unmoveable foundation of all Christian faith which argument when well weighed I hope will have weight with all sorts of Christians and it is this That which all Professors of Christianity of whatsoever kind are forced ultimately to recur unto when pressed to the last That for and because of which all other foundations are recommended and accounted worthy to be believed and without which they are granted to be of no weight at all must needs be the only most true certain and unmovable foundation of all Christian Faith But inward immediate objective revelation by the Spirit is that which all Professors of Christianity of whatsoever kind are forced ultimately to recur unto c. Therefore c. The Proposition is so evident that it will not be denyed The assumption shall be proved by parts And first as to Papists they place their foundation in the judgment of the Church and Tradition If we press them to say why they believe as the Church doth Their answer is because the Church is always led by the infallible Spirit So here the leading of the Spirit is the utmost foundation Again If we ask them why we ought to trust Tradition They answer Because these Traditions were delivered us by the Doctors and Fathers of the Church which Doctors and Fathers by the Revelation of the Holy Ghost commended the Church to observe them Here again all ends in the Revelation of the Spirit And for the Protestants and Socinians both which acknowledg the Scriptures to be the foundation and rule of their Faith the one is subjectively influenced by the Spirit of God to use them the other as manageing them with and by their own Reason Ask both or either of them why they trust in the Scriptures and take them to be their Rule Their answer is Because we have in them the mind of God delivered unto us by those to whom these things were inwardly immediately and objectively revealed by the Spirit of God And not because this or that man wrote them but because the Spirit of God dictated them It is strange then that men should render that so uncertain and dangerous to follow upon which alone the certain ground and foundation of their own faith is Built Or that they should shut themselves out from that Holy Fellowship with God which only is enjoyed in the Spirit in which we are commanded both to walk and live If any reading these things find themselves moved by the strength of these Scripture arguments to assent and believe such Revelations necessary and yet find themselves strangers to them which as I observed in the beginning is the cause that this is so much gain-said and contradicted Let them know that it is not because it is ceased to become the priviledge of every Christian that they do not feel it but rather because they are not so much Christians by Nature as by Name and let such know that the secret Light which shines in the heart and reproves unrighteousness is the small beginnings of the Revelation of God's Spirit which was first sent into the world to reprove it of Sin John 16.8 And as by forsaking Iniquity thou com'st to be acquainted with that Heavenly voice in thy heart thou shalt feel as the Old man the Natural man that savoureth not the things of God's Kingdom is put off with his evil and corrupt affections and Lusts I say thou shalt feel the New Man the Spiritual birth and Babe raised which hath its Spiritual Sences and can see feel taste handle and smell the things of the Spirit but till then the knowledg of things Spiritual is but as an historical Faith but as the description of the Light of the Sun or of curious Colours to a blind man who though of the largest capacity cannot so well understand it by the most acute and lively description as a child can by seeing them So neither can the natural man of the large capacity by the best words even Scripture words so well understand the Mysteries of God's Kingdom as the least and weakest child who tasteth them by having them revealed inward and objectively by the Spirit Wait then for this in the small Revelation of that pure Light which first reveals things more known and as thou becom'st fitted for it thou shalt receive more and more and by a living experience easily refute their Ignorance who ask how dost thou know that thou art acted by the Spirit of God which will appear to thee a question no less ridiculous then to ask one whose eyes are open how he knows the Sun shines at Noon-day and though this be the surest and certainest way to answer all objections yet by what is above written it may appear that the mouths of all such opposers as deny this Doctrine may be shut by unquestionable and unanswerable reasons The Third Proposition Concerning the Scriptures From these Revelations of the Spirit of God to the Saints have proceeded the Scriptures of Truth which contain I. A faithful historical account of the actings of Gods People in divers ages with many singular and remarkable Providences attending them II. A Prophetical account of several things whereof some are already past and some yet to come III. A full and ample account of all the chief Principles of the Doctrine of Christ held forth in divers precious Declarations Exhortotions and Sentences which by the moving of God's Spirit were at several times and upon sundry occasions spoken and written unto some Churches and their Pastors Nevertheless because they are only a Declaration of the Fountain and not the Fountain it self therefore they are not to be esteemed the principal ground of all Truth and Knowledg nor yet the adequate primary Rule of Faith and manners Yet because they give a true and faithful Testimony of the first Foundation they are and may be esteemed a secondary rule subordinate to the Spirit from which they have all their excellency and certainty for as by the inward Testimony of the Spirit we do alone truly know them so they testifie that the Spirit is that Guide by which the Saints are led into all Truth therefore according to the Scriptures the Spirit is the First and Principal Leader Seeing then that we do therefore receive and believe the Scriptures because they proceeded from the Spirit for the very same reason is the Spirit more Originally and Principally the Rule according to that received Maxime in the Schools Propter quod unumquodque est tale iliud ipsum est magis tale That for which a thing is such the thing it self is more such § I. THe former part of this Proposition though it needs no Apology for it yet it is a good Apology for us and will help to sweep away that among many other Calumnys wherewith we are often loaded as if we were vilifiers and deniers of the Scriptures for in that which we affirm of them it doth appear at what high rate we value them accounting them without all
