in this business without directing them to use the best helps they can to find out the truth is very dangerous indeed and no wise man will contend for this liberty of judgment in behalf of Christian people or of any sort of men whatsoever for this were not so much to advise them to judge for themselves as to conclude for themselves before they had taken any pains to judge For I do not see how men can be said to judge who refuse the means without which they can make no tryal Now the assistance of men of greater knowledge and ability than themselves have is one very necessary means by which private and unlearned persons are to examine and judge in matters of Religion And God hath not onely given us ability to find out some truths by our selves but also to weigh and consider what others offer to us And therefore he hath appointed Governours and Guides of Souls that are to feed the Flock and to instruct Christian people in the way to Heaven And one part of their work is to enable them to give an answer to every one that asketh a reason of the hope that is in them I Pet. 3. 15. which I conceive they cannot do without informing and helping them to judge for themselves So that liberty of examining in order to private judgment does by no means exclude advising with and hearkening to men of greater skill and ability than our selves especially to the publick Guides of Souls but rather makes it necessary so to do this being one means of Gods appointment by which we are to inform our selves And I grant that without very good and clear reason we are not to depart from their Doctrine but in all doubtful cases to presume in favour of it But that it should be dangerous to private persons to weigh and consider as well as they can what their Guides teach them to believe or to do this is that which I can by no means understand unless it were a dangerous thing to follow our Guides like men that have Reason and not like beasts that have none It is at any time as safe to follow a Guide with our eyes open as to suffer our selves to be blindfolded and then to follow him by a string God hath referred us to Guides Heb. 13. 17. but yet he hath trusted us to our selves too and we are to try the spirits whether they be of God otherwise we may follow Guides that want Guides themselves And if the blind lead the blind both fall into the ditch To say that inquiries after truth with the best endeavours and means that we have in our power is the way to be mistaken is to reproach our own Reason and God the Author of it since as it seems the more we exercise and improve our Reason the more likely we are to be in the wrong and to deceive and abuse our selves At the great day of Accounts Seducers shall answer for those whom they have deceived And therefore the Guides of the Church are strongly obliged that they do not through wilfulness or negligence mislead us But if they mislead us in things that touch our eternal state I do not sind that all the blame will lie upon them but rather that we also shall answer for it our selves Otherwise why should our Saviour say Why of your selves do ye not judge that which is right Luke 12. 57. and St. John Believe not every Spirit but try the Spirits c. 1 Joh. 4. 1. and St. Paul Prove all things hold fast that which is good 1 Thess 5. 21. and Let no man deceive you 2 Thess 2. 3. Again if it be dangerous to permit men to judge for themselves in that sense wherein I contend for it then these are not wholsom but very dangerous Exhortations And yet if a Church which pretends to be an Infallible Guide in Religion could make it out clearly and plainly that she is so I should without much examination of her particular Doctrines receive them as the Oracles of God But then I must have stronger Arguments to assure me that she is infallible than those which at present make me certain that she is actually deceived For to submit to a pretended infallible Authority without knowing why I do so is to put it into the power of others for ought I know to lead me into the most damnable errours and to call Virtue Vice and Vice Virtue Therefore they must be very convincing Reasons upon which I am to believe that of my Guide which being once admitted I must take his bare word afterward for all things else I think none of the Roman Communion will deny this And then it will follow that for my own safety I am to use my own Reason and Judgment as severely as I can before I admit this fundamental Article of their Faith And this will amount to what I say that it is so far from being dangerous for men to use their own Judgment in matters of Religion that it is very dangerous for them not to do so since otherwise they are likely to follow men of the greatest confidence as they for the most part are who have the least reason for it Besides if I am led into errour by the Authority of a Church that does not pretend to Infallibility I may hope to recover the knowledge of the truth especially if it be a matter of great consequence more than if she pretended and I believed her infallible For such a Church will not so readily deny me the means of examining her Doctrine and so I may be able to discover the errour my self If not I have this comfort at least that my Guides being not engaged to contend that