to furnish them with the Knowledge of the Sense in which those People to whom the Proposition was first delivered understood those Terms Whosoever doth duly believe that Proposition doth oblige himself to hearken to that is to believe and obey whatsoever this Jesus hath delivered so far as he shall obtain the Knowledge thereof and to endeavour seriously to know what his Mind and Will is Which Faith makes a Man a Christian and hath the Promise of Eternal Life made to it The Proposition doth not comprehend in it an explicite Account of all the Matters of Faith which a Christian is to endeavour to know and believe nor is the explicite Knowledge of them necessary to a Man's believing that Proposition But his believing of it brings him under an Obligation to endeavour to know them all and to believe explicitely whatsoever he shall attain to know Jesus hath taught which is to be the great Work and Business of the Remainder of his Life when he is a Christian. Those Jews and Lewd Fellows of the baser sort at Thessalonica who set themselves against Paul and Silas understood that their preaching that Jesus was the Christ for that was the great Point they opened and alledged in the Synagogue there amounted to this that he was the Person they persuaded the People to receive for their Lord and King For how malicious soever their intent was in accusing them before the Ruler it is most plain from their Accusation that they clearly apprehended that Paul by preaching that Jesus was the Christ did mean that they were to take him for their King saying that there is another King one Iesus Act. 17. 7. Vid. Second Vindic. of the Reasonableness of Christianity c. p. 108 109. For besides saith this Author if every Text of Scripture must be looked upon as sufficient to Salvation upon the Belief of which eternal Life is promised even the very Scripture will hardly be found reconcilable to it self For though in some Places Salvation is promised to those who believe Jesus to be the Messiah yet in others it is declared to be Life Eternal to know the only true God as well as Jesus Christ whom he hath sent Both of which Places if they must be understood in their limited Sense will be almost found contradictory to each other Because the one proposes a larger Faith to Salvation than is required by the other p. 9. Answ. The Propositions here spoken of as they are delivered in the Scripture are in effect the same For it is not possible for a Man to believe that Jesus is the Messiah without believing antecedently in the only True God The Word of Salvation by Christ is not sent to any but those who fear God Act. 13. 26. But I deny that it is any where in Scripture declared to be Eternal Life to know the only True God as well as Jesus Christ whom he hath sent That is either of them separately The Text of Scripture which comes nearest to these Words is Ioh. 17. 3. where the Knowledge of the only True God taken apart from the Knowledge of Jesus Christ as sent by him is not declared to be Eternal Life But the Knowledge of both is declared to be Eternal Life I wave a particular considering what this Author saith p. 9 10. concerning the true Notion of believing in Christ when alone required to make a Man a Christian Because the plain Truth of the Matter we are discoursing of consists in this viz. That the sincere Belief of all those Doctrines Christ hath declared are absolutely necessary to be believed to Salvation is of it self sufficient to Salvation But this is so far from excluding that it doth include a necessity of believing other Doctrines if the Person is allowed space to obtain the Knowledge of more Doctrines which Christ hath revealed and that he hath revealed them Yet if the Person who sincerely believes the aforesaid Doctrines should dye before he could obtain the Knowledge of any other Doctrine Christ hath taught he will receive the Salvation promised to the Belief of those Doctrines he doth believe Christ knows his Sincerity and will not fail to perform the Promise he hath made to him There are many even very many Articles Christ hath revealed which those who are Christians are necessarily obliged to endeavour to know and then explicitely believe and as many of these Doctrines as they do attain to understand whether they be delivered in the Gospels or Acts or Epistles are Fundamental to them But the Explicite Belief of these Doctrines is not absolutely necessary to make Men Christians or to Salvation Our Faith is true and saving when it is such as God by the new Covenant requires it to be But it is not intire and consummate till we explicitely believe all the Truths contained in the Word of God For the whole Revelation of Truth in the Scripture being the proper and entire Object of Faith our Faith cannot be entire and consummate till it be adequate to its proper Object which is the whole Divine Revelation contained in the Scripture Second Vindic. of the Reasonableness of Christianity c. p. 310. This Author p. 11. distinguishes betwixt Truths which are only to be believed upon the general Ground of Faith which is the Veracity of God and those of a higher Nature which have an immediate Tendency to the Salvation of Mankind and the Method by which our Saviour has obtained it for us And these latter sort of Truths he saith are to be explicitely believed by all in order to their Salvation And the Reason he gives for this is because the only End for which he hath revealed these Truths is the Eternal Benefit and Happiness of Mankind Answ. This seems to be a Distinction without a Difference for seeing they are all Divine Revelations the Ground and Reason of our believing them is the very same and every Way equal viz. because God hath revealed them If it be revealed that some of these Doctrines are absolutely necessary to be believed to make Men Christians or to Salvation we must believe them to be so and that the Ground or Reason of that Belief is Divine Revelation But if Men will believe them to be absolutely necessary to be explicitely known c. in order to Salvation and God hath not revealed any such thing concerning them their Faith in that case will want a just Foundation or Reason But it 's said These Truths of a higher Nature have an immediate Tendency to the Salvation of Mankind Answ. Christ's observing the Methods appointed him by the Father in order to his obtaining Salvation for Mankind had undoubtedly their appointed Tendency to his obtaining Salvation for Mankind But the Doctrines which relate what those Methods were have not thesame Tendency to the Salvation of Mankind nor can a Person 's believing those Doctrines which declare that Christ hath observed these Methods and thereby obtained Salvation for Mankind be properly said to have
Doctrines which are affirmed to be absolutely necessary to be believed to make men Christians be Doctrines which Christ hath taught yet if he hath not taught that the Belief of them is absolutely necessary to make Men Christians but only requires them to be believed for other Purposes the requiring the Belief of them as absolutely necessary to make Men Christians must be built upon a Foundation and Authority distinct from Christ's and his Apostles which therefore at best can be but Humane Authority Till this Clause is agreed to the former Clauses in the Reason will not avail much to put a happy Conclusion to Religious Controversies Besides I cannot understand why the assumed Authority of the several Parties may not be yielded to for the deciding of particular Controversies in Religious Matters as well as for the determining and assigning what Points are to be be believed in order to any Peoples being Christians I leave it to others to enquire how much Men's assuming Authority to impose certain of Christ's Doctrines without his Warrant as absolutely necessary to be believed to make Men Christians hath contributed to their Stretching the like Authority further even to make some things Parts of the Christian Religion which Christ and his Apostles have not authorized which is infamously done in the Church of Rome and perhaps in some degree in most of the Parties truly termed Protestant It may be easy to prove to those who are Christians that they are to believe such or such Doctrines by shewing them plainly that Christ Jesus whom they have received to be their Lord hath taught them But when we require those who are not Christians to believe them as absolutely necessary to make them Christians we must undertake