of necessity be outwardly expressed in Words because there is no other way of keeping their Thoughts wherein their Worship does consist united and joyned together And since Words not understood are in effect the same with no Words at all I conclude that the Language wherein the Worship of any Church or Congregation is offered up to God must always be such as is well understood by the Assembly of the People who meet together Nor does even the Doctrine of Transubstantiation amaze me more than that the Church of Rome should own the 14th Chapter of St. Paul's first Epistle to the Corinthians to be the Word of God and yet have all their publick Services every where performed in the Latine Tongue only which is not now understood by the generality of any Nation in the World 61. As Peace and Vnity mutual Love and good Agreement amongst the Members of every Society together with Order and Decency in all that is transacted amongst them absolutely necessary to the being and continuance or at least to the well-being of the Society it self so are they carefully prescribed and inculcated by Christ and his Apostles as things to be always preserved and maintained in the Christian Church And as he who first occasions the violation of any of them is plainly guilty of a very great sin so in all Matters that are not particularly and clearly determined by God's Law we cannot propose a better and safer Rule to our selves than always to do that which tends most to the advancement and preservation of them 62. If some certain time be not determined for Christians to meet together for God's Worship which every Man may know of before it comes and accordingly prepare himself for it by laying aside for that time his worldly Business Disorder and Confusion which is the natural Consequence of Uncertainty must needs follow That one Day at least in seven was expressly required by God under the Mosaick Law to be sanctified and set a part for his Service is beyond dispute That the Observation of the Jewish Sabbath or the last Day of the Week is not required from the Christian Church to me seems very evident from St. Paul's reckoning it amongst the transitory Shadows of the old Law Col. 2. 17. But that we Christians ought not to be behind-hand with the Jews in setting apart a proportion of our time for God's Service I think will follow as well from the great Mercies which we have received from him for which we no less than they ought to shew and express our Thankfulness as also from that general Rule which our Saviour has given us that our Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees And that accordingly one Day in seven namely the First Day of the Week which in Scripture is therefore called the Lord's Day Rev. 1. 10. has ever been so set apart for the Service of God in all Christian Churches I presume will be denied by none As also that the Reason of the Apostles making choice of this particular Day was in remembrance of our Saviour's glorious Resurrection which on that Day was performed and whereby their Faith in him which began to waver was confirmed and raised above all doubt or diffidence Now since no Reason can be given or so much as imagined why this Day should be changed for any other Day of the Week I do from what has been said conclude that the Lord's Day or First Day of the Week ought for ever to be kept holy in the Christian Church and particularly dedicated to the Service of God And where either the Church universal or any particular Church has set aside any other days to be kept holy in remembrance either of any of God's Mercies to us or of the Martyrdom of any of his chosen Saints who sealed the Truth of the Gospel with their Lives and transmitted it so confirmed down unto us or as Days of Fasting or Abstinence in order to humble our selves before God for our Sins since in all this there is nothing contrary to God's Law nor any thing but what may be well consistent with and serviceable to true Piety It will follow from what I have said § 61. That every Member of such a Church is obliged to keep and observe these same other Holy Days so far as no way to give Scandal disturb the Order or break the Peace of the Church which has established them 63. Order and Decency necessarily require that all the outward circumstances of Worship which God himself has not determined by his own Law should be so setled by the Church as that all Confusion and Unseemliness therein may as much as is possible be avoided But care on the other side ought ever to be taken that Modes and Ceremonies be not so multiplied as to become uneasy and burdensome or distract the Devotion of the People Now there being no such fixed and demonstrable Rules of Decency and Order but what will have a different relish with different Men according to their several Educations and Customs to which they may have been used it will be very difficult if not impossible for any Church so to regulate these external matters as to please every Mans Fancy and give disgust to none For what some may think to be but decent others may take to be too formal or pompous and what these may apprehend to be suitable to the Simplicity of Christianity another sort may look on as mean and jejune As therefore the Church in this case can do no more but act according to the best of her Prudence so since every Man cannot expect to have his particular Fancy in