ought there not beyond all this some Satisfaction to be made to God for the Sins which we have committed A. Yes certainly and such there has been made by our Saviour Christ for us who has fully satisfied the Justice of God in that kind and left nothing more for us to do in that behalf Q. What do you then say to those Satisfactions which the Church of Rome teaches we may and ought to make for our Sins A. That they are built upon a false Foundation are contrary to the Goodness of God and beyond the Capacity of Man Q. What is the Foundation upon which they are built A. It is this That when God forgives us our Sins whether upon our Own Repentance or by virtue of the Priest's Absolution He remits indeed the Fault and purges away our Guilt and by this acquits us from the Everlasting Punishment that would otherwise have been due to them But yet still retains us under an Obligation to some temporal Sufferings either by Satisfactory Works to be done for them in this Life or by undergoing a certain proportion of Pain for them after Death in a Place which they call Purgatory Q. How does it appear that this Foundation is false and erroneous A. Because in the first place it is Absurd to suppose that God should forgive the whole Guilt of our Sins and yet having done so should afterwards punish us for them And secondly It is injurious to the Sufferings and Merits of Christ whose Death was a sufficient Satisfaction for the Sins of the whole World and has left no room either for God to require or for us to Pay any thing more Q. Does Repentance then if it be sincere without any thing more restore us again to our State of Grace and reconcile us to God Almighty A. If it be sincere it does through Faith in Jesus Christ. Q. Does God allow Repentance to all Sins Jo. vi 29 Act. xiii 38 xvi 30 31. 2 Pet. i. 5 c. A. There is No Sin but what True Repentance washes away But there may be some Cases in which God may deny Us his Grace so that we shall not be able truly to Repent Q. What Cases are They A. They may All be reduced to this One General namely a Wilful Abuse and Resistance of the Divine Grace Whether it be by a long Habit of Sinning or by frequent Acting against the Dictates of our own Consciences and the Motions of God's Holy Spirit To say nothing of some Sins which are in an Eminent manner destructive of the Divine Grace such as Pride Covetousness Sensuality but especially that Sin which is particularly called in Scripture the Sin against the Holy Ghost Q. What is meant by that Sin A. I suppose it to have been the particular Sin of the Jews heretofore in not only obstinately refusing to receive our Blessed Lord for their Messiah after sufficient Proofs given by Him to convince Them that He was so but ascribing those Miracles which He wrought in proof of his Authority to the Help of the Devil when at the same time they either were abundantly convinced Or but for their Own Fault might have been that He did Them by the Power of God Mat. xii 31 Comp. Mark iii. 28 Luk. xii 10 Q. Do you look upon this Sin to have so wholly belonged to those Men as not to be capable of being Committed by Any Now A. That very Sin which in Scripture is so called cannot now be committed because Christ is not now upon Earth nor have we therefore any Occasion Given us thus to Blaspheme against the Holy Ghost Yet some Sins there are of a like Nature which may still be committed and which being Committed may prove no less dangerous to Those who are Guilty of Them than that Sin did prove to the Pharisees heretofore Q. What Sins are those which you suppose to come the nearest to it A. Apostacy from the Christian Religion after having been convinced of the Truth and made Partakers of the Promises of it Next to that an Apostacy from the Truth and Purity of the Gospel for the sake of some worldly Fears on the One hand or present Hopes on the Other to the Communion of a Church which not only obstinately resists the Truth but damns and persecutes all such as profess it And lastly Apostacy to Idolatry which seems to be the Sin unto Death spoken of by St. John 1 Jo. v. 16 and for the Remission of which He gives Us but little Encouragement to Pray V. 16 Q. What then do you think of Those who Go off from the Communion of the Church of England to That of the Church of Rome A. As of Apostates and Idolaters To whom God may by an Extraordinary Effect of his Mercy give Grace for Repentance and so for Salvation but of whom otherwise we have no Ground of Hope Q. Do you think such in a more dangerous Estate than those who were from the beginning bred up in the Roman Communion A. I do forasmuch as they have both rejected the Truth once known and received by them and cast off the Way in which the Providence of God had placed them and that it may be on some base grounds to be sure without any sufficient Reason to justifie their doing of it Q. What then do you think of those who have always been of the Communion of that Church A. I think them in general in much greater danger Now than they were before the Reformation And still those in more danger who have lived among those of the Reformed Church and so were in a better Capacity