nor by Miracles nor by Immediate Revelation or private subjective Testimony of the Spirit nor is their Faith a Perswasion of Mind that they can give no Reason of but only that they are so perswaded But it will be yet further objected that if there be such clear Evidences in the thing it self that is in the Divine Original and Authority of the Scriptures that none who freely use their Reason can deny it then it lies either in the naked Proposal of the Things unto the understanding and if so then every one that assents unto this Proposition that the whole is greater than the part must likewise assent unto this that the Scripture is the Word of God or the Evidence must not ly in the naked Proposal but in the Efficacy of the Spirit of God in the minds of them unto whom it is proposed Answ. 1. I know no Divine Ancient or Modern Popish or Protestant who doth not assert that tere is a work of the Holy Ghost on the minds of men necessary unto a due Belief of the Scriptures to be the VVord of God And the Consideration hereof ought not by any Christian to be excluded But they say not that this is the Objective Testimony or Evidence on which we believe the Scripture to be the VVord of God concerning which alone is our Enquiry 2. We do not dispute how far or by what means this Proposition the Scripture is the Word of God may be evidenced meerly unto our Reason but unto our understanding as capable of giving an Assent upon Testimony It is not said that this is a first Principle of Reason though it be of Faith nor that it is capable of a Mathematical Demonstration That the whole is greater than the part is self-evident unto our Reason upon its first Proposal but such none pretends to be in the Scripture because it is a Subject not capable of it Nor do those who denying the self-evidence of the Scripture pretend by their Arguments for its Divine Authority to give such an Evidence of it unto Reason as is in first Principles or Mathematical Demonstrations but content themselves with that which they call a Moral Certainty But it is by Faith we are obliged to receive the Truth of this Proposition which respects the Power of our Minds of assent unto Truth upon Testimony infallibly on that which is infallible And hereunto it evidenceth its own Truth not with the same but with an Evidence and Certainty of an higher nature and nobler kind than that of the strictest Demonstration in things natural or the most forcible Argumens in things moral 3. It will be objected that if this be so then none can be obliged to receive the Scripture as the Word of God who hath not Faith and none have Faith but those in whom it is wrought by the Spirit of God and thereinto all will be resolved at last Answ. 1. Indeed there is no Room for this Objection for the whole Work of the Spirit is pleaded only as he is the efficient Cause of Believing and not the objective or Reason why we do believe But 2. We must not be ashamed to resolve all we do well spiritually and in obedience to the Command of God unto the Efficacious Operation of the Holy Ghost in us unless we intend to be ashamed of the Gospel But this still makes his internal Operation to be the efficient and not his internal Testimony to be the formal Reason of our Faith 3. It is another Question whether all Obligation unto Duty is and must be proportionate unto our own Strength without Divine Assistance which we deny and affirm that we are obliged unto many things by virtue of Gods Command which we have no power to answer but by virtue of his Grace 4. Where the Proposal of the Scripture is made in the way before described those unto whom it is proposed are obliged to receive it as the Word of God upon the Evidence which it gives of it self so to be Yea every Real True Divine Revelation made unto Men or every Proposal of the Scripture by Divine Providence hath that Evidence of its being from God accompanying of it as is sufficient to oblige them unto whom it was made to believe it on pain of his Displeasure If this were otherwise then either were God obliged to confirm every particular Divine Revelation with a Miracle which as to its Obligation unto Believing wants not its difficulty which he did not as in many of the Prophets nor doth at this day at the first Proposal of the Gospel to the Heathen or else when he requires Faith and Obedience in such ways as in his Wisdom he judgeth meet that is in the ordinary Ministry of the Word they are not obliged thereby nor is it their Sin to refuse a Compliance with his Will 5. If this Difficulty can be no otherwise avoided but by affirming that the Faith which God requires of us with respect unto his VVord is nothing but a natural Assent unto it upon rational Arguments and Considerations which we have an Ability for without any spiritual Aid of the Holy Ghost or respect unto his Testimony as before described which overthrows all Faith especially that which is Divine I shall rather ten thousand times allow of all the just Consequences that can follow on the Supposition mentioned than admit of this Relief But of those Consequences this is none that any unto whom the Scripture is proposed are excepted from an Obligation unto Believing In like manner there is no difficulty in the usual Objection which respects particular Books of the Scripture why we receive them as Canonical and reject others as namely the Book of Proverbs and not of Wisdom of Ecclesiastes and not Ecclesiasticus For 1. As to the Books of the Old Testament we have the Canon of them given us in the New where it is affirmed that unto the Church of the Jews were committed the Oracles of God which both confirms all that we receive and excludes all that we exclude And unto the New there are no Pretenders nor ever were to the least Exercise of the Faith of any 2. All Books whatever that have either themselves pretended unto a Divine Original or have been pleaded by others to be of that Extract have been and may be from themselves without further help evicted of falshood in that pretence They have all of them hitherto in matter or manner in plain Confessions or other sufficient Evidence manifested themselves to be of an human Original And much Danger is not to be feared from any that for the future shall set forth with the same pretence 3. VVe are not bound to refuse the Ministry of the Church or the Advantages of Providence whereby the Scripture is brought unto us with the Testimonies which either directly or collaterally any one Part of it gives unto another Although the Scripture be to believed for it self yet it is not ordinarily to be believed by it self without
have advantage thereby The Sun of Righteousness is now risen upon us and Immortality is brought to light by the Gospel If we look now on the Revelations granted unto them of old we may yet see there was light in them which yields us little more advantage than the light of a Candle in the Sun But unto them who lived before this Sun arose they were a sufficient Guide unto all Duties of Faith and Obedience For 3. There was during this season a sufficient Ministry for the declaration of the Revelations which God made of Himself and his Will There was the natural Ministry of Parents who were obliged to instruct their Children and Families in the knowledge of the Truth which they had received And whereas this began in Adam who first received the Promise and therewithal whatsoever was necessary unto Faith and Obedience the knowledg of it could not be lost without the wilful neglect of Parents in teaching or of Children and Families in learning And they had the extraordinary Ministry of such as God entrusted new Revelations withal for the confirmation and inlargment of those before received who were all of them Preachers of Righteousness unto the rest of Mankind And it may be manifested that from the giving of the first Promise when divine external Revelations began to be the Rule of Faith and Life unto the Church to the writing of the Law there was always alive one or other who receiving divine Revelations immediatly were a kind of infallible Guides unto others If it was otherwise at any time it was after the death of the Patriarks before the Call of Moses during which time all things went into Darkness and Confusion For oral Tradition alone would not preserve the Truth of former Revelations But by whom these Instructions were received they had a sufficient outward means for their Illumination before any divine Revelations were recorded by Writing Yet 4. This way of Instruction as it was in it self imperfect and liable to many disadvantages so through the weakness negligence and wickedness of men it proved insufficient to retain the knowledg of God in the World For under this Dispensation the Generality of Mankind fell into their great Apostacy from God and betook themselves unto the conduct and service of the Devil of the ways means and degrees whereof I have discoursed* elsewhere Hereon God also regarded them not but suffered all Nations to walk in their own ways Acts 14. 