against her Infallibility However this shews That the most infallible Teacher cannot destroy our natural liberty of judging for we must judge of his Doctrine by Sense and Reason and see that it contradict neither which are the only natural Principles of Knowledge we have which is therefore to exercise all the Reason and Judgment which God has given us And Thirdly Though we must receive all Divine and Supernatural Truths upon the Authority of the Revealer yet we must own our own Reason and Judgment to understand the Revelation which cannot possibly be otherwise For whoever it be that speaks to us whether God by an immediate Voice from Heaven or a Prophet inspired by God we have no way to understand what is said but by our own natural Faculties and therefore must judge of the Sense of what is said just as we do at other times when any man speaks to us And if we were not present to hear the Prophet speak but have his Revelations delivered to us in writing we must take the same course to understand such a Divine Book as we do any other human Writing if there be any difficulty in it we must seek for some body to help us to understand it but still we must understand for our selves for no body else can understand for us and if we must understand we must judge for our selves too This is all that we demand or desire a liberty to understand and judge what God would have us believe and do and this the most infallible Teacher cannot deprive us of no more than he can oblige us to see and hear with other mens Eyes and Ears when God has given us Eyes and Ears of our own And Fourthly Where there is a standing Revelation we must then judge of the Doctrine of all succeeding Prophets how infallible soever they be by its conformity to the preceding Revelation We must never suppose that God can contradict himself and therefore though he may improve a former Revelation by new and more perfect discoveries yet he can never contradict it and hence it follows That no true Prophet can contradict a true Revelation but though a power of Miracles may give Authority to a new Prophet to expound a former Revelation and to improve it yet we must be well satisfied that the Doctrine of this new Prophet be agreeable to the old Revelation which makes us Judges of the Sense both of the old and the new Revelation For it is impossible we can understand their agreement unless we can judge of the Sense of both This was the Case of Christ and his Apostles when they appeared in the World The Law of Moses and the Writings of the Prophets were the standing Revelation which God had given to the Jewish Nation whereby they were to try all Prophets To the Law and to the Testimony if they speak not according to this Word it is because there is no light in them Isaiah 8. 20. and therefore though Christ wrought more and greater Miracles than ever Moses did this alone had not been a sufficient Reason to believe him had not his Person answered the Types and Predictions of the Law and his Doctrine been not the destruction but the improvement and perfection of the Mosaical Dispensation To this trial he submitted himself and his Doctrine appeals to Moses and the Prophets requires them to search the Scriptures for they are they which testifie of me John 5. 39. and after his Resurrection from the Dead which one would have thought had been sufficient of it self to have confirmed his Divine Authority yet he proves from Scripture that thus Christ ought to suffer and to enter into his Glory and beginning at Moses and all the Prophets he expounded unto them the two Disciples going to Emaus the things concerning himself Luke 24. 26 27. And this course the Apostles took in their Sermons St. Peter did not only testifie to the Jews as an Eye-witness that Christ was risen from the dead but proves that David himself had prophesied of this Acts 2. 22 c. Thus St. Paul disputed with the Jews at Rome to whom he expounded and testified the Kingdom of God perswading them concerning Jesus both out of the Law of Moses and out of the Prophets from morning till evening Acts 28. 23. Thus his Epistle to the Romans is one entire Dispute about the obligation of the Law and Justification by Faith in Christ from the Types and Predictions of the Law it self So that Christ and his Apostles were certainly as infallible Teachers as everwere in the VVorld yet they did not bear men down meerly by their infallible Authority but appealed to the Scriptures and to every mans own Judgment of them and God had ordered it so that it could not be otherwise for he had given them a standing Revelation whereby they were to judge of all new Prophets whatever they were but if they must have relied on the bare word of such Prophets whom they were to try by this Revelation for the Sense and Interpretation of it this had been the same thing as to take their own word without any trial Now if Christ himself never pretended to any such Authority that all men should believe him upon his own word without examining his Doctrine by the Scripture or exercising their own Reason and Judgment can we think that he should give any such Authority to St. Peter Nay when it is evident that St. Peter never had any such Authority and never could exercise it how can St. Peters Successors have that in his right which he never had nor could have himself For though he was an infallible Teacher yet every man had a liberty to examine what he taught and to judge of it by its conformity to the Law and the Prophets But you I say Could not Christ appoint an infallible Judge of Controversies in his Church to decide all Disputes and to prevent Heresies and Schisms That Christ has not done this I shall take for granted till I see some better Proofs of it than I have yet met with and I have some reason to think such a Judge could not be appointed whom we should be obliged to rely on with an implicit Faith without examination or any use of our own Reason and Judgment and that is because it was impracticable to appoint a Judge upon whose bare Authority we are bound to believe the truth of Christianity it self Christ and his Apostles did not assume to themselves to be such Judges in their days for there lay an Appeal from them to Moses and the Prophets as you have already heard and so there does to this day and if I must not take any mans word for the truth of the Christian Religion I must not take his word neither for the truth of any Doctrine in Christianity If I may to this day examine the Gospel by the Law and the Prophets as the Jews did in our Saviours days then I must judge for my self too
