and by consequence all those Truths which have a necessary Connexion with those Articles and are implied in them and by plain Consequence are to be deduced from them It is not the doubtful and uncertain Traditions of Men nor the partial Dictates and Doctrines of any Church since the Primitive Times which are not contained in the Holy Scriptures and the Ancient Creeds of the Christian Church but have been since declared and imposed upon the Christian World though with never so confident a pretence of Antiquity in the Doctrines and of Infallibility in the Proposers of them These are no part of that Faith which we are either to profess or to hold fast because we have no reason to admit the Pretences by virtue whereof those Doctrines or Practices are imposed being able to make it good and having effectually done it that those Doctrines are not of Primitive Antiquity and that the Church which proposeth them hath no more claim to Infallibility than all other Parts of the Christian Church which since the Apostles time is none at all In a word No other Doctrines which are not sufficiently revealed in Scripture either in express Terms or by plain and necessary Consequence nor any Rites of Worship nor Matters of Practice which are not commanded in Scripture are to be esteemed any part of that Faith in Re-Religion the Profession whereof the Apostle here Commands all Christians to hold fast without wavering much less any Doctrines or Practices which are repugnant to the Word of God and to the Faith and Practice of the first Ages of Christianity of which kind I shall have occasion in my following Discourse to instance in several Particulars In the mean time I shall only observe That that Faith and Religion which we profess and which by God's Grace we have ever held fast is that which hath been acknowledg'd by all Christian Churches in all Ages to have been the ancient Catholick and Apostolick Faith and cannot as to any part or tittle of it be denied to be so even by the Church of Rome her self I proceed to the II d Thing which I proposed to consider namely how we are to hold fast the profession of our Faith or what is implied by the Apostle in this Exhortation To hold fast the profession of our Faith without wavering And I think these following Particulars may very well be supposed to be implied in it 1. That we should hold fast the Profession of our Faith against the Confidence of Men without Scripture or Reason to support their Confidence 2. And much more against the Confidence of Men contrary to Scripture and Reason and the common Sense of Mankind 3. Against all the Temptations and Terrours of the World 4. Against all vain Promises of being put into a safer Condition and groundless Hopes of getting to Heaven upon easier terms in another Religion 5. Against all the cunning Arts and Insinuations of busie and disputing Men whose Design it is to unhinge Men from their Religion and to gain Proselytes to their own Party and Faction I shall go over these with as much Clearness and Brevity as I can 1. We should hold fast the Profession of our Faith against the Confidence of Men without Scripture or Reason to support that Confidence All Religion is either Natural or Instituted The Rule of Natural Religion is the common Reason of Mankind The Rule of Instituted Religion is divine Revelation or the Word of God which all Christians before the Council of Trent did agree to be contained in the Holy Scriptures So that nothing can pretend to be Religion but what can be proved to be so One or both of those ways either by Scripture or by Reason or by both And how confident soever Men may be of Opinions destitute of this Proof any Man that understands the Grounds of Religion will without any more ado reject them for want of this proof and notwithstanding any pretended Authority or Infallibility of the Church that imposeth them will have no more Consideration and Regard of them than of the confident Dictates and Assertions of any Enthusiast whatsoever because there is no reason to have regard to any Man's Confidence if the Arguments and Reasons which he brings bear no proportion to it We see in Experience that Confidence is generally ill grounded and is a kind of Passion in the Understanding and is commonly made use of like Fury and Force to supply for the weakness and want of Argument If a Man can prove what he says by good Argument there is no need of Confidence to back and support it We may at any time trust a plain and substantial Reason and leave it to make its own way and to bear out its self But if the man's Reasons and Arguments be not good his Confidence adds nothing of real Force to them in the Opinion of Wise men and tends only to its own Confusion Arguments are like Powder which will carry and do execution according to its true strength and all the rest is but noise And generally none are so much to be suspected of Errour or a Design to deceive as those that pretend most confidently to Inspiration and Infallibility As we see in all sorts of Enthusiasts who pretend to Inspiration although we have nothing but their own word for it for they work no Miracles And all pretence to Inspiration and Infallibility without Miracle whether it be in particular Persons or in whole Churches is Enthusiastical i. e. a Pretence to Inspiration without any Proof of it And therefore St. Paul was not moved by the Boasting and Confidence of the false Apostles because they gave no Proof and Evidence of their Divine Inspiration and Commission as he had done for which he appeals to the Sense of Men Whether he had not wrought great Miracles which the false Apostles had not done though they had the confidence to give out themselves to be Apostles as well as he 2 Cor. 12. 11 12. I am says he become a fool in glorying ye have compelled me And truly the signs of an Apostle were wrought among you in all patience in signs and wonders and mighty deeds And Rev. 2. 2. Christ there commends the Church of Ephesus because she had tried them which said they were Apostles but were not and had found them liars And as we are not to believe every one that says he is an Apostle so neither every one that pretends to be a Successor of the Apostles and to be endued with the same Spirit of Infallibility that they were For these also when they are tried whether they be the Successors of the Apostles or not may be found Liars And therefore St. John cautions Christians not to believe every spirit that is every one that pretends to divine Inspiration and the Spirit of God but to try the Spirits whether they be of God because many false Prophets are gone out into the World 1 Joh. 4. 1. And therefore the Confidence of Men
in this kind ought not to move us when their Pretence to Infallibility is destitute of the proper Proof and Evidence of it which is a Power of Miracles and when their Doctrines and Practices have neither the evidence of Reason or Scripture on their side For instance That the Church of Rome is the Mother and Mistress of all Churches which is one of the new Articles of Pope Pius the IVth's Creed and yet there is not one syllable in Scripture tending to this purpose And in Reason it cannot be that any but that which was the First Christian Church should be the Mother of all Churches and that the Church of Rome certainly was not and the Church of Jerusalem undoubtedly was And then that the Bishop of Rome as Successor of St. Peter there is the Supreme and Vniversal Pastor of Christ's Church by Divine appointment as he assumes to himself and that it is necessary to Salvation for every humane Creature to be subject to the Bishop of Rome as is declared in their Canon-Law by a Constitution of Pope Boniface the VIIIth which Constitution is confirmed in the last Lateran Council of all which there is not the least mention in Scripture nor any divine Appointment to that purpose to be found there And it is against Reason that all the World should be obliged to trudge to Rome for the Decision of Causes and Differences which in many and the most weighty Matters are reserved to the Decision of that See and can be determin'd no-where else And against Reason likewise it is to found this universal Supremacy in his being Successor of St. Peter and to fix it in the Bishop of Rome rather than at Antioch when it is certain and