Corinth of eating Idoll Sacrifices expresly against the Decree at Jerusalem so it were without scandall And yet for all this care and curious discretion a little of the leaven still remain'd All this they thought did so concern the Gentiles that it was totally impertinent to the Iewes still they had a distinction to satisfie the letter of the Apostles Decree and yet to persist in their old opinion and this so continued that fifteene Christian Bishops in succession Euseb. l. 4. Eccles. hist. c. 5. were circumcised even untill the destruction of Jerusalem under Adrian as Eusebius reports First By the way let me observe that never any matter of Numb 4. Question in the Christian Church was determin'd with greater solennity or more full authority of the Church then this Question concerning Circumcision No lesse than the whole Colledge of the Apostles and Elders at Jerusalem and that with a Decree of the highest sanction Visum est spiritui sancto nobis Secondly Either the case of the Hebrewes in particular was omitted and no determination concerning them 2. whether it were necessary or lawfull for them to be circumcised or else it was involv'd in the Decree and intended to oblige the Jewes If it was omitted since the Question was de re necessaria for dico vobis I Paul say unto you If ye be circumcised Christ shall profit you nothing it is very remarkable how the Apostles to gaine the Iewes and to comply with their violent projudice in behalfe of Moses Law did for a time Tolerate their dissent etiam in re aliôquin necessariâ which I doubt not but was intended as a precedent for the Church to imitate for ever after But if it was not omitted either all the multitude of the Iewes which S. James then Act. 21. 20. their Bishop expressed by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thou seest how many myriads of Jewes that believe and yet are zelots for the Law and Eusebius speaking of Justus sayes he was one ex infinit â multitudine L. 3. 32. Eccles. Hist. eorum qui ex circumcisione in Jesum credebant I say all these did perish and their believing in Christ serv'd them to no other ends but in the infinity of their torments to upbraid them with hypocrisie and heresie or if they were sav'd it is apparent how mercifull God was and pitifull to humane infirmities that in a point of so great concernment did pity their weaknesse and pardon their errors and love their good minde since their prejudice was little lesse than insuperable and had faire probabilities at least it was such as might abuse a wise and good man and so it did many they did bono aâ—imâ— carrare And if I mistake not this consideration S. Paul urg'd as a reason why God forgave him who was a Persecutor 1. Tim. 1. of the Saints because he did it ignorantly in unbelief that is he was not convinc'd in his understanding of the truth of the way which he persecuted he in the meane while remaining in that incredulity not out of malice or ill ends but the mistakes of humanity and a pious zeale therefore God had mercy on him And so it was in this great Question of circumcision here only was the difference the invincibility of S. Paul's error and the honesty of his heart caused God so to pardon him as to bring him to the knowledge of Christ which God therefore did because it was necessary necessitate medii no salvation was consistent with the actuall remanency of that error but in the Question of Circumcision although they by consequence did overthrow the end of Christ's comming yet because it was such a consequence which they being hindred by a prejudice not impious did not perceive God tolerated them in their error till time and a continuall dropping of the lessons and dictates Apostolicall did weare it out and then the doctrine put on it's apparell and became cloathed with nenessity they in the meane time so kept to the foundation that is Iesus Christ crucified and risen againe that although this did make a violent concussion of it yet they held fast with their heart what they ignorantly destroyed with their tongue which Saul before his conversion did not that God upon other Titles then an actuall dereliction of their error did bring them to salvation And in the descent of so many years I finde not any one Anathema past by the Apostles or their Successors upon any Numb 5. of the Bishops of Jerusalem or the Believers of the Circumcision and yet it was a point as clearly determined and of as great necessity as any of those Questions that at this day vex and crucifie Christendome Besides this Question and that of the Resurrection commenc'd in the Church of Corinth and promoted with some variety Numb 6. of sense by Hymenaeus and Philetus in Asia who said that the Resurrection was past already I doe not remember any other heresy nam'd in Scripture but such as were errours of impiety seductiones in materiâ practicâ such as was particularly forbidding to marry and the heresy of the Nicolaitans a doctrine that taught the necessity of lust and frequent fornication But