Roman Church That the Definitions of a General Council confirmed by the Pope are not Obligatory unless they be receiv'd by the Universal Church From whence these two great Inconveniencies will unavoidably follow Iâ— That no Man is obliged to believe such Definitions 'till he Certainly know that they are received by the Universal Church which how he should Certainly much less Infallibly know I cannot understand unless he either speak with all the Christians in the World or the Representatives of all particular Churches return back and meet again in Council to declare that the Universal Church hath received their Definitions which I think was never yet done II. It will follow that the Definitions of a General Council confirmed by the Pope are not Infallible 'till they be received by the Universal Church For if they were Infallible without that they would be Obligatory without it because an Infallible Definition if we know it to be so lays an Obligation to believe it whether it be receiv'd by the Universal Church or not And if such Definitions are not Infallible 'till they be received by the Universal Church they cannot become Infallible afterwards because if the Definitions were not Infallible before they cannot be received as such by the Universal Church nor by the meer reception of them be made to be Infallible Definitions if they were not so before But if we should pass over all these Difficulties there is a greater yet behind and that is Supposing the Definitions of General Councils confirmed by the Pope to be Infallible particular Christians cannot be secured Infallibly from Error without the Knowledge of those Definitions And there are but two ways imaginable of conveying this Knowledge to them Either by the living voice of their particular Pastors whom they are implicitely to believe in these Matters but particular Pastors are Fallible as they themselves grant and therefore their words can neither be an Infallible Foundation of Faith or an Infallible means of conveying it and it is unreasonable they say for Men that own themselves to be Fallible to require an implicit Belief to be given to them Or else the Knowledge of the Definitions of Councils must be conveyed to particular Christians by Writing and if so then there will only be an Infallible Rule but no living Infallible Judge And if an Infallible Rule will serve the turn we have the Scriptures which we are sure are Infallible and therefore at least as good as any other Rule But they say that the Definitions of Councils give us an Infallible Interpretation of Scripture and therefore are of greater advantage to us But do not the Definitions of Councils sometimes also need Explication that we may know the certain Sense of them without which we cannot know the Doctrines defined Yes certainly they need Explication as much as Scripture if there be any difference about the meaning of them and there have been and still are great Differences among those of their own Church about the meaning of them And if the Explications of General Councils need themselves to be explain'd then there is nothing got by them and we are but where we were before For Differences about the meaning of the Definitions of General Councils make as great Difficulties and Uncertainties in Faith as the Differences about the meaning of Scripture Well but the People have the living voice of their particular Pastors to explain the Definitions of Councils to them But this does not help the Matter neither for these two Reasons First Because particular Pastors have no Authority to explain the Definitions of General Councils The Council of Trent hath by express Decree reserved to the Pope and to him only the Power to explain the Definitions of the Council if any difference arise about the meaning of them So that if there be any difference about the true sense and meaning of any of the Definitions of the Council particular Pastors have no Authority to explain them and where there is no doubt or difference about the meaning of them there is no occasion for the explication of them Secondly But suppose they had Authority to explain them this can be no Infallible Security to the People that they explain them right both because particular Pastors are fallible and likewise because we see in experience that they differ in their Explications witness the Bishop of Condom's Exposition of the Catholick Faith and of the Definitions of the Council of Trent which is in many Material Points very different from that of Bellarmine and many other Famous Doctors of that Church And which is more witness the many differences betwixt Ambroâ—ius Catharinus and Dominicus Asoto about the Definitions of that Council in which they were both present and heard the Debates and themselves bore a great part in them Now if they who were present at the framing of the Definitions of that Council cannot agree about the meaning of them much less can it be expected from those that were absent Secondly This Provision which I have mentioned is likewise as good a way to prevent and put an end to Controversies in Religion so far as it is necessary they should be prevented or have an end put to them as any Infallible Church would be if there were one And this is another Reason why an Infallible Church is so much insisted upon that there may be some way and means for a final decision of Controversies which the Scriptures cannot be because they are only a dead Rule which can end no Controversie without a Living Judge ready at hand to interpret and apply that Rule upon emergent Occasions It is not necessary that all Controversies in Religion should either be prevented or decided This the Church which pretends to be Infallible cannot pretend to have done because there are manifold Controversies even in the Church of Rome her self concerning Matters of Religion