had gone this way to work to convert Infidels Pap. Therefore those who obtain the Articles of the Christian Faith must have some Rule to acquire them by which cannot deceive them Ans This is an obscure Saying and I must make the best of it By obtaining Articles of the Christian Faith I suppose he means believing them and by a Rule by which to acquire them He must understand a Rule or means whereby to know what the Articles of the Christian Faith are and then his meaning is That those who believe the Articles of the Christian Faith must be provided of some such Rule or Means to know what they are as cannot deceive them Now whether this be in it self true or false it does not at all follow from what he had laid down before For though the Truth of Things or Propositions is so sure that as he wisely says 't is impossible they should be false yet it does by no means follow that the Reasons upon which I believe these things must necessarily be as sure as the Truth of the Things themselves And this I make no doubt the Disputer was well aware of But because I am sensible who they are whom he designs to pervert by this Paper and for whose sake I answer it I will explain this matter by an Instance that will bring it down to all Capacities If there was such a Man as Henry the 8th it is certainly impossible that there should be no such Man but my belief that there was such a Man is grounded upon such Reasons as do not imply an absolute impossibility of the contrary because it is grounded upon the Testimony of Fallible men And yet I should be very little better than a mad-man if I should entertain the least doubt that there was such a Man which plainly shews that I may have sufficient Reason to believe a thing without any Evidence of the impossibility of the contrary and this is enough to overthrow his Consequence I shall now inquire what truth there is in the Conclusion it self To which end I observe That there are two things which may be understood by those Words cannot deceive them either first that the Rule it self is so plain and certain that no Man who uses it can be deceived by the Rule or secondly That 't is impossible any Man should be mistaken in the Use of it If he means the former then I shall shew him presently that we have such a Rule as he speaks of and that he hath said nothing to make us ashamed of it If he means the latter then I say it is absolutely false That those who without doubting believe the Articles of the Christian Faith must have such a Rule to know what they are as that they cannot possibly mistake in the Use of it To make which plain to every bodies understanding I shall add another Instance easie to be applied If a Man skilful in Arithmetick hath a great many Numbers before him and desires to know what Sum they make when they are put together he has the Rule of Addition to do it by which Rule cannot deceive him Now there are these two things to be observed farther which I think the Disputer himself will not deny first that it is in the Nature of the thing possible that this Man may be mistaken every time that he put these several Numbers together to bring them all into one Sum but secondly that notwithstanding this Possibility of being mistaken yet after he has tryed it over and over again he may be sure without the least doubt that he has done his work right Even so we may have a Rule of Faith that cannot deceive us and though it is not Absolutely Impossible that we should be mistaken in the use of it yet we may for all that be assured and believe without the least doubting that we have learn'd what the true Faith is by that Rule For all the World knows that it is no sufficient Reason to doubt of any thing that the contrary is barely possible Pap. To a Parliamentary Protestant the ancient Fathers can't be such a Rule because they are accounted fallible Ans We never said they were such a Rule this therefore is impertinent Pap. Nor Councils because they also are accounted fallible Ans This is impertinent also for we never said they were our Rule of Faith But we have better Reasons to give why Fathers and Councils cannot be our Rule of Faith than this that the Disputer has made for us And one is this That we cannot make them the Rule of our Faith but by so doing we must depart from the Primitive Fathers and the ancient Councils in as much as all agree That the Holy Scriptures are the Rule of Faith and they made it theirs Pap. Nor Scriptures sensed by a fallible Authority because all such Interpretations may be false Ans This is the Place where I shall tell the Disputer what we believe and why we believe it And when I have done I shall consider whether he hath said any thing in this Clause to shake our Assurance We firmly believe all the Articles of the Creed into the Profession whereof we have been baptized We moreover believe all other Doctrine that is revealed in Holy Scriptures The Grounds of this our Faith are these That in the Holy Scriptures are recorded those Testimonies of Divine Revelation by which the Doctrines therein contained are confirmed That these Testimonies were too notorious and publick to be gainsaid insomuch that the Doctrine built upon them could not be overthrown by the Powers of the World engaged against it That the holy Books were written by the inspired