The justest abatement that we can offer for thisCorruption which is too manifest to be either denied or justified is this They were then engaged with the Heathens and were much set on bringing them over to the Christian Religion In order to that it was very natural for them to think of all methods possible to accommodate Christianity to their taste It was perhaps observed how far the Apostles complied with the Iews that they might gain them St. Paul had said that to the Iews he became a Iew and to them that were without law 1 Cor. 9.19 20. that is the Gentiles as one without law that by all means he might gain some They might think that if the Iews who had abused the light of a Revealed Religion who had rejected and crucified the Messias and persecuted his Followers and had in all respects corrupted both their Doctrine and their Morals were waited on and complied with in the observance of that very Law which was abrogated by the Death of Christ but was still insisted on by them as of perpetual Obligation and yet that after the Apostles had made a solemn decision in the matter they continued to conform themselves to that Law all this might be applied with some advantages to this matter The Gentiles had nothing but the Light of Nature to Govern them they might seem willing to become Christians but they still despised the nakedness and simplicity of that Religion And it is reasonable enough to think that the Emperors and other great Men might in a Political view considering the vast strength of Heathenism press the Bishops of those times to use all imaginable ways to adorn Christianity with such an exteriorForm ofWorship as might be most acceptable to them and might most probably bring them over to it The Christians had long felt the weight of Persecution from them and were no doubt much frighted with the danger of a Relapse in Iulian's time It is natural to all Men to desire to be safe and to weaken the numbers of their implacable Enemies In that state of things we do plainly see they began to comply in lesser Matters For whereas in the First Ages the Christians were often reproached with this that they had no Temples Altars Sacrifices nor Priests they changed their dialect in all those Points so we have reason to believe that this was carried further The Vulgar are more easily wrought upon in greater Points of Speculation than in some small Ritual Matters Because they do not understand the one and so are not much concerned about it But the other is more sensible and lies within their compass We find some in Palestine kept Images in their Houses as Eusebius tells us others began in Spain to light Candles by Day-light and to paint the Walls of their Churches And though these things were condemned by the Council of Elliberis yet we see by what St. Ierom has cited out of Vigilantius that the Spirit of Superstition did work strongly among them We hear of none that writ against those abuses besides Vigilantius yet Ierom tells us that many Bishops were of the same Mind with him with whom he is so angry as to doubt whether they deserved to be called Bishops Most of these abuses had also specious beginnings and went on insensibly Where they made greater steps we find an opposition to them Epipli Heres 79 Epiphanius is very severe upon the Collyridians for their Worshipping the Blessed Virgin And though they did it by Offering up a Cake to her yet if any will read all that he says against that Superstition they will clearly see that no Prayers were then Offered up to her by the Orthodox And that he rejects the thought of it with Indignation But the respect paid the Martyrs and the opinion that they were still hovering about their Tombs might make the calling to them for their Prayers seem to be like one Mans desiring the Prayers of other Good Men and when a thing of this kind is once begun it naturally goes on Of all this we see a particular Account in a Discourse writ on purpose on this Argument of curing the Affections and Inclinations of the Greeks by Theodoret Theod. de cur Gr. affect l. 8. de Martyr who may be justly reckoned among the greatest Men of Antiquity and in it he insists upon this particular of proposing to them the Saints and Martyrs instead of their Gods And there is no doubt to be made but that they found the effects of this compliance many Heathens were every day coming over to the Christian Religion And it might then perhaps be intended to lay all those aside when the Heathens were once brought over To all which this must be added that the good Men of that time had not the Spirit of Prophesy and could not foresee what Progress this might make and to what an Excess it might grow they had nothing of that kind in their View So that between Charity and Policy between a desire to bring over Multitudes to their Faith and an Inclination to secure themselves it is not at all to be wondred at by any who considers all the Circumstances of those Ages that these Corruptions should have got into the Church and much less having once got in they should have gone on so fast and be carried so far Thus I have offered all the Considerations that arise from the State of Things at that time to shew how far we do still preserve the Respect due to the Fathers of those Ages even when we confess that they were Men and that something of human Nature appeared in this Piece of their Conduct This can be made no Argument for later Ages who having no Heathens among them are under no Temptations to comply with any of the Parts of Heathenism to gain them And now that the abuse of these Matters is become so scandalous and has spread it self so far how much soever we may excuse those Ages in which we discern the first beginnings and as it were the small Heads of that which has since overflow'd Christendom Yet we can by no means bear even with those beginnings which have had such dismal Effects and therefore we have reduced the Worship of God to the Simplicity of the Scripture Times and of the First Three Centuries And for the Fourth we reverence it so much on other Accounts that for the Sake of these we are unwilling to Reflect too much on this Another Consideration urged for the Invocation of Saints is that they seeing God we have reason to believe that they see in him if not all things yet at least all the Concerns of the Church of which they are still Parts and they being in a most perfect State of Charity they must certainly love the Souls of their Brethren here below So that if Saints on Earth whose Charity is not yet perfect do pray for one another here on Earth they in that State of Perfection do certainly
Voice Stand up and bless the Lord your God for ever and ever which shews that all did understand the Service When the Syriac Tongue became more familiar to them the Iews had their Prayers in Syriac and they did read the Law in their Synagogues in Greek when that Language was more familiar to them when they read the Law in Greek we have reason to believe that they prayed likewise in it In the New Testament we see the Gift of Tongues was granted to enable the Apostles and others to go every where preaching the Gospel and performing Holy Functions in such a Language as might be understood The World was amaz'd when every Man heard them speak in his own Language One of the general Rules given by St. Paul with relation to the Worship of God is Let every thing be done to Edification Since then the speaking either to God in the Name of the People or to the People in the Name of God in an unknown Tongue can edify no Person then by this Rule it is to be understood to be forbidden When some who had the Gift of Tongues did indiscreetly shew it in the Church of Corinth St. Paul was so offended at that and thought it would appear to the World so undecent as well as unfruitful that he bestows a whole Chapter upon it and tho' a great part of the Discourse is against the pretending to teach the People in an unknown Tongue which yet is not near so bad as the reading the Word of God to them in a Tongue not understood by them it being much more important that the People should understand the words of the living God than the Expositions of Men yet there are many Passages in that Chapter that belong to Prayer The reason of the thing is common to both since unless the words were understood they who uttered them spoke only to the Air and how should it be known what was spoken For if the meaning of the Voice was not known they would be Barbarians to one another As to Prayer he says If I pray in an unknown tongue 1 Cor. 14.14 my spirit that is the Inspiration or Gift that is in me prayeth but my understanding that is my rational Powers is unfruitful Verse 15. and therefore he concludes that he will both Pray and give Thanks with the Spirit and with the understanding also he will do it in such a manner that the Inspiration with which he was acted and his rational Powers should joyn together The reason given for this seems evident enough to determine the whole matter Else when thou shalt bless with the Spirit Verse 16. how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest For thou verily givest thanks well but the other is not edified In which Words it is plain that the People even the most unlearned among them were to joyn in the Prayers and Praises and to testify that by saying Amen at the conclusion of them And in order to their doing this as became reasonable Creatures it was necessary that they should understand what that was which they were to confirm by their Amen It is also evident that St. Paul judged that the People ought to be edified by all that was said in the Church and so he says a little after this Let all things be done to edifying After such plain Authorities from Scripture supporting that which seems to be founded on the Light of