the multitude of differing Opinions which are maintained with equal Confidence on all sides Now that this is no plain and convincing Argument against Certainty is evident from the Argument it self which confesses That notwithstanding all this diversity of Opinions all men are very confident of their own which I think proves that every man believes that he may be certain nay does actually think himself certain though he knows that other men differ from him and that I think proves that they do not believe that no man can be certain because some men are confident and yet mistaken And it is equally strange to me both that if this be such a convincing Argument as is pretended no man should believe it and that the Advocates of Infallibility should think to impose upon the World with such a palpable piece of Sophistry as all men despise There is no way to prove the Faith of Protestants to be uncertain but to prove that the Principles whereon we build our Faith are uncertain for if there be certain means to know the true Faith then though some mistake others may be in the right and those who are in the right may know they are in the right for the Mind does as evidently discover clear and bright Truth as the Eye does the Light He who feels Truth will know himself certain and no man can confute him without confuting the Reason of his Faith This shews how absurd it is to ask us How we know that we are certain and at the same time to refuse to hear the Reasons of our Faith or to attempt to prove that we are not and cannot be certain without confuting the Reasons which make us certain For Certainty results from the Reasons of our Faith as sight does from light and men may as well be certain without Reason as shew how they are certain without assigning the Reasons which make them certain And therefore the only Trial of our Certainty is by examining the Reasons whereon we build our Certainty And this is a plain direction to our People how to answer this captious and sophistical Question As to shew this very briefly by way of Question and Answer Quest. How do you know that you are certain or are not deceived in those things of which you think your selves most certain Answ. What do you mean Sir How I know that I understand Or how I know a good Reason when I hear it Truly I know this only as I know how I see God has given me Eyes to see with and a Faculty of Reason to understand with and I trust my Eyes and my Understanding and if you can tell me any better way I shall gladly hear it Quest. But do not all men say as you do that they trust their own Understanding And are you not sensible what a fallible thing Human Understanding is Do you not daily see how many men are mistaken And how then can you be sure that you are not Answ. Yes I am very sensible that many confident men are mistaken but sure this is not the original fault of their Understanding for then all men must be mistaken and then we must either be certain without our Understanding which is to know certainly without knowing at all for there is no other Faculty whereby we can know but only the Understanding or else we must be contented to know nothing for that knowledge which has nothing of Certainty does not deserve the name of knowledge Quest. But what is this to the purpose what the Cause of such Mistakes are For let the Cause be what it will if men are still mistaken how do you know that you are not mistaken too Answ. Yes this is very much to the purpose for if the fault be not in the Understanding if Human Understandings are capable of knowing Truth then it does not follow that because some men are mistaken therefore all are nay it does not follow that because some men are very confident in their mistakes therefore no man can be certain that he is not mistaken For if the Understanding is capable of distinguishing between Truth and Error as the Eye can distinguish its Objects then it can know Truth when it sees it and this is the foundation of Certainty Quest. But does not every man who is in an Error think that he sees Truth Answ. Yes and so does a man who is in a Dream think that he sees and talks with his Friends but a man who is awake knows that he does so and though there are a great many Dreamers you can never perswade a man who is awake that he is in a Dream and there is as much difference between the vigor and distinctness of Perception in Error and Truth as there is between the delusions of a Dream and the quick and strong Perceptions of a man awake And thus a man who sees truth does as certainly know that he sees it as the Eye does that it sees light Quest. And do you then resolve all Certainty into your own Sense and Feeling which is a kind of Natural Enthusiasm and in most men nothing else but the strength of Fancy and Imagination Answ. No by no means I feel my self certain indeed but my Certainty does not result from bare confidence and assurance that I am in the right which men may have who are in the wrong but from the clear and irresistible Evidence of Reason which pierces