of Cups and Pots as a thing in it self good and holy was universally received and practised as St. Mark tells us Now I would fain know whether they might not have reasoned in this fashion We in this Age received this Doctrine and Rule from our Forefathers who professed they received it from theirs and if they had not received it from theirs then they all agreed together to cheat us as their Forefathers agreed to cheat them if they had not received it from theirs and so this Tradition must have come originally from Moses or else there was one Age that agreed to cheat the next in things concerning the Service of God and the Salvation of Mens Souls But after all the prettiness of this demonstration I think we have more reason to believe that this Superstition never came from Moses because our Saviour exposed it as a vain and foolish Doctrine than to believe that it did because the Jews ever since the Pharisees time who were a Sect of full three hundred years standing were taught to pretend Tradition for the Innovations of the Pharisees and for this amongst the rest And therefore it is a vain thing to pretend that because such and such Traditionary Doctrines were in such an Age taught without controul as necessary to Salvation they must needs have been taught so from the very first 4. That we have great reason to stick to the word of God delivered to us in the Holy Scriptures and to examine all Doctrines and Pretences by this Rule For the Holy Scriptures are indeed the Rule whereby we are to try that pretence that there is another Rule viz. of unwritten Tradition and if that other pretended Rule doth in any thing contradict the Scriptures most certainly it is but a pretended Rule and to be rejected To deal plainly this same plain Oral Tradition was never pretended for any good either by Jews or Christians nor made use of but to advance and protect some Doctrines or Practices that stand condemned by the Scriptures And therefore after so long experience had of the mischief as well as vanity of this pretence it were perhaps not unreasonable for any Christian to reject the Argument of unwritten Tradition without any more ado and to entertain no Doctrine or Practice necessary to Salvation which cannot be proved out of the Scriptures nor to entertain any thing at all that is contrary thereunto let Men talk of Tradition or any other Authority as long as they please And now I question not but this Discourse will be acknowledged to be very plain and convincing but for all that it is not certain that the Argument of it self will secure us from being deceived by the Sophistry of others if we do not take heed to the main thing of all and that is to lead such Lives as the Scriptures direct us to lead for there is no such temptation in the World to be fond of Traditionary Doctrines as to live in that manner that if the Traditionary Doctrines be not true we can have no hope of Salvation If we will live according to the Scriptures we shall have no temptation and I am sure we have no reason to believe otherwise than according to the Scriptures Let us often think that here we have no continuing place we must not always live here but that in a very little time we are to go into another World and to appear before our Judge Let us remember that this is the great argument by which the Scriptures engage us to live a sober righteous and godly life and let us consider that it is the strongest Argument in the World and be persuaded by it to do accordingly and this will above all things establish us in the Truth It is something hard to keep that Man from being deceived who needs the comfort of false Principles For Men are very apt to be running for comfort where it is to be had though they cheat themselves for it Brethren the Holy Scriptures are God's Book and they are acknowledged to be so by all Christians in the World therefore I say it again and again stick to the Scriptures live according to the Scriptures and believe according to the Scriptures Make the Scriptures the Rule of your Practice and then you will need no more arguments to make them the Rule of your Faith And as many as walk according to this Rule Peace will be upon them The Eighth Sermon 1 COR. XI 19. For there must be Heresies also amongst you that they which are approved may be made manifest among you THE word Heresy did at first indifferently signify any Party distinguished from others by Opinions and Practises peculiar to it self whether those Opinions were true or false those Practices good or bad insomuch that Christianity it self was called a Sect or Heresy for some time But in time it came to be used in the worser sense and was restrained to those that distinguished themselves by the profession of false Doctrines or by unjustifiable Practices Which use of the word began soon after Christianity as far as I can find and there was this reason for it that Christianity having established one Form of Doctrine which was to be universally received there were now to be no Heresies or Sects that is no departure from the Unity of that Doctrine and every new Sect from that time forward must necessarily be in the wrong Thus also the word Schism or Division came in a little time to be restrained to that side or party by whose fault the breach of Christian Communion and Concord was made and although when a dissention and breach of Unity happens they that are not in the fault are at the same distance from those that are that the faulty are from the innocent yet the faulty were only said to be in Schism or Division Moreover it seems that Heresy and Schism were words at first used indifferently to signify the same fault of discord and Contention because breach of Charity and Communion was for the most part made by departing from Unity of Doctrine though in process of time Heresy was restrained to signify an Error about the Faith and Schism a breach of Order and Christian Communion St. Paul doth in this place seem to mean the same thing by both words for in the foregoing verse says he I hear that there be divisions or Schisms among you and I partly believe it that is I believe it of some of you And then he adds For there must be also Heresies among you that is Sects and Parties distinguished from one another by their peculiar Doctrines and Practices The matter about which there was a disagreement in the Church of Corinth was no less than that of the administration of the Holy Communion that having happened so early which in the latter Ages of the Church has obtained in a much higher degree that the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper which was in great part instituted to unite the Faithful in
between the Prophets and Jesus so many hundreds of years after they were dead and before he was born Or are these Predictions and their Events to be imputed to Chance It is possible indeed that some one thing may be foretold and happen accordingly but that so vast a number of particulars should be foretold concerning one Person at all adventures and by strange luck come to pass afterwards is fit for them only to believe that can believe that the World was made by a casual hit of Atoms To name these things is enough to confute them 2. All that can be farther desired is to be well assured that these Prophecies were not forged by the followers of Jesus but that they were indeed contained in the ancient Writings that had been delivered down to the Jews of our Saviour's time by their Ancestors and the constant testimony of the Jews themselves who were most bitter enemies to Jesus and to his Doctrine were enough to satisfie us in this point 4ly And Lastly Whereas these Predictions are said to be a more sure word of Prophecy the meaning is this that they are a more convincing Testimony to Jesus than any other taken by its self they are indeed a more permanent Testimony and withal less liable to Cavil and Objection I cannot stand to shew this by making particular comparisons but shall only observe That Prophecy includes all other Testimonies and adds strength to every one of them It comprehends the Miracles of Jesus and of his Apostles his Resurrection and Ascension the Descent of the Holy Ghost and the excellency of his Doctrine because these were all foretold It includes all other proofs as well as the thing proved and those proofs are the more convincing because they also had been foretold by the Prophets From all this it follows That allowing the Scripture that Tradition which other good Histories have and which they have more of than any other ancient Writings in the World then the Prophecies of the Old Testament and the Accomplishment of them in the New do prove the Divine Authority of the Scriptures and this without the help of the Churches Authority and well is it for the Christian Religion that the Scriptures may be proved without the Authority of the Church for otherwise Christianity must never look an Infidel in the face since the Church hath no Authority at all till we are assured of the truth of the Scriptures themselves And I will make bold to add That when all those objections