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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A85404	Neophytopresbyteros, or, The yongling elder, or, novice-presbyter. Compiled more especially for the Christian instruction and reducement of William Jenkin, a young presbyter, lately gone astray like a lost sheep from the wayes of modesty, conscience and truth. And may indifferently serve for the better regulation of the ill governed Society of Sion Colledge. Occasioned by a late importune pamphlet, published in the name of the said William Jenkin, intituled Allotrioepiskopos; the said pamphlet containing very little in it, but what is chiefly reducible to one, or both, of those two unhappy predicaments of youth, ignorance, & arrogance. Clearly demonstrated by I.G. a servant of God and men in the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ. Wherein also the two great questions, the one, concerning the foundation of Christian religion: the other, concerning the power of the naturall man to good supernaturall, are succinctly, yet satisfactorily discussed. With a brief answer in the close, to the frivolous exceptions made by C B. against Sion Colledge visited, in a late trifling pamphlet, called, Sion Colledge what it is, &c.	Goodwin, John, 1594?-1665.	1648 (1648)	Wing G1183; Thomason E447_27	141,216	147

can exceed the Foundation in strength or continuance Therefore if the Church of God which is built upon the foundation of Religion bee unperishable and which cannot be prevailed against to ruine or destruction which the Scripture every where asserteth most certain it is that the foundation on which it is built is unperishable also If the foundation of Mr. Jenkins Religion be his Bible then is his Religion no such treasure but that theeves may break through and steal it from him For how should it continue or stand the foundation of it being gone Or in case his Bible should be casually burnt with fire the foundation of his Religion and consequently his Religion it selfe should be consumed Diogenes hearing that Plato had given this definition or description of a man Animal bipes implume that he was a living creature with two feet without feathers gets a Cock and pulls off all his feathers whilst he was alive and throwes him in amongst some of Platoes Scholars Ecce hominem Platonicum wishing them to behold their Master Plato his Man If some such odd-conceited fellow as Diogenes should use meanes to get Mr. Jenkin his Bible and having defaced rent and torn it should come and cast it into the midst of his Auditors with this Elogie Ecce fundamentum religionis Jenkinianae Behold the goodly foundation of the religion of your Master Jenkin it might prove a more effectuall conviction unto him of his folly than seven demonstrative reasons administred by a more sober man Thirdly If any booke or bookes whatsoever either that which is called the Scripture or any other be the true and proper foundation of religion then may religion be truly and properly said to have been founded by men But Religion cannot truly and properly be sayd to have been founded by men but by God Ergo. If Mr. Jenkin will deny the Assumption at the perill both of his conscience and reputation be it The consequence in the Proposition is evident For as the Apostle saith concerning houses that every house 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is built by some man as our Translators render it So is it as true concerning bookes that every book now extant in the world every Bible in what language soever whether printed or transcribed whether consisting of paper parchment or other like materiall was built and form'd and made into a book by men There is no point letter syllable or word in any of them but is the workmanship of some mans hand or other If Mr. Jenkin hath a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Bible that fell out of heaven written or printed without hands he is defired to produce it for the accommodation of the world Yet he must know that though he could produce such a Bible or copie of the Scriptures as this it would not follow that this book must needs be the foundation of Religion inasmuch as Religion might take place be professed and practised in truth and power by men where this book never came nor was heard of Fourthly Sect. 43. If those Tables of stone wherein the Law was written by the Finger of God himselfe a Exo. 24. 12. 32 16. were not the foundation of this law nor of the obedience exhibited unto it then neither is any Bible or Book whatsoever the foundation of Religion But the Tables of stone written immediatly by God himselfe were not the foundation of the Law written therein nor of the obedience exhibited unto it Ergo. This latter proposition is evident because these Tables of stone were broken in pieces by Moses soon after b Exod. 32. 