is possible When therefore any religious Dispute arises whereby the Church's Peace and Unity is like to be endangered It is free and proper for Nor is there any thing which should hinder either the Church universal or any particular Church or even any prudent Men whatsoever to declare and publish their sense of the matter in debate But as no Man can be obliged to believe the Determination of any Church or party whatsoever any farther than he is convinced and satisfied of its agreement with Reason and the Holy Scriptures Part 2. § 1 and 2. so is not any Man bound to oppose or dispute even against an Error it self except there be something in it which is injurious to Christian Faith or practice and consequently which may prove pernicious to Men's Salvation And therefore if such a Mistake which may have prevailed in any Church cannot well be rectified without endangering the breach of Peace and Charity because they who hold it it may be are obstinately wedded to it I think it is the Duty of us all to be very tender in such a case and to permit every Man freely to abound in his own Sense until such time as God shall think fit to bring them to a clearer sight of the Truth And by no means to renounce the Communion of any Church on the account of any Error that is not damnable and much less on account only of such Terms or Expressions as are but abstruse or of doubtful signification For otherwise since the Apprehensions of Men are so very different especially in such things as being remote from our Senses are matter only of rational Speculation if Difference of Opinion upon such theological Questions as do not immediately concern our Salvation were a sufficient ground for Separation in point of Communion there would soon be probably almost as many Churches as Men in the World But if any Church shall require from a Man either to comply with or practise any thing which is not only against his Fancy in point of Decency or Convenience but also against his Conscience in point of Lawfulness or that he should not only be silent and not oppose but also explicitly profess the Belief of any such Doctrines as he judges to be false however innocent the Belief of them may be to them who think them true and if such a Church shall refuse and deny her Communion to all those who will not joyn with her upon these Terms We must rather be contented to be excluded from such a Church's Communion than to purchase it by solemnly telling a down right Lye before God and the World or by the violation of any other of God's Commands For if we offer to do Evil that Good may come of it St. Paul has declared us to be in a state of Damnation 65. For the due regulation of every Society it is necessary that it have a Power somewhere or other vested in it over its own Members either to compel them to live orderly according to its Laws and Constitutions or if any of them are disobedient and refractory and will not upon due admonition be reclaimed wholly to exclude them from the Body of the Community For otherwise if the Members of any Society may at their pleasure break its Constitutions and violate its Laws without control this would be wholly to pull down the Enclosure and lay all open and common as before and consequently in effect to dissolve the Society it self And accordingly our Saviour has given the Church a Power to admonish and rebuke those who give any scandal by their ungodly and unruly Behaviour and if upon this they do not repent and reform of rejecting and cutting them off from her Communion Which Authority must ever be exercised with due mildness and caution for the edification and not with heat and fury which in the end would more probably tend to the destruction of the Church But if any Church shall go beyond this to punish or persecute Men with Fire and Sword or with Fines and Imprisonment only for being of a different persuasion from and refusing to communicate with her In my Opinion she herein acts contrary to that Mildness and Gentleness which the Gospel upon all occasions prescribes and particularly in the case of dealing with those who oppose themselves to it 2 Tim. 2. 24. Altho at the same time it cannot be deâ—yed but that if any Man under the pretence of Conscience or Religion shall advance such Doctrines or do such acts as are destructive to the peace or safety of the civil State or Common-wealth the civil Magistrate may and ought to punish such a person according to the Laws of the Land notwithstanding all his pretences For if the Plea of Conscience the truth of which can only be known to Almighty God be sufficient to save any Malefactour from Punishment no civil Society can ever be safe and all humane Laws and Magistrates would be wholly useless See Part 1. § 35. 66 And as Almighty God in his Mercy is pleased not to cut the greatest sinners off from all hopes of pardon but is ready at any time upon their true and sincere Repentance to receive them again into his Favour so has he committed unto the Church the ministry of Reconciliation which Church therefore accordingly ought not only to endeavour to bring sinners to Repentance by Preaching Admonition and Exhortation but also wherever she sees evident Marks and Tokens of it in any person of which yet there ought to be good assurance for his greater comfort and ease of Conscience to remit or absolve him from his sins and restore him again to the benefit and privilege of Christian Communion of which I suppose that he has or ought to have been deprived And whatever Sentence of thus binding or loosing remitting or retaining of Men's sins is duly and regularly pronounced by the Church upon Earth our Saviour assures us it shall be ratified and confirmed by God in Heaven But that a Man is obliged to make a particular Confession of all his sins unto any other person except God in order to obtain the Pardon of or Absolution from them as I no where find it asserted in the Holy Scripture so the reason which the Roman Divines do allege for it is very weak and unconcluding For it is not the particular Confession of a Man's sins which may be performed by the most hardened impenitent but his Contrition and the visible reformation of his life which may sufficiently appear without a particular Confession that only can enable the Church or her Ministers to judge whether he truly repents of his sins or not and consequently whether he be a proper Object of God's Mercy and the Church's Favour Altho I deny not but that in some cases it may be very proper for a Man to make known the diseases of his Soul to a prudent Spiritual Physician that he may have his advice for the cure of them And his Duty also
