to to our Sences Testimony was sufficient to do it so it were sufficiently qualify'd that is the best and on the best manner supported that any ordinary means can be such was the Testimony of the Church or Tradition which besides what is found in humane Testimony has also the whole body joynt force of supernaturall motives to preserve the Testifiers Attentive and Veracious Thus the Church or the Christian Society of Men being establish't Infallible in delivering down Faith needs not prove her Infallibility by Miracles but 't is sufficient the Faithfull beleeve that Christ promis't to protect her from Errour and consequently to beleeve the An est of her Infallibility or that she is infallible upon the same Rule they beleeve all their Faith and the Scriptures too viz. upon Tradition and that her Controversiall Divines who are to defend Faith by way of Reason or Argument prove the Quid est of this Infallibility or make out in what it consists or in what second Causes this ordinary and constant Assistance is founded and consequently prove it's force by such Maxims as ground the Certainty of Humane Testimony and if the Reader comprehends them by the strange efficacy of supernaturall motives also conspiring to strengthen Nature as to that effect of rightly testifying the Doctrine received and beleeved to be Christ's 8. There is no Necessity then of proving this Infallibility meerly by Scripture interpreted by virtue of this Infallibility Nor do the Faithfull or the Church commit a Circle in beleeving that the Church is Infallible upon Tradition For first taking them as Faithfull precisely they are meerly Beleevers not Reasoners or such as put one proposition artificially before or after another Next they beleeve only the supernaturall Infallibility built on the Assistance of the Holy Ghost that is on the Churches Sanctity and this is prov'd by the Human Testimony of the Church to have been ever held since the beginning and the force of the Human Testimony of the Church is prov'd by Maxims of meer Reason Add that the Certainty of such a vaâ—t Testimony is self-evident practically in the same manner as 't is self-evident that the Testimony of all England cannot deceive us in telling us there was such a man as King Iames whence no Circle can possibly be committed if it be beleeved for it's own sake or rather known by its own light though there would be if discoursing it rationally we should put the same Proposition to be before and after it self 9. Since those who have the least capacity of penetrating Scripture and consequently according to Dr. St. have the fewest Motives of good life applyed to them may frequently live amongst greatest Temptations that is in circumstances of needing the most 'T is a blind Undertaking and no securer nor wiser than idle Fortune-telling to bear men in hand that persons of all capacities who sincerely Endeavour shall understand Scripture in all such things as are necessary for their Salvation 10. Since 't is most evident that private Iudgments may err in understanding Scripture but not evident that Christ has not promis'd his Church Security from erring in Faith they run the greater hazard by far who rely on their private sense of Scripture then those do who rely on the Church especially since the Church denyes not Scripture but professes to go according to it and so in common reason is likely to comprehend its meaning far better than private men but most especially since our Moderns when they first began to rely on their own Judgments of Scripture for their Faith revolted from hearing the Church and rebell'd against Pastours and lawfull Superiours which both Gods Law and the light of Nature taught them they were to follow and submit to Thus our new Apostle of the private spirit of Gifts and new Light hath endeavour'd to pull down the Church and subvert the Foundation laid by Christ and instead thereof to set up as many Churches as there are private and proud Fancies in the world Each of which may by this devillish Doctrine defy the Church for Teaching him his Faith or for governing him as as a Church that is governing him as one of the Faithfull for she can bind never a subject in conscience to any thing but what her self and each man judges to be True and Sound wherefore if any or each private person understands Scripture another way then she does he is enfranchis'd by his Rule of Faith which he ought not relinquish from her Authority she may in that case wish him well and pity him as every old wife may also do and he in return may wish well to the Church end pity her She may endeavour to admonish and instruct him better so to pluck him out of his Errour and he in requital that he may not be behind-hand with the Church in Courtesy may with equal nay better Title admonish the Church of her failing and endeavour to pull her out of her Errour or as the new phrase is reform her for being conscious to himself that he reads the Scripture and sincerely indeavours to know the meaning of it he has all the security of his Faith and consequently of the Churches being in an Errour that may be Nor can he being thus gifted want Power to preach to her and others For certainly the World would be most perversly ordered if they who are in Errour should have Licence and Power to propagate their Errours and those who follow Truth should have no leave to propagate Truth Thus the Church has lost all power that is has lost her self being able neither to lead nor drive her equally-gifted Subjects so that her exercising Jurisdiction over them would by this wicked Doctrine be a most Tyrannical persecution and every such private man's refractory Disobedience see the wonderful gifts of the private spirit would become a most Glorious Confession of Christian Faith and every Rebell acting against the Church so he be but so self-conceited as to judge he knows more of God's mind in the Scripture then all the Church besides would by this Doctrine in case the Secular power should think fit to curb his Insolence be a most blessed Martyr such no doubt as John Fox'es were The Fifth Examen Sifting the Eleven remaining Principles which seem Chiefly to concern the nature of Faith WHoever hath perus'd the foregoing Examin and reflected well upon what a sandy Foundation Dr. St. has built his Faith will doubtless expect that he will assigne it such a nature as is of no exceeding great strength for fear lest his weak Grounds ' should not support his Superstructures nor his Proofs carry home to his Conclusions Now the Conceit which the Generality of Christians have of Faith importing it's true Nature is that 't is such an Assent as is impossible to be an Errour or False Whence follows that its Grounds are likewise such And indeed since all hold That Faith is an Immoveable and Unalterable Assent which is to
