some one occasion at least to have said Let nothing be done without the Bishop of Rome if he had known of any such Priviledge and Power conferred on him by our Lord. But if Pergamos were justifiable in removing those Corruptions which were crept into that Church without staying for the consent of the Bishop of Rome England in removing more Corruptions and of equal danger was to proceed also without his leave if it could not be had 2. As to his Patriarchal Power over this Nation it did not anciently belong to him he had it not when the Council of Nice confined him to his own Province nor when the Council of Ephesus decreed That no Bishop should presume to invade any other Province which from the beginning had not been under his or his Predecessor's Jurisdiction or if any do and make it his own by force that he should restore it And then the Church of Britain was free acknowledging no foreign Jurisdiction the Power that the Bishop of Rome gained here in after-Ages was got by fraud and held by force and was ever and anon disputed and gainsayed and over-rul'd and surely no injury was done him when that Authority was resumed which he had usurped 3. As to the Conversion of the Saxons by Austin sent hither by Pope Gregory I say it follows not if long since the Inhabitants of this Island received any benefit from Rome therefore they should in all Ages be exposed to the Usurpations of that place afterwards nor that because we once received true Religion from Rome therefore Posterity must receive also false Doctrines from thence when it should please her to send them hither But in truth Christianity had been planted here long before by St. Paul himself in all probability and that in the Reign of Tiberius before Rome her self had received the Christian Faith. And the British Bishops whom Austin found here would by no means submit to the Authority of the Roman Legate And so much for the right that this particular Church had to reform her self I come now Thirdly To consider some of those specious Pretences and Objections by which they go about to weaken the stedfastness of our People in the Communion of our Church and to draw them to theirs 1. They say How was it possible that Errours could creep into the Church of that nature with those which we charge upon them There must have been great Opposition made to any the least design of such an alteration in the State of Religion and we meet with no such account of things in History Therefore these are not Innovations but the ancient Doctrine and Practice of the Church To omit this that concerning most of their Innovations we can very nearly shew the time when they were brought in but can plainly shew that there was a time when they were not I answer It is much more easie to conceive that in a thousand years time Errour should creep into that Church by degrees and without noise than that in a Church planted by an Apostle as Pergamos was guarded by the Angel or Bishop placed there by an Apostle as Pergamos was should so soon tolerate the Doctrines of the Balaamites and Nicolaitans even while their Apostle was alive and therefore very soon after he departed from them 2. They say that the perpetual Succession of their Bishops from St. Peter is an Argument of the Succession of true Doctrine amongst them in the purity thereof but behold an Apostolical Church in which a Bishop succeeded an Apostle yet alive corrupted in her Doctrine and Worship Can they have greater can they have as great an assurance of a perpetual uninterrupted Succession after so many Ages as the Church of Pergames had before one Age was gone or does their Infallibility grow with their Succession or the farther they are removed from the beginning of the Church are they the surer still that they teach nothing but what was taught at first 3. They say we are departed from the whole Church of Christ that was visible every-where upon the face of the Earth when the Reformation was begun seeing there was then no Communion in the World nor had been long before that professed the same Doctrine in all points which the Reformation brought in Now in great liberality to admit for once that the whole visible Church had corrupted its way as the Church of Rome has done which yet is not true but I say admitting it what will then come of it That we departed from the whole Church of Christ No but that we departed from the general Errours and Corruptions of it and by that could not be said to depart from the whole Church whereof we our selves were a part unless we departed also from our selves Nay but say they this is to fall into another damnable Errour and that is that the whole Church of Christ had failed from the Earth and so that the visible Church had perished for some Ages till the Reformation brought it to life again Not so neither For we do not say that the Errours of the Church were of that nature as to make it cease to be a Church but that they were in themselves damnable and that they made the Salvation of all that were in it extreamly hazardous but yet that we hope well of those who believing the fundamental Doctrines of Christianity maintained in the Church and wanting means to discover her Corruptions served God according to their knowledge so that we do not say the Church had perished but that her Purity had been lost even as Pergamos was a Church and so acknowledged by our Lord himself because she held fast the foundation of the Creed while yet she was corrupted with notorious Errors To this according to their usual way of arguing they would reply that the case is not the same between a Particular Church as Pergamos was and the whole Visible Church from which Luther and those that followed him separated themselves But then I would answer That the case is the same as to the matter we are upon for if a particular Church though under great Errours may yet be a part of the whole Church by like reasons if the whole Church were over-spread with foul Errours it would nevertheless still remain the whole Church and there is as great an obligation to depart from those Errors in the latter case as in the former and a particular Church by departing from such Errors does no more depart from the whole Church than she did from her self 4. They pretend Antiquity for their Errors and are often asking that shrewd Question as they deem it Where was your Religion before Luther I would answer this Question with another That after the Angel of the Church of Pergamos had purged away the Corruptions of that Church Where was the Church of Pergamos before that Reformation Every one of common sence would answer It was where it is now and where it ever was since it was first a
compares the Body of Christ The eye cannot say unto the hand I have no need of thee nor again the head to the feet I have no need of you v. 21. Now it being the Apostle's design in this Chapter to press the Christians to Charity and Unity and mutual serviceableness one to another as Members of the same Body he assures them in the Words of the Text which I have chosen That they were indeed Members of one Body and he tells them what it was that made them so For by one spirit says he we are all baptized into one body whether we be Jews or Gentiles and have been made to drink into one spirit That is by being Baptized they were made Members of the Body of Christ and united one to another under him the Head and this whether they were Jews or Gentiles bond or free i. e. whatever worldly circumstances made any distinction between them yet all they were one in Christ who professed his Faith and were by Baptism admitted into his Church And this Union of one to another under Christ was testified and declared by their Communion in the Table of the Lord. And whereas he says that by one Spirit they were baptized into this one Body and were all made to drink into one Spirit the meaning is that the Grace of the Holy Spirit was given in Baptism and in the Lords Supper to all the Faithful who do not receive unprofitable signs but one as well as another receives the quickning Grace of God to make them living Members of that one Body So that although there was a diversity and an equality in the Spiritual Gifts that were distributed among the Faithful in those dayes yet they were all equally Members of the same Body of Christ in as much as they were all Baptized into his Body and were all equally Partakers of his Table And thus I have explained the meaning of the Text with the relation it hath to the design of the Apostle in this Chapter That which remains is to speak to the particular design of the Text which is to shew that Christians are one Body or Society of Men and wherein the Vnity of the Church consists and what our part is to maintain it and how we may in this divided state of Christianity be satisfied that we are within that Unity Before I enter upon which I may well make two observations upon the Text in behalf of the Doctrine and Practice of this our Church of England 1. That St. Paul thought the observation of the two institutions of our Saviour viz. Baptism and the Communion of the Holy Table was a sufficient proof that believers were one Body And we have reason to believe that if he had known there were other Sacraments or outward badges of Christian profession instituted by Christ for the Church which is his Body he would not have omitted the mention of them here where he proves the Unity of the Church by Baptism and Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ We know that the Evangelists mention no other outward signs and visible tokens of our profession and God's Grace but Baptism and the Lord's Supper And it is something to our purpose that St. Paul owns no more than these where he industriously proves that Christians are one Body by these 2. I observe that the Communion of the Lords Table is described by drinking into one Spirit i. e. by one part of the Sacrament as sometimes it is by the other of breaking of bread But then nothing can be more plain from such expressions than that one part or kind is as necessary as the other because sometimes one sometims the other is put for both which had been against all rules of speaking if it had been allowable to separate the one from the other But as to that of Drinking the Cup it is most evident that it belonged to all for says St. Paul We have all been made to drink into one Spirit All who All the Priests of the Christian Church only No all that belong to the Body of Christ whether Jews or Gentiles bond or free But now if St Paul had known that it