Preachers of that Doctrine which they contain And that for this we have the Testimony of universal and uncontroulable Tradition which is a thing credible of it self This is the Sum of that External Evidence upon which our Faith is grounded In assigning of which I do by no means exclude that internal Evidence that arises from the excellent Goodness of the Doctrines themselves which shews them to be worthy of God Now whereas this Disputer says That these Scriptures cannot be an infallible Rule to us because they are sensed by a fallible Authority that is because we who are fallible understand them as well as we can I answer That no Man needs to be Infallible in order to the understanding of plain Scripture I who do not pretend to Infallibility am yet certain which is enough for me That I do find the Articles of the Creed in the Scriptures and many other Doctrines besides which I do understand I am sure that I know what these Words of St. John signifie 1 John 2.25 And chap. 5.3 This is the Promise that he hath promised us even eternal life And this is the love of God that we keep his Commandments and the like The ancient Fathers thought the Scriptures to be so plain that they argued out of them without pretending to an infallible
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
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
Law yet they were delivered to Moses by God himself to Joshua by Moses to the Prophets by Joshua to Esdras by the Prophets and thence to the Masters of the Schools of whom they were the Successors And they being the Guardians of these unwritten Traditions which were to be had in equal or rather superior regard to that which the Scriptures were to be held in claimed also an absolute Obedience from the People insomuch that it was a saying amongst them If the Scribes say that the right hand is the left or the left hand the right you are to believe them Now the Charge of the Pharisees upon our Saviour's Disciples was not that they had transgressed any Tradition that appeared to have a Divine Original by the Books of Moses and the Prophets but that they had transgressed the Tradition of the Elders as they used to call them such Traditions for which they had no other pretence than that they were conveyed down by word of mouth from Father to Son amongst the wise Men and the Masters and the Scribes The particular instance to explain the general Charge was this That the Disciples did not wash their hands before they eat bread For one of those many Traditionary Doctrines for which they were so zealous was this That if a Stranger or an uncircumcised Person should but touch a Jew the Jew was forthwith defiled or if he had but touched any thing that a Jew afterward touched he was unclean and if the Jew should in that state take any meat to eat that Meat was rendred unclean and would defile his Mind for the preventing of which danger it was a part of Religion to wash before eating and thus for an idle fancy they invented an idle relief and placed so much Religion in it that says one of them He that eats bread with unwashen hands sins as much as if he had lain with a Whore And says another It is the highest point of holiness for a man to separate himself from the vulgar and that he doth not touch them nor so much as eat or drink with them and the next to this is to wash away the impurity that is contracted thereby You may see a more particular account of this senseless Superstition of theirs in Mark 7. The Pharisees and all the Jews except they wash their hands oft eat not holding the tradition of the Elders And when they come from the market except they wash they eat not And many other things there be which they have received to hold as the washing of cups and pots brazen vessels and of tables that is they did not only wash their own hands lest they should have touched some stranger or one less pure than themselves but lest some stranger should have touched the Cup in which they drank or the Dish in which their Meat was or the Tables upon which the Cups were to stand these were washed with all care not for cleanliness for that would not serve the turn but for holiness sake as if their Minds were made pure by washing their Hands and Cups and all things of this sort This was one kind of their Traditionary Doctrines for transgressing of which the Disciples of Jesus were accused by the Pharisees II. We may observe these Two things implied in the Charge 1. The concern which the Scribes had for their Traditions And 2. The reverence in which the People held them 1. The concern of the Scribes and Pharisees to have them observed It was so great that a man might with less danger from them break a plain Law of God than transgress one of their Traditions and they would sooner call him to an account for this latter than for the former If they could have charged our Lord's Disciples with breaking the Fifth Commandment as Jesus charged them with it presently after of this they would have said nothing But they were not able to bear the neglect of the Disciples to wash before eating for Conscience-sake And when he had given the Multitude a plain account of this neglect neither could they bear that but were offended at him v. 12. Hence in their Talmud a Book that pretends to have gathered up their Oral Traditions