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
deceived therfore this not the Rule Nor hath this any effect amongst those who pretend it for by this none of them ever as yet reconciled any differences but each pretender grows perverse and obstinate and seperates from all who pretend to have the spirit as well as himself and so endless Heresies and Schisms arise without any possibility to allay them or for either the Learned or the Ignorant to judge which of these bold pretenders hath a true spirit In the mean time it will not possibly be hard for a sober man to find that they are all of them governed by the Spirit of Error who pretend thus audaciously if he considers well the Rule which St. Iohn gives for discerning the spirit of truth from the spirit of error 1 Ioh. 4. 6. v. We are of God he that knoweth God heareth us he that is not of God heareth not us Hereby know we the Spirit of Truth from the Spirit of Error As if he should have said Christ hath placed Apostles and Teachers and Doctors to govern and teach his Church we are those and therefore of God therefore whoever pretends to know the Will of God must hear and obey and submit unto us or it is evident what he saith is but a pretence and he doth not indeed know God nor is he of God for if he did know God or were of God he would certainly hear us Here therefore is your Rule to know true from false spirits The spirit of truth is alwaies remaining with that Authority which God hath placed in the World to teach truth to the world and bring them to the Faith and all that are actuated and lead by this spirit are taught by it to submit to this Authority and to hear those whom God hath sent and doth send by this Authority since Faith only comes by hearing those who are truly sent but the spirit of error is a spirit of Pride which refuseth to submit to that Authority which God hath set up and heaping to themselves Teachers having itching eares turn away their ears from the Truth 1 Tim. 4. v. 3. 4. By this I saw that although the Rule and the Judge which I looked for must have the assistance and influence of the Holy Ghost the Spirit of Truth yet it could not be every private man or woman who laid claim to such influences and who could no more satisfie another that they are guided by the Spirit of Truth then many who are cast into Bedlam for affirming themselves to be God can evince themselves to be so and whose affirmations for ought I know are as concluding as the other In this therefore I was satisfied The next thing which I considered was Reason which I found could not possibly be this Rule and Judge that I sought for because first it was to submit as a Subject and Vassall to that Rule and Judge therefore it could not be it Secondly it was fallible and strangely apt to mistake which is against the Nature of this Rule and Judge to be For if God should obliege us upon pain of damnation to submit unto and to be governed ruled by an Authority that might deceive us and might teach us that for a truth which is not we should be bound to beleive that for true which is not so and yet be damned for not beleiving the truth Thirdly if Reason were to be this Rule and Judge then it would follow contrary to the Scripture that it is not impossible to please God without Faith for Reason would teach us sufficiently how to please God yea it would be a breach of this rule to beleive what we do not understand and then every Religion would be the truth consequently contradictions would be true consequently there would be many Religions and not only not one faith but no faith at all for there is scarce a man living but his reason differs from anothers understandings and judgements differing as much as Faces and Reason excludes faith Therefore no one that followes his own Reason could in justice be condemned by God consequently all men would be saved unless peradventure you will say that in a business of such consequence as the salvation of our souls our private Reason perswades us to prefer the Authority of such as are wiser then our selves before our own judgements which is most true But then I inferr that Roman Catholicks are the most rational people in the world and consequently have the best Religion as acting most conformably to Reason for they rely upon the Authority of General Councels consisting of the ablest and most Learned men of all Nations which is the greatest Authority to be found on earth especially if they have the assistance of the Holy Ghost as it appears they have both by the testimony of Scripture and the constant tradition of all Ages Lastly that would probably be the truth and the true faith to one man this year which seven years hence would be an error and a false faith to the same person for in such a compass of time a mans reason hath such an alteration Upon these grounds I concluded that certainly God in his good Providence had appointed a more sure Guide Rule and Judge to bring me to the infallible faith of Christianity then my own Reason The next thing in order to be considered was the Scriptures whether these were solely sufficient to teach us the true Faith and from time to time to direct Rule and Govern us and to be this Rule and Jude to whose sentence and determination to whose directions and Authority all were to submit and which was to supply unto us the place of Christ and the Apostles And indeed I found this highly contended for and several Reasons urged for it First the words of our Saviour Joh. 5. 39. Search the Scriptures for in them ye think ye have Eternal Life and they are they which testify of me But to this I found several answers given which to me were a satisfaction For first it doth not appear whether this in the Original be the Imparative or Indicative Mood St. Ciril with whom Beza agrees takes it in the Indicative Mood and then the sence runs thus You do search the Scriptures because in them you have an Opinion that you have Eternal Life and yet even those Scriptures are so far from being against me that they testify of me so that I shall be no waies prejudiced if I should joyne issue with you and try my cause by your own Rule And in this sence they are so far from proving what they are produced for that they prove directly the contrary they are so far from being a command to all to read or search or make Scripture the sole Rule and Judge that they rather seem a reprehension to all who shall frame that conceit of the Scriptures Secondly these words cannot extend to prove this conclusion if they were in the Imparative Mood which can never be proved infallibly because they
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