Being purely out of nothing may with much shew of Religion be doubted As also Whether meer Matter alone without any other Agent or efficient Cause can ever be able to work it self into any different Species or Forms But this appears as certain as any thing can can be That where there is neither any Agent or efficent Cause to work nor any Matter or Subject to be wrought upon there it is utterly impossible for any thing ever to be produced into Being Since therefore I find that there are many things which actually have a Being and Existence I conclude That of absolute necessity there must be something or other which has been from all Eternity and never had a Beginning For otherwise if we suppose that ever there was a time when nothing at all did exist it follows from what has been said that it would be utterly impossible that any thing ever should be produced into Existence VI. Since of necessity we must acknowledge something to have been Eternal I cannot but conclude That the Eternity of such a Being as God is described to be is much more probable and fit to be believed than the Eternity of such a Being as I see this World to be For when I go about to convince a Nation of the Eternity of the World I mean in the like Posture that now it is in there do occurr to my Mind such Difficulties or rather Impossibilities as I think no Man can digest For he that affirms the World as now it stands to have been Eternal must of Necessity grant that there has been an Eternal Succession of Men Beasts and Vegetables and that to a number actually infinite for if the number be not infinite how can the Succession have been Eternal And yet a number actually infinite to me appears to be a plain Contradiction For that which is infinite cannot be made bigger whereas there is no number but may be made bigger by the Addition of Units Again if any one shall affirm that an infinite number is no Contradiction and that there has been a Succession of such a number of Beings in the World then thus I argue That if there has been a Succession of an infinite number of Men Beasts c. then by a Parity of Reason there has been also a Succession of an infinite number of Days and Nights and if so then likewise of an infinite number of Years too for if the number of Years can be limited so can that of Days too since every Year contains just such a certain number of Days Now this I suppose must be granted me That infinite numbers are equal for if one number be less than another how can it be infinite And if so then it must follow that in the Eternity of the World the number of Years is equal to the number of Days which is absurd because every Year contains in its self a number of 365 Days These Difficulties or rather Impossibilities I say do make the notion of the World's Eternity I mean as the World now is to appear to me as an absurd and unreasonable Supposition But then as to God Although I confess it to be difficult and perhaps impossible for Man to comprehend the manner how he is or can be eternal without beginning yet since the thing it self is so uncontrollably evident that something is so eternal though the manner how is to me incomprehensible I find no other Scruple or Difficulty in admitting the Eternity of God For though it seems contrary to all reason to affirm an eternal Succession of divers things one after another without a Beginning yet I can find no manner of Repugnancy in maintaining that there is one immutable Being i. e. God which never began to be VII Whether the matter of which this visible world is framed has existed from all Eternity or whether it were produced out of nothing by the Almighty Power of God is a Question which reason alone I think can never determine But when I contemplate and consider the great Variety Order Beauty and Usefulness which do evidently appear in all the Parts of the World as they are placed together and answer one another I cannot but conclude That the whole World and all its Parts are contriv'd framed and fashioned by a wise and powerful Being whom we call God As when I see a curious Clock or Engine I presently conclude that it was made and contrived by some Artist and should laugh at that Man who would offer to say that it was formed and fashioned only by chance VIII That Miracles i. e. wonderful Works surpassing the ordinary course of Nature and Power of Art have been wrought for confirmation of the Truth of Religion is a thing that I shall take for granted at present because it will appear to be proved beyond any just Exception in the Sequel of this Discourse And from thence I think I may most reasonably conclude That there is a being Superiour to Nature who can command and controll it as he pleases i. e. in other Terms That there is a God IX The Histories of all Ages and Travellers into all Countries do universally concurr in this Testimony That there is no Nation or People whether learned or unlearned but what do own the being of a God And those few Persons who have presumed to deny it have ever been look'd on as Prodigies and Monsters of Mankind Furthermore even those few who have denied the Being of God have ever beeen Men of such debauched and profligate Lives that we have great Reason to believe that they first have wished that there might be no God to punish them and then without any other ground or Reason have believed or rather pretended to believe what they have wished For it is almost ever observed that when debauched and atheistical Persons do draw near to Death they do either re-renounce their Atheism own the being of a God and make Supplication to him or at least have their Minds possest with such doubts and fears as plainly shew that they have still a strong Suspicion that there likely may be a God for ought they know who will call them to an Account for all their Wickedness Since then all sorts of Men both learned and unlearned and all Nations of Men both civil and barbarous have always owned the Being of God since his being has never been denied but by very few indeed since that denial has rather proceeded from their Wishes and Desires than from their Reason and Understanding and lastly since they have not been able wholly to extinguish the Belief of a God out of their Minds although they have earnestly endeavoured it I conclude That the Belief of a God in Man is neither the Effect of Chance because 't is Universal nor of Ignorance because it possesses the most Learned nor of State-Policy because 't is received among the most barbarous and unciviliz'd People but that there is a God who has made all Men and has as
Power and Assistance of God who is both the Framer and Controller of Nature or which is the same thing in effect by the Mediation and Ministry of good Spirits who always act obediently to his Will So that whether mediately or immediately it is God who is to be looked upon as the Original and Author of all those wonderful Things which were done by Jesus and his Disciples Now then Since God did interpose his Power to work such strange and stupenduous things for the Propagation and Confirmation of that Doctrine which was taught by Jesus and his Disciples This I think is a sufficient Demonstration that their Doctrine was certainly true For Who can imagine that God should make use of his extraordinary Power only to cheat and deceive the World into the Belief of a Lye I conclude therefore That the Primitive Christians had sufficient Reason to believe that it was revealed by God from Heaven that whosoever would believe on Jesus and receive and live according to his Religion should be made very happy in thenext Life this very thing being the grand Point of Doctrine which Jesus and his Disciples taught and preached to the World And if we are sure that the Primitive Christians had Reason sufficient to believe this from hence it follows That we have sufficient Reason to believe it also XX. But Jesus himself being long since ascended into Heaven and his Disciples who first preached the Gospel departed out of the World here I think it is necessary to enquire to whom or to what I must apply my self that amidst the several Parties in the World who all call themselves True and Orthodox Christians each condemning all others but themselves I may be truly and surely informed what is the true and genuine Religion or Doctrine of Jesus