they are infallible are themselves in the way of detecting their own mistake and will more easily come off from it But they that pretend to Infallibility are stak'd down to their Opinions and though their Cause be never so bad they are engaged to serve it And therefore this Pretence is so far from discharging me of the pains of using my own Judgment and Reason in matters of Religion that I make the most foolish venture in the world if I do not use my Reason as strictly as I can in examining that very Pretence before I admit it And though a Churches claim to Infallibility were in it self never so just and well-grounded it is to me but a Pretence till I understand the grounds of it Nor can any man blame me if before I am convinced of the Infallibility of that Church I take those particular Doctrines into consideration which are to be believed upon this account that I may this way also judge of the reasonableness of that Pretence for 't is not for nothing that men would be thought infallible If I find the Doctrine they would put off with such authority to be indeed divine and heavenly rational and scriptural tending to the reformation and salvation of Mankind this will incline me to
yield more easily to the antecedent Arguments of the Infallibility of that Church But if the Doctrine for which she vouches this Authority does upon the most impartial tryal that I can make appear to be worldly unscriptural or contrary to common sence then I am bound to examine the grounds of her Pretence more severely than in the former case And there is no question but such Doctrines may be taught by men pretending to Inspiration or Infallibility which will justifie a man in rejecting that Pretence out of hand and troubling himself no more about it If a Physician of never so great name should tell me that he would infallibly cure my Disease and then prescribe a dose of Arsenick I think Reason would advise rather to question his Infallibility because he goes thus madly to work than to take his Poyson because he promises an Infallible Cure Now if I am not to do violence to my own understanding in things that concern my bodily health much less should I do the same in things that regard my everlasting state And they are a strange sort of men who will allow people the liberty of using their Reason as well as they can for the security of their worldly interests but will have them be led in the great affairs of Religion and Eternity as if they had no reason at all For to judge aright and to know the truth in matters of Religion which is our highest concernment was the principal end for which we have Reason and are Creatures of judgment and choice And they may as well say that 't is dangerous for a man to walk abroad with his eyes open as that 't is dangerous for him to take upon himself to judge as well as he can whether he be in the right way to Heaven or not § 2. If we consider what has been already said it will not be difficult to answer the second Question 2. Whether a liberty of examining and judging in matters of Religion doth mischief in the Church and be the cause of Heresies and Schisms To which I answer that To affirm this is in effect to say that it had been much better in order to the peace of the Church and the prevailing of Truth that men had been nearer to stocks and stones than endued with natural Abilities of judging and natural propensions to use those Abilities which I think would be to reflect upon the Wisdom of our Maker For certainly it had been better for men to have wanted the faculties of judging and proving if it be so dangerous a thing to the Church to make use of them Nor is it much for the credit of the Church that it should be against her interest for men to examine her Doctrine and use their Reason about it as well as they can To speak to the thing It is not the liberty of examination and judgment in order to the knowledge of the Truth that causeth Heresies and Schisms but the not making a right use of this liberty i. e. mens entring upon this work with Pride and the prevalency of Lust and Passion and worldly interest their want of care and diligence and of proving things sufficiently their taking up Opinions without reasonable examination and then seeking for Pretences to colour their obstinacy The Lusts and Vices of men are against the peace of the Church and the interest of Truth but not the use of that Reason which is the divine part of our Natures and which God hath given us to restrain and govern our inferiour Faculties 'T is true indeed that if few or none troubled themselves at all to judge in matters of Religion there would be no Heresies But 't is true too that if they had no reason to judge of these things at all there would have been no Heresies and 't is as true that if there had been no Religion at all it were impossible that there should be Heresies in Religion But will any men say that Reason or Religion is therefore the cause of Heresies And yet there is as much reason to say this as to conclude that the use of our own understandings in the things of God is the cause of Heresies These things are too gross to need a Confutation And yet this Pretence against the liberty of proving what is propounded to us in Religion is intended chiefly against