it is said That there is more in the words of the Scribes than in the words of the Law And we are not to think that the written Law is the Foundation but the unwritten and the words of the Elders are of more Authority and weight than the words of the Prophets So blind was their Zeal for their Traditions that one of the Rabbies being once cast into Prison and Water being given him to wash and to drink and the greater part of it being spilt he rather chose to wash his hands than to drink saying 'T is better to die than to transgress the Tradition of the Elders And no wonder that they were thus concerned when it was by these Doctrines that they kept up an absolute Authority over the People for if the People would be made to believe that the unwritten Law was of greater consequence than the written and that the Scribes were the Guardians and Oracles of the unwritten Law nothing could be better contrived to keep them in an absolute dependance upon the Scribes 2. The Charge doth likewise imply an universal regard of these Traditions in the People Why do thy disciples transgress the traditions i. e. Why do they only do it And we heard from St. Mark that the Pharisees and all the Jews except they wash their hands oft eat not Whatever became of the Commandments of God here was very good care taken that the Traditions of the Church should be kept Nay it was so fixed in the minds of our Lord's Disciples themselves that they were to be kept that it was not easy to set them right in these things presently for after our Saviour had told them Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth the man but that which cometh out of the mouth v. 11. Peter asked him v. 15. to declare the meaning of the Parable or as he thought it hard saying And Jesus said v. 16. Are ye also yet without understanding And so he goes on shewing that he spake of cleanness of mind which was defiled by evil thoughts murders adulteries c. They had not yet got rid of those Superstitious Fancies that reigned amongst the People and were so prejudiced by them that they could hardly understand the plain truth on the other side Nay when after this he had occasion to say to them as you find in the next Chapter ver 6. Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Saduces How do we think they understood this saying And they reasoned among themselves saying It is because we have taken no bread Which shew'd they were not yet cured of this Pharisaical Superstition inasmuch as they understood our Saviour as if he had forbidden them to eat any bread which the Pharisees had touched as 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
the Persons the Time and the manner and the Degrees by which such Corruptions got into the Church yet it is very unreasonable to expect that every Christian should be able to answer these Questions punctually because it requires more labour and reading than generally they have either leisure or ability to go through with but withal it is very needless because there is a shorter and a surer way to determine this matter and that by comparing those Doctrines and Practises with the Scriptures For the Scriptures have a more certain Tradition than any of those Histories that give an account of the Revolutions of Church-Affairs since the beginning and now what matter is it if I am assured that such and such Corruptions were brought into the Church some time or other after the Apostles because they are contrary to what the Apostles taught and left in their Writings though I cannot tell just the Year when or the Person by whom they first crept into the Church I would very fain know of any Man that when our Saviour set himself to overthrow that wicked Tradition which we were speaking of before whether he could not if he had pleased have given an exact account of the Persons that began it in the Jewish Church and of the time when it began and of every circumstance that attended its entrance into the World and its growth and increase afterwards But did he go this way to work It is certain that the Pharisees pretended the Traditions which they taught the People were delivered from God to Moses and that through several Ages they were conveyed down to them successively by word of Mouth And I grant that if our Lord had with many words shewn them that there were such and such Men who first brought them in this had been a confutation of their pretence but for all that he was pleased to use a better and a shorter argument against them and told them what the Commandment was in the Law which their pretended Tradition made void and this was instead of a thousand Arguments that their Doctrine never came from Moses but was invented some time afterwards And I beseech you let none of us be ashamed to use that kind of argument which our Saviour thought fit to confute those People withal and which we have reason to think he used that he might shew us the best way to secure our selves from being imposed upon by unwritten Traditions and by a pretence of having received such Doctrines from the Apostles as they never delivered When therefore we are asked If Transubstantiation be an Error and not an Article of Faith when did it come in If Service in an unknown Tongue be an Innovation when did it come in If the Sacrifice of the Mass be a