Nature Verse 26. we need go no farther to prove that which is mainly designed by this Article The Custom of the Primitive Church is no less clear in this Point As the Christian Religion was spread to different Nations so they all worshipped God in their own Tongue The Syriac the Greek and the Latin were indeed of that extent that we have no particular History of any Churches that lay beyond the compass of those Languages but there was the same reason for putting the Worship of God in other Languages that there was for these That which is drawn from the Three Languages in which the Title on our Saviour's Cross was written is too trifling a thing to deserve an Answer As if a humour of Pilate's were to be considered as a Prophetical Warrant what he did being only designed to make that Title to be understood by all who were then at Ierusalem There are very large Passages both in Origen and St. Basil which mention every Tongues praising of God Cont Celsum l. 8. p. 402. Ep. 63. ad Neoces and that the Gospel being spread to many Nations he was in every Nation praised in the Language of that Nation This continued so long to be the practice even of the Latin Church that in the Ninth Century when the Slavons were converted it was considered at Rome by Pope Iohn VIII in what Language they should be allowed to Worship God Johan 8. Ep. 247. Concil Tom. 9. And as is pretended a Voice was heard Let every Tongue confess to God upon which that Pope writ both to the Prince and to the Bishop of the Slavons allowing them to have their Publick Service in their own Tongue But in the other Parts of the Western Church the Latin Tongue continued to be so universally understood by almost all sorts of People till the Tenth or Eleventh Century that there was no occasion for changing it and by that time the Clergy were affecting to keep the People in Ignorance and in a blind dependance upon themselves and so were willing to make them think that the whole business of reconciling the People to God lay upon them and that they were to do it for them A great part of the Service of the Mass was said so low that even they who understood some Latin could not be the better for it in an Age in which there was no printing and so few Copies were to be had of the Publick Offices The Scriptures were likewise kept from the People and the Service of God was filled with many Rites in all which the Clergy seemed to design to make the People believe that these were sacred Charms of which they only had the Secret So that all the Edification which was to be had in the Publick Worship was turned to Pomp and Shew for the Diversion and Entertainment of the Spectators In defence of this Worship in an unknown Tongue the main Argument that is brought is the Authority and Infallibility of the Church which has appointed it and since she ought to be supposed not to have erred therefore this must be believed to be lawful We are not much moved with this especially with the Authority of the later Ages Con. Trid. Câ—â—p 8. Sâ—ll 22. so the other Arguments must be considered which indeed can scarce be called Arguments The Modern Tongues change so fast that they say if the Worship were in them it must either be often changed or
particularities of this Confession of our Faith There were some steps made to it in K. Henry's Time in a large Book that was then published under the Title of The Necessary Gruâ—ition that was a Treatise set forth to instruct the Nation Many of thâ— Errors of Popery were laid open and condemned in it but none were obliged to assent to it or to Subscribe it After that the Worship was Reformed as being that which pressed most And in that a Foundation was laid for the Articles that came quickly after it How or by whom they were prepared we do not certainly know By the remains of that time it appears that in the alterations that were made there was great precaution used such as indeed matters of that Nature required Questions were framed relating to them these were given about to many Bishops and Divines who gave in theit several Answers those were collated and examined very carefully all sides had a free and fair hearing before Conclusions were made In the fermentation that was working over the whole Nation at that time it was not possible that a thing of that nature could have passed by the methods that are more necessary in Regular Times And therefore they could not be offered at first to Synods or Convocations The Corruptions complained of were so beneficial to the whole Body of the Clergy that it is justly to be wonder'd at that so great a number was prevailed with to concur in Reforming them But without a Miracle they could not have been agreed to by the Major part They were prepared as is most probable by Cranmer and Ridley and published by the Regal Authority Not as if our Kings had pretended to an Authority to judge in Points of Faith or to decide Controversies But as every private man must chuse for himself and believe according to the convictions of his Reason and Conscience which is to be examined and proved in its proper place so every Prince or Legislative Power must give the publick Sanction and Authority according to his own Persuasion this makes indeed such a Sanction to become a Law but does not alter the Nature of Things nor oblige the Consciences of the Subjects unless they come under the same Persuasions Such Laws have indeed the Operation of all other Laws but the Doctrines Authorised by them have no more truth than they had before without any such Publication Thus the part that our Princes had in the Reformation was only this that they being satisfied with the Grounds on which it went received it themselves and enacted it for their People And this is so plain and so just a consequence of that liberty which every man has of believing and acting according to his own Convictions that when the one is well made out there can be no colour to question the other It was also remarkable that the Law which stood first in Iustinian's Code was an Edict of Theodosius's who finding the Roman Empire under great distractions by the diversity of Opinions in Matter of Religion did appoint that Doctrine to be held which was received by Damasus Bishop of Rome and Peter Bishop of Alexandria such an Edict as that being put in so conspicuous a part of the Law was a full and soon-observ'd Precedent for our Princes to act according to it The next Thing to be examined is the Use of the Articles and the Importance of the Subscriptions of the Clergy to them Some have thought that they are only Articles of Union and Peace that they are a Standard of Doctrine not to be contradicted or disputed that the Sons of the Church are only bound to acquiesce silently in them and that the Subscription to them amounts only to a general Compromise upon those Articles that so there may be no disputing nor wrangling about them By this means they reckon that though a man should differ in his Opinion from that which appears to be the clear sense of any of the Articles yet he may with a good Conscience subscribe it if the Article appears to him to be of such a nature that though he thinks it wrong yet it seems not to be of that consequence but that it may be born with and not contradicted I shall not now examine whether it were more fit to leave men to the due freedom of their thoughts and that the Subscription did run no higher it being in many cases a great hardship to exclude some very deserving persons from the Service of the Church by requiring a Subscription to so many particulars concerning some of which they are not fully satisfied I am only now to consider what is the Importance of the Subscriptions required among us and not what might be reasonably wisht that it should be As to the Laity and the whole Body of the People certainly to them these are only the Articles of Church-Communion so that every person who does not think that there is some proposition in them that is Erroneous to so high a degree that he cannot hold Communion with such as profess it may and is obliged to continue in our Communion For certainly there are many Opinions held in Matters of Religion which a man may believe to be false and yet he may esteem them to be of so little Importance to the chief design of Religion that he may well hold Communion with those whom he thinks to be so mistaken Here a necessary distinction is to be remembred between Articles of Faith and Articles of Doctrine The one are held necessary to Salvation the other are only believed to be true that is to be revealed in the Scriptures which is a sufficient Ground for acknowledging them true Articles of Faith are Doctrines that are so necessary to Salvation that without believing them no man has a foederal Right to the Covenant of Grace These are not many and in the Establishment of any Doctrine for such it is necessary both to prove it clearly from Scripture and to prove its being necessary to Salvation as a mean setled by the Covenant of Grace in order to it We ought not indeed to hold Communion with such as make Doctrines that we believe not to be true to pass for Articles of Faith though we may hold Communion with such as do think them true without stamping so high an Authority upon them To give one Instance of this in an undeniable particular In the days of the Apostles there were Judaisers of two sorts some thought the Iewish Nation was still obliged to observe the Mosaical Law but others went further and thought that such an Observation was indispensably necessary in all men to Salvation Both these Opinions were wrong but the one was tolerable and the other was intolerable Because it pretended to make that a necessary condition of Salvation which God had not commanded The Apostles complied with the Judaisers of the first sort 1 Cor. 9.19 to 23. as they became all things to all men that so they might gain