private and ordinary persons but not against the publick Guides and Officers of the Church whereas in truth if there be any thing in it it holds more strongly against these than against the other And that because the most pernicious Heresies that ever came into the Church were brought in by men of Learning and Authority in the Church And if this Pretence be good they of all men should be forbidden to inquire into matters of Religion because if they fall into any dangerous mistake their Authority is likely to give reputation to it and to make it go down more easily with the common People than if it had been started by one of themselves So that we must not lay the Heresies that have been in the Church to the liberty we have been contending for unless we will be content to exclude all from the duty of proving what they have been taught to 〈◊〉 And no man can think this reasonable unless he 〈◊〉 all Religions to be equally true that is every one to be alike false And he that believes this needs not care what Heresie he is of § 3. 3. But if every man hath a just liberty and right to examine for himself is not this a good reason for Toleration or for the universal liberty of practising according to a mans Conscience or Perswasion For to what purpose is liberty of enquiry if after all I must be concluded by the Authority of my Superiours or else suffer under those Laws by which they provide for Uniformity in Religion To this I answer That every mans right and duty to judge for himself in matters of Religion is no good reason for Toleration unless it were also apparent that every man used that Right as he ought to do i. e. with industry deliberation and impartiality If all men were sincere and would examine without prejudice without that byass to one side which is made by lust and passion and worldly interest if they all intended to know the truth that they might do their duty then doubtless it were very fit that all should enjoy an undisturbed liberty of practice according to their Judgment for then no man would err in things plain and necessary to his own salvation and the peace of Church and State For our Lord hath assured us that if any man will do the will of God he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God But so long as there is that Hypocrisie in the World whereof men are conscious to themselves so long as all those Vices also reign which insensibly corrupt the Judgment and make men disloyal to the Truth
while they perceive it not it is by no means reasonable that the State under which we live should leave us lawless and free from all obligation of temporal Penalties what Religion we profess and what Communion we observe For the most dangerous Pretence for the â—â—â—rying on of seditious and rebellious designes against the Government is that of Religion And a few men that mean nothing but their own greatness and power shall be able to manage the Zeal of a superstitious Multitude against the Government for their own private ends while they scorn the superstition of their Followers and perhaps all pretence to Religion in their own hearts And therefore it concerns the Government to take care that the true Religion be protected by the Laws and then to provide by the most prudent methods that no other be professed in the Commonwealth If it be said that the end of all liberty to inquire and judge for our selves is destroyed if at last we must conform to the Laws or be punished for our refusal The contrary will be easily shewn to any one who believes that we are infinitly more concerned what will become of us in the life to come than in our present fortunes For suppose that they are Errours which Authority requires us to profess and that they are unlawful things which it requires us to do in Divine Service and that by a due and diligent examination of things I come to know this do I get nothing by my enquiry but the severity of those humane Laws that are against me Do not I obtain the comforts of a good Conscience in having honestly endeavoured to know the truth and in doing what I thereupon knew to be my duty If I do hereby obtain Gods Favour at present and shall obtain Gods Rewards in a better life is not this worth all my care and sincerity though I should get nothing by it in this World but Trouble and Persecution So that it is worth the while to examine the Doctrine imposed upon me by Authority though I know before-hand that be it right or wrong I must be punished by man if I receive it not True Religion and our observation to profess Gods Truth and to do his Will stands indeed upon the Authority of God and the Evidence of divine Revelation but nevertheless the profession thereof ought to be encouraged and protected by the Powers of the World and by consequence all false Religions should be discountenanced and the profession of them made uneasie by their Laws Scripture and Reason teach us that they no less than Parents should use that Authority for God which they have received from him But if they for want of sincere tryal and examination do themselves establish Iniquity or Heresie by a Law and turn the edge of their Power against the true Religion they must answer it to God at the day of Judgment who hath shewed them as well as others what is good and what