19 and yet the law stood firme and obedience hath been given unto it untill this day The Consequence in the Major cannot reasonably be doubted or denied For doubtlesse there is as much if not much more reason to judge those two Tables w ch are said to have bin the work of God the writing in them the writing of God graven upon the Tables c Exod. 32. 16 to have been the foundation of the Law written in them and of the obedience either due or exhibited unto it as there is to judge any book whatsoever either written or printed by the hands of men to be the foundation of that Religion the grounds and principles whereof are declared in it and no more but declared especially confidering that this Declaration hath as hath been said been formerly made by God without any such book and might be made again by him if he pleased yea and doubtlesse would be made if there were any just occasion or necessity for it Fifthly Sect. 44 If any booke or bookes whatsoever Bible or other be the true and proper foundation of Religion then is not the true and proper foundation of religion necessarily uniform and consistent in all things with it selfe The reason of this Proposition is because it is very possible that either through negligence ignorance want of memory or the like in Scribes and Correctors of the Presse some such error may be found in every copie of the Scriptures now extant in the world which will render this copie contradictious to it selfe yea it is possible that many such errors as this may be found in the best and truest copies that are I now assume But the true and proper foundation of religion is necessarily uniform and consistent in all things with it selfe Ergo. If this Proposition be obnoxious the true and proper foundation of Religion must be divided in and against it selfe and how then according to our Saviours own Maxime and Rule Matth. 12. 25. can either it or the Religion built upon it stand Sixthly Sect. 45. If any booke or bookes Bible or other bee the true and proper foundation of Religion Then is the foundation of Religion somewhat that is visible and exposed to the outward senses of man This needs no proof unlesse Mr. Jenkin will deny that Bibles or the Scriptures are legible and may be seen But certain it is That the true and proper foundation of Religion is not any thing that is visible or exposed to the outward senses of men but somewhat that is spirituall and apprehensible onely by the mind and understanding of men Ergo. The reason of this proposition is if the proper foundation of Religion be the object of the outward sense then is there nothing necessary to be beleeved by any man to make him truly religious but what either he sees with his eyes handles with his hand or the like For he that beleeves or builds upon the true and proper foundation of Religion questionlesse is truly religious But men are not made truly religious by beleeving onely what they see with their outward sense of seeing otherwise every man or woman that did but look into a Bible and see such and such words and sentences written or printed there and beleeved accordingly that these words and sentences were here written or printed must needs hereby become truly religious Certainly if men may

of malignity hypocrisie searednesse of conscience dissimulation of the truth c. which doe not often find men out untill they be somewhat stricken in yeare and gray haires upon them 1. Mr. Jenkin argues himselfe defective in point of conscience by these and many such like passages in his Book In his Title page he calls Sion Colledge visited A very feeble Pamphlet and a while after in his Preface His other writings are below the most but this last piece was below himselfe Though the man speakes these things in good concurrence with my conscience for I verily believe my writings to bee of that sort of weake Sect. 3. feeble and despised things which God hath chosen to confound the things that are mighty yet I have cause to think that hee speakes them with the loud reclamation of his own it being a thing incident to youth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist Eth. as Aristotle long since observed to say many things which they beleeve not For first is it like that a man of such Seraphicall parts and learning that he is able to instruct the ignorant in the profound speculation of the Quiddity of Manicheisme whereof Mr. Goodwin and such Abecedarians as he is ignorant a Busic-Bishop p. 45 48 c. would so farre undervalue himselfe and prophane his excellencie as to set himselfe and all the powers of his wit against that he judgeth VERY FEEBLE Subruere est arces stantia moenia virtus Quilibet ignavus praecipitata premit i. Valour strong castles won and walls d'exalt 'T is cowards guise things FEEBLE to assault Secondly if he judged my Pamphlet so very feeble why doth he so studiously amolish and deprecate of his Reverend Sirs the suspition of Ambition in that he should undertake to answer it b Preface p. 2. When an Eagle engageth herself to catch a Fly hath she cause to feare the imputation of Ambition because of such an attempt