that there is such a thing to be found among men Then will he have us grant That there are no means by which men may be secured from being deceived and then they will not take all that pains that are necessary to compass that good which for ought they can tell they may not compass with all their pains Ibid. But here he is too hasty for thô we know not where to find infallible men now living on Earth yet we know there is an Infallible and Living God and He by Men indued with his Infallible Spirit hath given us his Word plainly Written and this Word is a sufficient means to secure us from being dangerously deceived in any thing necessary to our Salvation if we diligently attend unto it and use the proper helps of understanding it And this is our encouragement to take all pains to compass the good we desire that the same Infallible God who hath given the means hath assured his blessing to them that diligently use them Yet I a little wonder to hear him talk of men's being discouraged from taking pains to be well assured of the truth for want of an Infallible Guide when it hath been the common Argument a long time whereby such a Guide has been commended to us that it would save us the pains of examining the particulars of our faith If we be in love with ease or if we be content to take pains all 's one there 's enough in the Infallibility of the Church of Rome for all the pleasure of the one or the necessity of the other may be a Motive sufficient to enter into that Communion wherein we may it seems have our free choice of either What cunning Gamesters are these men that hope to win with any hand Certainly they trust more to their Art than to their Cards After we have been sent from place to place to seek this Infallibility where now shall we find it at last In Tradition if any where for we have miss'd it everywhere else And there we have already found it if our Authour must be trusted The certainty of Scripture is from Tradition therefore there is no refusing that Tradition causes certainty and makes faith as certain as Scripture page 7. Yet it may be this Certainty comes not up to Infallibility yes it is the very same as you heard before and he adds page 23. This makes Tradition to be an Infallible ascertainer of some things at least and so unless some special difficulty be found in other things that light into the same channel it must needs bring them down Infallibly too Now it is very true that we have the Books of Scriptures by Tradition and what other way such antient Books could be convey'd unto us I confess I do not know neither indeed can I see what greater Certainty any man can reasonably desire that these indeed are the very same Books which the Authors of them left to the Church and which the Church hath always received as the Word of God. And this Tradition we look upon as a ground of sufficient certainty of this matter of Fact wherein no man was ever wont to desire better nor in reason can But then first This Tradition is not that of the Church of Rome only which is the only Tradition that I ever heard of that has been pretended to be the ground of Infallibility but a more Vniversal Tradition of all Christians if some of whom had not been more careful to preserve these Books than they of Rome we might for ought I know have lost some of them at least that Excellent Epistle to the Hebrews And in the next place this Vniversal Tradition is no more but Humane Testimony and that can be no ground of Infallibility which excludes all possibility of Error A Moral Certainty is enough to stand on such a foundation and all that can be rationally desired in this case These Books as writ by the Inspiration of the Holy Ghost are the foundation of our Christian Faith and he knows I hope that neither Papists nor Protestants content themselves with Tradition but produce abundance of other Arguments for the Confirmation of Scripture's Divine Authority And whereas he saith it makes Faith as Certain as Scripture no man can doubt but conveying the Book to us it conveys to us all points of Faith contained in the Book and witnessing the Book to be writ by men divinely inspired it also gives as good credit to the Faith contained in it as humane Testimony can give But he means another thing when he thus explains himself Vnless some special difficulty be found in other things that light into the same channel it must needs bring them down infallibly too These other things are things unwritten in that Holy Book and without more ado we will promise him that when ever he can shew us those other things and assure us that they light into the same channel of Vniversal not only Roman Tradition and are so convey'd to us we will entertain them with the same Certainty as we entertain the Scripture upon account of that Tradition only But for these other things which are to be parts of Faith too I fear we must either fish for them in the Channel of Tiber or not at all find them All Traditionary Christians believe the same to day which they did yesterday and so up to the time of our Blessed Saviour page 8. So saith Mr. G. And saith our Author There is no denying this but by denying that Traditionary Christians are Traditionary Christians But suppose these Traditionary Christians be so call'd from their adhering to a Tradition which reacheth not so high as our Blessed Saviour's time but only pretends to it as they are by others if not by themselves may we not call them Traditionary Christians and confess too that they believe the same to day as they did yesterday yea and as they did ever since the Council of Trent or some hundreds of years before that and yet deny that they believe the same that was believed quite up to the time of our Blessed Saviour Yes this is and will be denied till he can prove it Next Mr. G. faith If they follow this Rule they can never err in Faith. And his Friend tell us This is palpably self-evident and p. 9. therefore they are infallible But unless the Rule of Tradition which they follow be longer than it is yet proved to be they may follow it and err all along by following it And let it be never so long yet if they follow it not they may err and therefore are not infallible except he shew that they cannot choose but follow it So that unless it be first as was before said proved that God hath given a Rule which no man can possibly swerve from which supposed not only a Pope or Council but all who have it are infallible we must all be content to be fallible still Yea but They could not innovate in Faith
