given to them or that such Opposition might soon be suppressed and over-ruled by the Power and Reputation of such prevailing Men. From all which I cannot but conclude That though the general Tradition or Testimony of the Church may be a good Help yet it may not always be a certain Rule to lead me to the entire and unaltered Doctrine of Jesus XXIII Other there are who tell me That to find out the true and entire Doctrine of Jesus I must apply my self to the holy Scripture that is to say to the Books commonly called the Old and the New Testament And because I look upon this to be the right Way I shall briefly and plainly deliver my Thoughts in relation to these Books And first of the New Testament That the New Testament as it was extant in the Greek Toegue has been ever universally owned by all Christians as containing a true though some deny it to be a full Account of the Life and Doctrine of Jesus is a thing so notorious and so universally acknowledged that I cannot find the least Ground or Reason to question it Now the History and Doctrine of Jesus being so well known unto the first Christians by the Preaching of the Apostles and Disciples and they being so ready upon all Occasions to lay down their Lives for the Truth of Christianity it cannot be imagined that ever they would so readily and universally receive and own such a Book if it had contained any thing in it which was dissonant from that Doctrine which they had received It is confessed indeed that some of those Books which make up the Volume of the New Testament that is to say the Epistle to the Hebrews that of St. James the Second of St. Peter that of St. Jude the Second and Third of St. John and the Revelations were not so soon and so universally received throughout the Christian Church as the rest of the Books were The Reason of which apparently was not That these Books contained any thing in them contrary to what was delivered it the other Books of the New Testament for he that reads the whole will plainly find that there is a very compleat Agreement between them the only seeming Discord of St. Paul's Justification by Faith and St. James's Justification by Works being exactly and fully reconciled by considering That St. Paul means no other Faith but such as worketh by Love Gal. 5. 6. and St. James no other Works but such as proceed from Faith Jam. 2. 22. But because it was not at first universally known who were the Authors of them Which abundantly shews the Care and Caution of the Christian Church in not being hasty to receive and admit any Books as authentick Records of their Doctrine without very good Warrant for so doing And therefore since these same Books were in a very little time after received and owned to be of equal Authority with the rest of the New Testament I cannot but from thence conclude That those Churches which at the first doubted concerning those Books did soon receive most full and ample Satisfaction in that matter from those who had before received them I conclude therefore That the Book of the New Testament as it was extant in the Primitive Times in the Greek Tongue did contain a true Account of the Doctrine of Jesus XXIV That innumerable Copies of the New Testament were in a very little time dispersed through all places where Christianity was planted That it has heen at different times and in very distant places translated into all or almost all Languages And that Copies both of the Original and many of the several Translations have been preserved with much Care in a great many distant Parts of the World is allowed by all and denied by none From whence I think we may gather First That where the Generality of the Greek Copies of the New Testament do agree in the very same Words there we have undoubtedly the true and authentick Words of the New Testament For although some Mistakes might creep into some Copies either through the Wickedness or Negligence of some particular Men yet where so many Copies of a Book have been so carefully preserved and in such distant Parts of the World it is not to be imagined that the self-same Errour in any Expression should ever be propagated through the Generality of them Secondly That where the Words or Expressions of divers Greek Copies do differ one from another yet if the Sense and Meaning be exactly the same in all or almost all there we have certainly the true Sense and Meaning of the New Testament For it is easie to apprehend that a Transcriber might by a small Mistake put one Word or Expression of the same Signification in stead of another But that the same Sense should be punctually preserved in all or almost all Copies is not to be imagined except it were the true Sense delivered from the Beginning Thirdly That if there may be found any different Readings in divers Copies of the New Testament which disagree in Sense as well as in Words which scarce ever happens in any thing which is accounted a material Point of Religion then it seems to be most fit and proper to admit of that Reading and Sense which best agrees with the Tenour of the whole with the ancientest and best esteemed Translations and with the evident Principles of sound Reason And if any place be so