Messiah did come and was cut off during the continuance of Ierusalem and the Temple but that it hapned within a Period of Time designed in that Vision Time was then computed more certainly than it had been for many Ages before Two great Measures were fixed one at Babylon by Nabonassor and another in Greece in the Olympiads Here a Prediction is given almost Five hundred Years before the Accomplishment with many very nice Reckonings in it I will not now enter upon the Chronology of this matter on which some Great Men have bestowed their Labours very happily Archbishop Usher has stated this matter so that the Interval of Time is clearly Four hundred eighty six Years The Covenant was to be confirmed with many for one Week in the midst of which God was to cause the Sacrifice and Oblation for Sin to cease which seems to be a Mystical way of describing the Death of Christ that was to put an end to the Virtue of the Iudaical Sacrifices so Sixty nine Weeks and a half make just Four hundred eighty six Years and a half But without going further into this Calculation it is evident That during the Second Temple the Messias was to come and to be cut off and that soon after that a Prince was to send an Army to destroy both City and Sanctuary The Iews do not so much as pretend that during that Temple the Messias thus set forth did come or was cut off so either the Prediction fail'd in the Event or the Messiah did come within that Period And thus a Thread of the Prophecies of the Messias being carried down through the whole Old Testament it seems to be fully made out That he was to be of the Seed of Abraham and of the Posterity of David That the Tribe of Iudah was to be a distinct Policy till he should come That he should work many Miracles That he was to be Meek and Lowly That his Function was to consist in Preaching to the Afflicted and in comforting them That he was to call the Gentiles and even the remote Islands to the knowledge of God That he was to be born of a Virgin and at Bethlehem That he was to be a New Lawgiver as Moses had been That he was to settle his Followers upon a New Covenant different from that made by Moses That he was to come during the Second Temple That he was to make a mean but a joyful Entrance to Ierusalem That he was to be cut off That the Iniquities of us all were to be laid on him and that his Life was to be made an Offering for Sin but that God was to give him a glorious Reward for these his Sufferings and that his Doctrine was to be internal accompanied with a free Offer of Pardon and of Inward Assistances and that after his Death the Iews were to fall under a terrible Curse and an utter Extirpation When this is all summed up together when it appears That there was never any other Person to whom those Characters did agree but that they did all meet in our Saviour we see what Light the Old Testament has given us in this matter Here a Nation that hates us and our Religion who are scattered up and down the World who have been for many Ages without their Temple and without their Sacrifices without Priests and without their Genealogies who yet hold these Books amongthem in adue Veneration which furnish us with so full aproof that the Messiah whom they still look for is the Lord Jesus whom we worship We do now proceed to other matters The Iews pretend That it is a great Argument against the Authority of the New Testament because it acknowledges the Old to be from God and yet repeals the far greater part of the Laws Enacted in it though those Laws are often said to be Laws for ever and throughout all Generations Now they seem to argue with some advantage who say That what God does declare to be a Law that shall be perpetual by any one Prophet cannot be abrogated or reversed by another since that other can have no more Authority than the former Prophet had And if both are of God it seems the one cannot make void that which was formerly declared by the other in the Name of God But it is to be considered That by the Phrases of a Statute for ever or throughout all Generations can only be meant that such Laws were not transient Laws such as were only to be observed whilst they marched through the Wilderness or upon particular occasions whereas such Laws which were constantly and generally to be observed were to them perpetual But that does not Import that the Lawgiver himself had parted with all the Authority that naturally belongs to him over his own Laws It only says That the People had no power over such Laws to repeal or change them They were to bind them always but that puts no limitation on the Lawgiver himself so that he might not alter his own Constitutions Positive Precepts which have no real value in themselves are of their own nature alterable And as in human Laws the words of Enacting a Law for all future times do only make that to be a perpetual Law for the Subjects but do not at all limit the Legislative power which is as much at liberty to abrogate or alter it as if no such words had been in the Law There are also many hints in the Old Testament which shew that the Precepts of the Mosaical Law were to be altered Many plain Intimations are given of a time and state in which the knowledge of God was to be spread over all the Earth And that God was every where to be worshipped Now this was impossible to be done without a Change in their Law and Rituals It being impossible that all the World should go up thrice a Year to worship at Ierusalem or could be served by Priests of the Aaronical Family Circumcision was a distinction of one particular Race which needed not to be continued after all were brought under one denomination and within the same common Privileges These things hitherto mentioned belong naturally to this part of the Article yet in the intention of those who framed it these words relate to an extravagant sort of Enthusiasts that lived in those days who abusing some ill-understood Phrases concerning Justification by Christ without the works of the Law came to set up very wild Notions which were bad in themselves but much more pernicious in their Consequences They therefore fancied that a Christian was tied by no Law as a Rule or Yoke all these being taken away by Christ They said indeed That a Christian by his renovation became a Law to himself he obeyed not any written Rule or Law but a new inward Nature And thus as it is said that Sadocus mistook his Master Antigonus who taught his Disciples to serve God not for the hope of a Reward but without any expectations as if he by
or Descendents that is Parents and Children that by an Eternal Reason can never marry for where there is a Natural Subordination there can never be such an Equality as that state of Life requires But Collateral Degrees even the nearest Brothers and Sisters are not by any Natural Law barred Marriage and therefore in a case of necessity they might marry Yet since their intermarrying must be attended with vast Inconveniences and would tend to the Defilement of Families and hinder the Conjunction of Mankind by the Intermixture of different Families it becomes therefore a fit Subject for a perpetual Law to strike a horror at the thought of such Commixtures and so to keep the World pure which considering the Freedoms in which those of the same Family do live could not be preserved without such a Law It is also the Interest of Mankind and necessary for the careful Education of the rising Generation that Marriages should be for Life for if it were free for married Persons to separate at pleasure the Issue of Marriages so broken would be certainly much neglected And since a Power to break a Marriage would naturally inflame such little quarrelings as may happen among all Persons that live together which will on the contrary be certainly repressed when they know that the Marriage cannot be dissolved and when by such a Dissolution of Marriages the one half of the Human Species I mean Womankind is exposed to great Miseries and subject to much Tyranny it is a fit Subject for a perpetual Law so that it is Moral in a Secondary Order It were easy to give Instances of this in many more Particulars and to shew That a Precept may be said to be Moral when there is a Natural Suitableness in it to advance that which is Moral in the first Order and that it cannot be well preserved without such a Support It will appear what occasion there is for this distinction when we consider the Ten Commandments which are so many Heads of Morality that are instanced in the highest act of a kind and to which are to be reduced all such acts as by the just Proportions of Morality belong to that Order and Series of Actions The Foundation of Morality is Religion The Sense of God That he is and that he is both a Rewarder and a Punisher is the Foundation of Religion Now this must be supposed as Antecedent to his Laws for we regard and obey them from the persuasion that is formed in us concerning the Being and the Justice of God The two first Commandments are against the two different sorts of Idolatry which are the worshipping of False Gods or the worshipping the True God in a Corporeal Figure The one is the giving the Honour of the True God to an Idol and the other is the depreâ—â—ing the True God to the resemblance of an Idol These were the two great Branches of Idolatry by which the true Ideas of God were corrupted Religion was by them corrupted in its Source No body can question but that it is Immoral to worship a False God it is a transferring the Honour which belongs immediately and singly to the Great God to a Creature or to some Imaginary Thing which never had a real Existence This is the robbing God of what is due to him and the exalting another thing to a degree and