That we cannot with Reason hold any thing for a Truth namely because the Church of Rome hath determined it for her determination is no intrinsecal ground of the Truth but onely an outward testimony or declaration of it and then what 's become either of her Infallibility or of her Authority to command our Faith Secondly That the Common People must be allow'd their Iudgment of Discretion for how without the free use of that they shall discern the Intrinsecal grounds of Truth when produced and so with Reason hold it I fear our Author cannot easily demonstrate which yet if he cannot do he must by his own Principles be forced to grant That the Church of Rome hath no more Infallibility or Authority than the Church of England hath she is to be believed onely when she produceth the Intrinsecal ground of Truth and not otherwise unless we must believe her without Reason and so far is the Church of England to be believed or any Church whatsoever And so this Author hath unawares I suppose set us all on even ground and I hope we may be able to maintain our ground against all that he saith hereafter for himself or against us to gain the advantage of us again First He falls upon the Certainty of the Protestant Faith which he hopes very easily to overthrow and it will be as easily done if it stand upon no surer ground than he would have it Suppose saith he Mr. G. could not prove Protestants are not certain are they therefore certain pag. 4. This he first imagines that all the certainty of our Faith is This that Papists cannot prove it to be uncertain and then 't is pretty to see what sport he makes with his own imagination But let him play on it seems time for us to be in earnest and more serious when the certainty of our Faith is struck at It is too weighty a matter to be play'd away at a game of Cards which is all he is commission'd to Yet will he make the World believe that we have thrown it away already nay he will needs make us believe it too You know well enough saith he that to prove Protestants have no Absolute certainty of their Faith is no hard task for a weak man. I say nothing yet of the word Absolute but ask how know we this Why we know any man may find it confessed to his hand by Protestants pag. 6. Who I pray are these Protestants Dr. Tillotson in his Rule of Faith pag. 117 118. I have so great a reverence for that very Excellent man that I am not unwilling though he be but one Protestant that he should pass for many and too many for all the Traditionary Catholicks to answer his Rule of Faith but his Confession that Protestants have no certainty of their Faith I must desire some good Catholick to shew me in those two Pages or in any other part of his Book when he can answer it for till then I despair of finding it We do not yet therefore see this Confession no nor he neither if he may be believed against himself some People have need of good Memories to save their Credit for pag. 23. he tells us We seem to grant we are thus Absolutely certain or Infallible by Virtue of Tradition How Confess we have no certainty and yet seem to grant we are Infallible and that too by Virtue of Tradition This is to make us right Traditionary Papists indeed whether we will or no such as Rushworth Dr. Holden Mr. Cressy and Mr. White all contending for the Infallilbility of Tradition and yet confessing that what the greatest part of Mankind must be satisfied with is Probability and Conjecture as he may find in the 120 th and following Pages of Dr. Tillotson's Rule of Faith where if he find them wrong'd he hath the liberty to vindicate them if he can Only I will here give him and his friends a seasonable warning That if any Protestant shall being now minded of it by him begin to plead Infallibility by virtue of Tradition it will behove them in time after their many shiftings from Post to Post to seek them out yet a new one for when both Parties pretend a like to Infallibility and Tradition neither of these can be any longer a sit Medium whereby to prove which is in the right It is agreed as he saith well on all hands Men are saved by believing and practising what Christ taught not barely by believing Scripture is Scripture Page 7. And 't is as true which he tells us Page 8. Where Churches differ in Faith infallible Faith in one cannot stand with certain Faith in the other Whence he may do well to take notice that when our certainty is once proved no more is needful to confute their Infallibility Now the Question is saith he Whether Protestants are absolutely certain that they hold now the same Tenets in Faith and all that our Saviour taught his Apostles Page 6. Which Question in that Challenge of his Page 22. is thus explained Make manifest that Protestants have absolute certainty not only of the Scripture which they call their Rule but of the Faith which they pretend to have from that Rule or else suffer another thing to be manifest viz. That you cannot do it and thither I am sure it will come The Proof he often tells us is our part and though he be so confident that we cannot make it good yet are we not afraid to undertake it even all that he here calls upon us to prove leaving out the word Absolutely till he tell us what is meant by it as he will do anon The certainty that we have of the Holy Scripture which we acknowledg to be our Rule of Faith we manifest after the same manner as they do theirs except only that we ground it not on the Infallibility of their Church and yet if that will do us any good we have it too confirming our certainty But so much certainty he yields us only he asks Did our Saviour teach and do Protestants believe no more than that the Book so call'd is Scripture Page 6. Yes tho I do not find that our Saviour ever taught that the Book so called is Scripture one great part whereof was not written when he taught yet do we believe that it is Scripture and Divine Scripture ' the Word of God containing in it all things necessary to Salvation and that all things therein contain'd are true Now this being granted us that our Scripture is God's Word we think that we do sufficiently prove the certainty of every Article of our Faith when we shew it to be solidly grounded on that Word and this being shewn our Faith is either certain or they who deny it to be so must affirm the Word of God on which it is wholly grounded to be no good ground of Certainty Neither indeed can these men deny the certainty of our Faith without denying that of their own too so