is concern'd and there can be no sufficient reason why that may not serve in matters of Faith which God himself hath made use of as the means to keep them from Sin in their lives Vnless any imagine that Errours in Opinion are far more dangerous to mens souls then a vicious life is and therefore God is bound to take more care to prevent the one then the other The Dr. being conscious to himself that he had notwithstanding all his promises to reduce Faith to Principles and to prove it's Certainty left it still Vncertain thought it his best Expedient to close his blinde Principles with a speeding one which to the shame of all Principles should maintain that it need not be Certain though he couches this sense warily as it behooves him He seems to ground his Sceptical Discourse on this that Men are Fallible and so subject to mistake the sence of the Scriptures I wish he would speak out once in his life and tell us plainly whether all Mankinde be Fallible in every thing or only in some things and in some Circumstances Again whether he means that men are naturally Fallible or supernaturally that is by means of God's Infinite Power if it should set it â—elf to deceive them If the later 't is not nor ought to be our Question for no man who has any Reverence for God or his Attributes will ever think that he will do Miracles still to leade Mankind into Errour but rather judge it becomes his Goodness to provide in case the Good of the world or the Church should require that some extraordinary thing be done that Mankind should have notice of it by some Certain way to prevent his Erring as it happens in the case of the Eucharist Taking him then to mean that man is naturally Fallible we enquire further Is all Mankind however one sence or another accidentally may be insincere in one or another particular yet is all Mankind naturally Fallible in their daily Sensations or which is all one are the Senses of all Mankind so fram'd as to convey wrong Impressions into his Knowing Power If not they cannot erre naturally nor do I think Dr. St. will say our Senses thus and in this are Fallible If he does I know not what to say of him which is that he is a perfect Pyrrhonian and unworthy of Mankind's Conversation or Discourse with him for to what end should men discourse with him if all his Senses being Fallible himself knows not whether they discourse or no I ask still further Are men naturally Fallible in some things not had immediately from sense for example in knowing that the world was on foot a year before we were born or in First Principles as Aequale est aequale sibi An Equal equal to it self Or in a Conclusion immediately depending on such Principles as that therefore three lines drawn from the Center to the Circumference are equal and such like I think he will not say it We see then Men are capable of Infallibility or Certainty of their own nature wherefore they can aim at it and desire it especially in Faith which is of so high a Concern to their Souls and the basis of all their Spiritual Building therefore both for that Reason and very many others recounted and inforced by me in Faith Vindicated and elsewhere they ought to have this Certainty especially since the Truth of Faith is neither Proveable Maintainable nor professible without it in case such a Certainty be not in it self Impossible and that 't is not so I have said something both in my Reason against Raillery p. 64. to 67. and p. 112. to p. 116. as also in this present Treatise in my Answer to the 27. Principle But setting this aside we will proceed and demand still farther Are men deceivable in knowing what one another means in ordinary Conversation or domestick affairs Can the Maâ—â—er and the Man the Mistress and her Maid understand one another Or in case some ambiguous Expression intermingle it self cannot the Speaker upon the other 's signifying his dissatisfaction absolutely clear his doubt and make himself be throughly understood Experience tels us they can and that they may as easily be mistaken in their Sensations as in such kinde of Expressions We see then Men are Infallible in many things and even in understanding words aright in same cases If then they be Fallible in understanding Scriptures and this in the main and Fundamental Points of Christianity as was shown above 't is evident this Fallibility is not to be refunded totally into the Subject or Man since he is capable of Infallible Certainty in other things but into the want of Clearness in the Letter of Scripture as to such Points in proportion to private Understandings and consequently that it was never intended by God for their Rule of Faith since though both sides rely on this yet one even while doing thus is still in an Errour and such an Errour as is a Heresie Since then what we hold is that men are Infallible in affairs belonging to Faith and this while they rely on the Grounds left by God for them to embrace Faith I would ask him in a word whether he holds all men may be deceived in that very affair even while they do this to the best of their power If he says they can 't is unavoidable all the Christian world may possibly be now in an Errour and all Christian Faith be a meer lye As also 't is evident that in that case God would have left no ordinary means to secure his Church or any man in it from Errour lastly that God leads men into Errour sâ—nce they acting to the best of their Power as is supposed their Errour cannot be refunded into them but into the deâ—ectiveness of those Means that is their want of Perspicuity or sufficient Plainness to their addicted and faithfully-endeavouring Understandings even as to those main Points Thus much to show how craftily Dr. St. to avoid reflexion on the Unfitness of the Rule he assigns puts it only upon men's being Fallible and how unreasonably he behaves himself in so doing Let us now see how he provides against this Fallibility lest otherwise all Mankind should erre in their Faith He tels us that there can be no better way to prevent men's mistakes in the sense of Scripture which men being Fallible are subject to than the considering the consequence of mistaking in a matter wherein their Salvation is concern'd Well put this Consideration in men are any of them by vertue thereof yet Infallible or secur'd from erring in understanding Scripture If not all mankind may yet according to his Grounds be in an Errour in matters belonging to Faith and so all Christian Faith may still possibly be False notwithstanding all the Provision put by him to secure them and It. But if this render them absolutely secure from Erring then we may hope God's Church too may have the grace given her by God