which I ought to receive and live according to in order to my future Happiness For if I do not this I must either reject the Doctrine of Jesus and so lose my future Happiness or else take it altogether upon Trust and by chance and then 't is odds but I light upon the wrong and must needs run a very great hazard And though he who is in a Mistake and cannot tell how to help it will doubtless find an easie Pardon from God yet he who falls into Errour for want of moderate Care and Diligence to find out the Truth has I think no pretence either to Pardon or so much as to Pity XXI The Roman Catholicks do tell me that I must apply my self to the Church This Church they define to be that Society of Persons who prosess Faith in Jesus Christ and live in Subjection to and Communion with the Pope or Bishop of Rome This Church they say is infallible and not only does not but cannot err in any Doctrine of Religion Go then say they to this Church and receive the Doctrine which she teaches and there you have certainly and infallibly the true and pure Doctrine of Jesus Christ But I cannot give my Assent to follow this their Direction because I find such great Difficulties in my way as I think are insuparable at least I am sure such as I am not able to overcome For First Although it may be a certain Truth that there shall always be a Church that is to say a Company of People some where or other professing the true Christian Religion as long as the World shall last yet what solid Proof can be brought that this particular Society of Men who live in Communion with the Pope or Bishop of Rome are alone the true Church and shall always keep and maintain amongst them the true and uncorrupt Doctrine of Jesus Christ This Matter being a Question of Revelation and positive Institution is uncapable of being proved by any Argument drawn from Natural Reason And as for the Texts of Scripture which they alledge it is even ridiculous to think that any sober and unprejudiced Person should be convinced by them as will evidently appear to any one who impartially reads what the Romish and Protestant Divines have written on this Controversie For there are none of those Texts but are fairly and naturally capable of another Interpretation and must be very much strained and wrested to make them countenance the Romish Doctrine Besides that the Divines of the Church of Rome do generally teach That no Man can be sure of the Authority or Sense of any Text of Scripture especially if it appear to be any way doubtful except he receives the Proposal and Interpretation thereof from this their Church which they say is infallible So that a Man must of necessity believe the Infallibility of their Church before he can any way be sure of the Credit or even of the Sense of those Texts of Scripture which they bring to prove it And then What need is there of Scripture-Arguments to prove a thing which must be acknowledged before the Arguments can have any force or even be as much as certainly understood And if they tell me that the Fathers and ancient Christian Writers do testifie thus much of the Church of Rome I can only say that the Protestant Divines who seem to me to be Men of as much Learning and Integrity as the Romish do declare that it is far otherwise Nor have I Skill enough in Language and Antiquity to take upon me to judge of this Dispute Neither do I understand by what Authority the Writings of those Persons who are acknowledged to have been subject to Errours should be obtruded on me as a Rule of my Faith or as a sufficient Argument to determine my Assent in so weighty a Matter Secondly Supposing but not granting that in the Church of Rome the true and pure Doctrine of Jesus Christ was preserved yet still it is granted that particular and private Men who live in the visible Communion of that Church may teach false and corrupt Doctrine Here then I demand How shall I certainly distinguish the Doctrine of the Church from the Opinions of private Men And how shall I certainly know what is the true Meaning of the Church's Doctrine They of the Church of Rome are not agreed who it is that has Authority to declare and expound the Doctrine of their Church whether it be the Pope or a General Council or neither alone but both together Or if they were unanimous in this Point yet how shall I know whether such a particular Person who possesses the Chair be a true and lawful Pope or such a particular Assembly a true and lawful General Council Or Suppose they could satisfie me in this Demand yet there is no Council now sitting nor if there were could I go to them or to the Pope to receive Instruction nor can the Pope or a Council be at leisure to satisfie the Demands of every private Enquirer How then can I be sure that this or that particular Person does both rightly understand and faithfully propose the Doctrine of the Church to me Especially since
given to them or that such Opposition might soon be suppressed and over-ruled by the Power and Reputation of such prevailing Men. From all which I cannot but conclude That though the general Tradition or Testimony of the Church may be a good Help yet it may not always be a certain Rule to lead me to the entire and unaltered Doctrine of Jesus XXIII Other there are who tell me That to find out the true and entire Doctrine of Jesus I must apply my self to the holy Scripture that is to say to the Books commonly called the Old and the New Testament And because I look upon this to be the right Way I shall briefly and plainly deliver my Thoughts in relation to these Books And first of the New Testament That the New Testament as it was extant in the Greek Toegue has been ever universally owned by all Christians as containing a true though some deny it to be a full Account of the Life and Doctrine of Jesus is a thing so notorious and so universally acknowledged that I cannot find the least Ground or Reason to question it Now the History and Doctrine of Jesus being so well known unto the first Christians by the Preaching of the Apostles and Disciples and they being so ready upon all Occasions to lay down their Lives for the Truth of Christianity it cannot be imagined that ever they would so readily and universally receive and own such a Book if it had contained any thing in it which was dissonant from that Doctrine which they had received It is confessed indeed that some of those Books which make up the Volume of the New Testament that is to say the Epistle to the Hebrews that of St. James the Second of St. Peter that of St. Jude the Second and Third of St. John and the Revelations were not so soon and so universally received throughout the Christian Church as the rest of the Books were The Reason of which apparently was not That these Books contained any thing in them contrary to what was delivered it the other Books of the New Testament for he that reads the whole will plainly find that there is a very compleat Agreement between them the only seeming Discord of St. Paul's Justification by Faith and St. James's Justification by Works being exactly and fully reconciled by considering That St. Paul means no other Faith but such as worketh by Love Gal. 5. 6. and St. James no other Works but such as proceed from Faith Jam. 2. 