the Mind as Light does the Eye and captivates the Understanding into a full and immoveable assent I have such Reasons for what I believe as do abundantly satisfie me in the Truth and Certainty of my Faith and when I feel the Evidence and Conviction of Reason I feel my self certain Quest. But still the same Question returns How you are certain of your Reason For all men pretend to some Reason or other for what they believe and think their Reason certain or else they would not believe it Answ. Right and will think themselves certain still till you have confuted their Reasons and convinced them that they are mistaken For there is no other way of dealing with reasonable Creatures but to rectifie their Mistakes and by strong and solid Reasons to confute the vain and empty appearance of it And if you can do this I shall very gladly hear you and when you please will give you the particular Reasons of my Faith Quest. What do you mean That I should dispute all the Points in Controversies between us There is a Task indeed There will be no end of wrangling at this rate No no! Since you are not certain and cannot be certain in your way I will direct you how you may be certain without troubling your self with Disputes Answ. I beg your Pardon Sir I am very certain or however you can never convince me that I am not certain without hearing what the Reasons of my Faith are and proving them to be uncertain for my Certainty is founded upon Reason and if my Reasons
Proof but themselves which shews that the very highest Certainty of all is nothing else but an intuitive Knowledge or the Minds seeing and discerning that natural Evidence which is in things and those who will not allow a clear and distinct knowledge to be the Foundation of Certainty must reject all Self-evident Principles which we can have no other Proof of but themselves at least no better for we cannot reason in infinitum and therefore must come to some first Principles which are known only by their own light and evidence Next to this are those Notions and Idea's which are so easie and natural to our minds that most men believe them by a kind of natural sense and instinct without reasoning about them and those who have no mind to believe them yet cannot rid their minds of them such as the Being and Providence of God and the Essential differences between Good and Evil. These are the next degree to Self-evident Principles for they are natural Notions which indeed may be proved by Reason and must be so when we meet with men who will deny them but yet a well-disposed Mind has a natural byass and inclination to believe them sees them to be true and evident without reasoning about them This is very plain the less of Reasoning there is required in any case the more there is of Certainty First and Self-evident Principles admit of no Reasoning Natural Notions require none and as for all other matters the nearer they lie to first Principles or natural Notions the more certain and evident they are nay we have no other certainty of the deductions and conclusions of Reason but their manifest connexion to some Principles and Notions which may be known without Reasoning which shews as I said before That all natural Certainty is at last resolved into an intuitive Knowledge and the Certainty of Reason is nothing else but the connecting those things which we do not know by Nature with those which we do Sixthly Where natural Knowledge and natural Certainty ends there Revelation begins but still Certainty is not Infallibility but Evidence and natural Evidence too For there can be no communication between God and Creatures as to revealing his Will but by the mediation of our natural Faculties whether the Object be naturally or supernaturally revealed we have only our natural Faculties to know and understand with and therefore we can have no more than natural Evidence of supernatural Revelations though this Evidence is owing to supernatural Causes As for Instance An inspired Prophet though he be infallible as far as he is inspired yet it is not his Infallibility that makes him certain that he is inspired but that certain Evidence he has that this Revelation comes from God which must either be by some external and visible Signs or by some such vigorous impression upon the Mind as carries its own Evidence with it which what it is no man can know but he who has it As for those who are not inspired themselves but must learn from inspired Men their Faith must depend upon that evidence they have for the Revelation the natural Notion of Gods Veracity is the reason why they believe what they know is revealed they must use their own Faculties to understand what is revealed and they must judge of the truth and certainty of a Revelation from such Marks and Characters as are evident either to Sense or Reason So that Infallibility sounds very big but signifies very little in this Dispute for all Certainty whether in natural or revealed Knowledge must be resolved into Evidence not into Infallibility Though an inspired Prophet is an infallible Oracle in those things which he speaks by Inspiration yet it is not his Infallibility but that Evidence he has that he is divinely Inspired which makes him certain much less can any man be infallibly certain who is not infallible himself how many infallible Teachers soever there are in the World For we may as well say That a man may be wise with another mans Wisdom as infallible by another mans Infallibility Every man must know and understand for himself and Infallibility is only such a perfect degree of Knowledge as is not liable to any mistakes and if no man has any Knowledge but what be has in himself then he has no degree of Knowledge but what he has in himself and therefore can never have an infallible Knowledge unless he himself be infallible