these things pleased and gratified It will evidently appear to be the Duty of each private Christian so far to comply with every such constitution of the Church where he dwells provided there be nothing in it which is sinful as not to break the Peace and Unity or disturb the Order of the Church on that account But if any Church shall offer to impose any Ceremonies or practices whatsoever which God has not prescribed and which therefore are in themselves indifferent not for Decency and Order but as things in themselves Holy or absolutely necessary to Salvation as some of old would have done by the Jewish Ceremonies with such Impositions as these no Christian ought at all to comply nor suffer his Religion or Conscience to be thus burthened But every Man must stand fast in that Liberty wherewith Christ has made us free tho at the same time he must be very careful not to pretend or use this Liberty as a Cloke of Maliciousness 64. Since different Opinions in matters of Religion are generally apt to beget Dissensions and Animosities between those who entertain them as our dayly Experience does abundantly testifie It ought to be the Church's and every private Christian's endeavour that all Men may become of one and the same Judgment or at least that there may be as few Differences amongst them as
there have been and still are eminent Members of the Church of Rome who have accused each other of corrupt Doctrine and even of Heresie it self But Thirdly and Lastly There do appear to me to be much stronger Arguments to prove that the Church of Rome has actually erred and corrupted the Doctrine of Jesus Christ in the Case of Transubstantiation and some other her Tenents than any that can be brought to prove her to be infallible And until I can be otherwise convinced I cannot but conclude That to follow the Guidance of the Roman Church is not the way to embrace the true and pure Doctrine of Jesus XXII Some there are who tell me that to find out the true and genuine Doctrine of Jesus I must have recourse to the Tradition of the Church And thus they set forth the Matter First They suppose that the true and genuine Doctrine of Jesus was undoubtedly taught by his Apostles and first Disciples Secondly That if any one did or should have gone about to spread any false or spurious Doctrine whilst these Apostles and Disciples were yet alive They who were sent on purpose by Jesus to preach his Doctrine and were owned and submitted to accordingly by all Christian Churches both could and would immediately convince all Churches of the falseness and spuriousness of such pretended Doctrine Thirdly That the Doctrine of Jesus being in all Churches publickly and constantly taught and preached every succeeding Age and Generation must needs know and could not possibly be ignorant what their Fathers and immediate Predecessors owned and taught as such Fourthly That therefore if at any time whatsoever any new or spurious Doctrine was or should be vented by any Person or Persons as the Doctrine of Jesus all Christians must presently know that this was none of his Doctrine because it was not taught them as such by their immediate Predecessors Fifthly That therefore it is impossible that any new and spurious Doctrine could ever be broached in the World as a part of the Doctrine of Jesus but it must needs meet with great Opposition For all Christians do maintain That it is a Sin to teach or knowingly to own any thing as the Doctrine of Jesus which is not really so Sixthly That however some Men out of Pride or Interest may own and contend for any such novel Doctrines yet it is impossible that any such Doctrine should ever come to be universally received by the whole Church except we could suppose either that the whole Church should joyn together to involve themselves and their Posterity for ever in a Sin or else that a few Men who first should vent an Opinion could so impose upon the whole World as to make them believe that what they all must know to be a new and upstart thing because they received it not from their Fathers and Predecessors was a part of the ancient Doctrine of Jesus which was all along from Hand to Hand delivered down to them Both which things are absurd to conceive or imagine And Lastly That no part of the Doctrine of Jesus once delivered could ever be obliterated or wholly forgot in the World because every Age of Christians from the very first who undoubtedly received the whole and entire Doctrine of Jesus knew themselves to be indispensably obliged both by God's Command and also by that Love and Charity which they owed to their Posterity to teach the same full and entire Doctrine which they received unto their Children and those who were to come after them Go therefore to the Church that is to the Church of Rome say the Papists to the Universal Church i. e. to all Christians say some Protestants and see what are the Doctrines which are and have been universally maintained of whose Beginning no other Account can be given but that Jesus and his Apostles taught them to the World And there you have the entire and uncorrupted Doctrine of Jesus But to this I answer That indeed where there is an universal or a very large and general Tradition concerning any thing and where from the nature of the thing it self it appears to be highly rational and probable that there is not or could not be any Errour or Mistake