Bishops whom he calls the Pillars and Ground of Truth prays Terentius a Count of the Empire to preserve himself safe that they might have some to rest upon God having graciously made him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 (c) Epist 345. a support and a prop in all things to us But they of the Clergy more particularly though of the Order below Bishops were lookt upon as having no small share in this Office. For S. Cyril of Alexandria (d) Lib. V. in Esaiam Tom. 2. p. 768. having mentioned Christ as the foundation and believers in him as pretious Stones built upon him unto a holy Temple compares their instructors in the Mysteries of Religion to the most pretious Stones such as those mentioned LIV. Isa 11 12. which God uses some in laying the foundation others as buttresses some for the Gates others for the Walls of the holy City that is the Church that all her Children may be taught of God. V. Nay one of the forenamed great Doctors of the Church warrants me to add that every pious member of the Church in his place and calling hath his share in this great trust For whosoever saith S. Gregory Nyssen (e) Hom. XIV in Cant. Canticorum p 684. is perfected in these two great Commandments to love God and to love his Neighbour he is framed to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Pillar and Ground of Truth according to the language of the Apostle By both these we may become such Pillars as Peter and James and John or if there be any other since them that hath been or shall be worthy of this name And he doth in effect say the same in the place before named (f) De vita Mosis where he observes the Apostle requires others to be Pillars as well as himself when he saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. XV. 58. be ye stedfast or stable unmoveable abounding always in the work of the Lord. For he that is thus firmly fixed and setled as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies and diligent in well doing whatsoever trials he hath to shake him he supports Religion he maintains the credit of it in the World he doth great service to the Truth by shewing how good how useful how laborious it makes those that embrace it And I am sure it lies upon every one of us as an indispensable duty to hold fast the Truth and to profess it and practise it and notwithstanding any danger or trouble unto which it may expose us to testifie unto it if need be by constant patient peaceable suffering for Christs sake And he that doth thus is according to his measure though never so mean a person in the Church a Pillar and Ground of Truth And thus Theodoret expounds these words he calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the assembly or congregation of those that believe the House of God and the Church and these he saith are the Pillar and support of Truth For being founded upon the Rook they both remain unshaken and preach by their deeds the truth of their Doctrine And Theophylast also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Church is a constitution or an assembly of truth For all things that are done in it are true nothing shadowy as under the Law c. VI. I have but one thing further to add That the more and the better they are who joyn in this work the greater support they give to the Truth First I say the more the greater number there are of those who maintain the truth by preaching writing suffering or well doing and the greater credit they have in the World the stronger Pillars they are and the surer doth the truth seem to be in the eyes of those to whom they represent it Upon which account the Doctrine of S. Paul and Barnabas which he had received by revelation as well as other Apostles yet being communicated to James and Cephas and John who were eminent Pillars and been approved by them received the more strength by their concurrent testimony II. Gal. 2 5 9. And it was still more confirmed by the whole Council of Apostles and Elders at Jerusalem
XV. Act. 2.25 so that it was received joyfully at Antioch V. 31. and the Churches in other Cities were established in the Faith and increased in number daily XVI 4.5 For which reason the testimony of a great assembly of Bishops was a greater support and strengthning to the Faith than the testimony of single persons They were the principal Trustees as I observed before to whose fidelity the truth was committed and when they met together in a Council to discharge this trust it gave great force to the truth declared by them Which they knew so well that in ancient times such Councils were wont to desire the consent of other Bishops who were not there for the greater establishment and confirmation of the Faith as Theodoret (g) L. 2. Hist Eccles C. 6. relates of the Council of Sardica whose Letter he hath set down to all the Bishops in the World desiring them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as present in Spirit with them to consent to their Synod and by their subscription to decree that concord might be preserved among all their fellow Bishops every where Nay the great and first general Council of Nice it self (h) Theodoret. L. 1. Eccles Hist Cap. 8 9. wrote to the Church of Alexandria and the rest throughout Egypt Libya and Pentapolis to give them an account of their decrees And Constantine also certified all absent Bishops who could not come to the Council of their proceedings That there might be one Faith as his words are and sincere charity and a concording Religion