more than these cometh of evil And saith James lest ye fall into Condemnation Which words both all and every one of them do make such a full prohibition and so free of all exception that it is strange how men that boast the Scripture is the Rule of their faith and life can counterfeit any exception Certainly reason ought to teach every one that it is not lawful to make void a general prohibition coming from God by such opposition unless the exception be as clearly and evidently expressed as the prohibition neither is it enough to endeavour to confirm it by consequences and probabilitys which are obscure and uncertain and not sufficient to bring quiet to the Conscience For if they say that there is therefore an exception and limitation in the words because there are found exceptions in the other general prohibition of this fifth chapter as in the forbidding of divorcement where Christ saith It hath been said Whosoever shall put away his Wife let him give her a writing of divorcement But I say unto you That whosoever shall put away his Wife saving for the cause of fornication causeth her to commit Adultery If I say they say this they not only labour in vain but also fight against themselves because they can produce no exception of this general command of not swearing expressed by God to any under the New Covenant after Christ gave this prohibition so clear as that which is made in the prohibition it self moreover if Christ would have excepted Oaths made before Magistrates certainly he had then expressed adding except in judgment before the Magistrate or the like as he did in that of divorcement by these words saving for the cause of fornication which being so it is not lawful for us to except or distinguish or which is all one make void this general prohibition of Christ it would be far less agreeable to Christian holyness to bring upon our heads the crimes of so many Oaths which by reason of this corruption and exception are so frequent among Christians Neither is it to be omitted that without doubt the most learned Doctors of each Sect know that these forementioned words were understood by the Antient Fathers of the first three hundred years after Christ to be a prohibition of all sorts of Oaths It is not then without reason that we wonder that the Popish Doctors and Priests bind themselves by an Oath to interpret the Holy Scriptures according to the universal exposition of the Holy Fathers who notwithstanding understood those controverted texts quite contrary to what these Modern Doctors do and from thence also doth clearly appear the vanity and foolish certainty so to speak of Popish traditions for if by the writings of the Fathers so called the faith of the Church of these ages may be demonstrated it is clear they have departed from the faith of the Church of the first three Ages in the point of swearing Moreover because not only Papists but also Lutherans and Calvinists and some others do restrict the words of Christs and James I think it needful to make manifest the vain foundation upon which their presumption in this matter is built Obj. § XI First they object That Christ only forbids these Oaths that are made by Creatures and things Created and they prove it thence because he numbers some of these things Secondly All rash and vain oaths in familiar discourses because he saith Let your communication be Yea Yea and Nay Nay To which I answer First that the Law did forbid all Oaths made answer 1 by the Creatures as also all vain and rash Oaths in our common Discourses commanding that men should only swear by the name of God and that neither falsly nor rashly for that is to take his Name in vain Secondly it is most evident that Christ forbids somewhat Answ. that was permitted under the Law to wit to swear by the Name of God because it was not lawful for any man to swear but by God himself and because he saith neither by Heaven because it is the Throne of God therefore he excludes all other Oaths even those which are made by God for he saith chap. 23.22 He that shall swear by Heaven sweareth by the Throne of God and by him that sitteth thereon whtch is also to be understood of the rest Lastly that he might put the matter beyond all controversie he answer 3 adds neither by any other oath Therefore seeing to swear before the Magistrate by God is an Oath it is here without doubt forbidden Secondly they object that by these words Oaths by Gods Name cannot be forbidden because the Heavenly Father hath commanded them Obj. for the Father and the Son are one which eould not be if the Son did forbid that which the Father commanded I answer They are indeed One Answ. and cannot contradict one another nevertheless the Father gave many things to the Jews for a time because of their infirmity under the old Covenant which had only a shaddow of good things to come not the very Substance of things until Christ should come who was the Substance and by whose coming all these things evanished to wit Sabbaths Circumcision the Paschal Lamb men used then Sacrifices who lived in controversies with God and one with other which all are abrogated in the coming of the Son who is the Substance Eternal Word and essential Oath and Amen in whom the promises of God are Yea and Amen who came that men might be redeemed out of strife and might make an end of controversie Thirdly they object But all Oaths are not Ceremonies Obj. nor any part of the Ceremonial Law I answer Except it be shewn to be an eternal immutable Answ. and moral preceept it withstands not neither are they of so old an origin as tithes and the offering of the first fruits of the ground which by Abel and Cain were offered long before the ceremonial Law or the use of Oaths which whatever may be alledged against it were no doubt ceremonies and therefore no doubt unlawful now to be practised Obj. Fourthly they object that to swear by the Name of God is a moral precept of continual duration because it is marked with his essential and moral worship Deut. 6.13 and 10.20 Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God and serve him alone thou shalt cleave to him and swear by his Name Answ. I answer this proves not that it is a moral and eternal precept for Moses adds that to all the precepts and ceremonies in several places as Deut. 10.12 13. saying And now Israel what doth the Lord thy God require of thee but to fear the Lord thy God to walk in his ways and to love him and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy Soul To keep the Commandments of the Lord and his Statutes which I command thee this day And chap 14. vers 23. the fear of the Lord is mentioned together with the Tithes And so also
their Feet he wiped them with the Towel He did this to all of them which are circumstances surely far more observable than those noted in the other The former was a practice common among the Jews used by all Masters of Families upon that occasion but this as to the manner and person acting it to wit for the Master to rise up and wash the Feet of his Servants and Disciples was more singular and observable In the breaking of Bread and giving of Wine it is not pleaded by our adversaries nor yet mentioned in the Text that he particularly put them into the hands of all but breaking it and blessing it gave it the nearest and so they from hand to hand But here it is mentioned that he washed not the feet of one or two but of many He saith not in the former that if they do not eat of that Bread and drink of that Wine they shall be prejudiced by it but here he saith expresly to Peter that if he wash not him he hath not no part with him which being spoken upon Peter 's refusing to let him wash his Feet would seem to import no less than not the continuance only but even the necessity of this ceremony In the former he saith as it were passingly Do this in remembrance of me but here he sitteth down again he desires them to consider what he hath done tells them positively that as he hath done to them so ought they to do to one another and yet again he redoubles that precept by telling them he has given them an Example that they should do so likewise If we respect the nature of the thing it hath as much in it as either Baptism or the breaking of Bread seeing it is an outward Element of a cleansing Nature applied to the outward man by the command and the Example of Christ to signifie an