16. giving them up to their own hearts lusts to walk in their own Counsels as it is expressed Psal. 81. 12. And although this fell not out without the horrible wickedness and ingratitude of the World yet there being then no certain Standard of divine Truth whereunto they might repair they brake off the easier from God through the imperfection of this Dispensation If it shall be said that since the Revelation of the Will of God hath been committed unto Writing men have Apostatized from the Knowledge of God as is evident in many Nations of the World which sometimes professed the Gospel but are now over-run with Heathenism Mahometism and Idolatry I say this hath not come to pass through any defect in the way and means of Illumination or the Communication of the Truth unto them but God hath given them up to be destroyed for their wickedness and ingratitude and unless we repent we shall all likewise perish Rom. 1. 18. 2 Thes. 2. 11 12. Otherwise where the Standard of the Word is once fixed there is a constant means of preserving divine Revelations Wherefore Thirdly God hath gathered up into the Scripture all divine Revelations given out by himself from the beginning of the World and all that ever shall be so to the end thereof which are of general use unto the Church that it may be throughly instructed in the whole mind and will of God and directed in all that Worship of Him and Obedience unto Him which is necessary to give us acceptance with Him here and to bring us unto the eternal enjoyment of him hereafter For 1. When God first committed the Law to writing with all those things which accompanied it he obliged the Church unto the use of it alone without Additions of any kind Now this he would not have done had he not expressed therein that is the Books of Moses all that was any way needful unto the Faith and Obedience of the Church For he did not only command them to attend with all diligence unto his Word as it was then written for their instruction and direction in Faith and Obedience annexing all sorts of Promises unto their so doing Deut. 6. 6 7. but also expresly forbids them as was said to add any thing thereunto or to conjoyn any thing therewith Deut. 4. 2. chap. 12 32. which he would not have done had he omitted other divine Revelations before given that were any way necessary unto the use of the Church As he added many new Ones so he gathered in all the old from the unfaithful Repository of Tradition and fixed them in a Writing given by divine Inspiration 2. For all other divine Revelations which were given out to the Church for its use in general under the Old Testament they are all comprised in the following Books thereof Nor was this that I know of ever questioned by any Person pretending to Sobriety though some who would be glad of any pretence against the Integrity and Perfection of the Scripture have fruitlesly wrangled about the loss of some Books which they can never prove concerning any one that was certainly of a divine Original 3. The full Revelation of the whole mind of God whereunto nothing pretending thereunto is ever to be added was committed unto and perfected by Jesus Christ Heb. 1. 1 2. That the Revelations of God made by him whether in his own Person or by his Spirit unto his Apostles were also by divine Inspiration committed to Writing is expressly affirmed concerning what he delivered in his own personal Ministry Luk. 1. 4. Acts 1. 1. John 20. 31. and may be proved by uncontroulable Arguments concerning the rest of them Hence as the Scriptures of the old Testament were shut up with a Caution and Admonition unto the Church to adhere unto the Law and Testimony with threatning of a Curse unto the contrary Mal. 4. 4 5 6. So the Writings of the New Testament are closed with a Curse on any that shall presume to add any thing more thereunto Rev. 22. 18. Wherefore Fourthly The Scripture is now become the only external means of divine supernatural Illumination because 't is the only Repository of all divine supernatural Revelation Psal. 19. 7 8. Isa. 8. 20. 2 Tim. 3. 15 16 17. The Pretences of Tradition as a collateral means of preserving and communicating supernatural Revelation have been so often evicted of falsity that I shall not further press their impeachment Besides I intend those in this Discourse by whom it is acknowledged that the Bible is
as a sufficient and perfect so the only Treasury of divine Revelations And what hath been offered by any to weaken or impair its esteem by taking off from its credibility perfection and sufficiency as unto all its own proper ends hath brought no advantage unto the Church nor benefit unto the Faith of Believers But yet Fifthly In asserting the Scripture to be the only external means of divine Revelation I do it not exclusively unto those Institutions of God which are subordinate unto it and appointed as means to make it effectual unto our souls As 1. Our own personal endeavours in reading studying and meditating on the Scripture that we my come unto a right Apprehension of the things contained in it are required unto this purpose It is known to all how frequently this Duty is pressed upon us and what Promises are annexed to the performance of it see Deut. 6. 6 7. chap. 11. 18 19. Josh. 1. 8. Psal. 1. 2. Psal. 119. Col. 3. 16. 2 Tim. 3. 15. Without this it is in vain to expect Illumination by the Word And therefore we may see multitudes living and walking in extreme darkness when yet the Word is every-where nigh unto them Bread which is the Staff of life will yet nourish no man who doth not provide it and feed upon it no more would Manna unless it was gathered and prepared Our own Natures and the Nature of divine Revelations considered and what is necessary for the application of the one to the other makes this evident For God will instruct us in his mind and will as we are men in and by the rational faculties of our souls Nor is an external Revelation capable of making any other impression on us but what is so received Wherefore when I say that the Scripture is the only external means of our Illumination I include therein all our own personal endeavours to come to the knowledge of the mind of God therein which shall be afterwards spoken unto And those who under any pretences do keep drive or perswade men from reading and meditating on the Scripture do take an effectual course to keep them in and under the power of Darkness 2. The mutual Instruction of one another in the mind of God out of the Scripture is also required hereunto For we are obliged by the Law of Nature to endeavour the good of others in various degrees as our Children our Families our Neighbours and all with whom we have Conversation And this is the principal Good absolutely considered that we can communicate unto others namely to instruct them in the knowledge of the mind of God This whole Duty in all the Degrees of it is represented in that Command Thou shalt teach my Words diligently unto thy Children and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house and when thou walkest by the way and when thou lyest down and when thou risest up Deut. 6. 7. Thus when our Saviour found his Disciples talking of the things of God by the way side he bearing unto them the person of a private man instructed them in the sense of the Scripture Luk. 24. 26 27 32. And the neglect of this Duty in the World which is so great that the very mention of it or the least attempt to perform it is a matter of scorn and reproach is one cause of the great ignorance darkness which yet abounds among us But the nakedness of this folly whereby men would be esteemed Christians in the open contempt of all Duties of Christianity will in due time be laid open 3. The Ministry of the Word in the Church is that which is principally included in this Assertion The Scripture is the only means of Illumination but it becometh so principally by the application of it unto the minds of men in the Ministry of the Word see Mat. 5. 