violent hands upon himself rather than that Usurper should be his Master The Jewish Nation being besieged in Ierusalem thought it more Eligible to suffer the most direful Calamities such as are not to be parallel'd in any other History than yield themselves Captives to Titus and put their Necks under the Roman Yoke Both single persons and Communities esteem all their other Enjoyments but little worth whilest Liberty is wanting nor hath any one thing occasioned so much Bloudshed in the world as the Defence or Recovery of Liberty Though Tacitus tells us that 't was greatly deliberated among the Gallican Cities whether Liberty or Peace was to be preferred yet ordinarily without the least consultation when these two stand in competition the former is chosen and Peace is forced to give way to and sold for Liberty There is no Suffering so impatiently born as the loss or but Infringment of Liberty nor are any looked upon as such Enemies to Mankind or have so hateful a character as the Invaders of it But yet as inamoured with Liberty as we all are the generality are lamentably ignorant of its true nature and wherein it mainly and principally consisteth A Spartan being asked Quid sciret replied Scio quid est liberum esse I know what Liberty and Freedom meaneth But I fear there are very few Comparatively that can truly return this answer nay that most are so strangely mistaken in this matter as to account the worst of Slaveries the most desirable Liberty and the chiefest of Liberties the most intolerable Slavery But if we will believe our Blessed Saviour who being the Wisdom of the Father can best inform us we shall be satisfied that there is no Liberty like that which is of his bestowing He hath said Iohn 8. 36. If the Son shall make you free ye shall be free indeed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ye shall be really free and not only in shew in outward appearance and opinion you shall be in the truest and most excellent sence free Which words do plainly tell us that all other Liberties are unworthy of that name in comparison of that which is conferred by himself And what I now said of Liberty in the general may as truly be affirmed of Christian Liberty viz. First That there is nothing hath raised more dust or occasioned more sad feuds in the Christian World than this hath done The great Ball of Contention hath been Christian Liberty among the professed Disciples of Christ. Such an opinion is conceived of it that 't is never thought too dearly bought This is the Good Old Cause for which multitudes have been very liberal of both their Fortunes and Lives and no one thing hath been esteemed better if so well deserving the price of bloud The pretence of Christian Liberty is of all other the most Plausible and Popular and nothing hath been more unhappily successful in raising Tumults and exciting the People to take the Field Nay this hath been held so Sacred a thing if it be lawful to judge of mens opinions by their practices as to be able to hallow the unholiest actions and to sanctifie the most apparently wicked when designed for the preserving or regaining thereof And therefore Secondly Too many that are called Christians as I should not need to add must needs very grosly mistake the nature of that they are so fond of And as great zeal as they shew for Christian Liberty do as little desire that which really is so and is the chiefest instance of it Upon which account I presume 't will be thought no needless labour to endeavour to rectifie mens apprehensions about the nature of this Liberty And in order hereunto I design with Gods assistance to shew in the following Discourse First That the most excellent and most highly to be valued Liberty doth consist in an intire compliance with the Laws of Righteousness and Goodness or in freedom from the dominion of corrupt and sinful Affections Secondly That herein that Liberty principally or rather wholly consisteth which our Blessed Saviour hath purchased for us and in his Gospel proclaimed to us Which two Propositions being demonstrated we shall Thirdly Draw distinctly from each several useful inferences where particularly the false notions which too many have conceived of Christian Liberty shall be effectually confuted SECT I. That the most excellent and most highly to be valued Liberty doth consist in an intire Compliance with the Laws of Righteousness and Goodness Or in Freedom from the dominion of corrupt and sinful Affections CHAP. I. This shewed in the General from Texts of Scripture and further confirmed by those who were strangers to Divine Revelation NOW in the General that this is so those forecited words of our Saviour Iohn 8. 36. do give us assurance For the Freedom which Christ there commends as the true Freedom by way of Eminence is this from the dominion of sin and corrupt affections This will appear by considering the Context Our Saviour having said verse 31 32. to those Iews that believed on him If you continue inmy words then are ye my disciples indeed and ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free It follows ver 33. They answered him we be Abrahams seed and were never in bondage to any man how sayest thou ye shall be made free They answered not the Believers but some of the Company that came with no good design We be Abrahams seed we are not descended from the Canaanites or other servile people but from Abraham and from him not by Hagar the Bond-woman but by Sarah the Free-woman We are of a Generous and Illustrious extract And were never in bondage to any man as we were not born slaves so