enough and apply that Capacity to their power by as great a Diligence as any nor can he in Charity deny but they sincerely endeavour to know the meaning of it in such points Therefore he cannot deny but the persons attending to the Rule are faultless either in understanding Scripture in these points if it be to private Understandings clearly intelligible or VVill to understand it if they could and indeed 't is Incredible they should not will or desire this since they use such exact diligence in it and solemnly profess to rely on the Letter alone or that did they indeed sleight the Letter or purposely decline relying on it their byass should not manifestly appear in so long time and they be branded for Evident Insincerity He cannot deny then but the Persons are faultless as to their Capacity and Will to understand the Rule therefore unless he will renounce his Reason he cannot deny but the Fault must be in the same Persons judging that to be the Rule which is not and consequently that the Letter of Scripture is not alone and of it self clear and Intelligible enough to preserve private men both capable and diligent and relying solely on It from possibility of Error no not from actually Erring in most Fundamental Points of Faith nor consequently has it in it the true nature of the Rule of Faith and so since God never intends any thing should do what its Nature reaches not to do that is should do what it cannot do 't is manifest Scriptures Letter was never intended by God for that End or to be such a Rule 13. Although we cannot argue against any particular way of Revelation from the necessary Attributes of God yet such away as writing being made choce of by him we may justly say that it is repugnant to the nature of the design and the Wisdome and Goodness â—f God to give infallible assurance to persons in writing his Will for the benefit of Mankind if those Writings may not be understood by all persons who sincerely endeavour to know the meaning of them in all such things as are necessary for their salvation It is not yet prov'd nor ever will that God hath made choice of the Way of writing for a Rule of Faith nor design'd it for that end nor that the benefit he meant Mankind by such Writings was to Ground their Faith on what appear'd to their private Judgments to be the sense of the Letter therefore 't is no wonder if all persons stould hap to misunderstand it even in such things as are necessary for their salvation notwithstanding their sincere endeavour to know the meaning of them since God has never promis'd that any who takes a way never intended by him for such an End shall infallibly arrive at that End by such a Way nor is the Wisdome and Godness of God at all concern'd in preserving any from Error if they take such a Way especially if we reflect upon these following Considerations First That God hath no where engaged his word to secure every single or private man from Error who shall sincerely endeavour to find his Faith in the Scripture in case he rely on his own private Judgment neglect to hear his Pastors whence if such private persons rely on Gods promis'd Assistance to such an End they rely on what neither is nor ever was and so no wonder their hopes fail them if those Hopes be groundless Secondly They cannot but know if but meanly vers'd in the world that whole Bodies of men and amongst them divers of great learning interpret Scripture several ways in very concerning points of Faith and it must needs favour of a proud self-conceit in any person to think God regards his single self more than he does whole Bodies and Great Multitudes Again it cannot without a strange Unreasonableness Uncharitableness be imagin'd or judg'd that not one person of those many who adhere to the opposite Tenet as clear to them in Scripture according to their best Judgment does sincerely endeavour to know the meaning of these Sacred Books and if they do then Common sense tells this private person that the whole Foundation on which his Hope is built is unsound and that more is requisite than the Letter of Scripture and a sincere endeavour to understand it and that if these suffice to direct him right they ought for the same reason be sufficient to direct another and so he ought to doubt whether himself or those others proceeding on the same Grounds and having the same Means be in the right that is he ought to doubt of his Faith no better grounded Lastly This private man belongs to some particular Church and so has Pastors and Governors set over him to teach and instruct him and those too as wee 'l suppose read and rely on the Scriptures Also he must judg this Church sincerely endeavours to know the meaning of Scriptures for this being the requisit condition to find right Faith without this his Church has no right Faith and so is no Church now for a private man who is subject to such a Church and ought to be taught by the Pastors of that Church not to submit to the Judgment of that Church and his Lawful Pastors as to the Sense of Scriptures or his Faith even though they be sincere endeavours as well as he but to adhere to that for his Faith which appears to his private self to be in the Scriptures though he contradict and defy all the Church he his a member of in so doing which he ought to do if he proceed on this Principle that Scriptures may be understood by all persons who