still he is to be sure that he is in the right But can any thing here touch the Proselytes of Rome who without troubling Scripture or Reason for the confirmations of their Evidence tell us they enjoy a far more insallible Rock and certainty of their Faith to wit the Voice and Testimony of the Church In truth if we search into this Rock it will appear no other than that Sandy Foundation which was the choice of the foolish Builder Let us reason the Case with some Roman Votary Does thy Church sayest thou tell thee thy Faith is true then let me ask thee how thou knowest that the Church which tells thee so is true her self doest thou appeal to the Marks and Notes of a true Church then I demand again how dost thou know what peculiar Marks and Notes are the Marks and Notes of the true Church Or again how is it become certain to thee that all these peculiar Marks and Notes do particularly fit and agree with thy particular Church in all respects He that gets over these Questions without Scripture and Reason must be Master of more than a Jesuitical slight and artifice for this must be to judge of Notes without Judgment to pronounce a conclusion without Premises for where the conclusion is the result of Premises there must needs be reasoning Indeed this can be no other than to reply Why she is true because she is true And yet I dare boldly affirm they shall never be able to get further in the certainty of Faith who shall first reject the Scriptures as too ambiguous and unintelligible and then renounce their Reason as a thing dangerous and reducing all to a private Spirit But they are not brought to a stand yet they have behind a glorious reserve they will still tell us they have Councils and Fathers on their side but to express the weakness of this hold how many Volumes of Learn'd Protestants are there extant which remain so many monuments of the groundless vanity of their Plea from Fathers and if the four first general Councils may be allow'd worthy of the name of Councils we defie the most Artificial Crafts men of them all to produce thence but one line which may appear serviceable to the cause of Popery But to leave this Contest with the Learned must it not be ridiculous in any unlearned Man to renounce the Scriptures which were written on purpose for his Instruction in Religion and which he may of himself be able both to read and understand as to all matters of belief and practice and betake himself to pleas from Fathers and Councils when he is not able so much as to tell the Letters of that Language in which those Fathers and Councils were written when he can be able to judge neither when those Fathers writ nor yet what one Opinion they have left behind them must there not be a much more rarional satisfaction from such a plain Text of Scripture as this Drink ye all of this to invite us to receive the Cup than a Thousand pretended Quotations from such Fathers and Councils which the unlearn'd are able neither to disprove nor comprehend to affright us from the Cup that we shou'd be deceived by the plain real truths of the Gospel 't is impossible but the real Doctrines of fallible Men will be liable to deceive us But after all is not this to relapse and be found tampering with the dangerous consequences of protestant reasoning thus to alledge Councils and Fathers For why does any Man appeal to Councils and Fathers fancies he makes them the measures of his belief at least of the truth of that point in which he appeals to them wou'd he believe as he does if he apprehended he had no reason from their authorities to believe so and then how does his Faith disser more from that of a private judgment than the Faith of a credulous Protestant who declaies he believes thus and thus because he judges the Scriptures enjoyn him to believe thus and thus all the difference that I can perceive between the two Churches here is this The one to wit the Papist Reasons from the Testimonies of fallible Men but the other namely the Protestant from the assurances of the infallible Dictates of God's Holy Spirit That which here determines the Belief in both is no doubt one and the same thing viz. Man's private Judgment which influences the one to believe so and so and the other to believe thus and thus because it appears most reasonable to them to believe so And I appeal to any one of that Church whether he wou'd thus absolutely give up his Faith to the Church did he not think he had great reason so to do and then again whether that Man which owns thus much does not in great measure acknowledge himself a Judge of the Principles of his Religion let them talk what they will the Papist judges for himself as well as the Protestant for if we are said to judge when we declare to believe the Scriptures upon the authority of an Universal Tradition may not they be said to judge when they declare they believe in the Church upon the single authority of her own assertion If they please they may deny what both they and we do practice and indeed what is