only in the Word It being agreed then amongst us all that what Christ and his Apostles taught is Gods Word or his Will and the Means to Salvation all that is to be done by us as to matters of Faith is to know with Absolute Certainty what was the first taught Doctrine or Christs sense and whatever can thus assure us of that is deservedly call'd the Rule of Faith Now the word Rule made use of to mean a Spiritual or Intellectual Direction is Metaphorical or translated from some Material thing as most words that express Spiritual Notions are and 't is one of those kind of Metaphors which are transferr'd from one thing to another for some Proportion or Resemblance between them For as a Material Rule is such a thing as if one endeavour to go according to it and decline not from it preserves one from going crooked so this Intellectual Rule call'd the Rule of Faith is of that Nature that if one go according to it and swerve not from it it preserves one from going wrong or from erring in his knowledge of what is True or First-deliver'd Faith and Faith being intended for persons of all sorts or Capacities the Rule of Faith must be able to preserve even those of the meanest Capacity from Erring in Faith while they relie upon It. Agian this being the Proper and Primary Effect of the Rule of Faith and every Nature that is having essentially in it self a Power to produce of its self and without the Assistance of any other its Primary Effect or rather being it self that Power as man to discourse Fire to burn c. it follows that since to preserve all that relie on it in right Faith is the Proper effect of the Rule of Faith what has not in it self the Power to do this and this of its self independently on any thing else but on God who establishes the Natures of all things to be Certain Powers to produce their Proper Effect is not in true speech a Rule of Faith Since then not one Catholick in the World holds that Scriptures Letter of it self and independently on something else viz thâ— Church's Tradition attesting the Truth of the same Letter and Interpreting it has in it self Power thus to certifie persons of all capacities of Christian Faith without possibility of Erring nor any one but holds the Churches Authority is able alone to do this Effect since 't is known and confest it actually perform'd this in the beginning there is not one Catholick that I know of who holds either that the Scripture is the Rule of Faith taking the words in this sense or that any thing but the Churches living voice and Practice or Tradition is It and so taking the words properly as I do they all agree with me On the other side taking those words the Rule of Faith for any thing that contains Faith or that may signify it with absolute Certainty to people of all sorts not of it self but meerly by vertue of another whose Power of Asserting the Truth of the Letter in those Passages at least that concern Christian Faith and of unerringly Interpreting it lends it to be thus certainly significative of Gods Will taking I say Rule of Faith in this sense as some of ours do I grant with them that Scripture is a Rule of Faith So that still I agree with them in the Thing only I dissent from them in the word and judge that this Container of Christs Doctrin as now describ'd is but improperly call'd a Rule of Faith as not having in it self the nature of such a Rule that is not having a Power in it self and of its self thus to ascertain Faith by absolutely engaging the Divine Authority This Distinction now given I learned from the Council of Trent which no where says that Scripture is a Rule of Faith as it does expresly of Tradition Sess. 5. but only that it contains Faith as also Tradition does but whether it contains it in such a manner that all those who are to have Faith by relying on it may by so doing be absolutely secur'd from erring which is requisite over and above to make it in true speech deserve the name of a Rule the Council says nothing I am sure it is far from saying that people of all sorts reading the Scriptures and attending solely to the Letter as interpreted and understood by their private selves shall be sure never to erre in right Faith nay it engages not for their security from erring so much as in any one point which yet ought to be said if Scripture in it self and of it self have the power of regulating them in their Faith or be a Rule Rather the Council by its Carriage says the direct contrary for though being about to define against Hereticks it professes to follow in its definitions the written word yet 't is observable that it no where builds on any place of Scripture but it professes at the same time to build its Interpretation of that place on Tradition which evidently argues that though Scripture in the Judgment of the Council contain'd the Point yet that which indeed regulated the Council in its Definitions was the Tradition of the Church as it also expresly declares where ever it defines And I dare say that there is not one Catholick in the world who thinks the Council knew not both what and how to define against Luther and Calvin at that time without needing to seek its Faith anew in Texts of Scripture which plainly concludes that the Council was not regulated by It or look'd upon it as her Rule but only consider'd it as of a sacred Authority and available against Hereticks professing to rely on Scripture and accusing the Church for going contrary to the Word of God Nay the Council defines that none should dare to interpret Scripture contrary to the sense which our H. Mother the Catholick Church hath held and does hold which clearly takes it out of private hands and makes the sense of the Church ever held the only Interpreter of Scripture especially in matters of Faith and extends to all Scripture which unavoidably makes it no Rule of Faith I am sure the Distinction now given shows my sentiment consistent if not perfectly agreeing with that Common Opinion of our Divines that Scripture is a Partial Rule or that Scripture and Tradition integrate one compleat Rule For they clearly mean by those words that Faith is partly contain'd in Scripture partly in the Tradition of the Church So that what they had an eye to in so doing was not the Evidence requisit to a Rule but only the degree of Extent of Scripture to the matter contain'd in it whence 't is evident they meant onely that Scripture contain'd some part of Faith which I perfectly allow to it and perhaps more This is my Judgment concerning the notioâ— of the Rule of Faith and what is such a Rule and these my Reasons for that Judgment If any one thinks