in the matter in such a Case as this no Man I think but an obstinate Sceptick will offer to withstand the Evidence of such a Tradition But let a Tradition be ever so general or even universal yet if it can be shewn that there is not only a possibility but also a fair likelihood and probability that there may be a mistake in the business then I think no Man can justly be blamed if he refuses or suspends his Assent until the Testimony of such a Tradition be cleared and vindicated from those rational Prejudices and Exceptions which may lie against it Now if it were so that all Errours and Mistakes did ever immediately appear in their perfect Form and full Growth at their very Beginning then it were most rational to conclude that all Men must needs take notice of their first Appearance and consequently that in all likelihood any such Error must needs meet with many more Opponents than Abettors But on the contrary it may well be supposed that Errours may have sprung up in the World from such small beginnings and by such slow and unperceivable degrees that after some Ages it may be impossible for a Man to discover them to be Errours except he has some other Rule besides Tradition to try them by viz. either the Rule of common Reason or some ancient and unaltered Writing As for Example It is not rational to conceive that in the first Ages of Christianity they who preached and writ popular Discourses might very innocently and to good purpose make use of Rhetorical Flights and Figurative Expressions to strike the Fancies and move the Affections of the People to Vertue and Piety And is it not likely enough That those who came after them might not only strive to imitate but also to out-do them in bolder Flights and more strained Schemes of Expression And is it not also probable enough That in long process of Time Ignorance generally overspreading the Face of the World and being joyned with a profound Veneration for those ancient Preachers and Writers might begin to interpret some of these Rhetorical and Figurative Expressions in a Literal and Logical Sence and then conceive that such their Interpretations were really and truly the ancient Doctrines delivered down to them Especially if we consider that there may have been some Men of great Power and Repute in the World who might have taken a pride and delight or whose Interest it might have been to amuze the People with mysterious Notions and Fancies and to keep them ignorant of the Truth And thus it appears to be not only possible but also probable enough That Errours and Mistakes as to the ancient Doctrine of Jesus might come to be generally received without any considerable or notorious Opposition
seem but a slight and inconsiderable thing yet since our Saviour Christ has expressly appointed and commanded it and since his Apostles were always most careful to perform it insomuch that even they who had received the extraordinary Gift of the Holy Ghost from Heaven were yet required to be Baptized in order to become visible Members of the Church This Ceremony I think ought not to be left off or discontinued Altho whether it be performed by dipping the Body under the Water or by sprinkling the Water upon it to me seems to be altogether indifferent and to be regulated only by Prudence or the Custom of particular places For neither does the word Baptize signifie any more than to Wash which may be done either way nor does it appear that the Apostles dipped all those whom they baptized Moreover since sprinkling as well as dipping may sufficiently denote the washing and cleansing of the Soul from sin and since Baptism is not expressly in the Holy Scripture determined to either of these ways to the exclusion of the other I conclude that God has left the matter so far indifferent to us and to be ordered according to Prudence as the Circumstances of things and persons shall at any time direct And as long as the Substance and Design of his Command is carefully retained I see no necessity of being so very solicitous about a Circumstance of it except it could evidently be made appear that he had appointed and determined it 53. Since then Baptism is as the Entrance or Door of Admittance into the Church of Christ it will follow that all they and they only who are duly qualified to be Members of his Church are fit to have Baptism administred to them If any person has been brought up out of the Chucrh until he comes to years of understanding and knowledge he is then and only then qualified to be a Member of the Church when having repented of all his former sins he believes and owns that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and consequently receives and professes that Faith and Doctrine which he has taught and authorized and obliges himself to live according to all those Laws and Rules which he has prescribed to us this being the very Condition which our Saviour indespensably requires from his Church and every Member of it according as they are capable of performing it But if a Child be born of Christian Parents or is so in the hands of Christian Guardians as that it is in their power to bring him up in the true Religion and they do promise and engage so to educate him such a Child as this even before he comes to any knowledge of things is yet qualified to be a Member of the Church of Christ upon the presumption that he will perform what