granted by themselves that St. Peter was first Bishop of Antioch and out of all question that he was Bishop of Antioch but not so that he was Bishop of Rome Nor is there any thing in Scripture for the Deliverance of Souls out of Purgatory by the Prayers and Masses of the Living The whole Thing is groundless and not agreeable to the constant Suppositions of Scripture concerning a future State Nor is there any Reason for it besides that which is not fit to be given the Wealth and Profit which it brings in The Invocation and Worship of the Blessed Virgin and of all the Saints departed is destitute of all Scripture-warrant or Example and confessed by themselves not to have been owned or practised in the Three first Ages of the Church because it looked too like the Heathen Idolatry which deserves to be well considered by those who pretend to derive their whole Religion from Christ and his Apostles by a continued and uninterrupted Succession And this practice is likewise destitute of all colour of Reason unless we be assured that they hear our Prayers in all places which we cannot be unless they be present in all places which they themselves do not believe or that God doth some way or other reveal and make known to them the Prayers which are made to them which we cannot possibly be assured of but by some Revelation of God to that purpose which we no-where find nor doth the Church of Rome pretend to it But I proceed to the 2 d Thing namely That we should much more hold fast the Profession of our Faith and Religion against the Confidence of Men contrary to Scripture and Reason and the common Sense of Mankind For these are the chief grounds of Certainty which we can have for or against any thing and if these be clearly on our side we ought not to be much moved by the Confidence of Men concerning any Doctrines or Practices of Religion which are plainly contrary to these If in Points wherein we have this advantage on our side we do not hold fast the Profession of our Religion our Error and Folly are capable of no excuse And this advantage we plainly have in several Points and Controversies betwixt us and the Church of Rome As in the Worship of Images which is as expresly and clearly forbidden in the Second Commandment and that without any Distinction as any other thing is forbidden in the whole Bible And that it is so forbidden in this Commandment and that this Commandment is still in force among Christians was the Universal Sense of the ancient Christian Church Prayers and the Service of God in an unknown Tongue are directly contrary to the very Nature and End of religious Worship which ought to be a Reasonable Service which it cannot be if it be not directed by our Understandings and accompanied with our Hearts and Affections But if it be performed in an unknown Tongue our Understanding can have no part in it and if we do not understand it it cannot move our Affections And this likewise is plainly contrary to Scripture namely to a large Discourse of St. Paul's almost throughout a whole Chapter where he purp sely sets himself to shew the Unprofitableness and gross Absurdity of Praying or Celebrating any other Part of Religious Worship in an unknown Tongue If any part of Our Religion had been half so clearly condemned in Scripture as this is which yet is the constant and general Practice of the Church of Rome we must have lain down in our shame and confusion would have covered us and we must either have rejected the Authority of the Bible or have renounced that Point of our Religion what-ever it had been Though it had been dear to us as our right Hand and our right Eye we must upon such plain Evidence of Scripture against it have cut it off and plucked it out and cast it from us The like may be said of Locking up the Scriptures from the people in an unknown Tongue contrary to the Command of the Scriptures themselves and to the great End and Design of Almighty God in the Writing and Publishing of them and contrary to the perpetual Exhortations and Counsels of all the Ancient Fathers of the Christian Church for a great many Ages not one excepted They are hardly more frequent and copious and earnest in any Argument than in perswading People of all Ranks and Conditions to the constant and careful Reaing of the Holy Scriptures And contrary to the Common Reason and Sense of Mankind For what should Men be perswaded to be acquainted withal if not with That which is the great Instrument of our Salvation That Book which was written on purpose to reveal and convey to Men the Knowledge of God and of his Will and their Duty What should Men be allowed to know if not That which is the best and most effectual Means to direct and bring them to Heaven or turn them from Sin and to preserve them from Eternal Misery When our Saviour would represent the best and most effectual Means of bringing Men to Happiness and saving them from the Eternal Torments of Hell in the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus He brings in Abraham giving the best Advice he
Scripture or in the Doctrine and Practice of the Ancient Christian Church any Command or Example for the Worship of Images for the Invocation of Saints and Angels and the Blessed Virgin which do now make a great part of their Religion Nay is not the Doctrine of the Scriptures and of the Ancient Fathers plainly against all these Practices With what face then can it be said That the Church of Rome hath made a constant Visible Profession of the same Faith and Practice in all Ages from the time of Christ and his Apostles Or would the primitive Church of Rome if it should now visit the Earth again own the present Church of Rome to be the same in all Matters of Faith and practice that it was when they left it And whereas they demand of Us to shew a Visible Church from the time of Christ and his Apostles that hath always opposed the Church of Rome in those points of Doctrine and Practice which we Object to them what can be more impertinent than this Demand When they know that in all these Points we charge them with Innovations in Matters of Faith and Practice and say that those things came in by degrees several Ages after the Apostles time some sooner some later as we are able to make good and have done it And would they have us shew them a Visible Church that opposed these Errors and Corruptions in their Church before ever they appeared This we do not pretend to shew And supposing they had not been at all opposed when they appeared nor a long time after not till the Reformation yet if they be Errors and Corruptions of the Christian Doctrine and contrary to the Holy Scriptures and to the Faith and Practice of the Primitive Church there is no Prescription against Truth 'T is never too late for any Church to reject those Errors and Corruptions and to reform it self from them The bottom of all this Matter is they would have us to shew them a Society of Christians that in all Ages hath preserved it self free from all such Errors and Corruptions as we charge them withall or else we deny the Perpetual Visibility of the Catholick Church No such matter We say the Church of Christ hath always been Visible in every Age since Christ's time and that the several Societies of Christians professing the Christian Doctrine and Laws of Christ have made up the Catholick Church some parts whereof have in several Ages fallen into great Errors and Corruptions and no part of the Catholick into more and greater than the Church of Rome So that it requires the utmost of our Charity to think that they are a true tho a very unsound and corrupt Part of the Catholick Church of Christ. We acknowledge likewise that We were once involved in the like Degeneracy but by the mercy of God and pious care and prudence of those that were in Authority are happily rescued out of it and tho' we were not out of the Catholick Church before yet since our Reformation from the Errors and Corruptions of the Church of Rome we are in it upon better Terms and are a much sounder Part of it and I hope by the Mercy and Goodness of God we shall for ever continue so So that to the Perpetual Visibility of Christ's Church it is not necessary that the whole Christian Church or indeed that any Part of it should be free from all Errors and Corruptions Even the Churches planted by the Apostles