or Piety preserved among them all It was upon the same score that sometime they sent particularly to the Bishop of Rome for his concurrence as the Council of Carthage (i) August Epist XC XCI XCV and others did in the business of Pelagius not because they imagined their decrees would be of no force without his consent that 's an ungrounded fancy but because he was an eminent Bishop in the Church of Christ by whose concurrent testimony the Truth would be still more confirmed and their Churches would have the greater comfort de communi participatione unius gratiae from the common participation of one grace by knowing that is that they were of the same belief The like may be said of the Martyrs who when they suffered in great numbers gave the more amazing testimony to the Truth which terrified the Devil himself and staggered their very Judges as S. Basil speaks (k) Tom. 1. Hom. XX. of the XL Martyrs who all together as if they had had but one Mouth cryed out when they were examined I am a Christian By such resolution as this our Religion was not only upheld but mightily increased And the more the number of Christians increased the more was Truth spread abroad till it grew to be the prevailing Religion and the Kingdoms of the World became the Kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ 2. But it was not mere numbers that did the business for their extraordinary Piety and Purity in those early days had the greatest hand in it Which was the second thing I desired to be noted under this last head that the better the Pastors and the People are the greater service they do to the Truth and the more prevalent their testimony is when it appears by their lives that they have no other interest to serve but that of Truth and Godliness And when all is done it will be found that the sanctity of those who assert God's holy Truth their pure and undefiled Religion which keeps them from being spotted by the World is that which will be the most powerful to move Mens minds and will make the easiest way for its entertainment in Mens Hearts Nothing can give a Church such authority and make its testimony so credible as its integrity and sincere Devotion its study of purity in Heart and Life it s designing clearly the good of Souls and not worldly advantages its universal charity and kindness which invites even strangers to attend unto it and much more its own Members And therefore I must note for a conclusion of this part of my Discourse that when we speak of the Church i. e. the whole company of believers and say that it is the Pillar and Ground or establishment of Truth it is meant principally of those whose Faith brings forth fruit and works by love These are the main supporters of the Christian Religion who do not merely profess it but are acted and live by their Faith in all holy obedience to Christ For they are living Stones built upon him the foundation of all the true living Body of Christ who are animated by his Spirit and with whom he hath promised to make his abode and consequently are the only persons who to purpose support and maintain and defend the Truth Which would in a little time be suppressed or obscured depraved or varied concealed or misinterpreted if the wicked only had the conduct of it Who are no more to be accounted Pillars of the Truth i. e. can no more alone support and uphold it than a Reed a Straw or a rotten Stick can support a building This is the ancient Doctrine of the Church it self as appears by what S. Austin saies in his Preface to the Exposition of the XLVIII Psalm (k) Tom. VIII Enarratio in Psal XLVII Where taking the firmament which was made the second day to be an emblem of the Church he saith by the Church we ought to understand Ecclesiam Christi in Sanctis c. the Church of Christ in his Saints the Church of Christ in those whose names are written in Heaven the Church of Christ in those who do not yield to the temptations of this World. Ipsi enim digni sunt nomine FIRMAMENTI for these are worthy the name of Firmament or strength Therefore the Church of Christ in those qui firmi sunt who are strong concerning whom the Apostle speaks we that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak is called the FIRMAMENT For hearken and acknowledge how this Church is called by this name in the Apostolical writings and then he quotes this place to Timothy which is the Church of the living God columna firmamentum veritatis the Pillar and support of Truth By these principally the Truth is maintained For it is most plainly delivered by the Apostles themselves that Men and Women by their wicked lives did turn Apostates from the Faith. And we find by experience as well as their instructions that nothing doth more quench the Spirit of God nothing is more contrary to true Wisdom than filthiness and impurity which we must abandon therefore and not think we can do very considerable service to the Truth by the bare profession of it but upon the foundation Christ Jesus we must seriously indeavour to raise the superstructure of a holy life whereby we shall adorn recommend and effectually promote our Religion It must not be denyed indeed that a
