I hope these scandalous Ministers will prove but few when compared with such as truly thirst after the honour of God in a faithful discharge of their duty Here you may have a full view of the Quaker's honesty Par. But says he however the Priests have fed the People it is evident the People have fed the Priests well for they are grown fat and wanton c. p. 3. Min. But while such a number of the Priests are so slenderly provided for And while the People are so wanton as to kick at their Lawful Pastors it may be easily inferr'd who is the better fed of the two Par. Next he comes to enquire into the causes why the People are not profited under your Ministry We read says he of some in former times who did not profit the People at all and the reason thereof is also given c. In the 23d of Jeremiah vers 30. the Lord by the Prophet saith Therefore behold I am against the Prophets that steal my Word every one from his Neighbour Behold I am against the Prophets saith the Lord that use their Tongues and say He saith Behold I am against them that prophesie false dreams saith the Lord and do tell them and cause my People to err by their lyes and by their lightness yet I sent them not nor commanded them therefore they shall not profit this People at all saith the Lord v. 32. Here the very Ground and Reason why that Ministry did not profit nay why it was rendred uncapable of profiting the People at all is most plainly given by God himself viz. He sent them not nor commanded them p. 4. Min. That this Scripture does not reach his purpose will be evident if we consider 1. That this non-proficiency of some of the People do's not inferr that we are not sent seeing it may proceed from other causes In the careless hearers of Ieremiah it proceeded not from any corruption in his Doctrine which was Divine nor of his Life which was Holy but from the hardness of the Peoples hearts in that they would not bearken In the hearers of the false Prophets it proceeded from their dreams lyes and lightness which they taught and to which the People trusted 2. That this Scripture is ignorantly and injuriously applied to the present Ministry appears in that those false Prophets perswaded the People and that to the ruine of that Nation that Jerusalem should not be destroyed that they should neither see Sword nor Famine Which was an Errand upon which God never sent them Besides they were a company of Fanatick Enthusiasts who cheated the People by false pretences to extraordinary inspirations I have dreamed I have dreamed was their canting note Not to profit the People then is in the true sense of this Scripture not to secure them from the Captivity and Calamities hanging over that Nation Now let us examine how truly this Scripture is applied to the present Ministry Do We come with any new Errand to the World or pretend to extraordinary inspirations to confirm it as those did Or do We Preach peace to impenitent sinners No the contrary is well known So the words do rebound upon the Quakers themselves while in their strange doctrines and misconstructions of Holy Scripture they are guilty of the same fault with those lying Prophets in saying The Lord saith when he hath not said and in their presumptuous pretences to Revelation to confirm it as also in opposing the true Ministers of God as those Fanaticks opposed Ieremiah Par. But he denies your Ministry when he saith Hath God sent thene or do they send one another That they are Ministers of Mans making common experience shews page 6. Min. I answer The Ministry in general is distinguisht into Ordinary and extraordinary Thus it was under the Law and under the Gospel too Of old the Priesthood belonged to the head of every Family challenged by a right of primogeniture But when the House of Israel multiplied into many Families it pleased God for the more advantageous settlement of his Church and the better Government thereof to devolve the Priesthood upon Aaron and to call him to the same in an extraordinary manner by a Commission from Heaven to Moses for his Consecration and to settle that Priesthood successively upon his Posterity without any further need of an extraordinary Call to the Priests of succeeding Generations Such too was the Evangelical Ministry For Aaron's Priesthood being antiquated The Apostles were called to their Function in an extraordinary manner even by Christ himself and by the visible descent of the Holy Ghost were accordingly qualified for the discharge of it Yet even in the Apostles days this Extraordinary Call ceased For Timothy and Titus were Ordain'd by imposition of hands and were commanded so to Ordain others by which means the Ministry was by the Divine Ordinance to descend to all Ages in an orderly succession though not in one Family as Aaron's did These things thus premised do determine our present case as followeth He that is sent according to the order appointed by God in Holy Scripture though by the Ministry of men is not a Minister of man's