not only undeniable but what the very Voice and Commandment of God has enjoyn'd us to perform in one place directing us to try all things and hold fast that which is good in another place believe not every Spirit but try the Spirits whether they be of God or no Again be ye ready to render a reason of the hope that is in you nay lastly we have the express approbation of our Saviour himself telling us If the Blind lead the Blind they shall both fall into the Ditch and again why of your selves judge ye not what is right Can any thing be more clear than that the Holy Ghost in these places excites us to respect our own Judgment and Reason in the choice of our Religion For how shall that Man be able to render a Reason of his hope who makes a Profession of a hope upon no Reason at all How shall he judge the Spirits that tries them not Or again how shall he make tryals who professes to use neither Judgment nor Reason in matters of Religion Nay further how comes our Saviour to wonder so much why Judge not of your selves what is right if nothing be more disagreeable to true Righteousness than a Man 's own private Conclusions and Judgment I say again these Texts must refer to the tryals of Religion and therefore we may bid much good may do them with their implicit Faith which is as much as to declare as to my Religion I believe what I know not and I know not what I must believe which is to approve the Spirits without trying and to conclude them to be of God without so much as enquiring what kind of Spirits they are of
most irrational consequence to conclude that it was the Roman when it was the Roman alone from whence arose all those misty Tempests and Darkness which had obscured the Truth nay which had most grievously then oppress'd and over-born her If we are not now able to name who those good Christians were that then made up the true Church we may thank their Furnaces Inquisitions and Expurgatory Subtilties which affrighted them from the Light and still took care to stifle the least occasions of their manifestations We confess God had always his true Church and this is agreeable to his Word but we acknowledge not that it was the Church of Rome for this reason because she was then as she is now most contradictory to the Truths of his Word And thus I proceed to another Principle of our Church impeached of Heresie by that of Rome and that is our ways and methods of finding out the Truth Now these are no other than what depend upon these two divine Principles Scripture and Reason which as they are the immediate Gifts of God flowing from the Excellency and Perfections of his own blessed Spirit so methinks they may not improperly be imploy'd in his Divine Service The Religious Man in Scripture is frequently Entituled the Wise and the Understanding Man and Wisdom and Religion are generally used to denote one and the same thing but how there can be the greatest Wisdom and Understanding where there must not be the least use or pretences to Reason I leave to these Despisers of Reason to illustrate The Wise Man tells us A blind Sacrifice is an abomination to the Lord and we often meet the Holy Ghost in the Scriptures lashing at the Sacrifice of Fools both which are demonstratively comprehended in that rebuke of our Saviour against the People of Samaria saying Ye know not what ye Worship and now what can all these Passages suggest to us but this that whosoever will pay a sit and suitable Worship to God ought throughly to know and understand the Nature and Excellency of the Divine Majesty as far as he has been pleased to reveal himself and then as one wou'd think nothing can more effectually instruct us in this Celestial Knowledge than the very Writings and express Revelations of God himself so it seems to me next door to a contradiction for any Man to aver that the most infallible way to come to a right Knowledge and Understanding of God is to set aside our Reason without which 't is impossible to know or understand at all or again to renounce the Scriptures which are the only Books in the World which his infallible Spirit has left us for our surer guidance and direction to that blessed Knowledge Perhaps it may be suggested here that the Mysteries and sublime Articles of our Religion such as the Incarnation the Trinity and the Resurrection which all infinitely transcend the highest Capacities of our Reason depend not on the use of our Reason but Faith which is of those things which are invisible even to the most piercing Eye of Man's Reason so that we must leave our Reason in the way to our embracements of them but this no way weakens the force of our Argument For these Mysteries surpass indeed the comprehension of our Reason yet the authority upon which we receive them into our Creed lies open to our Reason such as is the voice of the Scriptures and the example of the purest Ages of the Church of Christ which Reason recommends to us as the surest guides to direct us in all Matters of Religion And though indeed Reason cannot