In this solemne deprecation of his to his Reverend Brethren not to account it ambition that puts him upon the undertaking supposing the Pamphlet he undertakes to be very feeble he either makes his brethren very feeble in their understanding viz. as being obnoxious to account it ambition in him that should attempt to break a rotten stick or otherwise bewrayes the rottennesse of his own conscience in calling that VERY FEEBLE which he inwardly thinks to be very strong And whereas hee presently addes that for the most of them to have performed his taske he should have accounted it an act of not to say too great condescention Questionlesse the condescention in them had been as great as it would be in the Master-fidlers belonging to a countrey consort to excuse the little Boy and carry the great Fiddle themselves Thirdly and lastly is it likely that Mr. Jenkin can have the consent of his conscience to say my other writings are below the most and this last to be VERY FEEBLE and below my selfe when as the fifth rib of Mr. Jenkins Religion High Presbytery I mean for which metaphor I shall give account hereafter lies bleeding at the foot of the other being as good as broken in peeces by them and himselfe with many others of his Collegiate fraternity cast out of the possession of their patience that I say not of their wits by the last If my other writings were below the most the cause of High-Presbytery being so shaken shattered and dismantled by them must needs be in strength and capacity of being maintained below the most of causes unlesse for the staving off of this consequence Mr. Jenkin will say that the cause I speake of is good but the defenders of it are weake and insufficient I give him leave to chuse his horn but goared hee must be either by the one horn or the other of the Dilemma And for Sion Colledge visited if this be below my selfe it is a signe that Mr. Jenkin and his Reverend Sirs grow downwards or backwards as well in patience as in learning and knowledge For I appeal to all judicious and disengaged men that have found so much time as to lose in reading Mr. Jenkins Busie Bishop whether both the patience of the man be not overcome and his learning overcharged with that writing If Mr. Jenkin notwithstanding all this will say in his soule and conscience hee verily beleeves that the said writing called Sion Colledge visited is a very feeble Pamphlet let this Animadversion be removed from under this head and carried on to the third to prove him a Defective in judgement and understanding But I suppose there is no occasion for the remove Secondly Sect. 4. whereas in the said Title page he insinuates me guilty of cavills against the Ministers of London for witnessing against my errors touching the holy Scriptures and the power of Man c. it argues in his own metaphor a crazy conscience For I never cavil'd against nor had any thing to doe with either on the right hand or the left the Ministers of London for witnessing against any errors of mine whatsoever nor did I ever charge them w th any such crime That which I charged them with not cavil'd against them for was unconscionable and indirect dealing with the words writings of their brethren who never wronged them a cōspiracy against several truths of God bound up indeed in the same bundle with many errors as Christ was numbred amongst transgressors and incensing the Magistrates against thousands that are godly peaceable in the land because not of their faction c. With these things and some other of like notorious delinquency with these I confesse I charged them But that they ever witnessed against any error of mine it never came within the verge of my thoughts Doth not then my young adversary abase his conscience greatly in this point also Thirdly Sect. 5. when in the same Title page he affirmeth that in his Busie-Bishop the impertinency of my quotations out of the Fathers M. Bucer and Mr. Ball are manifested he plainy declares that it is all one with him to say that snow is black as that it is white yea more easie to say that what is not done is done than to say that it is not done For alas what hath the young Glorioso done to the value of the least haire of his head towards a manifestation of any impertinencie in any of my quotations he speakes of Or if he understand not what the impertinencie of a quotation meaneth or wherein it consists let this note serve under the third head and prove him debile or crazie in his intellectuals For to cite other words of a different or contrary import to those quoted by me out of the same Author is no manifestation at all of any impertinency in my quotation It is indeed a discovering of the nakednesse of an Author to present him as contradictious to himself Nor is there any practice or course more ready and direct to enervate