Christianity yet for any thing we know or these crafty common words inform us they have still all that is needfull to save them that is though they go wrong all their lives they are still all the while in the way to Heaven But I suppose Dr. St. means that no more is necessary for any ones salvation than just as much as he can understand in Scripture Which I wish he would once begin to set himself to prove make out by some convincing argument I am heartily weary of speaking still to his unprov'd and voluntary Assertions 14. To suppose the Books so written to be imperfect i. e. that any things necessary to be believed or practised are not contained in them is either to charge the first Author of them with fraud and not delivering his whole mind or the Writers with Insincerity in not setting it down and the whole Christian Church of the first Ages with folly in believing the Fulness and Perfection of the Scriptures in order to salvation As far as I apprehend the foregoing Principle was intended to shew that Scripture was sufficirntly Intelligible to be the Rule of Faith and this under examination is to prove it to be the measure of Faith as he calls it Princ. 28. and all he contends here is that it CONTAINS all that is necessary TO BE BELIEV'D and practic'd And that we may not multiply disputes I grant those Holy Books contain all he pretends some way or other either Implicitly or Explicitly either in Exprest words or by necessary conâ—equence But that those Books contain or signifie for they are the same all that is to be believed and practiced so evidently that all persons who sincerely endeavor to know their meaning and this for all future Ages may thence alone as his discourse aims to evince that is without the Churches interpretation arrive to know what 's necessary for their salvation with such a Certainty as is requisite for the Nature and Ends of Faith and the Obligations annext to it I absolutely deny and if he means this by the word Perfection which he adds to Fulness I deny also that either the first Author can be charg'd with Fraud since he promis'd no such thing or the Writers with Insincerity since they were not commanded nor did intend thus to express it nor as far as appears had any order from God to set down his whole mind but only writ the several pieces of it occasionally nor did the Christian Church in the first Ages ever attribute to Scriptures such an Intelligibleness as that private persons should ground their Faith upon their Evidence without needing the Churches Interpretation if we speak of all points necessary to Mankinds salvation as he seems and ought to do And here I desire to enter this declaration to all the world that I attribute not the least Imperfection to the Holy Scriptures Every thing has all the Perfection it ought to have if it can do what it was intended to do and in the manner it was Intended Treatises of deep Philosophy are not Imperfect if they be not as plain as plainest Narrative Histories no not if they be ita editi ut non sint editi in case they were meant as a matter for the Author to explain and dilate upon to his Scholars nor are the Laws Imperfect though they often need Learned Judges to interpret them Nor are we to expect that the Prophecy of Isaiah should be as plain as the Law of Moses The Immediate End of writing each piece as far as appears to us was occasional St. Pauls Epistles were evidently so nor can I doubt but they were perfect in their kind and apt to signify competently to those to whom he writ what he intended so that if they had any farther doubt they might send to ask him or do it viva voce and yet we see that even in those days when the complexion of all the Circumstances was fresher and neerer then now some unlearned persons err'd damnably in mistaking and misconceiving them that is while they went about to frame their Faith out of them 'T is questionless also they rely'd upon them as Gods Word or dictated by the Holy Ghost else they had not so built upon them or adher'd to them They might sincerely endeavour too to know their meaning yet if the Writings were disproportion'd to their pitch they migh Erre damnably for all that What farther End God intended the H. Scriptures for appears not by any Expresse either promise or declaration of our Saviour but out of the knowledge that they were writ by persons divinely inspir'd and the Experience the Church had of their Vsefulness towards Instruction and Good Life joyn'd with the Common Knowledg we have that all Goods that come to the Church happen through the ordering of Gods Providence hence we justly conclude as Dr. St. well says that they were intended and writ also for the Benefit of future Ages And from their Vsefulness and the success of their Use we may gather how God intended them for the Church The Learned and stable sons of the Church read them with much fruit to excite their wills to Goodness The Pastore of the Church make excellent use of them in exhorting preaching catchising c. and in many other uses of this sort they are excellently beneficial which are so many that were it now seasonable for me to lay them open at large as I truly hold them none would think I had little Reverence for Scriptures but in deciding Controversies or finally silencing Hereticks as the Rule of Faith ought to do by the unavoidable evidence of the Text to private persons no use was ever made of them alone with any success as the Fathers also complain Unless the the Churches Authority going along animated the dead Letter in dogmatical passages and shew'd the sense of the places to have been perpetually held from the beginning and so give It the Sense Majesty Authority and Force of Gods VVord elevating it thus above the repute of being some private Conceit or Production of Skill and Wit interpreting the Letter Scripture then is perfect or has all due to the nature God intended it if duly made use of as the Churches best Instrument it be able to work those Effectâ— spoken of though it be not so Evident or self-authoriz'd as to be the Rule of Faith We give it absolute Pre-eminence in its kind that is above all other Writings that ever appear'd in the world but we prefer before it Tradition or Gods Church which is the Spouse of Christ the Pillar and Ground of Truth and consisting of the Living Temples of the H. Ghost for whose sole Good as its Final End Scripture it self was intended and written 15. These Writings being owned as containing in them the whole Will of God so plainly reveal'd that no sober enquirer can miss of what is necessary for salvation there can be no necessity supposed of any Infallible society of men either