22. But because it was not at first universally known who were the Authors of them Which abundantly shews the Care and Caution of the Christian Church in not being hasty to receive and admit any Books as authentick Records of their Doctrine without very good Warrant for so doing And therefore since these same Books were in a very little time after received and owned to be of equal Authority with the rest of the New Testament I cannot but from thence conclude That those Churches which at the first doubted concerning those Books did soon receive most full and ample Satisfaction in that matter from those who had before received them I conclude therefore That the Book of the New Testament as it was extant in the Primitive Times in the Greek Tongue did contain a true Account of the Doctrine of Jesus XXIV That innumerable Copies of the New Testament were in a very little time dispersed through all places where Christianity was planted That it has heen at different times and in very distant places translated into all or almost all Languages And that Copies both of the Original and many of the several Translations have been preserved with much Care in a great many distant Parts of the World is allowed by all and denied by none From whence I think we may gather First That where the Generality of the Greek Copies of the New Testament do agree in the very same Words there we have undoubtedly the true and authentick Words of the New Testament For although some Mistakes might creep into some Copies either through the Wickedness or Negligence of some particular Men yet where so many Copies of a Book have been so carefully preserved and in such distant Parts of the World it is not to be imagined that the self-same Errour in any Expression should ever be propagated through the Generality of them Secondly That where the Words or Expressions of divers Greek Copies do differ one from another yet if the Sense and Meaning be exactly the same in all or almost all there we have certainly the true Sense and Meaning of the New Testament For it is easie to apprehend that a Transcriber might by a small Mistake put one Word or Expression of the same Signification in stead of another But that the same Sense should be punctually preserved in all or almost all Copies is not to be imagined except it were the true Sense delivered from the Beginning Thirdly That if there may be found any different Readings in divers Copies of the New Testament which disagree in Sense as well as in Words which scarce ever happens in any thing which is accounted a material Point of Religion then it seems to be most fit and proper to admit of that Reading and Sense which best agrees with the Tenour of the whole with the ancientest and best esteemed Translations and with the evident Principles of sound Reason And if any place be so obscure as that none of these Ways will afford any Light into its Meaning then I think that no stress ought to be laid upon it in any necessary part of Religion XXV But some will demand How are we sure of the Sense and Meaning even of those places of the New Testament where there is no difference about the Words In Answar to this I have already shewn § 21. that we are not to follow the Guidance of the Church of Rome to know the true Doctrine of Jesus Nor therefore consequently to know the true Meaning of the New Testament in which his Doctrine is owned to be contained I have shewn also § 22. That though general Tradition may be a good Help yet may it not always be a certain Rule to lead one to the unaltered Doctrine of Jesus nor therefore consequently to the true and genuine Interpretation of the New Testament Since therefore there is no other way to be found I conclude That the New Testament is to be interpreted the same way that other Books are that is by considering the Sense and Property of the Words and Sentences and the ordinary Figures of Speech as they are commonly used in the same Book and in others written in the same Language and about the same time together with the Scope Drift Coherence and Occasion of the Discourse To which End every Man that is learned being bound to use his best Endeavour to know the Will of God as I have shewn § 14. is obliged according to the measure of his Learning to consult
in Scripture as Joyned together in one Society or Body which is called the Church of which Christ Jesus is the chief or Head and under an obligation to live in communion and fellowship one with another under those Laws and Constitutions which Christ has given them but not that I can find in Scripture obliged to joyn with or submit to any one person as the Vicar of Christ and the visible Head of the Church upon Earth For if Christ had appointed any such person as his Deputy upon Earth he must either have declared a matter of such consequence with great plainness and evidence or else it would be very hard to find fault with any man for being mistaken in it Whereas the Arguments which those of the Church of Rome bring to prove either that such a Vicar there must be or that St. Peter the Apostle was the Man or that the Pope or Bishop of Rome and not the Bishop of Antioch is the Successour of St. Peter both in his Bishoprick and Authority are all so weak and precarious so forced and perplexed and so fully confuted by the Protestant Divines that nothing in my Opinion but Blindness of Understanding or worldly Interest can prevail with the Members of that Church still to insist upon them Now that Christ instituted but one Church in which all true Believers and good livers are for ever to be comprised is very plain And altho through the Mistakes and Perverseness of Man this Church is rent and divided into opposite and contending parts and parties yet this does not hinder but that according to its true and primitive Constitution it is or ought to be one as a Kingdom or Common-wealth by its Laws and Constitutions is but one Society altho there may arise Factions and different Interests in it nor shall any Man be esteemed as a Member of the Church before God who is not ready and willing according to the best of his power and knowledge to maintain the Unity of it and that upon those very Terms and none other which Christ has appointed as near as possibly he can find and apprehend them Moreover that all the Laws and Constitutions on which Christ has founded the Church and by which he would have it regulated are exactly agreeable unto the Rules of sound Morality and the Will of God cannot be so much as doubted and therefore it is truly said that the Church is Holy altho every particular Member thereof has both his frailties and his sins which yet he must repent of and so become holy as the Church is holy or else he violates one of the main and fundamental Laws and so becomes as it were an Out-law of the Church and forfeits his part in all the Privileges that belong unto that Society And whereas before the coming of Christ the People of Israel did enjoy more of the Favour of God and had greater privileges and advantages on the score of their being God's chosen and peculiar People than any or all other Nations of the World The Gospel of Christ on the contrary now looks upon all as equally entitled unto God's Favour and the advantages thereon depending who take care duly to qualifie themselves for it So that whereas formerly the Church that is the chosen People of God might have been said to be particular as being in a manner limited to one Nation or People now on the contrary it is Catholick that is to say universal as being no way confined to one place or Nation all People being equally chosen by God in Christ who will receive and love according to the Gospel 41. In those several Revelations which God was