Suppose then we should grant That the Pope or Church of Rome were infallible what advantage has a Papist for Certainty above a Protestant Does the Infallibility of the Pope make them all infallible And if every Papist be not not infallible then they can have no more Certainty than fallible Creatures are capable of and so much I hope may be allowed to fallible Protestants The Authority of a Revelation in matters divinely Revealed answers to natural Evidence in things knowable by the light of Nature as we cannot doubt of things which are plain and evident to our Understandings so we cannot doubt of what we know is Revealed by God but then as we must use our Reason to judge of the natural Evidence of things so we must use our Reason to judge of the truth and evidence and sense of a Revelation and it is the same Mind and the same Understanding which must judge both of natural and revealed Knowledge and if our Understandings be not infallible I know not how an infallible Judge or an infallible Revelation which are external things should bestow an internal Infallibility on us And therefore after all their brags of Infallibility Papists themselves must be contented if they can be certain for if Infallibility did signifie somewhat more than Certainty yet Certainty is the most that a fallible Creature can have for it is impossible for any Creature to have Infallibility who is not infallible himself And this I hope will make them a little more favourable hereafter to Protestant Certainty for whatever can be objected against Certainty in general as distinguished from Infallibility will as effectually destroy the Popish as the Protestant Certainty for Papists are no more infallible Creatures than Protestants are A DISCOURSE CONCERNING A Judge of Controversies BEING AN ANSWER TO SOME Papers c. The Paper I Am not satisfied with the Foundation of the Protestant Religion For if God has certainly left no Visible Judge of Controversies as we assert and yet grant that there are things necessary to Salvation to be believed as well as things to be practised and that the Scriptures are to a demonstration not plain even in what we dare not disown to be Fundamentals as the Trinity c. Answer These Objections against the Protestant resolution of Faith strike not only at the foundations of the Protestant Religion but of Christianity it self For if the Dispute were about the truth of Christian Religion by such Arguments as they can prove the Christian Religion to be true we will prove
any other way to prove the lawfulness or usefulness of them especially if besides the want of such a positive Institution we have plain Evidence against them and such as every man may understand When the Scripture tells us That Christ has by one Offering perfected for ever them that are sanctified Hebr. 9. 25 26. 10. 14 this is a direct proof against the Sacrifice of the Mass wherein he is offered ten thousand times every day When Christ is the Priest as well as the Sacrifice and can be offered by none but himself how comes he to be offered by a Mass Priest unless he as well as the Bread and Wine be transubstantiated into Christ It is certain there can be no such thing as the Popish Sacrifice of the Mass unless the Bread and Wine be transubstantiated into the Body and Blood of Christ and we are as certain as our Senses can make us that there is no Transubstantiation As for the half-Communion it is confessed that Christ did institute his last Supper in both kinds and commanded them all to drink of the Cup And this may satisfie any man who does not believe that the Church of Rome has authority to repeal the Institutions of Christ and to forbid what he commanded And when St. Paul assures us That there is but one Mediator between God and Man the Man Christ Jesus one would think this Evidence enough against the Mediation of Saints and Angels when they cannot shew one word for it For as for their distinction between Mediators of Redemption and pure Intercession they cannot shew it in Scripture where our Redeemer is our only Advocate And when Christ himself enforces and ratifies that Command of the Law Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve this is a plain Argument against the Invocation of Saints since they have nothing for it And when there is no Authority in Scripture for praying in an unknown Tongue one would think that the absurdity of the Practice and the Authority of St. Paul who expresly condemns it were Evidence enough against it So that though men may be at the needless expence of a great deal of Learning in these Controversies yet in truth there is no Learning required to understand them the meanest man may judge for himself for the Controversie turns upon so plain a Point and there is so plain Evidence in the Case that an honest man may have abundant evidence and satisfaction though he do not understand one word of all the Learning which is lost in such Disputes The Paper In short I think there is but Evidence or Authority to move us to believe Answer This is certainly true if it be rightly understood that is if by Evidence is meant the Evidence of Sense and Reason and by Authority the Authority of Scripture which is the Authority of God who spake by Moses and the Prophets in the Old Testament and by Christ and his Apostles in the New and the Authority of the Primitive Church as credible Witnesses of the Apostolick Doctrine and Practice in this sense we grant that our Faith must be founded both upon Evidence and Authority and this is the true Protestant Resolution of Faith and then the only fault of this Proposition is That Evidence and Authority are opposed to each other whereas they must always go together in a true Rational Faith But if by Evidence be meant all the Arguments whereby we can prove the truth of any