better from one of their society who calls them brethren than from one that separates from them as mere Strangers and Foreigners with whom they have nothing to do in matters of Religion Would to God this were more seriously practised among us that we would be as forward charitably to reprove Men for their wickedness as we are even to reproach them perhaps uncharitably for their false opinions It might be a means of their cure an effectual remedy for their amendment when piously and prudently administred and a means of bringing those back who are gone astray from us that there may be no divisions among us but we may be perfectly joyned together in the same mind and in the same judgment PART III. How the Church discharges this Office of a Pillar and Ground of Truth WHAT the Psalmist saith concerning Jerusalem or the Church of the Jews which was wont there to assemble is more fully verified in the Christian Church Great and glorious things are spoken of thee O thou city of God LXXXVII Ps 1. This great City S. John saw descending out of Heaven having the glory of God XXI Rev. 10 11. And in the Verse before calls this Church the bride the lambs wife There is a special presence that is of God in it and a special love of the Lord Jesus to it For it is the body of Christ and the fulness of him that fills all things To this S. John saith they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations against this our Saviour promises the gates of hell shall not prevail The pure water of life clear as crystal runs therein here grows the tree of life XXII Rev. 1 2. and it is as it were the paradise and garden of God. Which things show what an honour what an happiness it is to be a Citizen of this Holy Jerusalcm Whosoever they be that by a cordial Faith in Christ and sincere love to him joyn themselves to this Body are made Members of Christ Children of God Companions of Angels and Inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven They are under the protection of the Almighty under the guidance of his Holy Spirit under the care and tender love of that great and glorious Lord who is the Prince of all the kings of the earth and hath all power in heaven as well as earth invested in him For the Church is the house and family of God nay the temple of the living God 2 Cor. VI. 17. for he hath said as it there follows I will dwell in them and walk in them and will be their God and they shall be my people I will be a Father unto you and ye shall be my sons and daughters saith the Lord God Almighty These things are great indeed and exceeding glorious But not content with these priviledges which are as a Royal Diadem and Crown of Glory on the Head of the Church there are those who would adorn her with prouder Titles and set her forth in an adulterous dress and a presumptuous glory making her in a manner equal to her Head the Lord Christ For they have snatcht one of the incommunicable properties of God and fixt it as a Jewel on the top of the Churches Crown telling us that she is an infallible Guide who cannot mislead us That is though she may go astray and play the Harlot in life and practice yet she cannot err nor mistake in her judgment So that if we listen to what she says we shall never wander but always be in the right For the proof of this they first suppose themselves to be the Church of Christ and they alone and then they abuse this place of Holy Scripture to assert this Divine Prerogative to be in his Church that is in themselves But I have exposed the bold folly of these pretences by showing that the Church here spoken of is the Church of Ephesus and that Timothy was the principal Pillar and Ground of Truth in this Church Which doth not signifie I have shown that either the Church or Timothy were the very Foundation of the Christian Faith upon whose credit the Authority the Truth and Certainty of all Religion depends but the Supporters of the Truth who testified maintained upheld and propagated the Faith of Christ For the more full understanding of which I shall briefly show before I proceed to the last thing propounded first what power it is that we herein ascribe to the Church particularly to the Bishops and Governors thereof Secondly what power it cannot pretend unto nor ought to be yielded to any Church or Person whatsoever I. As for the first of these what the power is we allow the Church when we say it upholds maintains and testifies to the Truth it is as much as to enquire of what Authority the Testimony of the Church is how much it ought to weigh with us and how far we ought to yield to it to the Testimony for instance of the present Church of which we are Members for it hath as much Authority as any other when it propounds Truth to us and presses it upon our belief Are we to believe it meerly because the Church saith it In answer to which we affirm that the Testimony of the Church is that whereby we are both informed of the Truth and induced as by the first external motive to Faith in Christ Mr. Hooker calls it the Key as others do the Door which lets us into the knowledge of the great Mystery of Godliness which is preserved in this House of God. If we allow it not this we allow it nothing nor can it or any Person in it be said to be a Pillar and Ground of Truth unless it do something to the bringing us acquainted with the Truth which it propounds and sets before us and testifies to be that which Christ hath left with his Church to be delivered down to all Generations For it conveys the Holy Scriptures to us and calls upon us to consider and study them that therein by the help of the Pastors of the Church to whom this Office I have shown principally belongs we may find all necessary Truths in order to our Salvation Which Testimony being the Testimony of Men that profess Faithfulness Honesty and a good Conscience as the great thing in their Religion is the highest of all humane Testimonies and cannot but work very strongly and powerfully upon Mens minds when Christians are such as they profess to be and as they are it ought to work thus far upon all sorts of Men even upon those who are out of the Church as to incline them to have a reverend regard to that Faith and those Scriptures and to look into them and consider them which they see such multitudes of People and some of them very wise as well as devout constantly esteem as the very Truth of God transmitted to them from his Son by the Apostles who attended on him from his first appearing till he went to Heaven This moved S.