was not necessary for the Christian People to drink of the Cup in the Communion but that it was sufficient for them to have received the Bread only Can we think that he would have described their receiving the Sacrament by receiving a part of it which did not necessarily belong to them and not rather by that which did I do not make this observation to prove only that the People did at first universally receive the Cup for that is not denied by any but by those who have disputed themselves out of all Modesty and even these may be convinced beyond all doubt by this very place that all the Faithful in St. Paul's days received the Cup for otherwise how could he with truth have said that they had been all made to drink into one Spirit But that which I chiefly observe is this That though the Faithful did in those days drink as well as eat at the Lord's Table yet if the Apostle had known and surely he knew it if it was true that however it was the practice then yet it might without injury be altered in after times he would not have used an argument to satisfie the Faithful of his time that they all belonged to the Body of Christ which might afterwards be quite out of doors viz. when the Church should please to alter the Institution of our Saviour in this matter but he would rather have insisted upon receiving in that kind which could not be justly taken away from them and have said that all had been Baptized into the Body of Christ or made Members of his Church by Baptism and all that are of his Body may claim to eat of that one Bread. This by the bye I now address my self to the main business I propounded which is to state the notion of the Vnity of the Church to shâ—w what is meant by it and to make some Inferences from it for our farther instruction And in the first place it is evident that St. Paul here speaks not of any one particular Church but of the Society of all Christians whatsoever that are Baptized and have a right to the Holy Communion whether they be Jews or Gentiles And it is concerning the Unity of this Church that we are to enquire or what that is which makes it one Body as the Apostle here calls it To which purpose we are to consider distinctly what are the several grounds or notions of Unity which are laid down in the New Testament or what those things are that belong in common to all Christians as their Duty or their Priviledg and in respect of their joint performance of the former of which and their enjoyment of the latter they may be said to be One. 1. Therefore all Christians do unite in their profession to submit to one Head who is our
the Holy Spirit in Answer to Dr. O. 1677. Octavo A Second Part. 1680. A Reply to a Pamphlet called The Mischief of Impositions Writ by Mr. A. against the Dean of St. Pauls 1681. Quarto An Answer to the Dissenters Objections against the Common-Prayers 1683. Quarto The Difference of the Case between the Separation of Protestants from the Church of Rome and the Separation of Dissenters from the Church of England 1683. Quarto A Discourse concerning the Invocation of the B. Virgin and the Saints 1686. Quarto A Paraphrase with Notes on the Sixth Chapter of St. John against Transubstantiation 1686. Quarto A Discourse concerning the pretended Sacrament of Extream Unction With a Letter to the Vindicator of the Bishop of Condom 1687. Quarto A Second Letter to the Vindicator of the Bishop of Condom 1687. Quarto A View of the whole Controversie between the Representer and the Answerer in which are laid open some of the Methods by which Protestants are Misrepresented by Papists 1687. Quarto An Answer to the Representer's Reflections upon the state and view of the Controversie c. Shewing that the Vindicator has utterly ruined the new Design of Expounding and Representing Popery 1688. Quarto Queries concerning the English Reformation answered 1688. Quarto The School of the Eucharist a Translation the Preface writ by Dr. Claget Of the Humanity and Charity of Christians A Sermon Preached at the Suffolk Feast in St. Michael Cornhil London Nov. 30. 1686. J. S. The CONTENTS SERMON I. Rev. II. 12 13 14 15 16. AND to the Angel of the church in Pergamos write these things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges I know thy works and where thou dwellest even where Satan's seat is and thou holdest fast my Name and hast not denied my faith even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr who was slain amongst you where Satan dwelleth But I have a few things against thee because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam who taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the Children of Israel to eat things sacrificed to Idols and to commit fornication So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans which thing I hate Repent or else I will come unto thee quickly and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth SERMON II and III. Matth. XVIII 7. Wo unto the world because of offences for it must needs be that offences come but wo unto that man by whom the offence cometh SERMON IV. Matth. XXVI 41. Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation the spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak SERMON V. Matth. IV. 10. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve SERMON VI. Gen. XXII 12. Now I know that thou fearest God seeing thou hast not with-held thy son thine only son from me SERMON VII Matth. XV. 1 2 3. Then came to Jesus Scribes and Pharisees which were at Jerusalem saying Why do thy Disciples transgress the tradition of the Elders for they wash not their hands when they eat bread But he answered and said unto them Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition SERMON VIII 1 Cor. XI 19. For there must be Heresies also amongst you that they which are approved may be made manifest among you SERMON IX 2 Pet. I. 19. We have also a more sure word of Prophecy whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn and the star arise in your hearts SERMON X. 1 Cor. XII 13. For by one spirit we are all baptized into one body whether we be Jews or Gentiles whether we be bond or free and have been all made to drink into one spirit SERMON XI Gen. XV. 16. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again for the iniquities of the Amorites is not yet full SERMON XII Luke XIII 5. I tell you Nay but except you repent ye shall all likewise perish SERMON XIII Luke XVIII 8. Nevertheless when the Son of Man cometh shall he find faith on the earth The XIV an Assize-Sermon preached at St. Mores in Bury 1678. Levit. XIX 12. Ye shall not swear by my Name falsly The XV Sermon preached at Windsor before the Princess of Denmark Gen. V. 24. And Enoch walked with God and he was not for God took him SERMON XVI Job XI 10. Shall we receive good at the hand of God and shall we not receive evil SERMON XVII Rom. VIII part of 34 and 35 ver It is God that justifieth who is he that condemneth The Sum of a Conference on Feb. 21st 1686. between Dr. Claget and Father Gooden about the Point of Transubstantiation Imprimatur February 5 1688. Hen. Maurice Rmo in Christo P. D. Wil. Archeipis Cant. Ã Sacris The First Sermon REVEL II. 12 13 14 15 16. And to the Angel of the Church in Pergamos write these things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges I know thy works and where thou dwellest even where Satans seat is and thou holdest fast my Name and hast not denied my faith even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful Martyr who was slain among you where Satan dwelleth But I have a few things against thee because thou hast there them that hold the Doctrine of Balaam who taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the Children of Israel to eat things sacrificed to Idols and â—o commit fornication So hast thou also them that hold the Doctrine of the Nicolaitans which thing I hate Repent or else I will come unto thee quickly and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth THAT the seven Churches of the Proconsular Asia to which our Lord sent these several Messages by Saint John were then in being when he saw this Vision and heard these words is a matter I think beyond question and therefore there is little reason to question whether in these Messages the then present state of those Churches were described and whether the design of our Lord was likewise to describe the state of the Church from the days of the Apostles to the end of the World in several intervals thereof as some men think I dare not take upon me to deny Sure I am that in these Epistles to the seven Churches there are Instructions no less useful for all Ages of the Church than if they were as truly prophetical as they are historical and that they were designed not only for the Information of the then present Churches of the Proconsular Asia but for the Edification of all Churches in all places and in all Ages of the World is evident from that so often repeated close He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches Every Church therefore because it can hear ought to hear and every man of every Church because every man hath an ear to hear
