Selected quad for the lemma: faith_n
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A30916
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A letter to a lady furnishing her with Scripture testimonies against the principal points and doctrines of popery
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Barecroft, Charles.
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1688
(1688)
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Wing B757; ESTC R20623
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57,234
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84
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the most effectual They says he who are sensible of their own Blindness since there is no other way to be rid of it but by the Word of God they should apply themselves to that and they cannot miss of a Cure. Which is enough to prove the Insufficiency of the Churches Customes or Authority as to Matters of Faith at least Secondly Neither will the Testimonies of the Fathers be of any Force in this Particular For a Rule of Faith must be full of Knowledge and sufficiently able to instruct us But what says S. Austin of himself I am Aug. ep 119. not only ignorant says he in many other Things but even in the Holy Scriptures themselves I am yet to learn more than I know already And thus he elsewhere Ep. ad Hiâ—â— expresses himself To the Books of the Scriptures only which are called Canonical do I owe this Honour that I firmly believe That none of their Pen-Men have err'd in any thing they have written But I esteem other Writers according to their Sanctity and Learning I do not think any thing true meerly because it was their Opinion Which very well agrees with that Axiom of Tertullian If says he a Bishop Tertul. de praescr haeret or Deacon if a Widow or Maid if a Doctor or even a Martyr should err from the Rule would the Error be e'r the Truer or Better for their Sakes We do not prove the Faith by the Persons but the Persons by the Faith. And the Acknowledgment of Biel is to the Bieâ— sup Can. Miss l. 41. same purpose That the Authority of the Fathers compells no Man to assent to their Sayings unless they build on the Holy Scriptures or Divine Revelation On this account therefore S. Austin might well cry out Aug. in Psal 57. Let our Writings be withdrawn that the Book of God may be introduced And as for Apostolical Traditions let the Testimony Iren. l. 3. c. 1. of Irenaeus serve for all By the Apostles says he the Gospel came down to us which they then preached and afterward by the Will of God they delivered to us in the Scriptures what was to be the future Foundation and Pillar of our Faith. Now if neither the Customes of the Church nor the Judgment of the Fathers nor Tradition can be a perfect Rule of Faith no more can all these united in a General Council be so For a Rule must be in every respect perfect But we have seen That the Church is in many respects Defective and the Fathers subject to Ignorance and Error And if Irenaeus may be credited The Apostles preached nothing contrary to what they have left us in Writing and therefore there can be no Place for Apostolical Traditions So that a Rule which is Imperfect and Defective in every Part must needs be so in the whole And Bellarmin himself has proved Bellarm. de Concil l. 2. c. 12. That the Decrees of General Councils cannot be a perfect Rule because they cannot pretend to immediate Divine Revelation That they may Err in some things and in many of their Definitions they conclude only Probably But a Rule of Faith ought to be every way Perfect and to conclude necessarily And such an absolute Perfect Rule the Scriptures appear to be not only from their own Testimony but from Testimonies of the greatest Pillars of the Church in the Second Third Fourth and Fifth Centuries And therefore if any Man's Interest has led him to a contrary Judgment in the later Ages of the Church his Opinions ought not to be set up as a Standard against Antiquity joyn'd with Truth From hence then we may infer what has been already asserted That the Scriptures being of themselves a perfect and Un-erring Rule nothing must be put to or taken from them To which purpose besides what has been produced already the Reader may give himself the trouble of Perusing the following Texts Deut. 12. 32. Josh 1. 7. Prov. 30. 6. Gal. 1. 8. and 3. 15. Rev. 22. 18 19. And let him learn the Danger of Adding or Taking away that is Doing any thing contrary to the Scriptures From these Lev. 10. 2. Isai 1. 12 13 14 and 66. 3. Hos 9. 15. Matth. 15. 6 9. Mark 7. 9. Gal. 4. 10. From all which Texts will evidently appear the Invalidity of any thing that is not built upon the true Foundation and the danger of being led away by such Vanities And so I hope I have sufficiently vindicated my Relyance on the Testimony of the Scriptures in the Business of the following Undertaking I shall only trouble the Reader with two or three necessary Cautions concerning the right Use and Understanding of those Sacred Writings and then give him his Liberty to proceed I. If any Man will make choice of the Scriptures for his Guide in matters that concern his Well-being here and hereafter he must have a care of believing every Spirit We must not take things of such Moment on Trust meerly because they are asserted by one that Pretends to great Learning or Inspiration for we are to look on the Gentlemen of these Times as such as will make the best they can of every Word when they meet with one of an ordinary Capacity Therefore II. It behoveth every Man that hath any regard to his own Safety to search into these things himself to read the Holy Scriptures diligently that so he may learn from them whether such things are true or no. But as I am now Writing to those of the meanest Rank in Learning lat east It is necessary that I caution such Readers of the Scriptures against laying too much stress on the literal Interpretation of a Text For the Holy Ghost very often makes use of Metaphors and other Obscurities wherein the Sense is not obvious to every Eye And tho' as S. Austin says There is nothing so obscure in one Place which in another is not made plain Yet it is not supposed that an ordinary Reader knows how to find that Place out or if he does that he has Judgment enough to satisfie himself For the Scriptures consist of a Soul and a Body The Body is the Letter and the Soul is the true Interpretation Every Man therefore says Origen that De princip lib. 4. desires to come to the Knowledge of the Truth must have his Eye on every Word for every Nation has a different way of speaking let him therefore mind rather what is signified than with what Words it is expressed For there are some things which no Human Words can explain but they are only conceivable in an honest Vnderstanding By which Rule also we come to the Knowledge and Vnderstanding of the Holy Scriptures that what we read is not to be understood according to the Letter but according to the Divinity of that Holy Spirit which inspired it Wherefore the Honest Reader will do well to take care That he is not drawn by the Letter out of the right