which still remain undecided and in their Commentaries upon Scripture many Differences about the sense of several Texts concerning which she hath not thought fit to give an Infallible Interpretation And where their Popes and several of their General Councils have thought fit to meddle with Scripture they have applyed and interpreted Texts more improperly and absurdly than even their private Doctors And which is more in Differences about Points of Faith which are pretended on both sides to be fundamental this Church hath not thought fit to put an end to them by her Infallible Decision after two hundred years brangling about them For instance in that fierce and long Difference about the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin which on both sides is pretended to be an Article of Faith and for which contrary Revelations of their Canonized Saints are so frequently pretended and yet neither Pope nor General Council have thought fit to exert their Infallibility for the decision of this Controversie So that if their Church had this Talent of Infallibility ever committed to them they have with the slothful Servant
SIXTEEN SERMONS Preached on Several Subjects By the Most Reverend Dr. JOHN TILLOTSON Late Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Being The THIRD VOLUME Published from the Originals By Ralph Barker D. D. Chaplain to his Grace LONDON Printed for Ri. Chilwell at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-yard MDCXCVI The most Reverend Dr. IOHN TILLOTSON late Arch-Bishop of Canterbury THE CONTENTS SERMON I. GALAT. I. 8 9. But tho' We or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him be accursed As we said before so say I now again if any man preach any other Gospel unto you than that ye have received let him be accursed Pag. 1. SERMON II III IV. JOHN VII 17. If any Man will do his Willâ— he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God or whether I speak of my self p. 31 55 85. SERMON V VI VII VIII LUKE XII 15. And he said unto them Take heed and beware of Covetousness for a Man's Life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth p. 109 139 165 193. SERMON IX X. MATTH VI. 33. But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you p. 223 253. SERMON XI PSAL. CXIX 96. I have seen an end of all Perfection but thy Commandment is exceeding broad p. 285. SERMON XII XIII 2 PETER I. 4. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious Promises that by thâ—se ye might be partakers of the Divine Nature p. 319 345. SERMON XIV XV. 1 PETER IV. 19. Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of Godâ— commit the keeping of their Souls to him in well-doing as unto a faithful Creator p. 367 415. SERMON XVI JOHN IX 4. I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day the night cometh when no Man can work p. 445. A SERMON ON GALAT. I. 8 9. But tho' We or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him be accursed As we said before so say I now again if any man preach any other Gospel unto you than that ye have received let him be accursed BEfore I come to handle the words for our better understanding of them I shall give a brief account of the occasion of them which was this Some false Apostles had made a great disturbance in the Churches planted by the Apostles of Christ by teaching that it was necessary for Christians not only to embrace and entertain the Doctrines and Precepts of the Christian Religion but likewise to be Circumcised and keep the Law of Moses Of this disturbance which was raised in the Christian Church you have the History at large Acts 15. and as in several other Churches so particularly in that of Galatia these false Apostles and Seducers had perverted many as appears by this Epistle in the beginning whereof St. Paul complains that those who were seduced into this Error of the necessity of Circumcision and keeping the Law of Moses had by this new Article of Faith which they had added to the Christian Religion quite altered the frame of it and made the Gospel another thing from that which our Saviour delivered and commanded his Apostles to teach all Nations For he tells us ver 6. of this Chapter that he marvelled that they were so soon removed from him that called them by or through the grace of Christ untâ— another Gospel that is so different from that which they had been instructed in by those who first preached the Gospel unto them For the making of any thing necessary to Salvation which our Saviour in his Gospel had not made so he calls another Gospel I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you by the grace of Christ unto another Gospel which is not another 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is no other thing or by which I mean nothing else but that there are some that trouble you and would pervert the Gospel of Christ as if he had said when I say that ye are removed to another Gospel I do not mean that ye have renounced Christianity and are gone over to another Religion but that ye are seduced by those who have a mind to pervert the Gospel of Christ by adding something to it as a necessary and essential part of it which Christ hath not made so This the Apostle calls a perverting or overthrowing of the Gospel because by thus altering the Terms and Conditions of it they made it quite another thing from what our Saviour delivered it And then at the 8 th and 9 th verses he denounceth a terrible Anathema against those whoever they should be yea tho' it were an Apostle or an Angel from Heaven who by thus perverting the Gospel of Christ that is by making any thing necessary to be believed or practised which our Saviour in his Gospel had not made so should in effect preach another Gospel but tho' we or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him be Anathema an accursed thing And then to express