that defile a man but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man i. e. doth not by any means affect his Soul or his Conscience for in this respect he is neither better for washing nor worse for letting it alone and to think otherwise is a Superstition hurtful to your selves and dishonourable to God and of very bad consequence though it be not so impudent and notorious an abuse as the making void of God's Law by the other leud Tradition that I mentioned before It is to this purpose that we are to understand the method and design of our Saviour's Discourse in this place in answer to the Objection of the Pharises brought against the Disciples From which answer there are some things to be gathered well worth our observation 1. That it is sufficient to overthrow the Authority of a pretended Tradition that it is contrary to the Commandment of God. 2. That if there be one Traditionary Doctrine that notoriously contradicts the Law of God that one instance is sufficient to overturn the credit of that Tradition which pretends to deliver unwritten Doctrines of equal Authority with those that are written 3. That the universal consent of some one Age or more that such and such Doctrines were delivered by word of mouth many Ages before is no argument that they were so delivered 4. That we have a great reason to stick to the word of God delivered to us in the Scriptures and to examine all Doctrines and Rules which are said to be necessary to Salvation by that Rule and to reject the Authority of unwritten Traditions 1. That it is sufficient to overthrow the Authority of a pretended Tradition that it is contrary to the Commandment of God For if when Tradition is pretended for any Doctrine or Practice it be not enough to shew that the same Doctrine or Practice is inconsistent with what is plainly required in the Scriptures which are acknowledged by all to contain the word of God I say if this be not enough then our Saviour used an insufficient Argument against the pretended Tradition of not suffering the Son that was under a Vow of the contrary to relieve his Father or Mother that it made void the Commandment of God. But doubtless our Saviour was so far from using a bad Argument that he used the best and most convincing of all And truly if we did not in this case consider our Saviour's Authority yet it must be a monstrous prejudice that keeps any Man from discerning the strength of this Argument against the Authority of any unwritten Doctrine that it is contrary to what is written for nothing is more certain than that Contradictions cannot be true and yet they must be true if that Doctrine for which unwritten Tradition is pretended can be of God though it contradicts the written Tradition which is by all acknowledged to be Divine But as plain as this argument is yet it is very well for us that we find our blessed Saviour giving such Authority to it because there are Christians in the World bearing up themselves upon the Tradition of the Church that are loth to admit this Argument which we have no cause to be amazed at because it is an utter Confutation of all their pretences We charge them with having brought into the Church new Articles of Faith and new Doctrines of Worship which are not only very different from what was taught at first by Christ and his Apostles but some of them contrary thereunto as we can shew them out of the Scriptures But this way of proceeding doth by no means content them and they insist upon it that the Cause may be tryed otherwise For say they You acknowledge that our Church was once a pure Church and taught the Gospel sincerely but if as you say she departed from the pure Faith and Worship which the Apostles left it is impossible but this must have been very notorious because it could not have been done without opposition and resistance from some that must needs observe it Tell us therefore when were these new and false Doctrines introduced Who were the Men that brought them in Who were the first that made the discovery What Council condemned them after they were discovered For if none of these things can be shewn it is absurd to think that any such alteration should have been as you say Which reasoning amounts to thus much that it is impossible we can be sure that in the compass of a thousand Years there was a great alteration happened in the state of Religion unless withal we can tell how it came about and just when it came about the precise time and the punctual manner and circumstances thereof which is just as if a Man almost desperately sick of a Disease that had been for some Years growing upon him should prove to his Friend that he is as well as ever he was in his Life for says he You know I was well once and if I am now so ill as you say pray shew me the time when this Disease first happened the manner how and what Physitians were called about me which kind of arguing would certainly prove no more than that the Disease had taken his head When the Servants came and told their Lord that the tares came up with the wheat it was excusable in them to say We sowed good seed whence hath it these tares But when their Master told them An enemy hath done this if they had disputed and told him It was impossible there should be any Tares at all because he could not tell punctually that very Night when they were sown and who the Persons were that took the malicious pains to sow them then they had been very inexcusable thus to renounce their own certain knowledge for the sake of a vain Speculation Now we are very sure that the Apostles did at first sow nothing in the Church but good and true Doctrine Our Fathers that lived about fourteen hundred Years after found quite another sort of Doctrine gotten into the Church and some of them contrary to what the Apostles taught as the Scriptures manifestly shew and yet there have been a long time and still there are certain Disputers that go about to stagger others with such like questions as we have been speaking of and teach them to defie all reasoning out of the Scriptures till these questions are satisfied What Age What Year of our Lord were these Errors brought into the Church Who were they that brought them in and who first complained of them Now although a very reasonable account both may be and hath been given of the Persons the Time and the Manner and the Degrees by which such Corruptions got into the Church yet it is very unreasonable to expect that every Christian should be able to answer these Questions punctually because it requires more Labour and Reading than generally they have either leisure or ability to go through with but withal it is very needless because
there is a shorter and a surer way to determine this matter and that by comparing those Doctrines and Practices with the Scriptures For the Scriptures have a more certain Tradition than any of those Histories that give an account of the Revolutions of Church Affairs since the beginning and now what matter is it if I am assured that such and such Corruptions were brought into the Church sometime or other after the Apostles because they are contrary to what the Apostles taught and left in their Writings though I cannot tell just the Year when or the Person by whom they first crept into the Church I would very fain know of any Man that when our Saviour set himself to overthrow that wicked Tradition which we were speaking of before whether he could not if he had pleased have given an exact account of the Persons that began it in the Jewish Church and of the time when it began and of every circumstance that attended its entrance into the World and its growth and encrease afterwards But did he go this way to work It is certain that the Pharises pretended the Traditions which they taught the People were delivered from God to Moses and that through several Ages they were conveyed down to them successively by word of mouth And I grant that if our Lord had with many words shewn them that they were such and such men who first brought them in this had been a confutation of their pretence but for all that he was pleased to use a better and a shorter argument against them and told them what the commandment was in the Law which their pretended Tradition made void and this was instead of a thousand arguments that their Doctrine never came from Moses but was invented some time afterwards And I beseech you let none of us be ashamed to use that kind of argument which our Saviour thought fit to confute those People withal and which we have reason to think he used that he might shew us the best way to secure our selves from being imposed upon by unwritten Traditions and by a pretence of having received such Doctrines from the Apostles as they never delivered When therefore we are asked If Transubstantiation be an Error and not an Article of Faith when did it come in If Service in an Vnknown Tongue be an Innocation when did it come in If the Sacrifice of the Mass be a Corruption when did it come in Let us account it sufficient to answer for so our Saviour thought it in the like case That Transubstantiation makes void those places of Scripture which expresly affirm that by eating of Bread we shew forth the Death of Christ and are made partakers of his Body That Service in an Vnknown Tongue makes void the Fourteenth Chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians And that the Sacrifice of the Mass makes void the Seventh and the Tenth Chapters of the Epistle to the Hebrews which expresly tell us that Christ can be offered no more and that there remains no more Sacrifice for Sins and therefore we are very well assured that they did come in sometime or other since the Apostles but whether they came in sooner or later is nothing to the purpose for certainly nothing ought ever to have come in that makes void any part of the Word of God but if any such thing hath got in there is all the reason in the World that it should be thrown out again They may well be ashamed that cannot bear this sort of arguing but most certainly we have no reason to be ashamed to use it since our blessed Saviour hath used it before us for when he set himself to overthrow the credit of these Doctrines for which they pretended a constant Tradition in the Church he thought it sufficient for his purpose to shew that they voided the Commandments of God and made his word of none effect 2. If there be one Traditionary Doctrine that notoriously contradicts the written Word of God 't is enough to overthrow the whole Credit of that Tradition which pretends to bring down unwritten Doctrines that are necessary to be received For thus we find that our Saviour by the single instance of that Tradition which voided the Fifth Commandment overthrew the Objection of the Pharises against his Disciples Why do thy Disciples transgress the Tradition of the Elders i. e. their unwritten Traditions which was as much as to say that they ought all of them to be Religiously observed because they had all the same Authority Our Saviour therefore produces an instance of their Traditions that takes away all Authority inasmuch as it was a plain contradiction to the Law of God if therefore amongst their unwritten Doctrines and Rules there were any that had some kind of goodness and usefulness they were to be regarded upon their own account and not upon the Authority of Tradition But when he had utterly overthrown all that pretended Authority by an undeniable argument he then speaks to the case which themselves had propounded and lays down the truth concerning it They had a vast number of Superstitions for which they pretended Tradition and they tax our Saviour's Disciples for not observing one of them Now he with admirable wisdom first breaks the Authority of their Tradition shewing that one of them was plainly against the Law of God and then he shews how superstitious and foolish they were in the case which themselves chose to speak to In this also our Lord hath set us an example that if we are prest by a pretence to Tradition in favour of unwritten Doctrines and Articles we should in the first place shew that one or more of these is contrary to the Word of God and therefore that there is no reason to pretend Tradition for any of them since they are all said to have come down together Which being done in the first place it will be then seasonable to shew what is to be thought of the rest if they are judged of by the general Rules of Reason and Scripture 3. The Universal consent of some one or two Ages that such and such Doctrines were delivered by word of mouth many Ages before is no argument that they were so delivered The Pharises did pretend that their Doctrines and Interpretations of the Law had been conveyed down from Moses by Oral Tradition to that Age in which they lived and there were several of these Traditions universally believed in that Age to have been so conveyed and the Practice of the People was universally governed by them For instance that of Religious Washing before Meat and the washing of Cups and Pots as a thing in it self good and holy was universally received and practised as St. Mark tells us Now I would fain know whether they might not have reasoned in this fashion We in this Age received this Doctrine and Rule from our Forefathers who professed they received it from theirs and if they had not received it from theirs then
