Many more promises might be collected out of the Old Testament but I come to shew Fourthly that Christ by his own mouth and by the mouthes of his Apostles hath promised to us likewise such a Church Mat. 16. 19. Upon this Rock I will build my Church which he had foretold by his Prophets should be of so vast extent And the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it Mat. 18. 17. He that will not hear the Church let him be unto thee as a Heathen or a Publican but if Christ by his spirit doth not preserve this Church from all possibility of teaching me error instead of a truth I may from this Church which Christ obligeth me to hear and unto which obligeth me to submit receive such errors as may damn me Mat. 28. 20. And Loe I am with you alwaies even unto the end of the World this must be meant of the visible Church which was to be in every Age for the Apostles were not to live and to Baptise and teach alway unto the end of the world And therefore if the same assistance and presence of Christ was promised to the Church after the Apostles I think we shall not doubt but that it is the same that is infallible But that it may clearely appear that the Assistance promised by Christ to his Church extended to an infallible security from all errors consider Iohn 14. 16. I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever even the spirit of Truth whom the world cannot receive and v. 26. The Comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my Name he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I shall say unto you and ch 16. 12. I have many things yet to say unto you but you cannot hear them now howbeit when the Spirit of Truth is come he will guide you into all truth But all Truth excludeth all Errors and this for ever which was longer then the Apostles were to live If we therefore enquire by what means this teaching shall be by whom the people shall be taught all Truths and how preserved from all errors St. Paul will tell us Eph. 4. 11. He gave some Apostles succeeding in full Apostolical Authority some Prophets expounders of the Prophets some Evangelists Preachers of the Gospel some Pastors and Teachers to what end For the perfecting of the Saints for the work of the Ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ For what time Till we all come in the Union of the faith But will these secure us the next verse will tell you That we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carryed about with every wind of Doctrine by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lye in waite to deceive Gods intent then was to provide such means for mankinde as might secure them in their beleif in every Age that they might not be deceived by the cunning craft of false Teachers such as now think themselves able by pretending inward Lights Private Spirits and evidence of Scripture by themselves Interpreted to teach us a doctrine contrary to all those who for almost fifteen Ages before them have been and none others teaching a contrary Faith can be named who have been the Apostles Prophets Evangelists Pastours and Teachers in the Visible Church of Christ In the last place I shall urge that Text of St. Paul to Timothy 1. Tim. 3. 15. The Church of the Living God the Pillar and ground of Truth And may we not securely rely upon that Pillar which God hath erected for us and found our Faith upon that Ground of truth which the God of all truth hath given us for that end To elude their plain and evident Texts I know you are wont to say in the first place that they may have other Interpretations and therefore this is not the truth But will not the same reason hold the Apostles cited many Texts of Scriptures and interpreted them so as to prove Christ the Messias and his Doctrines to be true whereas those Texts might have had other interpretations therefore the Interpretation put on them by the Apostles were not true Who sees not the weakness of this Argument Can you shew with any assurance that these Texts are not capable of these interpretations If not then according to your own principles these interpretations may be true for you who say the contrary are not infallible but may be mistaken Another answer which you use to give is that you are willing to agree that so long as the Church of Christ teacheth conformable to Scripture she is infallible and so long as she doth her Duty she may and ought to be beleived But this is as weak as the former for who sees not that it gives the Church no more priviledge nor allowes it to have any more benefit from these promises then the Divel hath for so long as he teacheth conformable to Scripture he may be beleived A straw may be a Pillar until it bends and Quick-sands sure ground until they yield What assurance can we have that the Holy Apostles did their duty in writing what the Holy Ghost did dictate unto them For if they did not their writings are not to be beleived consequently we are not nor can we be infallibly secure that the Scriptures which we have were dictated by and are by Inspiration from God If you can answer this so as to be secure that the Apostles did their duty the same will be our answer that the present Visible Catholick Church of Christ at all times doth her Duty The fift Argument is that the Church of God was this Rule and Judge this only means to convey Faith and this infallible Guide and Authority when our Blessed Saviour was alive and before the New Testament was written and also in the Apostles times both before and after the whole New Testament was written If not I obliege you to shew some evident Text which proves certainly that after the New Testament was written the