making but of God's But both the Priests of the Law and the Priests of the Gospel though consecrated and Ordained by the Ministry of Men were sent according to the order appointed by God Therefore they were not Ministers of Man's making but of God's and by him truly call'd and sent Were Timothy and Titus Ministers only of Man's making because they were ordain'd by imposition of hands And if many of the people did not profit by their Ministry as many of the Cretian's did not by Titus's was the fault think you in their not being sent Par. No sure Min. Do you suppose T. E. himself could be ignorant of a truth so obvious Par. Methinks he should not Min. What then should he mean by saying We send one another and by that common experience which he says shews that we are Ministers of Man's making Par. What can he mean by it but your going to the Bishop for Orders as common experience shews you do Min. Truly his words stand very fair for this meaning and therefore not only you but doubtless his whole Fraternity and many others do so take it and through ignorance may be corrupted by it and made to believe We are not sent by God because ordained by the Ministry of Men. Par. Indeed I cannot deny but this passage brought me under some scruples till you gave me this satisfaction Min. If T. E. could not be ignorant in so plain a Case what can be his design here Whatever a Man pretends to mean by any of his expressions yet to set them down in such terms as will impose upon vulgar Readers and engage them in error can surely be no upright dealing Par. No how should it But if says he speaking still of the Ministers of England they ministred by the
the Ministry I should be glad to understand the form and manner of it Min. To satisfy you that all care imaginable is taken by the wisdom and piety of our Church to prevent the admission of scandalous Persons into holy orders and to promote the honour and ends of our sacred Function You are to understand First that there are certain times appointed for Fasting and Prayer to invoke God to guide the Bishops and Pastors of his Flock faithfully and wisely to make choice of fit persons to serve in the sacred Ministry of his Church and this is according to the primitive Practice Acts 13. 3. Then due care is order'd to be taken for the examination of the Abilities of such persons as come to be ordain'd Then Certificates and Testimonials must be produced concerning their Life and Conversation When they are presented to the Bishop for Ordination he in most solemn manner charges the Arch-Deacon to take heed whom he presents c. And if the people have any thing to object against any of them they are required to come forth in the name of God and to shew what the Crime or Impediment is After Prayers and the reading of such Scriptures as are chosen for the occasion the Bishop in a solemn speech publickly exhorts them in the name of our Lord Iesus Christ to have in remembrance into how high a Dignity and to how weighty an office and charge they are called that is to say to be Messengers Watchmen and Stewards of the Lord c. Then he bids them have it printed in their remembrance how great a treasure is committed to their charge that is the sheep of Christ which he bought with his death and for whom he shed his blood And if the Church or any member thereof take any hurt c. by their negligence he reminds them of the greatness of the fault and the horrible punishment which will ensue And that they may be excited to the greater care and diligence they are put in mind not only of the end and excellency but of the difficulty also of their Office as well to shew themselves dutiful and thankful unto that Lord who hath placed them in so high a dignity as also to beware that neither they themselves offend nor be occasion that others offend Next he tells them they cannot have a mind and will thereto of themselves for that Will and Ability is given of God alone and therefore that they ought and have need to pray earnestly for his holy Spirit And be their Learning never so great and their Testimonials never so credible yet are they not to be ordain'd till they have given engagement in the presence of God and the Congregation for the faithful exercise of their duty and Function by solemn promises and positive answers to several Questions propounded to them by the Bishop First Whether they trust that they are inwardly moved by the holy Ghost to take upon them that Office to serve God for the promoting his Glory and the edifying of his Church to which each of them answers I trust so Then he enquires of them Whether they unfeignedly beleive that the holy Scriptures contain all Doctrines necessary to salvation And for the time to come Whether they are determin'd to teach nothing as necessary to salvation but what they shall be perswaded may be proved from thence Whether they will be faithful always to minister the Doctrine and Sacraments and discipline of Christ as the Lord hath commanded