to attest or explain these Writings among Christians any more than there was for some Ages before Christ of such a Body of men among the Iews to attest or explain to them the VVritings of Moses or the Prophets He that owns this must own it without reason for any thing appears yet for Dr. St. has afforded us hitherto nothing to prove this point but a few words craftily laid together which when look'd into have not a jot of reason in them And the like empty inside we find in this present Principle For if the whole will of God be plainly reveal'd in Scripture then in case nothing else be requisit to understand Gods will but the disposition of soberly enquiring as he puts no other it must follow that no sober Enquirer can miss of knowing there the whole will of God and since every Article of Faith is part of Gods VVill it would follow hence that every sober Enquirer may understand all Faith in Scripture which yet the Dr. is not dispos'd to say as appears by his avoiding to put down what the tenour of his discourse requir'd namely that the whole will of God is so plainly reveal'd in Scripture that no sober Enquirer can miss of knowing his whole will there and instead of it substituting that the whole will of God is so plainly reveal'd in Scripture that no sober Inquirer can miss of what is necessary for salvation which words may be true though they fall far short of knowing the whole will of God by that means Next it is very material and it would be very requisiâ—e to know how a man must be qualify'd to be a sober Enquirer In order to which we may reflect that as was said before it ought in reason be judged Gods will that we should know whether Christ be God and whether his Body and consequently Himself be really in the Sacrament lest we either want the best Incitements to Devotion if he be and we judge he is not or else commit material Idolatry by judging him to be so when he is not so Now I would have him clearly show clearly I say for all depends upon it according to his Grounds in what either the Roman Catholicks or the Socinians fall short in point of being sober enquirers for 't is plain they must both fall short of being such if the whole will of God be clearly reveal'd in Scripture since the former holds Christ is really in the Sacrament the other that he is not God the contrary to both which I suppose Dr. St. holds to be the true sense of Scripture Farther if there can be no necessity of any Infallible society of men either to attest or explain those Writings 't is Evident there can be no need of a Fallible society of men for those Ends. For if Writings which are attested or explained by a Fallible Society of men be the Rule of Faith or the Grounds God has left us to build our Faith on and it be evident that a Fallible Attestation or Explication may possibly lead us into nothing but Errour it would follow that God himself may possibly have led all Christians hitherto and still leads them to the end of the world into actual Errour since a reliance on Fallible means of knowing the Letter and Sense cannot possibly raise any Assent beyond possibility of being Erroneous There needs therefore by Dr. St's discourse neither Infallible nor Fallible Societies and so according to his Principles farewell all Church both Catholick and Protestant as far as concerns these two main Duties on which all else depends Again though all this were true and that the Scriptures were own'd as containing in them the whole VVill of God so plainly reveal'd that no sober Enquirer can miss of what 's necessary to salvation and that therefore there needed no Church to explain them Yet 't is a strange Consequence that therefore there can be no necessity of any Infallible society of men to ATTEST them or to witness that the Letter of Scripture is right This is so far from following out of the former part of his Discâ—â—â—se that the contrary ought to follow 〈…〉 prejudicing his own pretence that 〈◊〉 conduces exceedingly to it for certainâ—y his sober Enquirer would less be in doubt to miss of what is necessary to salvation in case the Letter on which all depends be well attested than if it be not and most certainly an Infallible society of men can better attest that Letter than a Fallible one and those Writings can with better show of reason be owned to contain in them the VVill of God if their Letter be attested beyond possibility of being wrong than if left in a possibility of being such for if the Letter be wrong all is wrong in this case It might seem wonderful then what it is that thus byasses Dr. St. against his own Interest And I wish I had reason to think it were not a kind of Innate Antipathy against not onely our Church but Church in Common and a desire to attribute as little to it as he can possibly though he hazzard some prejudice to his own Cause and even all Christian Faith into the bargain His whole way of discourse here bends strongly towards the taking away all divine Institution of Pastors for this would oblige the people to hear them and levelling all into a Fanatick Anarcâ—y I would gladly interpret him otherwise and imagine that perhaps he means that since 't is own'd the Scriptures thus contain Gods will therefore there needs not be supposed any Infallible society of men either to attest or explain them but I cannot conceive he should think Scriptures Letter must be own'd to be right without some either Fallible or Infallible Authority to attest it to be such or that however he may sceptically dread no Authority can be Infallible yet that he will deny but that it were good there were such an Authority to attest Scriptures Letter nay needful too in case he heartily held that Christian Faith built according to his Grounds solely on that Letter may not possibly all be a Ly which common sense tells us it may be in case we may all be deceiv'd in the Truth of the Letter Lastly That for some Ages before Christ there was no Necessity of such a Body of men among the Iews to attest or explain to them the VVritings of Moses and the Prophets is first not prov'd and yet Dr. St. builds upon it as confidently as if it were evidently concluded or else Self-evident Next what mean those words for some Ages before Christ If the whole time of the Moâ—aiâ—al Law then 't is evidently false since Deut. 17. v. 10 11 c. God commanded upon pain of death to do according as some persons he had appointed for that end should explain the Writings belonging to that Law and if these men had not some way or other been secured from Errour God by commanding the subject Laity under so heavy a penalty to