they indifferently pay to all Men for that which is due to God only whereby they obey God rather than Man so this Obedience was embraced by them before the other For 't is indeed an argument of no little discretion but of a quick and most piercing Judgment if we can discern what Opinion is to be followed and what is rather to be rejected In a word our Lord himself in the Gospel says Beware of them which come to you in sheeps cloathing but inwardly are devouring wolves Therefore a watchful Soul and setled Mind are required in order to our discovering the plain simplicity of Sheep or the more hidden malice and greediness of Wolves Whence we may learn what great danger they are in who neglect the study of the Holy Scriptures from which only they can be furnished with such a knowledge and discretion St. Austin has an Expression which makes a great bluster in the World I would not believe the Gospel says he if the Authority of the Catholick Church did not move me to it Upon this the Authority of the Church is magnified above the Authority of the Scriptures But if St. Austin did not intend any such thing where are we then He express'd himself once to this purpose Thou O God hast assur'd me that not they who Aug. Conf. l. 6. c. 5. believ'd thy Books which with so great Authority thou hast establish'd in almost all the World but they who did not were culpable Neither are they to be heard who shall ask me how I know that those Books are given to Men by the Spirit of One most true God. Which shews that he did not altogether rely on the Testimony of the Church which was only outward but chiefly the inward Witness of the Holy Ghost in his Conscience But we may know more of his Mind by more of his Words We says he do not bring a false Ballance that we may make things Idem cont Donat. l. 2. c. 6. weigh what we please and how we please and so give judgment what is light and what heavy But we give you the divine Ballance of the Holy Scriptures the Treasures of the Lord and by that we tell you what is heavy yet not we but the Lord himself who having weighed all things already we tell you from him what is heavy c. And can we think that Great Father ever intended to set up the Authority of the Church above the Scriptures He does not say We tell you from the Church what is light and what heavy but we tell you from the Scriptures And thus again There are says he certain Books of the Id. de unit Eccl. c. 3. Lord to whose Authority we wholly assent which we firmly believe and in all things obey In them let us seek the Church by them let us discuss our Cause Now if St. Austin did really believe the Scriptures on no other account than barely the Churches Testimony why does he say He must find the Church in the Scriptures This would be to run round in an indeterminate circle first to look for the Church in the Scriptures and then to search for the Scriptures in the Church I don't see how these can stand together But let it be as it will we may with more safety give credit to what a Man is constant in than to what he says but once or it may be never at all and so we may assure our selves of the concession of this Holy Father to what we assert That the Scriptures are the supreme Decider of Controversies The only thing needful to be added to what has been already produc'd is That nothing ought to be put to or taken from the Word of God. Bellarmin acknowledges the Scriptures to be a Rule but says 't is only partly so for the Scriptures joyn'd with Traditions make one perfect Rule But we have seen that the Scriptures alone are a perfect Rule and An Infallible Rule says St. Basil ought to be so without addition or diminution And Basil cont Eunom l. 1. Id. Conf. Fid. further That it is a manifest departing from the Faith and an evidence of Pride either to take away any thing from what is written or to add any thing that is not written for our Lord has said My sheep hear my voice And says St. Jerom Whatever does not come from the Jerom. in Matth. 23. Holy Scriptures is as easily condemn'd as approv'd Eusebius tells us That after the Death of the Euseb Hist l. 3. c. 32. Apostles though the Scriptures were extant yet the Church did not long continue an unspotted Virgin but Heresies and Corruptions of the Gospel encreased apace And then I would fain know what method the Orthodox Doctors took to purge and refine the Church again I suppose it may be answer'd that A General Council was to represent the whole Church and to determine the Points in Controversie Granting this the next Question will be which way the Doctors assembled in Council proceeded in this great Affair Did they appeal to the Church The most impious Hereticks would confidently affirm That only they were of the True Church Wou'd they appeal to the Fathers There were many Learned Men who in their Writings maintain'd the worst of Heresies Wou'd they appeal to Apostolical Traditions The Founders of many of the greatest Heresies lived in the Times of the Apostles and on that score had as good a plea for their knowing their Sentiments as any of the Orthodox Fathers could have I am certain the first Nicene Council took no such way but on all occasions urg'd the Scriptures against the Opinions of those Hereticks they were to deal with as might be shewn at large if it was absolutely necessary to our purpose At present let us content our selves with a few Testimonies of the Fathers against such proceedings And first against Appealing to the Churches Custome St Cyprian says a Custome which some have taken up Cypr. ad Pomp. cont Steph. Pap. ought not to prevail against the Truth for Custome without the Truth is but the Ornament of an Error For which Reason let us forsake the Error of such a Custome and follow the Truth And when S. Austin bids us seek the Church in the Scriptures he cannot intend in my Opinion That we should follow the Church in any thing repugnant to the Scriptures But besides A Rule of Faith ought to be Perfect But Origen tells us That as Orig. in Ezech. hom 1. on every Floor there is Chaff as well as Wheat so is the Church on Earth some part Wheat and the rest Chaff And upon Matth. 21. 14. where it is said Id. in Matth. hom 15. That the blind and the lame came into the Temple to Christ and he healed them The Moral Construction of this says he is That in the Church all cannot see neither can all walk Upright but some are Blind and others Lame To which he immediately applies this Remedy as