obscure as that none of these Ways will afford any Light into its Meaning then I think that no stress ought to be laid upon it in any necessary part of Religion XXV But some will demand How are we sure of the Sense and Meaning even of those places of the New Testament where there is no difference about the Words In Answar to this I have already shewn § 21. that we are not to follow the Guidance of the Church of Rome to know the true Doctrine of Jesus Nor therefore consequently to know the true Meaning of the New Testament in which his Doctrine is owned to be contained I have shewn also § 22. That though general Tradition may be a good Help yet may it not always be a certain Rule to lead one to the unaltered Doctrine of Jesus nor therefore consequently to the true and genuine Interpretation of the New Testament Since therefore there is no other way to be found I conclude That the New Testament is to be interpreted the same way that other Books are that is by considering the Sense and Property of the Words and Sentences and the ordinary Figures of Speech as they are commonly used in the same Book and in others written in the same Language and about the same time together with the Scope Drift Coherence and Occasion of the Discourse To which End every Man that is learned being bound to use his best Endeavour to know the Will of God as I have shewn § 14. is obliged according to the measure of his Learning to consult
Lexicons Commentators and ancient Writers and to use all other Helps that he may both satisfie himself and also be able to inform others XXVI But perhaps I shall be told That when a Man has done all this to the best of his power yet after all he may be mistaken as it appears that many Learned Men are since 〈◊〉 oppose and contradict one another about the Meaning of the New Testament To this Ianswer That since I have shewn § 3. that all necessary things whether as to Belief or Practice in Religion are easie to be understood I must from hence conclude That a sober and honest Enquirer cannot easily be mistaken in the Interpretation of those places of the New Testament which do contain any necessary part of Religion And as for other parts and passages of it if Men would be but peaceable which is plainly enough commanded in the New Testament their Mistakes about them could do no harm And again Since I have shewn § 14. That God requires no more from a Man but his best Endeavours to know and perform his Will I do hence conclude That if a Man be mistaken in his Interpretation even of any such place as contains some necessary part of Religion yet if this Mistake be purely an Errour of the Vnderstanding and does not proceed from any Neglect or wilful Fault of the Person so mistaking God will never be offended with him for it And then What hurt can there be in such a Mistake as this XXVII But it may be demanded What shall they do to find out the Meaning of the New Testament who do not understand any thing of the Greek which is the only authentick Language of this Book Which is evidently the Case of much the greatest part of Mankind I answer That he who is ignorant of the Greek Tongue being yet obliged to use his best Endeavour § 14. must do the best he can by reading some Translation or Translations of it or if he cannot read himself by hearing them read and by asking and enquiring from such of his Acquaintance as he believes to be Persons of Sincerity and Knowledge to know what is the Sense and Doctrine of the New Testament and the Will of God therein contained And since God requires no more from any Man but his best Endeavour § 14. it follows That if such a Man be mistaken and cannot help it God will not be offended with him neither for it XXVIII And one thing more let me add for the sake of those who are not skilled in the Greek Tongue viz. That since there have many Translations been made of the New Testament most of them by Persons well skilled in Languages of good Repute for their Honesty and Integrity and who could not but know before-hand that their Translations would be narrowly sifted and examined by learned Men which must needs make them careful to commit as few Faults as they could and since all those things which God requires from Men must needs be easie enough to be understood § 3. and therefore easie to be translated and expressed in any Language I cannot but conclude That a sober and impartial Enquirer may be very well assured of the Doctrine of Jesus even from the Translations of the New Testament though he does not understand the Greek Original And for as much as I can understand of the matter if Men did stand only upon the honest and downright Sense and Meaning of plain Places which only can stive us good Assurance in Religion and would not quarrel about critical Niceties in such Texts as are confessedly obscure I believe there is scarce any Translation of the New Testament so defective but might be a sufficient Guide to any sober Man to lead him to the Doctrine of Jesus XXIX Having thus spoken what I designed of the New Testament I come to say something of the Old And here that the Jews in the Days of Jesus had among them a Book written in the Hebrew and some small part of