sincerely endeavour to know the meaning of them in all things necessary for his salvatiou for he ought not for any mans sake relinquish his Faith or its Rule I say to behave himself thus as in that supposition he ought is such an intolerable ma apert Presumption so Sensless and Unnatural and Self-condemning a Rebellion and such a Fanatick Spiritual Pride as I much doubt will give a man but small title to hope for Especial Assistance from Gods Wisdom and Goodness At present I onely remarke the Faults of this Principle which are these First That it supposes God has made choice of or designd the Scriptures to be this Rule of Faith for private persons Next that Gods Wisdome and Goodness is Engag'd that it be thus Intelligible to every sinâ—ere Eadeavourer Neither of which is in the least prov'd or proveable Lastly when he comes to the close instead of making it so intelligible as that all sincere Endeavors might therby be absolutely secur'd from erring as to the Truth of their Faith which is the Duty of the Rule of Faith seeing very well these slight Grounds were not able to carry so far he substitutes in their room these waty words in all such things as shall be necessary for their salvation so that though they erre in all the main points of
ought they will as God's command the Order of the World and common Reason obliges them be rather willing to trust their Pastors who are better qualifi'd for such Knowledge and whom God hath set over them to instruct them what is the sense of Scriptures than trust their own private shallow judgments And 't is observable that Dr. St's discourse all along concerning this point is a plain begging the Question For if God have left a Church and commanded the Faithfull to hear it and conform to it's Faith and consequently to receive the sense of Scripture as to Points of Faith from it then there is no necessity of Scripture's being intended to be plain to all Capacities of it self nor of thinking men may sincerely desire to know God's will in Scriptures and use due means to understand it without making use of the Churches Judgment in that affair upon which false supposition Dr. St. wholly builds his otherwise perfectly ruinous discourse Wherefore his supposition being deny'd I must reply that those who sincerely desire to know Gods wisl have a certain virtue in them called Humility and this teaches them not to overween in their own opinion but to think that their Pastors appointed by God to teach them are generally wiser then those who are to be taught and that those who are wiser know better than those who are lesse wise A little of this plain honest rational Humility would quite spoil all Dr. St's discourse and convince all his Principles to be a plausible piece of Sedition and licentious presumption tending of its own nature utterly to destroy all Church and Church-Government and if applied to that Subject Temporal too I should be glad to know what means the word such in the last line if he means Infallible and that the Church pretending to Infallibility must have Infallible Assurance that she is Infallible t is asserted by us and his supposition that she is not is absolutely deny'd For the Church is Infallibly certain that Christ's promise to her shall not fail and also Infallibly certain by constant Tradition and the beleef of good Christians in all Ages that Christ has promis'd her this Security or Immunity from Errour in Faith none questioning it but those who have rebel'd and revolted from her In a word this whole Principle is Faulty being built on a False and unprov'd Supposition and were the Supposition granted and that the Church were Fallible still it were false that his Faithfull would have greater Assurance of their Faith than ours as hath been partly now shown and more amply in my Reply to the foregoing Principle Recapitulation The Sum then of Dr. St's Performances in these ten Principles of his which most Fundamentally concern his Faith and the pretended Reduction of it to Principles is briefly this that he hath not brought so much as one single Argument proving either that Scripture's Letter is the Rule of Faith nor that Tradition or the Infallible Testimony of Gods Church is not it And as for the particular Maxims or Sayings of his on which he chiefly relies they have been one by one disprov'd and the opposite Truths establish't As 1. That Faith being such an Assent as when built as it ought to be on the means left by God for mankinde to rely ou is impossible to be False and so that Means or the Rule of Faith being necessarily such as while men rely upon it is impossible they should erre These things I say being so as I have largely prov'd in Faith Vindicated and the Introductory Discourse to this present Examin Dr. St. has not so much as made an offer or attempt to show that Scripture is the Rule of Faith 2. That since 't is agreed God can contrive Writings sufficiently Intelligible for that End or sufficiently clear to ascertain those who rely upon them of their Faith and yet on the other side 't is evident God has not de facto done this or contriv'd such Methods and ways as our Reason tels us evidently are proper means to keep those Writings call'd the Scriptures from being thus mis-understood by severall Parties even in Fundamental Points as we experience they are it follows hence most manifestly that God