thing whether from Sense or Reason or Scripture or the Testimony of Antiquity and by Authority be meant the Authority of a visible Judge of Controversies as it is understood in this Paper then at best this is a very precarious Proposition without the least shadow of truth that either Evidence or Authority must move us to believe that is that our Faith must be resolved either into Evidence or the Authority of a visible Judge For how is this proved That when there wants Evidence for our Faith we must believe upon the Authority of a visible Judge It seems to me a more natural Consequence That where there wants Evidence we must not believe at all If it had been first proved that God had appointed a visible Judge to direct those who cannot judge for themselves there had been some pretence for saying that we must believe either upon Evidence or upon the Authority of a Judge but without proving this first I would desire any man to prove to me that I am bound to believe what I have no Evidence for or which is all one no such Evidence as I can understand and if I be not bound to believe without Evidence how can the want of Evidence prove that there must be a visible Judge into whose Authority I must resolve my Faith The Paper Evidence to the generality of People is impossible But I have already proved that this is not impossible but the meanest man with the help of a learned and faithful Guide may understand the Scriptures in all things necessary for a Christian to know But suppose at present that the generality of People cannot do this yet can learned men do it And one would think if there be any Evidence at least learned men may understand it for that which is not evident neither to the learned nor to the unlearned I fear is no Evidence at all unless there be such a kind of Evidence as is evident to no body and yet the Church of Rome has brought things to a fine pass if she must be forced to deny that we have any Evidence for our Religion Now if there be any Evidence for our Religion and learned men may understand it then at least learned men may judge for themselves and not depend upon the Authority of any other Judge and thus there is no need nay there can be no use of a visible Judge for the learned part of the world for to say that learned men have Evidence to ground their Faith on and yet must not believe according to Evidence but Authority is to say that men have eyes but must not use them to see their own way but must follow a Guide blindfold And yet if learned men be allowed to see and judge for themselves a Judge of Controversies will signifie very little for it is learned men who start Difficulties and manage Disputes and are the Authors and Patrons of Heresies and if these learned men who may and must judge for themselves differ from each other and from the Judge of Controversies what remedy is there Nay if learned men must judge for themselves according to the Evidence they have of things and not be over-ruled by Authority without Evidence there can be no visible Judge of Controversies for an Authority which may be contradicted as it may be if learned men must judge for themselves can be no Authority either with the learned or unlearned for the unlearned will have no great Reverence for that Authority which
as well as Bishops from the Apostles that they believed and practised neither more nor less through all the several Ages of the Church to this day than what St. Peter taught them though this would not make them the Judge of Controversies yet they would be good Witnesses of the Apostolical Faith and there would be great reason to enquire what their Faith and Worship is But their meer Succession to the Apostles does not prove that they have neither diminished nor added to the Faith of the Apostles for there is no natural necessity that those who succeed should always be of the mind of their Predecessors and we have plain Evidence that the Church of Rome has in several Ages made new and strange additions to the Christian Faith and their Succession of Bishops without a Succession of Faith and Worship is little worth And yet it is much stranger still that the Church of Romes pretence to the Authority of a Judge should be made a Reason to believe that she has this Authority What advantage has Confidence above Modesty over weak Minds The Church of England might pretend this with as much reason as the Church of Rome but she disowning Infallibility loses all claim to it and the Church of Rome pretending to Infallibility it seems gains a right to it by Possession and Usurpation But the Argument such as it is seems to be this That the Divines of the Church of England wish in this confusion of things that there were a Judge of Controversies and therefore by their own Confession a Judge is very useful and necessary and therefore there is such a Judge and no other Church pretending to that Authority but the Church of Rome therefore she alone is that Judge Which is such a Chain of Consequences as hang together by Magick for they have no natural connexion If we did think a Judge of Controversies useful does it hence follow that God has appointed such a Judge when there is no appearance of any such thing Or if God had appointed such a Judge does the Church of Romes pretending to be that Judge when she can shew no Commission for it prove that she is so But the truth is whatever Divines they be if there be any such who wish for such a Judge to unite the whole Christian Church in Faith and Worship take very wrong Measures of things And because the true understanding of this is the most effectual way to end this Controversie I shall discourse particularly of it 1. First then I observe That an infallible Judge of Controversies whom we are bound in all cases to believe is inconsistent with the constitution of