to prove to them the Truth of those Doctrines by some other Medium than Christ's Authority For it cannot rationally be expected that People who do not believe Jesus to be the Messiah or the Christ will assent to believe and receive Doctrines meerly because he they do not believe to be the Christ hath taught them And when they are brought to believe that Jesus is the Messiah so as to take him for their Lord and King if that do not constitute them Christians it will not suffice to make them Christians to prove to them that Christ hath taught such or such Doctrines which therefore they must believe but it must be proved to them that that same Jesus hath taught that these same Doctrines are absolutely necessary to be believed to make them Christians unless their believing this Branch upon some other Authority will serve the turn And if that will do the Business why may they not be required to believe that Jesus is the Messiah upon the same Authority and consequently all the other Doctrines the said Authority shall be pleased to avouch The Difference is not much in rational Discourse whether a Person believes a certain Doctrine to be Christ's which he never taught upon the Testimony of such a Person or Church or whether he believes a Doctrine Christ hath certainly taught to be absolutely necessary to a certain Purpose which Christ never declared to be absolutely necessary to that purpose upon the same Testimony or Authority For the Ground Foundation and Reason of the Belief in both Cases is the very same and is an Authority distinct from Christ's In the next place the Author of the Animadversions relates what he thought was the main Design of the Author of the Reasonableness of Christianity c. in these Words The main Design which the Author of the Reasonableness of Christianity c. seems to have had is to lay down such a Scheme of Faith only as he finds delivered in Scripture and not to rest satisfied with those Collections of Articles which are to be met with in the common Systems without any sufficient warrant from Scripture I will keep as near as I can to this Author's Words in relating what I conceive to be the Truth touching this Matter The main Design of the Author of the Reasonableness of Christianity c. seems to have had as to one main part of his Book was to lay down such a Scheme of those matters of Faith only that are absolutely necessary to be believed to make a Man a Christistian as he found delivered in the Scripture but not to lay down such a Scheme of those Matters of Faith as he found in Scripture which any Man after he is a Christian may be necessarily obliged to Believe The Reason why the Author of the Reasonableness did not rest satisfied with those Collections of Articles which are to be met with in the common Systems doth not appear to be because all or most or perhaps any of the Articles in some of those Systems were without any sufficient Warrant from Scripture Though it may be the Composers of those Systems might assert something concerning several of those Articles for which there might not be any sufficient Warrant from Scripture There might be sufficient Warrant from Scripture for the Articles themselves and not the like Warrant for every thing those Authors might deliver concerning them But the Reasons why he was not satisfied with those Collections seem to me to be 1. Because those Collections did not agree some of them consisting of more some of fewer Articles and those which had the greatest number left out some of the Articles which were insisted on or inserted in another 2. Because it was pretended by the Composers of those Systems of their Followers or both that all the Articles collected into those Systems were necessarily to be believed to make Men Christians Now according to that Notion what certainly could there be who were Christians or to be admitted and owned as such whilst there was so great a Disagreement concerning the Articles which were absolutely necessary to be believed to make Men Christians For those who were Christians according to the Composers and followers of one System were not Christians according to the Followers of another because they wanted something in their Judgment absolutely necessary to make them Christians The Design of those who write Systems of Christian Divinity I apprehend should be to collect those Articles which are mainly insisted on in the New Testament and to which most or all that is delivered in those Sacred Writings may be pertinently and conveniently reduced together with an account of the principal things there taught concerning those Articles And if the Composers of Systems did carefully distinguish the Articles those Sacred Writings teach are absolutely necessary to be believed to make men Christians from those which are of great Moment to be known and believed by them who are already Christians I am of Opinion the Author of the Reasonableness of Christianity would not think their doing so any Blemish to their Systems and that he would not be dissatisfied with any of those Articles of which their Systems should consist nor with any thing they should say concerning those
not possibly agree Answ. Here the Author seems to speak concerning the Doctrines which those who are Christians must endeavour to understand and believe and if so it is besides the Question But that Peoples keeping close to God's Declaration either as to Doctrines absolutely necessary to be believed to make Men Christians or as to Doctrines they are to believe afterwards hath a probable tendency to make way for a very unintelligible Faith is very strange to me Is the surest way to have the most intelligible Faith for People to go as far as they can from God's express Declarations There will be some Difference indeed amongst Christians as to the particular Doctrines they believe some believing more Articles some fewer and this must needs be till they be all equal in their Knowledge Yet in the way excepted against they will every one be obliged to believe and practise according to the extent of their Knowledge and to agree in Faith and Practise so far as they do in Knowledge And let People advance what Notions they please concerning what Articles are necessary to make Men Christians they cannot rationally agree any further than they will this way unless they must all be stak'd down to believe just one set of Doctrines without extending their Endeavours after Knowledge any further And if this be a way to prevent Peoples raising Exceptions against a great part of Religion I cannot excuse it from doing unsufferable Wrong to a great part of Religion In believing Jesus to be the Messiah so as to take him for our Lord and King we yield up our selves intirely to him to believe and practise whatsoever we shall know he hath taught and commanded And therefore we must not suffer our selves to be coupt up and confined to a precise Number of Doctrines and Laws but must every one employ our best Endeavours to be continually increasing and improving in Knowledge Faith and Holiness This believing Jesus to be the Messiah doth not imply our explicite believing a certain Number of Doctrines he hath taught but it is a submitting our Faith implicitly to him believing that all he hath taught is true with a Disposition and purpose to search after and endeavour to know what Doctrines he hath particularly taught and to believe on his Authority whatsoever we shall understand he hath taught For saith this Author if nothing more is to be believed as it should be absolutely necessary to Salvation than what is so proposed then it will follow that no more than the bare Proposition which is declared to be of that great importance is to be assented to As suppose in that Proposition He that believeth that Iesus is the Messiah hath Eternal Life if what is there required to be believed is singly of it self sufficient to Salvation then it must be so as it is there proposed without any farther Explication of it because there is no Explication proposed to be believed to the like Promise Answ. This Author by assenting to a bare Proposition seems to mean a Person 's assenting to or believing that certain Words he never heard before nor understands any thing of the Sence or Meaning of any of them that is an insignificant Sound comprehend and express a real Truth which is absolutely impossible for though the Words may be a Proposition to him who utters them and to those who understand them they are no Proposition