against the Authority of the Old Testament from the time wherein it was put into this form of Books from the light oversights of Transcribers from various readings and all the cavils upon any part of it are put together the word of Prophecy which runs through it all will bear all this reckoning and still remain an invincible argument that the first Authors were inspired that the Prophecy came not in Old time by the will of man but that holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost Well therefore might St. Peter commend the Jewish Converts for taking heed to the word of Prophecy since this was the way to come to a well-grounded Faith indeed and to grow every day to greater assurance and stedfastness therein and for the same reason let us I beseech you be exhorted to like diligence in conversing with the Holy Scriptures that our Minds may be more enlightened with the knowledge of divine Truth and that every doubt if any there be that shakes our Faith may be removed And this Exhortation is so needful that I shall shew that there is no good reason in their Objection against it who have taken a great deal of pains to exclude all but the Clergy and those that have special License from reading the Scriptures the sum of what they say is this That the promiscuous Liberty of reading the Scriptures leads the People into Pride and Self-conceit makes them insolent and ungovernable and ready to throw off all Respect to their lawful Guides That almost all Heresies have proceeded from misinterpretation of Scripture and that there are so many obscure and difficult places in the Old and New Testament that to translate the Bible into vulgar Tongues and to encourage the People to read it is to betray them into the danger of infinite Errors which they are likely enough to fall into by mistaking the sense of the holy Text which therefore is to be kept out of the hands of the Laity as we would keep Children from medling with edged Tools and lay Swords out of mad-mens way Now if this Charge be true the Bible is a very dangerous Book if it be not true there is some other reason doubtless why they that pretend this have no kindness for the Bible I shall omit several advantages that may be taken against this Flourish because I think it may be shown very briefly that it pretends things that do by no means hang well together that it takes things for granted that are not true and that it concludes as strongly against the Scriptures being read by the Clergy as by the Laity It pretends some things that do not hang well together On the one side they tell us that the liberty of reading the Bible is apt to make the People throw off all dependance upon the Priest as to instruction on the one side that there are obscure and difficult passages in it by mistaking the true sense of which they will be led into Heresie and consequently into the way of Damnation Now indeed the Scriptures say this of themselves that there are divers things hard to be understood in them which ignorant and unstable men have wrested to their own destructien But if this be true the best way to keep the People in modest dependance upon the instruction of their Spiritual Guides is to lay the Bible before them and not to keep it from them since there cannot be a more convincing Argument of the necessity of attending to their Pastors in order to farther Instruction than the several difficulties that occur in the Scriptures and the warnings that the Scriptures themselves have given of the danger that unlearned and unstable Men are in of wresting them to their own destruction If it be said that experience shews the contrary and that neither this nor any other Argument can make people modest if they are generally permitted to have the Scriptures I add 2. That this arguing takes things for granted which are not true in point of fact all the Faithful anciently had the Scriptures but we find little complaint by the Bishops and Clergy then of the Wantonness and Insolence of the People so little in comparison of the frequent and earnest exhortations that all would deligently Read the Scriptures that it may be said to be none at all Christian People that had been trained up in the first Rudiments of the Faith were not only allowed them but required to Read the
the Temptation Men of Probity and Lovers of Truth should upon diligent examination hold it faster than otherwise they would have done This is one of the great advantages to which that opposition tends which Truth has met with in the World And therefore the more lofty those Pretences are by which the other Church would bring us to an intire submission to her Authority in every point of Religion so much greater reason there is to examine every one of her particulars and if I find that she is mistaken in any of them I am very sure that she is not infallible in all And if she will not allow me to make a Judgment of the Particulars 't is just as if a Man should try to hinder me from casting up my own Accounts by going about to prove that he cannot possibly mistake in doing it he might indeed shew some Wit in working his Demonstration but I should shew a great deal more folly in trusting him To conclude We have a Rule whereby to try the Doctrine I will not only say of a Church or a Pope or a Council but even of an Angel from Heaven if an Angel should come and preach to us and that Rule is the Holy Scripture especially the Writings of the Evangelists and Apostles These are by all Christians acknowledged to be the undoubted and the most ancient Records of our Holy Religion and they have had a Tradition so uncontroulable as no Books in the World ever had the like Whoever therefore is our Guide it is very reasonable that this should be our Rule And of all Churches in the World I will never trust my self to her discretion that will not trust me with the Knowledge and Study of this Rule Here we may if we please make our selves very sure that we are of those whom God will justifie for here we may discern what kind of Persons St. Paul and the Christians of whom he speaks in this place and what all the Apostles and Primitive Disciples of our Lord were For those Books which acquaint us with their Names and which were written by some of themselves do also discover to us what Faith they professed what Doctrine they taught and what Lives they led Now if we profess that very Faith and teach no other Doctrine and frame our practice by their Rules and good Examples then without all question we are such kind of Christians as they were and then altho' we should be used by the World as they were too yet the encouragement and comfort which they had will also belong to us and we too may say Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods Elect it is God that justifieth who is he that condemneth it is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again Having therefore the infallible Rule of God's Word whereby to guide our selves We beseech you Brethren and exhort you by the Lord Jesus that as ye have received of us how you ought to walk and to please God so you would abound more and more that while evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse deceiving and being deceived ye may continue in the things which ye have learned knowing of whom ye have learned them even from the Sayings of our Lord Jesus and his holy Apostles delivered to us in the Scriptures which are able to make us wise unto Salvation through Faith which is in Christ Jesus Let us remember that it had been better for us not to have known the way of righteousness than after we have known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered to us not forgetting by any means that 't is a way of righteousness we have been made to know and an holy Commandment that hath been delivered to us from which therefore we may depart as damnably by an impure Conversation as by leting go our pure Profession in which case we are so far from being justified that we shall be the more condemned by our Faith We have no false Principles to save our Hearts from condemning us if we allow our selves in any way of wickedness and God is greater than our hearts and knoweth all things Whoever else condemns us that is more than recompence enough if God justifieth But who is he that shall justifie us if God condemns FINIS THE SUMM OF A CONFERENCE On Feb. 21. 1686. BETWEEN Dr. Clagett and Father Gooden About the Point of TRANSUBSTANTIATION The Third Edition LONDON Printed for William Rogers at the Sun over-against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet 1698. The SUM of a CONFERENCE On Feb. 21. 