pleased to make of himself after the Fall of Man unto Adam to Abraham and to the People of Israel there was still a plain intimation given them that in the time to come there should an extraordinary Person arise in the World who should yet more clearly make known the Will of God to Mankind But when Christ who was That Person did accordingly come and send his Apostles to preach the Gospel over all the Earth he neither suggested to them nor they unto the World that any other Revelation was ever after to be expected But always gave them to understand that God had in the Gospel compleated and finished all that declaration which he intended to make of Himself or his Will unto Mankind until the general Judgment and Dissolution of the World If therefore the Holy Scripture had given me no manner of assurance of the perpetuity of the Church my own Reason would have been enough to make me conclude that God in his Providence will so order the matter as that the Christian Religion being the only known and ordinary means of eternal Salvation shall never be wholly extinguished while the World lasts so as to stand in need of any new Revelation to revive and restore it But that there shall always be a certain Company of Men evidently conspicuous to the World teaching and professing the true Christian Religion without any Errour or Corruption in Doctrine or Worship is what I can no where find promised or foretold either by Christ or any of his Apostles On the contrary there are several passages in the New Testament which do plainly seem to foretell that in process of time most pernicious Doctrines and practices should prevail and take place even amongst the generality of those who should profess themselves to be Disciples of Christ And whosoever shall but lightly compare the state of Christianity for several Centuries before the Reformation with that Draught of it which is left us by Christ and his Apostles in the Holy Scriptures must if he be impartial I think be fully convinced of the truth of those Predictions 42. Whether or no God has or does at any time communicate or bestow any extraordinary Grace or Assistance upon those who are no visible Members of the Church but altogether strangers unto that Revelation which he has made of himself is a question which the virtuous lives and heroick actions of some brave Heathens make it hard positively to determine in the negative But that he will give so much Grace and strength to every one who shall become a Member of Christ's Church as that thereby they may if the fault be not their own sufficiently qualifie themselves for eternal Happiness by the performance of those things which he requires on their part to be done is what I think no man can doubt of who does but in general consider the Mercy and Love which God designed even unto all men but more especially unto the Church in sending our Saviour Christ Jesus into the world altho there were not any particular Promises of this nature in the Gospel And that this Grace and ability to do good is in Scripture ascribed unto the Ministry and Influence of the Holy Ghost upon the hearts and minds of true Believers is plain and generally owned by all Christians But that this
reducible to these Two Heads viz. Devotion towards God which includes Confession of sins Prayer for all things necessary both for themselves and others and Praising of God as well for his own Excellency and Perfection as for his Love and Beneficence to all Mankind And 2. the Instruction of the People which are assembled which is to be done by Reading and Explaining the Holy Scriptures Catechizing Preaching c. But there is one act of Devotion towards God to be performed in such publick Assemblies which is commonly known by the name of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper or the Holy Communion of which it will be fit to say something more particularly because it is an Ordinance altogether of positive Institution as well as Baptism of which I have already spoken 57. As our Saviours Death and Passion which he underwent for the sins of the whole World should ever out of Gratitude be remembred by us in the most emphatical and affecting manner so except we have every one of us a share and interest in that Atonement which he thereby made to God for us we cannot by the Terms of the Gospel hope for eternal Salvation In order then to both these Ends he himself before his Death appointed it as a perpetual Ordinance for ever to be continued in his Church that Bread should be blessed broken and eaten and a Cup also blessed distributed and drank in such assemblies as should meet together in his Name not only as a Remembrance of his Sufferings for us which are thereby shewn forth and represented but also as the Communion that is to say the exhibition of his Body and Blood unto and the participation of them by all faithful and good Christians To say with the Roman Church that the Substance of Bread and Wine being blessed or consecrated in this Ordinance are transubstantiated or turned into the very real Substance of the Body and Blood of Christ so as that that very same Body of his which was crucified and that Blood which was shed are wholly and intirely received into the bodily Mouth and swallowed down by every Communicant does not only draw after it such monstrous Absurdities as no Man I think without renouncing his Reason can digest nor can be inferred from any passage of Scripture interpreted according to the Rules which I have laid down Part 1. § 25. and 33. But is also directly contrary even to the Letter as well as Meaning of the New Testament in which the Bread in this Holy Institution is plainly called Bread and by the same Rule the Wine must still remain Wine as to its natural substance even after the Blessing or Consecration of it As therefore I must needs conclude that the Body and Blood of Christ are not received by the Members of his Church after that manner which they of Rome do define so must it also follow that their Worshiping of the Host and pretended Sacrifice of Christ in the Mass together with their depriving the Laity of the Cup which besides other Absurdities do wholly depend upon the Doctrine of Transubstantiation are none other than meer human and unlawful Inventions and practices But since a Man may then be said truly to receive and partake of any thing tho at never so great a distance from him when he has a real Interest in it and enjoys the Benefit and Advantage of it as a Man may have an Estate and reap the Profits of it tho it lies in a far distant Country I do therefore conclude that the way whereby we do receive or communicate in the Body and Blood of Christ by this Ordinance is by being made Partakers of those Benefits which by the Crucifying of his Body and the shedding of his Blood do accrue to us and that whosoever eats of this Bread and drinks of this Cup in such a manner as Christ has appointed has thereby assuredly a share of those Benefits held forth and conveyed unto him 58. How often this Ordinance is to be practised and repeated in every Congregation is not expressly determined either by Christ or his Apostles and therefore can only be regulated by the Prudence of the Church it self But common Reason will tell us that it should be so often at least as may be sufficient to preserve a fresh and lively Remembrance of the Sufferings of our Saviour in the minds of the People this being one main End of its first Institution And so often therefore ought every