inward purifying I would willingly propose this seriously to men that will be pleased to make use of that reason and understanding that God hath given them and not be imposed upon nor abused by the custom or tradition of others whether this ceremony if we respect either the time that it was appointed in or the circumstances wherewith it was performed or the command enjoyning the use of it hath not as much to recommend it for a standing Ordinance of the Gospel as either Water-baptism or Bread and Wine or any other of that kind I wonder then what reason the Papists can give why they have not numbred it among their Sacraments except meerly voluntas Ecclesiae traditio Patrum But if they say that is used among them Obj. in that the Pope and some other persons among them use to do it once a year to some poor people I would willingly know what reason they have why this should not be extended to all Answ. as well as that of the Eucharist as they term it or whence it appears from the text that Do this in remembrance of me should be interpreted that the Bread and Wine were every day to be taken by all Priests or the Bread every day or every week by the People and that that other command of Christ ye ought to do as I have done to you c. is only to be understood of the Pope or some other persons to be done only to a few and that once a year Surely there can be no other reason for this difference assigned from the Text. And as to Protestants who use not this Ceremony at all if they will but open their eyes they may see how that by custom and tradition they are abused in this matter as were their Fathers in divers popish Traditions For if we look into the plain Scripture what can be thence inferred to urge the one which may not be likewise pleaded for the other or for laying aside the one which may not be likewise said against the continuance of the other If they say that the former of washing the Feet was only a Ceremony What have they whence they can shew that this breaking of Bread is more If they say that the former was only a sign of humility and purifying What have they to prove that this was more If they say that one was only for a time and was no Evangelical Ordinance What hath this to make it such that the other wanted Surely there is no way of reason to evite this neither can any thing be alledged that the one should cease and not the other or the one continue and not the other but the meer opinion of the affirmers which by custom education and tradition hath begotten in the hearts of people a greater reverence for and esteem of the one than the other which if it had faln out to be as much recommended to us by tradition would no doubt have been as tenaciously pleaded for as having no less foundation in the Scripture But since the former to wit the washing of one anothers Feet is justly laid aside as not binding upon Christians so ought also the other for the same reason § VII But I strange that those that are so clamorous for ceremony and stick so much to it take liberty to dispence with the manner or method that Christ did it in since none that ever I could hear of who now do it use it in the same way that he did it Christ did it at Supper while they were eating but they do it in the morning only by it self What rule walk they by in this change If it be said these are but circumstances and not the matter and if the matter be kept to the alteration of circumstances is but of small moment Answ. What if it should be said the whole is but a circumstance which fell out at that time when Christ eat the Passover For if we have regard to that which alone can be pleaded for an institution viz. these words Do this in remembrance of me it doth as properly relate to the manner as matter For what may or can they evince in reason that these words Do this only signifie eat Bread and drink Wine but it is no matter when ye eat nor how ye eat it and not as ye have seen me eat it at Supper with you who take Bread and break it and give it you and take the Cup and bless it and give it you so do ye likewise And seeing Christ makes no distinction in those words Do this it cannot be judged in reason but to relate to the whole Which if it do all those that at present use this ceremony among Christians have not yet obeyed this precept nor fulfilled this institution for all their clamours concerning it If it be said Obj. that the time and manner of doing it by Christ was but accidentally as being after the Jewish Passover which was at Supper Besides that it may be answered and easily proved Answ. that the whole was accidental as being the practice of a Jewish ceremony as is above observed May
sees meet whether they be a prescribed Form as a Liturgy or Prayers conceived extemporally by the natural strength and faculty of the mind they are all but Superstitions Will-worship and abominable Idolatry in the sight of God which are to be denyed rejected and separated from in this day of his Spiritual arising however it might have pleased him who winked at the times of Ignorance with a respect to the simplicity and integrity of some and of his own innocent Seed which lay as it were buried in the hearts of Men under the mass of Superstition to blow upon the dead and dry bones and to raise some breathings and answer them and that until the day should more clearly dawn and break forth The Twelfth Proposition Concerning Baptism As there is one Lord and one Faith so there is one Baptism which is not the putting away the filth of the flesh but the answer of a good Conscience before God by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and this Baptisme is a Pure and Spiritual thing to wit the Baptism of the Spirit and fire by which we are buried with him that being washed and purged from our sins we may walk in newness of Life of which the Baptism of John was a figure which was commanded for a time and not to continue for ever as to the Baptism of Infants it is a meer humane Tradition for which neither Precept nor Practice is to be found in all the Scripture The Thirteenth Proposition Concerning the Communion or participation of the body and blood of Christ. The Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ is inward and Spiritual which is the participation of his flesh and blood by which the inward mâ—n is daily nourished in the hearts of those in whom Christ dwells of which things the breaking of bread by Christ with his Disciples was a figure which they even used in the Church for a time who had received the substance for the cause of the weak even as abstaining from things strangled and from blood the washing one anothers feet and the anointing of the sick with Oyl all which are commanded with no less authority and solemnity than the former yet seeing they are but the shaddows of better things they cease in such as have obtained the Substance The Fourteenth Proposition Concerning the Power of the Civil Magistrate in matter purely religious and pertaining to the Conscience Since God hath assumed to himself the power and Dominion of the Conscience who alone can rightly instruct and govern it therefore it is not lawful for any whatsoever by vertue of any Authority or Principality they bear in the Government of this World to force the Consciences of others and therefore all Killing Banishing Fining Imprisoning and other such things which men are afflicted with for the alone exercise of their Conscience or difference in Worship or Opinion proceedeth from the Spirit of Cain the murtherer and is contrary to the Truth providing