1686. BETWEEN Dr. Clagett and Father Gooden About the POINT of TRANSUBSTANTIATION Introduction IT will perhaps appear to some a little strange that I do not say almost Incredible that there should have pass'd a Conference above two years since in which Mr. Gooden was concern'd and the World yet to learn the Substance of it The Vanity of that Gentleman to thrust himself upon all Occasions into Disputes with the most Learned Men of our Church first and then to boast of his own Performances in them was so great that there is scarce a Coffee-house in the Town that has not been filled with the Noise of his impertinent Vapours And if those of the other Communion have been always remarkable for an Assurance becoming the pretended Infallibility of their Church I may venture to say that next to Father P the Jesuit and his Friend Mr. M I scarce know any among them that have ever talk'd so loud or made such Heroical Defiances of the Champions and Armies of our Israel in all Places and upon all Occasions as Mr. Gooden these late Years has done among us But thus shallow Waters always run with the greatest Noise and Violence and little Sophisters who either want Capacity to see into their own Fallacies or think they have forehead enough to carry that off with Clamour and Confidence which they cannot do by Reason and Argument delight to expose themselves and their Religion to the most dangerous Tryals whilst Men of Learning and Judgment are modest and ingenuous and know it to be neither for the Honour of their Church nor their own Reputation to challenge all Mankind to answer Paradoxes and to shew that not to be Demonstration which when brought to the tryal is hardly sense See Mr. G's Pap. I hope this will not be thought too severe a Reflection on the late Pretenders of this kind among us which I speak out of a just respect to the more learned and charitable Persons of the Church of Rome who have been no less scandalized at these forward Zealots than our selves and to whom I ought to give this Testimony That during a long acquaintance with many of them I never met with any thing of the Vanity of those I have before-mentioned Our Differences in matters of Religion made no Disturbance either in our Friendship or Conversation with one another If the discourse at anytime led to a Controversie of
Accidents of Bread it might be broken as to the substance of Christ's body which is mentioned in St. John it is not broken unless you mean as Christ's body was broken upon the Cross And if the bread which is broken be really that which is spoken of in St. John as aforesaid both as to the Accidents and nature of bread I grant that the Accidents of bread would be the Body of Christ and if it be not the same both as to the Nature and Accidents I deny it This I profess not to understand Fath. As to the Doctor 's Argument it includes a Sophism as will appear when brought into form because it involves four Terms because he supposes in one Proposition for the Accidents of Bread and in the other for the Nature Dr. In the Argument I used I went upon this Supposition That the Accidents of Bread were only to be understood as the Answerer supposes and therefore I have not confounded the Nature and the Accidents of Bread together Besides the Distinction between the Nature of Bread and the Accidents of Bread was not to be remembred any more by the Answerer because I proceed upon his Supposition that the Accidents only are broken Now if St. Paul speaks of nothing but what is broken and Accidents only are broken and yet if he speaks of the very Flesh of Christ too then the Accidents of the Bread are the very Flesh of Christ And whereas the Answerer by his last Answer means the nature of Christ's body as he says I understood him of the Nature of Bread And now once more I desire him to shew me where the four Terms are Fath. The Text of St. Paul the Dr. takes for his Medium and argues from a double Supposition as first taking it for the Accidents of Bread which were broken and afterwards for the substance of Christ's Body under the Accidents in which latter sense it signifies the same that is meant by our Saviour in St. John Dr. I observe the Answerer will allow nothing to be broken but Accidents I observe also that nothing is said to be the Body of Christ or the Communion of the Body of Christ but what is broken If therefore nothing is broken but Accidents then Accidents are either according to the Answerer's long proof the very Body of Christ or according to the Apostle the Communion of the Body of Christ But neither are the Accidents of Bread the Body of Christ nor the Communion of the Body of Christ And this I say is not answered and believe will not be answered by any Man that maintains that St. Paul does not here speak properly of Bread Fath. All along in my Discourse I have supposed that when St. Paul speaks of this Bread he spoke of the H. Eucharist in which were contained both the Accidents of Bread and the true body of Christ How the Doctor has disproved this Doctrine so clearly as to justifie the Reformation I understand not Because I conceive no private Persons or particular Church ought to pretend a Reformation without clear Evidence whether the Doctor has given such I leave to the consideration of the Readers And whether having broken off from the great Body of the Vniversal Church and its Testimony he can possibly have any certain Rule to arrive at Christian Faith If Scripture be pretended interpreted by a fallible Authority how Certainty can be obtained or why a Socinian following Scripture for his Rule of Faith is not to be believed as well as any other Reformer following the same Rule I see not Signed W. Clagett Peter Gooden Dr. CLAGETT's Answer TO A PAPER Delivered to Him By Father GOODEN The Paper ARticles of Christian Faith are Truths Truths are impossible to be False Therefore Articles of Christian Faith are impossible to be False Therefore those who obtain Articles of the Christian Faith must have some Rule to acquire them by which cannot deceive them To a Parliamentary Protestant the ancient Fathers cannot be such a Rule because they are accounted Fallible Nor Councils because they also are accounted Fallible Nor Scriptures sensed by a Fallible Authority because all such Interpretations may be False And therefore Faith cannot be obtained by any such means For that which is doubtful can only create Opinion which is also doubtful And he that doubts in Faith the Apostle says is Infidelis And a Company of Doubters are not a Church of Faithful but a Society of such as the Apostle calls Infidels Signed Peter Gooden The ANSWER Pap. Articles of Christian Faith are Truths Ans The Design of the Disputer is to prove that we are Doubters and therefore Infidels But never did any Man begin a Business more unluckily for at the very first dash he takes it for granted that we do undoubtedly believe Articles of Christian Faith to be Truths for otherwise he ought to have proved that they are so But there is another Misfortune he is faln into no less than that For his Argument to prove that we must needs be Doubters is that we want an Infallible Rule Now if he is sure that we want an Infallible Rule and that without such a Rule there can be no Faith I am sure he does notoriously contradict himself by supposing that we believe all Articles of Christian Faith to be Truths though we have no such Rule This is a very hopeful Paper and like to make wise Converts which ends in making us Infidels and begins to prove it by an Argument that manifestly supposes us to be Believers which also pretends that we have no infallible Rule and therefore can be sure of no Point of Faith but yet manifestly supposes us to be assured of some without it which shews the Paper to be a trifling Paper and worth no more Consideration But because the Disputer is said to boast so much of the Argument contained in it I will go on with every Clause of it to convince him if he does not already know it that there is not a Line in it but is either false or nothing to the purpose Pap. Truths are impossible to be False Ans By Truths the Disputer means the Truth of Things or of Propositions and therefore this is a vain and fulsome saying which does not advance his Reasoning one jot farther than it was before For this is no more than to say That which is true is true and it cannot possibly be but Truths must be Truths I think he applies himself to us as if we wanted not only Christian Faith but common Sense Pap. Therefore Articles of Christian Faith are impossible to be false Ans There is no doubt of this supposing that they are Truths So that the Argument he begins with being put into the right order and into other Words is this It is impossible but Truths must be Truths but Articles of Christian Faith are Truths Therefore it is impossible but they must be Truths The ancient Fathers had made wise work with Christianity if they
