Marks of Excellency as might distinguish them plainly and convince the World they were His by being worthy of Him And He whose Goodness and Mercy are the Eminent shining Attributes of the Divinity might reasonably be presumed to exercise that Power and Wisdom when an occasion so important as the Salvation of a whole World call'd for it His own mere Bounty put him upon the mysterious Work of our Redemption and can we suppose that the very Terms upon which the Success and Efficacy of that Work depends are not sufficiently stated and made known We are told indeed no Writing can be a sufficient Rule because capable of different Coustructions and that some Living Interpreter is necessary upon whose Sense we may securely rely But what Understanding is so short as not to see the Weakness of this Argument For is any thing spoken which might not be written and would not the same words when written continue to be as full as clear as plain and distinct as when spoken only Is not any Man's discourse from his Tongue as liable to be wrested and perverted as that from his Pen If then that living Interpreter whoever he be might have his Sense committed to writing and if that Sense when not written lies open to the same danger of being misunderstood as when it is written then a written Word may be as plain and sufficient a Rule as an Oral one And if Almighty God could express himself as plainly and clearly as Man which to deny were most absurd and impious then nothing hinders why the Dictates of the Holy Ghost written in the Bible might not be as safe as full as intelligible a Direction as any Interpretations or Decrees composed by any living Persons or Society of Persons whatsoever They might be so I say which proves a Written Rule capable of equal Perfection with an Oral one And as the Nature of the thing shews it capable so the Goodness of God gives just Presumption of its actually being so We are able indeed to give some Account why Humane Laws should be obscure Men may not be always happy in their Expressions or they may leave them intricate and dark and studiously contrive some profitable Ambiguities But God hath neither Frailty nor Interest to dispose him thus He speaks on purpose to be understood and what is spoken so as not to be understood is so far forth as if not spoke at all To leave Men in darkness and distress unfurnished with Helps the want of which must be their Eternal Ruine this is what we think but ill agrees with the kind Inclinations he hath otherwise express'd for our Happiness And this will appear yet more improbable if we consider Secondly What the particular Matter is of which the Scriptures chiefly consist and are intended to instruct us in This I have already said is The Second Covenant with fallen Man and that what other things are added there are with Subservience to this Great design And can we suppose that these Great Charters and Indentures are drawn imperfectly In other Sciences there may be many Common Principles and Helps deriv'd from abroad and these are such as shine in some measure by each other 's Light But the Doctrines and Mysteries of Christianity are not in the power of Nature or Art to define we have no further insight here than what the Light from Heaven directs us to and whatever of this kind God hath not made known to us we are condemned to Doubts and Difficulties invincible and can never bring our selves to know it at all Thirdly The Sufficiency and Plainness of Scripture are both of them strongly implied in Faith and Obedience being made the Conditions of Everlasting Salvation and Unbelief and Disobedience threatned with Hell and Damnation to as many as live under the Knowledge and Light of the Gospel For if Belief and Practice must bring us to Heaven then sure God hath left a Complete System of all things necessary to be believed or done And if Men shall be damned for not believing and not practising then sure those Directions are sufficiently plain Especially too if we remember that these Conditions are not calculated for the Wise or the Learned or the Great only but imposed indifferently upon all Degrees and Capacities of Men of what size soever their Understandings or their Attainments be For in regard no Man is capable of Believing or Doing what he is not capable of knowing the Sense and Meaning of it must needs follow that in the Terms of Salvation God hath descended to the Weak and the Common Man and made that which is necessary to All easie and plain to All. The Extremity of marking what is done amiss who says the Psalmist may abide But would not the marking and punishing what could not but be done amiss be a much more insupportable Extremity And yet admitting that Men are condemned to Everlasting Torments for failure in that Duty of which God never gave them sufficient Means of Information I cannot apprehend but that this is the Case with them The Force of which Argument in general That God must needs have made sufficient Discoveries of his Will is so confessedly evident that the only Fault our Adversaries find with us for alledging it is the confining these Discoveries to Scripture only to justifie which Inference I add in the Fourth place That we have no equal Evidence for any other Supplementary Declaration of God's Will and therefore we have Reason to look upon the Scriptures as a full and Sufficient one In his quae apertè in scripturâ posiâ—a sunt inveniuntur illa omnia quae continent Fidem