the whole Treatise to prove them to be such why I say doth he not regulate and measure the sence of that one place by the constant and expresse tenor of the rest of the Treatise But Mr. Jenkin I see hath a weight and a weight an Ephah and an Ephah one to accommodate him in selling another in buying but he shall do well to remember that both these are an abomination unto the Lord Prov. 20. 10. Thirdly Sect. 36. concerning that very particular sence wherein I doe indeed and I think all intelligent and considering men with me deny the Scriptures to be the word of God and foundation of Religion I expresse my selfe thus p. 15. of the said Discourse Though I doe not beleeve that any Originall Exemplar or Copy of the Scriptures now extant amongst us is so purely the word of God but that it may very possibly have a mixture of the word of men in it yet I confidently beleeve that the providence of God and the love which he beares to his own glory as well in the condemnation of the wicked and unbeleevers as in the salvation of his chosen have so farre interposed and watched over the great and gracious Discovery and Revelation which he hath made of himselfe by Jesus Christ unto the world that those books or writings wherein it was in all the branches particularities of it at first imparted unto the world neither as yet have suffered nor ever shall suffer any such violation mutilation or falsification in any kinde either through the ignorance negligence or malice of men but that they will be able sufficiently yea abundantly to furnish the world men of all sorts and conditions with the knowledge of all things necessary to be knowne either for their honourable and Christian deportment in this present world or for their everlasting salvation and exaltation in that which is to come By which words it clearly appeares that though in a sense limited and explained by me I deny the Scriptures to be the foundation of Religion yet I hold and assert them to CONTAIN the Foundation of Religion i. those gracious counsels and intendments of God unto the world by Jesus Christ upon which Christian Religion stands and is built Why then did Mr. Jenkin Anania's it with my opinion and keep back one part of it Fourthly Sect. 37. concerning my said opinion for which I beare the calumniatory charge of Mr. Jenkins pen I write thus pag. 17. of the said Discourse Seventhly and lastly the TRUE AND PROPER Foundation of Christian Religion is not INK AND PAPER nor any booke or bookes not any writing or writings whatsoever whether Translations or Originals but that substance of matter those gracious counsels of God concerning the salvation of the world by Iesus Christ which indeed are represented and declared both in Translations and Originals but are essentially and really distinct from both and no wayes for their Natures Beings depending on either Why then did not M. Ienkin charging me with denying the Scriptures to be the foundation of Religion as with a dangerous error mention and relate this my opinion truly and fully with such explications of mine about it without which it is unpossible for any man to know what mine opinion was in this behalfe Particularly why did he not charge me with denying the Scriptures to be THE TRUE AND PROPER Foundation of Religion Why doth he leave out those words THE TRUE AND PROPER which are essentiall to the true stating of that opinion of mine which he pretends to represent Again secondly why doth he not plainly acknowledge and declare that when I deny the Scriptures to be the foundation of Religion I meane by the Scriptures the INK AND PAPER wherewith whereon they are either written or printed and what ever else is found in them or appertaining to them besides the substance of matter and those gracious counsels of God concerning the salvation of the world by Iesus Christ which are contained and represented in them this being an essentiall ingredient also in that opinion of mine but it may be the fifth rib of Mr. Ienkins Religion hath need of the pious frauds of the Papists for her corroboration and support and can you then blame him for a little logerdemain now and then Fifthly Sect. 38. why doth this young Academick contrary to the principles of Logick and all regular Argumentation yea in full conformity with the weaknesse of illiterate Disputers deny the conclusion without denying or answering any thing at all to the premises I lay down severall Arguments and Grounds of Reason to prove the Scripture not to be the foundation of Religion in the sence wherein I deny it so to be and he without any answer or satisfaction given to so much as any one of these Arguments denies my conclusion and votes it for an error destructive to the foundation of Religion It is like the bent and figure of the fifth rib of his Religion required the Anomalie of these proceedings at his hand But Sixthly Sect. 39. doth not himselfe distinguish p. 7. and affirme that in a sense the Scriptures are not the foundation of religion Else what is the English of these words in terminis his own May not Christ be the onely foundation in point of mediation and the Scripture in point of manifestation