many Ages afterwards till at length falling again into great Corruption of Doctrine and Manners she with all the other Six Churches of Asia written to by our Lord fell to be no Church at all and the Temples wherein the Name of Christ was called upon are now become Turkish Mosques and so the burden of Pergamos was fulfilled And now having given you this Account of the State of the Church of Pergamos as it was represented by our Lord himself I am much mistaken if from this Authority we may not be able to justify the Reformation of the Church of England against the most specious and popular Exceptions which they of Rome make against our Reformation And this I shall endeavour to do under these three Heads First That in this Church whilst it was in Communion with and Subjection to the Church of Rome there were notorious Abuses and Errors both in Doctrine and Worship added to the Profession of the Common Faith Secondly That upon this Supposition we might and ought to reform our selves as we have done Thirdly That the main Objections which they of the Roman Church do bring and whereby they seek to stagger those of our Communion and to fright them into their own may by this instance of the Message of Christ to the Church of Pergamos be demonstrated to be vain and fallacious and therefore by no means fit to remove us from our stedfastness First That in this Church as in all others that were in Communion with the Church of Rome there were notorious Abuses and Errors introduced into the Faith and Worship of Christians And First As in the Church of Pergamos so in these Churches there were Doctrines and Practices leading to Idolatry I wish that were all but it is not all for Idolatry it self if it be possible for us to know what it is was practised and that Practice not only connived at but encouraged and commanded and of this sort were the Practices of Adoring the Host Praying to Saints to dead Men and Women and Worshipping of Images contrary to the whole Tenor of the Scripture providing that we should worship the Lord our God and that him only we should serve And it is very observable that when we urge them with these things they defend themselves from Idolatry by the use of such distinctions as 't is impossible for the common People to save themselves by if indeed these distinctions would do the business As for Doctrines tending to licentiousness of Life and Manners what can be more evidently such than the easy terms upon which they promised forgiveness of Sins and security from Hell Confession to a Priest with Attrition being reckoned sufficient to receive a Pretorial Absolution which shall be valid in Heaven As also the Invention of Purgatory and the Power of the Church to shorten the Pains of it by Indulgences by applying the Treasure of the Churches Merits by Masses and Prayers with a great many Abuses of this nature And besides all these what shall we say to their Doctrine of Transubstantiation their Half-communion their Latin Service their Sacrifice of the Mass for which there is no President or Rule in the Scriptures or in Antiquity but plain and full consent there is both of the one and of the other against them But now to all this they make one general Reply and tell us That the Church meaning the Roman Church hath not erred in these Points because she cannot err at all for she is the Mother and Mistress of all Churches and the Standard of Catholick Unity and Faith she is that One Catholick Church which cannot fail to which Christ has promised his perpetual Presence and Assistance that the gates of hell shall never prevail against her and of which St. Paul said that she is the pillar and ground of the truth In a word that whatsoever is by her defined is infallibly true and therefore that these Doctrines and Practices are neither damnable Errors and Sins nor Errors and Sins at all Now if indeed such Promises were made to that Church we should be brought into a very great strait and not very well know whether we should believe the Scripture speaking against the Doctrines and Practices imposed by that Church or the Scripture speaking to us to believe and do as that Church requires But first of all we say That whatsoever Promises were made to the Catholick Church they do not belong only to the Church of Rome which is but a part of it and that these Promises That the gates of hell should not prevail against the Church and that Christ would be with his Church to the end of the world amounted to no more than this That she should be preserved from so much Error as would utterly destroy the Being of a Church not from all Error whatsoever but that no Promise in particular was made to the Church of Rome so much as to secure her from Fundamental Errors utterly destructive of the Being of a Church especially since St. Paul writing to the Church of Rome plainly supposes that it was possible for them to be quite cut off from the Body of Christ Rom. 11.21 22. where speaking of the Rejection of the Jews he hath these words For if God spared not the natural branches take heed lest he also spare not thee Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God on them which fell severity but towards thee goodness if thou continue in his goodness otherwise thou also shalt be cut off Which had been vain words if it had been impossible by virtue of any Privilege conferred upon the See of Peter for the Church of Rome not to continue in God's goodness or it be an infallible Truth that she shall not be cut off We do what we can to find the Infallibility of the Roman Church in the Scriptures but if we cannot find it there is much more reason to conclude that she hath erred because some of her Doctrines and Practices do seem to us apparently to contradict the Scripture than to believe she is infallible because she says so of her self But to this they say That we mis-interpret those Scriptures which seem to condemn what they profess and practise and in short that we cannot arrive to certainty of the true sense of Scripture without the Testimony of an Infallible Interpreter which the Church is Well for the present I will suppose this but then this will be the consequence of the Supposition That 't is impossible for that Church ever to convince me or any reasonable man of her own Infallibility by the Scriptures For when she tells me that Christ hath said Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it and that the church is the pillar and ground of truth and Lo I am with you alway even unto the end of the world she supposes that the Promise of Infallibility to her self is so plainly made that
some awakening Reproof from men or some merciful Providence of God may make the Truth which he is already provided with the belief of effectual to his Conversion But there is little reason to hope this of a man whose very Principles are corrupted and has no fears within himself for a charitable man to take hold upon And therefore that Saying of our Saviour may be well applied to such a Person If the light that is in him be darkness how great is that darkness Moreover as there is little hope to reform that man's evil Practices whose Persuasions make him secure and easy all the while so there is no little difficulty to be met with in trying to undeceive him for men will hold comfortable Errors as long as they can find the least pretence for it And which is not the least mischief of this Offence though such Errors are not laid down without a great trouble yet they are taken up with much readiness they are apt to spread far and wide And to this I believe the experience of the world agrees viz. That although there are mistakes that lead to Trouble of Mind and over-much Restraint yet for one that is led away by such Mistakes an hundred there are that believe comfortable Lies which either wholly take off the Restraints of Religion or in such part as to render them ineffectual 3. Perverse Disputes and an obstinate maintenance of Error by all the Arts of Sophistry has this lamentable evil commonly attending it That it renders many persons utterly careless to examine on which side the Truth lies Perhaps they are but few in comparison that are framed to an inquisitive Spirit and they who are not so framed by Nature or by Education must force their Tempers to Patience and take pains with themselves which is an Employment that men soon grow weary of and commonly they break off pretending it is to no purpose to search any farther but that when there is so much to be said on both sides when there is such an appearance of Reason for and against the same thing it is time for them to give over being Judges for themselves And indeed in things that are either really disputable or of less moment this were not much to be blamed But in matters of high consequence and questions that touch the very Vitals of Religion it often happens that men grow weary of searching Truth and give up themselves wholly to be led by the Authority and Judgment of others after the Controversy is stifly maintain'd for some time on both sides And it were well in this case if it were an even Lay whether they chuse the true Guide or not But when a Guide is to be chosen and followed with an implicit Faith the false Guide hath this Advantage always that he exceeds in Confidence in lofty Pretences in swelling Titles in positive denouncing Damnation to all that are not of his way And though a modest man that speaks justly of things and claims not to be infallible deserves the most credit yet 't is great odds that the other has most Followers amongst those that understand not the Merits of the Cause 4. The same Cause has too often a yet worse Effect and that is to run some persons into Infidelity and an utter neglect of Religion as if no Certainty could be had of the