c. Whether they will be ready with all faithful diligence to banish and drive away all erroneous and strange Doctrines contrary to God's word and use both publick and private Exhortations as well to the sick as to the whole within their Cures c. Whether they will be diligent in prayers and reading the holy Scriptures and in such studies as help to the knowledg of the same laying aside the study of the world and the flesh Whether they will be diligent to frame and fashion themselves and families according to the doctrine of Christ and to make themselves wholsome examples and patterns to the flock of Christ Whether they will maintain and set forward as much as in them lies quietness peace and love among all Christian people c. And lastly Whether they will obey the Godly admonitions of their Ordinary and other chief Ministers to whom is committed the charge and Government over them To all these they answer and promise They will so do the Lord being their helper Then are they by Prayer and Imposition of hands according to the Apostolical rule and practice ordained into their respective Functions Now judg what reason this bold man had to besplatter so wise and pious a Constitution and by Consequence to affront the King and Parliament who have so conscientiously establisht it by Law But let me advise you to read the Office it self where you will be still more fully informed Par. I have given you great attention and I must freely confess from what you have already told me that this form of your ordination is a most solemn serious and pious service far beyond what I ever knew or imagin'd of it And now I begin to blame my self for taking things so much upon trust and for believing every tale that others have told me as if this Church were an enemy to the power of Godliness For not weighing things impartially I became very much prejudic'd against it and when I heard others rail I learnt by their example to do so too Min. Therefore I hope hereafter you will be more just to examine things before you censure them And for this end I have been so express in particulars lest you should neglect to read and still go on as many do to speak evil of those things which you * know not Here you may note how unjust and disingenuous our Adversaries are who designedly conceal the excellency of our Constitution while they exasperate ignorant people against it And I hope hereafter you will beware of them Par. Your counsel is very reasonable only I am thinking it will be said that the faults of scandalous Ministers are the more aggravated by their walking contrary to such principles and engagements Min. The Sin of these men will lie at their own doors I am not justifying any such but or Mother the Church of England from whom you see they learn no such thing And though there be some bad as there ever were and will be in the purest Churches after the greatest care is taken yet does it detract nothing at all from the honour of those other of the Clergy who give all faithful diligence to live up to their excellent Principles and to Act according to their Promises and Engagements Par. Whereas you affirmed to me that they who make the Efficacy of the divine Ordinances to depend on the Worthiness of the Persons concerned in them are worse than the Papists and
in his Discipleship And indeed the Scriptures do artribute to him a higher mode of Prophecy than ordinary Now the great and principal work of a Prophet was to teach and instruct the people This is evident from the Scripture 2 Pet. 2. 1. False Prophets and false Teachers do there explain one another And Prophesying is put for Expounding and teaching the will of God 1 Cor. 13. 2. and 14. 1 3. And he that expoundeth and declareth another's mind and meaning is called his Prophet Exod. 7. 1 4 16 And Christ's great work in the exercise of his Prophetical Office was to teach the people and to reveal his Father's will We may therefore safely conclude that Moses's Chair is the Chair of Doctrine For it was the custom of those times for Teachers to sit while they taught as several of the Iewish Doctors and also the antient Commentaries under St. Ambrose's name on 1 Cor. 14. 29 30. do inform us In conformity to this Custom Christ himself taught sitting and the antient Philosophers did the same as Grotius noteth upon the place where he quoteth Seneca calling them Cathedrarii that is Chair-men That Moses's Chair is thus to be taken will further appear from the Persons sitting in it Christ's discourse is not concerning Iudges and Magistrates but Teachers as appears from ver 4. where we read They bound heavy burthens c. that is expounded the Law with intolerable strictness by adding their Traditions to it see Acts 15. 