human Nature Man is a Reasonable Creature and it is natural to a Reasonable Creature to understand and judge for himself and therefore to submit to any mans Judgment how infallible soever he be presumed to be without understanding and judging for our selves is an unnatural imposition upon Mankind this destroys human Nature and transforms a Man who is a knowing and intelligent Creature into a sensless though infallible Machin which moves by external direction not from an inward Principle of Knowledge and Life To know and to follow a Guide without any Knowledge or Judgment of our own are two very different things the first is the Understanding of a man the other a sort of Knowledge without Understanding For though I had an entire System of true Propositions which I must exercise no act of Reason and Judgment about but only receive them as the Dictates of an infallible Judge this is not human Knowledge this is no perfection of human Understanding no man is a jot the wiser or more knowing for all this no more than he would be who could repeat all the Propositions in Euclid and believe them to be all true upon the Authority of his Master but knows not how to demonstrate any one of them which is to understand nothing about them Now I can never believe that God will destroy human Nature by suspending all the acts of Reason and Judgment to make men infallible which is a certain way indeed to prevent Error to let men know and judge of nothing that they may not mistake but for my part I value knowledge so much that I had rather venture some Mistakes than forfeit my Understanding If my Faith must be resolved wholly into the Authority of an infallible Judge though I may think I understand some things yet I must not believe for that Reason for then I must believe nothing but what I do understand and see a Reason for which makes every man his own Judge but I must believe my Judge with or without Understanding without the exercise of my own Reason and Judgment which may make us good Catholicks but does also unman us But you 'l say Are we not bound to believe infallible Teachers whom we know to be infallible And has not God in several Ages given such Teachers to the World Moses and the Prophets Christ and his Apostles And must we not resign up our Understandings to them and does this unman us Why then may we not resign up our Understandings to an infallible Judge now as we ought to have done had we lived in the days of Christ and his Apostles and any other infallible Teachers Now for Answer to this consider Secondly That no infallible Teacher can wholly supersede the exercise of our own Reason and Judgment For though the immediate Authority of God must and ought in all cases to over-rule us and is the best and most rational account of our Faith for nothing is more reasonable than to believe God who is Eternal Truth yet when any man pretends to teach by Gods Authority we must in the first place judge of his Authority and not believe every one who pretends to come from God which resolves the very Reason of our Faith into our own private Judgment and therefore by this Rule we must at least use our own Judgment in the choice of our Judge which in our present case will infer the use of our own Reason and Judgment as to all the material Disputes in Religion and make such a Judge needless when we have found him Of which more presently Nay Secondly VVe must judge of the Doctrine of such a Teacher by Sense and Reason which are the natural Principles of Knowledge for let a man pretend never so much to a Divine Authority if he preach any thing contrary to the Sense and Reason of Mankind we are not to believe him no not though he should work Miracles For we must believe nothing comes from God which is contrary to Sense and Reason which are the natural Notices God has given us of things and as God cannot contradict himself so we can never be surer that any man speaks from God than we are of what Sense and Reason teaches and if the Church of Rome would but suffer us to judge thus far we should have an infallible demonstration
as they did and not believe any pretence of Infallibility against my own Sense and Reason I cannot compare the Doctrine of the Law and the Gospel unless I understand them both and I can understand and judge only with my own Understanding and if I must have done thus though I had lived in our Saviours days surely I must do so now whatever infallible Teachers there may be in the World which I think is a demonstration that there neither is nor can be any such infallible Judge whom I am bound to believe purely upon his own Authority But it may be Objected That this proves too much and undermines even the Protestant Resolution of Faith into the Authority of Christ and his Apostles and the Writings of the New Testament as an infallible Rule of Christian Faith and Manners For it seems though we pretend to own their Infallibility yet we must examine their Doctrine by the Law and not believe them to be infallible till we have set in Judgment on their Doctrine and approved it as agreeable to a more infallible Rule and thus we believe their Infallibility because we like their Doctrine not believe their Doctrine because they are infallible Now there is so much Truth in this Objection that I cannot believe that Christ and his Apostles are Teachers come from God unless I be satisfied that they teach nothing contrary to any former Revelation which God has made of his Will for God cannot contradict himself and therefore whoever contradicts what God has before taught can be no true Prophet And therefore though Miracles alone were sufficient to give Authority to Moses who was the first Prophet by whom God made a publick Revelation of his Will yet Miracles alone were not sufficient to give Authority to any succeeding