Principles of Religion seeing there is so much Controversy about it And some have said That it will be then time enough for them to believe in God and to worship him when they that pretend to oblige them to it are agreed about it The truth is were it not for that secret Impression of his own Being which God hath left upon our Nature it is not improbable but the monstrous Errors that have been obtruded upon a great part of mankind under the name of Faith and the Force and the Fraud wherewith they have been maintained had let in Atheism like a Deluge upon the world especially considering that there are those in the world who are so full of Zeal for their own way that they have no tenderness for the common Principles of Faith but are rather content that all should sink together than that their own Doctrines should not stand We have been born in hand that no assurance can be had of the Truth of Christianity but from the Authority of such and such men and they that believe upon other Grounds had as good have no Faith at all That if it were possible for them to propound any thing that is false we cannot be certain of any one Article that is true That the same exceptions may be made to the Miracles of Christ and his Apostles that are made against the Stories of latter Miracles And finally That by the same reason that any of their Traditions are rejected the Holy Scriptures may be rejected too and indeed we have lived to see the utmost that can be done by Wit and Learning to diminish the Authority of the Bible Now this I say is a most dreadful Offence and has done infinite mischief in the world that men who are violently engaged in a wrong way of Religion care not for the most part what they venture in the service of their own Cause for whilst they lay the same stress upon false or at least disputable Points that they do upon the most necessary and acknowledged Principles of Religion and bend all their Wit to shew that no difference ought to be made they give occasion to men that would fain be Atheists to deceive themselves into what they would be For a very little Consideration will serve to satisfy them that something is false which is propounded to them as an Object of their Faith and they know they have then leave given them to conclude that nothing is true 5. There is another great mischief of Offences that are given by Errors in Doctrine or Practice and a mischief that often happens in the world which is that of running into a contrary Extreme The Church found this by sad experience in the Fourth and Fifth Ages when men of no small Note disputing against one Heresy fell into another of an opposite nature to the no small trouble of Christendom Truth sometimes as well as Virtue lies in the Mean and they that transgress on any one side do not only this mischief to give what authority they can to the wrong side they are of but they do this mischief too of giving occasion to others to offend on the other Extreme Thus the abuse of Church Authority on the one side has bred in some men contempt of all such Authority on the other The Scandals that have been given by propagating Opinions by Force and Violence have produced in many a fond persuasion that there ought to be no restraints whatsoever in matters of Religion Superiors have required unlawful things in Divine Service and to be revenged upon that abuse it has been said that they are not to
careful to take none I. Be careful to give no Offence i. e. to lay no stumbling-block in any man's way to lead him into Sin or Error or to confirm him in it Remember the words of our Lord Jesus Wo be to that man by whom the offence cometh Now the way to keep our selves free from this guilt is to love the Truth our selves sincerely to desire it diligently to pursue it and likewise in all our actions to live by Rule and then we shall be sure to avoid giving ill Examples And we are the more obliged to this because we are not only to give an account of our selves to God but of our selves also with reference to the good or ill that others have received by us Let us consider my Brethren how careful we should be of our own actions and those especially that lye open to others when if we do ill our selves we shall not only be to answer for our own transgression of God's Law but very likely for the sins of others who are either led into some unlawful Practice or confirmed in it by our Examples Which makes such an increase of Guilt and is so great a sin in it self that it is sometimes needful for a man to abate of the use of his own liberty in things not unlawful of themselves lest another that is likely enough to make a wrong construction of it and to encourage himself in manifest sin should indeed do so And for this reason St. Paul handling the question of eating things offered to Idols acknowledgeth That meat commendeth us not unto God for neither if we eat are we the better neither if we eat not are we the worse But says he take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling-block to them that are weak who are not throughly confirmed in the Worship of one God according to the Gospel For as he goes on if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idols temple shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols i. e. be emboldened to commit Idolatry 1 Cor. 8. So that altho it was not in it self unlawful to be present at those Sacrifices yet the Example being scandalous St. Paul concludes it to be a sin against the brethren and against Christ ver 12. And this inasmuch as it would grieve their weak Conscience i. e. not as we use I doubt to understand that word grieve that it would trouble and displease them but really hurt them by making them bold to partake of the Idolatrous Sacrifice And now Brethren if in things that are perhaps in their own Nature lawful we ought to use caution lest by an uncharitable use of our Liberty we encourage others to do things that are in themselves absolutely unlawful How much more cautious should we be not to give any Authority to sin by an Example that is evil in it self So likewise we ought with the more care to chuse our persuasions in Religion because in all likelihood we do not chuse them for our selves only but for our Children for our Servants for some of our Neighbours for many that some way or other depend upon us and for whom we must answer at the Day of Judgment And since we cannot profess we cannot live but the world observes us so how instructing ought to be our Profession how instructing our Conversation How apt to promote Innocence Truth Virtue and Piety And this the more the more we are in the Eye of others In short no words I can use can make such an impression upon you as these words of our Saviour ought to make Wo be to him by whom the offence cometh But this is not all 2. We must also be careful not to take Offences not to be led into Sin and Error by Example or Allurements by any kind of Temptations whatsoever To justify which Exhortation I desire you to observe these Three things 1. That our blessed Lord hath foretold that Offences would come nay that it must needs be that they come Nay I have shewn that the most dangerous Offences are particularly foretold in the New Testament Now Brethren this very warning in general much more those particular warnings were designed to take away in some good measure the danger of those scandals by arming us with caution against them beforehand Since that is to be applied to all other particular Scandals that is expresly added to the Prediction of lying wonders Behold I have told you before Now if the Offences though very dangerous of themselves were lessened by being foretold our guilt in falling by such Offences must be so much the greater because being forewarned we would yet take no warning The Offensiveness of these Offences is in some part abated by the cautions of the Scripture inasmuch as we have no cause to be startled and amazed and to question the care of God's Providence over his Church because Offences come since the Author of our Faith has told us before-hand that they must needs come And 2. We are also forewarned of the guilt and misery of falling by Offences inasmuch as our Saviour hath said Wo to the world because of offences i. e. as I told you at first because of that evil which will happen by taking Offence But if men were free from guilt in the committing of those sins which they fall into by reason of Scandals that are laid in their way in short if taking Offence were not it self a sin and in many cases a very great sin and such a sin as we shall be sadly accountable for at the day of Judgment there could be no reason given why our Saviour should denounce a Wo upon this account Wo unto the world because of offences 3. Let us not forget what was observed last time That God permits Offences to come which according to the common course of things were in themselves most likely to come he permits them I say for the Trial of our Ingenuity our Honesty and Sincerity There must be heresies among you that they which are approved may be made manifest It is by no means unavoidable to stumble at Scandals because we are forewarned of them but if we take warning it is for the Praise and Reward of our diligence and faithfulness in keeping to God's Word Our Saviour speaking of the Signs and Wonders done by false Christs and false Prophets says That if it were possible they should deceive the very Elect that is they would deceive the very best men but that they are guarded by Sincerity and by the Grace of God and these words plainly intimate that this would be the Touchstone to distinguish Persons truly and solidly good from all others That notwithstanding the fair colours that would be put upon wicked Practices and Errors they would persevere in the ways of Truth and Godliness And now that we may not be mis-led by Offences but keep our selves