rank that cannot belong to it Nor is it less immoral to propose the Great and True God to be worshipped under Appearances that are derogatory to his Nature that tend to give us low Thoughts of him and that make us think him like if not below our selves This way of worshipping him is both unsutable to his nature and unbecoming ours while we pay our Adorations to that which is the work of an Artificer This is confirmed by those many express Prohibitions in Scripture to which Reasons are added which shew that the thing is Immoral in its own nature It being often repeated that no Similitude of God was ever seen And to whom will ye liken me All things in Heaven and Earth are often called the work of his hands Which are plain Indications of a Moral Precept when Arguments are framed from the Nature of Things to enforce Obedience to it The Reason given in the very Command it self is taken from the Nature of God who is jealous that is so tender of his Glory that he will not suffer a diminution of it to go unpunished and if this Precept is clearly founded upon Natural Justice and the proportion that ought to be kept between all Human Acts and their Objects then it must be perpetual And that the rather because we do plainly see that the Gospel is a refining upon the Law of Moses and does exalt it to a higher pitch of Sublimity and Purity And by consequence the Ideas of God which are the first Seeds and Principles of Religion are to be kept yet more pure and undefiled in it than they were in a lower Dispensation The Third Precept is against false Swearing For the Word Vain is often used in the Scripture in that sense Ex. 23.1 Lev. 19.12 Mat. 5.33 And since in all the other Commandments the Sin which is named is not one of the lowest but of the chief Sins that relate to that Head there is no reason therefore to think That Vain or Idle Swearing which is a Sin of a lower Order should be here meant and not rather false Swearing which is the highest Sin of the kind The Morality of this Command is very apparent for since God is the God of Truth and every Oath is an Appeal to him therefore it must be a gross Wickedness to Appeal to God or to call him to vouch for our lies The Fourth Commandment cannot be called Moral in the first and highest sense for from The Nature of Things no reason can be assigned Why the Seventh day rather than the Sixth or the Eighth or any other day should be separated from the common business of Life and applied to the Service of God But it is Moral that a man should pay homage to his Maker and acknowledge him in all his works and ways And since our Senses and sensible Objects are apt to wear better things out of our Thoughts it is necessary that some solemn Times should be set apart for full and copious Meditations on these Subjects This should be universal lest if the Time were not the same every where the Business of some men might interfere with the Devotions of others It ought to have such an eminent Character on it like a cessation from Business Which may both awaken a curiosity to enquire into the reason of that stop and also may give opportunity for Meditations and Discourses on those Subjects It is also clear That such days of rest must not return so oft that the necessary Affairs of Life should be stopt by them nor so seldom that the Impressions of Religion should wear out if they were too
God and damnation So Temporary Judgments are often expressed in Scripture And to this they add That Christ has entirely redeemed us from this by the Promise he has given us of raising us up at the Last Day And that therefore when St. Paul is so copiously discoursing of the Resurrection he brings this in That as we have born the image of the first Adam who was earthy so we shall also bear the image of the heavenly and since by man came death 1 Cor. 15.21 22. In Ep. ad Rom. passim by man came also the resurrection from the dead and that as in Adam all dye so in Christ shall all be made alive and that this is the Univesal Redemption and Reparation that all mankind shall have in Christ Jesus All this these Divines apprehend is conceivable and no more therefore they put Original Sin in this only for which they pretend they have all the Fathers with them before St. Austin and particularly St. Chrysostom and Theodoret from whom all the latter Greeks have done little more than copied out their words This they do also pretend comes up to the words of the Article for as this general adjudging of all men to dye may be called according to the Stile of the Scriptures God's wrath and damnation so the fear of Death which arises out of it corrupts mens Natures and inclines them to evil Others do so far approve of all this as to think that it is a part of Original Sin yet they believe it goes much farther and that there is a Corruption spread through the whole Race of Mankind which is born with every man This the Experience of all Ages teaches us but too evidently every man feels it in himself and sees it in others The Philosophers who were sensible of it thought to avoid the difficulty that arises from it when it might be urged That a good God could not make men to be Originally depraved and wicked they therefore fancied that all our Souls pre-existed in a former and purer state from which they fell by descending too much into Corporeal pleasure and so both by a lapse and for a punishment they sunk into grosser Bodies and fell differently according to the different degrees of the Sins they had committed in that state And they thought that a Virtuous Life did raise them up to their former pitch as a Vicious one would sink them lower into more depraved and more miserable Bodies All this may seem plausible But the best that can be said for it is That it is an Hypothesis that saves some difficulties but there is no sort of proofs to make it appear to be true We neither perceive in our selves any remembrances of such a state nor have we any warning given us either of our fall or of the means of recovering out of it So since there is no reason to affirm this to be true we must seek for some other source of the Corruption of human Nature The Manichees imputed it to the Evil God and thought it was his work which some say might have set on St. Austin the more earnestly to look for another Hypothesis to reconcile all But before we go to that it is certain that in Scripture this general Corruption of our Nature is often mentioned The Imaginations of man's thoughts are only evil continually Gen. 6.5.8.21 1 Kings 8.46 Prov. 24.16 Jer. 17.9 2 Cor. 5.17 Eccl. 7.20 Gal. 5.17 Rom. 8.7 8. John 3.6 What man is he that liveth and sinneth not The just man falleth seven times a day The heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it All that are in Christ must become new Creatures old things must be done away and every thing must become new God made man upright but he sought out to himself many Inventions The Flesh is weak The Flesh lusteth against the Spirit The carnal mind is enmity to the law of God and is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be And they that are in the Flesh cannot please God Where by Flesh is to be meant the natural State of Mankind according to those words That which is born of the Flesh is Flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit These with many other places of Scripture to the same purpose when they are joined to the universal Experience of all Mankind concerning the Corruption of our whole Race lead us to settle this point that in Fact it has over-run our whole kind the contagion is spread over all Now this being setled we are next to enquire how this could happen We cannot think that God made men so For it is expresly said Gen. 1 27. That God made man after his own Image The surest way to find out what this Image was at first is to consider What the New Testament says of it when we come to be restored to it We must put on the new man Eph. 4.22 24. after the Image of him that created him or as elsewhere the new man in righteousness and true holiness This then was the Image of God in which man was at first made Nor ought the Image of God to be considered only as an Expression that imports only our representing him here on Earth and having Dominion over the Creatures For in Genesis the Creation of Man in the Image of God is expressed as a thing different from his Dominion over the Creatures Gen. 1.27 28. which seems to be given to him as a consequent of it The Image of God seems to be this That the Soul of Man was a Being of another Sort and Order than all those material Beings till then made which were neither capable of Thought nor Liberty in which respect the Soul was made after the Image of God But Adam's Soul being put in his Body his Brain was a Tabula rasa as White Paper had no Impressions in it but such as either God put in it or such as came to him by his senses A Man born deaf and blind newly come to hear and see is not a more Ignorant and Amazed-like Creature than Adam must have been if God had not conveyed some great impressions into him such as first the acknowledging and obeying him as his Maker and then the managing his Body so as to make it an Instrument by which he could make use of and observe the Creation There is no reason to think that his Body was at first inclined to Appetite and that his Mind was apt to serve his Body but that both were restrained by supernatural Assistances It is much more natural and more agreeable to the words of the Wise-man to think that God made man upright that his Body craved modestly and that his Mind was both Judge and Master of those cravings and if a natural Hypothesis may be offered but only as an Hypothesis it may be supposed That a Man's blood was naturally low and cool but that it was