neither have at any time been made slaves But how could they say this whenas they were formerly in bondage both to the Egyptians and Babylonians with divers others and even now subjected to the power of the Romans The truth is if they spake this concerning their Nation the saying was an impudent and loud Falshood as it is usual for men when they are vaunting and boasting to make bold with truth but if they understood it of their own particulars and they meant that they were not in Personal servitude had not lost their natural Liberty as Men though they were in a Political servitude as a Nation their saying that they were Abrahams seed came in impertinently It follows ver 34. Iesus answered them Verily verily I say unto you whosoever committeth sin is the Servant of sin He that is a worker of iniquity is inslaved and brought into a servile state thereby Ver. 35. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever but the Son abideth for ever Or those who are in this servile state under sin though they may for a time be members of Gods houshold they shall at length be for ever Cast out but the Son hath a right to continue there and to the enjoyment of his Fathers Inheritance Then
and particular concerns And the Opposites to these do give the Soul great Enlargement and Liberty viz. That Confidence that is opposite both to Fear and to Shame Delight and joy which are opposite to Trouble and Dejection of Mind and Generosity and Nobleness of Spirit whereby a man is carried forth to the loving of God the Chief Good in the first place and a hearty concern for the general welfare of his Fellow-Creatures which is opposite to immoderate Self-love First The Observance of the Rules of Righteousness casteth out Fear This is a most servile Passion the Apostle speaketh of some who through fear of â—â—ath were all their life-time subject to bondage By Fear I mean that which is expressed by the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a cowardly and dispiriting Fear None can imagine I mean 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Awful and Reverential Fear such as is called Heb. 12. 28. a Godly fear Nor yet do I mean such a Fear as awakens and excites the Soul to the use of means for the shunning and keeping off evils Such a Fear as this doth not at all inslave or put a man out of his own power but is highly serviceable to the maintenance and preservation of Liberty And therefore it is commended to us by the Apostle Heb. 4. 1. Let us therefore fear lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest any of you should seem to come short of it But as was said the Fear which is enslaving is a Cowardly Dispiriting Fear and this the Righteous and Good man is freed from He hath not received the spirit of bondage again to fear in this sence but the spirit of Adoption whereby he crieth Abba Father Rom. 8. 15. He is not afraid of God as a poor Slave is of his fierce Master or as a wicked Servant of his justly provoked and incensed Lord but not being under the guilt of wilful sins his Conscience being privy to no other guilt than that which upon good grounds he believes is expiated by the Bloud of Iesus he can go to God as a child to his loving and tender Father And as he hath no tumultuary confounding or disheartening fear of God so neither hath he of the Devil or Men or any worldly evil as knowing that all these are subject to the restraint of that good Providence which ever chargeth it self with the care of good Souls and all their concerns God hath not given him the Spirit of fear or timidity and fearfulness but of power of love and of a sound mind 2 Tim. 1. 7. This man is an affectionate Lover of God and therefore cannot question God's love to him and is assured that all things shall work together for his good for his good both in this life and in the life to come Herein is our love made perfect saith S. Iohn in his 1 Epistle 4. 17. because as he is so are we in this world because we follow the example of our Blessed Saviour in the conscientious observance of the Rules of Righteousness there is no fear in love but perfect love casteth out fear because fear hath torment he that feareth is not made perfect in love That is he that is affected with such a fear as hath now been described He who is not under the power of Cowardizing dismaying Fear his Spirit is at great Liberty but a care to keep an inoffensive Conscience both towards God and men to adhere to the Rules of Righteousness and Goodness and never to swerve from them will banish this Fear The wicked saith the Wise man fleeth when no man pursueth but the righteous is bold as a Lion Prov. 28. 1. He that walketh uprightly walketh surely or confidently and securely Prov. 9. 10. To which great truth the Poet gives his Testimony in those known Verses Integer vitae scelerisque purus Non eget Mauri jaculis nec arcu c. He that 's in life upright and pure in heart Is too secure to need the Bow or Dart. hic murus aheneus esto Nil conscire sibi nullâ pallescere culpâ The strongest Bulwark's not so sure a Fence As is an inoffensive Conscience Secondly True Goodness begets that confidence which is opposed as to Fear so to Shame too There is a highly commendable shame which is proper to a Good man namely that which is expressed by the Latine Verecundia Which is a quick sense of whatsoever is indecorous and misbecoming No man can have too much of this for the more any one hath of it the better man must he necessarily be But there is another sort of Shame expressed by Pudor which is a troublesome passion arising from a sense of