unspotted from this present World and escape the Corruptions that are in the World through Lust let us take these few following Rules along with us 1. Let that which is on all sides acknowledged to be the Word of God be of more power and force with us than all Human Authorities whatsoever which Rule as it is most reasonable so it is a safe Rule upon this account that if it be followed it will secure us from the greatest Offences as those Opinions and Practices are which are evidently contrary to God's Word 2. Let us keep close to the Ancient Creeds which our Church faithfully delivers for no man has yet been so bold as to offer the least doubt against that nay all that we are challenged for is that we do not receive those additions to the Creed which in comparison were but of yesterday These ancient Forms of confessing the Faith shew what Articles of mere Belief were thought by the Primitive Church necessary to be known and held by All And because the Faith was at once delivered to the Saints no more can be necessary now than was then Now if we observe that the Profession of this Faith is sufficient to make a Christian or a Member of the Church we shall be the better guarded against all erroneous Doctrines which are propounded to us by any Party under the notion of necessary Truths For whilst we are sure we profess all that was thought necessary at first we shall be at ease and feel no disturbance in examining what is moreover propounded and determining to receive it if it has Authority from the Scriptures and to reject it if it has none much more if it be contrary thereunto Which Rule I hope you perceive is to take place in judging what you are to believe not in judging whatsoever is to be done for even in the Worship of God there are several things of an indifferent nature for which there is no particular Precept in the Scripture and in which we may be and ought to be concluded by the Custom of our Church and the Will of our Superiors And he cannot miscarry greatly but is in great measure secured from the mischief of Offences who in matters of Faith will be determined by nothing less than Divine Authority and who in matters of external Order which are no way determined by the Authority of the Scriptures is still ready to be concluded by the Authority of Man But then 3. Let us keep our selves always in the proper disposition and preparation to judge and conclude aright for our selves i. e. by Sincerity which consists chiefly in a vehement desire to understand the Truth and to do our duty We must lay our hands upon this That we will be honest and good and then we shall use all good Rules well to be sure we shall not be a whit the more inclined to embrace Doctrines for our Belief or Practice because they make for our worldly and carnal Interests And this goes a great way to enable men to distinguish between Truth and Error Good and Evil. Offences from without would not stumble us if we were not weakned and blinded by the Offence of a vicious Disposition within our selves And therefore our Saviour having given warning against the former in the words of the Text doth in the very next words proceed to direct us how to secure our selves against them and that by preventing the latter Wherefore says he if thy right hand or foot offend thee cut them off And if thine eye offend thee pluck it out and cast it from thee That is subdue thy dearest Lusts and if there be any one that is harder to part with than the rest and is grown a part of thy self though it cost thee as much pain to divide thy self from it as it would to cut off thine hand or pull out thine eye for that very reason do thou mortify it in the first place For when the World will be full of Offences i. e. Encouragements to Sin and of deceitful Errors if thou also art an Offence to thy self for want of a sincere and honest Heart and purifying thy Mind from worldly and carnal Lusts thou wilt not be able to withstand the Arts and Force of outward Temptations Now the way to gain this Honest Mind is to fix our thoughts stedfastly upon the Life to come which is the means our Saviour directs to the use of in this place too And if thine eye offend thee pluck it out for it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye rather than to be cast into hell fire Lastly Let all our other care be begun continued and ended in earnest Prayer to God That he would enlighten the eyes of our minds and purify our intentions and lead us in the right way and keep us in it by his Grace For the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much for another but much more for himself and most of all when he asketh the best things when he asketh those things that please God best a Mind purified from worldly Lusts and an Understanding enlightned with the knowledge of the Truth He that doth these things shall never fall The Fourth Sermon MATTH XXVI 41 Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation The spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak IN these words are contained an Exhortation to watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation and a Reason upon which the Exhortation is made The spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak In the Exhortation we may observe a Direction to the use of Means Watch and pray and then the End why we should do so That we enter not into temptation As to the means watching and praying the use of them both supposes a great concern for the Event For if I am not only to be careful my self but to get all the help I can nay if I am to go to the God of Heaven and Earth for his help and to seek it constantly to be sure as the End I aim at ought not to be in it self trivial so neither ought I to be trivially affected with it A great concern for the End is supposed in the use of such Means as Watchfulness and Prayer But more particularly as to watching That signifies such a care of our selves as supposes danger and that was the case of the Disciples to whom the Exhortation was immediately given Our Saviour was now preparing them for his approaching Passion he would therefore have them consider before-hand what a terrible Temptation it would be to see their own Master forsaken and contemned and almost every body ashamed or afraid to own him he would have them reflect upon their own Infirmities and examine their own Hearts and to consider whether they were likely to hold out against such a Temptation as was coming upon them He would have them furnish their minds with all the Powers of Faith with all the Reasons of
himself as much pleased with our Faith as he was with Abraham's and will reward it as effectually To sum up all The Testimony of God to Abraham's Faith was not given meerly for his own sake but for the Instruction and Encouragement of all true Believers to the World's end who when they deny themselves and do the hardest Duties and are never offended with the Will of God have I say a Title to the Testimony God gave to Abraham Now I know that thou fearest God Certainly it would be no mean encouragement to us it would raise up our minds to very great degrees of Joy and Triumph to have God say that to us that he did to Abraham but we are to remember that it was said to him once for all in behalf of all his Children that should tread in the steps of his faith This was not an Honour given to Abraham only though to him principally and in the first place it was done him also for the Credit of Religion in all Ages of the World and for the comfort and joy of all Religious and Holy Men and Women to the end of the World Wherefore my Brethren that we may come in for some share in the Praise and Reward of Abraham's Faith let there be in none of us an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God The evil heart of unbelief is the evil heart that causeth unbelief i. e. some corrupt inclination some unmortified Lust some carnal interest or other Do thou therefore in the first place when thou hast an eye upon the example of Abraham conceive how much thou art obliged to take thy sin thy dearly beloved sin whatever it be and slay it that is the first Sacrifice thou canst offer to God to wit a broken and contrite heart an heart clean from worldly and sinful Lusts Do this and thou wilt find nothing too dear for God thy Faith will then make thee to be