Christian who is arrived to years of understanding for such only are capable of doing any thing in remembrance of another to come and be partakers of it For to contemn or neglect this Ordinance which Christ has appointed for such a peculiar End argues a great slight and disregard of his Death and Passion besides the Disobedience to his Command and therefore is justly to be looked on as a very great and heinous sin 59. As it is a great Affront and even a Mocking of God for a Man to draw near to him in any of his Ordinances without a sincere and well-meaning heart for which Reason Hypocrisy in Scripture is represented as most odious and the Prayer and Sacrifice of a wicked Man whilst he continues such is said to be an Abomination unto God so does he seem to resent such a Practice in no instance more than in this of the Holy Communion of which he who eats and drinks unworthily is expessly said by the Apostle to be quilty of the Body and Blood of Christ and to eat and drink damnation to himself Which Expressions altho they are differently interpreted by divers persons yet in whatever sense we take them they do abundantly shew that God is in a particular manner offended with those who any way profane this sacred Institution It therefore is the Duty and ought very much to be the concern of every Christian first to examin himself and to make the best trial and enquiry that he can whether he be truly sincere in his resolutions of serving and obeying God faithfully all his life-long for any person who is thus disposed and none other is ever acceptable to God And then with Devotion and Reverence suitable unto such Sincerity to come and eat of this Bread and drink of this Cup That as on the one side he may not neglect what Christ has commanded and required so on the other he may not incur the Penalty which is threatned to an unworthy Receiver 60. He that worships or prays to God by himself alone may do it as well by offering up only the inward Thoughts and Desires of his Mind which are clearly seen and known unto God as by expressing himself outwardly by Words which tho even in our private Devotions they may be very proper to keep our Minds intent upon what we are about yet are no way necessary to inform God of what we think or wish for But when a Society of Men do meet to joyn together in God's worship their Devotion must
of necessity be outwardly expressed in Words because there is no other way of keeping their Thoughts wherein their Worship does consist united and joyned together And since Words not understood are in effect the same with no Words at all I conclude that the Language wherein the Worship of any Church or Congregation is offered up to God must always be such as is well understood by the Assembly of the People who meet together Nor does even the Doctrine of Transubstantiation amaze me more than that the Church of Rome should own the 14th Chapter of St. Paul's first Epistle to the Corinthians to be the Word of God and yet have all their publick Services every where performed in the Latine Tongue only which is not now understood by the generality of any Nation in the World 61. As Peace and Vnity mutual Love and good Agreement amongst the Members of every Society together with Order and Decency in all that is transacted amongst them absolutely necessary to the being and continuance or at least to the well-being of the Society it self so are they carefully prescribed and inculcated by Christ and his Apostles as things to be always preserved and maintained in the Christian Church And as he who first occasions the violation of any of them is plainly guilty of a very great sin so in all Matters that are not particularly and clearly determined by God's Law we cannot propose a better and safer Rule to our selves than always to do that which tends most to the advancement and preservation of them 62. If some certain time be not determined for Christians to meet together for God's Worship which every Man may know of before it comes and accordingly prepare himself for it by laying aside for that time his worldly Business Disorder and Confusion which is the natural Consequence of Uncertainty must needs follow That one Day at least in seven was expressly required by God under the Mosaick Law to be sanctified and set a part for his Service is beyond dispute That the Observation of the Jewish Sabbath or the last Day of the Week is not required from the Christian Church to me seems very evident from St. Paul's reckoning it amongst the transitory Shadows of the old Law Col. 2. 17. But that we Christians ought not to be behind-hand with the Jews in setting apart a proportion of our time for God's Service I think will follow as well from the great Mercies which we have received from him for which we no less than they ought to shew and express our Thankfulness as also from that general Rule which our Saviour has given us that our Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees And that accordingly one Day in seven namely the First Day of the Week which in Scripture is therefore called the Lord's Day Rev. 1. 10. has ever been so set apart for the Service of God in all Christian Churches I presume will be denied by none As also that the Reason of the Apostles making choice of this particular Day was in remembrance of our Saviour's glorious Resurrection which on that Day was performed and whereby their Faith in him which began to waver was confirmed and raised above all doubt or diffidence Now since no Reason can be given or so much as imagined why this Day should be changed for any other Day of the Week I do from what has been said conclude that the Lord's Day or First Day of the Week ought for ever to be kept holy in the Christian Church and particularly dedicated to the Service of God And where either the Church universal or any particular Church has set aside any other days to be kept holy in remembrance either of any of God's Mercies to us or of the Martyrdom of any of his chosen Saints who sealed the Truth of the Gospel with their Lives and transmitted it so confirmed down unto us or as Days of Fasting or Abstinence in order to humble our selves before God for our Sins since in all this there is nothing contrary to God's Law nor any thing but what may be well consistent with and serviceable to true Piety It will follow from what I have said § 61. That every Member of such a Church is obliged to keep and observe these same other Holy Days so far as no way to give Scandal disturb the Order or break the Peace of the Church which has established them 63. Order and Decency necessarily require that all the outward circumstances of Worship which God himself has not determined by his own Law should be so setled by the Church as that all Confusion and Unseemliness therein may as much as is possible be avoided But care on the other side ought ever to be taken that Modes and Ceremonies be not so multiplied as to become uneasy and burdensome or distract the Devotion of the People Now there being no such fixed and demonstrable Rules of Decency and Order but what will have a different relish with different Men according to their several Educations and Customs to which they may have been used it will be very difficult if not impossible for any Church so to regulate these external matters as to please every Mans Fancy and give disgust to none For what some may think to be but decent others may take to be too formal or pompous and what these may apprehend