14 15. 2 Cor. 5. 18 19 20. Eph. 4. 11 12 13 14 15. 1 Tim. 3. 15. The Church and the Ministry of it are the Ordinances of God unto this end that his Mind and Will as revealed in the Word may be made known to the Children of Men whereby they are enlightned And that Church and Ministry whereof this is not the first principal design and work is neither appointed of God nor approved by him Men will one day find themselves deceived in trusting to empty Names it is Duty alone that will be Comfort and Reward Dan. 12. 3. Sixthly That the Scripture which thus contains the whole of divine Revelation may be a sufficient external cause of Illumination unto us two things are required 1. That we believe it to be a divine Revelation that is the Word of God or a Declaration of Himself his Mind and Will immediatly proceeding from Him or that it is of a pure divine Original proceeding neither from the folly or deceit nor from the skill or honesty of men so is it stated 2 Pet. 1. 19 20 21. Heb. 1. 1. 2 Tim. 3. 16. Isa. 8. 20. It tenders no light or instruction under any other notion but as it comes immediatly from God not as the Word of Man but as it is indeed the Word of the Living God 1 Thes. 2. 13. And what ever any one may learn from or by the Scriptures under any other consideration it belongeth not unto the Illumination we enquire after Nehem. 8. 8. Isa. 28. 9. Hos. 14. 9. Prov. 1. 6. Psal. 119. 34 Mat. 15. 16. 2 Tim. 2. 7. 1 John 5. 20. 2. That we understand the things declared in it or the Mind of God as revealed and expressed therein For if it be given unto us a sealed Book which we cannot read either because it is sealed or because we are ignorant and cannot read whatever Visions or means of Light it hath in it we shall have no advantage thereby Isa. 29. 11 12. It is not the Words themselves of the Scripture only but our understanding them that gives us light Psal. 119. 130. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the opening the Door the entrance of thy Word giveth light It must be opened or it will not enlighten So the Disciples understood not the Testimonies of the Scripture concerning the Lord Christ they were not enlightned by them until he expounded them unto them Luk. 24. 27 45. As we have the same instance in the Eunuch and Philip Acts 8. 31 35 36. To this very day the Nation of the Jews have the Scriptures of the old Testament and the outward Letter of them in such esteem and veneration that they even adore and worship them yet are they not enlightned by it And the same is fallen out among many that are called Christians or they could never embrace such foolish opinions and practise such Idolatries in worship as some of them do who yet enjoy the Letter of the Gospel And this brings me to my design which we have been thus far making way unto and it is to shew that both these are from the Holy Ghost namely that we truly believe
Satan and the prevalent power and rage of Mankind hath combined and been set at work to the ruine and utter Suppression of this Book proceeding sometimes so far as that there was no appearing way for its escape yet through the watchful care and Providence of God sometimes putting it self forth in miraculous Instances it hath been preserved unto this day and shall be so to the consummation of all things The event of that which was spoken by our Saviour Matth. 5. 18. doth invincibly prove the divine Approbation of this Book as that doth its divine Original Till Heaven and Earth pass away one Jot or one Tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law Gods perpetual care over the Scriptures for so many Ages that not a letter of it should be utterly lost nothing that hath the least tendency towards its end should perish is evidence sufficient of his regard unto it Especially would it be so if we should consider with what remarkable Judgments and severe Reflections of Vengeance on its opposers this care hath been managed instances whereof might be easily multiplyed And if any will not ascribe this preservation of the Books of the Bible not only in their Being but in their purity and Integrity free from the least just suspition of corruption or the intermixture of any thing humane or heterogeneous unto the care of God it is incumbent on him to assign some other cause proportionate to such an effect whilst it was the interest of Heaven and the Endeavour of the Earth and Hell to have it corrupted and destroyed For my part I cannot but judg that he that seeth not an hand of divine Providence stretched out in the preservation of this Book and all that is in it its Words and Syllables for thousands of years through all the overthrows and deluges of Calamities that have befallen the World with the weakness of the means whereby it hath been preserved and the interest in some Ages of all those in whose power it was to have it corrupted as it was of the Apostate Churches of the Jews and Christians with the open opposition that hath been made unto it doth not believe there is any such thing as divine Providence at all It was first written in the very infancy of the Babylonian Empire with which it afterwards contemporized about 900 years By this Monarchy that people which alone had these Oracles of God committed unto them were oppressed destroyed and carried into captivity But this Book was then preserved amongst them whilst they were absolutely under the power of their Enemies although it condemned them and all their Gods and Religious Worship wherewith we know how horribly mankind is inraged Satan had enthroned himself as the Object of their Worship and the Author of all ways of divine veneration amongst them These they adhered unto as their principal interest as all People do unto that they esteem their Religion In the whole World there was nothing that judged condemned opposed him or them but this Book only which was now absolutely in their power If that by any means could have been destroyed then when it was in the hands but of a few and those for the most part flagitious in their lives hating the things contained in it and wholly under the power of their Adversaries the Interest of Satan and the whole World in Idolatry had been secured But through the meer provision of divine care it out-lived that Monarchy and saw the ruine of its greatest Adversaries So it did also during the continuance of the Persian Monarchy which succeeded whilst the people was still under the power of Idolaters against whom this was the only Testimony in the World By some branches of the Grecian Monarchy a most fierce and diligent attempt was made to have utterly destroyed it but still it was snatched by divine Power out of the Furnace not one hair of it being singed or the least detriment brought unto its perfection The Romans destroyed both the people and place designed until then for its preservation carrying the antient coppy of the Law in triumph to Rome on the conquest of Jerusalem And whilst all absolute power and dominion in the whole World where this Book was known or heard of was in their hands they exercised a rage against it for sundry Ages with the same success that former enemies had From the very first all the Endeavours of Mankind that professed an open enmity against it have been utterly frustrate And whereas also those unto whom it was outwardly committed as the Jews first and the Antichristian Church of Apostatized Christians afterwards not only fell into Opinions and Practices absolutely inconsistent with it but also built all their present and future Interests on those Opinions and Practices yet none of them durst ever attempt the corrupting of one Line in it but were forced to attempt their own Security by a pretence of Additional Traditions and keeping the Book it self as much as they durst out of the hands and knowledge of all not engaged in the same Interest with themselves Whence could all this proceed but from the watchful Care and Power of divine Providence And it is bruitish folly not to believe that what God doth so protect did originally proceed from Himself seeing it pleads and pretends so to do For every wise Man will take more Care of a Stranger than a Bastard falsly