see Christ and his Apostles as if that were a Priviledge restricted to Church-men What shall be then said of these who call the Scriptures a Nose of Wax the Sourse of all Heresies a Book written not on Design but upon particular Emergents and do assert its incompleatness unless made up by the Traditions of the Church Is not this to add to the Words of that Book and to accuse the faithful Witness of Unfaithfulness But worse than all this is held by these who will have all the Authority of the Scriptures to depend on the Church which must be believed in the first place But here a great difference is to be made betwixt the Testimony of a Witness and the Authority of a Judg the former is not denied to the Church and so the Jews had the Oracles of God committed to them but that doth not prove the Authority of their Sanhedrim infallible or superior to Scripture and in this case more cannot be ascribed to the Christian Church than was proper to the Jewish in our Saviour's Time. But further if the Scripture be to be believed on the Testimony of the Church then upon what account is the Church first believed It cannot be said because of any testimony in Scripture for if it give Authority to the Scriptures it cannot receive its Authority from their Testimony How then shall it be proved that the Church must be believed or must it be taken from their own word and yet no other Reason can be given to prove the Church Infallible For to say that they have continued in a Succession of Bishops from the Apostles days concludes nothing unless it be first proved that the Doctrine of the Apostles was of God otherwise the Mahometan Religion is as much to be believed since for many Ages a Succession of Priests have believed it Further the Greek Churches drive up the Series of their Bishops to the Apostles Days as well as the Roman why then should not their Authority be likewise acknowledged infallible In fine must the Vulgar go and examine the Successions of the Bishops and judg about all the dubious Elections whether the Conveyance have been interrupted or not Certainly were this to be done it were an impossible Atchievement and harder than the study of the Originals of both Testaments Therefore the Vulgar must simply believe the Authority of the Church on her own Testimony which is the most absurd thing imaginable and this to every Individual will resolve into the Testimony of their Priest Behold then a goodly Foundation for building our Faith upon Christ's Prophetick Office is also invaded by pretence of the Churches Infallibility in expounding Scriptures for if this be granted the whole Authority will be devolved on the Church for by this Doctrine she may teach what she will and were the Scripture-Evidence never so full to the contrary yet whatever wrested Exposition she offers though visibly contrary to the plain meaning of the words must be believed But with whom this Power and Authority is lodged is not agreed to among themselves some yielding it to the High-Priest of the Church when in his Chair others to the great Sanhedrim of Christendom in a General Council others to both jointly but all this is asserted without proof for that of Christ's of telling the Church Matth. 18.17 so often repeated by them is meant of particular Offences and so is restricted to the Case of Differences among Brethren and relates not to Points of Doctrine Besides the Context of these Words doth clearly shew them applicable to every Parochial Church and yet their Infallibility cannot be asserted So it is clear that Christ doth only speak of a Jurisdiction for quieting of Differences among the Brethren That of the Gates of Hell their not prevailing against the Church Mat. 16.18 proves not the Pretence of Infallibility And indeed the Translation of that place deserves Amendment and instead of Hell that word is to be rendred Grave so that the meaning of the Phrase is Death which is the Mouth and Gate through which we pass into the Grave and is so used by Greek Writers shall never prevail against the Church that is the Church shall never die Neither will that of the Spirit of Truth leading out into all Truth John 16.13 advance the Cause a whit since that Promise relates to all Believers and it is a part of the happiness of the new Dispensation that all in it shall be taught of God. And the Promise of founding the Church on St. Peter Matth. 16. saith as little for suppose the Rock on whom the Church were to be built were St. Peter himself which I shall not much controvert that is not peculiar unto him since we are all built on the Foundation of the Apostles and Prophets and on the twelve Foundations of the New Jerusalem are written the Names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb. But what will that prove for a Series of the Bishops of Rome And finally for the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven Mat. 16.19 their being given to St. Peter that saith no more but that he was to open the Gospel which is usually called the Kingdom of God or of Heaven in the New Testament Now the use of Keys being to open the Door this was peculiar St. Peter's Honour who did first publish the Gospel both to Jews and Gentiles and in particular did first receive the Gentiles into the New Dispensation But this hath no relation to the Bishops of Rome nor to the pretended Infallibility of that See. That which hath