the Faith that will either dispense with the Commandments of God or teach for doctrines the commandments of men There must be Heresies among you that is this must happen in the Church it self Men should arise from among themselves speaking perverse things And thus also St. Peter foretold There shall be false teachers among you who privily shall bring in damnable heresies 2 Pet. 2.1 But it was impossible they should do it privily or slily if they were not of the Church and had not thereby an opportunity under a pretence of Piety and care of Christian Truth to slip their Innovations into the Church by degrees Whereas it is added That they which are approved may be made manifest the meaning is that honest men may more and more appear to be what they are So that in the words of the Text there are these two things observable I. The unavoidableness of Heresies in the Church There must be Heresies among you II. The reason why God is pleased to permit Heresies that they who are approved may be made manifest 1. The unavoidableness of Heresies in the Church There must be Heresies among you By which we are not to understand an absolute necessity that Heresies should arise For this is inconsistent with that liberty of humane Nature which Religion and God's dealing with Mankind in giving us Laws and making us to expect a Day of Judgment do necessarily suppose But the meaning is this that all things considered it was in it self highly probable that Heresies would be brought into the Church and that God certainly foresaw that they would come in men being left to that liberty which is capable of being abused and under that Grace that may be resisted All therefore that is needful to be considered under this head will be this what are the grounds of that probability of the coming in of Heresies which the Text supposes of Heresies I say which God saw would certainly come to pass if he interposed not his irresistible power to prevent it Now it was not to be expected but that Heresies would be if we consider on the one side the revelation of Christian Truth and on the other the Temper and Circumstances of Mankind 1. As to the Revelation of Christian Truth we are to consider the tendency and design of the Doctrine it self and the evidence we have that God hath revealed it 1. The spirit and design of the Doctrine of Christianity which is plainly to rectifie the ill Manners and the corrupt Affections of Mankind to restrain them from Liberties which most Men desire how unreasonable and hurtful soever they are and to tie them up to Rules that are not grateful to flesh and bloud Moreover the Doctrine of Christianity truly represented is equally for the Interest of all Mankind and is by no means framed to serve the designs of Ambition and to advance one part of the Church to the prejudice and slavery of all the rest Lastly It teaches a Worship of great simplicity that has but very few Mysteries and nothing of that Pomp and Ceremony which is so pleasing to the Senses and the Fancies of Men and will not suffer them to place the weight of Religion in any outward Shows and Performances but in loving the Lord our God with all our heart and our neighbours as our selves And to such a course of life and temper of mind it obligeth us by all that it teaches concerning God and Christ and a life to come our Creed serving no other turn but to make it necessary for us to live a sober righteous and godly life But then 2. The evidence we have for the truth of this Doctrine and that God hath revealed it is not so irresistible as to over-rule all contradiction and perverseness though it be sufficient to satisfie a wise and honest Man nor is the manner wherein these things are testified and declared to us so inlightning as to make it absolutely impossible for a Man to mistake about them or for those that wilfully pervert them to delude others with putting false colours upon them although it is so plain that we must be extraordinarily to blame if we run into any Error against sound Faith or good Life One would think the Doctrine of the Resurrection had been plainly enough delivered first by our Saviour then by his Apostles and that the Institution of the Lord's Supper and the Order which the Apostles observed in the Administration of it was also plain enough and yet in this very Church of Corinth there were divers fouly mistaken as to the one and still wanted instruction as to the other One would think that those words This is my body were sufficiently plain and that there was not the least need for our Lord to have added presently after that saying But take notice that I mean This is my body by deputation or representation or in a figurative sense any more then to have so explained himself when he said I am the door I am the vine c. But yet because he did not think fit to leave an express caution against the literal sense of these words we know it has been insisted upon against plain evidence of Scripture Sence and Reason Again let a Man consider the Institution of the Holy Communion and have no prejudice upon his mind and he will never desire that it should have been more plainly expressed that the Cup be administred to all than it is especially since it is said of the Cup Drink ye All of this and they All drank of it But yet because these words were not added or the like And let no man ever presume to administer the Bread without administring the Cup to the same Person the Cup hath been taken away from the People for the greater reverence of Administration When St. Paul said that he that understands not the Language in which Prayer or giving of Thanks is made is not edified it could hardly have been thought necessary to have added this Let therefore all Forms of Publick Prayer and Administration of Sacraments in all Ages of the Church be made in the Tongue that the People understand And yet for want of some such conclusion Publick Prayers have been made in a Language that the People understand not and the Practice maintained as confidently as if the fourth Chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians were itself in a Language that we could not understand There is no question but God could have added such explications and cautions in the Scripture as would have made it a great deal more difficult and troublesome to bring in those Errors than it hath been and perhaps utterly impossible to maintain them amongst Christians without destroying the Bible out of the World But then by the same reason that such cautions had been necessary thousand times as many more had been necessary too For so many Additions by way of caution must have been made as there are ways of eluding and perverting a
grow better by them according to that saying in Daniel Chap. 12.10 The wicked shall do wickedly and shall not understand but the wise shall understand They are hardned and these are purified and the difference between Vertue and Sincerity on the one side and Hypocrisie and Vice on the other is so clearly seen that the good Examples will at last prevail against the scandal of those that are Evil and the indirect ways of supporting Error will shew the Simplicity and Vertue of the Children of Truth to more advantage than it could possibly have had without the Comparison so that it will be much more easie for People of honest tempers and dispositions to discern which is the true Flock of Christ and to what Communion they are to betake themselves When our blessed Saviour and his Apostles planted the Church things were not so ordered as to make Proselites of all sorts of Men however they were qualified but rather to gather together the Children of God that were scattered abroad that is all that were of pious and honest Dispositions and though the mighty Evidence wherewith the Gospel was preached drew in some that were none of the best yet either Persecutions or Schisms soon purged the Church of them again and Heresies seem to have been permitted ever since to carry on the same design of distinguishing between the Good and Bad and making it appear more evidently who are the faithful followers of Christ And it can by no means be unworthy of the Providence of God to suffer those Evils to happen which he makes to work for the same good end which was designed by that manner wherein the Gospel was at first revealed 2. Neither are Schisms and Heresies any objections against the Truth and Goodness of a Church unless it were always a disparagement to be opposed and forsaken which certainly it is not for otherwise Christianity it self as it was taught by Christ and his Apostles must needs have been a false Religion and the Church which they founded a false Church for thence came the Gnosticks and Valentinians and I know not how many Heresies more and the Apostle told the Elders at Miletum Acts 20.30 That from themselves would arise men teaching perverse things that would draw disciples after them It is certainly for want of better Arguments that the Reformation is to be objected against upon the account of those Parties into which it is divided and this Church of England for the sake of those Parties that have broken off from