defects of the Scripture and make things unwritten to become matters of Faith. Which is such an unbounded Prerogative that we may have a new Faith as often as they please to pretend a Tradition for it though they cannot prove it For we must rest in the authority of the present Church which affirms it and that against the very Scripture it self which tells us it is able to make a Man of God perfect and against the testimony of the Universal Church which I have shown forbids the producing of any other Faith but that which was evidently delivered by the Apostles there 3. We cannot allow the Church an Infallible authority that is such an assistance in her Doctrines and proposals that she cannot err in any thing she defines In Controversies indeed arising about matters of Faith we own and reverence the authority of the Church (t) Artic. XX. so as not to contest the publique judgement but to prefer it before our own private conceits in doubtful things But as it ought to proceed in its determinations by the Rule of Gods word So we think it possible it may mistake in the application of this Rule and therefore we do not blindly resign our selves to its authority without all regard to the Holy Scriptures unto which the Church ought to have a respect in all its determinations No that 's another proud pretence of the present Roman Church that they cannot mistake in their definitions and therefore we must submit unto them without examination From whence this intollerable mischief hath insued that it hath made them both insensible of their errors and careless to seek any cure of them nay utterly incapable of a remedy For as one of our own Divines excellently speaks (u) Dr. Petter's Answer to Charity mistaken Sect. 5. whose words those are this conceit of their Infallibility is to them both a sufficient reason for that which is most unreasonable and a sufficient answer to that which is most unanswerable To this they retreat upon all occasions when they are not able to maintain their ground they have no other way to defend their errors when they are plainly set before their eyes but to tell us confidently they cannot err Which is a very strange boldness for we demonstrate in manay instances that they have erred erred most grosly particularly in this that they have added new Articles to the old Creed to be believed under pain of Damnation and added a new Canon of Scripture to the Old Testament against the clearest evidence in the Records of the Universal Church that the Books they have newly received were never acknowledged for Canonical Scripture If by the Church indeed they would understand the Church truly Catholique the whole Body of Christ in all times places and ages and if by matters of Faith they would understand those grand Articles which I have mentioned in the first part of this Discourse and if by being Infallible they would understand not an absolute impossibility of erring which humane nature is not capable of but not actual error there are none of us make any question but the Church is Infallible That is the whole Church hath not erred nor shall not err in the whole Faith or in any necessary part thereof for such error would cut Men off from Christ the head and so leave him no Church at all which is impossible It hath been the very scope of first my Discourse to show that the Church hath always kept the great fundamental truths of our Religion and not erred in them but transmitted them down to us whole and undefiled till the Church of Rome in the Council of Trent corrupted the Faith by their errors which they have mixed with it For to a particular Church such as that of Rome is we cannot allow this priviledge of not erring because we know they have erred even in fundamental Truths and thereby ceased to be Churches Witness those glorious Churches to which Christ himself sent his Letters by S. John the Apostle These Prerogatives therefore not belonging to any Church every one must be content with those two Offices before mentioned which are sufficient First The Office of a Witness testifying the authority of the Holy Scriptures unto its members Secondly of Gods instrument by whose Ministry in opening expounding and urging the Holy Scriptures the Holy Ghost begets a divine Faith in us And by performing these Offices it supports and continues and propagates the Truth and so may be called the Pillar and Ground thereof The meaning of which I shall now distinctly set before the Readers eyes that I may give a short account of the fourth and last thing propounded in the beginning IV. How the Church may appropriate to it self this Title 1. First Every Church and every person in it especially the Bishops and Pastors are the Pillar and Ground of Truth officio by Duty and Office whereby they are obliged to keep maintain and uphold the Truth This always was and always will be incumbent on them which is sufficient to fill up the sense of such attributes as these which do not always note performance of Duty but only obligation to it As when our Saviour saith to his Disciples Ye are the salt of the Earth it doth not signifie that they were necessarily so for he supposes immediately the salt might lose its savour but that they ought to be so and if they were not so would be good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under foot Matth. V. 13. 