to him who never heard nor knows any thing of them and therefore cannot be assented to by him By Explication of it this Author here seems to mean proper Interpretation viz. declaring in another Language what the Terms in the said Proposition did ordinarily signify amongst them who were accustomed to the Language in which the Proposition was first of all delivered or declaring by other Words in the same Language the several simple Ideas of which those complex Ideas were made up for the expressing of which those Terms were used Yet in the next Page he seems to understand by Explication All those Doctrines which are delivered in the Holy Scriptures that either relate the Grounds and Reasons why we are to believe the Proposition he speaks of of such a Faith which is required to Salvation And that explain the Nature and Extent of it If this Author be of Opinion that the explicite Belief of all the Grounds and Reasons that are delivered in the Holy Scriptures why or upon which People ought to believe that Jesus is the Messiah and of every particular that is said in Scripture concerning Jesus Christ and every Branch of his Office is as absolutely necessary to make a Man a Christian or to Salvation as the belief that Jesus is the Messiah is I think it will require a considerable time to prove clearly the Truth of that Opinion and if we may introduce an account of our Fears in Discourses of this Nature I may take Liberty to declare I am afraid this Notion if it prevail will unavoidably fill the World with endless Wranglings and Distractions For I suspect all People will not presently agree how many the Texts be and which they are which relate all the things before spoken of not to say any thing of the improbability of their sudden Consent to understand every one of the Texts in the same Sense Or if they shou'd fall immediately into an Accord about all these Matters I suspect the Ground of their Consent will not be very intelligible It was never pretended that I know of that Eternal Life is promised to those who shall believe that this Proposition Iesus is the Messiah is true without understanding the Sense of the Terms of which it doth consist To believe a Proposition is not for a Person to believe he hears a Sound but to be satisfied of the Truth of what is affirmed or denied in the Proposition which a Man cannot be unless he understands the Sense of every part of the Proposition For a Man cannot possibly give his Assent to any Affirmation or Negation unless be understand the Terms as they are joyn'd in that Proposition and has a Conception of the Thing affirmed or denied as they are there put together But let the Proposition be what it will there is no more to be understood than is expressed in the Terms of that Proposition Second Vindic. of the Reasonableness of Christianity c. p. 99. This Proposition Jesus is the Messiah was first of all delivered to the Jews and consists of Terms which were very common and familiar amongst them which had a determined setled signification amongst them The one was the Proper Name of a Person the other ordinarily stood for the Description of a Person they lived in expectation of according to the Account Moses had given them of him a long time before See Deut. 18. 15 to the 20. and Act. 3 22 c. They did not need any Interpretation of the Proposition And People of another Language needed no other Interpretation of it than what was necessary
Ghost was not given to the Apostles to empower them to make a New Covenant with People by making more Articles absolutely necessary to be believed to Make Men Christians than Christ himself had made so though they were to produce more Proof and Evidence of what he had made absolutely necessary to be believed than was given before and were to furnish Christians with a more compleat Body of the Laws of that Kingdom they were Members of than was before published See Second Vindic. of the Reasonab p. 89 90 325 330. It may therefore with great Truth and I think for that Reason without any absurdity be affirmed that all things which are absolutely necessary to be explicitely believed to Salvation are fully and clearly contained in the Gospels See Second Vindic. of the Reasonableness of Christianity c. p. 73. In p. 30. This Author discourses concerning the Apostles Creed and saith That The Articles of that Creed are not to be looked on as the only Fundamentals unless we also firmly believe the natural Consequences and Conclusions from them and the frequent Explanations of them which are set down in the other Parts of Revelation That is those Explanations of them which are set in the Epistles distinct from what is said of them in the Gospels and Acts. Answ. I will wave taking Notice of several things which might be observed here from the Generality and Extensiveness of the Expressions here used And shall only put this Author in mind that the Question he should peremptorily answer to is this Whether all that is absolutely necessary to be explicitely believed by Christ's and his Apostles Appointment to make Men Christians be contained in that Creed If those who answer this Question Negatively be in the Right let them talk what they please of the great Esteem and Veneration they have for this Creed and the Church of England there is no help for it but both the one and the other must unavoidably fall under a very ugly Reflection for the more full clearing of which and answer to what this Author hath further writ on this Subject I shall refer to the Second Vindic. of the Reasonab p. 74 c. 77 163 169 c. In p. 31 and 32. This Author offers considerations in answer to a Passage he quotes out of p. 297. of the Reasonab of Christianity c. I shall here only observe First That these Considerations are grounded upon Two great Mistakes 1. A Supposition that the Force of the Argument he opposeth depends upon the time when the Gospels and Acts and when the Epistles were writ viz. which were writ first Whereas the Force of the Argument lies in this That those Truths delivered in the Epistles cannot be absolutely necessary to be explicitely believed to make Men Christians which were not revealed till after the Decease of many who were Christians By the Epistles we understand what Doctrines the Apostles were intrusted to instruct Christians in but supposing the Acts and every one of the Gospels had been writ after all the Epistles they acquaint us most clearly and distinctly what were the Doctrines which Christ and his Apostles proposed as absolutely necessary to be explicitely believed by Unbelievers to make them Christians 2. A Supposition that the Author of the Reasonableness of Christianity c. rejects the Epistles from being part of that Rule of Faith that Christ hath given to Christians for which I cannot perceive the least Ground Secondly that this Passage this Author pretends to answer hath the full Evidence of Demonstration with respect to the Words immediately before it Having declared that the Authors of the Epistles were inspired from above and writ nothing but Truth and in most Places very weighty Truths to us c. He adds But yet every Sentence of theirs must not be taken up and looked on as a Fundamental Article necessary to Salvation without an explicite Belief whereof no Body could be a Member of Christ's Church here nor be admitted into his Eternal Kingdom hereafter Where we see what he means by Fundamental Articles in the very next Sentence which is the Passage reflected on by this Author and delivered in these Words If all or most of the Truths declared in the Epistles were to be received and believed as Fundamental Articles what then became of those Christians who were fallen asleep as St. Paul witnesses in his First to the Corinthians many were before these things in the Epistles were revealed to them To this Passage in the Reasonableness of Christianity c. p. 294. The Epistles being all written to those who were Believers and Christians the Occasion and End of writing them could not be to instruct them in that which was necessary to make them Christians This Author replies in these Words This seems rather to strengthen than lessen the Force of the Argument That the Apostles had taught those same Doctrines for Fundamentals before which they afterwards communicated as sacred Depositums of their Faith p. 33. Answ. Supposing they had taught the very same Doctrines before to the Christians or Churches they afterwards writ to and so they were Fundamentals to those