the Communion of it For as to the latter it is either no mark of a true Church to hold fast all that were once of it or else the Church of Christ was not that true Church since many went off from it and which perhaps they that make this Objection will be more concerned to consider they from whom so many Nations have broken off cannot escape their own Censure As for the Unity of those that keep together in one Profession and Communion this is no certain mark of Truth for as Men may be united in Truth so they may be united in Error And all parties have this mark common to them that so far as they do not differ they agree together and if this be an Argument of Truth those Parties equally have it that are most contrary to one another But 't is one of the most silly Objections in the World against a common Cause that is maintained by People that cannot agree in many things that therefore that Cause is naughty and erroneous this I say is intolerably vain and impertinent since this is to make the reason of Truth and Error to depend upon the uncertain Passions and the Interests of Men. For by this means 't is in the power of ill disposed Persons that for whatever reason may bring in a new Heresie to make all that Truth which they professed before to be Truth no longer And if it be a good Argument against us it is as good an Argument against Christianity in the general in the Mouth of a Turk or a Jew Christians are so far from being agreed what is true Christianity that they are fallen into Parties that have no Religious Communion with one another and therefore Christianity is a false Religion nay it is still a stronger Argument in the Mouth of an Atheist again all Religion whatsoever since Christianity Mahometanism Judaism and Paganism are at so great a distance from one another But there needs no other answer to this Objection than that which the Text affords by which we see that Heresies and Parties were unavoidable and so far from being an Argument against the Truth of Christianity that God was pleased to permit them even for the advantage of the Truth And therefore those that are so offended at the Divisions of the Church as to take occasion from thence either to throw off the Profession of Religion till all Parties are agreed about it or to take up with that which pretends to most Unity without any farther Examination are hereby demonstrated to be insincere and vicious Persons for as Heresies are permitted by Providence That they which are approved so they are permitted that they which are reprobate and cannot bear a Tryal may be also made manifest and it is no loss to the Truth if she be not found by those that love her not In the mean time they that are of God will hear his Word and Wisdom will be justified of her Children And that we may be found in that number we are to make it our first and principal Care to avoid the greatest Heresie of all and the cause of the rest and that is the Heresie of a wicked Life and vicious Affections Then we shall be more and more built up in our most Holy Faith and confirmed and established in the Truth as it is in Jesus For as evil Deeds make Men hate the Light so if our Deeds be good and our Consciences pure we shall love the Light and rejoyce in it we shall buy the Truth and not sell it we shall buy it with being at the pains of impartial Enquiry and Consideration and we shall not sell it for either comfortable or gainful Errors To conclude God hath in that manner revealed the Truth which concerns our Salvation that they may easily be deceived who are willing to be deceived but that they who seek it sincerely shall be sure to find it The Ninth Sermon 2 PET. I. 19. We have also a more sure word of prophecy whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn and the star arise in your hearts IN these words St. Peter commendeth Believers for taking heed or carefully attending to the Scriptures and moreover expresseth a weighty reason why in doing so they did well because they were the word of prophecy and a light shining in a dark place till the day dawned and the day-star arose in their
Lord Jesus Christ which is so necessary a duty incumbent on all that he who makes not this profession is in no respect within the Unity of the Church this being the ground of all other reasons of Unity whatsoever and therefore the Apostle makes this to be one principal foundation of the Unity of the Church that it professes subjection to one Lord Ephes 4.5 And in the third verse of this Chapter he layes down this mark of distinction between the impulse of the Spirit of God and the impulse of an evil Spirit That whosoever is led by the former doth say that Jesus is the Lord. They are also One in professing the Common Faith that was at first delivered to the Saints which began to be Preached when the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles and hath ever since been contained in the Holy Scriptures and summarily expressed in the Ancient Creeds And therefore to one Lord the Apostle doth in the forementioned place add one Faith Thus we find in Rom. 6.17 That one Form of Doctrine was delivered to Christians and that they are to stand fast in one Spirit and with one mind striving together for the Faith of the Gospel Phil. 1.27 Thus St Paul charged Timothy That if any man taught otherwise and consented not to wholsome Words the words of our Lord Jesns Christ and to the Doctrine which is according to Godliness he should from such withdraw himself 1 Tim. 6.3 not looking upon them any longer as Christians or as such conversiing with them which together with many other like passages manifestly shews that he who in any point departed from the common faith of Christians that was received from the Apostles was broken off from the Unity of the Church which is One by a Common profession of certain points of Grand importance taught at first by the Holy Spirit For which reason St. Cyprian doubted not to say He cannot seem a Christian who doth not persist in the Vnity of Christ's Gospel and Faith. 3. There is an Unity of Sacraments in the Christian Church One Baptism by which we are all admitted into the same state of Duties and Priviledges undertaking the conditions of the New Covenant and gaining a right to the promises thereof and therefore the Apostle adds also One Baptism And here in the Text he expresly affirms that by one Spirit we are Baptized into one Body into one Body of People professing one Common Faith and claiming the Priviledges belonging to such a profession The like Unity is inferred from the other Sacrament since we are all made to drink into one Spirit And in the 10th Chapter of this Epistle v. 16 17. he saith The Cup of blessing which we bless is it not the Communion of the Blood of Christ The bread which we break is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ For we being many are one Bread and one Body for we are all partakers of that one Bread. 4. There is also an Unity of Obedience to the same Laws and Institutions For to all Christians it equally belongeth to govern themselves effectually by the will of their Lord Jesus Christ to observe his Ordinances and Commands by the doing of which they declare themselves to be of his Flock in that they hear his voice and of his Kingdom in that they live by his Laws and that as there is one and the same obligation so there is one and the same correspondent practice one and the same Spirit of Obedience that runs through all 5. There is also an Unity of Affection or mutual Charity prescribed to the Church Thus saith our Saviour By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye love one another Thus saith the Apostle in this Chapter The Members should have the same care one for another and whether one member suffer all the members suffer with it or one member be honoured all the members rejoyce with it which kind of Unity appeared most visibly after the Church was begun on the day of Pentecost for it is observed presently that the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one Soul. Acts 4.32 6. There is also an Unity of Communion in the Service and Worship of God in joining together in the same Acts of Piety and Devotion according to the Rules of the Gospel in Prayers and in Sacraments and in glorifying God with one mouth moreover in the common defence of the same Truth and in the joint opposition of every dangerous error in propagating and promoting the same Faith of the Gospel and striving together for the interest of it 7. There is also an Unity of Discipline or Government which is to be maintained by every Member's keeping in his Place and Order in the Church the People of Christ receiving the Mysteries of Christianity from their Pastors and these confederating one with another for the maintenance of common Christianity without invading each others Liberty and Jurisdiction and accommodating as near as may be all Rites of Discipline and Worship to one another and assisting each other by Advice and Correspondence and giving no occasion to breach of Charity and Christian Communion by abusing a lawful or by claiming an undue Authority Other more particular Instances might be mentioned but I shall content my self with these believing that upon these Grounds of Unity which I have noted it will not be difficult to satisfie those scruples which have been thrown into some mens minds concerning the necessity of being of that one Church which is the Body of Christ and they are chiefly two 1. That there must be one Church which is the only Church of Christ exclusively to all the rest that are not in Communion with her 2. That where there is most Unity there of necessity must be the true Church 1. That there is but one Society or Communion which is the Body of Christ exclusively to all other Communions whatsoever For thus they argue The Apostle here and the New Testament elsewhere affirms That the disciples of Christ are one Body If therefore there be as there are several Bodies of Christians in this divided state of Christendom that are not United in Communion in Worship in Government no nor in Doctrine neither these cannot all be the Body of Christ which is but one and therefore there must be but one of them which is that Body of Christ or the true Church And from hence they proceed farther since we grant that they are a Church we do in effect grant that we are not so much as a part of the true Church our selves because we are not in Communion with them and we and they are not Members of one another as all the Members of the Church are Which kind of reasoning how likely soever it may be to confound and amuse a Man is by no means fit to unsettle a prudent nor so much as an honest Person if he will give himself leave to consider The plain Answer to