the fairest appearance of reason is that if there be no absolute unerring Court on Earth for deciding of Controversies there shall be no end of them but every private Man may upon the pretence of some ill-understood place of Scripture break the Unity of the Church and so the Peace of the Church is in hazard of being irrecoverably lost But how specious soever this may appear it hath no weight in it For it is certain that Vice as well as Errour is destructive of Religion and it will be no imputation on our Religion that the one be no more guarded against than the other is if then there be no Authority for repressing Vice but the outward discipline of the Church it is not incongruous there is no other Authority for suppressing of Error but that same of the Discipline of the Church It is certainly a piece of Humility for a Man to suspect his own Thoughts when they lye cross to the Sentiments of the Guides and Leaders of the Church But withal a Man ought to be in all he does fully perswaded in his own Mind and we are commanded to try the Spirits and not to believe every Spirit 1 Joh. 4.1 Now Reason being the chief excellency of Man and that wherein the Divine Image doth mainly consist it were very absurd to deny Man a rational judging and discerning of these things wherein his eternal Interest is most concerned Besides
which we withdrew from her are additions to our faith for in this we mainly differ from that Church that whatever we acknowled they acknowledg likewise but with a great many additions We believe the Scriptures are a rule for Christians and they believe the same but they add Traditions and the authority of the Church to the Scriptures We believe that God is to be worshipped spiritually they believe the same but add that he may be worshipped by images and sensible Figures We believe Christ to be the Mediator betwixt God and Man they believe the same but add to this the intercession of Saints We hold that God and Christ are to be worshipped they hold the same but add Saints and Angels to their worship We believe Heaven and Hell to be the several States of the future life they believe the same but add Purgatory betwixt them to the day of Judgment We believe Baptism and the Lords Supper to be the Sacraments of the new Covenant they believe the same but add five more We believe Christ is spiritually and really present in the Lords Supper this they believe but add the unconceivable Tenent of his corporal presence In a word it might be instanced in many other particulars how they have driven us from their Communion by their additions to the truth and sincerity of the Gospel which they have adulterated by their Inventions and not only have they imposed all these things but thundered out Anathema's on all that question them and have so wreathed all their fopperies with that main and fundamental article of their belief of the infallibility of their Church that it is impossible to hope for their recovery till they renounce that Principle which is so dear to them For if their Church be infallible then in no matter of faith or practice can she decree amiss and therefore the lawfulness and sanctity of all her Decrees must be maintained with an equal vigor and zeal for if in one of them she step aside her infallibility is for ever gone And by this we may see to how little purpose it is to treat of accomodating matters with that Church since there is no possibility of our Union with them without we turn over entirely to them For they cannot part with one of their errors without they first renounce that which is the dearest of them all to wit the unerring authority of their Church How cruel then is that Church which addeth the severe sanction of an Anathema to all her decrees even about the most trifling matters and about things that are by their Confession of their own natures indifferent And a consectary to this is that cruel opinion they hold that none can be saved out of their Communion pretending there is no Salvation without the true Church which they restrict to those who are under the obedience of the Roman Bishop and this is what they usually frighten all with But it is to be considered what the true notion of the Church is that so we may see through this frightful Vizar The Church then is a Society of Christians united in the same faith for worshipping of God jointly And another definition of a Church cannot be proved from Scripture for the Church being called the Body of Christ its union with him as its Head is held forth by the Apostle in these words Col. 2.19 The head Christ from whom the whole body by joints and bonds having nourishment ministred and knit together increaseth with the increase of God. From which words we see what constitutes a man a member of the true Church which is first his union to Christ as his head together with a dependance on him for growth and nutriture and next his being knit to all others who are thus united to Christ which is first the inward union of divine charity by which he loves all who cleave to Christ as their Head and next his associating himself with them in outward visible acts of worship which every Christian is bound to do with all that worship God in Spirit and Truth But if a Society of Christians do visibly swerve from Christ in many great and signal contradictions to the honour due to his Person and to the obedience due to