God requires from him when he comes to be capable of it and so to continue if by Apostacy or wickedness he does not in process of time separate himself again from it For this beyond dispute was the case of In sants before the coming of Christ who at eight days old if Males were to be Circumcised and thereby admitted into the Church of God and within his Covenant if they were either the Sons or Servants born in the House of believing persons and who as well as their Parents are expressly said to enter into Covenant with God which is but another expression for becoming of his Church And no one surely will offer to say that the Case of Infants is made worse than it was by our Saviours coming into the World especially since he has expressly commanded that little Children should come unto him and not be forbidden for that of such is the Kingdom that is the Church of God I conclude therefore that not only adult persons who make a due profession of their Faith and Repentance but also such Infants as are in a way of being brought up in the Christian Religion are without any Obstacle to be admitted to Baptism 54. There are some passages in the New Testament which seem plainly to suggest to us that it was a constant Custom with the Apostles of Christ to lay their Hands upon all such as had been Baptized which laying on of Hands was undoubtedly accompanied with Prayer to God in order to their receiving the Gifts and Graces of the Holy Spirit of God But that this was a thing positively prescribed and commanded I do not find clearly proved And therefore altho I dare not hastily condemn those particular Churches where this same Custom is disused or intermitted yet since the Grace and Assistance of the Holy Ghost in order to the leading of a good life and obtaining eternal Happiness is for ever continued unto the Church as I have said Part 2. § 42. and therefore ought ever to be sought for altho the working of Miracles and speaking of all Languages without learning them be ceased from amongst us I cannot but conclude that the laying on of Hands upon persons that have been baptized together with Prayer to God for their growth and continuance in Grace which is commonly called Confirmation is a prudent and godly Custom and ever fit to be continued in the Church 55. As every particular Man whatsoever is obliged in his own private person to honour and worship God so the Church being a Society incorporated for the better serving of God is under an Obligation to do the same in her associated capacity that is to say to assemble together for his worship And because the whole Number of Christians which are dispersed over the Face of the Earth are not capable of meeting together in one place the Universal Church therefore lies under a necessity of subdividing it self into particular Churches and those again into particular Congregations according as they find to be most convenient for the pursuing that same end for which they are so incorporated Moreover since all these particular Churches and Congregations are still or ought to be but Parts and Members of that One Catholick Church which our Saviour Christ has appointed and founded it follows that none of them ought to constitute or act any thing amongst themselves which may give a just occasiou for the breaking of that Union and Concord which he designed and has commanded always to be maintained amongst them But on the contrary Matters ought every where so to be ordered as that if a Member of any one particular Church should travel into any other part of the World he may meet with nothing in any Christian Congregation where he comes which justly should be a hinderance to him from assembling or communicating with it 56. The particular acts to be performed in these Christian Assemblies are all such as tend to the Edification of the People in Virtue and Godliness which is the design of their Incorporation and consequently to the promoting of each mans eternal Salvation which is the end that every Christian is supposed to pursue All which are
to make an open Confession of his sins whenever it is necessary for God's Glory or to repair any publick scandal which has been given by him 67. That Almighty God even where he has pardoned a Man's sins upon his true Repentance may yet on the score of those very sins which he has so pardoned lay some sharp and severe temporal Afflictions upon the penitent either to keep him more effectually from sinning for the time to come or that it may be a Terror to others or for many other reasons best known to himself is a thing that cannot be disputed But from hence to infer that these temporal Afflictions if not laid on us in this World are to be undergone in Purgatory and that therefore for the preventing them it is fit and necessary that Penance should be imposed by way of satisfaction or Indulgences granted by way of Remission and all this without any Warrant from the Holy Scripture save only a faint and forced Consequence from some few perverted Texts is a thing so groundless and precarious that it amazes me to think how Men can suffer themselves to be so grossly imposed upon And whosoever shall duly consider upon what weak grounds the Pope and his Prelates do pretend to a Power of dispensing and distributing the Merits of Christ unto the People by way of Indulgence as if they alone had the keeping of that Treasure under Lock