in the Primitive Times were not so St. Paul reproves several Doctrines and Practices in the Church of Corinth and of Colosse and of Galatia and the Spirit of God several Things in the Seven Churches of Asia and yet all these were true Parts and Members of the Catholick Church of Christ notwithstanding these Faults and Errors because they all agreed in the Main and Essential Doctrines of Christianity And when more and greater Corruptions grew upon the Church or any part of it the greater reason and need there was of a Reformation And as every particular Person hath a right to reform any thing that he finds amiss in himself so far as concerns himself so much more every National Church hath a Power within it self to reform it self from all Errors and Corruptions and by the Sanction of the Catholick Authority to confirm that Reformation which is our Case here in England And whatever part of the Church how great and eminent soever excludes from her Communion such a National Church for reforming her self from plain Errors and Corruptions clearly condemned by the Word of God and by the Doctrine and Practice of the Primitive Christian Church is undoubtedly Guilty of Schism And this is the Truth of the Case between us and the Church of Rome And no blind talk about a Perpetual Visible Church can render Us guilty of Schism for making a Real Reformation or acquit Them of it for casting us out of their Communion for that Cause 7. And Lastly to mention no more they pretend that we delude the People by laying too much stress upon Scripture and making it the only Rule of Faith and Manners whereas Scripture and Tradition together make up the entire Rule of Faith and not Scripture Interpreted by every Mans private Fancy but by Tradition carefully preserved in the Church So that it ought to be no wonder if several of their Doctrines and Practices cannot be so clearly made out by Scripture or perhaps seem contrary to it as it may be expounded by a private Spirit but not as Interpreted by the Tradition of the Church which can only give the true Sense of Scripture And therefore they are to understand that several of those Doctrines and Practices which we Object against are most clearly proved by the Tradition of their Church which is of equal Authority with Scripture In this Objection of theirs which they design for the Cover of all their Errors and Corruptions there are several things distinctly to be considered which I shall do as briefly as I can First Whereas it is suggested That We delude the People by laying too much stress upon the Scriptures which certainly we cannot well do if it be the Word of God it ought to be considered whether They do not delude and abuse them infinitely more in keeping the Scriptures from them and not suffering them to see That which they cannot deny to be at least a considerable Part of the Rule of Christian Doctrine and Practice Doth it not by this dealing of theirs appear very suspicious that they are extreamly afraid that the People should examine their Doctrine and Practice by this Rule For what other Reason can they have to conceal it from them Secondly Whereas they affirm that Scripture alone is not the Rule of Christian Faith and Practice but that Scripture and Oral Tradition preserved in the Church and delivered down from hand to hand makes up the entire Rule I would fain know whence they learn'd this new Doctrine
of the Rule of Faith I know that the Council of Trent declares it for the Rule they intend to proceed upon and make use of for the Confirmation and Proof of their following Determinations and Decrees But did any of the ancient Councils of the Christian Church lay down this Rule and proceed upon it Did not Constantine the Emperour at the opening of the First General Council lay the Bible before them as the only Rule according to which they were to proceed and this with the Approbation of all those Holy Fathers that were assembled in that Council And did not following Councils proceed upon the same Rule Do any of the ancient Fathers ever mention any Rule of Christian Faith and Practice besides the Holy Scriptures and the ancient Creed which because it is an Abridgment of the necessary Articles of Christian Faith contained in the Holy Scriptures is by them frequently called the Rule of Faith Do not the same Fathers frequently and expresly say That the Scriptures are a perfect Rule and that all things are plainly contained in them which concern Faith and Life and that whatever cannot be proved by Testimony of Scripture is to be rejected All this I am sure I can make good by innumerable express Testimonies of the ancient Fathers which are well known to those that are versed in them By what Authority then hath the Council of Trent set up this new Rule unknown to the Christian Church for 1500 Years and who gave them this Authority The plain truth is the necessity of it for the Defence of the Errors and Corruptions which they had embraced and were resolved not to part with forced them to lengthen out the Rule the old Rule of the Holy Scriptures being too short for their purpose Thirdly Whereas they pretend that Holy Scripture as expounded by a private Spirit may not seem so favourable to some of their Doctrines and Practices yet as interpreted by Tradition which can only give the true Sense of Scripture it agrees very well with them I suppose they mean that whereas a private Spirit would be apt to understand some Texts of Scripture as if People were to search and read the Scripture Tradition interprets those Texts in a quite other Sense that People are not to be permitted to read the Holy Scriptures A private Spirit would be apt to understand St. Paul's Discourse in the 14th of the 1st to the Corinthians to be against Celebrating Prayer and the Service of God in an unknown Tongue as being contrary to Edification and indeed to common Sense For he says If one should come and find them speaking and praying in an unknown Tongue will they not say Ye are mad But now Tradition which only knows how to give the true Sense can reconcile this Discourse of St. Paul very easily with the Practice of the Church of Rome in this matter And so likewise the Epistle of St. Paul to the Colossians with the Worship of Angels and the Epistle to the Hebrews with offering the Propitiatory Sacrifice of Christ in the Mass a Thousand times every Day And to give but one Instance more Whereas a Man by his private Spirit would be very apt to understand the Second Commandment to forbid all Worship of Images Tradition discovers the meaning of this Commandment to be that due Veneration is to be given to them So that at this rate of interpreting Scripture by Tradition it is impossible to fix any Objection from Scripture upon any Doctrine or Practice which they have a mind to maintain Fourthly Whereas they pretend the Tradition of their Church delivered from the Mouth of Christ or dictated by the Holy Spirit and brought down to them and preserved by continnal Succession in the Church to be of equal Authority with the Word of God for so the Council of Trent says That the Holy Synod doth receive and venerate these Traditions with equal pious Affection and Reverence as they do the written Word of God This we must declare against as unreasonable in it self to make Tradition conveyed by Word of Mouth from one to another through so many Ages and liable to so many Mistakes and Miscarriages to be at the distance of 1500 Years of equal Certainty and Authority with the Holy Scriptures carefully preserved and transmitted down to us because this as I said before is to make common Rumor and Report of equal Authority and Certainty with a written Record And not only so but hereby they make the Scriptures an imperfect Rule contrary to the declared Judgment of the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Christian Church and so in truth they set up a new Rule of Faith whereby they change the Christian Religion For a new Rule of Faith and Religion makes a new Faith and Religion This we charge the Church of Rome with and do challenge them to shew this new Rule of Faith before the Council of Trent and consequently where their Religion was before that Council to shew a Religion consisting of all those Articles which are defined by the Council of Trent as necessary to Salvation