10 28. and accordingly the Iews called a thing forbidden by the Doctors Ligatum viz. a thing bound and a thing permitted Solutum or loosed Christ mentions none but Scribes and Pharisees excluding Sadducees who yet were members of their Sanhedrins as well as the other And if he had spoken concerning their Sanhedrins the Priests would no doubt have been mention'd especially the high Priest who was a Chief member of them in our Saviour's time Now that the Scribes here mention'd did succeed the Prophets in their office and Employment is clear from the Scripture Behold says our Saviour I send you Prophets Wise-men and Scribes Mat. 23. 34. Where the one do's expound the other In 1 Cor. 1. 20. Wise-men and Scribes are conjoyn'd For such as were educated in the Learning and wisdom of the Law and professed it were called Scribes Ezra is called a Scribe ch 7. 12. to which sense Christ alludeth Mat. 13. 52. In antient times many were educated in Schools and Colledges to be Prophets But when the gift of Prophesy ceased among that people then they remained Scribes only accordingly Maimonides says that the Reason why Baruch was so discontented was because he had spent so much time under Jeremiah to obtain the gift of Prophesy yet was constrain'd to go without it So that he was called Baruch the Scribe only Wherefore the true notion of Scribes is this They were Students Learned men and Teachers * of the Law to the People as the Prophets were of old but without the gift of Prophecy Succeeding them in their Office but not in their extraordinary Mission and Supernatural Endowments Hence our Lord says that they sate in Moses's seat As for the word Pharisees that denoteth their Sect and way of Religion only most of the Scribes being of that sect as is probable because it was so much in vogue with the people From this Scripture thus explain'd it will follow 1. That Persons without an Extraordinary mission and Supernatural Endowments may be true Successors of them that had both as the Scribes were of the ancient Prophets 2. That men may be God's Officers though they have not that Immediate mission from him For if the Scribes were not God's Officers they did not sit in Moses's Chair in Christ's sence This is so obvious that even Heathen Magistrates are called God's Ministers Rom. 13. 4. 3. That whatever Such as have the Office and Authority to Teach tho' bad men do teach jure Cathedrae as Grotius expresses it keeping themselves within the Sphere of their Authority They ought to be obeyed in Par. You said that our Saviour hath given the people an Eternal Document when such Teachers as live not answerably to their Doctrine fall to their share An eternal Document What 's that p. 20. Min. I told you in our Saviour's own words Whatsoever they bad them to observe that to observe and do but not to do after their works Mat. 23. 3. Par. Nay hold there says he we have had too much of that already England hath not yet forgot since the Scribes and Pharisees of Rome saâ—…e in the Chair here c. ibid Min. Had it been a Turk Iew or profest Atheist that had accosted me with this reply I should have receiv'd it without any surprize at all But seeing this Quaker pretends to Christianity is it not strange that He should fall foul upon Christ himself Had it been a Document of mine own framing though never so reasonable I should not have wonder'd to see him exercise his Sophistry upon i t But it being a Document of our blessed Lord's and deliver'd in no other but his own express words and in his own sense Methinks the Honour and Authority of the Author should have deterr'd him from this Confidence and perswaded him to have been more sparing How would the barbarous Iews have hugg'd themselves and how much innocency would they have pleaded if in the days of Christ they had been furnisht with this Quaker's Argument For had it been broacht then much louder had the Crucifige's rung in Pilat's ears Might not they have argued at Ellwood's rate Hast not thou commanded us to observe and do whatsoever the Scribes and Pharisees bid us We are now set on by them 'T is they that bid us Crucify thee Then from thy self we have an authority to execute this command of theirs So that I must answer my Antagonist in Isaiah's Dialect 2 Kings 19. 22. Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice and lifted thine eyes on high even against the Holy one of Israel Par. I must confess that the Consequences from this gloss are very odious therefore I pray give me now the true sense of the text Min. I cannot do it better than in the words of St. Chrysostom an Author whom this Quaker pretends to have a very good opinion of and whose Authority he misquotes against me with so much triumph p. 120 and 188. Let us here him therefore descanting upon this Document by Theophilact The Lord speaketh of those who fit in Moses's Chair that is of those who teach what is in the Law those therefore who teach the Divine Law we ought to hear tho they do it not themselves Further he objects as Ellwood here But must we do all things they say tho they be evil things We answer says he First that he that teacheth will hardly be so audacious as ever to exhort to things directly evil