Christians who had been instructed in them yet there is no force in the Argument that these Doctrines are absolutely necessary to be explicitely believed to make Men Christians or were so to them till it be proved that they had propounded these Doctrines to be explicitely believed to make them Christians In answer to another Passage quoted out of the same Page of the Reasonableness of Christianity c. this Author propounds this Question How can it be proved that all those the Epistles were written to understood all the Fundamentals of Religion Answ. The Question is whether they were Christians though they did not understand all those Doctrines you call Fundamentals here If they were Christians then those you call Fundamentals were not absolutely necessary to be explicitely believed to make them Christians If any shall say they were not Christians to whom the Apostles writ their Epistles they may if they please excuse my want of Complaisance in declaring I shall chuse to believe the Apostles rather than them Again saith this Author May there not be supposed to be some less knowing amongst them In answer to which I ask Were those less knowing Persons Christians if not how came they to be concerned in the Epistle or how came they to be Members of the Church to which the Epistle was writ The latter part of the Question And some who would not throughly believe several Doctrines of Christianity without such an Authority the Apostles had c. seems not to bear a propitious Aspect to what this Author formerly advanced as the way to distinguish Fundamental Truths from other Parts of Divine Revelation What this Author further saith on this Subject is no more than what I think is sufficiently answered in my Animadversions p. 26 27. But I do not perceive how it will follow from what
Articles which had sufficient warrant from Scripture And to this end saith the Author of the Animadversions he has run through the Gospels and Acts to discover upon what Terms our blessed Saviour who first founded and his Apostles who afterwards built up Christianity admitted Men into that Religion Answ. The Author of the Reasonableness of Christianity finding so great a Disagreement amongst the Writers of Systems concerning the Articles which must necessarily be believed to make Men Christians did betake himself to the sole reading of the Scriptures to discover upon what Terms our blessed Saviour and his Apostles did admit Men for Disciples or Christians or did own them to be Christians And upon his having made an attentive and unbiassed Search throughout the Scriptures upon what Terms they admitted Men into the Christian Religion he found that what those Terms were were best to be discerned in the Gospels and Acts of the Apopostles and for that Reason confined himself in his giving an account of those Terms to the frequent and exact Relations which are given of them in those parts of the New Testament And saith the Author of the Animadversions having declared at large all that he can find required by them to make a Man a Christian which he tells us was only the believing Jesus to be the Messiah he concludes that nothing ought to be made necessary to be believed now which was not so then nor any Articles imposed upon us which were not injoyned in order to Salvation in those parts of Scripture which he has considered which alone according to him declare the Conditions upon which Men are denominated Believers or Christians Answ. The Author of the Reasonableness of Christianity having shewn at large that Jesus Christ and his Apostles did not require any thing to be believed as absolutely necessary to make a Man who believed in the only True and Living God a Christian but only this that Jesus was the Messiah He concluded that nothing ought now to be imposed on Men as absolutely necessary to be believed to make Men Christians which is not injoyned as absolutely necessary to be believed in order to Salvation in the Gospels and Acts in which parts of Scripture the Conditions upon which Men are denominated Believers or Christians are best to be discerned But I do not remember that he doth any where say that the Gospels and Acts are the Parts of Scripture which alone declare the Conditions upon which Men are denominated Believers or Christians He doth expresly declare that the Articles necessarily to be believed to make Men Christians are to be found in the Epistles Reasonab of Christianity c. p. 295. This way of examining our Faith by the Scripture saith the Author of the Animadversions had been an unexceptionable method for fixing the measure of it if he had omitted no Articles which are there made as necessary to be believed by all Christians as what is observed in his Treatise Answ. The Method then observed by the Author of the Reasonableness of Christianity c. was unexceptionable for the fixing the Measure of Faith so far as he was inquiring after it viz. what Artiticles are absolutely necessary to be believed to make a Man a Christian not what Articles may be necessary to be believed by all or any who are already Christians provided he did not omit any Articles which the Scripture makes absolutely necessary to be believed to make a Man a Christian. And if he hath omitted any such Article that may be a good Exception against his Collection but not against his Method But had he collected a certain Number of Articles delivered in the Scripture proper to be believed by them who are Christians and then affirmed that every one who is or ever shall be a Christian must necessarily explicitely believe every one of them and no Christian must believe any more I think there would have been very just Ground to have excepted against his Collection how unexceptionable soever his way of examining our Faith had been unless he could have proved that every Christian shall have both Capacity to understand every one of them and Space enough to be convinced that every one of them is delivered in Scripture Many more Articles may be necessary to be believed by some Christians than may be necessary to be believed by other Christians because some may attain to the Knowledge of more Articles and that they are delivered in Scripture than many other very good Christians can The Author of the Reasonableness of Christianity c. appears to be a Person whose Understanding and Charity are of a different Size from theirs who are for Persons swallowing Articles of Faith as some People do Pills a precise Number because said to be taken out of such a Box or of such a Persons prescribing to make their Operation certain without understanding either what they are made of or for what particular Reasons they are to be administred For that there are others required even to make a Man a Christian in these parts of Sacred Writ from whence he hath extracted his Article of Faith is saith the Author of the Animadversions what I purpose to make appear in the following Observations Answ. Prove from any part of the New Testament that there are other Articles distinct from those the Author of the Reasonableness of Christianity doth insist on which are taught by Christ and his Apostles to be absolutely necessary to be believed to make a Man a Christians you do your business as effectually as if you prove it from the Gospels and Acts. But this Author intends to prove more than this not only that there are more Doctrines in the Gospels and Acts absolutely necessary to be believed to make Men Christians than the Author of the Reasonableness of Christianity hath set down in his Treatise but that there are Doctrines in the Epistles which are not in the Gospels and the Acts which yet are absolutely necessary to be explicitely believed to make Men Christians as appears from these following Words As also to shew that there are some distinct Articles from what are set down in the Gospels and Acts delivered in the Epistles that are absolutely necessary to be believed to Salvation Answ. Here this Author undertakes to shew not that there are Articles in the Epistles distinct from all which are set down in the Gospels and Acts which may be necessary to be believed to Salvation for both these Authors agree as to that But that these distinct Articles are absolutely necessary to be explicitely believed to make Men Christians or to Salvation So that should a Person upon found Conviction heartily yield up himself without any Reservation unto Jesus Christ as the Messiah and unfeignedly receive him for his Lord to be absolutely governed by him year should sincerely follow his Conduct as long as he lives and having attained the Knowledge of all the Articles taught in the Gospels and Acts does firmly assent to and