Grace of Christ and the Inspiration of his Spirit are not pleasant to God forasmuch as they spring not of Faith in Iesus Christ neither do they make men meet to receive Grace or as the School-Authors say deserve Grace of Congruity Yea rather for that they are not done as God hath commanded and willed them to be done we doubt not but that they have the nature of Sin THere is but one Point to be considered in this Article which is Whether Men can without any inward Assistances from God do any Action that shall be in all its circumstances so good that it is not only acceptable to God but meritorious in his sight though in a lower degree of merit If what was formerly laid down concerning a Corruption that was spread over the whole Race of Mankind and that had very much vitiated their Faculties be true then it will follow from thence That unassisted Nature can do nothing that is so good in it self that it can be pleasant or meritorious in the sight of God A great difference is here to be made between an external Action as it is considered in it self and the same Action as it was done by such a Man An Action is called good from the Morality and Nature of the Action it self so Actions of Justice and Charity are in themselves good whatsoever the Doer of them may be But Actions are considered by God with relation to him that does them in another light his Principles Ends and Motives with all the other circumstances of the Action come into this Account for unless all these be good let the Action in its own abstracted nature be ever so good it cannot render the Doer acceptable or meritorious in the sight of God Another distinction is also to be made between the Methods of the Goodness and Mercy of God and the strictness of Justice For if God had suchregard to the feigned Humiliation of Ahab 1 Kings 21.29 as to grant him and his Family a Reprieve for some time from those Judgments that had been denounced against them and him and if Iehu's executing the Commands of God upon Ahab's Family and upon the Worshippers of Baal procured him the Blessing of a long continuance of the Kingdom in his Family though he acted in it with a bad design 2 Kings 10.30 31. and retained still the old Idolatry of the Calves set up by Ieroboam then we have all reason to conclude according to the Infinite Mercy and Goodness of God that no Man is rejected by him or denied inward Assistances that is making the most of his Faculties and doing the best that he can but that he who is faithful in his little shall be made Ruler over more The Question is only Whether such Actions can be so pure as to be free from all sin and to Merit at God's hand as being Works naturally perfect for that is the formal Notion of the Merit of Congruity as the Notion of the Merit of Condignity is That the Work is perfect in the Supernatural Order To establish the Truth of this Article beside what was said upon the Head of Original Sin we ought to consider what St. Paul's words in the 7 th of the Romans do import Nothing was urged from them on the former Articles because there is just ground of doubting whether St. Paul is there speaking of himself in the state he was in when he writ it or whether he is personating a Iew and speaking of himself as he was while yet a Iew. But if the words are taken in that lowest sense they prove this That an Unregenerate Man has in himself such a Principle of Corruption that even a good and a holy Law revealed to him cannot reform it but that on the contrary it will take occasion from that very Law to deceive him and to slay him Rom. 7.12 13. So that all the benefit that he receives even from that Revelation is Ver. 14. that sin in him becomes exceeding sinful as being done against such a degree of Light by which it appears that he is carnal and sold under sin and that though his Understanding may be enlighten'd by the Revelation of the Law of God made to him so that he has some Inclinations to obey it yet he does not that which he would but that which he would not And though his Mind is so far convinced 16 17 18 that he consents to the Law that it is good yet he still does that which he would not which was the effect of sin that dwelt in him and from hence he knew that in him that is in his flesh in his carnal part or carnal state there dwelt no good thing for though to will that is to resolve on obeying the Law was present yet he found not a way how to perform that which was good the good that he wished to do that he did not but he did the evil that he wished not to do which he imputed to the sin that dwelt in him He found then a Law a Bent and Biass within him 21 that when he wished resolved and endeavoured to do good evil was present with him it sprung up naturally within him for though in his rational Powers he might so far approve the Law of God as to delight in it yet he found another Law arising upon his Mind from his Body 23 which warred against the law of his mind and brought him into captivity to the law of sin which was in his members 24 25. All this made him conclude that he was carnal and sold under sin and cry out O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death For this he thanks God through our Lord Iesus Christ And he sums all up in these words So then with the mind I my self serve the Law of God but with the flesh the Law of Sin If all this Discourse is made by St. Paul of himself when he had the Light which a Divinely-inspired Law gave him he being educated in the exactest way of that Religion both zealous for the Law and blameless in his own observance of it we may from thence conclude how little reason there is to believe that a Heathen or indeed an unregenerated Man can be better than he was and do Actions that are both good in themselves which it is not denied but that he may do and do them in such a manner that there shall be no mixture nor imperfection in them but that they shall be perfect in a Natural Order and be by consequence meritorious in a Secondary Order By all this we do not pretend to say That a Man in that state can do nothing or that he has no use of his Faculties He can certainly restrain himself on many occasions he can do many good works and avoid many bad ones he can raise his Understanding to know and consider things according to the Light that he has he can put
a publick Law So if we have Families or the Necessities of a feeble Body and a weak Constitution for which God has supplied us with that which will afford us food convenient for us Prov. 30.8 we must not throw up those provisions and cast our selves upon others Therefore that Precept must be moderated and expounded so as to agree with the other Rules and Orders that God has set us A distinction is therefore to be made between those things that do universally and equally bind all Mankind and those things that do more specially bind some sorts of men and that only at some times There are greater degrees of Charity Gravity and all other Virtues to which the Clergy for instance are more bound than other men but these are to them Precepts and not Counsels And in the first beginnings of Christianity there were greater Obligations laid upon all Christians as well as greater Gifts were bestowed on them It is true in the Point of Marriage S. Paul does plainly allow that such as marry do well but that such as marry not do better 1 Cor. 7.38 But the meaning of that is not as if an unmarried Life were a state of Perfection beyond that which a Man is obliged to But only this That as to the Course of this Life and the present distress and as to the judgment that is to be made of men by their Actions no Man is to be thought to do amiss who marries but yet he who marries not is to be judged to do better But yet inwardly and before God this matter may be far otherwise for he who marries not and burns certainly does worse than he who marries and lives chastly But he who finding that he can limit himself without endangering his Purity though no Law restrains him from Marrying yet seeing that he is like to be Tempted to be too careful about the Concerns of this Life if he marries is certainly under Obligations to follow that Course of Life in which there are fewer Temptations and greater Opportunities to attend on the Service of God With Relation to outward Actions and to the Judgments that from visible Appearances are to be made of them some Actions may be said to be better than others which yet are truly good But as to the particular obligations that every Man is under with Relation to his own State and Circumstances and for which he must Answer at the last Day these being secret and so not subject to the Judgments of Men certainly every Man is strictly bound to do the best he can to chuse that Course of Life in which he thinks he may do the best Services to God and Man Nor are these free to him to chuse or not He is under Obligations and he Sins if he sees a more excellent thing that he might have done and contents himself with a lower or less valuable thing St. Paul had wherein to Glory for whereas it was Lawful for him as an Apostle to suffer the Corinthians to supply him in temporals when he was serving them in Spiritual Things yet he chose rather for the Honour of the Gospel and to take away all occasion of Censure from those who sought for it Acts 20.34 1 Cor. 9.18 2 Cor. 12.13 to work with his own hands and not to be burthensome to them But in that State of Things though there was no Law or outward Obligation upon him to spare them he was under an inward Law of doing all things to the Glory of God And by this Law he was as much bound as if there had been an outward compulsory Law lying upon him This distinction is to be remembred between such an Obligation as arises out of a Mans particular Circumstances and such other Motives as can be only known to a Man himself and such an Obligation