imposed on him unto his Dishonour 3. The Design of the whole and all the parts of it hath an impress on it of divine Wisdom and Authority And hereof there are two parts First to reveal God unto men and Secondly to direct men to come unto the enjoyment of God That these are the only two great Concerns of our nature of any rational Being were easy to prove but that it is acknowledged by all those with whom I treat Now never did any Book or Writing in the World any single or joynt endeavours of mankind or invisible Spirits in the way of Authority give out a Law Rule Guide and Light for all mankind universally in both these namely the Knowledge of God and our selves but this Book only and if any other it may be like the Alcoran did pretend in the least thereunto it quickly discovered its own folly and exposed it self to the contempt of all wise and considerate men The only Question is how it hath discharged it self in this Design for if it hath compleatly and perfectly accomplished it it is not only evident that it must be from God but also that it is the greatest Benefit and Kindness that divine Benignity and Goodness ever granted unto Mankind for without it all men universally must necessarily wander in an endless Maze of uncertainties without ever attaining Light Rest or Blessedness here or hereafter Wherefore 1. As it takes on it self to speak in the Name and Authority of God and delivers nothing commands nothing but what becomes his infinite Holiness Wisdom and Goodness so it makes that
Declaration of him in his Nature Being and Subsistence with the necessary Properties and Acts thereof his Will with all his voluntary Actings or Works wherein we may be or are concerned so as that we may know him aright and entertain true Notions and Apprehensions of him according to the utmost capacity of our finite limited Understanding Neither do we urge his Authority in this case but here and elsewhere resort unto the Evidence of his Reasonings compared with the Event or Matter of Fact What horrible Darkness Ignorance and Blindness was upon the whole World with respect unto the Knowledge of God what confusion and debasement of our Nature ensued thereon whilst God suffered all Nations to walk in their own ways and winked at the times of their Ignorance the Apostle declares at large Rom. 1. from the 19th verse to the end of the Chapter The Sum is That the only true God being become unknown to them as the wisest of them acknowledged Acts 17. 21. and as our Apostle proved against them the Devil that Murderer from the Beginning and Enemy of Mankind had under various pretences substituted himself in his Room and was become the God of this World as he is called 2 Cor. 4. 4. and had appropriated all the religious Devotion and Worship of the Generality of Mankind unto himself For the things which the Gentiles sacrificed they sacrificed unto Devils and not unto God as our Apostle affirms 1 Cor. 10. 20. and as may easily be evinced and I have abundantly manifested it elsewhere It is acknowledged that some few speculative Men among the Heathens did seek after God in that horrid Darkness wherewith they were encompassed and laboured to reduce their Conceptions and Notions of his Being unto what Reason could apprehend of infinite Perfections and what the Works of Creation and Providence could suggest unto them but as they could never come unto any certainty or consistency of Notions in their own minds proceeding but a little beyond Conjecture as is the manner of them who seek after any thing in the dark much less with one another to propose any thing unto the World for the use of Mankind in these things by common consent so they could none of them either ever free themselves from the grossest practical Idolatry in worshipping the Devil the Head of their Apostacy from God nor in the least influence the minds of the Generality of Mankind with any due Apprehensions of the divine Nature This is the Subject and Substance of the Apostles Disputation against them Rom. 1. In this state of things what misery and confusion the World lived in for many Ages what an endless Labyrinth of foolish slavish Superstitions and Idolatries it had cast it self into I have in another Discourse particularly declared With respect hereunto the Scripture is well called by the Apostle Peter a Light shining in a dark place 2 Pet. 11. 9. It gives unto all men at once a perfect clear steady uniform Declaration of God his Being Subsistence Properties Authority Rule and Actings which evidenceth it self unto the Minds and Consciences of all whom the God of this World hath not absolutely blinded by the power of prejudices and lusts confirming them in an Enmity unto and hatred of God himself There is indeed no more required to free Mankind from this horrible darkness and enormous conceptions about the Nature of God and the Worship of Idols but a sedate unprejudiced Consideration of the Revelation of these things in the Book of the Scripture We may say therefore to all the World with our Prophet When they say unto you Seek unto them who have familiar Spirits and unto Wizards that peep and mutter Should not a people seek unto their God for the living to the dead To the Law and to the Testimony if they speak not according to this Word it is because there is no light in them Isa. 8. 19 20. And this also plainly manifests the Scripture to be of a divine Original For if this Declaration of God this Revelation of Himself and his Will is incomparably the greatest and most excellent Benefit that our Nature is capable of in this World more needful for and useful unto Mankind than the Sun in the Firmament as to the proper end of their Lives and Beings and if none of the wisest men in the World neither severally nor joyntly could attain unto themselves or make known unto others this Knowledge of God so that we may say with our Apostle that in the Wisdom of God the World by Wisdom knew not God 1 Cor. 1. 21. And whereas those who attempted any such things yet waxed vain in their Imaginations and Conjectures so that no one person in the World dares own the Regulation of his Mind and Understanding by their Notions and Conceptions absolutely although they had all advantages of Wisdom and the Exercise of Reason above those at the least the most of them who wrote and published the Books of the Scripture it cannot with any pretence of Reason be questioned whether they were not given by Inspiration from God as they pretend and plead There is that done in them which all the World could not do and without the doing whereof all the World must have been eternally miserable and who could do this but God If any one shall judge that that Ignorance of God which was among the Heathens of old or is among the Indians at this day is not so miserable a matter as we make it or that there is any way to free them from it but by an Emanation of Light from the Scripture he dwells out of my present way upon the Confines of Atheism so that I shall not divert unto any Converse with him I shall only add That whatever Notions of Truth concâ—rning God and his Essence there may be found in those Philosophers who lived after the Preaching of the Gospel in the World or are at this day to be found among the Mahumetans or other false Worshippers in the World above those of the more ancient Pagans they all derive from the Fountain of the Scripture and were thence by various means traduced 2. The second End of this Doctrine is to direct Mankind in their proper Course of living unto God and attaining that Rest and Blessedness whereof they are capable and which they cannot but desire These things are necessary to our Nature so that without them it were better not to be for it is better to have no Being in the World than whiles we have it always to wander and never to act towards its proper end seeing all that is really good unto us consists in our Tendency thereunto and our Attainment of it Now as these things were never stated in the minds of the Community of Mankind but that they lived in perpetual confusion so the Enquiries of the Philosophers about the chief end of Man the Nature of Felicity or Blessedness the ways of attaining it are nothing but