moresque vivendi spem scilicet atque Charitatem Augustin de Doctrin Christian Lib. II. Cap. 9. Now that such Evidence was absolutely needful appears from hence That whatsoever mends and fills up the Measure of any other Law and to which we must have our last Recourse and Appeal does by that Means acquire not only equal but in some sort a superiour Authority to what went before and therefore to be sure it ought to have it 's own Authority at least as well confirm'd as That which it pretends to perfect Now the Scriptures command our Assent and Obedience as coming from God That they came from Him we are assured by their Author 's giving Proper and Authentick Testimonies of a Commission and Inspiration truly Divine That the Miracles in which that Testimony consisted were really performed we have the Report of Enemies as well as Friends to their Doctrine The Proof of Infinite Converts won over by them contrary to all the Interest and Inclinations of Flesh and Blood and Lastly The concurring Consent of the Church Universal in all Ages which alone all Circumstances consider'd is an Evidence even Credible in it self 'Till therefore the Advancers of Traditions and an Infallible Guide on the one Hand and till the Pretenders to private Illuminations on the other can bring equal Evidence for themselves but especially
therefore the Perfection of Scripture we must ever attend to the Design it serves and its Sufficiency to compass that Design For Example In the Historical Part we are not to expect a full and just Relation of all that happened in the World at that Time no nor of all that happened to that People of whose Affairs it more professedly treats a Competent Quantity of the main and most significant Passages will serve the turn such as draw down a just Account of our Blessed Saviour and wherein the Law and Polity of the Jews were Types of Him or of the Christian Church So again The Prophecies do not foretell all that should happen under the Gospel nor every Thing to be done by our Lord himself but are contented with drawing the Principal Lines and giving Representations and Characters so like and lively as when the Son of God should appear in Flesh and Events came to be compared with Predictions might render Men exceedingly to blame if they did not accept and regard That Person as the promised Messias in whom those Descriptions so exactly center'd Nay even in the Gospel it self St. John makes no Difficulty to own that a World of remarkable and wonderful Things done by Christ are not however left upon Record but that Enough are left to build Men's Faith upon Now it cannot be deny'd but the All-wise God could under each of those Periods have inspired the Holy Pen-Men with all that are omitted or that he could if he had pleased have made but One Period and revealed all together But when he did not so we have Reason to conclude that the Measure of his Revelations is directed by the End of them that he intended not the Scripture for a Repository of all Truths in the simple and most comprehensive Sense of the Word But of all which were needful to make Men wise unto Salvation such as their present Circumstances required and what he intended they should be accountable for And as he would not be Niggardly in these Communications so neither was he Profuse Nay from hence I argue 4. Fourthly That even all Truths which may have any Tendency to direct Men in their Duty are not particularly and expresly to be found there nor is it all necessary or indeed Humanly speaking possible that they should And This directly meets with an Opinion unhappy in it's Consequences but entertained it is to be hoped out of an honest Zeal and well-meant Reverence for these Blessed Writings That I mean of Mens not being allowed to do any thing for which some express Command or Warrant or at least Example may not be produced out of Scripture I cannot now stand to shew the Danger and Uncertainty of governing our Lives by the Examples even of Good Men but shall endeavour to prove the unreasonableness of this Rule in general and to disengage Men from the many sad Suspenses and Snares which it is apt to bring unwary Consciences under by these following Particulars First Let it be remembred that our Obligation to obey the Scriptures does not arise from their being Written but from their being the Discoveries of God's Will and our Duty Consequently Whatever comes to my Knowledge as his Pleasure concerning me hath the same binding Power upon my Conscience be the Method of making it so known to me what it will The Authority of the Law-Giver and the sufficient Promulging of the Law These are the Things that induce the Obligation to Obedience And therefore if God who is the absolute and only Master of my Conscience have several ways of signifying his Pleasure the particular Manner of doing it is accidental and foreign to this Binding Power and makes not the least Difference in my Engagement to Submission and Obedience Now Secondly We may be satisfy'd that God not only did formerly but that he does still use other Methods of manifesting his Will besides that of the written Word There have been Times and Persons that knew no other Law but Reason And when God added a brighter Candle he did not put out the old one or forbid us to walk by it's Light so far as that is able to direct us The very Divine Authority of Scripture and the Being of the God from whence that Authority is derived are Principles