as may be fastned on him by stated and general Rules He may be absolutely free from the latter of these and yet be secretly bound by those inward and stronger constraints of the Love of God and of Zeal for his Glory Enough seems to be said to prove that there are no Counsels of Perfection in the Gospel That all the Rules set to us in it are in the Stile and Form of Precepts and that though there may be some Actions of more Heroical Virtue and more Sublime Piety than others to which all men are not obliged by equal or general Rules yet such men to whose Circumstances and Station they do belong are strictly obliged by them so that they should Sin if they did not put them in practice This being thus made out the Foundation of Works of Supererogation is destroyed But if it should be acknowledged that there were such Counsels of Perfection in the Scripture there are still two other clear proofs to shew that there can be no such thing as Supererogating with God Firâ—t Every Man not only has Sinned but has still so much Corruption about him as to feel the truth of that of St. Iames in many things we offend all James 3.2 Now unless it can be supposed that by obeying those Counsels a Man can compensate with Almighty God for his Sins there is no ground to think that he can Supererogate He must first clear his own Score before he can imagine that any thing upon his account can be forgiven or imputed to another and if the Guilt of Sin is Eternal and the pretended Merit of obeying Counsels is only Temporary no Temporary Merit can take off an Eternal Guilt So that it must first be supposed that a Man both is and has been perfect as to the Precepts of Obligation before it can be thought that he should have an Overplus of Merit The other clear Argument from Scripture against Works of Supererogation is that there is nothing in the whole New Testament that does in any sort favour them We are always taught to trust to the Mercies of God and to the Death and Intercession of Christ and to work out our own Salvation with fear trembling Phil. 2.12 but we are never once directed to look for any help from Saints or to think that we can do any thing for another man's Soul in this way Psal. 49.7 The Psalm has it No man can by any means give a ransom for his brother's Soul The words of Christ cited in the Article are full and express aganst it The words in the Parable of the five foolish Virgins and the five wise may seem to favour it but they really contradict it for it was the foolish Virgins that desired the wise to give them of their Oil which if any will apply to a supposed Communication of Merit they ought to consider that the Proposition is made by the foolish Mat. 25.9 and the Answer of the wise Virgins is full against it Not so lest there be not enough for us and you What follows of bidding them go to them that sell and buy for themselves is only
must be supplied by the Inventions of Men Which they oppose so much the more because they think that all the Corruptions of Popery began at some Rites which seemed at first not only Innocent but Pious but were afterwards abused to superstition and Idolatry and swelled up to that bulk as to oppress and stifle true Religion with their Number and Weight A great part of this is in some respect true yet that we may examine the matter methodically we shall first consider What Power the Church has in those matters and then What Rules she ought to govern her self by in the use of that Power It is very visible that in the Gospels and Epistles there are but few Rules laid down as to Ritual Matters In the Epistles there are some general Rules given that must take in a great many Cases such as Let all things be done to Edification to Order and to Peace And in the Epistles to Timothy and Titus Rom. 14 1â— 1 Cor. 14.40 many Rules are given in such general words as Lay hands suddenly on no Man that in order to the guiding of particular Cases by them many distinctions and specialties were to be interposed to the making them practicable and useful In matters that are merely Ritual the state of Mankind in different Climates and Ages is apt to vary and the same things that in one Scene of Human Nature may look grave and seâ—m fit for any Society may in another Age look light and dissipate mens thoughts It is also evident that there is not a System of Rules given in the New Testament about all these and yet a due method in them is necessary to maintain the Order and Decency that become Divine things This seems to be a part of the Gospel Liberty That it is not a Law of Ordinances these things being left to be varied according to the diversities of Mankind The Iewish Religion was delivered to one Nation Gal. 2.4 4.9 5. â— and the main parts of it were to be performed in one place they were also to be limited in Rituals lest they might have taken some Practices from their Neighbours round about them and so by the use of their Rites have rendred Idolatrous Practices more familiar and acceptable to them And yet they had many Rites among them in our Saviour's time which are not mentioned in any part of the Old Testament such was the whole Constitution of their Synagogues with all the Service and Officers that belonged to them They had a Baptism among them besides several Rites added to the Paschal Service Our Saviour reproved them for none of these he hallowed some of them to be the Foederal Rites of his New Dispensation he went to their Synagogues and though he reproved them for overvaluing their Rites for preferring them to the Laws of God and making these void by their Traditions yet he does not condemn them for the use of them And while of the greater Precepts he says These things ye ought to have done Matth. 23.23 he adds concerning their Rites and lesser matters and not to have left the other undone If then such a liberty was allowed in so limited a Religion it seems highly suitable to the sublimer state of the Christian Liberty that there should be room left for such Appointments or Alterations as the different state of times and places should require In hotter Countries for instance there is no danger in dipping but if it is otherwise in colder Câ—imates than since Mercy is better than even Sacrifice Hos. 6.6 Matth. 12.7 a more sparing use may be made of Water Aspersion may answer the true end of Baptism A stricter or gentler Discipline of Offenders must be also proportioned to what the Times will bear and what Men can be brought to submit to The dividing of Christians into such Districts that they may have the best Conveniences to assemble themselves together for Worship and for keeping up of Order the appointing the Times as well as the Places of Worship are certainly to be fixed with the best regard to present Circumstances that may be The bringing Christian Assemblies into Order and Method is necessary for their Solemnity and for preventing that dissipation of Thought that a diversity of Behaviour might occasion And though a Kiss of Peace and an Order of Deaconesses were the Practices of the Apostolical Time yet when the one gave occasion to Raillery and the other to Scandal all the World was and still is satisfied with the reasons of letting both fall Now if Churches may lay aside Apostolical Practices in Matters that are Ritual it is certainly much easier to justifie their making new Rules for such things since it is a higher Attempt to alter what was settled by the Apostles themselves than to set up new Rules in Matters which they left untouch'd Habits and Postures are the necessary Circumstances of all Publick Meetings The times of Fasting and of Prayer the Days of Thanksgiving and Communions are all of the same nature The Publick Confession of Sins by scandalous Persons the time and manner of doing it The previous steps that some Churches have made for the Trial of those who were to be received into Holy Orders that so by a longer Inspection into their Behaviour while in lower Orders they might discover how fit they were to be admitted into the Sacred Ones And chiefly the prescribing stated Forms for the several Acts of Religious Worship and not leaving that to the Capacities of Humours to the Inventions and often to the Extravagancies of those who are to officiate All these things I say fall within those general Rules given by the Apostles to the Churches in their time Where we find that the Apostles had their Customs 1 Cor. 12.16 ch 9.19 to 23. as well as the Churches of God which were then opposed to the innovating and the contentious humours of some factious Men. And such a Pattern have the Apostles set us of complying with those things that are regulary settled wheresoever we are that we find they became all things to all Men To the Iews they became Iews though that was a Religion then extinguished in its obligation by the Promulgation of the Gospel and was then fallen under great corruption Yet in order to the gaining of some of them such was the Spirit of Charity and Edification with which the Apostles were acted that while they were among them they complied in the Practice of those abrogated Rites though they asserted both the Liberty of the Gentiles and even their own in that matter It was only a Compliance and not a Submission to their Opinions that made them observe days and distinguish meats while among them If then such Rites and the Rites of such a Church were still complied with by Inspired Men this is an Infallible Pattern to us and let us see upon how much stronger Reasons we who are under those Obligations to Vnity and Charity with all Christians