and established upon this new Rule professed by any Christian Church in the World before that time And as they have pitch'd upon a new Rule of Faith so it is easie to see to what End For take Pope Pius IV. his Creed and we may see where the Old and New Religion parts even at the end of the Twelve Articles of the Aplostles Creed which was the ancient Christian Faith to which are added in Pope Pius his Creed Twelve Articles more defined in the Council of Trent and supported only by Tradition So that as the Scripture answers for the Twelve old Articles which are plainly contained there so Tradition is to answer for the Twelve new ones And therefore the matter was calculated very exactly when they make Tradition just of equal Authority with the Scriptures because as many Articles of Their Faith were to be made good by it and rely upon it as those which are proved by the Authority of Scripture But that Tradition is of equal Authority with the Scriptures we have nothing in the whole World for it but the bare Assertion of the Council of Trent I should now have added some other Considerations tending to confirm and establish us in our Religion against the Pretences and Insinuations of Seducing Spirits But I shall proceed no farther at present The Tenth Sermon as number'd follows THere is a mistake in Numbering of these Sermons The Tenth should be called the Ninth and so on to the end For there are but Fifteen Sermons in this Volume and should be no more A SERMON HEB. X. 23. Let us hold fast the profession of our Faith without wavering for he is faithful that hath promised THESE words contain an Exhortation to hold fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering and an Argument or Encouragement thereto because he is faithful that hath promised By the Exhortation to hold fast the
only upon the sincere Resolution of the Penitent And surely nothing can be more absurd and contrary to Reason than that when Men have performed all the Conditions which the Gospel requires yet they should notwithstanding this be deprived of all the Blessings and Benefits which God hath promised and intends to confer upon them because the Priest hath not the same Intention So that when a Man hath done all he can to work out his own Salvation he shall be never the nearer only for want of That which is wholly out of his Power the right Intention of the Priest Besides that after all their Boasts of the safe Condition of Men in Their Church and the most certain and infallible means of Salvation to be had in it this one Principle that the Intention of the Priest is necessary to the Validity and Virtue of the Sacraments puts the Salvation of Men upon the greatest Hazard and Uncertainty and such as it is impossible for any Man either to discover or prevent unless he had some certain way to know the Heart and Intention of the Priest For upon these terms who can know whether any Man be a Priest and really ordained or not Nay whether he be a Christian and have been truly baptized or not and consequently whether any of his Admistrations be valid and we have any Benefit and Advantage by them Because all this depends upon the knowledge of that which we neither do nor can know So that when a Man hath conscientiously done all that God requires of any Man to make him capable of Salvation yet without any Fault of his the want of Intention in an idle-minded Man may frustrate all And though the Man have been baptized and do truly believe the Gospel and hath sincerely repented of his sins and lived a most Holy Life yet all this may signifie nothing and after all he may be no Christian because his Baptism was invalid And all the Promises of God to the means of Salvation which his Goodness and Wisdom hath prescribed may be of no Efficacy if the Priest do not intend in the Administration of the Sacraments to do that which God and the Church intend Now if this be true there is certainly no Church in the World in which the Salvation of Men runs so many hazards and yet all this hazard and uncertainty has its rise from a Scholastical Point which is directly contrary to all the Notions of Mankind concerning the Goodness of God and to the clear Reason of the thing and to the constant Tenor of the Gospel and which was never asserted by any of the ancient Fathers much less defined by any Council before that of Trent So that it is a Doctrine new and needless and in the necessary consequences of it unreasonable and absurd to the utmost degree The last Instance I shall mention is their Rule of Faith The Rule of Faith universally received and acknowledged by the Christian Church in all Ages before the Council of Trent was the Word of God contained in the Canonical Books of Holy Scripture which were therefore by the Church called Canonical because they were the Rule of Faith and Manners of the Doctrines to be believed and the Duties to be practised by all Christians But when the Errours and Corruptions of the Romish Church were grown to the highth and the Pope and his Council at Trent were resolved not to Retrench and Reform them they saw it necessary to enlarge and lengthen out their Rule because the ancient Rule of the Holy Scriptures would by no means reach several of the Doctrines and Practices of that Church which they were resolved to maintain and make good by one means or other As namely the Doctrine of Transubstantiation of Purgatory and of the Seven Sacracraments and the practice of the Worship of Saints and Images of the Scriptures and the Service of God in an unknown Tongue of Indulgences and the Communion in one kind and several other superstitious Practices in use among them Now to enlarge their Rule to the best advantage for the Justification of these Doctrines and Practices they took these two ways 1. They have added to the Canonical Books of the Old Testament which were received by the Jewish Church to whom were committed the Oracles of God I say to these they have added several Apocryphal Books not warranted by Divine Inspiration because they were written after Prophecy and Divine Inspiration was ceased in the Jewish Church Malachi being the last of their Prophets according to the general Tradition of that Church But because the addition of these Books did not make a Rule of Faith and Practice large enough for their purpose in imitation of the Jews in the time of the greatest Confusion and Degeneracy of that Church they added in the Second Place to their Books of Scripture which they call the written Word an unwritten Word which they call Oral Tradition from Christ and his Apostles which they declare to be of equal Authority with the Holy Scriptures themselves and that it ought to be received with the same Pious Veneration and Affection Of which Traditions They being the Keepers and Judges they may extend them to what they please and having them in their own Breasts they may declare whatever they have a mind to to have been a constant and universal Tradition of their Church tho it is evident to common Sense that nothing can be more uncertain and more liable to Alteration and Mistake than Tradition at the distance of so many Ages brought down by word of mouth without writing and passing through so many hands He that can think these to be of equal Certainty and Authority with what is delivered by Writing and brought down by Books undertakes the defence of a strange Paradox viz. That general Rumour and Report of Things said and done 1500 Years ago is of equal Authority and Credit with a Record and a written History By which proceeding of the Council of Trent concerning the Rule of Faith and Practice it is very evident that they had no mind to bring their Faith to the Ancient Rule the Holy Scriptures That they knew could not be done and therefore they were resolved to fit their Rule to their Faith And this Foundation being laid in their first Decree all the rest would afterwards go on very smoothly For do but give Men the making of their Rule and they can make good any thing by it And accordingly the Council of Trent having thus fixt and fitted a Rule to their own purpose in the Conclusion of that Decree they give the World fair warning upon what Grounds and in what Ways they intend to proceed in their following Decrees of Practice and Definitions of Faith Omnes itaque intelligant quo ordine via ipsa Synodus post jactum fidei confessionis fundamentum sit progressura c. Be it known therefore to all men in what Order and Way the Synod after having laid this