arising from Common Reason And how absurd would it be to allow no Standard of Truth in Religion no Rule of Behaviour but Scripture when the Two Fundamental Truths of all Religion must be made out to us from other Principles and cannot with any Propriety of arguing be fetched from Scripture it self Thirdly The very Temper and Composition of Scripture is such as necessarily refers us to some other Rule For This is a System of mixed and very different Duties Some of Eternal and Universal Obligation Others Occasional and particular Limited to Times and Circumstances and when Those Occasions and Circumstances ceased the Matter of the Command was lost and the whole Reason and Force of it sunk of course This is observable more especially in the Jewish Dispensation but it is likewise true in sundry other Cases Now these Things being oftentimes delivered promiscuously and in general Terms Men must of necessity have Recourse to some other Rule to distinguish and guide them in making the just Differences between the one and the other Sort. And This is what Equity and the Reason of the Thing must do where the Word of God it self hath made no express Difference at all Fourthly The Scriptures as a Rule of Faith and Life do not concern us just as the Words and Syllables are set down there but according to the true Sense and Rational Meaning of the Text. And in Order to just Resolutions of this kind many Qualifications are requisite A Mind truly Honest and resign'd to the Will of God sincere and unprejudiced the being not only Content but Desirous to learn and ready to retract Errours and reform Vices when upon a Fair Examination they shall appear to be such To This we must add Diligence and Care and Skill such as may enable Men to compare and reconcile and form a Judgment out of the Scriptures to consider the Contexts the Occasions the Expressions the Genius of the Countries and Proprieties of Languages and to fix upon such Commodious Interpretations from hence as may never set one Scripture at Variance with another And where these Qualifications are not to be had there a meek and quiet Spirit an orderly Submission to honest and better Judgments and enduring to be Ignorant in Matters above one's Reach Now all this is the Work of a Man 's own understanding and Will assisted by God's Grace and all so necessary that without such Application and Appeals to fair unbyass'd Reason the very Word of God it self may misguide and prove a Snare to us Fifthly The Nature of Humane Actions puts it out of dispute that the Scriptures alone can never be a full and perfect Direction in Point of Duty For the Circumstances
of Human Life are infinite and depend upon a multitude of Accidents not to be foreseen and consequently not to be provided against Hence Laws must run in general Terms and sometimes the Intent of the Law is best fulfilled by going counter to the Letter of it In all such Cases therefore Reason and Honesty must guide us to the fitness of the thing and great Scope is necessarily left to Equity and Discretion I allow indeed that God who hath contented himself with general Rules could have described all the Accidents and Circumstances which he cannot but foresee and know exactly But there is no Reason why he should and a great deal why he should not 'T is much better that he hath left us to draw general Rules into particular Practice and put us upon the Tryal of doing this fairly of discharging a Good Conscience in positive Obedience where he hath determined things to Moral Good or Evil and of following the Measures of Integrity and Expediency where he hath left them indifferent and at large The Summ then of this First Head may be easily drawn together within the Compass of these few short Conclusions 1. First As to the Mysteries and Doctrines peculiar to the Christian Faith such as The Incarnation and Satisfaction of our Blessed Saviour the Justification of Sinners by Faith the Assistances of the Holy Spirit the Trinity of Persons in the Divine Essence which I make no Scruple to call a necessary and distinguishing Doctrine of the Christian Religion In these the Scriptures are our absolute and only Rule For They are Branches of a New Covenant Revelations of Stupendous and Important Concern setting forth Free Acts of Mercy such as depended upon no necessary Causes in Nature such as concern'd not Man in his primitive State and therefore not within the Ken of Reason These could come only from God and upon Him we are therefore to depend entirely for them So that when there is sufficient Evidence of His having delivered any Matters of this kind All the rest is to be taken upon content and his Truth and Infinite Wisdom are a just Foundation of our Belief how far soever the Matter revealed may exceed our Comprehension 2. Secondly In Matters of Practice the Scripture is our Supreme though not our only Rule Those things which Reason and Nature teach This enlarges and refines upon and oftentimes confirms with a fresh Sanction It exalts our Vertues and directs us to proceed upon nobler Principles teaches some Duties not to be known without it gives clearer Convictions of such as were known imperfectly leads us to Ends above nature furnishes Means above the Powers of Nature proposes Rewards Heavenly and Divine and helps us to do more than mere Men by their own discourse could ever have done So that Revelation does not quench the Light of Nature but adds fresh oil and makes