did on the Authority of the Church of Rome in any sense whatever for the Reasons that shall be mentioned immediately But it may be granted that together with the Ministry of other Churches in the World and many other Providential Means of their Preservation and successive Communication we did de Facto receive the Scriptures by the Ministry of the Church of Rome also seeing they also were in the possession of them But this Ministry we allow only in the latter sense as an actual means in subserviency unto God's Providence without respect unto any especial Institution And for the Authority of the Church in this case in that sense wherein it is allowed namely as denoting the Weight and Importance of a Testimony which being strengthened by all sorts of Circumstances may be said to have great Authority in it we must be careful unto whom or what Church we grant or allow it For let men assume what Names or Titles to themselves they please yet if the Generality of them be corrupt or flagitious in their lives and have great secular Advantages which they highly prize and studiously improve from what they suppose and profess the Scripture to supply them withall be they called Church or what you please their Testimony therein is of very little value for all men may see that they have an earthly worldly Interest of their own therein And it will be said that if such Persons did know the whole Bible to be a Fable as one Pope expressed himself to that purpose they would not forego the Profession of it unless they could more advantage themselves in the World another way Wherefore whereas it is manifest unto all that those who have the Conduct of the Roman Church have made and do make to themselves great earthly temporal Advantages in Honour Power Wealth and Reputation in the World by their Profession of the Scripture their Testimony may rationally be supposed to be so far influenced by self interest as to be of little Validity The Testimony therefore which I intend is that of multitudes of persons of unspotted Reputâ—â—ion on all other accounts in the World free from all possibility of impeachment as unto any designed evil or conspiracy among themselves with respect unto any corrupt end and who having not the least secular Advantage by what they testified unto were absolutely secured against all Exceptions which either common Reason or common Vsage among Mankind can put in unto any Witness whatever And to evidence the force that is in this Consideration I shall briefly represent 1. Who they were that gave and do give this Testimony in some especial Instances 2. What they gave this Testimony unto 3. How or by what means they did so And in the first place The Testimony of those by whom the several Books of the Scripture were written is to be considered They all of them severally and joyntly witnessed that what they wrote was received by Inspiration from God This is pleaded by the Apostle Peter in the Name of them all 2 Pet. 1. 16 17 18 19 20 21. For we have not followed cunningly devised Fables when we made known unto you the Power and Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ but were eye witnesses of his Majesty For he received from God the Father honour and glory when there came such a voice to him from the excellent Glory This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased And this voice which came from Heaven we heard when we were with him in the holy Mount We have also a more sure word of Prophecy whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts Knowing this first that no Prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation For the Prophecy came not in old time by the Will of Man but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost This is the concurrent Testimony of the Writers both of the Old Testament and the New Namely that as they have certain knowledg of the things they wrote so their writing was by Inspiration from God So in particular John beareth witness unto his Revelations Chap. 19. 9. Chap. 22. 6. These are the true and faithful sayings of God And what weight is to be laid hereon is declared Joh. 21. 24. This is that Disciple which testifyeth of these things and wrote these things and we know that his testimony is true He testifyed the Truth of what he wrote but how was it known to the Church there intended we know that his Testimony is true that so it was indeed He was not absolutely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or one that was to be believed in meerly on his own account yet here it is spoken in the name of the Church with the highest Assurance and we know that his Testimony is true I answer this assurance of theirs did not arise meerly from his moral or natural endowments or holy Counsels but from the Evidence they had of his divine Inspiration Whereof we shall treat afterwards The things pleaded to give force unto this Testimony in particular are all that such a Testimony is capable of and so many as would require a large discourse by it self to propose discuss and confirm them But supposing the Testimony they gave I shall in compliance whith my own design reduce the Evidences of its Truth unto these two considerations 1. of their Persons and 2. of the Manner of their Writing 1. As to their Persons they were absolutely removed from all possible suspition of deceiving or being deceived The Wit of all the Atheistical Spirits in the World is not able to fix on any one thing that would be a tolerable ground of any such suspition concerning the integrity of witnesses could such a Testimony be given in any other case And surmises in things of this nature which had no pleadable ground for them are to be looked on as Diabolical suggestions or Atheistical Dreams or at best the false Imaginations of weak and distempered Minds The nature and design of their work their unconcernment with all secular interests their unacquaintance with one another the Times and Places wherein the things reported by them were done and acted the facility of convincing them of falshood if what they wrote in matter of fact which is the Fountain of what else they taught in case it were not true the evident certainty that this would have been done arising from the known Desire Ability Will and Interest of their Adversaries so to do had it been possible to be effected seeing this would have secured them the Victory in the conflicts wherein they were violently ingaged and have put an immediate issue unto all that difference and uproar that was in the World about their Doctrine their Harmony among themselves without conspiracy or antecedent Agreement the miseries which they underwent most of them without hope of releif or
recompence in this World upon the Sole Account of the Doctrine taught by themselves with all other circumstances innumerable that are pleadable to evince the sincerity and integrity of any witnesses whatever do all concur to prove that they did not follow cunningly devised Fables in what they declared concerning the Mind and Will of God as immediately from himself To confront this evidence with bare Surmizes incapable of any rational Countenance or Confirmation is only to manifest what bruitish impudence Infidelity and Atheism are forced to retreat unto for shelter 2. Their Stile and Manner of Writing deserves a peculiar consideration For there are impressed on it all those Characters of a divine Original that can be communicated unto such an outward Adjunct of divine Revelation Notwithstanding the distance of the Ages and Seasons wherein they lived the difference of the Languages wherein they wrote with the great variety of their Parts Abilities Education and other circumstances yet there is upon the whole and all the parts of their writing that Gravity Majesty and Authority mixed with plainness of speech and absolute freedom from all appearance of affectation of esteem or applause or any things else that derive from humane frailty as must excite an Admiration in all that seriously consider them But I have at large elsewhere insisted on this consideration And have also in the same place shewed that there is no other writing extant in the world that ever pretended unto a divine Original as the Apocriphal Books under the Old Testament and some fragments of spurious pieces pretended to be written in the days of the Apostles but they are not only from their matter but from the manner of their writing and the plain footsteps of humane Artifice and Weakness therein sufficient for their own conviction and do openly discover their own vain pretensions So must every thing necessarily do which being meerly humane pretends unto an immediate derivation from God When men have done all they can these things will have as evident a difference between them as there is between Wheat and Chaff between real and painted Fire Jer. 23. 