his confidence and vehemency in this matter and to shew that he did not speak this rashly and in a heat but upon due consideration he repeats it again in the next verse As we said before so say I now again if any man preach any other Gospel unto you than that ye have received let him be accursed From the words thus explained by the consideration of the Context and of the main scope and design of this Epistle these following Observations do naturally arise First That the addition of any thing to the Christian Religion as necessary to be believed and practised in order to Salvation is a perverting the Gospel of Christ and preaching another Gospel Secondly That no pretence of Infallibility is sufficient to authorise and warrant the addition of any thing to the Christian Doctrine as necessary to be believed and practised in order to Salvation Thirdly That Christians may judge and discern when such additions are made Fourthly and consequently That since the declaration of the Gospel and the confirmation of it there is no Authority in the Christian Church to impose upon Christians any thing as of necessity to Salvation which the Gospel hath not made so Fifthly That there is no visible Judge how Infallible soever he may pretend to be to whose definitions and declarations in Matters of Faith and Practice necessary to Salvation we are bound to submit without examination whether these things be agreeable to the Gospel of Christ or not Sixthly and Lastly Whosoever teacheth any thing as of necessity to Salvation to be believed or practised besides what the Gospel of Christ hath made necessary does fall under the Anathema here in the Text because in so doing he perverteth the Gospel of Christ and preacheth another Gospel Now the
because the Pope it seems and no body else understands the true meaning of that Council at least is thought fit to declare it And therefore one may justly wonder at the presumption of those who after this Declaration of the Council have taken upon them to Expound the Catholick Faith and to represent that Religion to us as it is defined in that Council because if there be any Controversie about the meaning of its Definitions as there have been a great many even betwixt those who were present at the Council when those Definitions were made none but the Pope himself can certainly tell the meaning of them Now in this Creed of Pope Pius there are added to the Ancient Creed of the Christian Church twelve or thirteen new Articles as concerning Purgatory Transubstantiation the Worship of Images the Invocation of Saints the Communion in one kind and that the Church of Rome is the Mother and Mistress of all Churches and that there is no Salvation to be had out of it and several other Points all which have either no foundation in Scripture or are plainly contrary to it and none of them ever esteemed as Articles of Faith in the Ancient Christian Church for the first five hundred years and yet they are now obtruded upon Christians as of equal necessity to Salvation with the Twelve Articles of the Apostles Creed and this under a pretence of Infallibility which St. Paul tells us would not have justified an Apostle or an Angel from Heaven in making such additions to the Christian Religion and the imposing of any thing as necessary to Salvation which is not so declared by the Gospel of Christ And all that they have to say for this is That We do not pretend to be Infallible but there is a necessity of an Infallible Judge to decide these Controversies and to him they are to be referred Which is just as if in a plain matter of Right a contentious and confiâ—â—nt Man should desire a reference and contrive the matter so as to have it refer'd to himself upon a sleeveless pretence without any proof or evidence that he is the only Person in the World that hath Authority and Infallible Skill to decide all such differences Thus the Church of Rome would deal with us in Things which are as plain as the noon-day as Whether God hath forbidden the Worship of Images in the second Commandment Whether our Saviour did Institute the Sacrament in both kinds Whether the People ought not to read the Scriptures and to have the publick Service of God in a known Tongue These and the like they would have us refer to an Infallible Judge and when we ask who he is they tell us that their Church which hath imposed these things upon Christians and made these additions to the Gospel of Christ is that Infallible Judge But if she were as Infallible as she pretends to be even as an Apostle or an Angel from Heaven St. Paul hath denounced an Anathema against her for preaching another Gospel and making those things necessary to the Salvation of Men which are not contained in the Gospel of Christ The Inference from all this Discourse in short is this That we should contend earnestly for the Faith once delivered to the Saints and not suffer our selves by the confident pretences of Seducers to be removed from him that hath called us through the grace of Christ unto another Gospel The necessary Doctrines of the Christian Religion and the common Terms of Salvation are so plain that if any Man be ignorant of them it is his own fault and if any go about to impose upon us any thing as of necessity to be believed and practised in order to Salvation which is not declared to be so in the Holy Scriptures which contain the true Doctrine of the Gospel what Authority soever they pretend for it yea tho' they assume to themselves to be Insallible the Apostle hath plainly told us what we are to think of them for he hath put the Case as high as is possible here in the Text when he says Tho' We or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him be accursed I will conclude all with that Counsel which the Spirit of God gives to the Churches of Asia Revel 3. 3. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard and hold fast and Chap. 2. 10. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer be thou faithful unto the Death and I will give thee a Crown of Life A SERMON ON JOHN VII 17. If any Man will do his Will he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God or whether I speak of my self SINCE there are so many different Opinions and Apprehensions in the World about Matters of Religion and every Sect and Party does with so much confidence pretend that they and they only are in the truth The great difficulty and question is by what means Men may be secured from dangerous Errors and Mistakes in Religion For this end some have thought it necessary that there should be an Infallible Church in the Communion whereof every Man may be secured from the dangers of a wrong Belief But if seems God hath not thought this necessary If he had he would have revealed this very thing more plainly than any particular Point of Faith whatsoever He would have told us expresly and in the plainest terms that he had appointed an Infallible Guide and Judge in Matters of Faith and would likewise have told us as plainly who he was and where we mighâ— find him and have recourse to him upon all occasions because the sincerity of our Faith depending upon him we could not be safe from mistake in particular Points without so plain and clear a Revelation of this Infallible Judge that there could be no mistake about him nor could there be an end of any other Controversies in Religion unless this Infallible Judge both that there is one and who he is were out of Controversie But neither of these are so It is not plain from Scripture that there is an Infallible Judge and Guide in Matters of Faith much less is it plain who he is and therefore we may certainly conclude that God hath not thought it necessary that there should be an Infallible Guide and Judge in Matters of Faith because he hath revealed no such thing to us and that Bishop and that Church who only have arrogated Infallibility to themselves have given the greatest evidence in the World to the contrary and have been detected and stand convinc'd of the greatest Errors And it is in vain for any Man or Company of Men to pretend to Infallibility so long as the evidence that they are deceived is much greater and clearer than any proof they can produce for their Infallibility If then God hath not provided an Infallible Guide and Judge in Matters of Faith there is some other way whereby Men may be
no express and direct Article of the Christian Religion yet it is a Fundamental Article of right Reason and common Sense Because the admitting of Transubstantiation does undermine the Foundation of all Certainty whatsoever and does more immediately shake the very Foundation of Christianity it self Yea tho' the Christian Religion were no ways concerned in this Doctrine yet out of reverence to Reason and Truth and a just animosity and indignation at confident nonsense a Man of an honest and generous Mind would as soon be brought to Declare or Swear that twice two do not make four but five as to profess his belief of Transubstantiation And tho' all Truths are not of equal Consequence and Concernment yet all Truth is of God and for that Reason tho' we are not obliged to make an open profession of all Truths at all times yet we are bound not to deny or renounce any Truth nor to make profession of a known Falsehood or Error For it is meerly because of the intrinsical Evil of the thing that it is impossible for God to lie and the Son of God thought it worth his coming into the World and laying down his Life to bear witness to the Truth So he himself tells us Joh. 18. 37. To this End was I born and for this Cause came I into the World that I should bear witness to the Truth Thus I have shewn you in these plain Instances to which most other Cases may be reduced when Men may be said to suffer truly for the Cause of Religion and Truth I shall mention two or three Cases wherein Men may seem to suffer for the Cause of Religion but cannot truly be said to do so First When Men rashly expose themselves to danger and run upon sufferings for the sake of Religion Thus several of the Primitive Christians voluntarily exposed themselves when they were not called in question and in the heat of their Affection and Zeal for God and Religion offered themselves to Martyrdom when none enquired after them This in the gracious interpretation of God who knowing the sincerity of their Zeal was pleased to overlook the indiscreet forwardness and rashness of it might be accepted for a kind of Martyrdom but cannot in Reason be justified so aâ— to be fit to be made a Pattern and to be recommended to our imitation For tho' God may be pleased to excuse the weakness of a well-meaning Zeal yet he can approve nothing but what is Reasonable To suffer chearfully for the Cause of God and his Truth when he calls us to fight this good fight of faith and to resist unto blood and when we are reduced to that strait that we must either die for God and his Truth or deny them to suffer I say in this Case with Courage and Patience is one of the Noblest of all the Christian Virtues But to be perfect Volunteers and to run our selves upon Sufferings when we are not called to them looks rather like the Sacrifice of Fools which tho' God may mercifully excuse and pardon the Evil of the action for the good Meaning of it yet he can never perfectly approve and accept of it But I think there is little need nowa-days to caution men against this rashness it is well if they have the Grace and Resolution to Suffer when it is their Duty and when they are called to it Secondly Nor can Men be truly said to Suffer for the Cause of Religion when they Suffer not for their Faith but their Fancy and for the wilful and affected Error of a mistaken Conscience