his Laws and do grosly adulterate the worship so that communion cannot be had with that Church without departing from the Head Christ then it can be no departing from the Church to adhere to Christ and his true worship and to separate from the corruptions which are brought in upon the Christian Religion If then it appear that the Church of Rome hath departed from the truth and simplicity of the Gospel in so many great and main points those who attempted the reforming her to her first Purity and finding that not to be hoped for did unite among themselves for serving and worshipping God aright cannot be charged with separation from the true Church But by that cruel Tenent of theirs they breed up all their Children in the greatest uncharitableness imaginable condemning all who cannot believe their strange Doctrines or concur in their unhallowed worsh p. Thus they are the Schismaticks who have departed from the true Church and who force from their Communion all who adhere to it but this cruelty rests not in uncharitable censures but hath extended it self to as much bloody and barbarous rage as ever sprung from Hell for all the cruelty of the heathen Persecutors cannot match the practises of that Whore that hath been so often drunk with the blood of the Saints and of the Martyrs of Jesus What enraged cruelty appeared against the poor Waldenses for the separating from their Corruptions How many of all Sexes and Ages were cruelly butchered down by the procurement of the Rulers of that Church and because the Albigenses lived under the protection of Princes that favoured them how did the Popes depose their Princes and instigate other ambitious invaders to seize on their dominions Which to effectuate a Croissade was proclaimed that had been formerly practised against the Enemies of the Christian Faith and Heaven was promised to such as went against these poor innocents whereupon they were killed by thousands without all mercy Never was there any who had the zeal or honesty in these dark ages to witness against the apostacy of the Church but the Pope and Clergy used all means to get his zeal rewarded with a Faggot And when the time of Reformation came with what rage and spite did the Pope by his Letters and Legates instigate all the Princes of Europe to cruelty against them But as these things were not done in corners so they are still so fresh in our remembrance by the copious accounts we have of them that I need not tell what Arts the Popes and other Ecclesiasticks used to set all Germany on fire upon this account Nor need I tell the cruelty was exercised in the Netherlands in Charles the Fifth his time in which more than an hundred thousand are
without warrant from Christs Institution who said take eat this is my Body thereby shewing he intended the virtue and benefit of that Ordinance only for those who received it And in a word let any read and compare the Institution of the Lords Supper as it is in the three Gospels and the Epistle to the Corinthians together with the whole office of the Mass as it is in the Roman Church and then let him on his Conscience pass his verdict whether they have adhered to or departed from Christ's Institution in that piece of their worship Finally one great end of all solemn worship being the Communion of Saints in their joint adorations and mutual concurrence in divine services What union can they have with God Or what communion can they hold one with another who perform all their Worship in an unknown Tongue which is the rule and constant practice of that Church beyond Sea tho for the better venting of their sophisticated stuff among us they give the people Books of devotion in their vulgar Language yet continue to say the Office of the Mass in Latin. And thus far I have run a round that great Circle I proposed to my self in the beginning of this Discourse And have examined the chief Designs of the Christian Religion and have found the great and evident contradictions given to them in all their branches by the established and authorised Doctrines and Practises of that Church in which I have fully justified the wise mans observation that he who increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow and have said enough to evince to all rational and considering minds how unsafe it is for any that would keep a good Conscience to hold Communion with them But I have not finished my design till I likewise examine the Characters of the Christian Religion and compare them with these that are to be found in the Synagogue of Rome The first Character of our Faith is That it was delivered to the world by men sent of God and divinely inspired who proved their Mission by Miracles Now these Doctrines about which we differ from that Church can pretend to no such divine original Let them tell us what inspired man did first teach the worship of Images of the Mass of Angels and Saints and of Reliques What man sent of God was the first Author of the belief of the Corporal Presence of the Sacrifice of the Mass of the Pope's Supremacy of Puagatory of Indulgences and of all these innumerable Superstitions of which the Scripture is absolutely silent for if these Doctrines were not the off-spring of Revelations they are none of the Oracles of God nor can we be obliged to believe them as such It is true they vouch Scriptures for proof to some of these but these are so