and discovery Hath the man a Fungus a Mushrome in stead of caput humanum upon his shoulders to quarrell with me for denying in a sense the Scriptures to be the foundation of Religion and yet to deny as much himselfe Or did I ever or doe I any where deny them to be such a foundation in respect of representation and discovery i. to represent and discover him who is the foundation of Religion by way of mediation Or doth or can this young Pragmatico produce from any writings of mine any jot letter syllable word sentence of any such import I confesse that to call the Scriptures the foundation of Religion in point of manifestation or discovery taking the words manifestation and discovery properly in their usual and known significations is as ridiculous and absurd a metaphor as the stiling of Prerbytery the fifth rib of Religion For can he that onely manifests makes known and discovers unto me where such or such an house or towne stands or what the situation or manner of building of either is be in any tolerable construction or sense called the foundation of either Mr. Jenkin thinks that he manifests and discovers the feeblenesse of Sion Colledge visited is he therefore the foundation either of the book or of the supposed or rather pretended feeblenesse which he discovers But to affirm as he doth the Scripture to be the onely foundation of Religion in point of manifestation and discovery is not onely absurdum absurdo absurdius but most Atheologicall also and unsound in point of truth For did not God manifest and discover Christ or Christ himself whilst yet there were no

Scriptures or bookes written concerning him The Apostle Peter informs us that Christ by his Spirit went and preached unto the Spirits in prison which sometime were disobedient when once the long-suffering of God waited in the dayes of Noah * Pet. 3. 19 20. c. Certainly the Scriptures were not extant in the dayes of Noah Moses who was born divers hundreds of years after being the first Pen-man of them Yet Christ by his Spirit even then preached unto men Did he preach without manifesting or discovering himselfe or the foundation of Religion unto them I mean in such a sense as the Scriptures afterwards manifested and discovered him If he did in the dayes of Noah manifest and discover himself to the world then are not the Scriptures the only no nor yet the first foundation of Religion no not in point of manifestation or discovery Yea if the Scriptures be the only foundation in point of manifestation and discovery how came all the Hagiographers and pen-men of the Scripture by that knowledge they had of God and of Christ and of Religion Did they ground their knowledge of these upon the Scriptures whilst as yet they were not And whereas he demands of me not more imperiously than simply but both sufficiently why I alledge 1 Cor. 3. 11. Other foundation c. to prove that Christ is the only foundation if I doe not ground my knowledg and beliefe hereof upon this place I desire to require his kindnes with this demand of him why did our Saviour Christ cite the testimony of John to prove himself to be the Messias b John 5. 32. 33 34. if hee did not ground his knowledg beliefe of his being the Messiah upon John's testimony One good turne the saying is requires another if Mr. Jenkin will pipe unto me in answering my demand I will dance unto him in answering his In the meane time what if I should prevent him with this answer that I doe ground my knowledge and beliefe of Christs being the only foundation upon 1 Cor. 3. 11 What followes from hence That I acknowledge the Scriptures to be in a regular sense the foundation of Christian Religion Poore man when did I ever deny it My discourse of the Scriptures is as hath beene lately proved full of this assertion If any thing followes besides this narra mi fili fili mi Batte Had not the man now thinke we a sore temptation upon him to foame out his owne shame in this most insufferably Thrasonicall demand Is it possible that the known distinction of essendi cognoscendi principium quod et quo or a foundation personall and Scripturall should be hid from this seducer in chiefe I confesse Mr. Jenkin is in no danger of being a Seducer in chiefe unlesse his wits and intellectuals miraculously advance except it be of or amongst such a generation of men and women as Peter resembleth to naturall bruit beasts made to be taken and destroyed a 2 Pet. 2. 22. or Solomons simple ones whose character is to believe every thing b Prov. 14. 15 Well might he ask is it possible that the distinction he speaks of should be hid from me For that which is not hid from him cannot lightly be hid from any other He talks of distinctions but with the Apostles Desirers to be teachers of the law he understands neither what he saith nor whereof he affirmes c 1 Tim. 1. 