Foundation of the Confession of Faith will proceed and what Testimonies and Proofs she chiefly intends to make use of for the Confirmation of Doctrines and Reformation of Manners in the Church And no doubt all Men do see very plainly to what purpose this Foundation is laid of so large a Rule of Faith And this being admitted how easie is it for them to confirm and prove whatever Doctrines and Practices they have a mind to establish But if this be a new and another Foundation than That which the Great Author and Founder of our Religion hath laid and built his Church upon viz. the Foundation of the Prophets and Apostles it is no matter what they build upon it And if they go about to prove any thing by the new parts of this Rule by the Apocryphal Books which they have added to the ancient Canon of the Scriptures brought down to us by the general Tradition of the Christian Church and by their pretended unwritten Traditions we do with Reason reject this kind of Proof and desire them first to prove their Rule before they pretend to prove any thing by it For we protest against this Rule as never declared and owned by the Christian Church nor proceeded upon by the ancient Fathers of the Church nor by any Council whatsoever before the Council of Trent In vain then doth the Church of Rome vaunt it self of the Antiquity of their Faith and Religion when the very Foundation and Rule of it is but of Yesterday a new thing never before known or heard of in the Christian World Whereas the Foundation and Rule of Our Religion is the Word of God contained in the Holy Scriptures to which Christians in all Ages have appealed as the only Rule of Faith and Life I proceed now to the 3. Thing I proposed viz. that we are to hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering against all the Temptations and Terrours of the World And this seems more especially and principally to be here intended by the Apostle in this Exhortation I shall first speak of the Temptations of the World And they are chiefly these Two the Temptation of Fashion and Example And of worldly Interest and Advantage 1. Of Fashion and Example This in Truth and Reality is no strong Argument and yet in Experience and Effect it is often found to be very powerful It is frequently seen that this hath many times too great an Influence upon weak and foolish Minds Men are apt to be carried down with the Stream and to follow a Multitude in that which is evil But more especially Men are prone to be swayed by great Examples and to bend themselves to such an Obsequiousness to their Superiours and Betters that in compliance with them they are ready not only to change their Affection to Persons and Things as They do but even their Judgment also and that in the greatest and weightest Matters even in Matters of Religion and the great concernments of another World But this surely is an Argument of a poor and mean Spirit and of a weak Understanding which leans upon the Judgment of another and is in truth the lowest degree of Servility that a reasonable Creature can stoop to and even beneath That of a Slave who in the midst of his Chains and Fetters doth still retain the Freedom of his Mind and Judgment But I need not to urge this upon considerate Persons who know better how to value their Duty and Obligation to God than to be tempted to do any thing contrary thereto meerly in compliance with Fashion and Example There are some Things in Religion so very plain that a wise and good Man would stand alone in the Belief and Practice of them and not be moved in the least by the contrary Example of the whole World It was a brave Resolution of Joshua though all Men should forsake the God of Israel and run aside to other Gods yet he would not do it Joshua 24. 15. If it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord chuse you this day whom you will serve But as for me and my House we will serve the Lord. It was well resolv'd of Peter if he had not been too confident of his own Strength when he said to our Saviour Though all Men forsake thee yet will not I. 2. Another sort of Temptation and which is commonly more Powerful than Example is worldly Interest and Advantage This is a mighty Bait to a great Part of Mankind and apt to work very strongly upon the Necessities of some and upon the Covetousness and Ambition of others Some Men are tempted by Necessity which many times makes them do ugly and reproachful Things and like Esau for a Morsel of Meat to sell their Birth-right and Blessing Covetousness tempts others to be of that Religion which gives them the prospect of the greatest Earthly Advantage either for the increasing or securing of their Estates When they find that they cannot serve God and Mammon they will forsake the one and cleave to the other This was one of the great Temptations to many in the Primitive Times and a frequent Cause of Apostacy from the Faith an eager Desire of Riches and too great a Value for them as St. Paul observes 1 Tim. 6. 9 10. But they that will be Rich fall into Temptation and a Snare and into many foolish and hurtful Lusts which drown Men in Destruction and Perdition For the Love of Money is the Root of all Evil which while some have coveted after they have erred or been seduced from the Faith and pierced themselves through with many Sorrows This was the Temptation which drew off Demas from his Religion as St. Paul tells us 2 Tim. 4. 10. Demas hath forsaken me having loved this present World Ambition is likewise a great Temptation to proud and aspiring Minds and makes many Men false to their Religion when they find it a hinderance to their Preferment and they are easily perswaded that That is the best Religion which is attended with the greatest worldly Advantages and will raise them to the highest Dignity The Devil understood very well the Force of this Temptation when he set upon our Saviour and therefore reserv'd it for the last Assault He shewed him all the Kingdoms of the Earth and the Glory of them and said to him All this will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me And when he saw this would not prevail he gave him over in despair and left him But though this be a very dazling Temptation yet there are Considerations of that Weight to be set over-against it from the Nature of Religion and the infinite Concernment of it to our immortal Souls as is sufficient to quench this fiery Dart of the Devil and to put all the Temptations of this World out of Countenance and to render all the Riches and Glory of it in comparison of the Eternal Happiness and Misery of the other World but as the very
Profession of our Faith without wavering is not meant that those who are capable of examining the Grounds and Reasons of their Religion should blindly hold it fast against the best Reasons that can be offered because upon these terms every Man must continue in the Religion in which he happens to be fixt by Education or an ill choice be his Religion true or false without Examining and looking into it whether it be right or wrong for till a Man examines every Man thinks his Religion right That which the Apostle here exhorts Christians to hold fast is the Ancient Faith of which all Christians make a solemn profession in their Baptism as plainly appears from the context And this Profession of our Faith we are to hold in the following instances which I shall but briefly mention without enlarging upon them 1. We are to hold fast the Profession of our Faith against the Confidence of Men without Scripture or Reason to support that Confidence 2. And much more against the Confidence of Men contrary to plain Scripture and Reason and to the common Sense of Mankind 3. Against all the Temptations and Terrors of the World against the Temptations of Fashion and Example and of Worldly Interest and Advantage and against all Terrors and Sufferings of Persecution 4. Against all vain promises of being put into a safer condition and groundless hopes of getting to Heaven upon easier terms than the Gospel hath proposed in some other Church and Religion Lastly We are to hold fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering against all the