2. But Secondly The first Churches of Christ in the Apostles times were actu effectu actually and effectually the Pillar of Truth that is they faithfully discharg'd this Office and perform'd their Duty constantly maintaining the Truth as it is in Christ in its purity and simplicity For the Apostles were a part of those Churches whom God led into all Truth which they taught sincerely and intirely while they lived and do at this day instruct us in the Holy Scriptures in the whole Truth necessary to our Salvation 3. But we cannot say the same of all succeeding Churches that they did faithfully perform this office though in duty they also were bound so to do No some of them were so far from being Pillars of the Truth that they let it fall to the ground We have strange instances of it with which I shall not fill these Papers in the History of the Church which show us that if we take not heed to our selves and the Doctrine that is delivered to us we have no security that we or any other particular Church shall continue firm and stedfast supporters of the Truth For Pillars themselves may decay and if they be not well lookt after will go to ruin and fall to the Earth 4. Even this very Church of Ephesus which was a Pillar and Ground of Truth while Timothy presided in it afterward began before all the Apostles were dead to remit its first love and zeal for
with this Wisdom you ought to think your selves wise unto Salvation And not be in the least moved with the bugbear name of Hereticks or the empty noise of Damnation which they of the Church of Rome thunder out against you For they signifie nothing but the wrath-of those who would drive you into the belief of that by frights and terrors into which they cannot draw you by solid proofs and arguments Turn away your Ears both from the one and the other for as the former is an insignificant sound so the latter all their Arguments are but confident Sophistry Which hath been and is at this day so evidently demonstrated by our Writers that they can have no excuse who are deceived by them III. And thus every one is bound to teach his Children diligently instructing and confirming them in these main Points of Christianity that so the Truth may live when we are gone Consider I beseech you what a necessary duty this is How should the Truth be preserved and supported but by those that believe it And how should they believe it who do not understand it And how should they understand it unless they be taught and instructed in it And who so much concerned to instruct their Children as they that brought them into the World Their God-fathers and God-mothers indeed are engaged to see this done but their Parents have a further even a natural obligation to it And therefore ought first of all diligently to inform themselves and by attending to all the means of instruction which they have in this Church to increase in true Christian knowledge that they may be able to teach those who are committed to their care and prepare them to be catechised and further instructed by those whom God hath set over them We are not Pillars and supporters of the Truth but the betrayers of it if we take no care about this Which is one great reason why some have easily forsaken the true Religion here taught and professed and condemned this Church an horrid crime if you seriously weigh the consequents of it by renouncing Communion with it as no part of the Body of Christ Men may be soon perswaded by confident talkers to part with that which they do not understand especially if they apprehend any danger in keeping it or hope to gain by letting it go Why should they hazzard the least hair of their Head for they know not what Nay why should they be at all concerned for it any more than a Man is for the seed that is scattered in the High-way from which he expects no Crop To that you know our blessed Lord compared him that heareth the word of the Kingdom and understandeth it not for then cometh the wicked one and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart Matth. XIII 19. IV. You must endeavour therefore to profit by all such instructions as these and to grow in the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures where God hath revealed his whole mind and will to you and plainly published all those Truths which belong to the great mystery of godliness You ought for instance to take heed how you wantonly and loosely interpret or apply them according to your own sudden or careless fancies that 's a great profanation of the Sacred Books and yet you must not for fear of this be perswaded to throw them out of your hands but rather with the more solemn humble and reverend awe of God upon your Souls ponder and weigh what you read therein especially those things which are plain and evident to every understanding that by the help of them and of those whom God hath set over you to guide and direct your