to be suitable to the Simplicity of Christianity another sort may look on as mean and jejune As therefore the Church in this case can do no more but act according to the best of her Prudence so since every Man cannot expect to have his particular Fancy in these things pleased and gratified It will evidently appear to be the Duty of each private Christian so far to comply with every such constitution of the Church where he dwells provided there be nothing in it which is sinful as not to break the Peace and Unity or disturb the Order of the Church on that account But if any Church shall offer to impose any Ceremonies or practices whatsoever which God has not prescribed and which therefore are in themselves indifferent not for Decency and Order but as things in themselves Holy or absolutely necessary to Salvation as some of old would have done by the Jewish Ceremonies with such Impositions as these no Christian ought at all to comply nor suffer his Religion or Conscience to be thus burthened But every Man must stand fast in that Liberty wherewith Christ has made us free tho at the same time he must be very careful not to pretend or use this Liberty as a Cloke of Maliciousness 64. Since different Opinions in matters of Religion are generally apt to beget Dissensions and Animosities between those who entertain them as our dayly Experience does abundantly testifie It ought to be the Church's and every private Christian's endeavour that all Men may become of one and the same Judgment or at least that there may be as few Differences amongst them as
to make an open Confession of his sins whenever it is necessary for God's Glory or to repair any publick scandal which has been given by him 67. That Almighty God even where he has pardoned a Man's sins upon his true Repentance may yet on the score of those very sins which he has so pardoned lay some sharp and severe temporal Afflictions upon the penitent either to keep him more effectually from sinning for the time to come or that it may be a Terror to others or for many other reasons best known to himself is a thing that cannot be disputed But from hence to infer that these temporal Afflictions if not laid on us in this World are to be undergone in Purgatory and that therefore for the preventing them it is fit and necessary that Penance should be imposed by way of satisfaction or Indulgences granted by way of Remission and all this without any Warrant from the Holy Scripture save only a faint and forced Consequence from some few perverted Texts is a thing so groundless and precarious that it amazes me to think how Men can suffer themselves to be so grossly imposed upon And whosoever shall duly consider upon what weak grounds the Pope and his Prelates do pretend to a Power of dispensing and distributing the Merits of Christ unto the People by way of Indulgence as if they alone had the keeping of that Treasure under Lock and Key and to which tho infinite they have yet added the Merits of the Saints to make their Treasure more abundant will I think very much wonder that their People should be so free to part with their earthly Treasure in purchasing these Indulgences upon no better security 68. That the Apostles of Christ when they were first sent abroad to preach the glad Tidings of the Gospel did anoint many sick persons with Oyl and thereby miraculously heal them we are plainly told by St. Mark c. 6. v 13. And that in this they did no more than what Christ himself had expressly commanded them is most reasonable and probable to suppose Moreover that the anointing with Oyl which is mentioned by St. James c. 5. v. 14. was intended for the very same purpose viz. the raising up the sick person and restoring him to Health is as apparent as any thing can be form the very Context But as we do not find that this anointing of the sick was appointed either by Christ or his Apostles as a standing and perpetual Ordinance for ever to be used in the Church so since Experience shews that the miraculous effect of healing thereby is now wholly ceased I can see no reason why the practice it self should be any longer continued But what just ground the Church of Rome can have from either of these or any other place of Scripture for the divine Institution of their Extreme Unction which they make use of for a far different end namely the preparing thereby of persons who are past hopes of recovery for their passage into the next life is more than I am able to find out 69. As the Body natural would be but a confused and useless Lump if it were not distinguished into the several Members which are necessary for its own Service and preservation And as the Body-politick would be but a disorderly Rabble if there were not Magistrates setled to rule and govern and ministerial Officers appointed to perform all necessary Functions in and about it so the Holy Scripture as well as Reason assures us and the practice of the apostolical Church which is there recorded confirms it that the like Appointment and distinction of Offices are no less necessary in the Church in order to the regular and orderly government of it and the due execution of all its Laws and Constitutions But how far these Offices are limited and appointed by the Law of God or how far left to be setled and determined by the Prudence of the Church according as Circumstances may render it convenient is what I shall not take upon me to pronounce my Sentence in But whatever Polity or ecclesiastical Constitution is setled and acquiesced in either by the whole Church in general or by that of any Nation or Country in particular I think ought quietly to be submitted to by every one who would be a Member of such respective Church except there appears to him to be either something therein which is not only uncommanded but even contrary to the Law of God or else something wanting which God requires and therefore is absolutely necessary to be maintained and kept up in all Churches Nor can I apprehend that any less Warrant can be sufficient for breaking or endangering the Peace or Unity of the Church the preservation of which is so often and so earnestly recommended to us in the Holy Scripture besides the absolute necessity of obeying the Positive Command of God himself And therefore since the Government of the Church by Bishops that is to say by certain persons having in their several Districts a Priority among and in some respects a Superiority over the Presbyters has for so many Ages been universally setled amongst and acquiesced in by all Christians in all parts of the World I cannot find how they can be excused who without any necessity for so doing have so earnestly set themselves not only to retrench the Exceffes and rectifie the Abuses of the episcopal Power but also to pull down and wholly abolish the very Order it self to the no small scandal of those who think that so universal a Constitution every where taking place even in the primitive Church could be grounded on no less than an Apostolick Ordinance of which there seems to be some not obscure Foot-steps in the Scriptures of the New Testament and that most probably in conformity to that Imparity which Christ himself established between the Apostles and the seventy Disciples who were yet both commissioned by him to preach the Gospel 70. How far a case of necessity may upon some occasions excuse or justifie a Man for taking on him an Office which regularly does not belong to him especially if his design therein be truly honest and sincere I know not But no Man certainly ought to intrude into any ecclesi astical Function or exercise any such Office who is not called and admitted thereunto by the lawful Authority and according to the established Constitutions of the Society For if this be not carefully observed the distinction of Offices and Functions in the Church is in effect wholly taken away and a wide Door opened for Confusion and Anarchy But then on the other side good care ought ever to be taken by the Church that no persons be entrusted with any sacred Office but such as are duly qualified for it And that such a Maintainance be provided and setled for every such person as that he may not be necessitated to neglect the publick Service of God and the due exercise of his Function by being constrained to bestow