always that no Man under the pretence of Conscience prejudice his Neighbour in his Life or Estate or do any thing destructive to or inconsistent with human Society in which case the Law is for the transgressor and Justice is to be administred upon all without respect of Persons The Fifteenth Proposition Concerning Salutations and Recreations c. Seeing the chief end of all Religion is to redeem Man from the Spirit and vain Conversation of this World and to lead into inward communion with God before whom if we fear always we are accounted happy therefore all the vain customs and habits thereof both in word and deed are to be rejected and forsaken by those who come to this fear such as the taking off the Hat to a Man the bowings and cringings of the Body and such other Salutations of that kind with all the foolish and superstitious formalities attending them all which Man has invented in his degenerate state to feed his pride in the vain pomp and glory of this World as also the unprofitable Plays frivolous Recreations Sportings and Gaming 's which are invented to pass away the pretious time and divert the mind from the witness of God in the heart and from the living sense of his fear and from that Evangelical Spirit wherewith Christians ought to be leavened and which leads into sobriety gravity and Godly fear in which as we abide the blessing of the Lord is felt to attend us in these actions which we are necessarily engaged in order to the taking care for the sustenance of the outward man AN APOLOGY For the true CHRISTIAN DIVINITY The first Proposition Seeing the heighth of all happiness is placed in the true knowledg of God this is Life eternal to know the true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent the true and right understanding of this foundation and ground of knowledg is that which is most necessary to be knâ—wn and believed in the first place HE that desireth to acquire any art or science seeketh first those means by which that art or science is obtained If we ought to do so in things Natural and Earthly how much more then in Spiritual In this affair then should our inquiry be the more diligent because he that errs in the entrance is not so easily reduced again into the right way he that misseth his road from the beginning of his Journey and is deceived in his first Marks at his first seting forth the greater his Mistake is the more difficult will be his Entrance into the right way Thus when a Man first proposeth to himself the knowledg of God from a sense of his own unworthiness and from the great weariness of his mind occasioned by the secret checks of his Conscience and the tender yet real glances of Gods Light upon his Heart the earnest desires he has to be redeemed from his present trouble and the fervent breathings he has to be eased of his disordered Passions and Lusts and to find quietness and peace in the certain knowledg of God and in the assurance of his love and good will towards him makes his heart tender and ready to receive any Impression and so not having then a distinct discerning through forwardness embraceth any thing that brings present ease If either through the reverence he bears to certain persons or from the secret inclination to what doth comply with his natural Disposition he fall upon any Principles or Means by which he apprehends he may come to know God and so doth center himself it will be hard to remove him thence again how wrong soever they may be For the first anguish being over he becomes more hardy and the Enemy being near creates a false peace and a certain confidence which is strengthened by the minds unwillingness to enter again into new doubtfulness or the former anxiety of a search This sufficiently verified in the example of the Pharisees and Jewish Doctors who most of all resisted Christ disdaining to be esteemed ignorant
it are answered § XIII The most usual is that these Revelations are uncertain But this bespeaketh much ignorance in the opposers for we distinguish betwixt the thesis and the hypothesis that is betwixt the proposition and supposition For it is one thing to affirm that the true and undoubted Revelation of God's Spirit is certain and infallible and another thing to affirm that this or that particular person or people is led infallibly by this Revelation in what they speak or write because they affirm themselves to be so led by the inward and immediate Revelation of the Spirit The first is only by us asserted the latter may be called in question The question is not who are or are not so led but whether all ought not or may not be so led Seeing then we have already proved that Christ hath promised his Spirit to lead his Children and that every one of them both ought and may be led by it If any depart from this certain Guide in deeds and yet in words pretend to be led by it into things that are not good it will not from thence follow that the true guidance of the Spirit is uncertain or ought not to be followed no more than it will follow that the Sun sheweth not light because a blind man or one who wilfully shuts his Eyes falls into a ditch at Noon day for want of Light or that no words are spoken because a deaf man hears them not or that a Garden full of fragrant Flowers has no sweet smell because he that has lost his smelling doth not savour it the fault then is in the Organ and not in the Object All these mistakes therefore are to be ascribed to the weakness or wickedness of men and not to that Holy Spirit Such as bend themselves most against this certain and infallible Testimony of the Spirit use commonly to alledge the example of the old Gnosticks and the late monstruous and mischievous actings of the Anabaptists of Munster all which toucheth us nothing at all neither weakens a whit our most true Doctrine Wherefore as a most sure Bullwark against such kind of assaults was subjoyned that other part of our Proposition thus Moreover these Divine and inward Revelations which we establish as absolutely necessary for the founding of the true Faith as they do not so neither can they at any time contradict the Scriptures Testimony or found Reason Besides the intrinsick and undoubted Truth of this assertion we can boldly affirm it from our certain and blessed Experience For this Spirit never deceived us never acted nor moved us to any thing that was amiss but is clear and manifest in its Revelations which are evidently discerned of us as we wait in that pure and undefiled Light of God that proper and fit Organ in which they are received Therefore if any reason after this manner That because some wicked ungodly devilish men have committed wicked actions and have yet more wickedly asserted that they were led into these things by the Spirit of God Therefore no man ought to lean to the Spirit of God or seek to be led by it I utterly deny the consequence of this Proposition which were it to be received as true then would all faith in God and hope of Salvation become uncertain and the Christian Religion be turned into meer Scepticism For after the same manner I might reason thus Because Eve was deceived by the lying of the Serpent Therefore she ought not to have trusted to the promise of God Because the old World was deluded by evil Spirits Therefore ought neither Noah nor Abraham nor Moses to have trusted the Spirit of the Lord. Because a lying Spirit spake through the four hundred Prophets that perswaded Achab to go up and fight at Ramoth Gilead Therefore the Testimony of the true Spirit of Micajah was uncertain and dangerous to