an immediate Tendency to the Salvation of Mankind But that which should be proved is this that Christ or his Apostles have revealed that the explicite Belief of all those Doctrines which declare what was necessary on Christ's part in order to his obtaining Salvation for Mankind is absolutely necessary to make a Man a Christian or to a Person 's being entitled to and partaking of the Salvation which was so obtained But 't is said These respect the End for which he has revealed any thing to us and that is only the Eternal Benefit and Happiness of Mankind Answ. If this be only the End for which God hath revealed any thing to us and therefore these are absolutely necessary to be believed to Salvation this will bring in all the other Truths to be absolutely necessary to be believed to Salvation and so the general Direction here laid down to distinguish fundamental Truths will be of no use For those Truths being things God hath revealed to us and the Eternal Benefit and Happiness of Mankind being the only End for which he hath revealed any thing unto us they must equally respect the same End and consequently be equally necessary to be explicitely believed in order to that End But I fancy the Author's Meaning was thus That the only End for which God revealed those Truths of a higher Nature is the Eternal Benefit and Happiness of Mankind That is to bring it home to the present purpose the only End why God revealed those Truths was to make the explicite Belief of them absolutely necessary to Salvation And if this were proved the Controversy would be at an End But I think the great Reason and End why God hath revealed those Doctrines which declare the way and Method how our Saviour did obtain Salvation for Mankind was that Christians might know and believe the way how the Lord Jesus Christ did procure and purchase Salvation for Sinners and that they might make such use and improvement of these Truths as he particularly directs or their own Natures are proper to suggest Some Doctrines may be of greater consequence to be explicitely known and believed by those who are Christians than many others may which are revealed But the Point in discourse is not concerning weighty or important Truths with respect to those who are Christians but concerning Doctrines absolutely necessary to be explicitely believed to make Men Christians See Second Vindic. of the Reasonableness of Christianity c. p. 87 88. and 172 c. That the Salvation of Mankind was obtained by Christ's observing such and such Methods we know only by Divine Revelation But notwithstanding our Salvation was obtained in such ways and we are certain of the same from the Testimony of Christ we are not to affirm that the explicite Belief of the Doctrines which declare these Truths is absolutely necessary to make Men Christians or to Salvation without Christ's Warrant The ways and Methods related in these Doctrines were necessary to be observed by Christ in order to his obtaining the Salvation of Mankind and so might several others for ought we know which are not revealed But it will not thence follow that the explicite Belief of every thing which necessarily pertained to Christ in order to his obtaining Salvation for Mankind or of every thing of that Nature which is revealed is absolutely necessary to be believed in order to our receiving from him the Salvation which he hath purchased There is no more absolutely necessary to be believed in order to Mens partaking of that Salvation than what Christ absolutely requires to be believed in order to his dispensing it unto Men. Our believing explicitely the several Steps Jesus was to take for the obtaining of Salvation for Mankind has not the same Relation to our receiving that Salvation from him on the account of what he hath done and suffered as his doing and suffering those things had to his obtaining Salvation for Mankind He has by certain Methods obtained to himself a Right to dispence Salvation to those who shall unfeignedly take him for their Lord and King But his Right to bestow Salvation on Persons doth not depend on nor is limited to their explicite believing every Doctrine which relates any of the Steps he was indispensably obliged to take and observe in order to his obtaining and being invested with that Right In Matters of revealed Religion Revelation is the Ground or Reason of our Faith let the Matter revealed be what it will of greater or less importance And where the Reason of our Assent is the same the Act must be the same I agree with this Author p. 13. That the Design of Miracles was not immediately to give Authority to particular Doctrines but to testify in general that those who wrought them had such a Commission from God as they professed And in my Judgment this is no contemptible Argument to prove that the due believing Jesus to be Christ doth make Men Christians His Miracles did not immediately and directly but only consequentially prove the particular Doctrines he taught But they did most eminently prove he was the Messiah and they were wrought for this purpose to induce People to become his Disciples or Christians or to own and acknowledge him to be the Messiah If those Persons whose Faith did answer the Intendment of the Miracles were Christians I think it cannot handsomly be denied that the Faith which made them Christians was a Belief that Jesus was the Messiah Yet if it shall be clearly proved that the Explicite Belief of any one Article distinct from this That Iesus is the Messiah is required in any part of the New Testament as absolutely necessary to make a Man who acknowledges and believes in the True and Living God a Christian I will acknowledge that something absolutely necessary to be believed to make a Man a Christian is omitted in the Reasonableness of Christianity c. and I have Reason from that Author's Books to believe that he will do the same But as that Doctrine must be known before it can be proved to be absolutely necessary to be believed to make a Man a Christian so I must know what it is before I can be satisfied that it is such a Doctrine And it may very reasonably be desired of them who affirm that there are more Doctrines absolutely necessary to be believed to make Men Christians that they would draw out a just Scheme of them No saith this Author It will be sufficient to our present purpose if we can produce any Doctrines that are absolutely enjoyned to be believed by all Christians c. p. 16. Answ. This is quite from the present purpose for the enquiry is not what Doctrines are enjoyed absolutely to be believed by all Christians but what Doctrines are declared by Christ and his Apostles to be absolutely necessary to be believed to make Men Christians Yet I do not think it an easy Task to prove a certain Number of Articles absolutely
not sincere in their Profession as they give of the Mistake of their Judgment in the present Point This Author certifies he will endeavour hereafter to shew there are Some Doctrines in the Epistles distinct from those contained in the Gospels or Acts which are of that Nature without the Belief of which though we may grant Men might be saved before they were known yet when they were divulged they could no more be stiled true Christians without the Belief of them than if they had not at all believed p. 17. Answ. When our belief of a Doctrine is grounded purely upon the Nature of the Doctrine we believe it only as we are rational Creatures and do imploy our Reason about the Doctrine it self considering it's Nature and not as Christians for the only Ground of our Belief as Christians is Divine supernatural Revelation And let the Nature of the Doctrine be what it will Revelation is the Ground and Reason of our believing it If you will therefore produce Doctrines absolutely necessary to be believed to make Men Christians because of the Nature of them you must fetch them from Natural Religion and they are to be judged of as to their Nature and the Reason of our believing them by Natural Reason without any regard to Revelation which is a Notion that will do Christianity I doubt but little Service Hitherto it hath done no inconsiderable Hurt The divulging of more Doctrines to be believed by Christians as they should attain the Knowledge of them did not make more Doctrines