disgrace upon consciousness of Guilt Of this Shame the most learned Doctor Henry More observeth in his incomparable Ethicks that it neither falleth upon the worst nor the best of men For he who is conscious to himself that he constantly exerciseth his liberty in doing the best things knows that he ought not to be contemned and thereupon being above all contempt contempt it self is contemned by him which is a great instance in good men of Generosity but in bad men is the very height of improbity This Shame is a good effect of a bad cause for though it be an evil yet 't is a necessary evil and tends to the deterring men from unworthy actions for the time to come and doth actually produce this good effect where the great uneasiness and perturbation of mind which was caused thereby upon past commissions of sin is seriously and consideratively reflected upon For where this Shame is there is great Bondage where there is consciousness of guilt the mind of a man is miserably pent up confined and straitned so that he dares many times neither to look abroad into the world nor to look up to Heaven nor reflect upon himself And therefore Liberty and Confidence are expressed by the same word viz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Greek language But while a man is careful in the observance of the Laws of Righteousness to be Righteous before God and to walk as it is said of Zacharias and Elizabeth in all the Commandments and Ordinances of the Lord blameless he is not affected with this kind of Shame and consequently enjoys a mighty Freedom by this means Upright Iob had the happy experience of this effect of uprightness as we find Chap. 31. 35 36 37. Oh that one would hear me saith he behold my desire is that the Almighty would answer me and that mine Adversary had written a book Surely I would take it upon my shoulder and bind it as a Crown unto me I would declare to him the number of my steps as a Prince would I go near unto him Which is as much as if he had said Oh that mine Adversary instead of secretly whispering evil things of me had drawn up a charge in writing against me I would be so far from endeavouring to have it concealed
that I would my self publish it to all the world and instead of thinking it a disgrace and disparagement I would esteem it as an ornament for my innocence would be the more cleared and my good name vindicated by the means of it And so far would I be from sneaking and skulking in corners like one ashamed to shew his head that I would like a Prince with Heroick courage and confidence go up to the face of mine Enemy and expose and lay open my whole life before him Or rather we will read these Verses as the sence of them is expressed in a late excellent Paraphrase upon this Book Oh that the truth of all this that I have been accused of might be examined by some equal judge Behold I continue still to desire of God this favour And let him that can accuse me bring in his Libel in writing against me Surely I would not endeavour to obscure it but openly expose it to be read by all nay wear it as a singular ornament which would turn to mine honour when the world saw it disproved I my self would assist him to draw up his charge by declaring to him freely every action of my life I would approach him as undauntedly as a Prince who is assured of the goodness of his cause These words with many other of his sayings shew what a blessed Liberty the Soul of this Holy man was possessed with even whilest he was deprived of all his outward comforts and in the saddest and most dismal circumstances Thirdly Nothing will free a man from Trouble and Dejection of mind like the careful observance of the Laws of Righteousness This as it is a certain consequent of Fear and Shame it must needs free a man from as it freeth from those its Causes But it incomparably beyond any thing in the world cureth this Malady of a wounded spirit how or by whatsoever it be occasioned I have shewed that it is the fate of Sinners to feel great perturbation and disturbance of mind from their corrupt Affections by the law in their members warring against the law of their minds and also by reflecting upon their folly and madness and by the fearful expectations that their manifold bold transgressions of the Divine Laws do raise in them The wicked saith the Prophet are like the troubled Sea which cannot rest whose waters cast up mire and dirt There is no peace saith my God to the wicked Cain had no sooner given place to Envy and Revenge but his Countenance fell and the Disquiet of his mind was bewrayed by his looks But there is no such Lightsomness and Sprightfulness of Soul no such Pleasure and Self-satisfaction as that which results from true Religion Righteousness and Goodness It 's ways are ways of pleasantness and all its paths peace Prov. 3. 17. Light is sown for the Righteous and joy for the Vpright in heart Psal. 97. 11. Great peace have they that love thy law and nothing shall offend them Psal. 119. 165. The work of Rigteousness shall be peace and the effect of Righteousness quietness and assurance for ever Esay 32. 