in all the Animadversions against errours made by the Apostles in the New Testament no pious person was condemn'd Numb 7. no man that did invincibly erre or bona mente but something that was amisse in genere morum was that which the Apostles did redargue And it is very considerable that even they of the Circumcision who in so great numbers did heartily believe in Christ and yet most violently retaine Circumcision and without Question went to Heaven in great numbers yet of the number of these very men they came deeply under censure when to their errour they added impiety So long as it stood with charity and without humane ends and secular interests so long it was either innocent or conniv'd at but when they grew covetous and for filthy lucres sake taught the same doctrine which others did in the simplicity of their hearts then they turn'd Hereticks then they were term'd Seducers and Titus was commanded to look to them and to silence them For there are many that are intractable and vaine bablers Seducers of minds especially they of the Circumcision who seduce whole houses teaching things that they ought not for filthy lucres sake These indeed were not to be indur'd but to be silenced by the conviction of sound doctrine and to be rebuked sharply and avoided For heresy is not an errour of the understanding but an errour Numb 8. of the will And this is clearly insinuated in Scripture in the stile whereof Faith and a good life are made one duty and vice is called opposite to Faith and heresy opposed to holinesse and sanctity So in S. Paul For saith he the end of 1 Tim. 1. the Commandement is charity out of a pure heart and a good conscience and faith unfained à quibus
of Faith or the great adequate object of the Faith that saves us is that great mysteriousnesse of Christianity which Christ taught with so much diligence for the credibility of which he wrought so many miracles for the testimony of which the Apostles endured persecutions that which was a folly to the Gentiles and a scandall to the Jewes this is that which is the object of a Christians Faith All other things are implicitely in the beliefe of the Articles of Gods veracity and are not necessary in respect of the Constitution of faith to be drawn out but may there lie in the bowels of the great Articles without danger to any thing or any person unlesse some other accident or circumstance makes them necessary Now the great object which I speak of is Jesus Christ crucified Constitui enim apud vos nihil scire praeter Jesum Christum hunc crucifixum so said S. Paul to the Church of Corinth This is the Article upon the Confession of which Christ built his Church viz. only upon S. Peters Creed which was no more but this simple enunciation We believe and are sure that thou Mat. 16. 19. art Christ the Sonne of the living God And to this salvation particularly is promised as in the case of Martha's Creed Ioh. 11. 27. To this the Scripture gives the greatest Testimony and to all them that confesse it For every spirit that confesseth that Iesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God And who ever 1 Ioh. 4. 2 15. confesseth that Iesus Christ is the Sonne of God God dwelleth in him and he in God The believing this Article is the end of writing the foure Gospels For all these things are written that Ioh. 20. 31. ye might believe that Iesus is the Christ the Sonne of God and then that this is sufficient followes and that believing viz. this Article for this was only instanced in yee might have life through his name This is that great Article which in genere credendorum is sufficient disposition to prepare a Catechumen to Baptism as appeares in the case of the Ethiopian Eunuch whose Creed was only this I believe that Iesus Christ is the Sonne of God and upon this Confession saith the story they both went into the water and the Ethiop was washed and became as white as snow In these particular instances there is no variety of Articles save only that in the annexes of the severall expressions such Numb 4. things are expressed as besides that Christ is come they tell from whence and to what purpose And whatsoever is expressed or is to these purposes implyed is made articulate and explicate in the short and admirable mysterious Creed of S. Paul Rom. 10. 