maintain the Purity of that Profession against another that hath superadded New and False Doctrines to it and yet the Reformed part may labour under discords that affect their very Communion while the other doth not There may be on the one side disobedience to Authority overvaluing of questions of no great moment a greater stress laid upon Opinions or Practices than the Cause will bear and this shall be sufficient to break Christian Communion and at the same time whilst gross Errors are maintained on the other side with one consent the differences that happen by the bye may be so over-ruled by Authority by Force and Power and by the sensible Interests of this World that how wide so ever they are they shall not yet rend Communion But in such a case it were the fondest thing in the World to chuse a Doctrine by the mark of Unity among those that profess it Therefore in this divided State of Christendom it is easie to see what Christians are to do to preserve the Unity of the Body of Christ as much as in them lies and to be sure that they are within the Unity of the Church in all respects 1. I need not say that they are to stand fast in the Faith which was first delivered to the Saints in the Common Faith of Christians for without this they could not so much as continue in that Body into which they were Baptized only I may add That they are to lay it up in their hearts and to value it as the greatest Treasure and to proclaim their esteem of it and to acknowledg all that profess it to be of the same Body with them This being that Faith which Christ came down from Heaven to establish in the World and which he sent the Holy Ghost to inspire his Apostles withal to reveal it to us and to confirm it for us by the Writings and by the Miracles of inspired Persons 'T is by this Faith and this Profession therefore which includes Baptism that they are Christians who will not allow us to be of the Church 2. Let them keep themselves from entertaining any corrupt or false Doctrines not only any that are contrary to the Scriptures but any as necessary to Salvation which are not to be proved by the Scriptures for thus they will be sure to keep themselves from any dangerous errors and continue not only true but pure believers and they sure are not the less but the more in the Unity of the Church who receive nothing as necessary to be beleived in order to Salvation but what by the undoubted Records of our Christian Faith appears to have been taught by Christ and his Apostles 3. Let every private Christian be most careful to observe the Commands of our Lord Jesus in the Government of all his Affections and all his Actions for Unity in this thing ought to be amongst all Christians since without obedience no man how qualified soever he may be in the Church upon other accounts shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven not every one that saith Lord Lord Without this it is not the being of the one Church it is not the professing of the One Faith no nor the being of a pure Profession and a pure Communion that will unite us really and effectually to our Lord Jesus the Head of the Church but we shall be cut off from him as Branches that bring forth no fruit 4. Let him maintain an Universal Charity to all Christians Good will to those that are misled and seduced in endeavouring to reduce them as he hath opportunity in Praying for them readiness to be beneficial to all his Brethren to forgive injuries and to overcome evil with good compassion to the miserable pleasure in that which is for the particular good of any one of his brethren and much more in what is for the general good of all Thus he shall preserve himself in the other Unity which is the Duty of the Church the Unity of Charity and Good will. 5. Let him live in strict Communion with the particular Church whereof he is a Member in subjection to the Authority of it in observing the Rules of it for the guidance of Religious Assemblies for the ordering of all things that fall under human Authority i.e. the Authority of the Lawful Guides of the Church in order to the Edification and well Governing of it Thus he shall maintain an Unity of Communion with his Brethren and his Guides and so in effect with the whole Christian Church where the Parts of it do as they ought to do and most undoubtedly we are not to be united to any of them in things wherein they do as they ought not The Sum of this Advice is easie to be understood and to a good man as easie to be practised There is no need for him to trouble his own mind with nice and intricate Questions about Unity because he will maintain his part in order to the Unity of the Church by doing his plain Duty by sticking to the Faith which is professed by all Christians the Faith into which we were Baptized by rejecting whatsoever is contrary to the Scriptures and making them the Rule of his Religious Persuasions which all Christians ought to do by observing the Rules of the Gospel for the Government of his Life and Actions in which yet undoubtedly all Churches and every Member of every Church ought to conspire though this part of Unity is hardly remembred when men talk of the Church by bearing Christian Affection towards all that name the name of Christ whereby he performs the duty of Unity towards them which whether they do or not they ought to perform too Finally By frequenting the Service of God in Publick Prayers and Exhortations in the Administration of Sacraments according to the Order of the Church whereof in particular the Grace and Providence of God hath made him a Member and which observes the Institutions of our Lord Jesus in all the Publick Offices of Religion For thus he performs his part of Unity towards the whole Church with respect to Communion nor is he nor can be to blame if others will not be perswaded to it It is a fond thing to think of seeking a True Church that is the only Church in opposition to all others or to be scandalized at the divided State of the Church which we cannot help and under a pretence of seeking for Unity to mind nothing else We are to preserve our selves in the Unity of the Church by professing true Doctrine and by leading good lives by a Charitable Spirit and Behaviour towards all Christians by frequenting Prayers and Sacraments and submitting to the Authority of our Lawful Guides in all things of Indifference and Prudence and then we may be sure that whatever others do we keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace And though after all the Church is not that One Body which it would be if all men did their Duty yet
submission to her Authority in every point of Religion so much greater reason there is to examine every one of her particulars and if I find that she is mistaken in any of them I am verysure that she is not infallible in all And if she will not allow me to make a Judgment of the Particulars 't is just as if a man should try to hinder me from castingup my own Accounts by going about to prove that he cannot possibly mistake in doing it he might indeed shew some Wit in working his Demonstration but I should shew a great deal more folly in trusting him To conclude We have a Rule whereby to try the Doctrine I will not only say of a Church or a Pope or a Council but even of an Angel from Heaven if an Angel should come and Preach to us and that Rule is the Holy Scripture especially the Writings of the Evangelists and Apostles These are by all Christians acknowledged to be the undoubted and the most ancient Records of our Holy Religion and they have had a Tradition so uncontroulable as no Books in the World ever had the like Whoever therefore is our Guide it is very reasonable that this should be our Rule And of all Churches in the World I will never trust my self to her discretion that will not trust me with the Knowledg and Study of this Rule Here we may if we please make our selves very sure that we are of those whom God will justifie for here we may discern what kind of persons St. Paul and the Christians of whom he speaks in this place and what all the Apostles and Primitive Disciples of our Lord were For those Books which acquaint us with their Names and which were written by some of themselves do also discover to us what Faith they profess'd what Doctrine they taught and what Lives they led Now if we profess that very Faith and teach no other Doctrine and frame our practise by their Rules and good Examples then without all question we are such kind of Christians as they were and then altho we should be used by the world as they were too yet the encouragement and comfort which they had will also belong to us and we too may say Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect it is God that justifieth who is he that condemneth it is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again Having therefore the Infallible Rule of God's Word whereby to guide our selves We beseech you Brethren and exhort you by the Lord Jesus that as ye have received of us how you ought to walk and to please God so ye would abound more and more that while evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse deceiving and being deceived ye may continue in the things which ye have learned knowing of whom ye have learned them even from the Sayings of our Lord Jesus and his holy Apostles delievered to us in the Scriptures which are able to make us wise unto salvation through saith which is in Christ Jesus Let us remember that it had been better for us not to have known the way of righteousness than after we have known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered to us not forgetting by any means that 't is a way of righteousness we have been made to know and an holy Commandment that hath been delivered to us from which therefore we may depart as damnably by an impure Conversation as by letting go our pure Profession in which case we are so far from being justified that we shall be the more condemned by our Faith We have no false Principles to save our hearts from condemning us if we allow our selves in any way of wickedness and God is greater than our hearts and knoweth all things Whoever else condemns us that is more than recompence enough if God justifieth But who is he that shall justifie us if God condemns FINIS THE SUMM OF A CONFERENCE On Feb. 21. 