it in the Chaldee-Tongue which we now call the Old Testament which they called the Holy Scripture and esteemed as the Word of God is a thing beyond dispute That this Book was owned and acknowledged quoted and referred to and all People exhorted and encouraged to search and study it as the Word of God both by Jesus himself and also by his Disciples is most evident to any one who reads the New Testament From whence I must conclude That the Doctrine of that Book as it was then extant is to be esteemed as part of the Doctrine of Jesus and that those Laws and Commands which are there to be found are to be kept and observed by all Christians the Followers of Jesus except where it can be shewn that Jesus has freed us from the Obligation of them XXX Moreover since this Book has been Translated into as many Languages and as many Copies of the Original have been carefully kept in distant Parts of the World as of the New Testament I do conclude That the very same things which just now were said concerning the Words the Meaning and Way of interpreting the New Testament will hold good concerning the Old Testament also as far as they can be accommodated to it XXXI There are some certain Books and Fragments which among the Protestants are well known by the Name of Apocryphal to which the Papists give the Title of Deuterocanonical These Pieces the Papists contend to be a real part of the Old Testament and of equal Authority with the other Books of it But the Protestants will not allow their Authority to be sacred although they grant that there are many useful and profitable things contained in them Now he that is not able to search into Antiquity for the Resolving of this Controversie may by another way be satisfied about it For since the Jews from whom the Christians originally received the Scriptures of the Old Testament do all of them and ever did unanimously reject these same Apocryphal Books and Fragments as being no part of their Holy Scripture I think it may from hence be sufficiently concluded That as to the Controversie about the Apocryphal Scripture the Protestants are in the right and the Papists in the wrong And yet if the Authority of those Pieces were as great as the Papists would have it I see not how it could make any Alteration in my Religion For I do not find any thing in them but what is easily reconcilable with the rest of the holy Scripture XXXII But there are some Difficulties which seem to arise concerning what I have discoursed to which it will be necessary to give a full and satisfactory Answer And First If all be granted that has hitherto been said yet how shall I be sure that the Book of the holy Scriptures contains not only truly but also fully and entirely the Doctrine of Jesus so that nothing is to be esteemed as a part of his Religion but what is contained in
Blessed Trinity or between the two Natures which are in our Lord Jesus Christ Which three things being taken for granted the question that is to be determined is Whether or no it be a sufficient ground for a Man to deny his Assent to the Doctrines of the Trinity and Incarnation of Christ because they are above his Reason 16. And here in the first place it is very plain That although we cannot by any means comprehend the things themselves yet we do so far understand the meaning of the Terms in which these Doctrines are expressed as clearly to perceive that they are not a company of insignificant Words put together to make a sound and signifie nothing What a Person is we know though we cannot tell what sort of Persons the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost are and how their Personal Distinction between themselves particularly and fully differs from that of Men one from another What it is to be One we well understand although we cannot frame an Idea of that special Union which is between those Divine Persons What it is for one being to generate another and what to proceed from another we are not ignorant although the peculiar manner of the Generation of the Son of God and the Procession of the Holy Ghost be beyond our Capacity to conceive And Lastly What it is for two Beings to be Vnited together we can very well apprehend although we pretend not to know the manner of That Union which is between the two Natures in the Person of Jesus Christ From whence it plainly follows That these Doctrines though above our Reason do yet so far stand upon equal Terms with those Doctrines which I have termed reconcilable to Reason Sect. 8. That as our Reason may be plainly and positive convinced from its own Principles alone of the possibility of the one so is there no Principle of our Reason which can reach so far as to prove or demonstrate any impossibility in the other And where there is no Contradiction or Impossibility in a Doctrine it will undeniably follow that that same Doctrine may possibly be true And where ever a Man is convinced of the possibility of a Doctrine if the Truth of that same Doctrine appears to him to be restified by any Person of whose Veracity he cannot entertain any manner of doubt he cannot refuse to give his Assent to it as I have said Sect. 13. Since then the Veracity of God admits of no