entirely at the disposal of his Will and Pleasure it will justify and support thee in so doing and the God of Abraham will be thine exceeding great reward The Seventh Sermon MATTH XV. 1 2 3. Then came to Jesus Scribes and Pharisees which were of Jerusalem saying Why do thy Disciples transgress the Tradition of the Elders for they wash not their hands when they eat bread But he answered and said unto them Why do ye also transgress the Commandment of God by your Tradition THough never Man was so unreproveable in his Doctrine and Example as our Lord Jesus yet never was Man more opposed or cavilled at as the Evangelists do abundantly testify in that History of him which they have written for us being upon the matter made up of the Holy Doctrines which he delivered the Good Works in which he was always employed and the Contradictions which he continually met with And it was very necessary that some instances of the last should be recorded for our sakes that they who profess the Truth as it is in Jesus should not think it strange if they happened to meet with such opposition as their Master did and likewise that by his Answers to the Cavils of his Adversaries they might be instructed how they should defend themselves afterwards against the like Objections One instance whereof we have in the Text I have now chosen to speak to Then came to Jesus Scribes and Pharisees which were of Jerusalem c. As to which words I shall not need to say much concerning the Persons that our Saviour had to deal withal because their Character is so well known to all that diligently read the Gospels The Scribes were the Men that professed to Teach the Law and expected to have all their Interpretations received as Oracles The Pharisees were the most subtle and prevailing Sect amongst the Scribes for though as things were in that Age and for some time before the Scribes generally agreed in corrupting the Law and deceiving the People yet they had their Parties and Factions among themselves the Pharisees in our Saviour's time being a Sect of the greatest Power in the Council and of the greatest Reputation with the People and whereas it is said that they were the Scribes and Pharisees or the Scribes of the Pharisaical Party which were of Jerusalem that came to Jesus the meaning is that they were such as kept their Schools in the City of Jerusalem and were therefore of the first rank amongst the Pharisees And now I shall discourse to you of these two things First Of the Objection which these Men made against Jesus and his Disciples Secondly Of the Answer which our Saviour made to the Charge that was laid against them I. Of the Objection which these Men made against Jesus and his Disciples Why do thy Disciples transgress the tradition of the elders for they wash not their hands when they eat bread A Charge laid with as much confidence as anger and therefore they scorned to put any of his Disciples to answer it and thought fit to challenge the Master himself about it Now the first thing that is proper to be considered here is 1. The nature of the Charge which seems to be a general one illustrated by one particular instance The general Charge was That the Disciples of Jesus transgressed the tradition of the elders The particular instance was That they transgressed such Tradition in not washing their hands before meat As to the general Charge they had transgressed the tradition of the elders But what was the Tradition of the Elders The Tradition of the Elders was the Doctrine that had been delivered and the Rules that had been laid down by Wise and Great men and universally received in former Ages One would think therefore that the Laws of Moses and the Rules of the Prophets and whatsoever was commanded in the Scriptures had been the tradition of the elders for all these things had been delivered down by an uncontroulable Tradition from hand to hand for near Two thousand Years But there was no such meaning under these words as they used them By the tradition of the elders or by the ancient Tradition of Wise and Great men they meant no Doctrines or Rules for Faith or Practice that were expressed in the Writings of Moses and the Prophets but such Doctrines as not being written in the Law were delivered down by word of Mouth and by constant usage from Father to Son and so from one Age to another And thus Josephus tells us Antiq. 13.13 That the first and main Principle of the Pharisees was that they denied all those things to be written which concerned Religion The Fundamental Rule of their Sect was this that there was a double Law an Oral Law and a Written Law A Law delivered from Age to Age by word of mouth as well as a Law delivered in such Books as had Authority from Moses and the Prophets To gain reverence to these Traditions they persuaded the People that though they were not written in the
unclean or unlawful in its own nature to be used nor can any man's touch make it so nor can any of these things defile a man's Conscience but a man's Conscience is defiled by that which comes from his heart by evil Thoughts by evil Words and by Actions contrary to the Command of God such as murders and adulteries c. These are the things that defile a man but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man i. e. doth not by any means affect his Soul or his Conscience for in this respect he is neither better for washing nor worse for letting it alone and to think otherwise is a Superstition hurtful to your selves and dishonourable to God and of very bad consequence tho it be not so impudent and notorious an abuse as the making void of God's Law by the other lewd Tradition that I mentioned before It is to this purpose that we are to understand the method and design of our Saviour's Discourse in this place in answer to the Objection of the Pharisees brought against the Disciples From which Answer there are some things to be gathered well worth our observation 1. That it is sufficient to overthrow the Authority of a pretended Tradition that it is contrary to the Commandment of God 2. That if there be one Traditionary Doctrine that notoriously contradicts the Law of God that one instance is sufficient to overturn the credit of that Tradition which pretends to deliver unwritten Doctrines of equal Authority with those that are written 3. That the universal consent of some one Age or more That such and such Doctrines were delivered by word of mouth many Ages before is no Argument that they were so delivered 4. That we have great reason to stick to the Word of God delivered to us in the Scriptures and to examine all Doctrines and Rules which are said to be necessary to Salvation by that Rule and to reject the Authority of unwritten Traditions 1. That it is sufficient to overthrow the Authority of a pretended Tradition That it is contrary to the Commandment of God For if when Tradition is pretended for any Doctrine or Practice it be not enough to shew that the same Doctrine or Practice is inconsistent with what is plainly required in the Scriptures which are acknowledged by all to contain the Word of God I say if this be not enough then our Saviour used an insufficient Argument against the pretended Tradition of not suffering the Son that was under a Vow of the contrary to relieve his Father or Mother that it made void the commandment of God But doubtless our Saviour was so far from using a bad Argument that he used the best and most convincing of all And truly if we did not in this case consider our Saviour's Authority yet it must be a monstrous prejudice that keeps any man from discerning the strength of this Argument against the Authority of any unwritten Doctrine That it is contrary to what is written for nothing is more certain than that Contradictions cannot be true and yet they must be true if that Doctrine for which unwritten Tradition is pretended can be of God tho it contradicts the written Tradition which is by all acknowledged to be Divine But as plain as this Argument is yet it is very well for us that we find our blessed Saviour giving such Authority to it because there are Christians in the World bearing up themselves upon the Tradition of the Church that are loth to admit this Argument which we have no cause to be amazed at because it is an utter Confutation of all their pretences We charge them with having brought into the Church new Articles of Faith and new Doctrines of Worship which are not only very different from what was taught at first by Christ and his Apostles but some of them contrary thereunto as we can shew them out of the Scriptures But this way of proceeding doth by no means content them and they insist upon it that the Cause may be tried otherwise For say they You acknowledge that our Church was once a pure Church and taught the Gospel sincerely but if as you say she departed from the pure Faith and Worship which the Apostles left it is impossible but this must have been very notorious because it could not have been done without opposition and resistance from some that must needs observe it Tell us therefore When were these new and false Doctrines