then by declaring the Answer that is given in our Catechism unto the Question and by opening some of the Texts of Scripture which are there brought for the proof and manifestation thereof The Question is What is the Word of God The Answer is It is the Will of God written in the Bible whereby he rightly guideth man in every thing in this world and whereby he bringeth us to eternal salvation These are but few words but full of weight and proved by divers Scriptures Keit. What do you mean by Scriptures Ant. The word and will of God written in a Book whereby we may not onely hear it with our ears when it is spoken by others but we may see it with our eyes and reade the writing our selves And this is a great benefit to us to have Gods word and will written for a word spoken is soon gone and nothing retaineth it but our Memory and that impression which it made upon our minde and heart but when this word is written in a Book there it will abide though we have forgotten it and we may reade it over a thousand times and help our weak memories so that it shall never be forgotten yea and such as cannot have an opportunity of hearing the word yet they may alwayes have an opportunity of reading the word because it is written in the Bible which they have by them in their houses and may reade in it night and day We do therefore call the word of God Scripture because it is written in a book Keit. I am satisfied in what you say I pray go on to open those Texts of Scripture which the Catechism giveth for proofs Ant. The first Text I mention is Hos. 8.12 I have written to him the great things of my Law but they were counted as a strange thing Here God gives to man a Law and he writeth this Law and every thing in this Law is a great matter though some things are greater then other yet every thing that God hath written is a great matter But God doth blame men for counting them as strange things we should be well acquainted with them Dan. 10.21 when an Angel spake to Daniel he told him that he would declare to him that which is noted in the Scriptures of truth And we that teach others must carefully so do we must teach nothing but that which is noted in and grounded upon the Scriptures of truth And we need to teach nothing else for all things needful for salvation are contained in the Scriptures as appears 2 Tim. 3.16 17. Aâ—â— Scripture is given by interpretation from God â—nd is profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction in righteousness That the man of God may be perfect throughly furnished to all good works The man of God here meaneth or may be applied to any honest man that is willing to walk by the Rule of the word be he a Sachem or a Teacher or a Father c. Every man may finde in the Scriptures a perfect rule to guide him in every thought word or deed So that the word of God is a perfect Law to guide every man in every thing all the dayes of his life And the word of God is not onely a rule to guide us in this life but it also brings us to heaven Acts 20.32 I commend you to God and to the word of his grace which is able to build you up and give you â—n inheritance among them that are sanctified and Iames 1.21 Receive with meekness the ingrafted word which is able to save your souls Many such testimonies I might adde to shew the fulness of perfection of the word of God but I forbear at present Will. I will adde a few words touching the perfection of the Scriptures Deut. 12.32 Whatsoever I command you observe to do it thou shalt not adde thereto nor diminish from it Here be two wayes of wronging the Scriptures 1. By adding to it 2. By taking from it Now these Popish Teachers and Ministers of whom I did discourse before they do most wickedly wrong the Scriptures especially by adding to them They say that their Offices are commanded in the Scripture and that the Pope is Christ his Vicar and that he hath power to pardon sin and abundance more such rotten stuff they adde unto the Scripture Now this is another reason why they will not suffer people to reade the Scriptures because then every body would finde out their false dealing and therefore if any body finde them out they will presently kill them The great wrong they do unto the Scriptures of truth is one of their great sins they adde their own wicked inventions unto the pure and perfect word of God Keit. Your discourse doth breed in my heart an admiration aâ— that excellent Book and I finde in my heart a longing desire to be acquainted with that Book and with those excellent matterâ— that are contained in it But although my heart doth begin â—â— reverence that Book for the sake of the matter contained in it yet I desire that you would proceed to give me your grounds why yoâ— believe that it is Gods word because I shall then reverence thâ— Word not onely for the matters sake but also for the Authorâ— sake Good words spoken by a good man do obtain respect â— much more may the words that God speaketh command all reverence This Point also being a great Principle in Religion I will taâ—â— the same course in it as I did in the former I will shew yoâ— what Answer we are taught in our Catechism and I will toucâ— some of the proofs 1. The first Reason to prove the Scriptures to be the Word oâ— God is Because they teach us the first Creation of the World and all things in it which no man nor Angel doth know or caâ— teach onely God and this is proved in the first Chapter of Genesis wâ—ere we reade the wonderful work of God in the Creation of the World where man was last made 2. The second Reason is froâ— the holiness and perfection of the word of God No man or Aâ—gel could give so holy pure and perfect a Law as Gâ—ds Law is Psal. 19.8 9 10 11. also Psal. 12.6 The words of the Lord are pure words as silver tried in a furnace of earth purified seven tiâ—es 3. The third Reason is Because the word of the Lord is confirmed by such Miracles as onely God himself is able to perform Moses the first writer of Scripture did many great Miracles in Egypt in the Red Sea and in the VVilderness so did many other Prophets but especially Jesus Christ did many wonderful Miracles and so did the Apostles by which our Faith is confirmed that their writings are the word of God 4. Because the Scriptures doth reveal unto us Jesus Christ and salvation by Christ according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This no man or Angel could ever have found out onely God 2 Cor. 5.19 God was in