far stretched that their sure Retreat is in the Sanctuary of the Churches Traditions but till a clear Warrant be produced for proving it was impossible that any Falshood could have that way crept into the World we must be excused from believing these Neither is it possible to know what Traditions came from the Apostles for as the Vulgar are not capable of pursuing the Enquiry so the loss of most of the Writings of the first two Ages makes it impossible to know what Traditions came from the Apostles But this I say not that we need fear the Trial for the silence of the first and purest Ages about these things which are controverted among us is evidence enough that they were not known to them especially since in their Apologies which they wrote to the Heathens for their Religion and worship wherein they give an abstract of their Doctrines and a Rubrick of their Worship they never once mention these great Evils for which we now accuse that Church It is true a late ingenious Writer whose sincere zeal and candor had much offended the Roman Court and drawn censures on himself and his Book took a way to repair his Reputation by a new Method of proving the truth of the Opinions held in the Roman Church which was that since the present Church held them that shews that they had them so from their Ancestors and they from theirs till you run backwards to the days of the Apostles alledging that a change in the worship was unpracticable since it could not be done in a corner but in the view of all the World who it is not to be imagined were capable of suffering any great or considerable change to be made in that which was daily in their view and much in their esteem therefore he concludes that every Generation adhered to that belief in which they were born and so no change in any great substantial and visible part of worship could be made It is true he applies this only to the belief of the corporal Presence which he attempts to prove could never have been introduced into the Church had it not been conveyed down from the Apostles He hath indeed set off this with all the beauties of wit and elegancies of stile and much profound reading But with how great and eminent advantages both of reason and learning this pretence hath been baffled I leave it to the judgment of all who have been so happy as to read Mr. Claud his incomparable Writings And the common sense of mankind will prove this but an Imposture how fairly soever adorned for if we find it certain that any Doctrines or main parts of Worship are now received into that Church and if from the undeniable Evidences of History and Writings of Ancients it appear that these things were not received in the ancient Church then it is certain there hath been a change made from what was then to what is now though an ingenious Invention may make it appear very difficult to imagine how and when the change came in especially when it was insensibly and by pieces advanced If then it be proved that the Fathers believed the Elements in the Sacrament were really Bread and Wine and not changed from their own nature but only Types and Figures of the Body of Christ then we are sure a change must have been made though the ignorance of some Ages makes it a hard task to clear all particulars about it It is true the Fathers did highly magnifie this Sacrament with many Expressions which though the vehemence of Divine Rhetorick can well justifie yet will not bear a Logical Examen but when they speak in a cooler stile nothing can be more clear than that they believed not the corporal Presence But may not that reasoning of the impossibility of a change in a worship be as well applied to the taking the Chalice from the People who in reason should be imagined so tenacious of so great a Priviledge that no consideration should have obliged them to part with it And yet we know nor do they deny how it was wrung from them about 250 years ago What may seem less credible than for the People to consent to have their
Water in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost how have they added so many adulterated Rites the Child must be thrice blown upon then a Charm used for turning the Devil out of him he must be anointed with holy Oil and hallowed Salt must be put in his Mouth sanctified Garments also must be put on him and a holy Wax-candle in his Hand and the Priest's Spittle must be gently stroaked upon him Whether doth all this look like the Simplicity of the Spouse of Christ or the Attire of the Harlot And in the other Sacrament a great deal more ado is made so that any indifferent Spectator who were not warned of it would swear it were a solemn piece of Pageantry the Priest must come in cloathed with rich embroidered Vestments then he goes to the Altar sometimes reads on the one side then he turns to the other Often he bows and kisses and crosses sometimes single sometimes thrice repeated crosses Most of the Office he mutters though what he says is all alike understood being in an unknown Tongue Sometimes he turns to the People and gives them a short Barbarian Benediction Then he goes on till he comes to the five wonder-working Words And then instead of the Bread which the force of these words hath driven to nothing behold a God to be worshipped by the Spectators And after the Adoration the God is to be devoured by the Priest which made the Arabian say He never