17. The Good man is free from self-accusations and from that gnawing Worm that is frequently felt in Guilty breasts He is not appalled in thinking of what is past nor cast down with the fore-thought of that which is to come His Soul is like a calm and clear River like the waters of Siloam which run softly without noise or murmur Whatsoever is Natural is for that reason highly pleasing but nothing so natural to the Heaven-born Soul of man nothing is so agreeable to our original Make as to live in conformity to the Laws of Righteousness Whilest this is our serious care we act according to our Highest principle that Principle which God and Nature designed for our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our Leader and Governour I mean the Reason of our Minds And therefore so long as we follow its Dictates and behave our selves like those on whose souls the Divine image is imprinted which consisteth in Righteousness and true Holiness so long I say we live in our own Element and therefore must necessarily have Self-enjoyment And we shall enjoy our selves more or less according as we are more or less diligent in works of Righteousness and Goodness The experience of every Good man will force him to subscribe to the truth of this no such man can withhold his assent from it or call it into question any more than he can his own Feeling Such a one feels such serenity of thoughts and such great delight and satisfaction of mind in the exercise of love to God and love to men in works of Piety Justice and Charity in the exercise of Humility Meekness Patience and Submission to the Divine will and all other Christian Graces and Virtues that while he is so employed all is as well within him as he can desire he accounts it a Heaven upon Earth to be so employed I fear that many a one who would be thought a Christian cannot receive this Doctrine that it seems to him a very strange Soloecism but I could tell him of many a Heathen of whom he may learn it as well as of Christians particularly Tully who hath this brave saying in his Tusculan Questions O Philosophy the Guide of our lives O thou seeker out of Virtues and expeller of Vices One day well spent and in obedience to thy precepts ought to be preferred before a sinning immortality And all those say for substance the self-same thing who tell us that Virtue is a Reward to it self The Good man feels also no small pleasure in reflecting upon the fruits of Righteousness he hath brought forth And much more in the Contemplation of that Glorious Reward which God for Christ's sake hath promised to those who patiently persevere in well-doing The fore-expectation whereof doth greatly support him under all the crosses and afflictions wherewith he is exercised in this life And makes him not only Patient under those Tribulations he meets with for Righteousness sake but even to Glory in them as the Apostles did and Primitive Christians And moreover he receiveth great Refreshment and Comfort more immediately from the Holy Ghost especially when he is called forth to any exceedingly great suffering or extraordinary service He then marvellously strengthens the Good man with strength in his Soul to bear the one and perform the other as becomes a servant of Iesus Christ. Which he doth chiefly by giving sensible clear and lively representations to the Good mans mind of the Glory of Heaven and by stedfastly fixing it upon the Crown of Righteousness and Life which his Blessed Lord hath promised to all those who are faithful to the Death Thus was the first Christian Martyr S. Stephen strengthened who being full of the Holy Ghost looked up stedfastly into Heaven and saw the Glory of God saw the Heavens opened as ready to receive him and the Son of man standing on the
and grave Whatsoever things are just or exactly agreeable to the Rule of doing as we would be done unto Whatsoever things are pure or far from all shew and appearance of unchastity Whatsoever things are lovely or which tend to secure to us love among men such as all works of benignity mercy and Charity Whatsoever things are of good report or which are apt to procure a good name and therefore to prevent all the causes of shame and to give us the greatest freedom and confidence as before God so before Men too If there be any virtue if there be any thing that is by Good men reckoned in the number of Virtues And if there be any praise or any thing laudable and praise-worthy All these things as the Apostle in the general here enjoyneth us to think upon them so they are very particularly and as clearly and perspicuously recommended to us to be carefully observed by us in the New Testament There is nothing which it becometh us to Do or Forbear whether in reference to God our Great Creator Governour and Benefactor or to our Fellow-creatures or to our own Souls and Bodies but here we find it Again we may observe all these in our Saviour's Life also wherein He set us an Example that we should follow his steps And it is a most admirable Example of Piety towards God of Love to him Trust in him and Submission to his Will of Charity to all men even his greatest Enemies and of Humility Meekness Temperance Purity Contempt of the World and Heavenly-mindedness He that shall observe how our Blessed Saviour Lived cannot be ignorant of any of those Laws of Righteousness and Goodness which before his coming the World was so lamentably in not a few instances to seek in the knowledge of through that blindness which by the customary gratifying their vile Affections men had generally contracted I say he that is acquainted with the Life of our Saviour cannot easily be ignorant of any of those Laws although he never understood what particular Commands or Prohibitions his Precepts consist of So that this is the First thing Christ Iesus hath done for us in order to our being made Free He hath given us fully to understand what it is to be Free what are those several Rules of Righteousness and Goodness in compliance with which consists our Liberty Secondly Our Saviour hath also prescribed most