of being convinc'd of the Errors of their Way But most of all do I think the Estate of those dangerous or rather desperate who are Learned and know their Errors or are Priests and so called to instruct the People in the Purity of Christ's Religion The Sincere and Ignorant who want Capacity or want Opportunity to know the Truth I hope God will forgive The Careless the Prejudiced but most of all the obstinately blind among them I neither can acquit nor do I think that God will forgive Them SECT V. Q. WHat was the second thing which Your Godfathers and Godmothers promised in your Name A. That I should Believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith Q. Where are those Articles to be found A. In the Holy Scriptures and particularly those of the New Testament Q. What mean you by the Holy Scriptures A. I mean those Books which thro' the Assistance of the Holy Spirit were written by Moses and the Prophets under the Law and by the Apostles and Evangelists of Christ since the publishing of the Gospel to direct us in the Knowledge of God and of the Duty which He Requires of Us. Q. How do you know what Books were written by these Persons in order to these Ends A. By the Constant Universal and Undeniable Testimony both of the Jewish and Christian Church From the
former of which we have Received the Scriptures of the Old from the latter those of the New Testament Q. How do you know that these Books were written by the Assistance of the Holy Spirit A. By the Authors who wrote them who were doubtless no less inspired in what they Wrote than in what they Taught of the Gospel of Christ. 2. By the Design of God in the composing of Them which was to leave thereby a Constant Infallible Rule of Faith to the Church in all Ages of it 3. By the Opinion which all Christians from the time that they were publish'd have had of Them and the deference which upon that account they have paid to Them And lastly By the Subject-matter of Them and those internal Marks of Divine Wisdom and Piety which are so conspicuous in all the Parts of Them Q. Do you look upon these Scriptures as the Only present Rule of your Faith A. I do Nor is there any Other certain Foundation on which to build it Q. What think you of the Tradition of the Church A. Could I be sure that any thing not contain'd in the Scriptures came down by a certain uninterrupted Tradition from the Apostles I should not except against it Nay I do therefore receive the Holy Scriptures as the Rule of my Faith because they have such a Tradition to warrant me so to do But because there is no such Tradition for any thing besides therefore neither do I build my Faith upon it But on the contrary do suppose that by the Providence of God the Holy Scriptures were purposely written to prevent those Doubts those Forgeries and Deceits which his Infinite Wisdom foresaw an Oral Tradition would always have been liable unto Q. Can the Holy Scriptures alone make your Faith perfect A. They Can Nor ought I to believe any thing as an Article of my Faith which is not to be found in them or cannot plainly be proved by Them Q. What do you think of the Church's Definitions A. That I ought to submit to them in whatsoever they define agreeably to the Word of God But if in any thing they require me to believe what is contrary to the Word of God or cannot be Proved thereby I ought absolutely to reject the One and am under no Obligation to Receive the Other Q. But is not this to make your self wiser than the Church A. No by no means but only to make the Word of God of more Authority with me than the Word of Man Whilst I chuse rather to Regulate my Faith by what God has deliver'd than by what Man Defines Q. Are the Holy Scriptures so Plain and Easy to be Understood that every One may be Able to judge for Himself what he ought to Believe A. In Matters of necessary Belief they are very plain even to the most Ordinary Christian Yet we do not deny but that every Man ought to hear the Church and attend to the Instructions of those who are the Pastors of it Only we say that neither the Church nor its Pastors ought to teach any thing as an Article of Faith or Require any Man's assent to it as such that cannot be shewn to have been either expresly deliver'd in the Word of God or by a plain and necessary Consequence be Proved thereby Q. But how shall the Unlearned be able to know what the Scriptures propose seeing they are written in a Language which such Persons do not understand A. By Reading them in their Own Vulgar Tongue into which every Church has or ought to have them faithfully translated for the Benefit of Those who do not understand the Languages in which they were Composed Q. Do you then think that the People ought to be suffered promiscuously to Read the Holy Scriptures A. Who shall forbid Them to Read what was purposely designed by God for their Instruction The Scriptures are as much the Voice of the Apostles and Evangelists to Us of these Times as their Preaching was to those of the Age in which they lived And it may with as good Reason be Ask'd Whether we think the People ought to have been promiscuously Suffer'd heretofore to hear the Apostles