Church in the Apostles time was deprived of this priveledge and Authority and that it had been no sinne then to oppose or not submit to the guidance direction government and authority of the Apostles But if notwithstanding this you shall without giving any other Reason insist that the Apostles were this infallible Rule and Judge in their times only until the Canon of Scriptures was finished and then lost their Authority when they had compleated the Canon I pray consider what will be the consequence in case it stands proved that the Canon of Scripture which they finished is now uncompleated by the loss of those Epistles and parcels of the Apostles writings which I have proved to be lost Will it not follow that for the same Reason that an infallible living rule and Judge was necessary before the Canon was compleat the same is now necessary some part
cannot be profitable to work Faith in those who cannot read who are the far greater part of mankind Thirdly this cannot be the sence of these words because they would then have excluded Christ Jesus himself and after him his Apostles from being the Infallible means by which true faith was to be taught to the world and who were doubtless in their time the infallible Judges for the deciding of all Controversies and the determining true Faith from false Opinions and to whose judgements all upon pain of Damnation were to submit The second Reason urged for sole Scripture was 2 Tim. 3. v. 15. 16. From a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through Faith which is in Christ Jesus All Scripture is given by Inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine for Reproof for Correction for Instruction in Righteousness that the man of God may be perfect thoroughly furnished to all good works But I found that neither would this Text so much and indeed so totally relyed upon serve as a proof for what it was pretended namely to prove that the Scripture alone was the way the Rule the Means the governing power appointed by God to judge and to decide all doubts and to teach us the true Faith and the true way to Heaven with certainty The Reasons why this Text would not prove this were these First that which is spoken there of Scriptures is that they were able through or by faith in Christ Iesus to make wise and that they are profitable to the ends there mentioned But this Profitable is not sole sufficient and this Able through or by Faith is not solely able but supposeth Faith already and therefore pretends not that they are the means preceding faith to beget faith It was agreed by all that the Scriptures to one that had faith already and to the Man of God who would submit to such Interpretations of Scriptures as God should teach him and hold forth unto him by that Authority which God had appointed to Guide Rule Teach and Govern him and to whom God had appointed him to submit were extreamly profitable and able to make him wise unto salvation But to one who had not the faith and who did not already beleive them to be the word of God they were no way useful or profitable for faith comes by hearing not by reading Secondly those Scriptures here meant were those which St. Timothy had known from his youth which were the Old Testament only consequently by this Rule they are solely sufficient consequently the New Testament at the best not necessary nor the Preaching of Christ or the Apostles nor the Sacraments of the New Testament so that this Scripture either proves too much if admitted in the sence for which it is produced or it proves nothing to this purpose Thirdly the word All Scripture must signifie either every Scripture as the Original word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ought to be rendred or All the Scriptures that ever were or All the Scriptures that were when this Text was written or All the Scriptures that we now have If it be every Scripture then it proves too much and consequently nothing to the present intent for then all the Scriptures save only one book are useless If it be All that ever were we have them not as I shall shew hereafter consequently our rule is maymed and God hath not given us sufficient means for the ends proposed If All the Scriptures that were when this Text was written then at least all that have been written since were superfluous at least not necessary If All that we now only have and that the Apostle foresaw what would come to our hands in England I would gladly have some assurance why the Text must be thus understood and no otherwise In fine if from those words of our dearest Lord These things I say that ye might be saved Joh. 5. 34. We are not to conclude that those very words or things then spoke were sole sufficient for Salvation but only that they were conducing to our salvation so from neither of the Texts before urged or any other that can be urged can we conclude that the Scriptures are solely sufficient but only that they are conducing to our salvation and that the directions therein included if followed truly and according to the intent of the Holy Gost are able to make him who is already a good Christian wise unto salvation And now that I clearly found that no Arguments which were urged for the sole sufficiency of Scripture and to prove that the Scripture alone is this infallible judge or rule or means appointed by God as aforesaid did prove the Scriptures to be so or satisfie the point for which they were produced I resolved to see what could be said against this common general Opinion of all who oppose the Church of Rome why the Scriptures could not be this Rule and Judge The first reason that I found was that it did never yet appear