or the body like the Notion that the Gentiles might have of their Februations or which is more natural considering to whom he writes like the Opinions that the Iews had of their Cleansings after their Legal Impurities from which their Washings and Bathings did absolutely free them The Salvation that we Christians have by Baptism is effected by that Federation into which we enter when upon the Demands that are made of our renouncing the Devil the World and the Flesh and of our believing in Christ and our Repentance towards God we make such Answers from a good Conscience as agree with the end and design of Baptism then by our thus coming into Covenant with God we are saved in Baptism So that the Salvation by Baptism is given by reason of the federal compact that is made in it Now this being made outwardly according to the Rules that are prescribed that must make the Baptism good among Men as to all the outward and visible effects of it But since it is the answer of a good Conscience only that saves then an answer from a bad Conscience from a hypocritical Person who does not inwardly think or purpose according to what he professes outwardly cannot save but does on the contrary aggravate his Damnation Therefore our Article puts the efficacy of Baptism in order to the forgiveness of our sins and to our Adoption and Salvation upon the vertue of Prayer to God that is upon those Vows and other acts of Devotion that accompany them So that when the seriousness of the mind accompanies the regularity of the action then both the outward and inward effects of Baptism are attained by it and we are not only Baptized into one Body but are also saved by Baptism So that upon the whole matter Baptism is a federal admission into Christianity in which on God's part all the Blessings of the Gospel are made over to the Baptized And on the other hand the Person Baptized takes on him by a solemn Profession and Vow to observe and adhere to the whole Christian Religion So it is a very natural distinction to say that the outward effects of Baptism follow it as outwardly performed but that the inward effects of it follow upon the inward acts but this difference is still to be observed between inward acts and outward actions that when the outward action is rightly performed the Church must reckon the Baptism good and never renew it But if one has been wanting in the inward acts those may be afterwards renewed and that want may be made up by Repentance Thus all that the Scriptures have told us concerning Baptism seems to be sufficiently explained There remains only one place that may seem somewhat strange St. Paul says that Christ sent him not to Baptize but to Preach 1 Cor. 1.17 Which some have carried so far as to infer from thence that Preaching is of more value than Baptism But it is to be considered that the Preaching of the Apostles was of the nature of a Promulgation made by Heraulds It was an act of a special Authority by which he in particular was to convert the World from Idolatry and Iudaism to acknowledge Iesus to be the true Messias Acts 8.26 to the end Now when Men by the Preaching of the Apostles and by the Miracles that accompanied it were so wrought on as to believe that Iesus was the Christ Acts 16.31 32 33. then according to the practice of Philip towards the Eunuch of Ethiopia and of St. Paul to his Jayler at Philippi they might immediately Baptize them yet most commonly there was a special Instruction to be used before Persons were Baptized who might in general have some Conviction and yet not be so fully satisfied but that a great deal of more pains was to be taken to carry them on to that full assurance of Faith which was necessary This was a work of much time and was to be managed by the Pastors or Teachers of the several Churches So that the meaning of what St. Paul says was this that he was to publish the Gospel from City to City but could not descend to the particular labour of preparing and instructing of the Persons to be Baptized and to the Baptizing them when so prepared If he had entred upon this Work he could not have made that progress nor have founded those Churches that he did All this is therefore misunderstood when it is applied to such Preaching as is still continued in the Church which does not succeed the Apostolical Preaching that was inspired and infallible but comes in the room of that Instruction and Teaching which was then performed by the Pastors of the Church The last Head in this Article relates to the Baptism of Infants which is spoken of with that moderation that appears very eminently through the whole Articles of our Church on this Head It is only said to be most agreeable with the Institution of Christ and that therefore it is to be in â—ny ways retained in the Church Now to open this it is to be considerâ—d that tho' Baptism and Circumcision do not in every particular come to a Parallel yet they do agree in two things The one is that both were the Rites of admission into their respective Covenants and to the Rights and Privileges that did arise out of them and the other is that in them both there was an Obligation laid on the Persons to the observance of that whole Law to which they were so initiated St. Paul arguing against Circumcision lays this down as an uncontested Maxim That if a Man was Circumcâ—â—â—d he became thereby a debtor to the whole law Parents had by the Iewish Constitution Gal. 5.3 an Authority given them to conclude their Children under that Obligation so that the Soul and Will of the Child was so far put in the power of the Parents that they could bring them under federal Obligations and thereby procure to them a share in federal Blessings And it is probable that from hence it was that when the Iews made Proselytes they considered them as having such Authority over their Children that they Baptized them first and then Circumcised them though Infants Now since Christ took Baptism from them and appointed it to be the federal Admission to his Religion as Circumcision had been in the Mosaical Dispensation it is reasonable to believe that except where he declared a change that he made in it in all other respects it was to go on and to continue as before especially when the Apostles in their first Preaching told the Iews that the Promises were made to them and to their Children Acts 2.39 which the Iews must have understood according to what they were already in possession of that they could initiate their Children into their Religion bring them under the obligations of it and procure to them a share in those Blessings that belonged to it The Law of Nature and Nations puts Children in the Power
their joining to the Idol Feasts for an Idol was nothing and so that wstich was offered to an Idol could contract no defilement from the Idol it being nothing Now if the meaning of their being partakers with Devils imports only their joining themselves in Acts of Fellowship with Idolaters then the Sin of this would have easily appeared without such a re-inforcing of the Matter For tho' an Idol was nothing yet it was still a great Sin to join in the Acts that were meant to be the Worship of this nothing This was a dishonouring of God and a debasing of Man But St. Paul seems to carry the Argument farther that how true soever it was that the Idol was nothing that is a dead and lifeless thing that had no Vertue nor Operation and that by consequence could derive nothing to the Sacrifice that was offered to it Yet since those Idols were the Instruments by which the Devil kept the World in Subjection to him all such as did partake in their Sacrifices might come under the Effects of that Magick that might be exerted about their Temples or Sacrifices By which the Credit of Idolatry was much kept up And though every Christian had a sure defence against the Powers of Darkness as long as he continued true to his Religion yet if he went out of that Protection into the Empire of the Devil and joined in the Acts that were as a Homage to him he then fell within the reach of the Devil and might justly fear his being brought into a Partnership of those magical Possessions or Temptations that might be suffered to fall upon such Christians as should associate themselves in so detestable a Service In the same Sense it was also said 1 Cor. 10.18 that all the Israelites who did eat of the Sacrifices were partakers of the Altar That is that all of them who joined in the Acts of that Religion such as the Offering their Peace-Offerings for of those of that kind they might only eat all these were partakers of the Altar That is of all the Blessings of their Religion of all the Expiations the Burnt-offerings and Sin-offerings that were offered on the Altar for the sins of the whole Congregation For that as a great Stock went in a common Dividend among such as observed the Precepts of that Law and joined in the Acts of Worship prescribed by it Thus it appears that such as joined in the Acts of Idolatry became partakers of all that Influence that Devils might have over those Sacrifices and all that continued in the Observances of the Mosaical Law had thereby a partnership in the Expiations of the Altar so likewise all Christians who receive this Sacrament worthily have by their so doing a share in that which is represented by it the Death of Christ and the Expiation and other Benefits that follow it This seemed necessary to be fully explained For this Matter how plain soever in it self has been made very dark by the ways in which some have pretended to open it With this I conclude all that belongs to the first Part of the Article and that which was first to be explained of our Doctrine concerning the Sacrament By which we assert a real Presence of the Body and Blood of Christ but not of his Body as it is now glorified in Heaven but of his Body as it was broken on the Cross when his blood was shed and separated from it That is his Death with the merit and effects of it are in a visible and federal Act offered in this Sacrament to all worthy Believers