Preach as whether they ought to be Suffer'd promiscuously to Read their Writings Now. Q. But amidst so many Things as the Holy Scriptures deliver how shall the People be able to judge what is necessary to be Believed by Them A. Let them Believe All they meet with there and then to be sure they will Believe all that is necessary But for the sake of those who either want Ability to Read or Capacity to judge what is most necessary in Point of Faith to be known and profess'd by Them the Church has from the beginning collected it into a short Summary which every Person of Old was Required both to Know and assent to before he was admitted into the Communion of it Q. What is that Summary of which you speak and which you account to comprehend all the most Necessary Articles of our Christian Faith A. It is commonly called The Apostles Creed not that the Apostles Themselves Composed it at least not in the very Form in which we now have it but because it seems to come the Nearest of any to the Apostles Times and does with the Greatest Simplicity of Expression comprehend a short Summary of the Apostles Doctrine Q. What mean you by the Word Creed A. It is the same in Latine as Belief in English And it is so called in both from the first words of it I BELIEVE and which in Sense though not in Expression Run through every Article of it SECT VI. Q. REhearse the Articles of your Belief A. I Believe in God the Father Almighty c. Q. You said that those Words I BELIEVE were not only the First Words of your Creed but the most Material as running in effect through Every Branch of it Tell me therefore what do you mean when you say I Believe A. To Believe in the General is to Assent to the Truth of any thing upon the Sole Authority of the Person who delivers it Who if He be a Man only the Assent which I give to what He says produces in Me a Humane Faith if as here He be God then the Assent which I give to what is deliver'd by Him is properly a Divine Faith Q. What is the difference with respect to Us between these Two A. It is very Great For because a Man though never so Wise and Careful himself may yet not be honest and so Impose upon Me Or should he be never so Upright may yet after all his Care be Mistaken himself and thereby lead Me into Errour therefore in Assenting to what such a One proposes I can at the most give but such a Belief to it as is suitable to a meer Humane Testimony I may Believe what he says to be True but yet so as not to exclude a Possibility of its being Otherwise Whereas God
to be truly Catholick Christians And also holds Communion with all such Churches as profess the same Faith and as far forth as they do so Q. What is your Opinion of the Church of Rome in this particular A. That she is both Schismatical and Heretical Schismatical in cutting off all Others from her Communion who will not profess her Errors and submit to her Vsurp'd Authority Heretical in professing such Doctrines as quite destroy the Foundations of Christianity and are inconsistent with that Truth which yet she pretends to maintain Q. In what Respect do you believe the Catholick Church to be Holy A. As both the * End of Christ in Gathering of it the * Rules he has given to it the * Promises he has made it * It s Sacraments * Ministry all its * Ordinances were design'd to make it Holy But especially as * All Those who are indeed the Faithful Members of it are actually Sanctify'd by the Grace of the Holy Spirit And so are truly though imperfectly Holy now and shall be made altogether Holy and without Spot hereafter Eph. 5.25 SECT XVII Q. WHat is the first Duty or Privilege belonging to those who are Members of Christ's Church A. The Communion of Saints Q. What do you mean by Saints A. Though the Word in our Language be more Restrain'd yet in that in which this Creed was composed it may indifferently denote either Holy Persons or Holy Things And this Article may very well be extended to both of Them Q. Whom do you mean by Holy Persons A. Though all Christians in General are so called in Scripture and we are Charitably to presume that All such are Holy Persons Yet by Saints we are most properly to understand such as answer the End of their Calling by a Lively Faith and a Holy Conversation in which Two the Gospel-Saintship seems to consist Q. With Whom and in what Things do you believe such Persons to have Communion A. I believe that all the true Members of Christ's Church have a Right of Fellowship or Communion with God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ as they are Received into Covenant by the One through the Death and Passion of the Other I believe that they have a Fellowship with the Holy Ghost by his Dwelling in Them and Sanctifying of Them I believe that they have Fellowship with the Holy Angels who both Minister unto them in their Exigencies and have a most tender affectionate Concern for Them I believe that they all have a Fellowship with One Another as * Members of the same mystical Body of Christ * Professors of the same Faith * Heirs of the same Promises * Guided by the same Spirit and * Governed by the same Laws And I believe that they ought as living Members * to