1686. BETWEEN Dr. Clagett and Father Gooden About the Point of TRANSVBSTANTIATION LONDON Printed for William Rogers at the Sun over against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet MDCLXXXIX The SUM of a CONFERENCE On Feb. 21. 1686. BETWEEN Dr. Clagett and Father Gooden About the POINT of TRANSUBSTANTIATION Introduction IT will perhaps appear to some a little strange that I do not say almost Incredible that there should have pass'd a Conference above two years since in which Mr. Gooden was concern'd and the World yet to learn the Substance of it The Vanity of that Gentleman to thrust himself upon all Occasions into Disputes with the most Learned Men of our Church first and then to boast of his own Performances in them was fogreat that there is scarce a Coffee-house in the Town that has not been filled with the Noise of his Impertinent Vapours And if those of the Other Communion have been always remarkable for an Assurance becoming the pretended Infallibility of their Church I may venture to say that next to Father P the Jesuit and his friend Mr. M I scarce know any among them that have ever talk'd so loud or made such Heroical Defiances of the Champions and Armies of our Israel in all Places and upon all Occasions as Mr. Gooden these late Years has done among us But thus shallow Waters always run with the Greatest Noise and Violence and little Sophisters who either want Capacity to see into their own Fallacies or think they have forehead enough to carry that off with Clamour and Confidence which they cannot do by Reason and Argument delight to expose themselves and their Religion to the most dangerous Tryals whilst Men of Learning and Judgment are modest and ingenuous and know it to be neither for the Honour of their Church nor their own Reputation to challenge all Mankind to answer Paradoxes and to shew that not to be Demonstration which when brought to the Tryal is hardly sence See Mr. G's Pap. p. 10. I hope this will not be thought too severe a Reflection on the late Pretenders of this kind among us which I speak out of a just respect to the more Learned and Charitable Persons of the Church of Rome who have been no less Scandalized at these forward Zealots than our selves and to whom I ought to give this Testimony That during a long acquaintance with many of them I never met with any thing of the Vanity of those I have before mentioned Our Differences in matters of Religion made no Disturbance either in our Friendship or Conversation with One Another If the discourse at any time led to a Controversie of Faith we argu'd it upon the same Principles and with the same Calmness that we did any other Subject whatsoever by Arguments drawn from the Authority of the Holy Scriptures or from the Testimonies of the Ancient Fathers as the Nature of the thing required us to do If these did not Convince they never flew off to the Common-Place Topic's of the
both as to the Accidents and nature of Bread I grant that the Accidents of Bread would be the Body of Christ and if it be not the same both as to the Nature and Accidents I deny it This I profess not to understand Fath. As to the Doctors Argument it includes a Sophism as will appear when brought into form because it involves 4 Terms because he supposes in one Proposition for the Accidents of Bread and in the other for the Nature Dr. In the Argument I used I went upon this Supposition That the Accidents of Bread were onely to be understood as the Answerer supposes and therefore I have not confounded the Nature and the Accidents of Bread together Besides the Distinction between the Nature of Bread and the Accidents of Bread was not to be remembred any more by the Answerer because I proceed upon his Supposition That the Accidents onely are broken Now if St. Paul speaks of nothing but what is broken and Accidents onely are broken and yet if he speaks of the very flesh of Christ too then the Accidents of the Bread are the very flesh of Christ And whereas the Answerer by his last Answer means the Nature of Christ's Body as he says I understood him of the Nature of Bread. And now once more I desire him to shew me where the four Terms are Fath. The Text of St. Paul the Dr. takes for his Medium and argues from a double Supposition as first taking it for the Accidents of Bread which were broken and afterwards for the substance of Christ's Body under the Accidents in which latter sense it signifies the same that is meant by our Saviour in St. John. Dr. I observe the Answerer will allow nothing to be broken but Accidents I observe also that nothing is said to be the Body of Christ or the Communion of the Body of Christ but what is broken If therefore nothing is broken but Accidents then Accidents are either according to the Answerer's long proof the very Body of Christ or according to the Apostle the Communion of the Body of Christ But neither are the Accidents of Bread the Body of Christ nor the Communion of the Body of Christ And this I say is not answered and believe will not be answered by any man that maintains that St. Paul does not here speak properly of Bread. Fath. All along in my Discourse I have supposed that when St. Paul speaks of this bread he spoke of the H. Eucharist in which were contained both the Accidents of Bread and the true body of Christ How the Dr. has disproved this Doctrine so clearly as to justifie the Reformation I understand not Because I conceive no private Persons or particular Church ought to pretend a Reformation without clear evidence whether the Dr. has given such I leave to the consideration of the Readers And whether having broken off from the great body of the Vniversal Church and its testimony he can possibly have any certain Rule to arrive at Christian Faith If Scripture be pretended interpreted by a fallible Authority how Certainty can be obtained or why a Socinian following Scripture for his Rule of Faith is not to be believed as well as any other Reformer following the same Rule I see not Signed W. Clagett Peter Gooden Dr. CLAGETT's Answer TO A PAPER Delivered to Him by Father GOODEN The Paper ARticles of Christian Faith are Truths Truths are Impossible to be False Therefore Articles of Christian Faith are Impossible to be False Therefore those who obtain Articles of the Christian Faith must have some Rule to Acquire them by which cannot deceive them To a Parliamentary Protestant the Antient Fathers cannot be such a Rule because they are accounted Fallible Nor Councels because they also are accounted Fallible Nor Scriptures sensed by a Fallible Authority because all such Interpretations may be False And therefore Faith cannot be Obtained by any such means For that which is Doubtfull can only Create Opinion which is also Doubtful And He that doubts in Faith the Apostle says is Infidelis And a Company of Doubters are not a Church of Faithful but a Society of such as the Apostle calls Infidels Signed Peter Gooden The Answer Pap. Articles of Christian Faith are Truths Ans The Design of the Disputer is to prove that we are Doubters and therefore Infidels But never did any man begin a business more unluckily for at the very first dash he takes it for granted that we do undoubtedly believe Articles of Christan Faith to be Truths for otherwise he ought to have proved that they are so But there is another Misfortune he is faln into no less than that for his Argument to prove that we must needs be Doubters is that we want an Infallible Rule Now if he is sure that we want an Infallible Rule and that without such a Rule there can be no Faith I am sure he does notoriously contradict himself by supposing that we believe all Articles of Christian Faith to be Truths though we have no such Rule This is a very hopeful Paper and like to make wise Converts which ends in making us Infidels and begins to prove it by an Argument that manifestly supposes Us to be Believers which also pretends that we have no Infallible Rule and therefore can be sure of no Point of Faith but yet manifestly supposes Us to be Assured of Some without it which shews the Paper to be a trifling Paper and worth no more Consideration But because the Disputer is said to boast so much of the Argument Contained in it I will go on with every Clause of it to Convince him if he does not already know it that there is not a Line in it but is either false or nothing to the purpose Pap. Truths are Impossible to be False Ans By Truths the Disputer means the Truth of Things or of Propositions and therefore this is a vain and fulsome saying which does not Advance his Reasoning one jot farther than it was before For this is no more than to say That which is true is true and it cannot possibly be but truths must be truths I think he applies himself to us as if we wanted not only Christian Faith but Common sence Pap. Therefore Articles of Christian Faith are Impossible to be False Ans There is no doubt of this supposing that they are Truths So that the Argument he begins with being put into the right order and into other words is this It is Impossible but truths must be truths but Articles of Christian Faith are Truths Therefore it is Impossible but they must be Truths The Antient Fathers had made wise work with Christianity if they had gone this way to work to Convert Infidels Pap. Therefore those who obtain the Articles of the Christian Faith must have some Rule to acquire them by which cannot deceive them Ans This is an obscure saying and I must make the best of it By obtaining Articles of the Christian Faith I