Prophets but their Doctrine also must be examined by its conformity to the Law for though Miracles gave them Authority to make new Revelations yet not to contradict the old So that to examine the Doctrine of Christ and his Apostles by the Law so far as to see that they do not contradict it is no more than to examine whether they be true Prophets or not as all men ought to do before they believe any pretenders to Prophecy but when it appears that they do not contradict the Law then that power of working Miracles wherewith they are endowed obliges us to believe then in every thing else upon their own Authority And thus we own Christ and his Apostles to be infallible Teachers and consequently receive the Writings of the New Testament as an infallible Rule of Christian Faith because they were men endowed with supernatural Powers and did not in their Preaching contradict any former Revelation of Gods Will. And this is all that we do or need affirm to destroy the Pretences of an infallible Judge for if I must still judge for my self whether the Doctrine of the Gospel do not contradict the Law then I must judge for my self both of the Sense of the Law and the Gospel or else I cannot judge whether they agree or disagree and therefore there can be no infallible Judge to whom I must submit my own Reason and Judgment in this Inquiry for that were to own their Infallibility before I know whether they are infallible or not Though I must believe whatever an infallible Judge teaches yet I must not believe him till I know him to be infallible and I should think no pretender to Infallibility should exempt himself from such a trial as all Prophets after Moses even Christ and his Apostles themselves submitted to that is to have their Doctrine tried by a standing Revelation Now suppose the Pope or Church of Rome to set up for this infallible Judicature before I can own their Infallibility I must at least examine whether what they teach do not contradict the Law and the Prophets for thus I may and must examine the Gospel it self and if in any one thing they plainly and directly contradict the Law I have nothing more to do with their Infallibility for no man can be infallible who mistakes in any one thing The Church of Rome then teaches That we may give Religious Worship to Saints and Angels and Images Having the Law of Moses in my hand I turn to it and according to the best of my Understanding I find this Worship expresly forbid in the first and second Commandments No say they this is your mistake we are the infallible Judges and you must not trust your own understanding but take the sense of the Church in it By your favour Gentleman say I you are a little too hasty with your Infallibility when I am satisfied you are infallible I will trust you but I am now inquiring whether you are infallible or not and therefore as yet we are upon even ground and I must trust my own Judgment till I find one more infallible Now I say you contradict the first and second Commandments and therefore are not infallible and you would prove that you do not contradict these Commandments from your pretended Infallibility which is the thing yet in question Christ and his Apostles permitted men to judge for themselves whether they contradicted the Law and the Prophets and therefore suffered them to judge of the Sense of the Law too and so must you do also unless you pretend an exemption from all Trial and Examination which Christ and his Apostles never pretended to This shews that even to this day no pretence of Infallibility can exempt men from having their Doctrine tried by the Law and the Prophets for the Gospel it self may still be thus tried and therefore there can be no such infallible Judge as has any Authority to oblige us to believe any Sense they put upon the Law contrary to our own Sense and Reason for then such a Judge as this could not be tried by the Law For if he alone has Authority to interpret the Law no body can try him but himself And this plain Instance I have given of their contradicting the first and second Commandments utterly overthrows their Infallibility till they can prove not by their pretended Infallibility but by plain Reason and Argument that they do not contradict them And we desire no more than to set aside their Plea of Infallibility and we will reason the Case with them when they please And besides this by a parity of Reason this Argument reaches much farther For if the Doctrine of Christ and his Apostles must be tried by the Law and the Prophets because no man can have any Authority against a standing Revelation then by the same Reason whoever should now set up for an infallible Guide his Doctrines must be examined by the Writings of the Evangelists and Apostles which is now an infallible Rule to us And if the Doctrine of Christ and his Apostles might be examined by the Law and the Prophets for the very same Reason the Doctrine of all succeeding Bishops must be tried by