absolutely necessary to be believed to make Men Christians than were asolutely necessary to that purpose before they were divulged For if it did every new Doctrine when it was divulged became a new Condition to be explicitely consented to in order to any Man's admission into the Covenant of Grace and consequently there were so many New Covenants Yet these other Doctrines when they were divulged were necessarily to be believed by those particular Christians who did understand and know them and so they are now not to make them Christians but by Virtue or Reason of that Obligation they are under by being Christians to believe whatsoever they shall know their Lord hath revealed The Difference between those who were Christians before these Doctrines were divulged and those who become Christians since is this They were obliged by their being Christians or believing Jesus to be Messiah to believe whatsoever he had or should reveal when they should know the same now his Revelation is compleated those who believe him heartily to be the Messiah are thereby obliged to believe whatsoever he hath Revealed as they attain the Knowledge thereof For a more clear and full understanding of these things see Second Vindicat. of the Reasonableness c. p. 82 83 252 c. 337 c. 343 344. Whereas this Author saith p. 17. It will be necessary to consider an Objection or rather an Evasion of the Author of the Reasonableness of Christianity c. since it intimates that he believes as much of the Epistles and in as true a Sense as any Man whatsoever And then relating some Passages in p. 299. of the Reasonableness of Christianity c. afterwards saith They do not seem altogether unexceptionable p. 18. I shall observe that the Author of the Reasonableness c. doth in p. 298. begin his Answer to an Objection concerning the Epistles or to this Question Whether the Truths delivered in the Epistles may be believed or disbelieved by a Christian without any Danger To which he answers That the Law of Faith being a Covenant of Free Grace God alone can appoint what shall be necessarily believed by every one whom he will justify what is the Faith which he will accept and account for Righteousness depends wholly on his good Pleasure For it is of Grace and not Right that this Faith is accepted and therefore he alone can set the Measures of it Where we have the most Rational Evidence for that Point that I think Words can express Afterwards in p. 299. he answers directly to the Question affirming that the other Parts of Divine Revelation are Objects of Faith and are so to be received they are Truths whereof none that is once known to be such may or ought to be disbelieved c. Yet notwithstanding he affirms the Doctrines in the Epistles are Divine Truths very weighty to us now and which no Christians who know them may disbelieve This Author Saith these Passages are not altogether unexceptionable For though these allow the Truths contained in the Epistles to be Objects of our Faith yet they do not suppose them or any Parts of them to be more so than any other Places of Scripture which have no Relation to the Salvation of Mankind and which we are only bound to believe to be true upon the Veracity of God that revealed them p. 18. Answ. The Author of the Reasonableness of Christianity c. teacheth That the Truths contained in the Epistles are Objects of our Faith because they are Divine Revelations or Divine Truths And this Author p. 11. teacheth That the only End for which God hath revealed any thing to us is the Eternal Benefit and Happiness of Mankind The Author of the Reasonableness c. doth not detract from the Honour due to any part of Divine Revelation But asserts That as they are all equally Divine Revelations so they are all equally Objects of our Faith when known and have all a Relation to the Salvation of Mankind But how this Author will reconcile his teaching That the only End for which God hath revealed any thing to us is the Eternal Benefit and Happiness of Mankind with his saying That some Places of Scripture have no Relation to the Salvation of Mankind I cannot tell without a very singular Account of what is meant by Doctrines having a Relation to the Salvation of Mankind Some Doctrines acquaint us with the Gracious Purpose of God towards Sinners and with the Ways and Methods how Jesus Christ obtained Salvation for Mankind which may be said to have an Historical Relation to the Salvation of Mankind Some Doctrines are absolutely necessary to be explicitely believed to make and constitute Men Christians and entitle them to that Salvation Which Doctrines may be said to have a Conditional Relation to our Salvation There are Doctrines which those who are Christians must endeavour to understand and explicitely believe as they attain to know them Such are those which belong to the First Head and a great many more delivered in the New Testament These have not an Immediate Relation to our Salvation But they may be said to have a Consequential and Obediential Relation to our Salvation The Doctrines we are now discoursing of are those which pertain to the Second Head And if any Man think there are Doctrines in the Epistles distinct from those laid down by the Author of the Reasonableness c. that are absolutely necessary to be explicitely believed
to make Men Christians and entitle them to Salvation when he shall set down a List of them and produce his Proof that every one of them is absolutely necessary to be explicitely believed to make Men Christians c. a Judgment may be made of them But till this is done the distinction of Revealed Truths to be believed upon God's Veracity and Truths of a higher Nature will be of little or no use unto me I shall here further observe That 1. It is certain the Doctrines which relate what Christ hath done and suffered have not the same Relation to the Salvation of Mankind the Obedience and Sufferings of Christ had The Doctrine which instructs us what was paid to obtain Salvation for Mankind is not the Price it self with which that Salvation was purchased 2. The Belief of these Doctrines hath no Relation to the Salvation of Mankind The most that can be pretended with any Colour is only that the Belief of these Doctrines hath a Relation to the Salvation of the Person who doth believe them or to whom they are delivered and made known 3. The Relation the Belief of these Doctrines hath to his Salvation who doth know and believe them is the very same which the Belief of any other Doctrines delivered in the New Testament hath to his Salvation who doth know and believe them which consists in this That it is an Act of Submission and Obedience to Jesus whom he hath taken to be his Lord. Whatever those Matters be which notwithstanding they are revealed in the New Testament some are pleased to Term Indifferent Matters a sincere Christian is as much obliged to believe them when he knows they are revealed there as he is to believe any other Matters which are revealed there For 4. The Reason of my believing any Doctrine as I am a Christian is Divine Revelation and not the Nature of the Doctrine that is of the Matter taught And therefore my believing one Doctrine hath the same Relation to my Salvation that my believing another Doctrine Christ hath taught hath to my Salvation they being equally Acts of Obedience to Christ and the Ground and Reason of each Belief being the very same Yet I will acknowledge that if our Belief of these Doctrines this Author hath a respect to had the same Relation to our partaking of Salvation the Obedience and Sufferings of Christ which were the real Price and a proper purchasing of Salvation for Mankind had to the purchasing of Salvation for Mankind the Belief of them would be absolutely necessary to Salvation But then I must add we should hereby as properly purchase our own Salvation as Jesus Christ did Salvation for Mankind which is a Notion I cannot easily be reconciled to 5. If a Judgment is to be made from the Nature of Doctrines what Doctrines are absolutely necessary to be believed to make Men Christians or to Salvation then this Necessity of believing them to this Purpose must be obvious to the Natural Reason of Mankind and every Man must judge for himself by considering the Nature of these Doctrines which and how many are absolutely necessary to be believed to Salvation which is a Notion that as it lays aside Christ's and his Apostles Authority to determine the Matter so it will not do the Church any great Service