to answer this end for those who pretend the most to consult the Scriptures do most of all men disagree in matters of faith and in interpreting these Scriptures Luther the first beginner of Protestants gathered a Flock of followers which divided into several other sub-divisions contradicting each other So Iohn Calvin raysed a party in Geneva of whom Luther saith expresly Tom. 7. Fo. 380. I scarce ever read of a more deformed Heresy which presently in the beginning was divided into so many heads such a number of Sects not one like another and such variety and disagreeing of Opinions And have we not divisions enough in this poor Kingdome and amongst those who call themselves Protestants Are there not besides the Church of England which I pretend not to treat of because established Presbyterians Independents Anabaptists Fifth Monarchy men Quakers c. Maintaining Doctrines contrary to each other Do not all or most of these pretend the Scriptures alone to be the Rule and Judge and doth this Rule or Judge answer the end for which they pretend it was delivered to the World I remember it is excellently well inferred by the Learned Author of the Book Intituled Fiat Lux That it is impossible for any one of these partyes which I must now crave leave to call Sects with reason to censure or condemn any of the others although never so different from themselves even in points by them esteemed fundamentals since each of them have their uncontroulable Plea for themselves that their faith is in every respect conformable to what they understand to be the true sence and meaning of the Scriptures which they all agree to be the sole and only Rule and Judge Nay which of these Parties can deny the others the Title of Protestant or convince them of Heresy since to be a Protestant no more is required or if it be I would gladly know what it is then to admit of the Scriptures interpeted according
and treatises from whence I made several Collections the Heads of which I recommend to your considerations they being such as had by the Gracious assistance of Almighty God such a prevailing power upon my understanding as to convince me of the errors of the way wherein I then was and to bring me to the Knowledge of the Divine truths of the Catholick and Christian Faith I gathered from the true interpretation of that Text of Scripture Heb. 11. 6. Without Faith it is impossible to please God And of that Mar. 16. 16. He that beleiveth not shall be damned And of that other Ephes 4. 5. There is but one Faith and one Baptisme one Lord Iesus That the faith which was to save me and by the which I was to please God must certainly be the true Faith which cannot be found in contrary Opinions it being but One and of contraries One only can be true I also collected from that Text 2. Cor. 10. 5. Bringing into Captivity every thought to the Obedience of Christ That this Faith or beleiving was to be seated in the understanding that the understanding was to submit not dispute And that this Act To beleive was a Command or Precept of Almighty God who will have his Will obeyed by all his Subjects and the not obeying of which is punished with eternal Damnation Lastly I found from that Text Heb. 10. 23. Let us hold fast the profession of our Faith without wavering for he is faithful that hath promised That Faith if truly Divine must be an infallible assent of our understanding submitting it self obediently to beleive the Revelations of God For otherwise Faith and consequently all Religion may be no more then fancy or Opinion and then no waies certain and if so then no Obligation From whence I thought it did very naturally follow first that there must be some means appointed by God by which we may know this one true Faith from all false Opinions for to require us to beleive upon pain of Damnation and not to give us any means whereby we may know what to beleive were to require us to make Bricks without Straw Secondly that these means must be infallible for we cannot be brought to an infallible ascent by fallible and uncertain means and God would not require us to assent to an Authority which may deceive us Thirdly that the understanding must submit to these means under pain of Damnation for if the understanding were at liberty to submit or not to submit to the means by which Faith is conveyed unto us it would be no fault not to beleive consequently God could not justly damne us for not beleiving Besides whosoever shall refuse to be governed by their means and that Authority which God hath appointed to govern him is a Rebel against God Fourthly that two men of two differing Faiths or beliefs cannot be saved for they both of them knowing that they are bound to be guided and governed by those means which God hath appointed to convey faith unto them and one of them flatly refusing to submit this person who refuseth must be guilty of disobedience to Gods command and consequently cannot be saved Fifthly that ignorant people by such reasonable diligence as is very tollerable to humane frailty and very possible for them may come to the knowledge of these means For otherwise God would have appointed means which would be unprofitable to the end and the far greater number of Souls for whom Christ dyed would not be sufficiently provided for by the sweet Providence of God By which that Prophesy would be ineffectual Esay 35. Say to them that are of a fearful heart be strong fear not behold your God will come and save you then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the Ears of the deaf unstopped c. And one high way shall be there and a way and it shall be called the Holy way the way faring men though Fooles