saw a Sect of Religion so foolish as the Christians were who with their Teeth devoured the God they had adored Certainly all this looks so like a piece of Extravagance especially if the simplicity of the first Institution be considered that many will doubt if it be possible that such Worship can be received in any corner of the Christian World. And by these Hints though an hundred more might be instanced let it be guessed what is become of the simplicity of the Christian Religion when it is so vitiated in all the Parts and Branches of it And whether that genuine sincere spirituality appear in it which the Gospel holds forth to the World These things having a native tendency for leading away the Soul from attending upon God in her Acts of Worship which is the only thing for which external Worship is to be continued in that in it we may jointly concur to converse with our Maker If from this I should reckon up all the Tricks are used in secreter Worship what Stories should I tell of the pattering over the Beads of the multiplying little unintelligible Prayers the using of Penances some whereof are ridiculous for their gentleness and others of them are as formidable for their horror and fitter for the Priests of Baal or the worshippers of Diana Taurica then for those that worship the living God with joy and gladness of Heart Now by the performance of these the simple deluded People imagine themselves reconciled to God and secured from his Wrath And so go about them meerly in the opinion of a Charm. But I must next shew how the multiplicity of the Jewish Rites was also brought in upon Christendom though Christ came to set us at liberty from that Pedagogy which was made up of Ordinances and lifeless Precepts that could not make the doer thereof perfect nothing being enjoined in the Christian Religion but that which was of it self easy and proper for the great Design of purifying our Souls Now such as have brought in a Yoke of Ordinances that have no tendency to the cleansing of our Souls but oppress us with their tyrannical burdensomness being both heavy and numerous must be looked on as the introducers of a new Judaism for oppressing the Christian World What a heap of new superadded Forms have the High-Priests of Rome brought upon these who stoop to their Tyranny And how much Sanctity do they place in them enjoining severer Censures on the violatition of these than on the greatest Transgressions against either the Moral or Positive Laws of God How many Holy Days have they instituted How much distinction of Meats of Fasting and Abstinence And how like are their Jubilees and Pilgrimages to the Jubilees and yearly trotting up to Jerusalem which was among the Jews In a word there is not a piece of Worship about which there is not a greater appendage of vain pompous and withall burdensom Ceremonies than were among the Jews Shall I here mention the five superadded Sacraments to the two instituted by Christ with all the Rites belonging to each of them or recount all the Rites in their multifarious Ordinations Shall I tell of the laying up the Bodies when dead and of the forms of their Burials The burning of Lamps in the clearest Day together with the Incense that perfumes the Worship which are clear pieces of antiquated Judaism In a word no part of the parallel holds more exactly than that they are zealous of the Traditions of their Fathers whereby the Commandments of God are made of none effect and that they honour God with their Lips when their Hearts are far from him And worship him in vain teaching for Doctrins the Commandments of Men Matth. 15.8 9. And hitherto I have discoursed upon the first limb of Antichristianism and have discovered too evident Indications of the Contradictions is in it to the first branch of the Design of Christianity whereby the Worship of God is partly adulterate and partly smothered by a heavy and trouble-some Load of useless and lifeless Performances which must needs lead out the Soul from an inward attending on God or free converse with him The second Branch of Christianity is the holding forth that Mysterious Contrivance of the Wisdom and Goodness of God for reconciling the World to himself by his dear Son whom he gave to the Death for us and also raised up making him both Lord and Christ Whose Glory and dignity is vulgarly branched out in these his three Offices of Prophet Priest and King. By the first of which he revealed the Father and his whole Counsel to Mankind in plain and simple Discourses afterwards committed to writing by the faithful Eye and Ear-witnesses of his Majesty His Prophetick Office therefore is chiefly acknowledged in our grateful receiving these Discoveries and our studying to adjust both our Faith and Practice to that unerring Rule But can any thing be more contradictory to this than to keep the knowledg of these Writings from Christians to accuse their Darkness and Defects and to apprehend great danger from their diligent perusal to vilify that sacred Study preferring the lame and lifeless Discourses of Men to the Words of eternal Wisdom For we must consider that our study of the Gospel is of the same nature with a personal following of Christ when on Earth to see his Miracles and hear his Doctrin the same is also to be said of the Acts and Epistles of the Apostles Now to bar the Vulgar from this is to hinder them to hear and