Christ reconciling the world unto himself and hath committed to us the word of Reconciliation John 5.39 Search the Scriptures for in them ye think to finde eternal life and they arâ— they that testifie of me Therefore they are the word of God 5. Because the word of God doth convert the soul from sin and Satan unto God It sanctifieth the soul and doth lead meâ—â— souls in the wayes of life unto salvation it is the sword of the Spirit to conquer the Devil Iam. 1.18 Of his own will begat â—e us with the word of truth Joh. 17.17 Sanctifie them through the trâ—th thy word is truth Ephes. 6.17 Take the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God Such grounds as these we are taught in our Catecâ—ism Keit. Who can oppose or gainsay the mountainous weight of these Arguments I am more then satisfied I am ashamed of my ignorance and I abhor my self that ever I doubted of this point and I desire wholly to give up my self to the knowledge of and obedience to the word of God and to abandon and forsake these sins which the word of God reproveth and condemneth Will. I will adde one Consideration further to manifest that the Scriptures are the word of God and that is By the great Antiquity of these writings which have been extant so many thousand years and have passed through so many enemies hands who â—ave used all art and force to abolish them or corrupt them and yet they could never dâ— it Moses wrote the first Five Books of Scripture above a thousand and four hundred years before Christ came and it is above a thousand and six hundred years since Christ came and since the Gâ—spâ—l the last part of the Scripture was written Put these two Numbers together and they make three thousand years So long the Church have had the Scriptures and all this while the Devil and wicked men have endeavoured either to abolish them or corrupt them but they could never do it we have every word of God perfect and pure unto this day which cannot be said of any other writing in all the world And this wonderful divine protection of this Book doth greatly manifest that doubtless it is Gods own word over which he hath bestowed such eminent care Keit. But how do you know all this How do you know what was done so many thousand years ago Will. The Scriptures themselves have kept a perfect Record of Times from the beginning of the World unto the coming of Christ and out of that Chronologie we may perfectly know how long Moses was before Christ and there be other sure wayes to know how many years it is since Christ came And thus may we know certainly how long the Scriptures have been written Keit. If this be so the Reason is strong the Antiquity of the Book requireth reverence and Gods constant care of it sheweth he hath a divine influence in it But we are now called off from any further proceeding in our discourse at this time Before we part I have one motion and request to propose unto you To morrow is your Sabbath and I have a desire that you two would teach us that day and let us see the manner how you worship God it may please God to make more of his light to shine among us You remember what passed about this motion I do now with more desire confirm shat motion Ant. We also are still of the same minde and purpose and are the more confirâ—ed in our hearts because we see that Gâ—d is on the coming hand to incline your heart unto the Lord. After the Sabbath Philip Keitassoot Anthony William Keit. I Have now lived one Sabbath many a Sabbath have I been dead and followed works of darkness and sin when I should â—ave been following the Lord in such wayes of Worship as yesterdâ—y was spent in I am wounded at my heart to remember what I have done upon the Sabbath-day I â—ave served the Dâ—vil and lust and sins of all sorts even upon the Sabbath-dayes The sins that I have committed do render me vile in the sight of God and the time wherein I have committed mâ—ny of them doth render me more vile in the eyes of the Lâ—rd my Judge You said yesterday that Christ Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath and requires all men to spend that day in his service and when Christ Jesus shall judge the world he will examine all men how they spent every Sabbath Oh wretched man that I am what answer shall I make though I am a Sachem here on earth I sâ—all be but a subject in the day of Judgement I now sit upon the Bench to judge others then I must stand at the Barre to be judged my self Oh what mountains of sin have I heaped up in my wicked life I had forgot my sins and I thought God had forgot them too and I had thought my Conscience had forgot them also but now I see it is not so God hath numbred all my wayes my thoughts my words and works and I feel now that my Conscience remembreth them also though it hath been asleep in the times of my ignorance and profaneness Oh I am a wretch I should have been an example to my people an example of virtue of wisdome and of praying to God but I have done quite contrary to my duty I have been an example of lust of profaneness yea of all sin and in particular of this great sin of profaning the Sabbath my heart is wounded with the sense of this â—in especially and that forceth my troubled Conscience to gall and afflict my soul with the remembrance of all my sins But why say I all I now finde my sins are numberless my own personal sins are many great and vile my heart doth loath my self to remember them they make me an abhorring to God But moreover and besides my own personal sins other mens sins I am guilty of Oh how many have sinned upon my account many wayes I am a Sachem over my people to rule them in virtue and to do them good but I have done contrary to my charge I have led them out into all sin and thereby I have done them â—he greatest hurt and mischief I have been a means of their damnation Oh how many are gone and going to hell upon my account how shall I escape damnation who have led so many inâ—o that eternal pit Oh I am pained at my heart what shâ—ll I do Oh what shall I do Ant No creature can help you none but God in Jesus Christ he can help you Consider that Text Micah 6.6 7 8. Wherewith shaâ—â— I come before the Lord and bowe my self before the high God shall I come before him with burâ—â— offerings with calves of a year old Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams or with ten thâ—usands of rivers of oyl shall I give â—y first born for my transgression the fruit of my boâ—y for the sin of