shall not err therein And thus far I met with nothing but what I esteemed very agreeable with all sorts of people professing themselves Christians All that I ever met with seemed to grant that there must be a way and a Rule there must be means appointed there must be a governing power to judge and decide all doubts and teach us the true way to Heaven with certainty But who this Rule or Iudge is that is the difficulty for when once we have found it I think all persons will agree that they are obliged to submit unto it as to the Apostles if they were actually living or to Christ himself This therefore I thought to be the only question that I was to gain satisfaction unto I therefore ceased to enquire after this doctrine or the other Article as beleiving that if I could once find out this Rule this Judge which God had appointed as the means to direct me and to which I was to submit as to that Authority which God had appointed to Rule and Govern me to teach me what I was and what I was not to beleive I should no more scruple to beleive what that Authority should teach me to be revealed by God then if I heard God himself speaking And I was no way discouraged in my resolution to search when I considered that as God spoke in Antient times by the mouthes of his Prophets before and after the Scriptures were written and by the mouthes of his Apostles before and after the New Testament was written and that the writing of what God directed to be written did not lessen the power of God but that he might still direct by the mouthes of his Prophets and Apostles so possibly I might find God still speaking by an Authority which hitherto I had not been acquainted with I found all the Rules and meanes proposed by every party to amount to four in the whole One party would set up a claim to the Spirit directing them and speaking to their spirits Another will have Reason to be this Rule and Judge A third will set up sole Scripture And the fourth assigneth the Holy Catholick Church of Christ Visible here on Earth to be that Judge and Director And finally that medium appoynted by God himself for the ends before mentioned and to which all Christians were to submit Other then these I never heard of any for I alwaies esteemed the Quakers Light to be either the Spirit or natural Reason and I resolved to rank it under one of those considerations by a name more known to the world then that which they have given it And therefore these I resolved most carefully to examine As to the first touching the Spirit bearing witness in secret with our spirits or in plainer terms the Private Spirit I considered that there is no man in the world Jew or Turk Pagan or Christian but may if he will put on confidence enough affirme that he is taught inwardly by God many of all sorts do this and yet teach contradictions some therefore must be
informs us 6. It is necessary to know that the very Copies and Translations of the Scriptures which we have upon which we ground our selves are certainly true for if they are not we build upon uncertainties and consequently have no sure foundation for our Faith yet we cannot be assured nor have so much as any information as to this perticular from the Scriptures 7. It is necessary that the many manifest controversies about the true sence of Scripture should be decided because where two contrary sences are imposed or urged and both affirmed to be the meaning of God and his Revelation one only can be true and he who refuseth to beleive that which is true shall be damned yet these controversies cannot be decyded by Scripture 8. It is necessary to know what is purely and absolutely necessary to salvation to be beleived and what not that is as you say what is fundamental and what not fundamental and to be informed of this plainly lest we err and thereby be damned but in this the Scripture is silent 9. It is necessary to beleive that God the Father is not begotten ' that God the Son is not made but begotten by his Father only That God the Holy Ghost is neither made nor begotten but doth proceed and that from the Father and the Son That Christ is of one substance with the Father and that these three are One and that One Three I refer to consideration whether all these points be plainly and clearely to be found in Scripture if they were it had been almost impossible for so many divisions to have hapned about them as have done amongst persons on all sides admitting the Scriptures to be the word of God 10. It is necessary the Church of England saith that Infants should be Baptised that women should receive the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist that Christians should observe the Lords day yet none of these points are clearly or perticularly proved by Scripture 11. It is a Sin and as the Generality of Christians agree an Heresy to Re-baptise any one who hath been Baptised by an Heretick where doth the Scripture say so That there are in the Scriptures several places which seem Contradictions and consequently some part of the Scriptures seem untrue is easily proved and I shall here give you some few plain Instances for example to which many more might be added 1. In the 2. Kings C. 8. v. 26. You read thus Two and twenty years old was Ahazia when he began to reigne and he reigned one year in Ierusalem and his mothers name was Athaliah the daughter of Omri But in 2 Chron. c. 22. v. 2. You will read thus Forty and two years old was Ahazia when he began to reign and he reigned one year in Ierusalem his mothers name was Athaliah the daughter of Oâ—…ri Now against the infallibility of Scripture Reason convinceth her self to have this infallible