Apostles even St. Peter himself had no other Commission but to Teach then their Authority could not extend farther than their Teaching that is they could not oblige men to believe more than they could make them understand the reason of Well but if Christ hath not appointed a Judge of Controversies what Certainty can we have of our Religion and what care has Christ taken of the Unity of the Church These are two Points which must be considered and if we can give a fair account of them without a Judge of Controversies there will be so little need of such a Judge that there will be no great Reason to contend about him First As for Certainty why cannot we be certain of our Religion as well as of other Matters without an infallible Judge Does any man want an infallible Judge to make him certain of the sense of a plain Law or any other intelligible Writing to understand the difference between true and false reasoning to know what kind of Evidence he may rely on as to Matters of Fact which were done in a remote Country or before he was born Now if we can be certain of any thing without an infallible Judge then Certainty does not depend upon Infallibility because we can be certain without it Certainty of Knowledge depends upon the Certainty of Evidence What we have certain Evidence for we may be certain of and what we have not certain Evidence for we can never be certain of To depend upon Authority though it be supposed infallible is but one sort of Evidence and one kind of Certainty viz. the certainty of Authority and therefore if there be other kinds of evidence and certainty for our Religion besides the Authority of an infallible Judge then we may be certain still though there were no infallible Judge For where there are more means of Certainty than one the taking away one does not destroy all Certainty now I would fain see that man who will venture to say That we have no possible way to be certain of the truth of Christianity or what Christ and his Apostles taught but only the Testimony of an infallible Judge for then there is no way left to make men Christians unless they will own an infallible Judge before they believe Christianity which will argue great good Nature in them Well! but suppose there were other possible ways to attain a Certainty in Religion yet there is none so easie none so certain as an infallible Judge which delivers us from tedious Inquiries and doubtful Disputes and makes all men Orthodox whether they will or no Now for this very Reason I reject an infallible Judge because it is very plain Christ never intended such a degree of Evidence as this Faith is a Christian Grace and Vertue and therefore must be an act of the Will as well as of the Understanding which supposes that the Evidence is not irresistible for it is no Vertue to believe that the Sun shines when we see it Such Evidence as forces an assent is inconsistent with the nature of Faith considered as a Vertue which is a free and voluntary assent upon such Evidence as is sufficient to satisfie an honest man but not to compel an obstinate Infidel or Heretick to believe Of this nature is that Evidence we have for the truth of Christianity Miracles alone as I observed before did not prove Jesus to be the Messias or Christ for then all men who saw his Miracles must have believed him as they did Moses but besides this they were to inquire whether his Person answered the Characters the Prophets had given of the Messias and whether his Doctrine were reconcileable with their Law and here the Passions and Prejudices and Lusts and Interests of men might interpose and corrupt and byass their Judgments and whether they would believe or would not believe did very much depend upon the temper and disposition of their minds Hence our Saviour attributes the Infidelity of the Scribes and Pharisees to their Pride and Covetousness and such like evil Causes and requires an honest and teachable mind to prepare and dispose men to receive the Gospel Such he calls his Sheep Ye believe not because ye are not of my Sheep as I said unto you My Sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me John 10. 26 27. Now if this be all the Evidence he has afforded the World of his own being the Messias which is the very Foundation of the Christian Religion the Superstructure cannot be more firm and certain than the Foundation is and therefore the same kind of Evidence which Christ thought sufficient to prove himself to be the Messias must be sufficient also for all the ends of Religion Christ has no Disciples but sincere honest men and therefore has given us such a degree of Evidence and Certainty as may be a trial of our honesty It is of no concernment whether bad men be Infidels or Hereticks and then if there be sufficient Evidence and Certainty to satisfie honest men it is enough and there is abundant Evidence for this purpose without an infallible Judge and therefore there can be no need of him And besides this our Saviour has promised the assistance of his Spirit not only to work Faith in all well disposed Minds but to enlighten their Understandings and to guide them in the diligent use of those Means he has prescribed to find out Truth which though it does not make them absolutely infallible which there is no need of to carry men to Heaven yet it preserves them from all great and fatal Mistakes Now I would desire any man to tell me what need there had been of the internal Illuminations of the Spirit to direct us in our inquiries after Truth if Christ had provided such an external infallible Means as a Judge of Controversies And though honest men are not infallible yet they have this security as to their speculative Mistakes which have no ill influence upon their Lives that the Mercies of God do as well extend to the infirmities of our Understanding as of our Wills For if an involuntary Ignorance will be some Excuse even to bad men to lessen their punishment much more may we presume it will excuse good Men. To demand such a degree of Evidence and Certainty as God has not thought fit to give us does great mischief to Religion for this makes some men Atheists and others Infidels The Infidel thinks that seeing there is not Evidence enough for the Christian Religion to force an Assent therefore they are not bound to believe it the Church of Rome owns this That there is not sufficient Certainty without an infallible Judge and hence they argue That there must be an infallible Judge and that the Pope or Church of Rome is that Judge Now let the Infidel and the Romanist dispute it out which of these two is the best consequence that since we cannot be certain of our Religion whether we should