and spend overmuch of his Time and Labour in getting a Living for himself and his Family 71. I have now gone through what I at first designed and have not that I know of omitted any one thing which I could judge to be a material or necessary part of Religion Altho I have on purpose endeavoured to avoid the use of some Words which do frequently occur in all or most Systems of Divinity that I have met with And the reason why I have so done is not that I find fault with the Words themselves but because I would have my Reader take notice that Religion does not consist in Terms of Art or forms of expression but in the belief and practice of such things as God has made known and requires from us And it is too common among Men to wrangle about Words before they have clearly fixed and agreed upon the meaning of them I have not for example made use of this Term Justification But yet I have endeavoured to shew upon what conditions a sinner obtains the Pardon of his sins and Mercy at the hand of God which is the same thing Nor have I said any thing of the nature or number of Sacraments But I have spoken what I thought might be necessary concerning Baptism the Holy Communion and those other things which the Church of Rome calls by that name And if once I am satisfied touching any thing how far God requires it from us and whether or no it be necessary to Salvation I cannot see why I should trouble my self much in enquiring whether such a thing may properly be called a Sacrament or not which to me seems no more but a dispute about the meaning of a Word True indeed it is that in the Doctrine of the Trinity which I have delivered Part 2. § 22. I have expressly made use of the Terms person substance c. because I could find none others so fit and proper to express my Thoughts Nor durst I venture in so sublime a matter to apply new Words to those things of which I can have but very imperfect and obscure Conceptions And having thus said all that I intend upon this occasion I freely submit the Whole to the Judgment and Censure of every Reader leaving him to that liberty which I my self always desire to enjoy and being ready to retract any thing that I have said whensoever I am convinced that I have been therein mistaken Books Printed for Richard Sare THe Fables of Esop with Morals and Reflections Folio Erasmus Colloquies in English 8o. Quevedo's Visions 8o. These 3 by Sir Roger L'Estrange The Genuine Epistles of St. Barnabas St. Ignatius St. Clement St. Polycarp the Shepherd of Hermas c. Translated and published in English 8o. A Practical Discourse concerning Swearing 8o. The Authority of Christian Princes over Ecclesiastical Synods in Answer to a Letter to a Convocation Man 8o. Sermons on several Occasions 4o. These by Dr. Wake Epictetus's Morals with Simplicius's Coment 8o. A Sermon Preached upon the Death of the Queen Both by Mr. George Stanhope The Doctrine of a God and Providence vindicated and asserted 8o. Discourses on several Divine Subjects 8o. These two by Thomas Gregory Lecturer of Fulham Dr. Gregory's Divine Antidote in Answer to an Heretical Pamphlet Entituled an End to the Socinian Controversy 8o. Essays upon several Moral Subjcts in two parts by Jeremy Collier M. A. 8o. Compleat Sets consisting of 8 Volumes of Letters writ by a Turkish Spy who lived 45 Years at Paris undiscovered giving an account of the Principal Affairs of Europe 12º Humane Prudence or the Art by which a man may raise himself and Fortune to Grandure 12o. Moral Maxims and Reflections written in French by the Duke of Rochfoucault now Englished 12o. Of the Art both of writing and judging of History with Reflections upon Ancient as well as Modern Historians By Father Le Moyne 12o. An Essay upon Reason by Sir George Mackenzie 12o. Death made comfortable or the way to dye well By John Kettlewel 12o. The Parson's Counsellor or the Law of Tyths By Sir Simon Degg 8o. The Unlawfulness of Bonds of Resignation 8o. Price 6 d. An Answer to all the Excuses and Pretences which Men ordinarily make for their not coming to the Holy Sacrament 8o. Price 3 d. by a Divine of the Church of England Remarks on a Book Entituled Prince Arthur an Heroick Poem by Mr. Denis 8o. FINIS AN APPENDIX TO A GENTLEMEN's RELIGION In which it is Proved That nothing contrary to our Reason can possibly be the Object of our Belief But that it is no just Exception against some of the Doctrines of Christianity that they are above our Reason LONDON Printed for R. Sare at Grays-Inn-Gate in Holbourn 1698. AN APPENDIX TO A Gentleman's Religion 1. HOW those Persons who take unto themselves the distinguishing Name of Vnitarians do dissent from the main Body of Christians of whatsoever Church or Perswasion touching the Doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation of our Saviour Christ is so well known that I need not here offer to open or explain in the Terms of the Controversie which is managed between them Now when in this Dispute the Vnitarians are prest with some passages of Scripture which seem very evidently to make against them besides other ways which they have to avoid the force of them they commonly have recourse to the nature of the thing controverted and press their Adversaries back again with this demand How such a thing can possibly be And when to this it is reply'd That there is evidently no Contradiction to sound Reason in the Doctrines themselves and that the Truth of them ought ot be believed upon the Authority of God who hath revealed them But that the manner of them is utterly above and altogether incomprehensible to our finite and narrow Understandings and therefore not to be enquired after In return to this there are some who maintain that if these Doctrines were not contrary to Reason yet this alone is a sufficient cause to reject them that they are confessedly above it For of that which is above our Reason say they we can form no true Conception or Idea and it is absurd or rather impossible for a Man to believe that which he cannot clearly and plainly so much as conceive or apprehend 2. For the right stating and clearing of this whole Controversie I have given such hints in the Gentleman's Religion Part 1. Sect. 33. Part 2. 22 23 37. as I thought to be most fit for Men of ordinary Capacity and most suitable to that brevity which I all along defigned But in this Appendix I shall address my self unto those who are of a more refined Understanding and accustomed to a more exact way of thinking and try if I can give them any satisfaction in a Matter which seems to be not a little perplexed perhaps by the overmuch Curiosity of some of both the contending Parties 3. That our Knowledge of things is