he required of them In the mean while Persecution distinguishes between the Sincere and the Hypocrite and as the insincere study how to perplex the Truth and to avoid the convictions that are upon their minds and to reconcile their Apostacy to their Credit and Consciences so the honest inquire into the grounds of their Faith more diligently and being desirous to strengthen themselves under Sufferings by a full assurance that they suffer for Righteousness sake they search into all the grounds of their Perswasion more narrowly than if they had never come under this temptation and by this means the true Doctrine comes to be propounded to the World with the advantage of stronger Arguments and those better managed than if it had never met with opposition But if the true Faith and Worship be establish'd by Law and the Penalties of Nonconformity be strictly required this is so far from hindring men from enquiring that it lays an obligation upon a great many to consider things impartially who otherwise would never have looked but upon one side of the Question I mean all those whom either Wantonness and Self-conceit or Faction and Worldly Interest or the undue admiration of mens persons and the like would have held under a constant prejudice against Reason and Truth A carnal Argument for a good Cause is very often a wholsom means to remove a carnal prejudice against it And the Authority of the Magistrate can hardly be better used in matters of Religion than to make such a difference between the Observers of the Ecclesiastical Laws and the Dissenters from them that it shall be very hard for any man to lie under a Worldly Temptation to dissent sufficient to recompence the damage he must undergo This will make a great many impartial in weighing the Objections against Conformity with the Arguments and Answers on the other side and by degrees bring them to the knowledge of the Truth and at length to a sincere love of it It is a false Maxime That Force in matters of Religion makes Hypocrites but not true Converts For sometimes it cures Hypocrisie very often Ignorance and Partiality and that is a good degree towards Conversion And yet this will not justifie the putting of men to death for mere difference in Religion The least degree of severity which will do the business is great enough The Supreme Powers should consider their Subjects in these cases as a wise and good Father would consider his own Children who if he had power of life and death over them would not kill his misbelieving Son and yet would try to reduce him by Worldly Discipline and drive him to consideration by the sensible effects of his Displeasure The moderation of the English Laws for Uniformity is visible to all disinteressed persons and though the unevenness of their execution hath rendred them less effectual yet there are several who have cause to bless God for being compelled to come to our Churches and to consider the Terms of our Communion with some impartiality whereas if there had been an absolute Toleration their Ignorance and Prejudices might have led them they know not whither The Church of England causeth the Scriptures to be publickly read and puts them into the Peoples hands and desires nothing more than that every one would diligently and impartially consider the cases between her and those that separate from her And it is no absurd thing to say that this liberty of Judgment which she allows is consistent with the English Laws that require conformity of all since if it had not been for those Laws some men had never attained to liberty of Judgment but had still been held in bondage to their Prejudices and Errours 〈…〉 that they make the greatest noise for liberty of practice according to their Judgment who have made little or no use of their Judgment in distinguishing between good and bad true and false They demand one liberty while they make no use of another the liberty of being undisturbed and licentious in a
pretends to great things in teaching Religion but then I should be something forward to give him a tryal too for otherwise I might encourage a very impudent Hypocrite to be more impudent still and to play upon my easiness till I had swallowed all the foolish and damnable Opinions which he would have me believe for his own advantage Secondly When we meet with Doctrines that seem to strike at the foundations of Morality and good living we are to examine them too before we yield our assent though they be recommended by men of name and authority For the end of divine truth is a good and holy life and therefore I should suspect that to be false Doctrine which in my judgment either takes away the necessity of Piety and Virtue or discourages men from endeavouring to attain them For instance I find this Doctrine maintained by some men of great note That God hath from all eternity absolutely chosen some men to salvation and reprobated the rest without respect to any personal qualifications Now if this be true I cannot see for my life how the obtaining of eternal happiness and the avoiding of damnation depends upon any care of mine or upon any thing that I can do since every mans state is absolutely over-ruled by predestination and an irreversible decree so that let me do what I please all that I can