28 29. 2. Unto the Testimony of the Divine Writers themselves we must add that of those who in all Ages have believed in Christ through their Word which is the description which the Lord Jesus Christ giveth of his Church Joh. 17. 20. This is the Church that is those who wrote the Scripture and those who believe in Christ through their word through all Ages which beareth witness to the divine Original of the Scripture and it may be added that we know this witness is true With these I had rather venture my Faith and eternal condition then with any Society any real or pretended Church whatever And among these there is an especial consideration to be had of those innumerable multitudes who in the primitive times witnessed this confession all the World over For they had many advantages above us to know the certainty of sundry matters of fact which the verity of our Religion depends upon And we are directed unto an especial regard of their Testimony which is signalized by Christ himself In the great Judgment that is to be passed on the World the first Appearance is of the Souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus Christ and for the Word of God Rev. 20. 4. And there is at present an especial regard unto them in Heaven upon the account of their Witness and Testimony Rev. 6. 9 10 11. These were they who with the loss of their lives by the Sword and other ways of violence gave testimony unto the Truth of the Word of God And to reduce these things unto a rational consideration who can have the least occasion to suspect all those persons of folly weakness credulity wickedness or conspiracy among themselves which such a diffused multitude was absolutely uncapable of Neither can any man undervalue their Testimony but he must comply with their Adversaries against them who were known generally to be of the worst of Men. And who is there that believes there is a God and an eternal future State that had not rather have his Soul with Paul than Nero with the Holy Martyrs than their bestial Persecutors Wherefore this Suffrage and Testimony begun from the first writing of the Scripture and carried on by the best of Men in all Ages and made conspicuously glorious in the primitive times of Christianity must needs be with all wise men unavoidably cogent at least unto a due and sedate consideration of what they bare witness unto and sufficient to scatter all such prejudices as Atheism or prophaneness may raise or suggest Secondly What it was they gave Testimony unto is duly to be considered And this was not that the Book of the Scripture was Good Holy and True in all the contents of it only but that the whole and every part of it was given by divine Inspiration as their Faith in this matter is expressed 2 Pet. 1. 20 21. On this account and no other did they themselves receive the Scripture as also believe and yeild Obedience unto the things contained in it Neither would they admit that their Testimony was received if the whole World would be content to allow of or obey the Scripture on any other or lower terms Nor will God himself allow of an Assent unto the Scripture under any other conception but as the Word which is immediately spoken by himself Hence they who refuse to give credit thereunto are said to bely the Lord and say it is not he Jer. 5. 2. Yea to make God a liar 1 Joh. 5. 10. If all mankind should agree together to receive and make use of this Book as that which taught nothing but what is Good useful and profitable to humane Society as that which is a compleat Directory unto men in all that they need to believe or do towards God the best means under Heaven to bring them to setlement satisfaction and assurance in the Knowledg of God and themselves as the safest Guide to eternal blessedness and therefore must needs be written and composed by persons Wise Holy and Honest above all comparison and such as had that Knowledg of God and his Will as is necessary unto such an undertaking yet all this answers not the Testimony given by the Church of Believers in all ages unto the Scriptures It was not lawful for them it is not for us so to compound this matter with the World That the whole Scripture was given by Inspiration from God that it was his Word his true and faithful sayings was that which in the first place they gave Testimony unto and we also are obliged so to do They never pretended unto any other Assurance of the things they professed nor any other Reason of their Faith and Obedience but that the Scripture wherein all these things are contained was given immediately from God or was his Word And therefore they were
always esteemed no less Traytors to Christianity who gave up their Bibles to Persecutors than those who denyed Jesus Christ. 3. The manner wherein this Testimony was given adds to the importance of it For 1. Many of them especially in some seasons gave it in and with sundry miraculous operations This our Apostle pleadeth as a corroboration of the witness given by the first preachers of the Gospel unto the Truths of it Heb. 2. 4. as the same was done by all the Apostles together Act. 5. 32. It must be granted that these Miracles were not wrought immediately to confirm this single Truth that the Scripture was given by inspiration of God But the end of miracles is to be an immediate witness from Heaven or Gods attestation to their Persons and Ministry by whom they were wrought His Presence with them and Approbation of their Doctrine were publickly declared by them But the miracles wrought by the Lord Christ and his Apostles whereby God gave immediate Testimony unto the divine Mission of their Persons and infallible truth of their Doctrine might either not have been written as most of them were not or they might have been written and their doctrine recorded in Books not given by inspiration from God Besides as to the miracles wrought by Christ himself and most of those of the Apostles they were wrought among them by whom the Books of the Old Testament were acknowledged as the oracles of God and before the writing of those of the New So that they could not be wrought in the immediate confirmation of the one or the other Neither have we any infallible Testimony concerning these Miracles but the Scripture it self wherein they are recorded whence it is necessary that we should believe the Scripture to be infallibly true before we can believe on grounds infallible the miracles therein recorded to be so Wherefore I grant that the whole force of this consideration lyeth in this alone that those who gave Testimony to the Scripture to be the Word of God had an Attestation given unto their Ministry by these miraculous operations concerning which we have good collateral security also 2. Many of them confirmed their Testimony with their Sufferings being not only witnesses but Martyrs in the peculiar Church notion of that word grounded on the Scripture Act. 22. 20. Rev. 2. 13. Chap. 17. 7. So far were they from any Worldly advantage by the Profession they made and the Testimony they gave as that in the confirmation of them they willingly and cheerfully underwent whatever is evil dreadful or destructive to humane nature in all its temporary concerns It is therefore unquestionable that they had the highest Assurance of the Truth in these things which the Mind of Man is capable of The management of this Argument is the principal design of the Apostle in the whole 11th Chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews For having declared the nature of faith in general namely that it is the subsistence of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen ver 1. That is such an â—ssent unto and confidence of invisible things things capable of no demonstration from Sense or Reason as respects divine Revelation only whereinto alone it is resolved for our encouragement thereunto and establishment therein he produceth a long Catalogue of those who did suffered and obtained great things thereby That which he principally insists upon is the Hardships Miseries Cruelties Tortures and several sorts of Deaths which they underwent especially from ver 35. to the end These he calleth a Cloud of Witnesses wherewith we are compassed about Chap. 12. 