be followed Because there were seducing Spirits crept into the Church of old Therefore it was not good or uncertain to follow the Anointing which taught all things and is Truth and no Lye Who dare say that this is a necessary consequence Moreover not only the Faith of the Saints and Church of God of old is hereby rendered uncertain but also the Faith of all sorts of Christians now is liable to the like hazard even of those who seek a foundation for their Faith elsewhere than from the Spirit For I shall prove by an inevitable argument ab incommodo i. e. from the inconveniency of it that if the Spirit be not to be followed upon that account and that men may not depend upon it as their Guide because some while pretending thereunto commit great evils that then nor Tradition nor the Scriptures nor Reason which the Papists Protestants and Socinians do respectively make the rule of their Faith are any whit more certain The Romanists reckon it an error to celebrate Easter any other ways than that Church doth This can only be decided by Tradition And yet the Greek Church which equally layeth claim to Tradition with her self doth it otherwise Yea so little effectual is Tradition to decide the case that Polycarpus the Disciple of John and Anicetus the Bishop of Rome who immediately succeeded them according to whose example both sides concluded the question ought to be decided could not agree Here of necessity one behoved to err and that following Tradition Would the Papists now judg we dealt fairly by them if we should thence aver that Tradition is not to be regarded Besides in a matter of far greater importance the same difficulty will occur to wit in the Primacy of the Bishop of Rome for many do affirm and that by Tradition that in the First Six Hundred Years the Roman Prelates never assumed the Title of Vniversal Shepherd nor were acknowledged as such And as that which altogether overturneth this presidency there are that alledg and that from Tradition also that Peter never saw Rome and that therefore the Bishop of Rome cannot be his Successor Would ye Romanists think this sound reasoning to say as ye do Many have been deceived and erred grievously in trusting to Tradition Therefore we ought to reject all Traditions yea even those by which we affirm the contrary and as we think prove the Truth Lastly in the Council of Florence the chief Doctors of the Romish and Greek Churches did debate whole Sessions long concerning the Interpretation of one Sentence of the Council of Ephesus and of Epiphanius and Basilius neither could they ever agree about it Secondly as to the Scripture the same difficulty occurreth the Lutherans affirm they believe Consubstantiation by the Scripture which they Calvinists deny as that which they say according to the same Scripture is a gross error The Calvinists again affirm absolute reprobation which the Arminians deny affirming the contrary wherein both affirm themselves to be ruled by the Scripture and Reason in the matter should I argue thus then to the Calvinists Here the
Lutherans and Arminians grosly err by following the Scripture Therefore the Scripture is not a good nor certain Rule and e contra Would either of them accept of this Reasoning as good and sound What shall I say of the Episcopalians Presbyterians Independants and Anabaptists of Great Britain who are continually buffeting one another with the Scripture To whom the same Argument might be alledged though they do all unanimously acknowledge it to be the Rule And Thirdly As to Reason I shall not need to say much from whence comes all the Controversies Contentions and Debates in the World but because every man thinks he follows right Reason Hence of old came the Jangles betwixt the Stoicks Platonists Peripateticks Pythagorians and Cynicks as of late betwixt the Aristotelians Cartesians and other Naturalists Can it be thence inferred or will the Socinians those great Reasoners allow us to conclude because many and that very wise men have erred by following as they supposed their Reason and that with what diligence care and industry they could to find out the Truth that therefore no man ought to make use of it at all nor be positive in what he knows certainly to be rational And thus far as to Opinion the same uncertainty is no less incident unto those other Principles § XIV But if we come to Practices though I confess I do with my whole heart abhor and detest those wild Practices which are written concerning the Anabaptists of Munster I am bold to say as bad if not worse things have been committed by those that lean to Tradition Scripture and Reason wherein also they have averred themselves to have been authorized by these Rules I need but mention all the Tumults Seditions and horrible Blood-shed wherewith Europe hath been afflicted these divers Ages in which Papists against Papists Calvanists against Calvanists Lutherans against Lutherans and Papists assiisted by Protestants against other Protestants assisted by Papists have miserably shed one anothers Blood hireing and forcing men to kill one another who were ignorant of the Quarrel and strangers to one another All mean while pretending Reason for so doing and pleading the lawfulness of it from Scripture For what have the Papists pretended for their many Massacres acted as well in France as elsewhere but Tradition Scripture and Reason Did they not say that Reason perswaded them Tradition allowed them and Scripture commanded them to persecute destroy and burn Hereticks such as denyed this plain Scripture Hoc est corpus meum This is my body And are not the Protestants assenting to this blood-shed who assert the same thing and encourage them by burning and banishing while their brethren are so treated for the same cause Are not the Islands of great Britain and Ireland yea and all the Christian world a lively example hereof which were divers years together as a Theatre of Blood where many lost their lives and numbers of Families were utterly destroyed and ruined For all which no other cause was principally given than the precepts of the Scripture If we then compare these actings with those of Munster we shall not find great difference for both affirmed and pretended they were called and that it was lawful to Kill Burn and Destroy the Wicked We must Kill all the Wicked said those Anabaptists that we that are the Saints may possess the Earth We must burn obstinate Hereticks say the Papists that the holy Church of Rome may be purged of rotten Members and may live in peace We must cut-off seducing Separatists say the Prelatick Protestants who trouble the peace of the Church and refuse the Divine Hierarchy and religious Ceremonies thereof we must kill say the Calvinistick Presbyterians the profane malignants who accuse the Holy Consistorical and Presbyterian Government and seek to defend the Popish and Prelatick Hierarchy as also those other Sectarys that trouble the peace of our Church What difference I pray thee impartial Reader seest thou betwixt these If it be said The Anabaptists went without and against the authority of the Magistrate so did not the other I might easily refute by alledging the mutual Testimonies of these Sects against one another The behaviour of the Papists towards Henry the third and fourth of France Their designs upon James the sixth in the Gun-powder Treason as also their Principle of the Popes powder to depose Kings for the cause of Heresie and to absolve their subjects from their Oath and give them to others proves it against them And as to the