As when Men suffâ—r for indifferent things which in heat and passion they call Superstition and Idoltary and for their own false Opinions in Religion which they mistake for Fundamental Articles of the Christian Faith In this Case their mistake about these things will not change the Nature of them nor turn their Sufferings into Martyrdom and yet many Men have certainly Suffered for their own mistakes For as Men may be so far deluded as to think they do God good service when they kill his faâ—thful Servants so likewise may they be so far deceived as to Sacrifice their Lives and all that is dear to them to their own culpable Errors and Mistakes But this is Zeal without Knowledgeâ— not the Wisdom which descends from above but that which comes from beneath and is like the fire of Hell which is heat without light Thirdly and Lastly Nor can Men truly be said to Suffer for the Cause of God and Religion when they Suffer for the open Profession and Defence of Truths not necessary For tho' a Man be obliged to make an open Profession of all Fundamental and Necessary Truths yet he is under no such Obligation to make Profession of Truths not necessary at all times and unless he be called to deny them he is not bound either to declare or defend them he may hold his peace at other times and be silent about them especially when the open Profession of them will probably do no good to others and will certainly do hurt to our selves and the zealous endeavour to propagate such Truths will be to the greater prejudice of Charity and the disturbance of the publick peace of the Church It was a good Saying of Erasmus if we understand it as I believe he meant it of Truths not necessary adeo invisâ— sunt mihi discordiâ— ut veritas etiam contentiosa displiceat I am says he so perfect a hater of discord that I am even displeased with truth when it is the occasion of contention As a Man is never to deny Truth so neither is he obliged to make an open Profession of Truths not necessary at all times and if he Suffer upon that account he cannot justifie it to his own Prudence nor have Comfort in such Sufferings because he brings them needlesly upon himself and no Man can have Comfort but in Suffering for doing his Duty And thus I have done with the first thing I proposed to enquire into namely when Men may be truly said to Suffer for the Cause of Religion I proceed now to the Second Enquiry namely how far Men may rely upon the Providence of God to bear them out in such Sufferings To which I Answer That provided we do what becomes us and is our Duty on our part the Providence of God will not be wanting on his part to bear us out in all our Sufferings for his Cause one of these three ways First To secure us from that violent degree of Temptation and Suffering which would be too strong for Humane Strength and Patience Or Secondly In case of such extraordinary Temptation and Trial to give us the extraordinary Supports and Comforts of his Holy Spirit or else Thirdly In case of a Temporary Fall and Miscarriage to raise us up by Repentance and a greater Resolution and Constancy under Sufferings I shall speak severally to these 1. Either the Providence of God will not be wanting to secure us from that
Apostle expresly declares that tho' we that is he himself or any of the Apostles or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than what we have preached unto you let him be accursed As we said before so say I now again if any man preach any other Gospel unto you than that ye have received let him be accursed I. That the addition of any thing to the Christian Religion as necessary to be believed or practised in order to Salvation is a perverting the Gospel of Christ and preaching another Gospel This is evident from the Instances here given in this Epistle for the Apostle chargeth the false Apostles with perverting the Gospel of Christ and preaching another Gospel upon no other account but because they added to the Christian Religion and made Circumcision and the keeping of the Law of Moses an essential part of the Christian Religion and imposed upon Christians the practice of these things and the belief of the necessity of them as a Condition of Eternal Salvation That this was the Doctrine of those false Teachers we find expresly Acts 15. 1. And certain men which came down from Judea taught the Brethren and said except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses yâ— cannot be saved and ver 24. in the Letter written by the Apostles and Elders at Jerusalem to the Churches abroad there is this account given of it forasmuch as we have heard that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words subverting your Souls saying ye must be circumcised and keep the Law to whom we gave no such Commandment Where you see that this Doctrine is declared to be of pernicious consequence tending to subvert the Souls of Men and likewise to be an addition to the Doctrine of the Gospel which was delivered by the Apostles who here with one consent declare that they had given no such commandment that is had delivered no such Doctrine as this nor put any such yoke upon the necks of Christians but on the con-contrary had declared that the death of Christ having put an end to the Jewish Dispensation there was now no obligation upon Christians to observe the Law of Moses And from the Reason of the thing it is very plain that the addition of any thing to the Christian Religion as necessary to be believed or practised in order to Salvation which the Gospel hath not made so is preaching another Gospel because it makes an essential change in the Terms and Conditions of the Gospel Covenant which declares Salvation unto Men upon such and such Terms and no other Now to add any other Terms to these as of equal necessity with them is to alter the Condition of the Covenant of the Gospel