7. Would he else charge me as he doth a little after with doing wickedly and weakly to oppose Christ and his word when as himselfe as we heard just now opposeth foundations personall to foundations Scripturall What is this but to oppose Christ and his word as much as and in the very same sense wherein I oppose them There is nothing more frequent in Protestant-writers than to distinguish the person of Christ whom from the greek Fathers they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the essentiall or substantiall word from the written word which they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word spoken or pronounced and what Novice knows not that in every distinction there is or ought to be an opposition And for his known distinction of essendi cognoscendi which hee so much wonders should be hid from mee he is desired in his next to produce any classique Author that ever used it but himselfe The complexion of it is as if it were of the house and lineage of Mr. Jenkins learning I confesse there is difference enough to make a distinction between esse and cognoscere witnesse Mr. Jenkin himselfe who hath a tall mans portion in the one but scarce a childs in the other But Seventhly Sect. 40. and lastly that the Scriptures whether written or printed are not truly and properly the foundation of Religion I demonstrate in the sight of the Sun to the shame and confution of all those faces which have charged the Assertion and Tenet upon me as an Errour by these arguments First If Religion was founded built stood firme and stable in the world before the Scriptures were then cannot the Scriptures be truly properly the foundation of religion This proposition needs no proof beyond the explication of the terms By the Scriptures I meane the Book or books commonly known by this Name amongst us wherin the gracious counsels of God concerning the salvation of the world by Jesus Christ are declared and expressed either by writing or printing as they were for matter and substance revealed at first by God himselfe unto the first writers or pen-men of them By the foundation of Religion we meane I presume on all hands that which mainly and primarily supports it and without which it cannot stand or have a being among men If Mr. Ienkin meanes any thing else either by Scriptures or by his foundation of Religion I must excuse him from blaming or medling with any opinion of mine concerning the Scriptures or foundation of Religion Therefore I assume But Religion was founded built stood firm stable in the world before the Scriptures were Ergo. This latter proposition besides the native pregnancy and evidence of Truth in it is fully proved by me page 10. of my discourse concerning the Divine Authority of the Scriptures where for dispatch sake I desire the Reader if unsatisfied in this point to enquire after it Secondly Sect. 41. If the foundation of Religion truly and properly so called be unperishable and what cannot be thrown down or deprived of Being then can no booke or bookes whatsoever under heaven and consequently not the Scriptures themselves be this foundation But the foundation of Religion truly and properly so called is unperishable c. Ergo. The Consequence in the Major Proposition is evident because any booke all bookes whatsoever are perishable may bee burnt or consumed by fire or miscary by many other casualties that may possibly befall them The Minor Proposition stands firm upon this bottome viz. that no building or superstruction whatsoever

same person Mr. Jenkin I trust before he baul Sect. 49. or brays against me any more as a man erroneous for denying the Scriptures to be the foundation of Religion will vouchsafe to answer these 8. arguments that workman-like not after that smal-sense rate at which he hath written in his busie Bishop Or if he had rather clamour then clerk it or shall do only the one because hee hath no good faculty at the other I shall apply that soft and gentle remedy good both for him and my selfe neglect Before I leave the particular in hand I must needs for the credit of my Antagonist being but a young beginner acquaint the Reader with that Hercule in and signall argument of his page 22. being the quintessence and spiritfull extraction of many pages yea of all hee argueth against me about the Scriptures How can any saith he believe the matter and substance of the Scripture to be the word of God when as he must be uncertaine whether the written Word or Scriptures wherein the matter is contained are the word of God or no But is not this a question of the same profound calculation with this How can a man believe that the Sun is a greater light and the Moone a lesser if he be uncertaine whether every jot and tittle of what is read in our Bible Gen. 1. 16. be the word of God or no because here it is said and God made two great lights the greater c Or with this How can a man believe that there are any such seasons in the yeare as Summer and Winter if he must be uncertaine whether that be the word of God or no Psal 74. 