cunning Arts and Insinuations of busie and disputing Men whose design it is to unhinge Men from their Religion and to make Proselytes to their Party and Faction But without entring into these particulars I shall in order to Establishment in the Reformed Religion which we profess in opposition to the Errors and Corruptions of the Church of Rome apply my self at this time to make a short comparison betwixt the Religion which we profess and that of the Church of Rome That we may discern on which side the advantage of Truth lies and in making this comparison I shall insist upon Three things which will bring the matter to an issue and are I think sufficient to determine every sober and considerate Man which of these he ought in Reason and with regard to the safety of his Soul to embrace And they are these I. That we govern our Belief and Practice in matters of Religion by the true ancient Rule of Christianity the Word of God contained in the Holy Scriptures But the Church of Rome for the maintenance of their Errors and Corruptions have been forced to devise a new Rule never owned by the Primitive Church nor by the Ancient Fathers and Councils of it II. That the Doctrines and Practices in difference betwixt us and the Church of Rome are either contrary to this Rule or destitute of the Warrant and Authority of it and are plain Additions to the ancient Christianity and Corruptions of it III. That our Religion hath many clear Advantages of that of the Church of Rome not only very considerable in themselves but very obvious and discernable to an ordinary capacity upon the first proposal of them I shall be as brief in these as I can I. That we govern our belief and Practice in matters of Religion by the true ancient Rule of Christianity the Word of God contain'd in the Holy Scriptures But the Church of Rome for the maintaining of their Errors and Corruptions have been forced to devise a new Rule never owned by the Primitive Church nor by the Ancient Councils and Fathers of it That is they have joined with the Word of God contained in the Holy Scriptures the unwritten Traditions of their Church concerning several points of their Faith and Practice which they acknowledge cannot be proved from Scripture and these they call the unwritten Word of God and the Council of Trent hath decreed them to be of equal Authority with the Holy Scriptures and that they do receive and venerate them with the same pious Affection and Reverence and all this contrary to the express declaration and unanimous consent of all the Ancient Councils and Fathers of the Christian Church as I have already shewn and this never declar'd to be a point of Faith till it was decreed not much above a Hundred Years ago in the Council of Trent and this surely if any thing is a Matter of great consequence to presume to alter the Ancient Rule of Christian Doctrine and Practice and to enlarge it and add to it at their pleasure But the Church of Rome having made so great a change in the Doctrine and Practice of Christianity it became consequently necessary to make a change of the Rule And therefore with great Reason did the Council of Trent take this into consideration in the first place and put it in the front of their Decrees because it was to be the foundation and main proof of the following Definitions of Faith and Decrees of Practice for which without this new Rule there had been no colour II. The Doctrines and Practices in difference betwixt us and the Church of Rome are either contrary to the true Rule or destitute of the Warrant and Authority of it and plain Additions to the Ancient Christianity and Corruptions of it the Truth of this will best appear by instancing in some of the principal Doctrines and Practices in difference betwixt us As for their two great Fundamental Doctrines of the Supremacy of the Bishop of Rome over all the Christians in the world and the Infallibility of their Church there is not one word in Scripture concerning these Priviledges nay it is little less than a demonstration that they have no such Priviledges that St. Paul in a long Epistle to the Church of Rome takes no notice of them That the Church of Rome either then was or was to be soon after the Mother and Mistress of all Churches which is now grown to be an Article of Faith in the Church of Rome and yet it is hardly to be imagined that he could have omitted to take notice of such remarkable Priviledges of their Bishops and Church above any in the world had he known they had belonged to them So that in all probability he was ignorant of those mighty Prerogatives of the Church of Rome otherwise it cannot be but that he would have written with more deference and submission to this Seat of Infallibility and Center of Unity he would certainly have paid a greater Respect to this Mother and Mistress of all Churches where the Head of the Church and Vicar of Christ either was already seated or by the appointment of Christ was designed for ever to fix his Throne and establish his Residence but there is not one word or the least intimation of any such thing throughout this whole Epistle nor in any other part of the New Testament Besides that both these pretended
it but having no root in themselves they endured but for a while and when tribulation and persecution ariseth because of the word presently they fall off And there is likewise a partial Apostasie from Christianity when some Fundamental Article of it is denied whereby in effect and by consequence the whole Christian Faith is overthrown Of this Hymeneus and Philetus were guilty of whom the Apostle says that they erred concerning the truth saying that tbe Resurrection was past already and thereby overthrew the faith of some 2 Tim. 2. 17 18. That is they turned the Resurrection into an Allegory and did thereby really destroy a most Fundamental Article of the Christian Religion So that to make a man an Apostate it is not necessary that a man should solemnly renounce his Baptism and declare Christianity to be false there are several other ways whereby a man may bring himself under this guilt as by a silent quitting of his Religion and withdrawing himself from the Communion of all that profess it by denying an Essential Doctrine of Christianity by undermining the great End and Design of it by teaching Doctrines which directly tend to encourage Men in impenitence and a wicked course of life nay to Authorise all manner of impiety and vice in telling Men that whatever they do they cannot Sin for which the Primitive Christians did look upon the Gnosticks as no better than Apostates from Christianity and tho they retained the Name of Christians yet not to be truly and really so And there is likewise a partial Apostacy from the Christan Religion of which I shall speak under the II. Head I proposed which was to consider the several sorts and degrees of Apostacy The highest of all is the renouncing and forsaking of Christianity or of some Essential part of it which is a virtual Apostafie from it But there are several tendencies towards this which they who are guilty of are in some degree guilty of this Sin As 1. Indifferency in Religion and want of all sort of Concernment for it when a Man tho he never quitted his Religion yet is so little concerned for it that a very small Occasion or Temptation would make him do it he is contented to be reckoned in the number of those who profess it so long as it is the Fashion and he finds no great Inconvenience by it but is so indifferent in his Mind about it like Gallio who minded none of those things that he can turn himself into any other Shape when his Interest requires it so that tho he never actually deserted it yet he is 2 kind of Apostate in the preparation and disposition of his Mind And to such Persons that Title which Solomon gives to some may fitly enough be applyed they are Backsliders in Heart 2. Another tendency to this Sin and a great degree of it is withdrawing from the Publick Marks and Testimonies of the Profession of Religion by forsaking the Assemblies of Christians for the Worship and Service of God to withdraw our selves from those for fear of Danger or Suffering is a kind of Denyal of our Religion And this was the case of some in the Apostles time when Persecution grew hot and the open Profession of Christianity dangerous to