minds you may either inform your understanding in what appears to have difficulty in it or satisfie your selves that it is not necessary you should understand it For they that would drive you from this hold of the Holy Scriptures intend to deceive you and would have you depend on that which is far more uncertain than the meaning of any place of Scripture can be There is no firm ground for us to stand upon but only this which all acknowledge is the very word of God and delivers that which hath been ever accounted the substance of Christian Doctrines in such words as every one may understand them And therefore this is as I have said the very foundation upon which the Church is built Which is the Pillar of Truth as it defends the Truth out of the Scriptures and by the Scriptures against all Hereticks and other opposers and as it establishes and supports it in the hearts of Men by this means that it may be continued to Posterity This must be added for the explication of all that hath been said that the Church and every person in it great or small are Pillars not by themselves but by the Holy Scriptures For we know those things that belong to our Salvation as Irenaeus (g) Adv. Hereses L. III. C. 1. begins his Third Book by no other persons than those by whom the Gospel came to us which then truly they preached but afterwards by the will of God deliverd to us in the Scriptures fundamentum Columnam fidei nostrae futurum to be the FOVNDATION and PILLAR of our Faith. Upon these our Faith rests and relys so that they who take the Scriptures from you take away the Foundation and Pillar of that Truth which is or ought to be taught in the Church and that alone They contain the mind and will of our Lord Christ who himself being the first Foundation and chief Pillar of all Epiphanius (h) Heres LXIX Nâ—m 35. applies these words to him When he saith our Lord is called the door because by him we enter in and the way because by him we walk and the Pillar because 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the very words of S. Paul in this place the ground or settlement and stay of Truth And in like manner S. Cyril (i) L. III. de Adoral in Sp. Veritate of Alexandria saith the Pillar of a Cloud and the Pillar of Fire each of them represented Christ because first of all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he is the Pillar and Ground of Truth and then because he cannot be shaken or disturbed c. which he repeats again upon another occasion speaking of the pillars which supported the Curtains of the Tabernacle Christ is to be understood saith he (k) Ib. Lib. IX in each Pillar 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. the prop of the Church the Ground of Truth according to the words of Paul. And in the next Book (l) L. X. speaking of the four pillars which supported the Vail before the holy place he saith that Vail was a figure of Christ who was lifted up on high by the preaching of the Evangelists and therefore he saith the four Evangelists were typified by those four pillars being equally eminent and pretious more valuable than Gold and Silver Which
shows that the Ancient Christians lookt upon the Church as the Pillar and Ground of Truth no other ways but as it professes preaches establishes and keeps up the Doctrine of Christ and of his Apostles recorded in the Holy Scriptures unto all which they indifferently apply these words of S. Paul which are thought immediately to speak of the Church which supports the Truth delivered in the Holy Scriptures from Christ and from his Apostles Upon which account the Creed also which is a comprehensive breviary of the great Scripture Doctrines is wont to have the same attribute given to it Particularly by Epiphanius (m) In Exposit fidei Cathol n. 19. who calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Pillar as the Greek word signifies in good Authors or prop of Truth c. our life our hope and the assurance of immortality And by S. Austin (n) De Symbolo ad Catechum L. III. C. 1. who tells the Catechumens in his Exposition of the Creed to them that it is fidei Catholicae fundamentum c. the Foundation of the Catholique Faith upon which the edifice of the Church arose built by the hands of the Apostles and Prophets Which hath made some learned Men (o) Jo. Camer Jac. Capellus refer these words of S. Paul not to what goes before but to the words following making a full stop at God and then beginning a new sentence in this manner The Pillar and Ground of the Truth and without Controversie great is the mystery of godliness c. which reading is countenanced by a Greek Edition of the New Testament at Basil 1540. where the words are so pointed as if the sence were this God incarnate and the great Truths depending thereupon ought to be the very Foundation of the Doctrine thou preachest The Doctrines of the Creed that is are the very Foundation and Pillars of the Christian Faith as the Jews it is known call the great principle of their Religion the Foundation of the Foundation the Pillar of Wisdom as Maimon speaks when he treats of this matter Stick close therefore to the Holy Scriptures and to these Articles of the Faith in the Apostles Creed which are the fundamental truths of Christianity it appears by what I have now said by which the Church maintains and defends the Truth and the Truth upholds the Church and we defend both Hold this fast as the ground of all and likewise lay up the word of God in your heart that it may