manner of doubt and the Holy Scriptures are by both Parties in this Dispute allowed of as most Authentick Records of the Doctrines of Faith and Rules of Life which God has made known and revealed to the World And lastly since we here suppose that the Doctrine of the Trinity and that of the Incarnation of Christ do neither of them contain or imply any Impossibility or Contradiction although they are both of them above our Reason it will follow that if all or any of the Texts of Scripture which are brought to prove these Doctrines being expounded according to the common way of interpreting all Books of which see Part 1. Sect. 25. do fairly and without being wrested contain either in themselves or their evident Consequences those same Doctrines which they are alledged to establish there can be no just Cause why any Man should deny his Assent to them But if notwithstanding all this it be still urged that it is not possible for a Man explicitly to believe a thing of which he can frame no Conception or Idea I must refer him to the Story of the blind Man Sect. 14. which seems to me abundantly to evince the contrary And why we should not believe the Doctrines of the Trinity and Incarnation upon the Testimony of the Holy Scriptures as well as the blind Man did the Existence of Light and Colours upon the Testimony of other Men joyned with that collateral Experiment which I have mentioned I profess I can see no manner of Reason 17. And as in my Book Part 3. Sect. 71. I have advertised my Reader that I have purposely avoided the use of certain Words and Terms for the Reason there given So must I desire him to take notice that for the like Reason I have both in my Book and in this Appendix omitted so much as to mention the word Mystery about which so great a Noise has of late been made Whether this same Term Mystery be always used in the New Testament in the very same and no other Signification as it is understood by Heathen Authors Or Whether other sorts of things by a very allowable Analogy are not also there called Mysteries upon account of their Obscurity because we know them but in part and see them but as in a Glass darkly Or Lastly Whether there be any thing in Christianity which may properly be called a Mystery according to the genuine meaning of that Term to me seems to be no more but a Contention about a word which the Apostle expresly forbids 2 Tim. 2. 14. But whatever may be determined concerning the propriety of the Word the thing if self seems to me to be very evident that there are some Doctrines in Christianity which are above our Reason and yet that this is no sufficient ground for the denial of our Assent to them 18. And if I am told that after all this there is no greater obscurity in any of the Doctrines of Christianity than what there is in all natural Beings with which we most familiarly converse whose real Essence we cannot penetrate but must content our selves with a sort of Superficial Knowledge of them which is caused by those Impressions which they make upon our outward Organs which at most can be termed but a nominal Essence so that even a spire of Grass a Stick a Stone or any other natural Being may upon this account as truly be termed Mystericus as the most sublime Doctrines of Religion I shall only answer that it mightily raises my wonder to hear Men so freely acknowledge that in every other thing whatsoever there is something which is above their Reason and to which their Understanding cannot reach and yet that they will not allow the same in Religion 19. But I know it will be objected that the first of those three Suppositions which I have laid down Sect. 15. will by no means be granted by the Unitarians for they are so far from allowing the Texts of Scripture which are brought to prove the Doctrines of the Trinity and Incarnation to be any way sufficient to that purpose that on the contrary they do with the greatest Assurance undertake to bring other and contrary Interpetations of those very Passages which they pretend to be far more Rational and Natural To which I shall only Answer that this is all that I aim at in this Appendix that the Issue of these Controversies may be placed upon that which is the only true Foundation for it I mean the Authority of the Holy Scriptures and that blind Men would not take upon them by the strength of their Reason to discuss Problems and frame Conclusions concerning Light and Colours of which they can have no true or sufficient Idea I am very sensible that learned Men who have their Minds strongly prepossessed with any Opinion may by their Criticisms and Paraphrases and such like Engines torture and screw almost any Text of Scripture till they make it look with another Aspect from what is truly its own and seem to confess what really it never thought or meant But if we would always take those Interpretations which flow of themselves and not those which are violently pressed from the Scripture which I think is the fairest way of expounding all Speeches and Discourses whatsoever I cannot for my part see how we can otherwise conclude concerning the Doctrines of the Trinity and Incarnation than as I have done Part 2. Sect. 22. 37. FINIS