his blessing be at least the beginning of a Cordial to your heart and a Cure to your stain and wound Sin is a shame to any Nation or person but repentance is an honour Your griefs have the right savour of repentance It is said 1 Cor. 3.18 Let a man become a fool that he â—ay be wise you chide your self for your â—olâ—y you do well â—o to do it is an act of wisdome so to do go on in this frame of heart and be constant and you shall finde rest Christ calleth troubled souls to come unto him Mat. 11.28 and he promisâ—â—h to give them rest and he is able to perform his promise In his hand I leave this matter and your tossed soul with inward griefs that in him you may finde rest Will. My Brother haâ—h presented you with a Cordial for your heartâ—gâ—ief I will present you with some Balm to heal your soul wounds It is said Ier. 8.22 Is there no Balm in Gâ—lead is there no Physician there Why â—hen is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered Behold in Gods Word we finde a Balm for woundâ—d souls and that is the death and blood of Jesus Christ believed by faith for Christ hath died for our sins and rose again from the dead for our justification he offereth a pardon for all your sins and he will heal your soul and quiet your heart from all those turmoiling troubles and griefs Believe therefore in Jesus Christ and he will pardon and save you Keit. I thank you for these comfortable words I feel them in my heart and I desire to lay them up among other things which I ponder in my heart And now I will proceed to open such other doubts which lie in my minde as impediments which hinder me and delay me from accepting of this way of praying to God I perceive in all your discourses that you have a Book which you call The Word of God and you reade it to me I perceive also that in your worshipping of God morning and night you reade in that Book I pray tell me what Book that is what is written in it and how do you know that it is the Word of God Many say that some wise English-men have dâ—vised and framed it and tell us that it is Gods Word when as it is no other then the words of wise men Hoh we shall be interrupted in our discourse for here cometh in Sâ—chem that hateth praying to God and hath been a means of delaying my entrance into this way but if he come up unto us we will go on and let him be partaker of our discourse if he like of it aâ—d be willing so to do Eâ—â—h my friend I pray come and sit down here and hearken to our discourse Here be some of the Massachuset praying Indians who are soliciting me to pray unto God and we are now discoursing about a Book which they have which they say is the Word of God and I am now enquiring of them what is contained in that Book and how it may be made appear that it is the Word of Godâ— If you think good to joyn with us in this discourse it will be acceptable unto us to have your company and to hear what you have to say about it Sachem I am willing to be present and hear your discourse but as for this new way of praying to God I like it not We and our Forefathers have through all generations lived in our Religion which I desire not to change Are we wiser then our Forefathers And I like not to suffer our people to reade that Book which they call the Word of God If it be Gods Word it is too deep for ignorant people to meddle withall and it will â—ill them with new light and notions which withdraws them from our obedience and leadeth them to make trouble and disturbance unto us in those old wayes in which we and our Forefathers have walked and my Counsel is to suppress the reading of that Book Ant. With due respect unto you Sachem I shall thus answer unto what you sâ—y If a great Sachem in a far Country should send unto you a writing wherein he giveth you wise Counsel would you not reade it would you not hear what he saith and would you not suffer your people to learn wisdome but continue in their ignorance and blindness Sure you would shew so much respect to a man a Sachem that should do so kindly to you Now so it is that the great God who made these high heavens and the great Lights that be therein who made this Earth and all this great World and all things in it who is King of kings and Lord of lords I say this Great God pittying to see the ignorance that all men are darkned withall he hath sent us his VVord which will make wise the ignorant and will you not suffer your people to learn that wisdome do you love darkness better then light Besides all Mankinde live in the wayes of sin which lead them to hell torments where they shall be punished with eternal fire but God pittying this miserable condition of man hath sent us this VVord of his which sheweth us the way to escape hell torments and leadeth us into the way that leadeth us to eternal life happiness and glory And will not you suffer your people to learn this good way when God offereth it unto us Consider how your people will curse you when they feel these torments because you would not suffer them to learn the true way to heaven and happiness And what though we are not wiser then our Forefathers yet God can teach us such wisdome as our Forefathers did not know I think that we are bound to think that our fathers were so wise that if Gods VVord â—ad been brought and offered to them they would have received it and would have learned by it to be wiser then they were and why therefore should not we be so wise as to do that which our wise fathers would have done if this light had shined unto them as it now doth unto us Let not the deepness of that wisdome in Gods VVord hinder us that are ignorant from searching into it for by reading of Gods word the ignorant may be made wise Psal. 197. it maketh wise the simple and Prov. 1. â— The Word gives wisdome to the simple and to the young man knowledge and discretion David learned to be wise by reading the word of God Wiser then his Enemies wiser then his Teachers wiser then the Ancients Psal. 119.98 99 100. and so may we It is a vain word to say They are ignorant and therefore they may not reade the Word the contrary to this is true Because they are ignorant therefore let them search and reade the word of God because that will make them wise But you give the reason that lieth in the bottom of your heart when you say By reading of the word they will learn new light