Protestants how much their actions differ from those other above mentioned may be seen by the many Conspiracies and Tumults which they have been active in both in Scotland and England and which they have acted within these hundred years in divers Towns and Provinces of the Netherlands Have they not often times sought not only from the Popish Magistrates but even from those that had begun to reform or that had given them some liberty of exercising their Religion that they might only be permitted without trouble or hinderance to exercise their Religion promising they would not hinder or molest the Papists in the exercise of theirs and yet did they not on the Contrary so soon as they had power trouble and abuse these Fellow-Citizens and turn them out of the City and which is worse even such who together with them had forsaken the Popish religion Did they not these things in many places against the mind of the Magistrates Have they not publickly with contumelious Speeches assaulted their Magistrates from whom they had but just before sought and obtained the free exercise of their Religion Representing them so soon as they opposed themselves to their Hierarchy as if they regarded neither God nor Religion Have they not by violent hands possessed themselves of the Popish Churches so called or by force against the Magistrates mind taken them away Have they not turned out of their Office and Authority whole Councils of Magistrates under pretence that they were addicted to Popery Which Popish Magistrates nevertheless they did but a little before acknowledg to be ordained by God affirming themselves obliged to yield them obedience and subjection not only for fear but for Conscience sake to whom moreover the very Preachers and Overseers of the reformed Church had willingly sworn fidelity and yet afterwards have they not said that the people is bound to force a wicked Prince to the observation of God's Word There are many other instances of this kind to be found in their Histories not to mention many worse things which we know to have been acted in our time and which for brevity's sake I pass by I might say much of the Lutherans whose tumultuous actions against their Magistrates not professing the Lutheran profession are testifyed of by several Historians worthy of credit Among others I shall propose only one example to the Readers consideration which fell out at Berline in the year 1615. Where the seditious multitude of the Lutheran Citizens being stirred up by
the daily clamours of their Preachers did not only violently take up the Houses of the reformed Teachers overturn their libraries and spoil their furniture but also with reproachful words yea and with stones assaulted the Marquess of Brandeburgh the Elector's brother while he sought by smooth words to quiet the fury of the multitude they killed ten of his Guard scarcely sparing himself who at last by flight escaped out of their hands All which sufficiently declares that the concurrence of the Magistrate doth not alter their Principles but only their method of procedure So that for my own part I see no difference betwixt the actings of those of Munster and these others whereof the one pretended to be led by the Spirit the other by Tradition Scripture and Reason save this that the former were rash heady and foolish in their proceedings and therefore were the sooner brought to nothing and so into contempt and derision But the other being more Politick and wise in their Generation held it out longer and so have authorized their wickedness more with seeming Authority of Law and Reason But both their actings being equally evil the difference appears to me to be only like that which is betwixt a simple silly Thief that is easily catched and hanged without any more ado and a Company of resolute bold Robbers who being better guarded tho their offence be nothing less yet by violence do to evite the danger force their Masters to give them good terms From all which then it evidently follows that they argue very ill that despise and reject any Principle because Men pretending to be led by it do evil in case it be not the natural and consequential tendency of that principle to lead unto those things that are evil Again It doth follow from what is above asserted that if the Spirit be to be rejected upon this account all these other principles ought on the same account to be rejected And for my part as I have never a whit the lower esteem of the blessed Testimony of the Holy Scriptures nor do the less respect any solid Tradition that is answerable and according to Truth neither at all despise Reason that noble and excellent faculty of the mind because wicked men have abused the name of them to cover their wickedness and deceive the simple So would I not have any reject or diffide the certainty of that unerring Spirit which God hath given his Children as that which can alone guide them into all Truth because some have falsly pretended to it § XV. And because the Spirit of God is the Fountain of all Truth and sound Reason therefore we have well said that it cannot contradict neither the Testimony of the Scripture nor right Reason yet as the Proposition it self concludeth to whose last part I now come it will not from hence follow that these Divine Revelations are to be subjected to the examination either of the outward Testimony of Scripture or of the humane or natural reason of Man as to a more noble and certain rule and touch-stone for the Divine Revelation and inward Illumination is that which is evident by it self forcing the wel-distosed understanding and irresistibly moving it to assent by its own evidence and clearness even as the common Principles of Natural Truths do bow the mind to a natural assent He that denies this part of the Proposition must needs affirm that the Spirit of God neither can nor ever hath manifested it self to Man without the Scripture or a distinct discursion of Reason or that the Efficacy of this Supernatural Principle working upon the Souls of Men is less evident then natural principles in their common Operations both which are false For First through all the Scriptures we may observe that the manifestation and revelation of God by his Spirit to the Patriarchs Prophets and Apostles was immediate and objective as is above proved which they did not examin by any other principle but their own evidence and clearness Secondly to say that the Spirit of God has less evidence upon the mind of Man then natural principles have is to have too mean and low thoughts of it How comes David to invite us to tast and see that God is good if this cannot be felt and tasted This were enough to overturn the faith and assurance of all the Saints both now and of old How came Paul to be perswaded that nothing could separate him from the love of God but by evidence and clearness which the Spirit of God gave him The Apostle John who knew well wherein the certainty of Faith consisted judged it no ways absurd without further argument to ascribe his knowledg and assurance and that of all the Saints hereunto in these words Hereby know we that we dwell in him and he in us because he hath given us of his Spirit 1 Joh. 4.13 and again 5 6. it's the Spirit that beareth witness because the Spirit is Truth Observe the reason brought by him because the Spirit is Truth Of whose certainty and infallibility I have heretofore spoken We then trust to and confide in this Spirit because we know and certainly believe that it can only lead us a right and never mis-lead us and from