17. Thou hast made summer and winter If there be no meanes possible to believe the matter and substance of the Scriptures if a man be uncertaine whether the written word or Scriptures i. whether every thing sentence phrase word syllable letter point that is found in our printed Bibles for this must be his meaning if he meanes to argue against me be the word of God or no miserable is the faith of Master Jenkin yea miserable is the faith of the whole world For what assurance can any man have that the Transcribers of the Bible heretofore and the Printers of them of later times have in nothing mistaken or miscarried about them Are Scribes and Printers Mr. Jenkins his Prophets and Apostles or doth he not vest in them the infallibility of the immediate pen-men of the holy Ghost If the knowledge and faithfulnesse or unerringnesse of Printers and Transcribers be the foundation of Master Jenkin's Faith I confesse that hee and I build upon two very different foundations Besides Sect. 50. if it be unpossible for mee to believe that the matter and substance of Scriptures is the word of God if I be uncertain whether the written word be the word of God or no how came the Patriarchs and holy men and women who lived in the first two thousand years of the world to believe it since it was not only uncertain unto them whether our Bibles or Scriptures or word now written were the word of God or no but whether such a word should ever be written or no Doubtlesse the same way to bring me to believe what they believed is as open before the glorious God at this day as it was then seeing he hath not hedged it up either against himselfe or me with the thrones of any threatning or decree Againe though I willingly acknowledge and prove it at large in my Treatise concerning the Divine Authority of the Scriptures that the manner of the phrase and style of the Scriptures is a rich character of their Divinity and a very considerable ground to prove that they are the word of God yet is not this character of equal weight or power for such a conviction with the matter and substance of the Scriptures Therefore the nature beauty worth weight and excellency of these I meane of the matter and substance of the Scriptures is sufficient to perswade and bring men to believe that they are the word of God or things which came from God though they had not the gracious and super-added advantage of any thing in the Scriptures whereby to believe that they in respect of their language stile and all particularities of expression were the word of God Insomuch that were the matter and substance of the Scriptures understandingly and faithfully declared and held forth in any other Book or writing besides the Scriptures and which Mr. Jenkin himself would not call the written word of God there were no impossibility at all nor much improbability but that considering men might come to believe them to be the word of God Yet again Sect. 57. Doth not the Scripture it self plainly affirm and teach that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the goodnesse or kindnesse of God leadeth even natural yea and wicked men to repentance a Rom. 2. 4. If so then certaine it is that this kindnesse or goodnesse of God towards them leadeth them to the knowledge and consideration of this Truth that upon their Repentance God will be gracious unto them and forgive them their sins in as much as without the knowledge or beliefe hereof it is unpossible that any man should be led to a true and sound Repentance of which the Apostle here speaketh by any motive means or ingagement whatsoever Now I desire to understand from Mr. Jenkin in his next whether forgivenesse of sinnes and acceptation into favour with God upon true repentance be nothing of the matter or substance of the Scriptures yea or whether it doth not comprehend in it as explicitely and intirely as so much can lightly be comprehended in so little the whole and intire matter and substance of the Scripture If this be so then may men who are uncertaine whether the written word or Scriptures be the word of God or no come to believe the matter and substance of them to be the word of God notwithstanding in as much as the long suffering kindnesse or goodnesse of God are extended and vouchsafed unto many who are altogether uncertain whether the written word be the word of God or no. Lastly Sect. 52. doth not the Scripture also as plainely affirme that the Heavens declare the glory i. the glorious power as the word often signifieth of God b Psalm 19. 1. and his righteousnesse c Psalm 50. 6. and againe that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. that which may be knowne of God his invisible things his eternall power and God-head are clearly seene from the Creation of the world and are to be understood by the things that are made d Rom. 1. 19 20. and yet further that the Gentiles without the written word both have and shew the works of the Law written in their hearts e Rom. 2. 15. by the worke of the Law meaning the effect matter or substance of the law written or else such convictions of