introduced Who were the men that brought them in Who were the first that made the discovery What Council condemned them after they were discovered For if none of these things can be shewn it is absurd to think that any such alteration should have been as you say Which reasoning amounts to thus much That it is impossible we can be sure that in the compass of a thousand Years there was a great alteration happened in the state of Religion unless withal we can tell how it came about and just when it came about the precise time and the punctual manner and circumstances thereof which is just as if a man almost desperately sick of a Disease that had been for some Years growing upon him should prove to his Friend that he is as well as ever he was in his Life for says he You know I was well once and if I am now so ill as you say pray shew me the time when this Disease first happened the manner how and what Physicians were called about me which kind of arguing would certainly prove no more than that the Disease had taken his head When the Servants came and told their Lord that the tares came up with the wheat it was excusable in them to say We sowed good seed whence hath it these tares But when their Master told them An enemy hath done this if they had disputed and told him It was impossible there should be any Tares at all because he could not tell punctually that very Night when they were sown and who the Persons were that took the malicious pains to sow them then they had been very inexcusable thus to renounce their own certain knowledge for the sake of a vain Speculation Now we are very sure that the Apostles did at first sow nothing in the Church but good and true Doctrine Our Fathers that lived about fourteen hundred Years after found quite another sort of Doctrine gotten into the Church and some of them contrary to what the Apostles taught as the Scriptures manifestly shew and yet there have been a long time and still there are certain Disputers that go about to stagger others with such like questions as we have been speaking of and teach them to defy all reasoning out of the Scriptures till these questions are satisfied What Age What Year of our Lord were these Errors brought into the Church Who were they that brought them in and who first complained of them Now although a very reasonable account both may be and hath been given of
Bible and yet they modestly attended upon their Spiritual Guides for farther Instruction out of the Bible And therefore if some Men in later Ages have grosly Misinterpreted the Scriptures and would not be set right by those that had more skill to interpret them this doth not prove that the reading of the Scriptures makes the People ungovernable for then it must always have been so which is notoriously false and whereas it is said that almost all Heresies have come of Mis-interpreting Scripture this doth not prove that Christian People must not Read the Scriptures for it cannot be denied that those Heresies which have given any considerable disturbance to the Church of God were begun not by Laicks or illeterate Persons but by such Men as the objectors do allow to have a right of reading and studying the Scriptures i. e. by Bishops or Priests Wherefore In the last place The Arguing of these Men against the common use of the Bible concludes against the Priest as strongly as against the People For if to prevent Heresie the Scriptures are to be kept from Lay-men who may bring Heresie into the Church by misinterpreting the Scriptures then for the same reason Men in Orders should not be suffered to read them since they have actually been the Founders of Heresie nay the reason is something stronger since the wresting of the holy Text by Men of Office or Learning will be of greater Authority and do more mischief than the mistakes of private and unlearned Persons But if the danger of perverting difficult places be a good reason to deprive Men of all use of the Bible this reason hath a particular force upon some Men that they should never look upon a Bible more For the best way to judge how the Scriptures are likely to be used by any sort of Men is to consider how they have constantly used them heretofore and let any indifferent Man judge of them by these following instances because God said Let us make man after our own Image therefore it is lawful to fall down before an Image of Wood or Stone Because Christ said to Peter Feed my Sheep Therefore his pretended Successors have power to depose Heretical Princes Because Peter said to Christ Lord here are two Swords therefore they have a Temporal as well as a Spiritual Jurisdiction Because Jacob in Blessing Ephraim and Manasses prayed that his Name might be named on them therefore it is lawful to pray to Saints Because it is said the Disciples met together to break Bread therefore the Laity may be depriv'd of the Cup. Because St. Paul saith of him that prayeth in a Tongue not understood by others Thou verily givest thanks well but the other is not edified therefore it is in it self good to appoint publick Prayers in a Language unknown to the people that is because he that understands what himself says doth well for himself because he understands therefore he doth well for others that understands not a word and are therefore not edified Because the Apostle saith we must glorifie God with one mouth therefore in all publick Offices of Liturgy there is to be but one and that the Latin Tongue in all places of Christendom Because that many Languages at Babel caused confusion therefore for God to be served in the many vulgar Tongues of Christian Nations would breed Schisms in the Church Because the Beast that touched the mountain was to die and because Christ said Give not that which is Holy to Dogs therefore ordinary People are not to have the Bible These Expositions are not invented but there are good Authorities for them and for a great many more of the like sort I know not what can farther be objected but this That if Priests and Learned Men have been so foully mistaken in the Interpretation of Scripture how much more are the Unlearned in danger of falling into Mistakes which tho' perhaps will never come to be Heresies in the Church may yet prove damnable to themselves as St. Peter plainly saith To which I answer That St. Peter's unlearned Men were such as had not yet attained to the knowledge of the necessary Doctrine of Faith and good Life as appears by his calling them unstable not yet fixt in the Perswasion of the plain Truths and great Ends of the Gospel and such as those whether they were Men of good Parts or not were likely enough to interpret the hard places of St. Paul's Epistles to a sense contrary to the plain and open Truths of the Gospel But if a Man be instructed in the necessary and plain Doctrine of Christianity and moreover furnished with Modesty and a sincere Love of the Truth and willingness to learn Qualities that ought to be common to all he shall be as far from wresting the difficult Scriptures to his own destruction as one that hath vastly greater Abilities Nay I will add one thing which if it be true there is no force at all in the Objection and that is this That the service of a Cause and espousing the Interest of a By-party doth more fatally lead to Misinterpretation of the Scripture than bear weakness of Understanding and there is this plain reason for it because Modesty and love of the Truth will secure a Man of no great Abilities from rash concluding upon the difficult Places of Scripture but Partiality and the Service of a By-cause shall engage a Man of Parts and Learning to trouble the clearest and to pervert the plainest Texts as the forementioned Instances evidently shew so that either the danger of Misinterpreting Scripture is no sufficient reason to prohibit the Laity from reading it or else it were better that no Order of Men were trusted with it at all and if that be true I think it will follow that it had better never have been written at all which no Man will say whatever he thinks But to speak to the thing the Scriptures were written for an universal good and in order thereunto for common use Here are all Divine Truths and Reasons of Christian Faith and Practice that are necessary to be known of every Man plainly exprest for the use of the meanest Capacities Here are also Difficulties and Mysteries of several sizes fit to employ the Industry of the Learned according to the several degrees of their Abilities and to exercise the Modesty the Humility and the Reverence of all But still we confess that they may be perverted and abused and if this be a sufficient Reason to interdict the general use of them then farewel at once to all the Comforts of this Life and to all the Means of Grace in order to a better with every one of which Men in their folly and wickedness may and very often have hurt themselves and others St. Peter was aware of this that some Men wrested those hard things in S. Paul's Epistles and in other Scriptures to their own destruction but did he therefore disswade the Faithful from reading them No but in the