if they do not 't is their own fault they shall be sure to be sav'd And as for such points as a Trinity Christ's Godhead Real Presence and such like the knowledge of them even in case they are truths is not of necessity to salvation since none doubts but tis absolutely speaking possible to be sav'd without knowledge of them since many have been actually sav'd who never heard of any such points Having impartially said in short the best I could in Dr. Sts. behalf and much more than he has said for himself let us see now what ought to be reply'd in behalf of Truth To make way to it I premise these Maxims 1. That according to the Ordinary course of God's Providence men are sav'd by means 2. That All points of Faith are to some degree Means of salvation 3. That according to the several Circumstances and Exigencies of particular persons one needs more Means than another 4. That therefore it must be said some have miscarry'd because they had no more of those means of salvation apply'd to them who might yet have been sav'd had they had more This being so how great a presumption and madness it is to affirm that every man who reads the Scripture shall be sure to understand there so much as is sufficient means for His salvation or motives to work up his soul to a disposition for Heaven considering his Exigencies without needing the knowledge of other Points which contain other Motives ten times more forcible perhaps to move and excite him to true interior goodness Is it not manifest that considering mens several capacities which 't is a perfect Phrenzy to think they must needs be perfectly adjusted to their spiritual necessities one may as well say that every one who throws a Die upon a Fortune book shall most certainly light on his own Lot as that every one who reads Scripture shall let his exigencies be what they will find motives sufficient for his salvation If Dr. St. sayes that some one or two Points have prov'd sufficient for some few therefore they might have serv'd All if they would and that God's goodness towards Christians obliges him to no more I reply First That he speaks against nature since t is evident some temptations require greater Motives to overcome them than others and no man can assure us that those who have fewest motives shall not have the strongest temptations And if it were but rightly comprehended that t is Love of God which unites us to him and so saves us and that 't is for want of this those miscarry who do miscarry it would be easily understood that many excellent and incomparable motives as the Godhead of Christ and such like are lost to weak souls and consequently Heaven by their not understanding them and not only so but by the necessary connexion of truths with one another while they misunderstand the Scripture and so by their holding opposite to such great truths oppose in their thoughts other points of Faith those also lose their motive force whence their souls become tainted with multitudes of erroneous Maxims and Practices Secondly this answer takes away the necessity of all other points of faith but of such a few of them only which have hapt by the very especial assistance of God's preventing and assisting grace to have accidentally as it were suffic'd to have sav'd some few If he sayes that proceeding on this manner none can hold an error for they are to hold nothing but what they see to be evidently there and in all other things which they see not they are to suspend I would know what should hinder them from thinking they see that to be evidently there which is not evidently there since 't is acknowledg'd the vulgar or Generality are but bad judges and distinguishers of a true Evidence from a Counterfeit one besides there are in the open Letter as it lyes many Heresies and if they know these to be such how can they be sure of any thing they read there to be True since nothing is plainer in the letter than are those Heresies unless it be said that natural or moral Maxims taught them these places are to be literally understood and did not tell them so of the other and then they are beholding to those Maxims and not to Scripture for their faith since in that case It has taught them no more than they knew before Again may not an acute wit make out to the generality of D. Sts. Faithfull that to know the meaning of Scripture right they must compare one place with another and then by doing so dexterously make them beleeve a thousand Errours to be pure Scripture and God's Word which are not Much more might be said on this occasion but I only make one reflexion on this Principle and so proceed His intent in it is to shew which Party runs greater hazard The Adherers to Scripture us'd on his fashion or those who hear the Church and he would run us down by vertue of an unprov'd Supposition that the Church is not Infallible To offer him fair play let us grant him all the advantages he pretends to in Scripture and let him grant us all we pretend to secure us in the Church and then compare the two hazards together nay more let us condescend as much as himself can imagine even so as to abate the Infallibility of the Church and to grant that she is Fallible and yet the very light of Nature will stand on the side of our Faithfull against his For this teaching them that Superiours are to be obey'd and their Teachers to be heard and believ'd in things not known to be against God's Command and experience telling them that Scripture is oft times liable to dispute in passages that to both sides seem clear both Humility Prudence Obedience