Selected quad for the lemma: blood_n
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A61457
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An account of the growth of deism in England
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Stephens, William, d. 1718.
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1696
(1696)
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Wing S5459; ESTC R19943
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19,063
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34
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soever he should always be willing to hear a good Minister Preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to him and exhort him to the sincere Practice of it That he was ready to contribute his share to the Maintenance of such Ministers and to join with that Church-of England Congregation near to which he liv'd in publick Worship but yet he could not condemn the Worship of other Congregations nor exclude himself from joyning with them as occasion should serve him So that as to Church-membership he could be a Member of any Church which would own him upon the terms of Faith and Practice contained in the Book he mentioned concerning the Reasonableness of the Christian Religion c. But still he conceiv'd that Church-Communion in holy Offices was designed only to raise his Devotion towards God not towards the Clergy which made him admire the unparallell'd Impudence of the Roman Priesthood who measure the Religion of all Christians by their Devotion to the See of Rome i. e. indeed to themselves and he doubted whether any Church were sufficiently Reformed from Popery which made any Doctrines of Faith necessary to Salvation that were not declared so in the Gospels and where the Clergy would always distinguish between Church and State and give the Precedency to themselves But yet he would join with any Church as far as it promoted the Honour of God and separate from it wherein on pretence of Religion he saw â—â—at it aimed at a By-end of its own Here I urged him again to joyn to our Church which had no other design but God's Glory To this he said that he should be glad that the Church of England would own him though he could not be of their Party He would willingly pass as a Church-man for his Credit-sake for said he though a Man doth ever so firmly believe Jesus Christ to be the Messiah whom God had of old promised and in due time sent to give us a perfect Rule of Life in order to make us truly religious here and ever happy hereafter and though a Man should shew forth his Faith by an agreeable course of Life in doing Justice loving Mercy and an humble walking with God yet if he were not owned as a Member of some Church he would by all Churches be accounted if not an Atheist yet a Sceptic a Man of no settled Principle but own who has his Religion to choose For if you look over the State of Religion as it standeth in Christendom there is no Church whatsoever which will accept you as a Member of its Communion but upon some particular terms of Belief or Practice which Christ never appointed and it may be such as an honest and a wise Christian cannot consent to I am not more able to give up my Reason to the Church of England than to give up my Senses to the Church of Rome it looks like a Trick in all Churches to take away the use of Mens Reason that they may render us Vassals and Slaves to all their Dictates and Commands But what greater slavery than to force on Men a Belief of such things as necessary to Salvation of which 't is not possible to form any Idea Though I am satisfied there is no such thing as a change of Bread into the Flesh of Christ yet I can form an Idea that such a thing may be that the same Power which changed Earth into a Man may change Bread into Flesh But I can frame to my self no Idea of what your Church Teacheth in the Sacrament that the Body and Blood of Christ are verily and indeed taken and received of the faithful And when I ask how can this be understood by a Protestant who believeth that there is no other Body but that of Bread I am told that the Church meaneth it in a Spiritual Sense Now I have try'd and find it impossible for me to form to my self an Idea of a Body verily and indeed in a Spiritual Sense And therefore I must say 't is an unwise and a hard Thing for any Church to impose absurd or unintelligible Notions especially such Speculations which tend to make no body the better as necessary to Salvation for Wise Men and such who will take Courage to examine what they Believe will not submit to such an Usurpation and weak Men are kept all their Life long in Fears and Doubts of their Eternal State as being always uncertain whether they firmly believe such Doctrines or no. Besides this said he your Church will require me to believe other Absurdities as bad as these as that Kings and Bishops have a Divine Right to that Power which they exercise over us whereas with my own Eyes I saw our Great and Gracious King accept the Crown of England as the Gift of the People And I see as plainly that Bishops are an Order of Men of their own not of Christ's making I was told that our Bishops Order was founded in that of the 12 Apostles and the Presbyters Order in the 70 Disciples Upon this I resolved to see if the 12 and the 70 were different Orders or no and read over the 10th Chap. of Matthew the 3d and 6th of Mark and the 9th of Luke in which places the Power which Christ gave to the 12 is set forth which amounteth to this viz. a Charge to Preach the Gospel a Power to work Miracles in casting out Devils healing the Sick c. And I also read in the 10th Chapter of Luke that the 70 were sent forth for the same Reason and with the same express Power as were the 12 viz. To preach the Gospel heal the Sick and cast out Devils vers 2.9.17 And he telleth the 70 at the 16th Verse That he who heareth them heareth him and he who despiseth them despiseth him as he had said to the 12 in Matthew 10.40 Indeed they were only added to the number of the 12 Because as 't is said there the Harvest was great and the Labourers few i. e. because Multitudes followed Christ and were disposed to become Christians therefore he encreased the number of his Apostles or Teaching Disciples I can find no Footsteps of any Jurisdiction given to the 12 over the 70 or indeed over any body else and in the 18th Chapter of Matthew where Christ speaketh of binding and loosing 't is manifest from the first Verse that his discourse was made to his Disciples So in the 20th of John the Holy-Ghost and Power of remitting and retaining Sins was given to the Disciples which met together after Christ's death vers 19. in which meeting there might be some of the 70 as well as some of the 12 'T is certain the 70 received the Holy-Ghost and if Baptism be a Key of Admission into the Church they had it If binding or loosing be declaring wherein we are bound in duty and wherein we may use our liberty if remitting and retaining Sins be declaring what Iniquity God will forgive and what he will not the 70 shared