the case of Divorces and reduced Marriage to its Primitive institution Mat. 19. Denounced eight Woes together against the Scribes and Pharisees He asserted and cleared the Moral Law in his Sermon on the Mount from the false Glosses the Jewish Doctors had put upon it and advanced the Law of Nature whereof the Moral Law is the transcript to the highest pitch And was not all this sufficient to make Christ a Reformer He is our sole Lawgiver and what the Apostles taught after his offering up was his own Law which himself had deliver'd before his death and which the Spirit was promised to bring into their remembrance If therefore Civil Respects were so vain and evil a Custom as T. E. makes them p. 41. is it likely that so severe a Reformer should not only Connive at them but expresly allow them as he does Luke 14. 10 As Ellwood implicitly grants he did not denying it but using an absurd and an odd circuit of words to shuffle it off Though therefore the Pharisees ambition and affectation of the chief Seats was rebuked by our Saviour yet it is evident the distinction of persons and places and such good manners as are founded thereon were none of those things which he disliked or design'd ever to remove What though the State of the Church in the time of the Law was in a great measure Outward and the Legal Ceremonies of the Levitical Priesthood upon Christ's death expired What though a more inward and Spiritual Worship was enjoyn'd under the Gospel and the Spirit of God to that end poured out more plentifully than ever Did this prove that to Christians all outward things are vanisht and such things as no way belonged to that Priesthood Are their Bodies vanisht too What then will become of that injunction Glarific God in your Body 1 Cor. 6. 20. Are we now devested of all outward capacities and concernments Untill he can prove this he must allow Christians such outward Customs and usages as are agreeable to this present State such among the rest are Civil Respects being sutable to that distinction which Providence and the State of this World have made of persons and places in the various relations which we find in all Civil Societies He that is an enemy to this distinction is an enemy to all Government which cannot subsist without it for we must distinguish between Rulers and Subjects Governors and Governed both in Common Wealths and private Families What madness then is it to think that Christ meant to take away Civil Respects and good Manners things that are so necessary to uphold this distinction essential to it as the due acknowledgment and proper expressions of it Therefore he abolish'd not those decentCustoms of them which are upon Record in the Old Testament or any where else But all quotations out of the Old Testament to this purpose must needs be still in force Par. You have thus far given me very good satisfaction in this point if you have any thing further to add to it I pray go on to clear it not only to me but to all others who do ignorantly scruple it as I have done Min. The great duty of a Christian is Universal Friendship but as Friendship is amicitia parium aâ—…t imparium of Equals or Unequals So the signification of that Friendship requires different expressions since the state of the World and the constitution of Societies necessarily infers a distribution of persons into several ranks higher and lower the foundations of which distribution are these following First difference of Age calls for different behaviour Lev. 19. 32. Thou shalt rise before the hoary head and honour the face of the Old man The face of the Old man here is the gavity of his person So that respect to mens persons is not always evil but oft times a duty See also 1 Tim. 5. 1. Intreaâ—…an old man as a Father Secondly Difference of sex 1 Cor. 11. 3 4 5. And the Ordinance of Marriage makes Man the head of the Wife and requires expressions of subjection from the Woman to the Man as T. E. himself acknowledges in the example of Sarah obeying Abraham and calling him Lord. Thirdly All domestick and civil relations implying superiority and inferiority as not only Husband and Wife but Parents and Children Masters and Servants all which T. E. acknowledges Why not then between Magistrates and Subjects seeing Magistrates are Fathers of their Country and every Ruler is properly a Master for Christ himself calls Nicodemus a Master of Israel Iob. 3. 10. Fourthly Different occupations and employments some being honourable and others mean make one rankof menhigher than another Exod. 11. 5. Iud. 16. 21. Acts 17. 5. where you have mention of the baser sort Fifthly By reason of the necessity of publick Offices for civil Governmenment some men must needs be publick some private persons Publick Persons must have an eminency above private And Kings in Scripture are lookt upon as Sacred and the Jewish Rulers and Judges frequently styled Gods Exod. 22. 28. Ps. 82. 6. Io. 10. 