and the due care of their Salvation and all Virtues that can be concern'd in this kind of action incline them strongly rather to adhere to what Persons wiser then themselves or their Pastors conceive to be the meaning of Scripture than to what seems so to themselves in opposition to the same Pastors and Multitudes of other Christians who are evidently of greater knowledge and as far as they can be inform'd of equall sincerity 19. The Assistance which God hath promis't to those who sincerely desire to know his will may give them greater assurance of the Truth of what is contain'd in the Books of Scripture than it is possible for the greatest Infallibility in any other Persons to do supposing they have not such assurance of their Infallibility God hath promis't no Assistance that those should arrive at their end who take a way disproportion'd to that end otherwise God should oblige himself to work constant Miracles as oft as well-meaning people out of weakness should act imprudently Next if men desire sincerely to know Gods will and be humble and if they be not 't is doubtfull their desire is not sincere as is
ought they will as God's command the Order of the World and common Reason obliges them be rather willing to trust their Pastors who are better qualifi'd for such Knowledge and whom God hath set over them to instruct them what is the sense of Scriptures than trust their own private shallow judgments And 't is observable that Dr. St's discourse all along concerning this point is a plain begging the Question For if God have left a Church and commanded the Faithfull to hear it and conform to it's Faith and consequently to receive the sense of Scripture as to Points of Faith from it then there is no necessity of Scripture's being intended to be plain to all Capacities of it self nor of thinking men may sincerely desire to know God's will in Scriptures and use due means to understand it without making use of the Churches Judgment in that affair upon which false supposition Dr. St. wholly builds his otherwise perfectly ruinous discourse Wherefore his supposition being deny'd I must reply that those who sincerely desire to know Gods wisl have a certain virtue in them called Humility and this teaches them not to overween in their own opinion but to think that their Pastors appointed by God to teach them are generally wiser then those who are to be taught and that those who are wiser know better than those who are lesse wise A little of this plain honest rational Humility would quite spoil all Dr. St's discourse and convince all his Principles to be a plausible piece of Sedition and licentious presumption tending of its own nature utterly to destroy all Church and Church-Government and if applied to that Subject Temporal too I should be glad to know what means the word such in the last line if he means Infallible and that the Church pretending to Infallibility must have Infallible Assurance that she is Infallible t is asserted by us and his supposition that she is not is absolutely deny'd For the Church is Infallibly certain that Christ's promise to her shall not fail and also Infallibly certain by constant Tradition and the beleef of good Christians in all Ages that Christ has promis'd her this Security or Immunity from Errour in Faith none questioning it but those who have rebel'd and revolted from her In a word this whole Principle is Faulty being built on a False and unprov'd Supposition and were the Supposition granted and that the Church were Fallible still it were false that his Faithfull would have greater Assurance of their Faith than ours as hath been partly now shown and more amply in my Reply to the foregoing Principle Recapitulation The Sum then of Dr. St's Performances in these ten Principles of his which most Fundamentally concern his Faith and the pretended Reduction of it to Principles is briefly this that he hath not brought so much as one single Argument proving either that Scripture's Letter is the Rule of Faith nor that Tradition or the Infallible Testimony of Gods Church is not it And as for the particular Maxims or Sayings of his on which he chiefly relies they have been one by one disprov'd and the opposite Truths establish't As 1. That Faith being such an Assent as when built as it ought to be on the means left by God for mankinde to rely ou is impossible to be False and so that Means or the Rule of Faith being necessarily such as while men rely upon it is impossible they should erre These things I say being so as I have largely prov'd in Faith Vindicated and the Introductory Discourse to this present Examin Dr. St. has not so much as made an offer or attempt to show that Scripture is the Rule of Faith 2. That since 't is agreed God can contrive Writings sufficiently Intelligible for that End or sufficiently clear to ascertain those who rely upon them of their Faith and yet on the other side 't is evident God has not de facto done this or contriv'd such Methods and ways as our Reason tels us evidently are proper means to keep those Writings call'd the Scriptures from being thus mis-understood by severall Parties even in Fundamental Points as we experience they are it follows hence most manifestly that God never intended the way of writing for the Rule of Faith 3. Since several Parties of excellent capacities in understanding words aright and both owning Scripture for their Rule and applying themselves with greatest diligence to know the true sence of it do notwithstanding differ in those Fundamental Points of a Trinity and the God-head of Christ 't is manifest that Scripture is not able so secure those who rely on it to their power of the Truth of their Faith and so is not the Rule of Faith 4. Again since in passages that concern Faith the knowing whether the words be taken properly or improperly is that which determines what is Faith what not and this knowledge is not had from Scripture it follows that Scripture is not the Rule of Faith 5. God has no where promis'd that he will still assist those who sincerely endeavour to compass an end in case they take a way disproportion'd to attain that end and which way was consequently never intended by him for such an end for this were to engage himself to do perpetual Miracles when ever any one should act irrationally Wherefore unless it be first solidly prov'd that Scripture is the Rule of Faith or apt of its own nature to give those who rely on it Inerrable security of the Truth of their Faith