setle there and take root and bring forth fruit unto Holiness that your end may be everlasting Life Make the Holy Scriptures your Rule and trust to them according to what the Son of Sirach saith of its ancient Books Ecclus XXXIII 3. A Man of understanding trusts in the Law and the Law is faithful to him as an Oracle or as the asking of Vrim That is here he may enquire and have a certain answer which will not deceive him Show your selves such Men of understanding as to enquire no where else And if any Church or Person would have you enquire of them only take that for an undoubted proof they are not to be trusted If they would not guide you by the Holy Scriptures that is by Christ the way as you have seen who hath shown us no where else that we know of what we ought to believe if they would have you follow their ungrounded Traditions whereby they would inlarge your Creed beyond the ancient bounds know that you ought not to follow them nor be led by them For such may soon cease to be the pillars and supporters of the Truth because they leave that whereby they should support it and place themselves whom they call the Church in the stead of it An evident sign they are not what they pretend for the Church it self ought to be demonstrated by the Scriptures So S. Austin (p) L. de Vnitate Ecclesiae cap. XVI tells the Donatists in those known words which are worthy to be preserved in remembrance Setting aside all such things as these which he had said they could likewise alledge let them demonstrate their Church if they can not in the discourses and rumours of the Africans not in the Councils of their Bishops not in the Letters of any disputers whatsoever not in signs and fallacious wonders for we are prepared and rendred cautious against these by the word of the Lord but in the prescript of the Law in the predictions of the Prophets in the Songs of the Psalms in the words of the SHEPHERD himself i. e. Christ in the preachings and labours of the Evangelists that is in all the Canonical authorities of the holy Books Let this be done so as not to gather and relate those things which are obscurely or ambiguously or figuratively spoken there which every one may interpret as he pleases according to his own sense For such things cannot be rightly understood and expounded unless those things which are most clearly spoken be first held by a firm Faith. This is the very sense of the Church of England which teaches all her members first to hold by a firm Faith those things which are clearly revealed in the Holy Scriptures and by them to understand and expound those things that are more obscurely delivered believing nothing to be necessary which is not read therein nor may be proved thereby nor receiving the Doctrines and Decrees of any Church unless it may be declared that they be taken from thence For haec sunt causae nostrae documenta haec fundamenta haec firmamenta as he there speaks you heard before These are the proofs of our Cause these are its foundations these are its supports And therefore as he also speaks in another Chapter of the same Book (q) Cap. III. de Vnitate Ecclesiae which he begins thus Let us not hear such speeches as these These things say I Those things sayest thou but let us hear These things saith the LORD These are certainly Books of the Lord to whose authority we both consent we both believe we both obey There let us seek the Church there let us discuss our Cause And let us not so much as think of looking after any other Articles of Faith but those which were from the beginning which our Church firmly believes in the three Creeds Nice-Creed Athanasius and that commonly called the Apostles (r) Article VIII because they may be proved by most certain warrants of Holy Scripture For after the Faith confessed and sworn in Baptism as S. Hilary (ſ) Ad Constantium August speaks we ought not quicquam aliud vel ambigere vel innovare either to doubt or innovate any other thing It is absurd that is to doubt whether this be sufficient or to add any other to it as if this were not enough So he interprets it a little after Faith is still inquired after as if there were no Faith already Faith is to be written as if it were not in the
heart being regenerated by Faith we are now taught what to believe as if that Regeneration were without Faith. We learn Christ after Baptism as if there could be any Baptism without the Faith of Christ It is most safe for us as it follows a little after to retain that first and only Evangelical Faith confessed and understood in Baptism V. And that a good and righteous cause may have good defenders and supporters let us read the Holy Scriptures wherein this Faith is contained chiefly for this end that we may order our steps that is our Lives and Conversation according to the rule of God's word Let us always remember that our Religion is a mystery of godliness as was shown before in which we are not well instructed if it do not teach us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly righteously and godly in the World. Which is the best way also to continue in the Faith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Apostle speaks most agreeable to these words which he writes to Timothy grounded and setled or stable and stedfast Colos I. 23. For they are the good ground in the Church who in an bonest and good heart having heard the word keep it and bring forth fruit with patience Luk. VIII 15. As much as to say if we would stand fast in the