this certain confidence it is that we affirm that no revelation coming from it can ever contradict the Scriptures Testimony nor right Reason not as making this a more certain rule to our selves but as condescending to such who not discerning the revelations of the Spirit as they proceed purely from God will try them by these mediums Yet those that have the Spiritual sences and can savour the things of the Spirit as it were in prima instantia i. e. at the first blush can discern them without or before they apply them either to Scripture or Reason Just as a good Astronomer can calculate an eclipse infallibly by which he can conclude if the order of Nature continue and some strange and unnatural revolution interveen not there will be an eclipse of the Sun or Moon such a day and such an hour yet can he not perswade an ignorant rustick of this until he visibly see it So also a Mathematician can infallibly know by the Rules of Art that the three sides of a right triangle are equal to two right angles yea can know them more certainly than any man by measure And some geometrical demonstrations are by all acknowledged to be infallible which can be scarcely discerned or proved by the Senses yet if a Geometer be at the pains to certify some ignorant man concerning the certainty of his Art by condescending to measure it and make it obvious to his senses it will not hence follow that that measuring is so certain as the demonstration it self or that the demonstration would be uncertain without § XVI But to make an end I shall add one argument to prove that this inward Immediate objective Revelation which we have pleaded for all along is the only sure certain and
would follow as is evident and will be acknowledged by all Next we do not deny but wicked men are sensible of the motions and operations of God's Spirit often-times before their day be expired from which they may at times pray acceptably not as remaining altogether wicked but as entring into Piety from whence they afterwards fall away § XXVI As to the singing of Psalms there will not be need of any long discourse for that the case is just the same as in the two former of Preaching and Prayer We confess this to be a part of God's Worship and very sweet and refreshful when it proceeds from a true sense of God's love in the heart and arises from the divine influence of the Spirit which leads Souls to breath forth either a sweet Harmony or words suitable to the present condition whether they be words formerly used by the Saints and recorded in Scripture such as the Psalmes of David or other words as were the Hymns and Songs of Zacharias Simeon and the Blessed Virgin Mary But as for the formal customary way of singing it hath in Scripture no foundation nor any ground in true Christiansty yea besides all the abuses incident to prayer and preaching it hath this more peculiar that often times great and horrid lies are said in the sight of God for all manner of wicked prophane People take upon them to personate the experiences and conditions of Blessed David which are not only false as to them but also as to some of more sobriety who utter them forth as where they will sing sometimes Psal. 22.14 my heart is like Wax it is melted in the midst of my Bowels and verse 15. My strength is dried up like a Pot-sheard and my Tongue cleaveth to my Jaws and thou hast brought me into the dust of Death And Psal. 6.6 I am weary with my groaning all the night make I my Bed to swim I water my Couch with my Tears And many more which those that speak know to be false as to them And sometimes will confess just after in their Prayers that they are guilty of the Vices opposite to those Vertues which but just before they have asserted themselves endued with Who can suppose that God accepts of such jugling And indeed such singing doth more please the carnal ears of men than the pure ears of the Lord who abhors all Lying and Hypocrisie That singing then that pleaseth him must proceed from that which is PVRE in the Heart even from the Word of Life therein in and by which richly dwelling in us Spiritual Songs and Hymns are returned to the Lord according to that of the Apostle Col. 3.16 But as to their artificial Musick either by Organs or other instruments or voice we have neither example nor precept for it in the New Testament § XXVII But lastly the great advantage of this true Worship of God which we profess and practice is that it consisteth not in man's Wisdom Arts or Industry neither needeth the Glory Pomp Riches nor Splendor of this World to beautifie it as being of a Spiritual and Heavenly nature and therefore too simple and contemptible to the natural mind and will of man that hath no delight to abide in it because he finds no room there for his imaginations and inventions and hath not the opportunity to gratifie his outward and carnal Senses so that this form being observed is not like to be long kept pure without the Power For it is of it self so naked without it that it hath nothing in it to invite and tempt men to dote upon it further than it is accompanied with the Power Whereas the Worship of out Adversaries being performed in their own wills is self-pleasing as in which they can largely exercise their natural parts and invention and as to most of them having somewhat of an outward and worldly splendor delectable to the carnal and worldly Senses they can pleasantly continue it and satisfie themselves though without the Spirit and Power which they make no ways essential to the performance of their Worship and therefore neither wait for nor expect it § XXVIII So that to conclude the Worship Preaching Praying and Singing which we plead for is such as proceedeth from the Spirit of God and is always accompanyed with its influence being begun by its motion and carried on by the power and strength thereof and so is a Worship purely Spiritual such as the Scripture holds forth Joh. 4.23 24. 1 Cor. 14.15 Eph. 6.18 c. But the Worship Preaching Praying and Singing which our Adversaries plead for and which we oppose is a Worship which is both begun carried on and concluded in man's own natural will and strenghth without the motion or influence of God's Spirit which they judg they need not wait for and therefore may be truly acted both as to the matter and manner by the wickedest of men Such was the Worship and vain Oblations which God always rejected as appears from Isa. 66.3 Jer. 14.12 c. Isa. 1.13 Prov. 15.29 John 9.31 The Twelfth Proposition Concerning Baptism As there is one Lord and one Faith so there is one Baptism which is not the putting away the Filth of the Flesh but the answer of a good Conscience before God by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and this Baptism is a Pure and a Spiritual thing to wit the Baptism of the Spirit and Fire by which we are buried with him that being washed and purged from our sins we may walk in newness of Life of which the Baptism of John was a Figure which was commanded for a time and not to continue for ever as to the Baptism of Infants it is a meer humane Tradition for which neither Precept nor Practice is to be found in all the Scripture § I. I Did sufficiently demonstrate in the explanation and probation of the former Proposition how greatly the Professors of Christianity as well Protestants as Papists were degenerated in the matter of Worship and how much strangers to and averse from that true and acceptable Worship that is performed in the Spirit of Truth because of man's natural propensity in his faln state to exalt his own inventions and to intermix his own work and product in the Service of God and from this root sprung all the Idle Worships Idolatries and numerous Superstitious Inventions among the Heathens For when God in condescension to his chosen People the Jews did prescribe to them by his Servant Moses many Ceremonies and Observations as Types and Shaddows of the Substance which in due time was to be revealed which consisted for the most part in washings outward purifications and cleansings which were to continue until the time of the Reformation until the Spiritual Worship should be set up and that God by the more powerful pouring forth of his Spirit and guiding of that Anoynting which was to lead his Children into all Truth and teach them to Worship him in a way more Spiritual and acceptable