By Real we understand True in opposition both to Fiction and Imagination And to those Shadows that were in the Mosaical Dispensation in which the Manna the Rock the brazen Serpent but most eminently the Cloud of Glory were the Types and Shadows of the Messias that was to come With whom came Grace and Truth that is a most wonderful Manifestation of the Mercy or Grace of God and a verifying of the Promises made under the Law In this Sense we acknowledge a real Presence of Christ in the Sacrament Though we are convinced that our first Reformers judged right concerning the use of the Phrase real Presence that it were better to be let fall than to be continued since the Use of it and that Idea which does naturally arise from the common acceptation of it may stick deeper and feed Superstition more than all thoâ—e larger Explanations that are given to it can be able to cure But howsoever in this Sense it is innocent of it self and may be lawfully used though perhaps it were more cautiously done not to use it since advantages have been taken from it to urge it farther than we intend it and since it has been a snare to some I go in the next Place to explain the Doctrine of the Church of Rome concerning this Sacrament Transubstantiation does express it in one Word but that a full Idea may be given of this Part of their Doctrine I shall open it in all its Branches and Consequences The Matter of this Sacrament is not Bread and Wine For they are annihilated when the Sacrament is made They are only the remote Matter out of which it is made But when the Sacrament is made they cease to be And instead of them their outward Appearances or Accidents do only remain Which though they are no Substances yet are supposed to have a Nature and Essence of their own separable from Matter And these Appearances with the Body of Christ under them are the Matter of the Sacrament Now though the Natural and Visible Body of Christ could not be the Sacrament of his Body yet they think his real Body being thus veiled under the Appearances of Bread and Wine may be the Sacrament of his glorified Body Yet it seeming somewhat strange to make a true Body the Sacrament of it self they would willingly put the Sacrament in the Appearances but that would sound very harsh to make Accidents which are not Matter to be the Matter of the Sacrament Therefore since these words This is my Body must be literally understood the Matter must be the true Body of Christ so that Christ's Body is the Sacrament of his Body Christ's Body though now in Heaven is as they think presented in every Place where a true Consecration is made And though it is in Heaven in an extended State as all other Bodies are yet they think that Extension may be separated from Matter as well as the other Appearances or Accidents are believed to be separated from it And whereas our Souls are believed to be so in our Bodies that though the whole Soul is in the whole Body yet all the Soul is believed to be in every Part of it but so that if any Part of the Body is separated from the rest the Soul is not divided being one single Substance but retires back into the rest of the Body They apprehend that Christ's Body is present after
particular or National Church hath Authority to ordain change and abolish Ceremonies or Rights of the Church ordained only by mens Authority so that all things be done to edifying THIS Article consists of two Branches The first is That the Church hath Power to appoint such Rites and Ceremonies as are not contrary to the Word of God and that private Persons are bound to conform themselves to their Orders The second is That it is not necessary that the whole Church should meet to determine such maters the Power of doing that being in every National Church which is fully empowr'd to take care of it self and no Rule made in such matters is to be held unalterable but may be changed upon occasion As to the first it hath been already considered when the first words of the Twentieth Article were explained There the Authority of the Church in matters indifferent was stated and proved It remains now only to prove That private Persons are bound to conform themselves to such Ceremonies especially when they are also enacted by the Civil Authority It is to be considered That the Christian Religion was chiefly designed to raise and purify the Nature of man and to make Human Society perfect now Brotherly Love and Charity does this more than any one Virtue whatsoever It raises a man to the Likeness of God it gives him a Divine and Heavenly Temper within himself and creates the tenderest Union and firmest Happiness possible among all the Societies of Men. Our Saviour has so enlarged the Obligation to it as to make it by the Extent he has given it a great and new Commandment by which all the World may be able to know and distinguish his Followers from the rest of Mankind And as all the Apostles insist much upon this in every one of their Epistles not excepting the shortest of them so St. Iohn who writ last of them has dwelt more fully upon it than upon any other Duty whatsoever Our Saviour did particularly intend that his Followers should be associated into one Body and join together in order to their keeping up and inflaming their mutual Love and therefore he delivered his Prayer to them all in the Plural to shew that he intended that they should use it in a Body He appointed Baptism as the way of receiving men into this Body and the Eucharist as a joint Memorial that the Body was to keep up of his Death For this end he appointed Pastors to teach and keep his Followers in a Body And in his last and longest Prayer to the Father he repeats this That they might be one That they might be kept in one Body and made perfect in one in five several Expressions Joh. 17.11 21 22 23. which shews both how necessary a part of his Religion he meant this should be and likewise intimates to us the danger that he foresaw of his Followers departing from it which made him intercede so earnestly for it One Expression that he has of this Union shews how entire and tender he intended that it should be for he prayed that the Union might be such as that between the Father and himself was The Apostles use the Figure of a Body frequently to express this Union than which nothing can be imagined that is more firmly knit together and in which all the parts do more tenderly sympathize with one another Upon all these considerations we may certainly gather That the dissolving this Union the dislocating this Body and the doing any thing that may extinguish the Love and Charity by which Christians are to be made so happy in themselves and so useful to one another and by which the Body of Christians grows much the firmer and stronger and shines more in the World that I say the doing this upon slight grounds must be a Sin of a very high nature Nothing can be a just Reason either to carry men to it or justify them in it but the imposing on them unlawful Terms of Communion for in that case it is certain that we must obey God rather than man that we must seek Truth and Peace together Acts 24.16 and that the rule of keeping a good Conscience in all things is laid thus To do it first towards God and then towards man So that a Schism that is occasioned by any Church's imposing unlawful Terms of Communion lies at their door who impose them and the Guilt is wholly theirs But without such a necessity it is certainly both in its own nature and in its consequences one of the greatest of Sins to create needless Disturbances in a Church and to give occasion to all that alienation of Mind all those rash Censures and unjust Judgments that do arise from such Divisions This receives a very great Aggravation if the Civil Authority has concurred by a Law to enjoyn the Observance of such indifferent things for to all their lawful Commands we owe an Obedience not only for fear but for conscience sake since the Authority of the Magistrate is chiefly to be imployed in such matters Rom. 13.3 As to things that are either commanded or forbidden of God the Magistrate has only the Execution of these in his hands so that in those his Laws are only the Sanctions and Penalties of the Laws of God The Subject-matter of his Authority is about things which are of their own nature indifferent but that may be made fit and proper means for the maintaining of Order Union and Decency in the Society And therefore such Laws as are made by him in those things do certainly bind the Conscience and oblige the Subjects to Obedience Disobedience does also give Scandal to the weak Scandal is a Block or Trap laid in the way of another by which he is made to stumble and fall So this Figure of giving Scandal or the laying a stumbling-block in our Brother's way is applied to our doing of such Actions as may prove the occasions of Sin to others Every man according to the influence that his Example or Authority may have over others who do too easily and implicitely follow him becomes thereby the more capable of giving them Scandal that is of drawing them after him to commit many Sins And since men are under Fetters according to the Persuasions that they have of things he who thinks a thing sinful does sin if he does it as long as he is under that apprehension because he deliberately ventures on that which he thinks offends God even while he doubts of it or makes a distinction between Meats for the word rendered doubts Rom. 14.23 signifies also the making a difference he is damned that is self-condemned as acting against his own sense of things if he does it Another ma n that has larger Thoughts and clearer Ideas may see that there is no sin in an Action about which others may be still in doubt and so upon his own account he may certainly do it But if he has reason to believe that his