demonstrate to us the ineffable ways and explications of these Truths yet Reason furnishes us with this Demonstration that they ought to be received for the Truths of Christ upon this account because whatever is proposed to our belief upon such infallible Evidences as the Revelation of God's Word and the uninterrupted Authority of his Primitive Church in all Ages ought in reason to be believed as true I acknowledge were not these Articles of our Creed manifestly contained either in the express Words or in the necessary conclusions of Scripture or in the explications of the purest Ages of our Religion the belief of them wou'd be irrational and these unwarrantably crowded upon the belief of a Christian And therefore even in those very Articles which exceed our Reason it is still Reason which must justifie our Faith What is our Reason given us for no other end than to consult for the ease and satisfaction of our Bodies or must that most sublime faculty of our Souls be no ways interess'd or engag'd for its own Happiness and Salvation Again can we think the Divine Wisdom had no design in dictating the Scriptures or has he express'd his intention to reach only the Learned and the Wise Did not our Lord once make this the most expressive Argument that the Messiah was come viz. The poor have the Gospel Preached unto them And must it not seem very strange that Matters shou'd be so inverted since he is gone and this very Gospel left to us in Writing that it is to be inspected now only by Doctors and Philosophers Though the Poor have the Gospel still Preached unto them yet the use of the Scriptures may well be registred to make up those defects and imperfections which our Preaching now abounds with in respect of those more powerful and efficacious Institutions of Christ and his Apostles I know none of us who are able to Convert Three Thousand with a Sermon nor indeed can we pretend to enforce any thing worthy of belief in you that hear us but what we our selves fetch from that Fountain of heavenly Wisdom which is the written Word of God And then why every Man may not as well Read as hear the Gospel read to him I leave to that blessed Spirit to determine which exhorteth all Men to search the Scriptures No doubt as God has given us Reason to make us capable of Understanding and Glorifying his Divine Majesty so has he given us his Scriptures also on purpose to exalt and enlighten our Reason and convince us all of the reasonableness of our Religious Services and I confess I see not how that Man can be able to pay his reasonable Service to God who has taken up a belief in him without Reason for let the Religion professed by such a Man be never so Holy and Pure and true in its self still in respect of such a Professor this must be own'd rather to Chance and Fortune than such a choice and wisdom as may affirm with the Bless'd Jesus We know what we Worship For without Knowledge there can be no Belief and without Belief no true coming unto God But further what reasonable Satisfaction can this be to any Man to encourage him in his Perseverance in his Religion in times of Tryals and Temptations to consider he has taken up his Religion by Chance and though he knows not why yet
which belong to God Nay which is apparently to profess Doctrines which 't is impossible they shou'd render a Reason of for without knowledge there can be no Reason given and no Man will pretend to know that explicitly of which he professes purely an implicit Belief nay perhaps which he understands not that he does believe till the Church upon an occasion rubs up his Faith and Memory and tells him he must and he does believe it I am sure this is such a kind of Faith which Christ himself detested to impose for we may observe that he never recommended any thing to the belief of the Jews but what he still confirmed with such Tokens as might convince the meanest Spectators of its Truth nay we find he taught his Disciples many essential Doctrines before his Death which they believed not but did not Anathematize their incredulity till they became able to bear them till they had beheld that most convincing Demonstration then remaining even the irresistible sign of his Resurrection Nay that nothing of certainty might be wanting to the satisfying the Reason of Man even after that glorious Demonstration he humbly condescended to let mistrustful Thomas thrust his Fingers into the very holes of the Nails and behold the Prints in his Side Is here any thing like the imposition of an implicit Faith or such a groundless Belief as obliges us not only to abandon our Reason with all the strongest Convictions of our Senses but also to renounce the helps even of the inspired Writings of that blessed Comforter which was sent on purpose to lead us into all Truth Since Christ himself was pleased thus meekly to condescend in the giving satisfaction to our Infirmities what kind of relation can that Church bear to him which disdains a submission to an Examination either by Reason or