have a Fellowship of Love and Charity also towards Each Other And Lastly I believe that they have a Right of Communicating in all the Ordinances of the Gospel In the Prayers of the Church in the Ministry of the Word and Sacraments and whatsoever else hath been ordain'd by Christ or establish'd in the Church for the common Good and Benefit of all the Members of it Q. Do you not by this Account of the present Article utterly shut out those from any part in it who yet are most commonly called Saints I mean Such as have departed this Life in the Fear of God and the Faith of Jesus Christ A. No by no means I believe them to partake in this Communion also as they are still living Members of Christ's Holy Catholick Church And therefore I believe that They have a Fellowship no less than We with God and Christ. That they are Sanctified by the same Spirit Are Visited by the Holy Angels Have some kind of Fellowship with One Another and with Vs also however separated by Death from Us. Q. Wherein do you suppose their Fellowship with Us to consist A. I look upon the Case to be much the same with Us as it is with Members of the same Civil Society upon Earth when they are in a foreign Country far distant from One Another * We are Members of the same Church * Vnited to the same Head * Sanctified by the same Spirit * Heirs of the same Promises * Shall in a little time be in the same Place and State and when the End of the World comes * we shall All be translated to the same Glory and Happiness in God's Heavenly Kingdom Q. To what Offices of Communion does this Belief oblige Us at present towards Each Other A. To the Members of Christ's Church still Living it obliges Us to Love and Charity to mutual Prayers for and Help of Each other in all such Things as may promote the Salvation of Us all How the Saints departed maintain Communion with Us We cannot tell Probable it is that they do in general pray for us as it is certain they wish well to Us. But for our selves who are yet here on Earth we must Bless God for the Grace he was pleased to bestow upon Them and by which they were delivered from the Sins and Temptations of this Evil World and enabled Faithfully to serve him unto the End We must set before Us their Examples and Imitate their Vertues We must account of them as Living Members of Christ's Body and be not only Ready but Desirous to Go to them whenever it shall please God to call for Us. We must take care decently to dispose of their Bodies and faithfully to fulfil as much as in Us lies what they have left in trust with Us to be done for Them after their departure Q. What think you of that Honour which is paid to Them in the Church of Rome A. It is not only Vain and without all Warrant from God's Word but is indeed Superstitious and Idolatrous To Pray to any Creature and He at a vast Distance from Vs In the House of God with all the Outward Marks of Adoration nay and oftentimes in the same Words and in the same Breath that We pray to God and that lastly with a Confidence that the Person so pray'd to can Hear our Prayers and Answer our Desires being evidently to Give to the Creature the Honour due to the Creator which cannot be done without the Peril of Idolatry SECT XVIII Q. WHat is the next Privilege which you believe does of Right belong to those who are the Members of Christ's Church A. The Forgiveness of Sins Q. What is Sin A. It is the Transgression of God's Law 1 Jo. iii. 4 Whether by our Omitting to do what that Required us to have done Or by Our doing any Thing contrary to its Commands Q. What mean you by the Law of God A. The Will of God howsoever made known to Us whether by the Light of our Own Consciences or by the Declarations of his Word especially that which is deliver'd to us in the Books of the New Testament Q. How does God
have had Regard unto it when he commanded Moses to prepare Two Tables for Them On the One of which were to be Engraven Those which concern our Duty towards God on the Other Those which contain our Duty toward our Neighbour Exod. xxxi 18 xxxii 19 xxxiv 1.4.28 Q. How many Commandments does each of these Tables comprehend A. As to the Commandments themselves it is not doubted by Any but that Those of the First Table end with that which Concerns the Sabbath and that the Second begins with that which Requires Us to Honour our Father and our Mother But in Dividing the Commandments of Each Table there is a difference between Vs and Those of the Church of Rome For they join the Two First into One and then to complete the number of Ten divide the Last into Two And so assign not as we do Four to One Table and Six to the Other but Three to the First Table and Seven to the Second Q. Is it a Matter of Any Moment How each Precept is divided so long as All are Retained A. In its self it is not But as the Design of this New Division was to enable them thereby to drop the Second Commandment against their Image-Worship altogether and which accordingly from thenceforth they did oftentimes Omit in their Common Books of Devotion so it is certainly of Great Moment to be taken Notice of Now the First and Second Commandments have apparently a Different Prospect