never intended the way of writing for the Rule of Faith 3. Since several Parties of excellent capacities in understanding words aright and both owning Scripture for their Rule and applying themselves with greatest diligence to know the true sence of it do notwithstanding differ in those Fundamental Points of a Trinity and the God-head of Christ 't is manifest that Scripture is not able so secure those who rely on it to their power of the Truth of their Faith and so is not the Rule of Faith 4. Again since in passages that concern Faith the knowing whether the words be taken properly or improperly is that which determines what is Faith what not and this knowledge is not had from Scripture it follows that Scripture is not the Rule of Faith 5. God has no where promis'd that he will still assist those who sincerely endeavour to compass an end in case they take a way disproportion'd to attain that end and which way was consequently never intended by him for such an end for this were to engage himself to do perpetual Miracles when ever any one should act irrationally Wherefore unless it be first solidly prov'd that Scripture is the Rule of Faith or apt of its own nature to give those who rely on it Inerrable security of the Truth of their Faith while they thus rely on it and consequently that it was intended by God for such an end none can justly lay claim to God's assistance or tax his Justice or Veracity if they fall into Errour Much lesse if they neglect those Duties which Nature makes evident to them and common Christianity teaches viz. to obey and hear their Governours Pastors and Teachers ordain'd by God and rely on their own private Wit or God's Immediate Assistance to their single selves rather than to those Publick Officers of the Church God had appointed to govern and direct them for this intolerable spiritual Pride is so odious and pernicious that it most justly entitles them to delusion Errour and Heresie 6. Hence since God has left some means for Faith and 't is Blasphemy to say that those who rely according to their utmost power on the means left and Intended by God to lead Men into Truth can while they do so run into Errour which yet private understandings as was seen may relying on the Written Word it follows 〈◊〉 unavoidably that some other way is left which is not Writing to secure the Relyers on it from Errour in Faith or to be to them the Rule of Faith 7. Scripture not being the Rule and Christ's Doctrine being once settled and accepted in the Christian part of the World by means of Miracles there needed no more but to derive it down to future Ages and this Doctrine being Practicall and so objected
to to our Sences Testimony was sufficient to do it so it were sufficiently qualify'd that is the best and on the best manner supported that any ordinary means can be such was the Testimony of the Church or Tradition which besides what is found in humane Testimony has also the whole body joynt force of supernaturall motives to preserve the Testifiers Attentive and Veracious Thus the Church or the Christian Society of Men being establish't Infallible in delivering down Faith needs not prove her Infallibility by Miracles but 't is sufficient the Faithfull beleeve that Christ promis't to protect her from Errour and consequently to beleeve the An est of her Infallibility or that she is infallible upon the same Rule they beleeve all their Faith and the Scriptures too viz. upon Tradition and that her Controversiall Divines who are to defend Faith by way of Reason or Argument prove the Quid est of this Infallibility or make out in what it consists or in what second Causes this ordinary and constant Assistance is founded and consequently prove it's force by such Maxims as ground the Certainty of Humane Testimony and if the Reader comprehends them by the strange efficacy of supernaturall motives also conspiring to strengthen Nature as to that effect of rightly testifying the Doctrine received and beleeved to be Christ's 8. There is no Necessity then of proving this Infallibility meerly by Scripture interpreted by virtue of this Infallibility Nor do the Faithfull or the Church commit a Circle in beleeving that the Church is Infallible upon Tradition For first taking them as Faithfull precisely they are meerly Beleevers not Reasoners or such as put one proposition artificially before or after another Next they beleeve only the supernaturall Infallibility built on the Assistance of the Holy Ghost that is on the Churches Sanctity and this is prov'd by the Human Testimony of the Church to have been ever held since the beginning and the force of the Human Testimony of the Church is prov'd by Maxims of meer Reason Add that the Certainty of such a vaâ—t Testimony is self-evident practically in the same manner as 't is self-evident that the Testimony of all England cannot deceive us in telling us there was such a man as King Iames whence no Circle can possibly be committed if it be beleeved for it's own sake or rather known by its own light though there would be if discoursing it rationally we should put the same Proposition to be before and after it self 9. Since those who have the least capacity of penetrating Scripture and consequently according to Dr. St. have the fewest Motives of good life applyed to them may frequently live amongst greatest Temptations that is in