34. which is a much higher Title of respect than any we give in our addresses to them therefore it was boldly done of T. E. to quarrel at the Title of Mâ—…st Sacred Majesty and Dread Sovereign as he do's p. 46. seeing all these are essential to the Title of King which the Quakers own and are willing to give him Pray read these places Ps. 21. 5. 1 Chr. 29. 25. Dan. 4. 36 37. Sixthly Nearness to or distance from such as are Eminent Persons thus they that are near the Kings Person gain an eminence by it Est. 1. 14. Ier. 52. 25. And so the Civil Law looketh upon men as more eminent as they are nearer the Emperor And we do find abundance of these reckon'd up in Scripture Dan. 3. 27. and many other places And the Scripture speaks of different Ranks of Nobility and freely gives them their usual titles without any scruple Thus we read of Princes Gen. 17. 20. and 2 Sam. 19. 6 c. of Dukes Exod. 15. 15. Ios. 13. 21. Gen. 36. 15 c. of Lords Dan. 5. 1 9. Ezr. 8. 25. Neh. 7. 5. And in the New Testament Mark 6. 2 1. where 't is said that Herod made a Supper to his Lords c. Note here that St. Mark writes not like a Quaker He do's not say He made a Supper to his Lords as they call them Nor like Ellwood who is so demure that forsooth he dare not name Titles and Civil Respects without this same reserve as they are called Seventhly By civil vertues and great exploits Men justly gain an Eminency and Renown and become famous See Ruth 4. 11 14. Num. 16. 2. and 1. 16. 1 Chron. 5. 24. and 12. 30. Ezek. 23. 23. Eighthly When persons have larger priviledges and immunities granted to them in the Commonwealth they gain an eminency by them thus Noblemen are constituted by that the Lawyers call
passages in Scripture that are of the greatest Concern are written in such a plain and familiar style that the weakest and most illiterate or unlearned c. shall not be able to excuse the neglect of them c. p. 216. Min. It 's T. E's old subtilties to call what he cannot answer Minute and less material passages and here he says he do's not find any thing further that is remarkable when indeed he hath left unanswered the most remarkable passage of all even that in page 91. of my Book My Argument there was this If St. Paul ' s Epistles were hard then in those days of primitive light and purity and extraordinary inspiration and even to those that were acquainted with the Original Languages wherein they were written and with the peculiar Proverbs and proprieties of them If they were hard then to those who well understood the rites and customs of the people to whom they were particularly written and who might be easily informed of the particular occasion and by that means of the true scope of them How much more difficult must they needs be to us at this distance c. This had been worth the Quaker's pains to have answered and ours to dispute about So that I have no reason to take any further notice of him when thus he skips over the main of my Arguments But neither you nor any other can remain unsatisfied of the Necessity of humane Learning if you will peruse a Treatise on that Subject written by Mr. Reyner of Lincoln Par. But methinks he yields the Cause For he tells us that it is not their manner to deride Learning or any way to undervalue it which in its place is good and serviceable p. 217. Min. I doubt His Party will scarce thank him for this Concession who for many years made it a great part of their Religion to decry it One whose Name is not affixt to his works saith that the Original of Tongues was in the days of Nimrod that Heretick Though I must tell that Learned Antiquary that Nimrod was rather an Atheist than Heretick But I pray wherein then is Learning good and serviceable In Natural Civil or Humane Affairs p. 218. Min. If so why do's he make use of it himself in a Controversie of Religion And why do's he pretend so much to esteem that Learning which the Translators of the Scripture made use of in that Work p. 264. Par. T. E. has one objection against humane Learning c. Which to me seems very considerable and to have more in it than the whole Chapter besides If says he want of Humane Learning were the Cause why the Scriptures are wrested How comes it to pass that they are wrested by those that have Humane Learning p. 219. Min. Seeing you look upon this objection as considerable you shall have the fuller Answer to it Let us look back into former Ages and we shall find that No Heretick was famous for Learning in the two first Centuries Montanus was for Inspiration as are the Quakers and as horrible a Wrester of the Scriptures as they are Calling himself the Paraclet or Comforter that was for to come Manes was a Persian slave void of all ingenuous literature and education and He broached the Manechaean Heresie Arâ—…ius was a Man of plausible eloquence but of no great Learning And I would have T. E. shew us any one of the Hereticks that did come near to the profound Learning which was in those Glorious Lights of the Church Iustin Martyr Irenaeus Clemens Alexandrinus Athanasius Basil Nazianzen Chrysostome