do for another world will be but lost labour and might as well be spared But if I am sensible of this it is but reasonable that I should not rely upon the credit of the Author or of the Preacher for so perilous a Doctrine but because it is pretended to be grounded upon the ninth Chapter to the Romans I should go to the Apostle my self and carefully inquire into his meaning in that place by the best Rules of interpretation that I can learn And whoever goes thus impartially to work will find that the Apostle in that place was discoursing of another Question and indeed upon a subject that has nothing to do with this Question of absolute Election or Reprobation of the persons of men and that though the words sound that way to a man that is already prepossess'd yet the meaning of them is nothing to the purpose Suspicion of Doctrines when it is grounded upon so good a reason as we are now speaking of should cause inquiry and then that inquiry will discover on which side the truth lies He that would be a Libertine and live as he lists may be pleased when he meets with any pretended Doctrine of Religion that will excuse a wicked life or discourage Virtue and holiness and therefore it is likely that he will rest satisfied and examine no farther But an honest mind will not let a man deceive himself in this manner but if it does not cause him to reject such Opinions as soon as ever he has well satisfied himself of their consequences it will at least keep him from admitting them till he has tried them every way that he can Thirdly We ought also to be very well satisfied and that upon much consideration of the matter before we separate from the Communion of the Church where we live For whatever some men may think of it this is a business of so weighty a nature and consequence that it is not to be resolved upon or continued in till we are sure we are in the right and that upon most plain and evident reasons And if there be any case in which a Christian ought not to go rashly to work this is one And therefore it is greatly to be lamented that so many amongst us pretending to the power of Godliness should make so light a matter as they plainly do of running into separate Congregations it being very notorious when one discourses the point with them that they never enquired why the Church-Assemblies were to be forsaken and what it is in the establish'd Forms of Worship or in the Terms of our Communion that makes it needful for an honest and wise Christian to depart from it And this is an Argument that they take it to be a matter of very little consequence for otherwise they would have applied themselves with more diligence to weigh it in all the particulars that belong to it And therefore I shall offer some Reasons in behalf of such inconsiderate People to convince them how bold and dangerous a thing it is to separate from this Church of England unless they were fully satisfied upon mature examination that there are just and necessary causes for separation such namely as will make them sinners against God if they do not separate 1. If without just cause I separate from this Church I do wilfully reject the great blessings and advantages of Communion with it and must be answerable to God for slighting that merciful providence of his through which I happened to be born and bred in a place where I might enjoy the benefits of Church-Communion without venturing at any disorderly and sinful practice for them Surely it is no small blessing if my lot has been cast where so great a blessing did as it were lie in wait for me where the true Christian Doctrine and way of Worship was recommended to me by publick Authority and establish'd by Law and Custom and defended to my hand by clear and strong Arguments If this be our Case in the Church of England then my separation from her I say it again makes me guilty of a stupid and ungrateful contempt of Gods exceeding mercies in disposing my condition in this World so to my advantage that I was born baptized and bred in a place where the Truth invited me and was ready to receive me before I made one step towards a search after her Indeed to be baptized within the Communion of a particular Church and to have been born and to live under that Authority which requires me to keep close to it is of it self no sufficient reason why we should continue to be of it but it is a mighty reason why we should examine things carefully before we leave it or take up a resolution never to return to it if we have left it already because if there be no just reason for separation we shall have the more to answer to God For it is a great fault to neglect searching after the Truth in matters of this concern even when it lies a great way off from a man but it is much more inexcusable to reject it when it lies at our doors 2. I had need be very careful and impartial in this case since if the reasons upon which I separate be not really weighty and substantial I am at once guilty of throwing off that subordination and subjection to the Pastors and Guides of the Church which the Christian Profession requires and of contemning the lawful commands of my Superiours in the State contrary to the Rule of the Gospel which obliges me to submit to their Ordinances I should not easily be