Corruption when did it come in Let us account it sufficient to answer for so our Saviour thought it in the like case That Transubstantiation makes void those places of Scripture which expresly affirm that by eating of Bread we shew forth the Death of Christ and are made partakers of his Body That Service in an unknown tongue makes void the Fourteenth Chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians And that the Sacrifice of the Mass makes void the Seventh and the Tenth Chapters of the Epistle to the Hebrews which expresly tell us that Christ can be offered no more and that there remains no more Sacrifice for sins and therefore we are very well assured that they did come in some time or other since the Apostles but whether they came in sooner or later is nothing to the purpose for certainly nothing ought ever to have come in that makes void any part of the Word of God but if any such thing hath got in there is all the reason in the World that it should be thrown out again They may well be ashamed that cannot bear this sort of arguing but most certainly we have no reason to be ashamed to use it since our Blessed Saviour hath used it before us for when he set himself to overthrow the credit of these Doctrines for which they pretended a constant Tradition in the Church he thought it sufficient for his purpose to shew that they voided the Commandments of God and made his word of none effect 2. If there be one Traditionary Doctrine that notoriously contradicts the written Word of God 't is enough to overthrow the whole Credit of that Tradition which pretends to bring down unwritten Doctrines that are necessary to be received For thus we find that our Saviour by the single instance of that Tradition which voided the Fifth Commandment overthrew the Objection of the Pharisees against his Disciples Why do thy Disciples transgress the tradition of the Elders i. e. their unwritten Traditions Which was as much as to say That they ought all of them to be Religiously observed because they had all the same Authority Our Saviour therefore produces an instance of their Traditions that takes away all Authority inasmuch as it was a plain contradiction to the Law of God if therefore amongst their unwritten Doctrines and Rules there were any that had some kind of goodness and usefulness they were to be regarded upon their own account and not upon the Authority of Tradition But when he had utterly overthrown all that pretended Authority by an undeniable Argument he then speaks to the case which themselves had propounded and lays down the truth concerning it They had a vast number of Superstitions for which they pretended Tradition and they tax our Saviour's Disciples for not observing one of them Now he with admirable Wisdom first breaks the Authority of their Tradition shewing that one of them was plainly against the Law of God and then he shews how Superstitious and foolish they were in the case which themselves chose to speak to In this also our Lord hath set us an example that if we are press'd by a pretence to Tradition in favour of unwritten Doctrines and Articles we should in the first place shew that one or more of these is contrary to the Word of God and therefore that there is no reason to pretend Tradition for any of them since they are all said to have come down together Which being done in the first place it will be then seasonable to shew what is to be thought of the rest if they are judged of by the general Rules of Reason and Scripture 3. The Universal consent of some one or two Ages that such and such Doctrines were delivered by word of mouth many Ages before is no Argument that they were so delivered The Pharisees did pretend that their Doctrines and Interpretations of the Law had been conveyed down from Moses by Oral Tradition to that Age in which they lived and there were several of these Traditions universally believed in that Age to have been so conveyed and the Practice of the People was universally governed by them For instance that of Religious Washing before meat and the washing
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
Authority of Interpretation as I will shew this Disputer when he pleases If nothing less than Infallibility will serve to understand or as he says to sense Words why does this Disputer put into my Hands this Paper of his which is none of the plainest neither I am sure he does not take me to be Infallible and yet I am confident he would be angry if I should say his Paper was not to be understood without an infallible Interpreter let him answer this if he can The Reason he gives why Scripture sensed by a fallible Authority cannot be the Rule of Faith is because all such Interpretations may be false That is to say because there is a bare Possibility of any fallible Man's mistaking the sense of plain Texts Which kind of Reasoning makes impossible that every Man should come to be a Believer unless himself be first Infallible And this I shall demonstrate so plainly that no Man who has any share of Understanding and Modesty shall be able to deny it There is no possible way for any sort of Christians to make known either the Articles or Reasons of Faith to those that are yet ignorant of them but by Words or Sentences written or spoken He who hears or reads the words and