Effectual Means by making use of which we shall most certainly obtain and maintain this Liberty that is obey those Laws of Liberty which he hath given us These Means are especially Believing himself to be the Son of God and consequently the Truth and Divinity of his Doctrine Hearing his Word and Receiving it into honest hearts or Pondering it in our minds and Meditating upon it with the Design of conforming our selves to it Prayer to God in his Name together with Faith in his Bloud for the Remission of our Sins and in his Power and Goodness for the Subduing our Lusts and the making us Obedient to his Precepts That is for the blessing our Endeavours to that End Setting his Example before our Eyes which is an Excellent Means to beget in us a likeness to him and to our partaking of his Spirit and Temper Watching over our own Hearts and against Temptations Denying our selves and not indulging our Sensitive Part. Advising in all Cases of doubt and difficulty with our Pastors and Spiritual Guides whom Christ hath given to his Church For the perfecting of the Saints for the work of the Ministery for the Edifying of the Body of Christ Ephes. 4. 12. And obeying them which have the Rule over us in the Lord they watching for our Souls as those that must give an Account Heb. 13. 17. Which Duties were never more neglected than in this Age to the great scandal of our Reformed Religion Keeping in the Communion of the Church And not forsaking the Assembling our selves together or our publick Assemblies as the manner of some is Heb. 10. 25. And now is the manner of vast numbers of us though no Terms of Communion are required that contradict any one Text of Scripture which Separation we are too like ere long to pay dear for The Religious observation of the Lords Day both in Publick and Private is another singular Help and Advantage Though few Professors of Christianity seem now to have any great sense of it to the great prejudice of their own Souls and the Souls of those who are under their charge And to these add in the last place because 't is most convenient to place them here The Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper By Baptism we are admitted into the Church of Christ and brought into a New State We are baptized into the name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost or devoted to their service And the Father in this Sacrament takes us into his special care and into the Relation of his Children whereas before we were only the Children of Adam The Son receives us as members of his Body the Church We are baptized into one Body as the Apostle speaks 1 Cor. 12. 13. that Body whereof Christ is the Head And the Holy Ghost who is the Author of Grace and Spiritual Life taketh us for his Temples We are said to Receive the Holy Ghost in Baptism to receive that power and strength from him which will enable us to Mortifie the deeds of the Body and to acquire the Divine Graces and Virtues which we shall certainly do if we refuse not to Exert and Improve it when we come to years of Discretion and our Faculties are ripe enough for that purpose In Baptism the Holy Spirit communicates to us the Beginnings of a new life which may afterwards be improved to large measures of Virtue and Goodness if we be not wilfully wanting to our selves in the other Means And in the Lords Supper as we renew the Covenant we made in Baptism to renounce the Devil and all his works c. So all worthy Receivers of that Sacrament receive great additions of Grace and Spiritual Strength are fed with the spiritual food of the most Precious Body and Bloud of Christ. And of all the Means prescribed for the Subduing our Lusts and Growing in Grace the Frequent Receiving the Lord's Supper is very deservedly accounted the Principal Certainly there is not any Ordinance wherein sincere Souls do so experiment the Communications of the Holy Spirit by which they are so Strengthened with strength in their Souls Nor are there any such Strong and Spriteful Christians any so confirmed and rooted in Goodness in the love of God and their Neighbour and all the Christian Virtues as those who take all occasions to attend upon it with a thankful sense of the infinite love of God and Christ to them and sincerely design in so doing a fuller participation of the Divine nature But this intimation that these two Sacraments are conveyances of Grace and Strength leads me to shew that
besides her Authority She will have your Assent to their being of Divine Authority to depend wholly upon her Testimony Notwithstanding that God Almighty hath vouchsafed to the World marvellously full and plentiful Evidence thereof and such as is adapted to the capacities of all those who have the use of Reason but never once mentioned this as a part of that Evidence and therefore much less can it be thought the Whole How infinitely ill hath this Corrupt Church deserved at the hands of all Christians although this were the onely Abuse she had put upon them For to say nothing of her Horrible Pride and Uncharitableness in making the truth of the Scriptures dependent on her Testimony that her Pretence supposing her making her self the onely true Church this is the greatest injury imaginable to Christianity nor can she take a surer course than this to make all men Infidels And that upon these two Accounts First This Pretence of hers is immediately founded upon a Precarious and most Evidently false Principle viz. That of her Infallibility I dare appeal to those of her own Sons who have studied the Controversie whether there was ever a more shamefully baffled