and the Terms of the Christian Religion and consequently to preach another Gospel by declaring other Terms of Salvation than Christ in his Gospel hath declared which is to pervert the Gospel of Christ II. No pretence of Infallibility is sufficient to Authorise and Warrant the addition of any thing to the Christian Doctrine as necessary to be believed or practised in order to Salvation After the delivery of the Gospel by the Son of God and the publication of it to the World by his Apostles who were Commissioned and Inspired by him to that purpose and the confirmation of all by the greatest and most unquestionable Miracles that ever were no person whatever that brought any other Doctrine and declared Salvation to Men upon any other terms than those which are declared in the Gospel was to be credited what pretence soever he should make to a Divine Commission or an Infallible Assistance The Apostle makes a Supposition as high as can be tho' we says he or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him be an Anathema If the Apostles themselves who were Divinely Commissioned and Infallibly assisted in the Preaching of the Gospel should afterwards make any addition to it or declare any other Terms of Salvation than those which are declared in the Gospel which they had already published to the World they ought not to be regarded And the Reason is plain because what claim soever any Person may make to Infallibility and what demonstration soever he may give of it we cannot possibly believe him if he contradict himself and deliver Doctrines which do plainly clash with one another For if he spake true at first I cannot believe him declaring the contrary afterwards And if he did not speak true at first I cannot believe him at all because he can give no greater proof of his Divine Commission and Infallible Assistance and Inspiration than he did at first And the Reason is the same if an Angel from Heaven should come and preach a contrary Doctrine to that of the Gospel he were not to be believed neither because he could bring no better Credentials of his Divine Commission and Authority than Those had who publish'd the Gospel and consequently he ought not to be credited in any thing contrary to what they had publish'd before For tho' a Man were never so much disposed to receive a Revelation from God and to submit his Faith to it yet it is not possible for any Man to believe God against God himself that is to believe two Revelations plainly contradictory to one another to be from God and the reason of this is very obvious because every Man doth first and more firmly believe this Proposition or Principle That Contradictions cannot be true than any Revelation whatsoever for if Contradictions may be true then no Revelation from God can signifie any thing because the contrary may be equally true and so truth and falsehood be all one The Apostle indeed only makes a Supposition when he says tho' we or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Doctrine unto you but by this Supposition he plainly bars any Man or Company of Men from adding to the Christian Religion any Article of Faith or Point of Practice as of necessity to Salvation which the Gospel hath not made so I say any Man or Company of Men whatever Authority or Infallibility they may lay claim to because they cannot pretend to a clearer Commission and greater Evidence of Infallible Assistance than an Apostle or an Angel from Heaven and yet the Text tells us that would not be a sufficient warrant to preach another Gospel it might indeed bring in question that which they had preached before but could not give Credit and Authority to any thing plainly contrary to it and inconsistent with it III. Christians may judge and discern when another Gospel is preached when new Articles of Faith or Points of Practice not enjoyned by the Gospel are imposed upon Christians This the Apostle supposeth every particular Church and for ought I know every particular Christian that is duly Instructed in the Christian Religion to be a competent Judge of and to be sufficiently able to
and assisted by an Infallible Spirit and had an immediate Commission from Christ to preach the Doctrine of the Gospel did not require from Men absolute submission to their Doctrines and Dictates without examination of what they delivered whether it were agreeable to that Divine Revelation which was contained in the ancient Scriptures This was St. Paul's constant custom and way of teaching among the Jews who had received the Revelation of the Old Testament he did not dictate to them by vertue of his Infallibility but reasoned with them out of the Scriptures and required their belief no further than what he said should upon examination appear agreeable to the Scriptures So we find Acts 17. 2 3. And Paul as his manner was went in unto them speaking of the Jews and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures opening and alledging that Christ must needs have suffered and risen again from the dead and that this Jesus whom I preach unto you is the Christ And Chap. 18. 28. he mightily convinced the Jews and that publickly shewing by the Scriptâ—res that Jesus was the Christ And St. Paul was so far from reproving them for examining his Doctrine by the Scriptures that he commended it as an argument of a Noble and Generous mind in the Bereans that they did not give full assent to his Doctrine 'till upon due search and examination they were satisfied that what he had said was agreeable to the Scriptures Chap. 17. 