sentences cannot tell either what is to believe or why he should believe till he understands or in the Disputers Phrase till he senses those Words and Sentences but as yet his Authority is but fallible and Words sensed by a fallible Authority can never give a Man certainty either of the Rule or of the Reason of his Faith if this Disputer be in the Right therefore 't is impossible to make him a Believer unless you can make him Infallible first that it may not be possible for him to be mistaken in sensing the Words which he hears or reads And thus farewel to all Advantage that any Man can have by the Infallibility of Popes and Councils or Oral Tradition as well as by the Scriptures nay and to all possible means of arriving to certainty in any matter of Faith unless every body be Infallible first so that upon supposition that God would have all Men to be sav'd and therefore to believe it inavoidably follows from the wild reasoning of this Man that God has made every Man Infallible But if it be evident that Men are fallible Creatures then this Disputer has advanced a Principle the most destructive to all certainty of Faith that ever was heard of in the World But the comfort is that 't is so very absurd that no body well in his Wits can be misled by it Pap. And therefore Faith cannot be obtain'd by any such means Ans Which is as much as to say that Faith cannot be obtain'd till a Man have the Gift of Infallibility And if every Man has it before he can be taught to any purpose what need can there be of an infallible Interpreter to teach him But as I observed before 't is impossible to make Believers of those that are not Infallible unless the Disputer or his Church has a way to make known the Doctrines and Reasons of Christian Faith without Words Pap. For that which is doubtful can only create opinion which is also doubtful Ans Therefore since all Words are doubtful to him that has but a fallible Authority to sense them as no Man has more before he believes 't is impossible for the Disputers Church to create any thing more than opinion which is also doubtful in those whom she teaches unless as I have already said she can make them Infallible first and teach them afterwards And even then there would be no need of teaching them at all because they are now Infallible themselves Of all the Papers that ever I read I never met with any thing more absurd and contradictious than the reasoning of this In which the Disputer out of a vehement desire to overthrow our Faith and the Grounds of it has laid down Principles that do effectually overthrow all ways of making Men sure of any thing and in particular the use of those very Methods by which his own Church pretends to lead Men to Faith Pap. And he that doubts in Faith the Apostle saith is Infidelis and a company of Doubters are not a Church of Faithful but a society of such as the Apostle calls Infidels Ans What Apostle says this if the Disputer refers to Rom. 14.23 as I think he does he has shewn his skill in the Interpretation of Scripture to be equal to his mastery in Reasoning If in the Infallible Church they can Interpret Scripture no better than thus give me the honesty and industry of a Fallible Church before it The Conclusion AND now after all this Paper is as absurd in the design as it is in the management for the business of it is to prove That Protestants have no Faith but are Infidels and that by this Argument they are and must be Doubters Now whether I doubt or do not doubt is a Question concerning a matter of Fact that I have more reason to know the Truth of than the Disputer can possibly have and if I know that I do not doubt and he can yet prove that I do doubt he is an extraordinary Man indeed For then I am sure he can prove That Truth not only may be but is false which perhaps such a Man as he can reconcile with what he said at first That truths are impossible to be false And this alone had been a sufficient Answer to his Paper for nothing can be more frivolous than to go about to prove to a Man by fine Reasoning that he does doubt of a thing when hâ— is as sure that he does not doubt of it as he caâ— be of any thing in the World But the design of this Paper seems to be as impious as 't is absurd And that is to bring weak Persons to Infidelity first that they may afterwards be setled upon Romish Grounds I do acknowledge 't is a very proper way to bring us over to the Church of Rome to make us Infidels first But this they will not find so easie a mattter for we trust that we are not of those who draw back to Perdition but of those that believe to the saving of the soul I have omitted nothing in the whole Paper but to take notice of that little and mean Reflection in calling the Protestant a Parliamentary Protestant I have told this Disputer the Reason and Ground of our Faith If we moreover are protected in the Profession of it by the Laws of the Land I suppose 't is no more than what he would desire for the Profession of Popery and he would think never the worse of himself for being a Parliamentary Papist Thus I have answered this Paper through every Clause of it And I am confident destroy'd all that little Appearance of Reasoning that it made Let the Disputer build it up again if he can I promise him by God's Grace that I 'll pull it down again FINIS