Water-baptism Thirdly that Baptism which Christ commanded his Apostles was such that as many as were therewith Baptized Arg. did put on Christ. But this is not true of Water-baptism Therefore c. Fourthly the Baptism commanded by Christ to his Apostles was not John's Baptism But Baptism with Water was John's Baptism Therefore c. But first they alledg that Christ's Baptism though a Baptism with Water did differ from John 's because John only Baptized with Water unto Repentance but Christ commands his Disciples to Baptize in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost reckoning that in this form there lieth a great difference betwixt the Baptism of John and that of Christ. I answer as to that John's Baptism was unto Repentance Answ. the difference lieth not there because so is Christ's also for our adversaries will not deny but that adult persons that are baptized ought ere they be admitted to it to repent and confess their sins yea and that Infants with a respect to and consideration of their Baptism ought to repent and confess So that the difference lieth not here since this of repentance and confession agrees as well to Christ's as to John's Baptism But in this our Adversaries are divided for Calvin will have Christ's and John's to be all one Inst. lib. 4. cap. 15. Sect. 7 8. Yet they do differ and the difference is in that the one is by water the other not c. Secondly as to what Christ saith in commanding them to baptize in the Name of the Father Son and Spirit I confess that states the difference and it is great but that lies not only in admitting water-baptism in this different form by a bare expressing of these words for as the Text saith no such thing neither do I see how it can be inferred from it For the Greek is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is into the Name now the Name of the Lord is often taken in Scripture for something else than a bare sound of words or literal expression even forhis Vertue and Power as may appear from Psal. 54.3 Cant. 1.3 Prov. 18.10 and in many more Now that the Apostles were by their Ministry to baptize the Nations into this Name Vertue and Power and that they did so is evident by these Testimonies of Paul above-mentioned where he saith that as many of them as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ this must have been a baptizing into the Name i. e. Power and Vertue and not a meer formal expression of words adjoyned with Water-baptism because as hath been above observed it doth not follow as a natural or necessary consequence of it I would have those who desire to have their Faith built upon no other foundation than the Testimony of God's Spirit and Scriptures of Truth throughly to consider whether there can be any thing further alledged for this interpretation than what the prejudice of Education and Influence of Tradition hath imposed perhaps it may stumble the unwary and inconsiderate Reader as if the very Character of Christianity were abolished to tell him plainly that this Scripture is not to be understood of Baptizing with Water and that this form of Baptizing in the Name of Father Son and Spirit hath no warrant from Matth. 28. c. For which besides the reason taken from the signification of the Name as being the Vertue and Power above expressed let it be considered that if it had been a form prescribed by Christ to his Apostles then surely they would have made use of that form in the administring of Water-baptism to such as they baptized with Water but though particular mention be made in divers places of the Acts who were baptized and how and though it be particularly expressed that they baptized such and such as Acts 2.41.8.12 13 38.9.18.10.48.16.15.18.8 yet there is not a word of this form and in two places Acts 8.16.19.5 it is said of some that they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus by which it yet more appears that either the author of this History hath been very defective who having so often occasion to mention this yet omiteth so substantial a part of Baptism which were to accuse the Holy Ghost by whose guidance Luke wrote it or else that the Apostle did no waies understand that Christ by his Commission Matth. 28. did injoyn them such a form of Water-baptism seeing they did not use it and therefore it is safer to conclude that what they did in administring Water-baptism they did not by vertue of that commission else they would have so used it for our adversaries I suppose would judge it a great Heresie to administer Water-baptism without that or only in the Name of Jesus without mention of Father or Spirit as it is expresly said they did in the two places above cited Secondly they say if this were not understood of Water-baptism it would be a tautology and all one with teaching I say nay baptizing with the Spirit is somewhat further then teaching or informing the understanding for it imports a reaching to and melting the heart whereby it is turned as well as the understanding informed besides we find often in the Scripture that teaching and instructing are put together without any absurdity or needless tautology and yet these two have a greater affinity than teaching and baptizing with the Spirit Thirdly they say Baptism in this place must be understood with Water because it is the action of the Apostles Obj. and so cannot be the Baptism of the Spirit which is the work of Christ and his Grace not of man c. I answer Baptism with the Spirit though not wrought without Christ and his Grace is instrumentally done by men fitted of God Answ. for that purpose and therefore no absurdity follows that Baptism with the Spirit should be expressed as the action of the Apostles for though it be Christ by his Grace that gives Spiritual Gifts yet the Apostle Rom. 1.11 speaks of his imparting to them Spiritual Gifts and he tells the Corinthians that he had begotten them through the Gospel 1 Cor. 4.15 and yet to beget people to the Faith is the work of Christ and his Grace not of men to convert the heart is properly the work of Christ and yet the Scripture often times ascribes it to men as being the instruments And since Paul's commission was to turn People from Darkness to Light though that be not done without Christ co-operating by his Grace so may also baptizing with the Spirit be expressed as performable by man as the instrument though the work of Christ's Grace be needful to concur thereunto so that it is no absurdity to say that the Apostles did administer the Baptism of the Spirit Lastly they say that since Christ saith here that he will be with his Disciples to the end of the world therefore Water-baptism must continue so long Answ. If he had been speaking here of Water-baptism then that might have been urged