Imprimatur GVIL NEEDHAM Iuly 18. 1687. A LETTER TO A FRIEND Reflecting on some Passages in A LETTER to the D. of P. IN ANSWER TO THE Arguing Part OF HIS FIRST LETTER To Mr. G. LONDON Printed for William Rogers at the Sun over-against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleet-street 1687. A LETTER TO A Friend c. SIR HAVING by your favour had a sight of the late Letter in Answer to the Arguing part of the D. of P ' s. first Letter to Mr. G. I now return you it with my thanks and some Reflections on so much of it as attempts to demonstrate the Infallibility of the Romish Faith and denies the certainty of ours For whatever becomes of the Conference which gave occasion to this Letter the Contents of it thus far are of as much Concernment to You and Me and indeed to all Protestants as to that worthy Person to whom he writes it The man is you see a great pretender to Logick but you find him making much more use of his Rhetorick and indeed it is to this if to any thing that he is beholding for so much as a pretence to the other and if we feel no harm from this we need not fear that the other can hurt us You may be sure he wants no Wit whom Mr. G. intrusts to hold his Cards and play his Game too with so well known a Gamester Pardon me for using his own Language in a matter so serious I say not as his Letter but as the Subject of it His Stile is pleasant and taking enough his way of Arguing meerly popular and his Art accommodate to the design he is upon of deluding the less thinking Lastly his Câ—nfidence is such as we ought to expect in men that talk of nothing lower than Self-evidence absolute Certainty and Infallibility I wish with all my heart that his value for Souls so precious to God be really as great as he would have us think theirs is little who as he deridingly speaks set up for Ministers of the Gospel If he find any of them so regardless of their Duty as he faith they are let him freely for me spend all his Rhetorick in Exclamations against them as he has begun to do Page 5. But when he talks of every Bodies speaking for himself one day and bringing in his own account and asks if the Happiness or Misery of their Souls will not depend on that account And then expostulates with our Ministers in this manner Can you suffer them to run that terrible Hazard without making them able to justifie their accounts themselves and furnishing them with Assurance that they can and with no more to say but that they hoped Dr. St. would make his party good with Mr. G. Ibid. I am apt to think him some Convert who knows not what to say either for the Church he hath chosen or against that he hath forsaken He has heard it may be something to this purpose said against the Priests of that Church whereof he now is and not knowing what else to say nor yet how to be silent he saith the same against the Ministers of ours Because our Ministers know that every one of us must give account of himself to God therefore they not only give us leave but earnestly exhort us to read and study the Gospel of Christ whereby we must be judged which is a Liberty very rarely granted in the Church of Rome And because they know also our Happiness or Misery depends on this account we shall be able to give of our selves therefore they will not have us depend upon their Word only who are not able to acquit us in the day of Judgment as the Romanists must do upon the word of their Priests or upon nothing at all that I know of but in preaching they explain the Scripture to us are importunate with us to search it they Catechize us exhort us to confer often with them commend good Books of Instruction to us use all ways they can to make us grow in Grace and Knowledg and to enable us to give our account with joyfulness But how comes this man if he be a Roman Catholick to talk of furnishing them with assurance that they can If they may be assured that they can give up a good account may they not be assured that they have the Grace of God and of their Iustitisfication and Salvation And if so then what 's become of that Decree of the Council of Trent We must not affirm that they who are truly justified ought to conclude with themselves without any doubting at all that they are justified seeing no man can know by a certainty of Faith under which there can be no falshood that he hath obtain'd the Grace of God If no man ought or can be assured that he hath the Grace of God how are our Ministers bound to furnish us with Assurance that we can justifie our Accounts our selves Can a man justifie his accounts that is not sure he hath the Grace of God Possibly his meaning may be no more but that our Ministers give us not sufficient Assurance of the Truth of our Faith and for want of that we cannot justifie our accounts But if this be his meaning it is very untowardly expressed and after all it will be a little hard to conceive how the bare Assurance of the Truth of what is taught should enable a man to justifie his account without an Assurance of Grace too which the Council denies that any man can have He tells us next That Truth is Truth because 't is built on intrinsecal grounds and not on private mens Abilities or their saying this or that And hence infers that Till those grounds be produced it cannot be with reason held Truth Ibid. He might as well have said more plainly What any thing is that it is whatever be the Reasons why it is so or whoever saith it is or it is not Yet can no man with Reason believe it till he have a Reason to believe it All this is true and I think every body knew it before he told us it nor is it the truer because he hath said it and therefore we have no more Reason to believe it than we had before But seeing Truth is Truth whatever private men say we think it can depend no more upon the saying of a Romish Priest than of an English Minister and therefore we think also that the Vulgar Papist at best hath less certainty of the Truth they hold than the Vulgar Protestant of the Truth we hold whilst besides the word of the Priest the former hath no grounds at all to build his Faith upon but the later hath besides the word of the Minister the Word of God in the Scripture which he may consult when he will. Moreover if we cannot with Reason hold a Truth till the intrinsecal grounds of it be produced then two things more must be true which I fear this Roman Catholick will not grant us First