1. giving Testimony unto what we do believe that is divine Revelation and in an especial manner the promises therein contained unto our encouragement in the same duty as he there declares And certainly what was thus testified unto by so many Great Wise and Holy Persons and that in such a way and manner hath as great an outward evidence of its Truth as any thing of that nature is capable of in this World 3. They gave not their Testimony casually or on some extraordinary Occasion only or by some one solemn act or in some one certain way as other Testimonies are given nor can be given otherwise but they gave their Testimony in this cause in their whole course in all that they thought spake or did in the World and in the whole disposal of their ways lives and actions as every true Believer continueth to do at this day For a man when he is occasionally called out to give a verbal Testimony unto the divine original of the Scripture ordering in the mean time the whole course of his conversation his hopes designs ayms and ends without any eminent respect or regard unto it his Testimony is of no value nor can have any influence on the minds of sober and considerate men But when men do manifest and evince that the Declaration of the mind of God in the Scripture hath a Sovereign divine Authority over their Souls and Consciences absolutely and in all things then is their Witness cogent and efficacious There is to me a thousand times more force and weight in the Testimony to this purpose of some holy persons who universally and in all things with respect unto this World and their future eternal condition in all their thoughts words actions and ways do really experiment in themselves and express to others the power and Authority of this Word of God in their Souls and Consciences living doing suffering and dying in peace assurance of mind and consolation thereon then in the verbal declaration of the most splendid numerous Church in the World who evidence not such an inward sense of its power and Efficacy There is therefore that force in the real Testimony which hath been given in all Ages by all this sort of persons not one excepted unto the divine Authority of the Scripture that it is highly arrogant for any one to question the Truth of it without evident convictions of its imposture which no person of any tolerable Sobriety did ever yet pretend unto I shall add in the last place the consideration of that Success which the doctrine derived solely from the Scripture and resolved thereinto hath had in the World upon the Minds and Lives of Men especially upon the first preaching of the Gospel And two things offer themselves hereon immediately unto our consideration First the Persons by whom this doctrine was successfully carried on in the World and Secondly the Way and Manner of the propagation of it Both which the Scripture takes notice of in particular as evidences of that divine power which the Word was really accompanied withal For the persons unto whom this work was committed I mean the Apostles and first Evangelists were as to their outward condition in the World Poor Low and every way despised and as unto the endowments of their minds destitute of all those Abilities and Advantages which might give them either Reputation or
Place that the Plea hitherto insisted on cannot be managed without great Disadvantage to Christian Religion For if we take away the Rational Grounds on which we believe the Doctrine of Christ to be True and Divine and the whole Evidence of the Truth of it be laid on things not only derided by Men of Atheistical Spirits but in themselves such as cannot be discerned by any but such as do believe on what Grounds can we proceed to convince an Unbeliever Answer 1. By the way it is one thing to prove and believe the Doctrine of Christ to be True and Divine another to prove and believe the Scripture to be given by Inspiration of God or the Divine Authority of the Scripture which alone was proposed unto Consideration A Doctrine True and Divine may be written in and proposed unto us by Writings that were not divinely and infallibly inspired and so might the Doctrine of Christ have been but not without the unspeakable Disadvantage of the Church And there are sundry Arguments which forcibly and effectually prove the Doctrine of Christ to have been True and Divine which are not of any Efficacy to prove the Divine Authority of the Scriptures though on the other hand whatever doth prove the Divine Authority of the Scriptures doth equally prove the Divine Truth of the Doctrine of Christ. 2. There are two Ways of convincing Vnbelievers the one insisted on by the Apostles and their Followers the other by some learned Men since their Days The Way principally insisted on by the Apostles was by preaching the Word it self unto them in the Evidence and Demonstration of the Spirit by the Power whereof manifesting the Authority of God in it they were convinced and falling down acknowledged God to be in it of a Truth 1 Cor. 2. 4 5. ch 14. 25 26. It is likely that in this their Proposal of the Gospel the Doctrine and Truths contained in it unto Unbelievers that those of Atheistical Spirits would both deride them and it and so indeed it came to pass many esteeming themselves to be Bablers and their Doctrine to be errant Folly But yet they desisted not from pursuing their Work in the same way whereunto God gave success The other VVay is to prove unto Vnbelievers that the Scripture is True and Divine by rational Arguments wherein some learned Persons have laboured especially in these last Ages to very good purpose And certainly their Labours are greatly to be commended whilst they attend unto these Rules 1. That they produce no Arguments but such as are cogent and not liable unto just Exceptions For if to manifest their own Skill or Learning they plead such Reasons as are capable of an Answer and Solution they exceedingly prejudice the Truth by subjecting it unto dubious Disputations whereas in it self it is Clear Firm and Sacred 2. That they do not pretend their rational Grounds and Arguments to be the Sole Foundation that Faith hath to rest upon or which it is resolved into For this were the ready way to set up an Opinion instead of Faith Supernatural and Divine Accept but of these two Limitations and it is acknowledged that the rational Grounds and Arguments intended may be rationally pleaded and ought so to be unto the Conviction of Gainsayers For no Man doth so plead the self-evidencing Power of the Scripture as to deny that the Use of other external Motives and Arguments is necessary to stop the Mouths of Atheists as also unto the further Establishment of them who do believe These Things are subordinate and no way inconsistent The Truth is if we will attend unto our own and the Experience of the whole Church of God the way whereby we come to believe the Scripture to be the Word of God ordinarily is this and no other God having first given his Word as the Foundation of our Faith and Obedience hath appointed the Ministry of Men at first extraordinary afterwards ordinary to propose unto us the Doctrines Truths Precepts Promises and Threatnings contained therein Together with this Proposition of them they are appointed to declare that these things are not from themselves nor of their own Invention 2 Tim. 3. 14 15 16 17. And this is done variously Unto some the VVord of God in this Ministry thus comes or is thus proposed preached or declared whilst they are in a Condition not only utterly unacquainted with the Mysteries of it but filled with contrary Apprehensions and consequently Prejudices against it Thus it came of old unto the Pagan World and must do so unto such Persons and Nations as are yet in the same state with them Unto these the first Preachers of the Gospel did not produce the Book of the Scriptures and tell them that it was the Word of God and that it would evidence it self unto them so to be For this had been to despise the Wisdom and Authority of God in their own Ministry But they preached the Doctrines of it unto them grounding themselves on the Divine Revelation contained therein And this Proposition of the Truth or Preaching of the Gospel was not left of God to work it self into the Reasons of Men by the Suitableness of it thereunto but being his own Institution for their Illumination and Conversion he accompanied it with Divine Power and made it effectual unto the Ends designed Rom. 1. 