circumstances of needing the most 'T is a blind Undertaking and no securer nor wiser than idle Fortune-telling to bear men in hand that persons of all capacities who sincerely Endeavour shall understand Scripture in all such things as are necessary for their Salvation 10. Since 't is most evident that private Iudgments may err in understanding Scripture but not evident that Christ has not promis'd his Church Security from erring in Faith they run the greater hazard by far who rely on their private sense of Scripture then those do who rely on the Church especially since the Church denyes not Scripture but professes to go according to it and so in common reason is likely to comprehend its meaning far better than private men but most especially since our Moderns when they first began to rely on their own Judgments of Scripture for their Faith revolted from hearing the Church and rebell'd against Pastours and lawfull Superiours which both Gods Law and the light of Nature taught them they were to follow and submit to Thus our new Apostle of the private spirit of Gifts and new Light hath endeavour'd to pull down the Church and subvert the Foundation laid by Christ and instead thereof to set up as many Churches as there are private and proud Fancies in the world Each of which may by this devillish Doctrine defy the Church for Teaching him his Faith or for governing him as as a Church that is governing him as one of the Faithfull for she can bind never a subject in conscience to any thing but what her self and each man judges to be True and Sound wherefore if any or each private person understands Scripture another way then she does he is enfranchis'd by his Rule of Faith which he ought not relinquish from her Authority she may in that case wish him well and pity him as every old wife may also do and he in return may wish well to the Church end pity her She may endeavour to admonish and instruct him better so to pluck him out of his Errour and he in requital that he may not be behind-hand with the Church in Courtesy may with equal nay better Title admonish the Church of her failing and endeavour to pull her out of her Errour or as the new phrase is reform her for being conscious to himself that he reads the Scripture and sincerely indeavours to know the meaning of it he has all the security of his Faith and consequently of the Churches being in an Errour that may be Nor can he being thus gifted want Power to preach to her and others For certainly the World would be most perversly ordered if they who are in Errour should have Licence and Power to propagate their Errours and those who follow Truth should have no leave to propagate Truth Thus the Church has lost all power that is has lost her self being able neither to lead nor drive her equally-gifted Subjects so that her exercising Jurisdiction over them would by this wicked Doctrine be a most Tyrannical persecution and every such private man's refractory Disobedience see the wonderful gifts of the private spirit would become a most Glorious Confession of Christian Faith and every Rebell acting against the Church so he be but so self-conceited as to judge he knows more of God's mind in the Scripture then all the Church besides would by this Doctrine in case the Secular power should think fit to curb his Insolence be a most blessed Martyr such no doubt as John Fox'es were The Fifth Examen Sifting the Eleven remaining Principles which seem Chiefly to concern the nature of Faith WHoever hath perus'd the foregoing Examin and reflected well upon what a sandy Foundation Dr. St. has built his Faith will doubtless expect that he will assigne it such a nature as is of no exceeding great strength for fear lest his weak Grounds ' should not support his Superstructures nor his Proofs carry home to his Conclusions Now the Conceit which the Generality of Christians have of Faith importing it's true Nature is that 't is such an Assent as is impossible to be an Errour or False Whence follows that its Grounds are likewise such And indeed since all hold That Faith is an Immoveable and Unalterable Assent which is to
only in the Word It being agreed then amongst us all that what Christ and his Apostles taught is Gods Word or his Will and the Means to Salvation all that is to be done by us as to matters of Faith is to know with Absolute Certainty what was the first taught Doctrine or Christs sense and whatever can thus assure us of that is deservedly call'd the Rule of Faith Now the word Rule made use of to mean a Spiritual or Intellectual Direction is Metaphorical or translated from some Material thing as most words that express Spiritual Notions are and 't is one of those kind of Metaphors which are transferr'd from one thing to another for some Proportion or Resemblance between them For as a Material Rule is such a thing as if one endeavour to go according to it and decline not from it preserves one from going crooked so this Intellectual Rule call'd the Rule of Faith is of that Nature that if one go according to it and swerve not from it it preserves one from going wrong or from erring in his knowledge of what is True or First-deliver'd Faith and Faith being intended for persons of all sorts or Capacities the Rule of Faith must be able to preserve even those of the meanest Capacity from Erring in Faith while they relie upon It. Agian