the blessed Rule of God's own Word I am sure it must be a shrewd sign that that Church which makes this refusal is reconcileable neither to Reason nor Scripture for were she agreeable to either why shou'd she so imperiously decline a tryal by the two most Godlike Principles we are enriched with which certainly Scripture and Reason may be acknowledged to be neither can it be any great disgrace to the purest Church to be made appear conformable to them I confess I can't but admire the subtilty of the Church of Rome in usurping thus an Authority above all Examination since her Definitions of Faith are such as far transcend the Explications either of Scripture or Reason the clearest measures which God has left us to examine by Is it not much the wisest way to put off such Commodities by the Gross which we are satisfied won't bear a particular inspection Is there not much greater security to such a Cause in an implicit Faith which swallows down all at a lump than such an explicit one as may be curious and inquisitive and desire the satisfaction of Sense and Reason I see no false step here on their Churches side in point of Carnal Prudence and Worldly Policy but methinks that must be an unintelligible Devotion indeed which does thus contentedly ensnare his Soul for a Pig in a Poke for what he is neither to scruple nor yet to understand And thus you see upon what contradictory and irreconcileable positions the Church of England and the Church of Rome are founded at present that they are as far from one another as Scripture and no Scripture Reason and no Reason Antiquity and Innovations Truth and Falshoods and as the Churches stand at variance so have the faithful Members of our Church upon all occasions and opportunities appear'd in defiance of Rome's Corruptions it is not many years since most of us beheld and all of us heard with what steadiness and Devotion with what Resignation to the will of God and disdain to the pollutions of Men the Members of our Church like so many Illustrious Confessors withstood the attempts and sollicitations the threatnings and invitations of the Whorish Woman Withstood them I say even then when many of the Members of our separate Congregations who had before shew'd themselves most uneasie in their fears of Popery gave life and boldness to her growing hopes by their unseasonable Addresses and Compliances I speak not this with a desire to make advantages of the weakness or by way of insult over the inconstancy of our fellow Christians now in Charity I perswade my self they were rather outreach'd by the policies than debauch'd by the principles of Rome and there is nothing we ought all more heartily to pray for or more religiously endeavour than a mutual forgetfulness of all infirmities but I speak it with hopes that as such Protestants must acknowledge their error in siding with Popery then so they will blush when they upbraid our Church as a Daughter of Babylon now if Men wou'd but credit their own eyes or give place to the arguments presented to their own understandings we need not appeal to other than our adversaries themselves whether they can still believe our divine service to be what some people do ignorantly miscall it Popery in English who remember the toleration and liberty given to every Soul to run as far out of our Church and the sound of its divine service as they pleased managed by the artifice set on foot and carry'd on by the influence of the Papists if the way to Rome lies through a Communion with our Church as such Men dream how come the Romanists who are no strangers to their own interests to seduce Men out of our Communion as the readiest road to Popery had they seen with some Mens eyes amongst us and found any thing in our Communion which looks kind and serviceable to the cause of their own superstitions 't is not to be believed they wou'd so publickly have tempted all Men out of our Communion with the alluring promises of the royal favour I take that liberty and toleration then given by the Papistry to be so manifest an argument and declaration of that opposition which our Church in every particular of its constitution bears to Popery which as every eye might discern it so every well-meaning Man ought to be convinced by it and retract his censures The Papists knew well enough there wou'd be no enlarging their own without first thining our Churches that the Mass Book cou'd make no advances whilst the Common-Prayer stood in reputation that the only probability they cou'd have of making any Proselytes must be to get Men as far out of the bosom of our Church as possible Methinks the pretences of some in separation from us who reproach our service for Popish and the practices of the Papists who were for drawing all Men out of our Communion as a bar to Popery are very hard to be reconciled The Conclusion from such considerations must be this Either the Papists understand not what makes up the Popish Religion or the divine service of our Church which they appeared so