it burn the brighter And by being more perfect helping our dimness and dark sight and taking place above all other Authorities it is properly styled by David A candle to our feet and a lantern to our paths Psal cxix 105. So that whatever this Word teaches which we might otherwise have known has a double tye upon us and That which either Want of Understanding or corruption of Mind would have kept us in ignorance of when found here is to be received with Submission and Reverence as an inviolable Law whatever Flesh and Sense and Worldly Wisdom may suggest or object to the contrary 3. Thirdly The Perfection of Scripture does not confine it self to such Matters of Faith and Practice as are absolutely necessary to Salvation but it is liberal and well fraught with excellent Rules both for improving our Knowledge and adorning our Profession It consults the Beauty and Gracefulness as well as the Life and Being of Christianity It directs the shining of our Light and the winning over others by our Prudence and Good Example and leaves us general Hints the Efficacy of which will depend upon the Honesty and Discretion of particular Applications to our own personal Exigencies and Conditions 4. But Fourthly There are many Cases where Scripture can have nothing at all to do except by very remote Consequences and so far only as is implied in the foregoing Particular Ten thousand Actions of Humane Life there are so trivial as scarde to deserve the deliberation of a single Thought And to expect Laws and Decisions from Almighty God in things of no Importance or moral Good or Evil were to bring his Majesty into Contempt and therefore here Discretion is our only Guide In short and to conclude this Argument The Written Word of God is to be esteemed Sufficient and Perfect but This is to be understood of having the Sufficiency of Means to the End and what may serve the Purposes to which it was ordained The Perfection is that of an Instrument but then This like all other Instruments requires an honest skilful and diligent Hand to manage and apply it Successfully And it is no Disparagement to the Scripture's Character that Some by neglecting and Others by abusing it still want that Saving Wisdom it might give Nor does it at all take off from the Perfection of this Rule that some Cases are so plain and obvious as not to need its particular Directions and that Others are of so little moment as not to deserve them II. Secondly The Way being thus made plain by rightly Stating the Perfection of Scripture let us now proceed to the Second Part of our Business which is To instance in some general Arguments which the Protestant Opinion of the Scripture's Sufficiency may very reasonably alledge for its self Now in order to make Scripture a Competent Guide in the Cases that properly concern it Two things only are neeessary That it be Sufficiently particular and express and that it be plain and intelligible That as much be delivered there as the occasion requires and That it be delivered in such a manner as that Men may improve by it and attain to the Knowledge of it Both which to any Man who considers the Uses of Scripture appear to be so necessarily required and so greatly related to that the same General Arguments will prove both and these that follow if I mistake not may contribute something toward it First A Consideration of the Author Every Imperfection in the Effect is owing to some Failure in the Cause a want of Power if it be a Necessary Cause or a Want of Will if it be a Sufficient and Free Cause There was therefore excellent Reason why St. Paul should begin his Character of the Scripture's Perfection with an Account of its being given by inspiration of God This Introduction carrying in it a very Significant Argument to enforce what follows For where indeed should we expect Perfection if not from Him who is the Source and Summ of all Perfection He whose Power and Wisdom are infinite was most likely to impress upon his own Ordinances such
while they continue the darkest Controversies in all Religion we are not to be blamed for not admitting them into Competition and shall do better to suspect these Pretences of Vanity and Enthusiasm and Project than by admitting them to draw such a meaning upon the Words of this Text as might easily be shewed to introduce an inspired Apostle talking neither good Argument nor so much as Coherent and common Sense The Summ then of my Second Head is This That according to all we can reasonably conceive of God he must needs have made some Competent Provision for Men's understanding their Duty They cannot escape eternal Ruine without the Knowledge of it This Knowledge in the Points peculiarly Christian could come to them by Divine Revelation only It does not appear that God hath signaliz'd and distinguish'd any Method or Rule of this kind in so eminent a manner as he hath done the Scriptures and therefore we have reason to believe and to respect the Scriptures as that competent Provision And now having gone thro' such general Arguments as seem most necessary I come to the Third and last Thing which is III. To shew in particular as briefly as I can How the Scriptures answer this Character with Regard to the several Instances of their Usefulness mention'd in the Text. 1. First St. Paul says The Scripture is profitable for Doctrine by which is commonly understood a Declaration of such Truths as are necessary to be believed The Summ of what is