this Power with the 12. As for delivering up to Satan and inflicting Diseases since 't was a miraculous Power which we read not that Christ appropriated to the 12 we have no reason to think 't was detained from the 70. If then Christ appointed but one Order viz. that of Teachers the Order of Rulers dignified themselves above and distinguished themselves from their Brothren yet I am willing to submit to those Powers which the Laws of England have given to the Bishops though what they claim by Divine Right I esteem as an Usurpation Moreover says he although I am become a Christian I have not ceased to be an English-man and for that reason cannot be in party with the Bishops who by their false-prerogative Doctrines and other shameful Assistances so lately betray'd the Charters and Liberties Rights and Privileges of their Country were setting up an absolute irresistible Power in K. Charles II. which being demised to K. James endangered not only the Liberty and Property but Body and Soul of the Nation Nor can I so soon forget how their long debates about admitting the P. of Orange our Good and Great King to the Sovereignty was the occasion of spilling so much Protestant Blood in Ireland nor the late Protestation of some of the chief of their Party against his Majesties Right to the Crown nor how careful they have been since that as it now falls out he should have no pretence to any rightful Title If any Clergy-man was so honest as to Preach up his Right as justly grounded on the Consent of the People as Mr. Johnson for instance he must lie under pain of the Church's highest displeasure though otherwise ever so Orthodox and Conformable so that since the beloved Title of Conquest is burnt by the Parliament and the Matrimonial Title is to the great grief of all good Men dead and buried with the Queen it remaineth according to Holy Church that he hath no Title at all but only bare Possession and this they mean when they call him de facto But I cannot find that they will allow him to be King of the Clergy so much as de facto Alas his Livings whereby alone he is capable to oblige them to call to mind their now forgotten Loyalty which of late years they preached up as the summ of the Law and the Prophets Alas these good Things are taken out of his hands by the Conquering Bishops that the Clergy may have a separate Interest from the State on this side the Water and be led to pay an intire Allegiance to the holy Order When Hen. VIII came to know that his Bishops swore Allegiance to the Pope he began to think of some ways and means how to make himself King of his Clergy which he saw could not be done but by casting out the Pope's Power and hence sprung that King's Reformation of his Politicks rather than Religion And if our good King were sensible of the Reasons why an English Papacy is settled in a Committee of Six viz. to fix the Obedience of the Clergy on themselves exclusively for no Man can serve two Masters I doubt not but he would think fit to demand what is so much wanted viz. the Allegiance of the Clergy to their King if he dissolves this Committee he may ask and have for where their Treasure is there their Hearts will be also For these Reasons said he I shall be cautious how I enter into Church-membership since I plainly see that every Party of Christians embodied organized clergy'd and modelled into a National Church casteth an awe upon the Sovereign Power and suffereth it not to provide equally for the Common Good of the Subject but will appropriate the salus publica and influence the Government to serve its own particular it s own private Ends. Thus Sir I have given you an account of those Prejudices which have brought forth Deism But yet these very Prejudices without a strong assistance of Passion could never have wrought upon Men to cast off Revelation for you see the same Prejudices remain in the Deist turn'd Christian Whosoever therefore upon the fore-mentioned Reasons turneth Deist cannot be excused tho' I could heartily wish all these Pretences could be taken away from ' em I am far from begrudging the Bishops and Clergy that small Maintenance which by Law is settled upon them and I hope they have no other aim in discharging their Offices but to save our Souls by imprinting on our Hearts the Reason the Excellency and Advantages of the Law of Christ I hope also that they comport themselves to the Common Interest of their Native Country and of the Protestant Religion throughout the World Truly I could wish that Notional Divinity were laid aside for Practical and that unintelligible Mysteries were not insisted on as matters of necessary Belief He who lately wrote his Thoughts of the Causes and Occasions of Atheism might have consider'd that he who cloggeth the Notion of God with Absurdities mis-leadeth Men beyond Deism I pray God give me his Grace by which I may sincerely conform my self to the Law of Christ and I will never concern my self with the Speculative Drs. in Divinity And I heartily join with our Church in that Petition Give grace O heavenly Father to all Bishops and Curates that they may both by their Life and Doctrine set forth thy true and lively Word and rightly and duly Administer thy holy Sacraments By this they would bring Souls to Heaven gain the Love of all good People secure their own Temporal Interests stop the Mouths of their Adversaries and compel the Deists to become Christians I am Sir Your Affectionate c. FINIS If your Curiosity should lead you to be an Ear witness of such Discourses I have here Written to you when I come to Town which will be as soon as the Parliament Sits I will endeavour to give you that Satisfaction