without pretending that one certain Man or a Number of Men is to make this Judgment from the Nature of the Doctrines Christ and his Apostles have taught and all others must rest satisfied with and depend wholly on his or their Determination This indeed may have a Tendency to raise humane Authority to a great height in the most important Business of Religion but then it will be no Advantage to the Nature of Doctrines for hereby People will be determined to take them for Doctrines absolutely necessary to be believed not from their perceiving that such a necessity arises from their Nature but from bare humane Authority Nor can they be certain that he or those who have judged them to be absolutely necessary to be believed to Salvation have been determined in their Judgment by the Nature of their Doctrines and not by their own arbitrary Pleasure till they have resolved the Matter themselves by exercising their own Reason about the Nature of the particular Doctrines which shall be recommended to rather imposed on them It plainly appears by what the Author of the Reasonableness of Christianity c. hath writ that though he doth not think the Epistles the most proper parts of the New Testament to be consulted in order to our discerning which be the Doctrines Christ and his Apostles did require to be believed as absolutely necessary to make Men Christians or to Salvation yet that he thinks the Doctrines contained in the Epistles are Fundamental Articles to be actually believed by Christians now as they obtain the Knowledge of them And that they are to make such use of them as they shall understand they ought to make of them either by considering their Nature or what they find the Scripture doth instruct concerning the same See Reasonableness of Christianity c. p. 300. Second Vindic. of it p. 201. and 319. But saith this Author These Doctrines which have a Relation to the Salvation of Mankind are to be believed upon another Ground besides that of mere Revelation p. 19. Answ. Upon what Ground are they to be believed besides the Veracity of God who revealed them Is that Ground better or worse doth it lay a greater or less Obligation on People to believe them than Divine Revelation does I expect not to meet with a better Reason why I am to believe any of Christ's Doctrines than this that he taught them Those who will not acquiesce here may wander where they please for Satisfaction provided they will not go about to compel others to rove with them Moreover are not those places of Scripture where these Doctrines lie Historical declaring the Way and Method how Jesus obtained Salvation for Mankind And is there any way for People to know that what is declared in those Doctrines had a Relation to the Salvation of Mankind but Revelation It had no natural Relation to the Salvation of Mankind How is it possible then to know from its Nature that it was graciously appointed to have a Relation to that End We cannot know any thing more from the Nature of a thing than the Nature of the thing is fitted to discover If it be said that the Discourse is not concerning the Nature of the Thing treated of in the Doctrine but concerning the Nature of the Doctrine it self I answer we can learn no more from the Nature of the Doctrine than the Doctrine doth deliver Therefore if the Doctrine do not declare that the Belief of it is absolutely necessary to Salvation we cannot learn any such thing from the Nature of the Doctrine because the Nature of the Doctrine doth not deliver any such thing Besides the Doctrine it self being
the Messiah since if they once firmly believed that they must necessarily believe him to be God p. 78 79. I shall only observe 1. That the Sense of the Term Messiah is here acknowledged to be very different from what this Author has before declared the Apostles meant by it 2. That here is no Supposition that the People did not know what was meant by Messiah and therefore must have it either interpreted or explained to them but an Acknowledgment that our Saviour and his Apostles did use the Term according to the familiar and commonly known meaning of it amongst the Jews 3. That supposing the Jews did generally believe the Messiah should be God yet they must believe that Iesus of Nazareth was the Messiah before they could believe him to be God And it being this only that he was the Messiah which was propounded to be believed to make them Christians it must be a right believing of this that did make them Christians how near a Connection soever their believing any thing else which they knew and believed concerning him who should be the Messiah might have with their believing Jesus to be the Messiah Supposing they did generally believe that their expected Messiah should be God yet those who believed other Persons to be the Messiah and consequently believed them to be God too were not Christians So that it was not the believing a Person to be the Messiah nor a believing that Person to be God that made People Christians but a believing him to be the Messiah who really was the Messiah But as we are obliged to know who was the Author of our Being so also must it be equally a Crime not to know clearly who and what he was that could be the Author of our Salvation p. 87. In answer to this I shall only say That we are obliged to endeavour to know as much as we can of that God who is the Author of our Being This holds true as to all Men and so Christians are obliged to endeavour to know as much as they can of him who is the Author of their Salvation It is a Crime to be wilfully Ignorant of any thing that is revealed of him who is the Author of our Salvation There could be no Reason saith this Author for the defending his Divinity viz. our Saviour's with so much Care and Concern as St. Iohn did defend it if it was not absolutely necessary to be believed to make a Man a Christian or if there was no Danger in believing him to be only Man p. 87. Answ. 1. The Reason we have to defend Divine Truths when opposed and denied by Persons is not to be taken barely from the End for which they are to be believed but also from their Nature viz. because they are Divine Truths and therefore Truths to be believed and which may by no means be denied 2. He that believes Jesus to be the Messiah does not therein believe him to be only Man he believes him to be Man but not only Man for that is not propos'd to his Belief when it is proposed to him to believe that Jesus is the Messiah And by believing him to be the Messiah he obliges himself to believe whatsoever he shall attain to know is revealed concerning him Believing in Christ saith this Author if it mean any thing must be interpreted of every thing that Scripture has required to be believed concerning him So that this we may be certain is a Fundamental that as Christ is the Author of our Salvation So that Revelation is the just Measure of our belief in him and that we must not believe either more or less of him than we are warranted by Scripture p. 92. Answ. Revelation is the just Measure of what we are to believe concerning Christ. So that a Christian let his Advances in Knowledge be ever so great must no believe any thing concerning him but what he is warranted or at least apprehends upon mature Consideration he is warranted by Scripture But that a Man cannot be a Christian till he doth explicitely believe every thing the Scripture doth warrant People to believe concerning Christ is a Notion the Scripture doth not any where warrant Were this Notion true no Man can be a Christian whose Knowledge of every thing relating to Christ is not every way equal to that of the most learned sagacious and understanding Person in the whole Christian World or that ever was or ever will be in the World Nay according to this Notion it may be justly questioned whether ever there was a Christian since the Apostles Days For there may be Ground to question whether any uninspired Man did or will attain to a just and adequate Knowledge of every thing the Scripture doth reveal concerning Christ. But it will probably be objected saith this Author to all this that though it is granted that there are several Articles to be believed by those who are throughly Christians yet there was no more required by our Saviour himself or his Apostles to make a Man a Christian or in order to his Admission into Christianity than the believing Jesus to be the Messiah and that this is all which the Author of the Reasonableness of Christianity c. contends