requisite in this Point consistts of a right Information concerning God and our selves What He is and what we are and hope to be What he hath done for our Sakes and How we may reap the Benefit of it in our own Persons and become acceptable in his Sight And of this the Scripture gives a large and clear Account It traces us up to our first Head points to the Rock whence we were hewn describes our Happy and our Healthful State tells when and how our Innocence was lost and sets forth both the Sickness and the Cure It presents us with the leisurely Advances towards it the Personal Revelations to the Patriarchs The Rites and Figures of Moses's Law The clearer Predictions and more refined Precepts of the Prophets and These accommodated to the several Stages of the World and tempered all in such Proportion as the Body diseased gathered Strength to digest them At last when the fulness of Time was come and Matters ripe for the last and most perfect Revelation it shews us the Saviour of the World the Son of God and in Him all those Shadows and rough imperfect Strokes finished and filled up all those Prophecies centring together with marvellous Harmony and Consent To These I might add the significant Providences of God to his People the Jews whereby St. Paul says they became 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Patterns and Images of the Christian Age no less than in their Law and Way of Worship I might observe the mighty Care and Art of filling every Book with Significations of the Messiah his Character and his Approach sometimes by Prophecies aiming directly at him sometimes by mix'd and more obscure Intimations and those breakings out of the Spirit from other Subjects and Persons into Expressions too Lofty and Magnificent to be literally and strictly true of any but of Him But which comes nearer Home here we have our Souls raised to higher and juster Notions of God and Goodness we are taught to worship him in Spirit and in Truth a Service most suitable to the Majesty of His Nature and the Dignity of our own We see the Adorable Mystery of the Son of God in Flesh and a Human Body exalted to the Right-Hand of the Majesty on high a Person truly Divine conversing with Men courting them to their Happinesses pressing importuning nay which is most of all Dying for Them that They may live for ever And whatever mysterious and intricate Passages the Scripture may contain for the Exercise shall I say or for the Humiliation of Men Wise in their own Conceits yet These Matters which make the Historical Account of our Redemption are related in Circumstances so natural and yet so moving in Language so easie and so expressive too that the most Scrupulous if a fair and honest Reader may be settled and convinced and the plainest and grossest Understanding may be enlightned and edified by them For whatever Darkness and Mists may now obscure these saving Truths it is not from themselves or their original Ambiguities so much as from the studied Niceties of Subtil and Designing Men Who under Pretence of distinguishing and explaining have rather confounded and rendred them Unintelligible and many times distinguished away even Truth and Piety it self But blessed be God we are not utterly at these Mens Mercies for to our Comfort the Apostle observes 2. Secondly That the Scripture is likewise Profitable for Reproof by which is commonly understood the Confuting of Errors and corrupt Opinions which oppose or impair the Truth * Isai viii 20. Matt. xxii 29. Mar. xii 24. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seu ut alii legunt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost in Johan Hom. XL. Thus among the Jews the Law and the Testimony was the Touch and Tryal to which all new Pretenders were to be brought Thus our Saviour expresly attributes the Sadduces Error concerning the Resurrection and a Future State to their not knowing the Scriptures And to the same Purpose the Apostle here sends Timothy to the Scriptures as a Defence against those Corrupt and Perillous times foretold in the Beginning of this Chapter The earnest Exhortations of all the Primitive Fathers to be much conversant in these Holy Books Their placing all the Mischief of their Divisions to the Account of neglecting so to do the setting the Two Testaments in the midst of the Ancient and purest Councils as a common Umpire between all contending Parties and infinite Testimonies and Commendations to this purpose shew most evidently that the Written Word was always look'd upon as the Standard of Doctrine and Faith That to which all ought to have recourse to submit to and be finally concluded by Traditionary Articles and Infalible Interpreters had then no place nor was it requisite they ever should For though St. Peter says some Scriptures were wrested to mens own destruction yet he acquaints us withal how they came to be so They were he says the unlearned and unstable that did it Men not well principled and of a restless Temper And if People will come to this Rule with perverse unquiet Minds with a Spirit of Frowardness and Cavil and Contention they may no doubt confound the clearest Things Besides which makes the Objection much less formidable St. Peter says the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Passages hard to be understood were principally concerned in this racking of the Sense And so long as Captious Wits exercise upon These only the Consequence is not so very