Hierome Ambrose Augustine Eusebius Theodoret c. These Holy Fathers were some of them admirably skill'd in Languages all of them in Histories Laws Rites and Customs yea in most of the Liberal Sciences all which they got by Education And he must be a Stranger to primitive times who knows not how God made use of the Learning and Eloquence of these Orthodox Fathers to confound Heresies is they did arise up in the World It the Hereticks with their little learning did wrest some places of Scripture these Hero's did rectifie such abused places by which they both baffled their Adversaries and confirmed the Truth So that the Heretick got as little by those attempts as Ellwood has by this Allegation Which gives us but an opportunity to set an higher value upon Learning seeing God has been pleased to use it as a means to secure His Holy Word in times of old but to go on We may observe that when by the furious inundation of the barbarous Nations into the Roman Empire Learning fell into decay and when Arts and Sciences were discouraged and neglected at the same time all manner of Corruptions crept into the Church and as ignorance encreased Errors multiplied So that most of the present evil opinions of the Church of Rome had their original in those Unlearned Ages from about 700 years 〈◊〉 Christ till about 〈◊〉 after About the Midnight of which darkness there was scarce any Learning left in the World It is wonderful saith Sabellions what a General oblivion of Arts had seized on Mens minds These were the unhappy times which bred and nursed up Invocation of Saints Worship of Images Purgatory with all the Fanatical Visions and Revelations Miracles c. Then began Shrines Pilgrimages Reliques Purchasing of Pardons and the Popes attempts for an Universal Monarchy To serve which ends Scripture was wrested Fathers Councils and Records corrupted and forged while the World was a sleep and for want of Learning discerned not the Cheat which is now so gross and palpable And 't is well worth our Notice what the Learned Hottinger observes viz. That the Canon of the Council of Vienna Anno 1312. Commanding the study of the Oriental Languages in Europe was the happy dawning of the blessed Reformation For while ignorance overspread the World the Pope carried the Bell away and had it generally at his Devotion And Canus confesseth that their Doctors for 300 years together understood neither Greek nor Hebrew And Lelius Tifernus Anno 1470. had much ado to get leave to read Greek in the University of Paris for as Epenâ—…aeus tells us Com. ad 2 Tim. 3. In that Age to understand Greek was suspected and to have skill iâ—… Hebrew almost enough to make a Man accounted an Heretick In those times they could wrest Ecâ—… duo gladii and Deus fecit duo Luminaria to prove the Popâ—… above the Emperour But as soon as God restored Learning the Reformation immediately followed Which the wisest Papists foresaw Hence Platina relates that Pope Paul the second who lived about forty years before Luther was wont to Call all that studied humane Learning Hereticks frequently admonishing the Romans not to bring up their Children in Learning Hence that famous saying of Ludovicus Vives his Master to him which might very well fit the Mouth of George Fox The better Grammarian thou art the worse Divine thou wilt
to blame for inferring from thence a Necessity of Humane Learning in Ordinary times p. 226. Min. A more senseless remark cannot be made Unless Humane Learning had been an extraordinary thing and acquired only in an extraordinary manner Par However he saith that Teaching of the Spirit had no dependency upon Tongues it was before them and was to continue after them ibid. Min. This is false for they were given both at one time But if he mean that the Ordinary teaching of the Spirit was to continue after them I say as much But then his not distinguishing between the Ordinary and Extraordinary teaching of the Spirit has here run him into some gross Absurdities for two or three pages together First he supposes All Christian Believers to be the Apostles successors as if there were no difference between the Preacher and the Hearer between Priest and People when the Apostles selected their successors from out of the company of Ordinary Christians And the Distinction has been ever kept up in all Ages since Secondly The Quaker pleads alike for all Believers as if they had All the inward and immediate Teaching p. 229. and takes those places 1 Iohn 2. 