16. And the Event hereof among Mankind was that by some this new Doctrine was derided and scorned by others whose Hearts God opened to attend unto it it was embraced and submitted unto Among those who after the Propagation of the Gospel are born as they say within the Pale of the Church the same Doctrine is variously instilled into Persons according unto the several Duties and Concerns of others to instruct them Principally the Ministry of the Word is ordained of God unto that End wheron the Church is the Ground and Pillar of Truth Those of both Sorts unto whom the Doctrine mentioned is preached or proposed are directed unto the Scriptures as the Sacred Repository thereof For they are told that these things come by Revelation from God and that Revelation is contained in the Bible which is his Word Upon this Proposal with Enquiry into it and Consideration of it God co-operating by his Spirit there is that Evidence of its Divine Original communicated unto their Minds through its Power and Efficacy with the Characters of Divine Wisdom and Holiness implanted on it which they are now enabled to discern that they believe it and rest in it as the immediate Word of God Thus was it in the Case of the Woman of Samaria and the Inhabitants of Sychar with respect unto their Faith in Christ Jesus John 4. 42. This is the way whereby Men ordinarily are brought to believe the Word of God Rom. 10. 14 15. and that neither by external Arguments or Motives which no one Soul was ever converted unto God by nor by any meer naked Proposal and Offer of the Book unto them
the help of other means 4. On these Suppositions I fear not to affirm that there are on every Individual Book of the Scripture particularly those named those Divine Characters and Criteria which are sufficient to difference them from all other VVritings whatever and to testify their Divine Authority unto the Minds and Consciences of Believers I say of Believers for we enquire not on what Ground unbelievers or those who do not believe do believe the VVord of God nor yet directly on what outward Motives such Persons may be induced so to do But our sole Enquiry at present is what the Faith of them who do believe is resolved into It is not therefore said that when our Lord Jesus Christ for we acknowledg that there is the same Reason of the first giving out of Divine Revelations as is of the Scripture came and preached unto the Jews that those meer VVords I am the Light of the World or the like had all this Evidence in them or with them for nothing he said of that kind may be separated from its Circumstances but supposing the Testimonies given in the Scripture before hand to his Person Work Time and Manner of Coming with the Evidence of the Presence of God with him in the declaration that he made of his Doctrine and himself to be the Messiah the Jews were bound to believe what he taught and himself to be the Son of God the Saviour of the World and so did many of them upon his Preaching only John 4. 42. And in like manner they were bound to believe the Doctrine of John Baptist and to submit unto his Institutions although he wrought no Miracle and those who did not rejected the Counsel of God for their Good and perished in their unbelief But although our Lord Jesus Christ wrought no Miracles to prove the Scripture then extant to be the VVord of God seeing he wrought them among such only as by whom that was firmly believed yet the VVisdom of God saw it necessary to confirm his Personal Ministry by them And without a Sense of the Power and Efficacy of the Divine Truth of the Doctrine proposed Miracles themselves will be despised so they were by some who were afterwards converted by the Preaching of the VVord Acts 2. 13. chap. 3. 7 8. or they will produce only a false Faith or a ravished Assent upon an Amazement that will not abide Acts 8. 13 21. APPENDIX A Summary Representation of the Nature and Reason of that Faith wherewith we believe the Scripture to be the Word of God with some Attestations given unto the Substance of what hath been delivered concerning it shall give a Close to this Discourse As to the first Part of this Design the Things that follow are proposed I. Unto the Enquiry on what Grounds or for what Reason we believe the Scripture to be the Word of God many Things are supposed as on all hands agreed upon whose Demonstration or Proof belongs not unto our present Work Such are 1. The Being of God and his Self-subsistence with all the Essential Properties of his Nature 2. Our Relation unto him and Dependance on him as our Creator Benefactor Preserver Judge and Rewarder both as unto Things Temporal and Eternal Wherefore 3. The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whatever may be known of God by the Light of Nature whatever is manifest in or from the Works of Creation or Providence and necessary Actings of Conscience as to the Being Rule and Authority of God is supposed as acknowledged in this Enquiry 4. That beyond the Conduct and Guidance of the Light of Nature that Men may live unto God believe and put their Trust in him according to their Duty in that Obedience which he requireth of them so as to come unto the Enjoyment of Him a Supernatural Revelation of his Mind and Will unto them especially in that Condition wherein all Mankind are since the Entrance of Sin is necessary 5. That all those unto whom God hath granted Divine Revelations immediately from Himself for their own use and that of all other Men unto whom they were to be communicated were infallibly assured that they came from God and that their Minds were no way imposed on in them 6. That all these Divine Revelations so far as they are any way necessary to guide and instruct Men in the true Knowledg of God and that Obedience which is acceptable unto him are now contained in the Scriptures or those Books of the Old and New Testament which are commonly received and owned among all Sorts of Christians These Things I say are supposed unto our present Enquiry and taken for granted so as that the Reader is not to look for any direct Proof of them in the preceding Discourse But on these Suppositions it is alledged and proved 1. That all Men unto whom it is duly proposed as such are bound to believe this Scripture these Books of the Old and New Testament to be the Word of God that is to contain and exhibit an Immediate Divine Supernatural Revelation of his Mind and Will so far as is any way needful that they may live unto him and that nothing is contained in them but what is of the same Divine Original 2. The Obligation of this Duty of thus Believing the Scripture to be the Word of God ariseth partly from the Nature of the Thing it self and partly from the especial Command of God For it being that Revelation of the Will of God without the Knowledg whereof and Assent whereunto we cannot live unto God as we ought nor come unto the enjoyment of him it is necessary that we should believe it unto those Ends and God requireth it of us that so we should do 3. We cannot thus believe it in a way of Duty but upon a sufficient Evidence and prevalent Testimony that so it is 4. There are many cogent Arguments Testimonies and Motives to perswade convince and satisfy unprejudiced Persons that the Scripture is the Word of God or a Divine Revelation and every way sufficient to stop the Mouths of Gain-sayers proceeding on such Principles of Reason as are owned and approved by the Generality of Mankind And Arguments of this Nature may be taken from almost all Considerations of the Properties of God and his Government of the World of our Relation unto him of what belongs unto our present Peace and future Happiness 5. From the Arguments and Testimonies of this Nature a firm Perswasion of Mind defensible against all Objections that the Scripture is the Word of God may be attained and that such as that those who live not in Contradiction unto their own Light and Reason through the Power of their Lusts cannot but judg it their Wisdom Duty and Interest to yield Obedience unto his VVill as revealed therein 6. But yet that Perswasion of Mind which may be thus attained and which resteth wholly upon these Arguments and Testimonies is not entirely that Faith wherewith we are obliged to believe the