not take me to be Infallible and yet I am confident he would be angry if I should say his Paper was not to be understood without an Infallible Interpreter let him answer this if he can The Reason he gives why Scripture sensed by a fallible Authority cannot be the Rule of Faith is because all such Interpretations may be false That is to say because there is a bare Possibility of any fallible man's mistaking the sense of plain Texts Which kind of Reasoning makes impossible that every man should come to be a Believer unless himself be first Infallible And this I shall Demonstrate so plainly that no man who has any share of Understanding and modesty shall be able to deny it There is no possible way for any sort of Christians to make known either the Articles or Reasons of Faith to those that are yet Ignorant of them but by words or sentences written or spoken He who hears or reads the words and Sentences cannot tell either what is to believe or why he should believe till he understands or in the Disputers Phrase till he Senses those words and Sentences but as yet his Authority is but fallible and words sensed by a Fallible Authority can never give a man certainty either of the Rule or of the Reason of his Faith If this Disputer be in the Right therefore 't is impossible to make him a Believer unless you can make him Infallible first that it may not be Possible for him to be mistaken in Sensing the words which he hears or reads And thus farewell to all Advantage that any man can have by the Infallibility of Popes and Councils or Oral Tradition as well as by the Scriptures Nay and to all Possible means of arriving to certainty in any matter of Faith unless every body be Infallible first so that upon supposition that God would have all men to be saved and therefore to believe it inavoidably follows from the wild Reasoning of this man that God has made every Man Infallible But if it be evident that men are fallible Creatures then this Disputer has Advanced a Principle the most destructive to all certainty of Faith that ever was heard of in the world But the comfort is that 't is so very absurd that no body well in his wits can be misled by it Pap. And therefore Faith cannot be obtain'd by any such means Ans Which is as much as to say that Faith cannot be obtain'd till a man have the gift of Infallibility And if every man has it before he can be taught to any purpose what need can there be of an Infallible Interpreter to teach him But as I observed before 't is impossible to make Believers of those that are not Infallible unless the Disputer or his Church has a way to make known the Doctrines and Reasons of Christian Faith without words Pap. For that which is doubtful can only create opinion which is also doubtful Ans Therefore since all words are doubtful to him that has but a fallible Authority to sense them as no man has more before he believes 't is impossible for the Disputers Church to create any thing more than opinion which is also doubtful in those whom she teaches unless as I have already said she can make them Infallible first and teach them afterwards And even then there would be no need of teaching them at all because they are now Infallible themselves Of all the Papers that ever I read I never met with any thing more absurd and contradictious than the Reasoning of this In which the Disputer out of a vehement desire to overthrow our Faith and the Grounds of it has laid down Principles that do effectually overthrow all ways of making men sure of any thing and in particular the use of those very methods by which his own Church pretends to lead men to Faith. Pap. And he that doubts in Faith the Apostle saith is Infidelis and a company of Doubters are not a Church of Faithful but a society of such as the Apostle calls Infidels Ans What Apostle says this if the Disputer refers to Rom. 14.23 as I think he does he has shewn his skill in the Interpretation of Scripture to be equal to his mastery in Reasoning If in the Infallible Church they can Interpret Scripture no better than thus give me the honesty and industry of a Fallible Church before it The Conclusion AND now after all this Paper is as absurd in the design as it is in the management for the business of it is to prove That Protestants have no Faith but are Infidels and that by this Argument they are and must be doubters Now whether I doubt or do not doubt is a Question concerning a matter of Fact that I have more reason to know the truth of than the Disputer can possibly have and if I know that I do not doubt and he can yet prove that I do doubt he is an extraordinary man indeed For then I am sure he can prove That Truth not onely may be but is false which perhaps such a man as he can Reconcile with what he said at first That truths are impossible to be false And this alone had been a sufficient Answer to his Paper for nothing can be more frivolous than to go about to prove to a man by fine Reasoning that he does doubt of a thing when he is as sure that he does not doubt of it as he can be of any thing in the World. But the design of this Paper seems to be as Impious as 't is Absurd And that is to bring weak Persons to Infidelity first that they may afterwards be setled upon Romish Grounds I do acknowledg 't is a very proper way to bring us over to the Church of Rome to make us Infidels first But this they will not find so easy a matter for we trust that we are not of those who draw back to Perdition but of those that believe to the saving the Soul. I have omitted nothing in the whole Paper but to take notice of that little and mean Reflection in calling the Protestant a Parliamentary Protestant I have told this Disputer the Reason and Ground of our Faith If we moreover are Protected in the Profession of it by the Laws of the Land I suppose 't is no more then what he would desire for the Profession of Popery and he would think never the worse of himself for being a Parliamentary Papist Thus I have Answered this Paper through every clause of it And I am confident destroy'd all that little Appearance of Reasoning that it made Let the Disputer build it up again if he can I promise him by God's Grace that I 'le pull it down again FINIS BOOKS Printed for and are to be Sold by William Rogers BIshop Wilkins's Fifteen Sermons 8º Dr. Tillotson's Sermons and Discourses The Third Volume 8º Dr. Wallis's two Sermons of Regeneration 4º His Defence of the Royal Society 4º Mr. Hodges
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By the Reverend Dr. Stillingfleet Dean of St. Paul's 4º An Answer to a Discourse entituled Papists Protesting against Protestant Popery 4º An Answer to the Amicable Accommodation of the Differences between the Representer and the Answerer 4º A Sermon Preach'd at the Funeral of Dr. Calamy These Three by the Reverend Dr. Sherlock Master of the Temple 4º A View of the whole Controversie between the Representer and the Answerer By Dr. Clagett 4º The Authority of Councils and the Rule of Faith With an Answer to the Eight Theses laid down for the Tryal of the English Reformation The First Part about Councils by Hutchinson Esq the rest by Dr. Clagett 4º An Answer to the eighth Chapter of the Representers Second Part in the first Dialogue between him and his Lay-Friend 4º The Doctrine of the Trinity and Transubstantiation compared as to Scripture Reason and Tradition In a new Dialogue between a Protestant and a Papist Two Parts by the Reverend Dr. Stillingfleet Dean of St. Paul's 4º The State of the Church of Rome when the Church of England began as it appears by two Advices given to Paul 3. and Julius 3. By Dr. Glaget 4º The School of the Eucharist Translated and Published with an excellent Preface by Dr. Clagett Price 4º 1 s. in 8º 6 d. The absolute Impossibility of Transubstantiation demonstrated By Mr. Samuel Johnson 4º A Letter to a Friend reflecting on some passages in a Letter to the D. of P. in answer to the arguing part of his first Letter to Mr. G. 4º The Reflecters Defence of his Letter to a Friend against the furious Assaults of Mr. J. S. in his Second Catholick Letter In four Dialogues 4º The Protestant Resolv'd Or a Discourse shewing the unreasonableness of his turning Roman Catholick for Salvation 4º These Three by the Reverend Mr. Clement Elis. Some Dialogues between Mr. G. and others With Reflections on a Book call'd Pax Vobis By Mr. Linford 8º Francis Brocard Secretary to Pope Clement the Eighth his Alarm to all Protestant Princes With a Discovery of Popish Plots and Conspiracies after his Conversion from Popery to the Protestant Religion 4º Books lately Printed for William Rogers A Perswasive to Frequent Communion in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper Price 3 d. 8o. A Discourse against Transubstantiation 8º Price 3 d. A Sermon Preach'd at Lincolns-Inn-Chappel on the 31st of Jan. 1688 Being the Day appointed for a Publick Thanksgiving to Almighty God for having made his Highness the Prince of Orange the Glorious Instrument of the Great Deliverance of this Kingdom from Popery and Arbitrary Power 4o. A Sermon Preach'd before the Queen at White-Hall March the 8th 1689. 4º A Sermon Preach'd before the King and Queen at Hampton-Court April the 14th 1689. 4º All Five by the Reverend Dr. Tillotson Dean of Canterbury The Practical Believer Or the Articles of the Apostles Creed drawn out to form a True Christian's Heart and Practice In Two Parts 8º A Vindication of some Protestant Principles of Church-Unity and Catholick-Communion from the Charge of Agreement with the Church of Rome 4o. A Preservative against Popery Being some plain Directions to unlearned Protestants how to Dispute with Romish Priests Part I. The Fifth Edition 4º The Second Part of the Preservative against Popery Shewing how contrary Popery is to the True Ends of the Christian Religion Fitted for the Instruction of unlearned Protestants Second Edition 4º A Vindication of Both Parts of the Preservative against Popery In answer to the Cavils of Lewis Sabran Jesuit 4º A Discourse concerning the Nature Unity and Communion of the Catholick Church Wherein most of the Controversies relating to the Church are briefly and plainly stated Part I. 4º A Sermon Preach'd before the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of the City of London at Guild-Hall-Chappel Novemb. 4. 1688. All six by the Reverend Dr. Sherlock Master of the Temple A Letter to the Superiours whether Bishops or Priests which Approve or License the Popish Books in England particularly to those of the Jesuits Order concerning Lewis Sabran a Jesuit By Mr. Gee 4º A Letter of Enquiry to the Reverend Fathers of the Society of Jesus Written in the Person of a dissatisfied Roman Catholick By J. Taylor Gent. 4º The History of the Persecutions of the Protestants by the French King in the Principality of Orange from the Year 1660 to the Year 1687. 4º The Art of Spelling By J. P. M. A. A Sermon Preach'd before the King and Queen at Hampton-Court May the 12th 1689. By Robert Brograve M. A. 4º A Discourse concerning the Nature of Idolatry in which a late Author's viz. the Bishop of Oxford's True and Only Notion of Idolatry is consider'd and confuted 4º An Exhortation to mutual Charity and Unity among Protestants In a Sermon Preach'd before the King and Queen at Hampton-Court May 20. 1689. A Sermon Preach'd before the Honourable House of Commons at St. Margaret's Westminster June 5. 1689. being the Fast-Day 4º These Three by the Reverend Mr. Wake Dr. Clagett's Seventeen Sermons With the Sum of a Conference between him and Father Gooden about Transubstantiation 8º