11 12. Where speaking of the Bereans it is said That these were more noble than those in Thessalonica in that they received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the Scriptures daily whether those things were so therefore many of them believed that is because upon search they found what he delivered to be agreeable to the Scriptures and it was not a slight but diligent and deliberate search they took time to examine things thoroughly for it is said they searched the Scriptures daily And here in the Text St. Paul puts the case that if he or any other of the Apostles concerning whose Divine Commission and Assistance they were so fully satisfied should deliver any thing to them contrary to the Gospel which they had formerly preached they were to reject it with the greatest abhorrence and detestation and this necessarily supposeth a liberty to examine what was delivered even by those whom they believed to be Infallibly assisted and a capacity to discern and judge whether what they said was agreeable to the Gospel at first delivered to them or not And after this shall any Person or Church what Claim soever they may make to Infallibility assume to themselves an Authority to dictate in matters of Faith and that their Dictates ought to be received with an absolute submission and without liberty to examine whether they be agreeable to the Faith once delivered to the Saints and tho' they add new Articles to the Christian Faith and of which there is not the least foot-step or intimation in any of the Ancient Creeds of the Christian Church and do plainly impose upon Christians the Practice and Belief of several things as necessary to Salvation which the Gospel never declared to be so yet no body shall judge of this but every Man ought without more ado to believe blindfold and to resign up his Understanding and Judgment to the directions of this visible Infallible Judge But surely this is not the reasonable Obedience of Faith but the forc'd submission of Slaves to the Tyranny of their Masters Christians are expresly forbid to call any Man Father or Master upon Earth because we have one Father and Master in Heaven Now to make an absolute submission of our Understandings to any upon Earth so as without examination to receive their Dictates in Matters of Faith is surely if any thing can be so to call such a Person Father and Master because a greater submission than this we cannot pay to our Father who is in Heaven even to God himself I come now to the Sixth and last Observation from the Text That whosoever teacheth any thing as of necessity to Salvation to be believed or practised besides what the Gospel of Christ hath made necessary does fall under the Anathema here in the Text because they that do so do according to the mind of St. Paul pervert the Gospel of Christ and Preach another Gospel For the Reason why he chargeth the false Apostles with Preaching another Gospel and those that were seduced by them as being removed from him that called them by the Grace of Christ unto another Gospel is plainly this that they had changed the Terms of the Christian Religion by adding new Articles to it which were not contained in the Gospel that is by making it necessary to believe it to be so because they taught so Now St. Paul expresly declares this to be Preaching another Gospel because they plainly alter'd the Terms of Salvation declared in the Gospel and made that to be necessary to the Salvation of Men which the Gospel had not made so And whatever Person or Church does the same does inâ—ur the same guilt and falls under the Anathema and Censure here in the Text yea tho' he were an Apostle or an Angel And I am sure no Bishop or Church in the World can pretend either to an equal Authority or Infallibility with an Apostle or an Angel from Heaven Let us then hear what St. Paul declares in this Case and consider seriously with what earnestness and vehemency he declares it tho' we says he or an Angel from Heaven preach any â—her Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him bâ— accursed As we said before so say I now again If any man preach any other Gospel unto you than that ye have received let him be accursed St. Paul you see is very earnest in this matter and very peremptory and therefore I cannot but think this Declaration of his to be more considerable and every way more worthy of our regard and dread than all the Anathema's of the Council of Trent which in direct affront and contempt of this Anathema of St. Paul hath presumed to add so many Articles to the Christian Religion upon the counterfeit warrant of Tradition for which there is no ground or warrant from the Scripture or from any Ancient Creed of the Christian Church And for the truth of this I appeal to the Creed of Pope Pius the IV th compiled out of the Definitions of the Council of Trent by which Council the Pope only is Authorised to Interpret the true sense and meaning of the Canons and Decrees of that Council and consequently his interpretations must be of equal force and authority with that of the Council it self So that whatsoever he hath put into â—is new Creed for an Article of Faith ought to be received with the â—ame pious affection and veneration as if the Creed had been compiled by the Council it self
is taken for granted where ever we speak of Mens Suffering Persecution for it And the plainest Case among Christians is when they are Persecuted because they will not openly deny and renounce the Christian Religion And this was generally the Case of the Primitive Christians they were threatned with Tortures and Death because they would not renounce Jesus Christ and his Religion and give demonstration thereof by offering Sacrifices to the Heathen-gods Secondly Men do truly suffer for the Cause of Religion when they are Persecuted only for making an open Profession of the Christian Religion by joyning in the Assemblies of Christians for the Worship of God tho' they be not urged to deny and disclaim it but only to conceal and dissemble the Profession of it so as to forbear the maintenance and defence of it upon fitting Occasions against the Objections of those who are Adversaries of it For to conceal the Profession of it and to decline the defence of it when just occasion is offer'd is to be ashamed of it which our Saviour Interprets to be a kind of denial of it and is opposed to the confessing of him before Men Mat. 10. 