avoid this Danger many appeared not in the Assemblies of Christians for fear of being observed and brought into trouble for it This the Apostle taxeth some for in this Chapter and speaketh of it as a letting go our Profession and a kind of deserting of Christianity v. 23 35. Let us hold fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering not forsaking the assembling of our selves together as the manner of some is He doth not say they had quitted their Profession but they had but a loose hold of it and were silently stealing away from it 3. A light temper of Mind which easily receives Impressions from those who lie in wait to deceive and seduce Men from the Truth When Men are not well rooted and established in Religion they are apt to be inveigled by the crafty Insinuations of Seducers to be moved with every wind of Doctrine and to be easily shaken in Mind by every trifling piece of Sophistry that is confidently obtruded upon them for a weighty Argument Now this is a temper of Mind which disposeth Men to Apostasie and renders them an easie Prey to every one that takes a Pleasure and a Pride in making Proselytes It is true indeed a Man should always have a Mind ready to entertain Truth when it is fairly proposed to him but the main things of Religion are so plainly revealed and lie so obvious to every ordinary capacity that every Man may discern them and when he hath once entertained them ought to be stedfast and unmovable in them and not suffer himself to be whiffled out of them by any insignificant noise about the Infallibility of a Visible Church much less ought he to be moved by any Man's uncharitableness and positiveness in damning all that are not of his Mind There are some things so very plain not only in Scripture but to the common Reason of Mankind that no subtilty of Discourse no pretended Authority or even Infallibility of any Church ought to stagger us in the least about them as that we ought not or cannot believe any thing in direct contradiction to Sense and Reason that the People ought to Read and Study the Holy Scriptures and to serve God and pray to him in a Language which they understand that they ought to receive the Sacrament as our Saviour instituted and appointed it that is in both kinds that it can neither be our Duty nor Lawful to do that which God hath forbidden as he hath done the Worship of Images in the Second Commandment as plainly as words can do it Upon any one of these Points a Man would fix his foot and stand alone against the whole World 4. Another Degree of Apostasie is a departure from the Purity of the Christian Doctrine and Worship in a gross and notorious manner This is a partial tho not a total Apostasie from the Christian Religion and there have been and still are some in the World who are justly Charged with this degree of Apostasie from Religion namely such as tho they retain and profess the Belief of all the Articles of the Christian Faith and Worship the only true God and him whom he hath sent Jesus Christ yet have greatly perverted the Christian Religion by superinducing and adding new Articles of Faith and gross Corruptions and Superstitions in Worship and imposing upon Men the Belief and Practice of these as necessary to Salvation And St. Paul is my Warrant for this Censure who chargeth those who added to the Christian Religion the Necessity of Circumcision and observing the Law of Moses and thereby perverted the Gospel of Christ as guilty in some degree of Apostasie from Christianity for he calls it preaching another Gospel Gal. 1. 7 8. There be some that trouble
a Man should be very fit and able to judge of that which they esteem the main and fundamental Point of all namely which is the True Church and Religion and of the Reasons and Arguments whereby they pretend to demonstrate it and of the true Meaning of those Texts of Scripture whereby they pretend to prove theirs to be the only True Church and yet should be wholly unable to judge of particular Points of Faith or of the True Sense of any Texts of Scripture that can be produced for the Proof of those Points Is it so very prudent in all the particular Points of Faith for a Man to rely upon the Judgment of the Church because She is infallible and not to trust his own Judgment about them because He is fallible and may be deceived And is it prudent likewise for this Man to trust his own Judgment in the main Business of all namely Which is the true Church and Religion concerning which he is as fallible in his Judgment and as liable to be deceived as in the Particular Points And if he be mistaken in the main Point they must grant his Mistake to be fatal because his Sincerity as to all the rest depends upon it This is a great Mystery and Riddle that every particular Man should have so sufficient a Judgment as to this main and fundamental Business Which is the True Church and Religion and should have no Judgment at all about particular Points fit to be trusted and relied upon As if there were a certain Judgment and Prudence quoad hoc and as if all Men's Understandings were so framed as to be very judicious and discerning in this main Point of Religion but to be weak and dangerous and blind as to all particular Points Or as if a Man might have a very good Judgment and be fit to be trusted and relyed upon before he come into their Church but from the very moment he enters into it his Judgment were quite lost and good for nothing For this in effect and by interpretation they say when they allow a Man to be very able to judge which is the true Church and Religion but so soon as he hath discovered and embraced that to have no Judgment of his own afterwards of any Point of Religion whatsoever and a very tempting Argument it is to any Man that hath Judgment to enter into that Church 2. Another Art they use with their intended Proselyte in order to his makeing a right choice of his Religion is to caution him to hear and read only the Arguments and Books which are on one side But now admitting their designed Proselyte to be just such a Judge and so far as they will allow him to be and no farther viz. Which is the true Church but to have no Fitness and Ability at all to judge of particular Points of Faith yet methinks they put a very odd Condition and untoward Restraint upon this Judge in telling him as they certainly use to do those whom they would pervert That he must have no Discourse nor read any Books but only on that side which they would gain him to because that is the way to perplex and confound him so that he shall never be able to come to a clear Judgment and Resolution in the Matter But will any Man admit this way of proceeding in a Temporal Case This is just as if in a Cause of the greatest consequence the Councel on one side should go about to persuade the Judge that it is only fit to hear what he hath to say in the Case that he will open it very plainly and state the Matter in difference of clearly and impartially and bring such strong Reasons and Proofs for what he says that he shall not need to hear any thing on the other side but may proceed to Judgment without any more ado But if when the matter is thus laid before him so plainly and is even ripe for Judgment he will trouble himself needlesly to hear the other side this will cast him back where they first began and bring the Matter to an endless wrangling and so confound and puzzle his Understanding that he shall never be able to pass any clear Judgment in the Cause What think we would a Judge say to such a bold and senseless Pleader The Case is the same and the Absurdity every whit as gross and palpable in pressing any Man to make a Judgment in a Matter which infinitely more concerns him upon hearing only the Reasons and Arguments on one side 3. Another Art which they use in makeing Proselytes is to possess them that there is but One thing that they are mainly concern'd to enquire into and that is this Since there is but one true Catholick Church of Christ upon Earth out of which there is no Salvation to be had Which that True Church is And when they have found that out that will teach them in a most Infallible way the True Faith and Religion and all things that are necessary to be believed or done by them in order to their Salvation so that they have nothing to do but to satisfie themselves