demonstration viz. No one who speaketh two things the one contrary to the other can be said to be infallible in speaking but to affirm of the same person that he began to reign when he was two and twenty years old and that he was two and forty years old when he began to reigne is to speak two things the one contrary to the other therefore saith Reason the Scripture is not infallible in speaking 2. In St. Matthews Gospel Chap. 1. v. 17. you read thus All the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations and from David till the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations Now if you please to consider that three fourteens must make forty and two and then please to reckon up all the persons named you shall find them demonstrably to be but one and forty and no more which is but two fourteens and one thirteen Now Reason asketh whether this can be infallibly true 3. In St. Lukes Gospel Ch. 3. v. 35. 36. you shall read thus Salah which was the son of Cainan which Cainan was the son of Arphaxad if you read Ge. c. 11. 12. you shall not find that Cainan was the Son of Arphaxad as St. Luke saith but that Arphaxad lived five and thirty years begat Salah Now according to St. Luke this Salah was the son of Cainan not of Arphaxad ' If it be answered that Salah was Arphaxads son because Arphaxad was his Grandfather I pray observe that Arphaxad is said to have begotten him and that when he was five and thirty years old And if you remark that Chapter in Genesis no one is said to have had a son before he was thirty years old But the greatest difficulty will be here It is said Arphaxad lived five and thirty years and begat Cainan If then Arphaxad was Granfather to Salah because he begat Cainan when he was five thirty years old in which year of his age he begat Salah then Salah his Grandchild and Cainan his son must be both born in the same year which saith Reason is impossible Now if Scripture can determine all controversies I hope you will shew me how to solve these difficulties by the Scripture which how to do I profess most seriously I do not understand The seventh Reason which I found against this Opinion of sole Scripture was that if the Scriptures had been appointed by God for this end of being our sole Rule Guide and Judge in all our doubts and the sole means to bring faith unto our souls they would have been so in the Apostles times at least after all the books of the New Testament were written but that they were so we do not find for then the Authority of the Apostles must have ceased so soon as they had made an end of Writing which I beleive no one will say much less prove And then even in the times of the Apostles if a controversie had arisen touching the true sence of any Text no address should have been to the Apostles to decide the doubt but to the book which every one must have judged though in opposition to the then present interpretation of the Apostles if they had then taken upon them to explain their own writings which to say I think will appear sufficiently absurd to all men Nay if the Scriptures had been intended for this it must have followed in all probability that our Lord Christ would have left his own law and doctrines in writing under his own hand which he hath not done at least he would have obleiged all his Apostles to write which he did not that we know of It should also follow that to write had been the chief part of the Apostles Ministry consequently that most part of the Apostles neglected to perform the chiefest part of their Ministry were negligent to do that which above all things was their duty will any of you presume to affirm this yet if you speak consequently it will be hard to avoid it The last
Reason which I shall recount unto you is this that to make the Scripture this sole Rule and Judge is in effect not to make the Scripture so but to make every individual man and woman who take upon them to read and understand the Scriptures such a Rule and Judge unto themselves for what difference is there between judging by my own Reason and judging by a Law to be Interpreted by my own Reason This is to make the Scripture not Gods Word but the word of every private man Hence I concluded that if Christ be God as certainly and infallibly he is and if he truly loved those soules for which he dyed he hath certainly provided for them some more assured means by which to know the true Faith without which he will not save them then by leaving them to the Scriptures to be interpreted by each one as he thinks best for what Law maker was there ever found so ridiculous as to gather a people into a body and give them a Law book in writing to govern them and to be their only judge in all their differences without appointing nay expresly prohibeting that there should be any living judge or Judges or any Court to expound this Law and to have the Executive Authority and jurisdiction from whence there should be no appeal Having considered after this manner what could be said for the private Spirit Reason and the sole sufficiency of Scripture I was in the last place to see what could be said on the behalf of the Catholick Church resolving from these premises that if here I could not find a satisfaction in point of certainty and an infallible assurance I was not to expect it as far as I yet understood from the Principles of Christianity and consequently must conclude that Religion and Faith were no more then Fancy and Opinion I thought it not unreasonable and other persons would doubtless have thought the Argument strong enough if I had sought no further but concluded the Private spirit is not Reason is not the Scriptures are not