and Key and to which tho infinite they have yet added the Merits of the Saints to make their Treasure more abundant will I think very much wonder that their People should be so free to part with their earthly Treasure in purchasing these Indulgences upon no better security 68. That the Apostles of Christ when they were first sent abroad to preach the glad Tidings of the Gospel did anoint many sick persons with Oyl and thereby miraculously heal them we are plainly told by St. Mark c. 6. v 13. And that in this they did no more than what Christ himself had expressly commanded them is most reasonable and probable to suppose Moreover that the anointing with Oyl which is mentioned by St. James c. 5. v. 14. was intended for the very same purpose viz. the raising up the sick person and restoring him to Health is as apparent as any thing can be form the very Context But as we do not find that this anointing of the sick was appointed either by Christ or his Apostles as a standing and perpetual Ordinance for ever to be used in the Church so since Experience shews that the miraculous effect of healing thereby is now wholly ceased I can see no reason why the practice it self should be any longer continued But what just ground the Church of Rome can have from either of these or any other place of Scripture for the divine Institution of their Extreme Unction which they make use of for a far different end namely the preparing thereby of persons who are past hopes of recovery for their passage into the next life is more than I am able to find out 69. As the Body natural would be but a confused and useless Lump if it were not distinguished into the several Members which are necessary for its own Service and preservation And as the Body-politick would be but a disorderly Rabble if there were not Magistrates setled to rule and govern and ministerial Officers appointed to perform all necessary Functions in and about it so the Holy Scripture as well as Reason assures us and the practice of the apostolical Church which is there recorded confirms it that the like Appointment and distinction of Offices are no less necessary in the Church in order to the regular and orderly government of it and the due execution of all its Laws and Constitutions But how far these Offices are limited and appointed by the Law of God or how far left to be setled and determined by the Prudence of the Church according as Circumstances may render it convenient is what I shall not take upon me to pronounce my Sentence in But whatever Polity or ecclesiastical Constitution is setled and acquiesced in either by the whole Church in general or by that of any Nation or Country in particular I think ought quietly to be submitted to by every one who would be a Member of such respective Church except there appears to him to be either something therein which is not only uncommanded but even contrary to the Law of God or else something wanting which God requires and therefore is absolutely necessary to be maintained and kept up in all Churches Nor can I apprehend that any less Warrant can be sufficient for breaking or endangering the Peace or Unity of the Church the preservation of which is so often and so earnestly recommended to us in the Holy Scripture besides the absolute necessity of obeying the Positive Command of God himself And therefore since the Government of the Church by Bishops that is to say by certain persons having in their several Districts a Priority among and in some respects a Superiority over the Presbyters has for so many Ages been universally setled amongst and acquiesced in by all Christians in all parts of the World I cannot find how they can be excused who without any necessity for so doing have so earnestly set themselves not only to retrench the Exceffes and rectifie the Abuses of the episcopal Power but also to pull down and wholly abolish the very Order it self to the no small scandal of those who think that so universal a Constitution every where taking place even in the primitive Church could be grounded on no less than an Apostolick Ordinance of which there seems to be some not obscure Foot-steps in the Scriptures of the New Testament and that most probably in conformity to that Imparity which Christ himself established between the Apostles and the seventy Disciples who were yet both commissioned by him to preach the Gospel 70. How far a case of necessity may upon some occasions excuse or justifie a Man for taking on him an Office which regularly does not belong to him especially if his design therein be truly honest and sincere I know not But no Man certainly ought to intrude into any ecclesi astical Function or exercise any such Office who is not called and admitted thereunto by the lawful Authority and according to the established Constitutions of the Society For if this be not carefully observed the distinction of Offices and Functions in the Church is in effect wholly taken away and a wide Door opened for Confusion and Anarchy But then on the other side good care ought ever to be taken by the Church that no persons be entrusted with any sacred Office but such as are duly qualified for it And that such a Maintainance be provided and setled for every such person as that he may not be necessitated to neglect the publick Service of God and the due exercise of his Function by being constrained to bestow