and were design'd to Prohibit Two very different Things But the Last Commandment solely Respects the Sin of Coveting And if the difference of the Instances which are Given in it the better to clear and inforce the Observance of it be sufficient to make a Several Command according to the Distinction of them They may as well divide it into Six or indeed into Six hundred Commands as into Two For at this Rate Thou shalt not Covet thy Neighbour's House will be One Thou shalt not Covet thy Neigbour's Wife Another Nor his Man-Servant will be a Third Nor his Maid-Servant a Fourth Nor his Ox a Fifth Nor his Ass a Sixth Nor any Thing that is his a Hundred more in One General Expression Q. But is there not One Great Branch of Our Duty here wanting namely Our Duty towards our Selves A. There is not For all those Duties which we so call have a manifest Regard more or less to our Duty to God and our Neighbour and may be comprised under the Offices relating to Them At least since there is no Duty of this kind but what is Required by God of Us the better to fit us for his Service and Acceptance it must be confess'd that the First Commandment alone will take in whatsoever of this Nature may seem wanting in the Whole Q. Is there any other Division of these Commands that may be fit to be taken Notice of before we proceed to the particular Consideration of Them A. There is yet One namely That of these Commandments some are Positive and declare what we are to Do as the Fourth Commandment of the First Table the Fifth in the Second Others are Negative and shew Us what we are to Avoid As all the Others of Both Tables Q. What do you Observe from this Distinction A. A Great Difference with Respect to our Obligation to Obedience For 1 st The positive Commands though they are always in force and therefore Oblige all who have any Concern with them and so long as they are under the Power of them yet they do not extend to All Persons nor Oblige at All Times As for Example To Honour our Father and Mother is a Duty of Eternal Obligation But then many there are Who have no Father nor Mother and therefore neither can They lie under any Obligation to Honour Them Again To Observe the Sabbath Day to keep it Holy is a Command that never Ceases to Oblige But yet should a Man be made a Prisoner or a Slave in a Pagan or Other Country where he had no Means nor Opportunity to Observe it whilst he lay under those Circumstances he would not be Guilty of any Sin by not Observing of it But now the Negative Commands not only Oblige always but all Persons at all Times and in all Circumstances And therefore to Worship any other God besides the Lord To make any Graven Image to bow down before it and worship it To take God's Name in Vain These and the like Prohibitions oblige Men to a constant uninterrupted Observance of them be their Circumstances or Conditions of Life what they will Nor can it at any Time or upon any Occasion be lawful for any Man To worship another God To make a Graven Image to worship it To take God's Name in Vain and the like Q. Have you any thing farther to Observe from this Division A. This only that these Two kinds mutually Include one Another So that when God commands any Duty to be perform'd we are to understand that he does by the very same Command forbid whatsoever is contrary thereunto to be done by Us. And again when he forbids any thing to be done he does thereby Require Us to fulfil the Opposite Duty imply'd as well as to avoid the Sin which is expresly taken Notice of To clear my meaning in an Instance of Each Kind God commands us in the Fourth Commandment to keep holy the Sabbath-Day and that by Sanctifying of it to a Religious Rest And by the same Commandment he forbids Us to do any servile Work upon it or any thing whereby this Day may be unhallow'd or profaned by Us. And this would have been understood by the Other part of the Command though God had not expresly taken notice of it In like manner When in the Sixth Commandment God forbids us to Commit Murder we are to understand that we are not only prohibited thereby to stab or poison our Neighbour but are Required to do what in Us lies to Cherish and Preserve his Life To help him if he be assaulted by Another to feed and cloath him as far as we are able and to prevent according to Our Ability whatsoever may bring him in danger of losing of it Q. Are there any Other General Rules that may be of Use to us in the Vnderstanding of the Commandments here proposed to Us A. There are Several such Rules but those of most consequence seem to be these Four First That in every Commandment the General thing Express'd comprehends under it all such Particulars as either directly depend upon it or may Fairly and Reasonably be Reduced to it Thus the Seventh Commandment though in express Terms it Forbids only the Sin of Adultery yet under that General is to be extended to all manner of Fornication Vncleanness Lasciviousness not only to all unchast Actions but to all wanton Words Thoughts Desires To all immodest Behaviour and indecent Attire To whatsoever in short may intrench upon that Gravity and Reservedness which our Religion Requires of