8. This is the word of faith which we preach that if thou shalt confesse with thy mouth the Lord Iesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt bee saved This is the great and intire complexion of a Christian's faith and since salvation is promised to the beliefe of this Creed either a snare is laid for us with a purpose to deceive us or else nothing is of prime and originall necessity to be believed but this Iesus Christ our Redeemer and all that which is the necessary parts meanes or maine actions of working this redemption for us and the honour for him is in the bowels and fold of the great Article and claims an explicite belief by the same reason that binds us to the belief of its first complexion without which neither the thing could be acted nor the proposition understood For the act of believing propositions is not for it selfe Numb 5. but in order to certaine ends as Sermons are to good life and obedience for excepting that it acknowledges Gods veracity and so is a direct act of Religion believing a revealed proposition hath no excellency in it selfe but in order to that end for which we are instructed in such revelations Now Gods great purpose being to bring us to him by Jesus Christ Christ is our medium to God obedience is the medium to Christ and Faith the medium to obedience and therefore is to have its estimate in proportion to its proper end and those things are necessary which necessarily promote the end without which obedience cannot be encouraged or prudently enjoyn'd So that those Articles are necessary that is those are fundamentall points upon which we build our obedience and as the influence of the Article is to the perswasion or engagement of obedience so they have their degrees of necessity Now all that Christ when he preach'd taught us to believe and all that the Apostles in their Sermons propound all aime at this that wee should acknowledge Christ for our Law-Giver and our Saviour so that nothing can be necessary by a prime necessity to be believ'd explicitely but such things which are therefore parts of the great Article because they either encourage our services or oblige them such as declare Christs greatnesse in himselfe or his goodnesse to us So that although we must neither deny nor doubt of any thing which we know our great Master hath taught us yet salvation is in speciall and by name annexed to the beliefe of those Articles only which have in them the indearements of our services or the support of our confidence or the satisfaction of our hopes such as are Jesus Christ the Sonne of the living God the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Iesus forgivenesse of sinnes by his blood Resurrection of the dead and life eternall because these propositions qualifie Christ for our Saviour and our Law-Giver the one to engage our services the other to endeare them for so much is necessary as will make us to be his servants and his Disciples and what can be required more This only Salvation is promis'd to the explicite belief of those Articles and therefore those only are necessary and those are sufficient but thus to us in the formality of Christians which is a formality super-added to a former capacity we before we are Christians are reasonable creatures and capable of a blessed eternity and there is a Creed which is the Gentiles Creed which is so supposed in the Christian Creed as it is supposed in a Christian to be a man and that is oportet accedentem ad Deum credere Deum esse esse remuneratorem quaerentium eum If any man will urge farther that whatsoever is deducible from these Articles by necessary consequence is necessary to be believed explicitely I Answer It is true if he sees the deduction and coherence of the parts but it is not certain that every man shall be able to deduce whatsoever is either immediately or certainly deducible from these premises and then since salvation is promis'd to the explicite belief of these I see not how any man can justifie the making the way to heaven narrower then Jesus Christ hath made it it being already so narrow that
quòd aberrarunt quidam from which charity and purity and goodnesse and sincerity because some have wandred deflexerunt ad vaniloquium And immediately after he reckons the oppositions to faith and sound doctrine and instances only in vices that staine the lives of Christians the unjust the uncleane the uncharitable the lyer the perjur'd person si quis alius qui sanae doctrinae adversatur these are the enemies of the true doctrine And therefore S. Peter having given in charge to adde to our vertue patience temperance charity and the like gives this for a reason for if these things be in you and abound yee shall be fruitfull in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. So that knowledge and faith is inter praecepta morum is part of a good life * Quid igitur credulitas vel fides opinor fidelitèr hominem Christo credere id est fidelem Deo esse hoc est fidelitèr Dei mandata servare So Salvian And Saint Paul cals Faith or the forme of sound words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the doctrine that is according to godlinesse 1 Tim. 6. 