this being the Proper and Primary Effect of the Rule of Faith and every Nature that is having essentially in it self a Power to produce of its self and without the Assistance of any other its Primary Effect or rather being it self that Power as man to discourse Fire to burn c. it follows that since to preserve all that relie on it in right Faith is the Proper effect of the Rule of Faith what has not in it self the Power to do this and this of its self independently on any thing else but on God who establishes the Natures of all things to be Certain Powers to produce their Proper Effect is not in true speech a Rule of Faith Since then not one Catholick in the World holds that Scriptures Letter of it self and independently on something else viz thâ— Church's Tradition attesting the Truth of the same Letter and Interpreting it has in it self Power thus to certifie persons of all capacities of Christian Faith without possibility of Erring nor any one but holds the Churches Authority is able alone to do this Effect since 't is known and confest it actually perform'd this in the beginning there is not one Catholick that I know of who holds either that the Scripture is the Rule of Faith taking the words in this sense or that any thing but the Churches living voice and Practice or Tradition is It and so taking the words properly as I do they all agree with me On the other side taking those words the Rule of Faith for any thing that contains Faith or that may signify it with absolute Certainty to people of all sorts not of it self but meerly by vertue of another whose Power of Asserting the Truth of the Letter in those Passages at least that concern Christian Faith and of unerringly Interpreting it lends it to be thus certainly significative of Gods Will taking I say Rule of Faith in this sense as some of ours do I grant with them that Scripture is a Rule of Faith So that still I agree with them in the Thing only I dissent from them in the word and judge that this Container of Christs Doctrin as now describ'd is but improperly call'd a Rule of Faith as not having in it self the nature of such a Rule that is not having a Power in it self and of its self thus to ascertain Faith by absolutely engaging the Divine Authority This Distinction now given I learned from the Council of Trent which no where says that Scripture is a Rule of Faith as it does expresly of Tradition Sess. 5. but only that it contains Faith as also Tradition does but whether it contains it in such a manner that all those who are to have Faith by relying on it may by so doing be absolutely secur'd from erring which is requisite over and above to make it in true speech deserve the name of a Rule the Council says nothing I am sure it is far from saying that people of all sorts reading the Scriptures and attending solely to the Letter as interpreted and understood by their private selves shall be sure never to erre in right Faith nay it engages not for their security from erring so much as in any one point which yet ought to be said if Scripture in it self and of it self have the power of regulating them in their Faith or be a Rule Rather the Council by its Carriage says the direct contrary for though being about to define against Hereticks it professes to follow in its definitions the written word yet 't is observable that it no where builds on any place of Scripture but it professes at the same time to build its Interpretation of that place on Tradition which evidently argues that though Scripture in the Judgment of the Council contain'd the Point yet that which indeed regulated the Council in its Definitions was the Tradition of the Church as it also expresly declares where ever it defines And I dare say that there is not one Catholick in the world who thinks the Council knew not both what and how to define against Luther and Calvin at that time without needing to seek its Faith anew in Texts of Scripture which plainly concludes that the Council was not regulated by It or look'd upon it as her Rule but only consider'd it as of a sacred Authority and available against Hereticks professing to rely on Scripture and accusing the Church for going contrary to the Word of God Nay the Council defines that none should dare to interpret Scripture contrary to the sense which our H. Mother the Catholick Church hath held and does hold which clearly takes it out of private hands and makes the sense of the Church ever held the only Interpreter of Scripture especially in matters of Faith and extends to all Scripture which unavoidably makes it no Rule of Faith I am sure the Distinction now given shows my sentiment consistent if not perfectly agreeing with that Common Opinion of our Divines that Scripture is a Partial Rule or that Scripture and Tradition integrate one compleat Rule For they clearly mean by those words that Faith is partly contain'd in Scripture partly in the Tradition of the Church So that what they had an eye to in so doing was not the Evidence requisit to a Rule but only the degree of Extent of Scripture to the matter contain'd in it whence 't is evident they meant onely that Scripture contain'd some part of Faith which I perfectly allow to it and perhaps more This is my Judgment concerning the notioâ— of the Rule of Faith and what is such a Rule and these my Reasons for that Judgment If any one thinks