this Rule and Judge therefore the Church is But I resolved to examine farther and having agreed the point that such a Rule and Judge there must alwaies be of necessity and therefore there hath alwaies been and ever shall be such a One unless we shall say which I hope none will that God is defective in necessaries I found first for the first 2000 years before any Scriptures were written the Church of God was this Rule and Judge Was not Circumcision and other Rights brought in by Abraham and practised by the Church then without any Scripture to try them by what would you have said if you had then lived would you have disobeyed the then Church and rejected those Ordinances because there were then no Scriptures to warrant them Secondly the Church of the Jews was so to the Jews after that the Scripture was written and this by the express direction of Scripture Deut. 17. 8. Thou shal come to the Priests the Levites and unto the Iudge that shall be in those daies and enquire and they shall shew thee the sentence of Iudgement c. And according to the judgement which they shall tell thee you shall do Thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall shew thee to the right hand nor to the left hand And the man that will do presumptuously and will not hearken unto the Priest or unto the Iudge even that man shall dye Therfore our Blessed Lord whilst the Jewish Church was yet in being gave directions Mat. 23. 2. 3. The Scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses Chair all therfore whatsoever they bid you observe that observe and do Would God direct them unto punish with Death for not obeying an Authority which might deceive them would our Lord command the doing of whatsoever should be done by an Authority when that Authority was capable of mistaking From hence I concluded that it was possible for the Church of God to be such a Rule and Judge and to be the means appointed by God to give infallible instructions in the Truth Now as concerning the Church in the new Law under Christ I found Thirdly that God had promised such a Church such an Authority by the mouthes of his Prophets Isa 2. v. 2. 3 c. It shall come to pass in the last dayes so the Apostles called the time of the New Law That the Mountain of the Lords house shall be Established in the top of the mountains behold its visibility All Nations shall slow unto it see its Universality and extent and say come ye and let us goe up to the mountain of the Lord to the house of the God of Jacob And He that is God will teach us his waies in this his house or Church for out of Sion shall go forth the Law as by the Apostles on Whitsunday and the Word of God from Ierusalem where the first Preaching of the Gospel begun And he shall judge amongst the Nations Not personally for Christ went not of Iewry but by his Churches Tribunal erected amongst all Nations so conspicuously that they may all flow to it Will any one say this judgement which is Gods judgement can be fallible Or that in this Tribunal he that teacheth can teach us Errors Isa 35. 8. where God promiseth to establish a way of holiness so direct unto us that Fooles should not erre therein Isa 54. 3. 13 17. Thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles thy children shall be taught of the Lord and every tongue that shall rise against thee in Iudgement thou shall condemne Isa 56. 21. As for me this is my Covenant with them saith the Lord my spirit infallible that is upon thee and my words infallible also which I have put in thy mouth the mouth by which the Church teacheth and judgeth shall not depart out of thy mouth nor out of the mouth of thy Seeds seed saith the Lord from henceforth and forever Behold here the spirit of Truth intailed upon the Church to preserve it from Error Isa 60. 10. 12 c. The sons of strangers shall build up thy walls their Kings shall minister unto thee thy Gates shall be open continually they shall not be shut day nor night that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles and that their Kings may be brought For the Nation and Kingdome which will not serve thee by submitting to thy doctrine shall perish I will make the place of my feet glorious they shall call thee the City of the Lord I will make thee an eternal Excellency thy sun shall no more go down nor shall thy moon withdraw it self but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting Light If those shall perish who refuse to submit to this Authority to whom God is an everlasting Light and whom he makes an everlasting Excellency we need not fear that it can deceive us or that it can ever so be Eclipsed as to be at any time invisible
of the Canon being lost And what will the consequence be if it stand proved also that supposing the Canon were compleat yet it is not sufficient to decide the controversies now a foot amonst Christians in matters of Faith Will it not follow that then it is necessary to have such a Rule and Judge as is before mentioned The late Learned Dr. Ferne a great Champion for sole Scripture confesseth Sext. 27. That Indeed such a Iudge or Umpire in Christendome would if to be had be a ready means to compose all differences and to restore truth and peace But shall we think that our blessed Redeemer when he first founded his Holy Church did not see this as clearly as Dr. Ferne certainly he did and for this reason he appointed the Holy Apostles and their Successors to be this Judge and Umpire and if you desire or expect to see an end of those differences wherein ye are now involved by relying on your own private Interpretations of the Scriptures you must address your selves to this Judge and be content to stand