32 33. Whosoever shall confess me before Men him will I also confess before my Father which is in Heaven But whosoever shall deny me before Men him will I also deny before my Father which is in Heaven And this by St. Mark is express'd by being ashamed of Christ that is afraid and ashamed to make an open profession of him and his Religion Mark 8. 38. Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and finful generation of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy Angels And this likewise was the Case of the Primitive Christians under the moderate Emperors when the Persecution of them was not so hot as to drive them to a denial of Christ provided they would be contented to conceal and dissemble their Religion in that case they did not hunt them out nor Prosecute them to renounce their Religion if they made no discovery of themselves But yet they who suffered because they would not conceal their Profession of Christianity did truly suffer for the Cause of Religion Thirdly Men do likewise truly suffer for the Cause of Religion when they suffer for not betraying it by any indirect and unworthy means such as among the Primitive Christians was the delivering up their Bibles to the Heathen to be burnt and destroyed by them For to give up that holy Book which is the great Instrument of our Religion is in Effect to give up Christianity it self and to Consent to the utter extirpation of it And such likewise is the Case of those who suffer in any kind for not contributing to break down the Fences of Religion in any Nation where the Providencâ— of God hath given it a Legal Establishment and Security or in a word for refusing to countenance and further any Design which visibly tends to the Ruine of Religion For to destroy Religion and to take away that which hinders the Destruction of it are in Effect much the same thing Fourthly Men do truly suffer for the Cause of Religion when they suffer for the Maintenance and Defence of any necessary and Fundamental Article of it tho they be not required to renounce the whole Christian Religion For what St. Paul says of the Article of the Resurrection of the dead is true of any other necessary Article of the Christian Religion that the Denyal of it is a Subversion of the whole Christian Faith because it tends directly to the overthrowâ—ng of Christianity being a Wound given to it in a Vital and Essential Part. And this was the Case of those who in any Age of Christianity have been persecuted by Hereticks for the Defence of any Article of Christianity And I cannot but observe by the Way that after the Heathen Peâ—secutions were ceased Persecution was first begun among Christians by Hereticks and hath since been taken up and carried much beyond that bad Pattern by the Church of Rome which besides a standing Inquisition in all Countries which are entirely of that Religion a Court the like whereto for the clancular and secret Manner of Proceeding for the unjust and arbitrary Rules of it for the barbarous Usage of Mens Persons and the Cruelty of its Torments to extort Confessions from them the Sun never saw erected under any Government in the World by Men of any Religion whatsoever I say which besides this Court hath by frequent Croisadoes for the Extirpation of Hereticks and by many Bloody Massacres in France and Ireland and several other places destroyed far greater numbers of Christians than all the ten Heathen Persecutions and hath of late revived and to this very Day continues the same or greater Cruelties and a fiercer Persecution of Protestants if all the Circumstances of it be considered than was ever yet practised upon them and yet whilst this is doing almost before our eyes in one of our next neighbour Nations they have the Face to complain of the Cannibal Laws and bloody Persecutions of the Church of England and the Confidence to set up for the great Patrons of Liberty of Conscience and Enemies of all Compulsion and Force in Matters of Religion Fifthly Men do truly suffer for the Cause of God and Religion when they suffer for asserting and maintaining the Purity of the Christian Doctrine and Worship and for opposing and not complying with those gross Errors and Corruptions which Superstition and Ignorance had in a long Course of Time brought into the Christian Religion Upon this Account many Good People suffer'd in many past Ages for resisting the growing Errors and Corruptions of the Church of Rome which at first crept in by Degrees but at last broke in like a mighty Flood which carryed down all before it and threatned Ruin and Destruction to all that opposed them Upon this Account also infinite Numbers suffered among the Waldenses and Albigenses in Bohemia and in England and in most other Countries in this Western Part of Christendom And they who suffer'd upon this Accountâ— suffer'd in a good Cause and for the Testimony of the Truth Sixthly and Lastly Men do truly suffer for the cause of Religion when they suffer for not disclaiming and renouncing any clear and undoubted Truth of God whatsoever yea though it be not a Fundamental Point and Article of Religion And this is the Case of those many Thousands who ever since the IV. Council of Lateran which was in the Year 1215 when Transubstantiation was first defin'd to be an Article of Faith and necessary to Salvation to be believ'd were persecuted with Fire and Sword for not understanding those words of our Saviour this iâ— my Body which are so easily capable of a reasonable Sense in the absurd and impossible Sense of Transubstantiation And though this disowning of this Doctrin be