20 27. Ye know all things and need not that any man teach you c. without Limitation Hence it follows that the Apostles taught in vain And so not only Ministers pains are in vain but the Quakers own Preachments for if All were are immediately taught what need was or is there of any of these Thirdly The Quaker seems to fancy that if the Spirit be not with Believers in this immediate Manner He is not with them at all p. 230. and that Christ hath left His people comfortless as if the people in Canaan where they plowed and sowed were not fed by Gods Providence as well as in the Wilderness We know that it is the Spirit that blesseth our Learning and to as useful purposes considering our Circumstances as if we had that Immediate Teaching which the Quakers do but dream of Par. He would make his Reader believe that you are of opinion that the Apostles received the knowledge of the Gospel by Tongues p. 231. Min. He wrongs me infinitely I put in Miracles and the rest Immediate knowledge and Tongues are by me usually reckoned together because the Apostles received them together and they were Miraculous effects of the Spirit both temporary and extraordinary and both fitted to that Season And Immediate Teaching is as little to be expected now as the Gift of Tongues which was not so Miraculous as immediate teaching it being a greater wonder that ignorant men should be acquainted with All Heavenly Truthes as speak All Earthly Languages Methinks when Quakers talk of this Immediate Teaching it 's as some do of the Philosophers Stone for while they boast of it they should shew us One man that Actually hath it And for all their pretences we see some of them do not depend upon it but make use of Humane Means and do read and study and when they falsly quote an Author can pretend they were in the Countrey c. And we all know that the Quakers being generally devoid of Learning their discourses and writings are fuller of tautologies soloecisms confusion and darkness than any other sort of people whatsoever Whereas if they had the Immediate teaching as the Apostles had their Notions would be clear their discourses Methodical and Argumentative as those of the Apostles were And wee see they are so far from it that even T. E. a pretender to Learning as well as to this inspiration is often detected of gross ignorance impertinence and self-contradiction in this little Tract All the Knowledge therefore that we expect now must be attain'd only by Gods blessing upon our due use of Means 'T is certain that the best Quaker of them all did he not read study converse c. would be as ignorant as a Barbarous Indian and till they can give us an example to the contrary this pretence of theirs must pass for an absolute imposture Par. But T. E. thinks that He has catch't you in a contradiction because you say that Necessary Truths are already Revealed in Scripture yet you confess that you want the Assistance of the Spirit to help you to understand them p. 236. Min. He forgets that here He do's contradict Himself Before I made humane Learning All in all now it seems I make the ordinary assistance of the Spirit Necessary But to the point If it be a contradiction to pray for the assistance of the Spirit for the understanding of what is Revealed Then is His Worship guilty of the same contradiction for he tells us p. 237 238. that the Doctrines contained in the Holy Scriptures cannot be comprehended or understood by the Wit and Wisdom of man in his highest Natural attainments but only and alone by the Openings and Discoveries of that holy Spirit by which they were at first Revealed So that I must retort his own words * If it cannot be understood it 's not Revealed but Vailed My wonder is that this Quaker quarrels not with the last book in Scripture seeing it's the hardest to be understood yet called The Revelation of Iesus Christ. And I must tell the Quaker that whatsoever is made publick is revealed whether every body understand it or no. Par. As for New Revelations he thinks it is a phrase of your own not used by them p. 237. Min. 'T is well known that I am not the inventer of it And though T. E. disowns the phrase yet you see he defends the thing and if we must not call them New Revelations we must then call them New Impostures Have not divers Quakers stript themselves stark naked and said the Spirit bid them deliver such and such a Message in that posture Must not then this be a New Revelation in their own sense I shall be glad to hear that all Quakers were really become as their Champion Ellwood pretends they are of another mind It would be very well would they at last renounce all revelations which are not contained in the Scripture and search out the sense of what is already Revealed which they may do with the ordinary assistance of Gods Spirit and His blessing on the use of means so far as is needful to their own Salvation Thus far I shall agree with T. E. that Outward means without the Spirit of God will not make us savingly to understand the Scriptures Provided that he will add that the Spirit will not help those who neglect to use the means so far as their condition and capacity do extend unto Now as for those that expect New Revelations or immediate Teaching that is a Teaching without means such do render the Scriptures useless altogether For he that hath immediately the same Truthes from the same fountain from whenee the Scriptures do flow will not value the Scriptures at all for who will value a Copy that hath the