Faith and not fall away as our Saviour saith others would do in time of trial v. 13. we must first come to hear and read the word of God with unprejudiced minds and upright hearts desiring to know the Truth and resolved to receive it though never so contrary to our present inclinations and interests This is the honest and good heart which secondly must keep and preserve in mind and heart what it hath thus received and not presently let it slip or lay it aside as a thing never to be thought of more after we have heard it And lastly we must not only in a warm fit of zeal begin to put in practice what we learn but bring forth fruit with patience or continuance This is the way both to draw others into the Church and to continue our selves in it and to make us constant defenders of the Christian Faith That is to do our part in this great Office of being the Pillar and Ground of Truth Which is a thing incumbent upon the whole Church and consequently upon every one of us who are members of it And therefore remember that the Christian Religion for which we are to be Zealous is the acknowledgement of the Truth after godliness as I said before Tit. I. 1. It is the Doctrine of piety to the study of which if we seriously and heartily apply our selves it will be our best security against all impostures and preserve us from the subtil and crafty insinuations of those who corrupt or pervert the Christian Doctrine and finally be the most powerful means to make Christianity prevail in the World. Remember the advice of S. Paul to this Church of Ephesus Ephes IV. 14.15 where you may find the true way to continue firm and stedfast and not to be tossed about as Children with every blast of Doctrine c. and that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by speaking or rather following the Truth in love or according to the Hebrew Dialect being fixed and established in the love of God and of one another For the Hebrew word Aman to which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 answers signifies not only to speak Truth but likewise to be firm and constant fixed and established which if we be we shall have a settled unmoveable confidence of God's Love and Favour towards us For he that heartily loves God and his Neighbour will never be startled much less shaken by their bold Anathemas though all the World should tell him he shall be damned if he do not believe this or that proposition which they say is absolutely necessary to his Salvation because there is something within him that gives them the lye and assures him there is no truth in them who say that God hates and will reject him who believes all the ancient Faith which works by Love. God himself testifies the contrary by making the Truth efficacious in his heart to purge him from all filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit and by changing him into his own likeness in Holiness Love and Goodness And the more thoroughly any Man is renewed in the spirit of his mind the more perfectly will he be assured that they pronounce a false judgment upon him and consequently be the more heartily resolved against that Religion which makes men so liberal in pouring out Curses upon all them that do not embrace its novel opinions Which brings me to the last thing I would have considered that VI. We do not perform our duty I may safely affirm nay confidently aver we are not the Pillar and Stay of Truth as we ought to be unless every one of us in our several Places and Stations oppose with a becoming Zeal the Errors Innovations and Incroachments of the Church of Rome who are the Men that are of all other most guilty of the just-now named Uncharitableness or rather Pride and Cruelty For they utterly un-Church us and as much as in them lies cut us off from the Body of Christ and bar the Gates of the Kingdom of Heaven against us By this alone if there were nothing else we are sure they have grosly erred and live in error that they deny us to be a part of Christ's Church who believe and confess with Heart and Mouth the whole Catholique Faith every thing that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 confessedly and by Universal consent the Ancient Christian Belief in which the Apostles and Martyrs died by which alone Righteous Souls for many Ages went to Heaven knowing nothing of the Pope's Supremacy of Transubstantiation of the Propitiatory Sacrifice of the Mass for quick and dead and the rest of their new inventions We deserve not the name of Christians no nor of Men if we stand not up resolutely against such usurpations and corruptions of the Christian Doctrine and maintain that Faith which we profess and wherein we stand to be the true Grace of God the Faith once delivered to the Saints Which is incumbent chiefly upon the Bishops and Pastors of the Church who I have shown are the Principal Pillars of the Truth as Timothy was in the Church of Ephesus and therefore ought to appear with all their might for the support of God's true Religion here established instructing teaching exhorting all committed to their charge to be stedfast and immoveable in it to the death And every honest hearted Christian ought to do the same in his rank and condition by following those instructions by fortifying himself against Romish delusions by indeavouring to understand the Truth and to detect their Errors Which are the more earnestly to be opposed because the new Articles of their Creed are not a Mystery of Godliness but tend many