in this single Enquiry Which is the True Catholick Church of Christ This is the Vnum necessarium the one thing necessary and when they have found out this and are satisfied about it they need to enquire no farther this Church will fully instruct and satisfie them in all other things And this I cannot deny to be a very Artificial way of proceeding and to serve their purpose very well for they have these two great Advantages by it 1. That it makes the work short and saves them a great deal of labour by bringing the whole Business to one single Enquiry and when they have gained this Point that this single Question is all that they need to be satisfied in then they have nothing to do but to ply and puzzle the Man with their Motives of Credibility and Marks of the true Church and to shew as well as they can how these Marks agree to Their Church and are all to be found in it and in no other and to set out to the best advantage the Glorious Priviledges of Their Church the Miraculous things that have been and are still daily done in it and the innumerable multitude of their Saints and Martyrs and if these General Things take and sink into them their work is in effect done 2. Another great Advantage they have by it is That by bringing them to this Method they divert and keep them off from the many Objects against their Church and Religion namely the Errors and Corruptions which we charge them withal For this is the thing they are afraid of and will by no means be brought to to vindicate and make good their Innovations in Faith and Practice so plainly in many things contrary to Scripture and to the Faith and Practice of the Primitive Church as the Doctrines of Transubstantiation of Purgatory the Popes Supremacy
giving heed to seducing Spirits and Doctrines of Devils So that the particular kind of Idolatry into which some part of the Christian Church should apostatize is here pointed at That they should worship Souls departed or the Spirits of dead Men which was part of the Heathen Idolatry into which the People of Israel did frequently relapse So that the Spirit of God doth here foretel such an Apostasie in some part of the Christian Church as the People of Israel were guilty of in falling into the Heathen Idolatry They shall be Worshipers of the Dead as the Israelites also were And this is the great and dangerous Seduction which the Christians are so much cautioned against in the New Testament and charged to hold fast the profession of the Faith against the cunning Arts and Insinuations of seducing Spirits not but as I said before that we are always to have an Ear open to Reason and to be ready to hearken and to yield to That whenever it is fairly proposed But to be over-reached and rooked out of one's Religion by little Sophistical Arts and Tricks is Childish and silly After we are upon due Trial and Examination of the Grounds of our Religion settled and established in it we ought not to suffer our selves to be removed from it by the groundless Pretences of Confident People to Infallibility and to be practised upon by Cunning Men who lie at catch to make Proselytes to their Party This is to be like Children tossed to and fro and carried about with every Wind of Doctrine And we ought to be the more careful of our selves because there never was any time wherein seducing Spirits were more bold and busie to pervert Men from the Truth Against These we should hold fast our Religion as a Man would do his Money in a Crowd It passeth in the World for a great Mark of Folly when a Man and his Money are soon parted But it is a sign of much greater Folly for a Man easily to quit his Religion especially to be caught by some such gross Methods as the Seducers I am speaking of commonly use and which lie so very open to Suspicion such as ill-designing Men are wont to practise upon a young Heir when they have insinuated themselves into his Company to make a Prey of him They charge him to tell no body in what Company he hath been not to ask the Counsel and Advice of his Friends concerning what they have been persuading him to because they for their own Interest will be sure to disswade him from it Just thus do these Seducers practise upon weak People They charge them not to acquaint their Minister with whom they have been nor what Discourse they have had about Religion nor what Books have been put into their Hands because then all their kind Design and Intention towards them will be defeated But above all they must be sure to read no Books on the other side because they are no competent Judges of Points of Faith and this reading on both sides will rather confound than clear their Understandings They tell them that they have stated the matter truly and would not for all the World deceive them and they may easily perceive by their earnest Application to them that nothing but Charity and a passionate desire of the Salvation of their Souls makes them take all these Pains with them But this is so gross a way of proceeding that any Man of common understanding must needs discern by this kind Treatment that these Men can have no honest Design upon them To come then to a more particular Consideration of the Arts and Methods which they use I mean particularly those of the Church of Rome in making Proselytes to their Religion As 1. In allowing them to be very competent and sufficient Judges for themselves in the Choice of their Church and Religion that is which is the True Church and Religion in which alone Salvation is to be had and yet telling them at the same time that they are utterly incapable of judging of particular Doctrines and Points of Faith and Practice but for these they must rely upon the Judgment of an Infallible Church when they are in it otherwise they will certainly run into damnable Errors and Mistakes about these things And they must of necessity allow them to be sufficient Judges for themselves in the Choice of their Religion as will be evident by considering in what Method they proceed with their intended Proselyte They propose to him to change his Church and his Religion because he is in the wrong and they will shew him a better and such a one as is the only True one and in which alone Salvation is to be had To perswade him hereto they offer him some Reasons and Arguments or give him Books to read containing Arguments to move him to make this Change to satisfie him of the Reasonableness and to convince him of the Necessity of it Now by this way of proceeding and they can take no other they do whether they will or no make the Person whom they are endeavouring to convert a Judge for himself which Church and Religion is best that which they would have him embrace and come over to or that which they would perswade him to forsake For to what end else do they offer him Reasons and Arguments to perswade him to leave our Church and to come over to theirs but that he may consider the Force and Weight of them and having considered them may judge whether they be of force sufficient to over-rule him to make this Change So that as unwilling as they are to make particular Persons judge for themselves about Points of Faith and about the Sense of Scripture confirming those Points because this is to leave every Man to his own private Spirit and Fancy and giddy Brain yet they are compelled by Necessity and against their own Principles to allow a Man in this case of chusing his Religion to be a Judge of the Reasons and Arguments which they offer to induce him thereto So that whether they will or no they must permit him to be a Judge for himself for this once but not to make a Practice of it or to pretend this Priviledge ever after For in acknowledgment of this great Favour of being permitted to judge for himself this once which they do unwillingly grant him and upon meer Necessity he is for ever after to resign up his Judgment to the Church And tho this Liberty be allowed pro hâc vice and properly to serve a turn i. e. in order to the changing of his Religion yet he is to understand that he is no fit and competent Judge of particular Points of Faith these he must all learn from the True Church when he is in it and take them upon her Authority and in so doing he shall do very prudently because She is infallible and cannot be deceived but He may But is there any Sense in all this that