Cause in the World than this is Whether by their Infallible Church they mean with the Iesuits the Pope alone or with others the Pope with his General Council that is a pack of Bishops and Priests of his own Faction As the Psalmist saith If the Foundations be destroyed what shall the Righteous do So if this be the Foundation of our Christian Faith and that be proved to be a Rotten Foundation as nothing was ever proved if this be not then what shall we Christians do We must then acknowledge our selves a Generation of most Credulous Fools and that our Faith is vain If the Foundation be tottering the whole Superstructure must fall to the Ground But so fond is this Unsatiably Covetous and Ambitious Church of her Great Diana Infallibility by the Pretence whereof she hath raised her self to such a Height and Grandeur that she is well content if that must fall that our Saviour and his Apostles both the Old and New Testament should fall with it And she hath done all that lies in her to make it necessary that those who shall have the wisdom to reject her Ridiculous Doctrine of Infallibility should at the self-same time renounce Christianity If Popery were Chargeable with no other Crime as it is with innumerable others and many of them intolerable I say were it Chargeable with no other Crime but the making our Belief of the Authority of the Books of Scripture to be founded on the Infallibility of the Romish Faction we ought to be as zealous for the Preventing its Reestablishment in this Nation from whence it hath happily been twice Expelled as we are desirous to Preserve the Christian Religion Secondly The Romish Churche's making her Authority the sole Foundation of our Belief of the Scriptures makes the Testimony of the Spirit to the Truth of Christianity in our Saviour when on â—arth and in the Apostles and others in the Primitive Ages to be now perfectly Insignificant I think it makes them to be so as to the Church Representative for she pretends to her Infallibility and consequently to her Infallible Assurance of the Truth of Christianity as an immediâ—te Gift of the Holy Ghost therefore what need hath she of the Testimony of Miracles But as to Private Christians I can by no means understand in what stead they stand them for if the Churches Authority be necessary to their believing the truth of the Scriptures and therefore to their believing that there were those Miracles really wrought which the Writings of the Apostles tell us of then why may they not without any more ado make her Authority the immediate ground of their Assent to the truth of Christianity It is said that the truth of the Matters of Fact are not knowable at this distance such as whether there were such Persons as our Saviour and his Apostles whether they performed such Miracles and the Apostles wrote such Books c. but by the Tradition of the Church because no such Matters are to be known at any considerable distance but by Tradition To this it is Answered that it is one thing to believe the Matters of Fact upon the Churche's Tradition and another to believe them upon her Authority founded upon her Infallibility Now this latter we reject but adhere to the former as a Ground of our belief of those things But then by the Tradition of the Church we are far from meaning that of Rome onely We mean the Catholick Church or the whole Collective Body of Christians throughout the World from the Apostles times down to this present Age of which the Roman Church is but a Part and therefore does Impudently in appropriating Catholicism to her self and that a very Vitiated Part too and that Church Representative an exceedingly small Part. And we receive the Tradition of the Catholick Church as a Ground as I said of believing these Matters not as tâ—e Ground because we take in another Tradition viz. that of those who are out of the Church and Enemies to Christianity the Iews especially In short we believe those and the like matters of Fact upon the same ground that we believe all other wherein Religion is not concerned but there are Circumstances which give the Tradition of Christian matters of Fact a mighty Advantage above other Traditions as unquestionable Assurance as these give men when they are General and Uninterrupted But 't is well known to all who are not strangers to the Popish Writers what lamentable work they make in proving the Testimony of the Church to be the foundation of our Faith concerning the Authority of the Scriptures This Proof they fetch out of the Scriptures themselves and their main Text for this purpose and for the Infallibility of their Church is those words of S. Paul 1 Tim. 3. 15. where he calls the Church the Pillar and Ground of Truth But what a manifest Circle is this We ask them how it appears that the Scriptures are the Word of God They answer it appears from the Testimony of the Church We ask again how it appears that the Testimony of the Church is true They reply it appears from the Scriptures And so they prove the Authority of the Scriptures by the Testimony of the Church and then wheel about again and prove the Authority of the Church by the Testimony of the Scriptures But again We can either be certain of the truth of these words of S. Paul setting aside the Authority of the Church or we cannot be Certain If we can be Certain why then not of the truth of the whole Scripture as well as of this single Text If we cannot be certain of the truth of this Text without the consideration of the Churche's Authority what Folly or rather Knavery is it to make this Text an Argument to prove the thing