for The Objection is not proposed in its full weight but that I need not insist on for if the Answer reach it as it is here laid down it will serve the turn In answer to this saith this Author it may be observed First That the forementioned Articles as well as others that might be named are of the same Nature with that one Article of believing Jesus to be the Messiah and are a Repetition of it in all its Branches p. 92 93. Answ. This Answer is not at all satisfactory because it is wholly concerning another matter than that treated of in the Objection The Objection is concerning what our Saviour and his Apostles have required to be believed to make Men Christians The Answer is concerning the Nature of Articles Moreover it is not easy to understand what is meant here by several distinct Articles being of the same Nature with this That Iesus is the Messiah This Author hath formerly distinguished betwixt the Nature of several Doctrines and their being Divine Revelations Now consider several particular Doctrines singly in themselves and abstractedly from their being Divine Revelations they are not of the same Nature one with another how can they then be every one of the same Nature with this that Jesus is the Messiah I agree with this Author that a Person 's believing explicitely certain particular Doctrines Jesus hath taught for this Reason because he knows that Jesus who is the Messias hath taught them is a Repetition of his Belief of that Article the Ground and Reason of his believing every one of the other Doctrines But if his believing certain particular Doctrines be but a Repetition of his believing that Jesus is the Messiah how can the repeated or rather limited exercise
of that Belief as to particular Branches or Doctrines make Men Christians if the due believing Jesus to be the Messiah do not constitute Men Christians Besides the Reason of our believing Jesus to be the Messiah is quite different from the Reason why we believe these particular Articles But Secondly there was more required even to make a Man a Christian than the Belief of Jesus being the Messiah for our Saviour himself required the believing in the whole Trinity For this was the Commandment which our Saviour gave his Disciples That they should teach all Nations baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost i. e. They should first instruct them in whom they were to believe and then baptize them into that Faith p. 93. Answ. The command was to Disciple all Nations that is not first instruct them in the particular Doctrines those who believe Jesus to be the Messiah must believe upon his Authority when they know he hath taught them but by propounding such Considerations and Arguments as are most proper to convince and satisfy them that Jesus is the Messiah bring them to own him to be Messiah so as to take him for their King and Ruler by engaging themselves without any Reservation to learn of and obey him And then they were to baptize them in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost after which they were to teach them the Particulars they were to believe and do by Virtue of their having taken him to be their Lord which Particulars comprehend the whole Revelation Christ hath made concerning the Father Son and Holy Ghost That is the whole Doctrine delivered in the New Testament In p. 95. This Author saith He will Examine the Reasonableness of that Article of Faith the Author of the Reasonableness of Christianity c. hath insisted on and set down in the largest Terms p. 301. What this Author means by the Reasonableness of that Article is not very plain I suppose he doth not mean that he will examine whether it is reasonable a Man should believe that Article If he means the Reason why that Author hath declared That this is the only Article absolutely necessary to be explicitely believed by those who believe in the True God to make them Christians that Reason is clearly this because our Saviour and his Apostles have not required the explicite Belief of any other Article but this for that purpose Yet because the Author of the Reasonableness c. observed That the Almerciful God seems herein to have consulted the Poor of the World and the Bulk of Mankind This Author For a clearer Examination of this proposeth certain things to be considered First supposing God either had or should reveal any thing to Mankind and make the Belief of it a Condition of Salvation which the Reason of Man could not comprehend and we had all the Evidence the thing was capable of that the Revelation proceeded from God would this Incomprehensibleness of it be a sufficient Plea for our rejecting it Answ. No But 1. There is a great difference betwixt an Article's being absolutely necessary to be explicitely believed to Salvation and an Article's being absolutely necessary to be explicitely believed when known by Reason of a Person 's believing what is absolutely necessary to be explicitely believed to Salvation The Difference is as great as betwixt an absolute Necessity and a conditional Necessity There are Articles which the Reason of Man cannot comprehend the Belief of which is necessary to those who know Christ hath taught them yet the explicite Belief of them is not made absolutely necessary to Salvation Nor can the explicite Belief of any Number of particular Doctrines taught in the New Testament be properly said to be the Condition of Salvation for if it could he who should explicitely believe them all could not be obliged to believe one more The Condition of Salvation Now is believing Jesus to be the Messiah so as to take him without Exception or Limitation to be our Lord and King And hereby we are obliged to believe as many Doctrines as we can attain to know he hath taught So that a true Christian never believes so many Doctrines but he is still under the same Obligation to believe more when he attains to know more and that Christ hath taught them It is in Matters of Faith as in Matters of Practice let a Man do ever so many things which Christ commands if he obstinately allow himself in the wilful Violation of any one Command he knows Christ hath enjoyned him he is not a sincere Christian. So let a Man believe ever so many Articles if he obstinately refuse to assent to any one Article he knows Christ hath taught he is not a true Christian. His obstinate wilful Refusal to believe that one Article is a plain Demonstration he hath not that Faith which is the Condition of Salvation and that the Assent he gives to those other Doctrines hath some other Original A sincere Christian 's believing particular Doctrines when known is the genuine and necessary Fruit and Effect of that Faith which is the Condition of Salvation These Acts of Faith are but a partial limited exerting of that Faith which made him a Christian and is the Condition of Salvation in such Proportion as his explicite Knowledge doth reach attended with a promptness and readiness to extend it further as he shall attain to know more of his Lord's Mind This true and sincere believing Jesus to be the Christ so as to take him for our Lord and King is the Faith which is the Condition of Salvation And hence it is that this Faith doth avail and is effectual to the Salvation of them who are Honest and Cordial notwithstanding they happen to be ever so much beneath others in natural and acquired Accomplishments 2. Should God now reveal any more Articles as absolutely necessary to be explicitely believed to Salvation than what Christ and his Apostles delivered as absolutely necessary to be explicitely believed to Salvation whether the Reason of Man could comprehend them or not they would alter and make a New Covenant 3. If the Author of the Reasonableness c. had of his own Head declared that no Article is necessary to be explicitely believed to make Men Christians but this That Iesus is the Messiah and for this Reason because God could not reasonably require the Belief of any Article as absolutely necessary to Salvation but what illiterate and labouring Men can comprehend there would have been just Ground to examine and contradict what he had said For this had been an intruding on God's Right and Prerogative and a presumptuous prescribing to him But 4. The Author of the Reasonableness c. doth expresly declare that what is the Faith God will accept depends wholly on his good Pleasure p. 298. So that he might have made the Belief of Articles which the Reason of Man cannot comprehend absolutely necessary