the determination of their Umpire which is infallible I say infallible for as the Apostles though as men were subject to error in their own private affairs and actings and as such might one withstand the other and reprove the other yet were they by the assistance of Gods Holy spirit in defining and delivering matters of Faith so the Prelates of the Holy Catholick Church though as men they were fallible in their own private actings and affairs yet when assembled in a General Council with their Supream Pastor they are still made infallible in defining matters of Faith by the assistance of the same Holy Ghost who was as well promysed to them as to the Apostles The last reason is that none of the difficulties that were proposed to prove the Scriptures not to be the Rule and Judge before mentioned are capable of being objected against the Church For first this Judge and Rule is capable of answering the end for which it is appointed and proposed all who submit unto the Church agreeing in matters of Faith Secondly it is not capable of being misunderstood or misinterpreted by the various Reasons Judgements and Interests of men but is alwaies in being and capable upon demand to explain and declare its own sence and intention upon any difference arising Thirdly it is capable of being understood by All. Fourthly it is capable of being certainly known by all Fifthly it is capable of determining what plainess and clearness in every Article of Faith and hath alwaies appeared to do so to the condemation and confusion of all opposers Sixthly this was the said Rule and Judge in Christs time and in the times of the Apostles Lastly this doth not set up every individual man and woman to be a Judge and Rule unto themselves but preserves the unity of the spirit in the Bond of Peace by teaching all understandings to become Captives to this Rule and Judge appointed by God for their guidance and direction But I know there will be yet an Objection made by you of the seperation whether these Texts which speak so amply of the Church are to be understood of the Church Militant and visible in this World or of the Church Triumphant For certainly did you apprehend that God had a Church in this world that is a visible body politique distinct from that invisible Church which is Christs Mistical body Triumphant you would not as I in Charity beleive divide your selves into so many Congregations independent of each other or any other body or Government whatsoever in relation to Religion Now to satisfy you in this I shall desire you to consider Acts the 20. 28. Where the Text speaks of a Church governed by High Pastors which can only be meant of the Visible Church and that of the whole Flock or Church which Christ redeemed with his blood which cannot be meant of any perticular Congregational Church 1 Cor. 10. 32. Give none offence neither to the Iews nor to the Gentiles nor to the Church of God even as I please all men in all things where he speaks clearly of the sole and entire visible Church 1 Cor. 12. 28. where mention is made of the Governours and Priests which are extended throughout the whole visible Church only God hath set some in the Church first Apostles secondly Prophets c. and Ephes 4. 11. before cited Col. 1. 24. 25. Where Church is taken for the Militant only for St. Paul was not made a Minister of the Church Triumphant 1 Tim. 2. 15. before cited must signifie the sole and whole visible Church for no perticular Church can be stiled The pillar and ground of truth since they may fall and often have fallen from truth Iam. 5. 14. Where he speaks in general to all beleiving Christians and of a Church using visible Ceremonies and Priests or Elders which is not the Church Triumphant Mat. 16. 18. where the Church of Christ is to be built upon Peter and therefore must be meant of the visible Church Militant for it is built whilst Militant and transferred when it is Triumphant Nor can this be any other then a visible Church founded upon a visible Rock or Foundation for that Rock there spoken of is not Christ but St. Peter as the words clearly signifie for our Saviour saies upon this Rock I will build my Church immediatly after he had named St. Peter where as if he had meant himself or St Peters confession of his being the Son of the ever living God this being the remote or mediate antecedent he should have said according to Grammer and true construction and upon that Rock Besides he saies I will build my Church whereas if by Rock he had intended himself or St. Peters aforesaid confession he would have said upon this Rock I have built or I do build my Church not I will build For when our Lord spoke these words his Church was then actually built upon him and upon his being the Son of the Living God He spoke then therefore of what he intended to do and of what was to be after his Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven and promiseth here that for those future times his visible Church should be built upon St. Peter Lastly that I may speak not as to the word only but also as to the thing it self viz. The Divine constitution of the Catholick visible Church by the Ordinance of our dearest Saviour Consider 1 Cor. 12. where it is at large described by the Holy Apostle to be One body with different parts fitly disposed ordered and connected together in one and the same body Whereof One he saith is the Head and that must be as visible as the rest of the body for a visible body without a visible head would be a Monster and such a visible Head as stands in need of the foot which Christ cannot do being God and so wanting nothing And this the Apostle applies to the Apostolical