3. †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That 's our Religion or Faith the whole manner of serving God C. de summâ Trinit fide Cathol And veritati credere and in injustitiâ sibi complacere are by the same Apostle opposed and intimate that piety and faith is all one thing faith must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 intire and holy too or it is not right It was the heresy of the Gnosticks that it was no matter how men liv'd so they did but believe aright Which wicked doctrine Tatianus a learned Christian did so detest that he fell into a quite contrary Non est curandum quid quisque credat id tantum curandum est quod quisque faciat And thence came the Sect Excratites Both these heresies sprang from the too nice distinguishing the faith from the piety and good life of a Christian They are both but one duty However they may be distinguished if we speak like Philosophers they cannot be distinguished when we speak like Christians For to believe what God hath commanded is in order to a good life and to live well is the product of that believing and as proper emanation from it as from its proper principle and as heat is from the fire And therefore in Scripture they are used promiscuously in sense and in expression as not only being subjected in the same person but also in the same faculty faith is as truly seated in the will as in the understanding and a good life as meerly derives from the understanding as the will Both of them are matters of choyce and of election neither of them an effect naturall and invincible or necessary antecedently necessaria ut fiant non necessario facta And indeed if we remember that S. Paul reckons heresy amongst the works of the flesh and ranks it with all manner of practicall impieties we shall easily perceive that if a man mingles not a vice with his opinion if he be innocent in his life though deceiv'd in his doctrine his errour is his misery not his crime it makes him an argument of weaknesse and an object of pity but not a person sealed up to ruine and reprobation For as the nature of faith is so is the nature of heresy contraries having the same proportion and commensuration Now Numb 9. faith if it be taken for an act of the understanding meerly is so farre from being that excellent grace that justifies us that it is not good at all in any kinde but in genere naturae and makes the understanding better in it selfe or pleasing to God just as strength doth the arme or beauty the face or health the body these are naturall perfections indeed and so knowledge and a true beliefe is to the understanding But this makes us not at all more acceptable to God for then the unlearned were certainly in a damnable condition and all good Scholars should be saved whereas I am afraid too much of the contrary is true But unlesse Faith be made morall by the mixtures of choyce and charity it is nothing but a naturall perfection not a grace or a vertue and this is demonstrably prov'd in this that by the confession of all men of all interests and perswasions in matters of meer belief invincible ignorance is our excuse if we be deceived which could not be but that neither to believe aright is commendable nor to believe amisse is reprovable but where both one and the other is voluntary and chosen antecedently or consequently by prime election or ex post facto and so comes to be consider'd in morality and is part of a good life or a bad life respectively Just so it is in heresy if it be a design of ambition and making of a Sect so Erasmus expounds S. Paul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sectarum * Alieni sunt à veritate qui se obarmant multitudine Chryst. authorem if it be for filthy lucres sake as it was in some that were of the circumcision if it be of pride and love of preheminence as it was in Diotrephes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or out of pevishnesse and indociblenesse of disposition or of a contentious spirit that is that their feet are not shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace in all these cases the errour is just so damnable as is its principle but therefore damnable not of it selfe but by reason of its adherencie And if any shall say any otherwise it is to say that some men shall be damned when they cannot help it perish without their own fault and be miserable for ever because of their unhappinesse to be deceived through their own simplicity and naturall or accidentall but inculpable infirmity For it cannot stand with the goodnesse of God who does Numb 10. so know our infirmities that he pardons many things in which our wills indeed have the least share but some they have but are overborn with the violence of an impetuous temptation I say it is inconsistent with his goodnesse to condemn those who erre where the error hath nothing of the will in it who therefore cannot repent of their errour because they believe it true who therefore cannot make compensation because they know not that they are tyed to dereliction of it And although all Hereticks are in this condition that is they believe their errous to be true yet there is a vast difference between them who believe so out of simplicity and them who are given over to believe a lie as a punishment or an effect of some other wickednesse or impiety For all have a concomitant assent to the truth of what they believe and no man can at the same time believe what he does not believe but this assent of the understanding in Hereticks is caused not by force of Argument but the Argument is made forcible by something that is