while they thus rely on it and consequently that it was intended by God for such an end none can justly lay claim to God's assistance or tax his Justice or Veracity if they fall into Errour Much lesse if they neglect those Duties which Nature makes evident to them and common Christianity teaches viz. to obey and hear their Governours Pastors and Teachers ordain'd by God and rely on their own private Wit or God's Immediate Assistance to their single selves rather than to those Publick Officers of the Church God had appointed to govern and direct them for this intolerable spiritual Pride is so odious and pernicious that it most justly entitles them to delusion Errour and Heresie 6. Hence since God has left some means for Faith and 't is Blasphemy to say that those who rely according to their utmost power on the means left and Intended by God to lead Men into Truth can while they do so run into Errour which yet private understandings as was seen may relying on the Written Word it follows 〈◊〉 unavoidably that some other way is left which is not Writing to secure the Relyers on it from Errour in Faith or to be to them the Rule of Faith 7. Scripture not being the Rule and Christ's Doctrine being once settled and accepted in the Christian part of the World by means of Miracles there needed no more but to derive it down to future Ages and this Doctrine being Practicall and so objected
as well as a private man to consider the consequence of mistaking also I am sure it as much concerns her and so the Church or as he cals it a Society of men may also be Infallible in understanding and explaining Scripture and by this means we are come about again to an Infallible Proponent which we have so zealously labour'd to avoid In a word after he has put all Means left by God to be Certain of our Faith and all the diligence and care possible to be used by man to lay hold on those means let him either acknowledge that any particular man in the world and so a fortiori God's Church or any Sâ—ciety of men exactly following relying on those Means to arrive at right Faith is by so doing Infallible in that thing or in interpreting Scripture and by consequence that Christian Faith is Infallibly Certain or else confess that notwithstanding all means us'd all Christian Faith is still either not Certain at all or else Fallibly Certain which is a peece of most profound Nonsense and were it sense signifies plain all may be False The later half of this Principle is still more admirable Nonsense than the former and shows how meanly he is verst in solid Divinity he conterposes there the Certainty in matters of Faith to that which God has made use of as the means to keep men from Sin in their lives as if Faith were not intended by God to make men Virtuous and the Certainty of Faith the most effectual part of those means But because I see Dr. St. though he have a very good witt yet by reason of his sole Application to verbal Divinity which never reaches the Ground or Bottom of any thing it talks of is very Ignorant of what is meant by Christian Life and it's opposite Vice or Sin I will take a little pains to inform him better He may please then to know that it suting best with God's Wisdom to govern the world by way of Causes and Effects he carries on the course of his Ordinary Providence even in Supernaturalls by means of Dispositions The whole design then of his Goodness is to plant those dispositions in our Soul by means of Religion as may make us most comfortable to himself that so Ascensiones in corde nostro disponendo asceendamus de virtute in virtutem donec videatur Deus Deorum in Sion That is by Ordering those rising Steps in our heart we may ascend from Virtue to Virtue till the God of Gods be seen in Sion Hence the life of a Chriâ—tian as such is spiritual and the Proper way for him to worship God is in spirit that is by Spiritual Acts or Habits to perfect his Soul or that part in us which is Spiritual and dispose is for Heaven But Errour is also spiritual and yet is far from perfecting our Soul therefore Truth must go along with it and so we are to worship God in spirit and Truth Hence the first of virtues in priority of Nature is true Knowledge of God and of the motives or means to attain him and the only way for the Generality to arrive at these is by beleeving his Divine Authority upon some way of Revelation which gives his Church and by her and all others Absolute Certainty 't is engaged by which means we are perfectly secure that what we proceed upon is God's sense or Truth which is the Basis of all our Spiritual building Out of these Knowledges are apt to spring Adoration Reverence Hope and Love of him above all things in Christian Language call'd Charity the Queen of all Virtues major autem horuni Charitas says St. Paul and out of this Love of God above all things Love of our Neighbour as our self in the heartiness of which or the having that Rational disposition in our hearts to do as we would be done to consists the keeping all the Commandments of the Second Table which is also our good for so more undisturb'd by Passion or vexation from the Exteriour World whose order we violate in transgressing against these we are more free to practice those other vertues which are to elevate us towards Heaven and fit us according to the measure of out pitch appointed by God for the Attainment of Bliss Hence is seen what is meant by sin or vice For this being formally a defect is only a want of the opposit good Disposition or Virtue The chief Vice then is Hatred of God or a very sleighting and perfectly deliberate dis-regard Posthabition of his Incomparable self our Final Bliss to a Creature next Despair Irreverence Infidelity totally as in Heathenism or in some particular as Turâ—ism Iudaism Heresy In the last place comes the want of that due Love of our Neighbour for God's sake as leaves our Will dispos'd as far as that motive carries us to do him any injury for our own temporal Convenience in which consists the violation of the Commandments of the Second Table Insomuch as though a man commits not one of those Acts there forbidden out of the motive of Worldly Honour Civility Fear or any other such like yet if he wants that rightly-grounded Interiour Love of his Neighbour and builds not his Avoidance of harming him on that motive that is if he be dispos'd to commit them all for any thing that motive would hinder him however in the sight of man or Exteriourly he keeps those Commandments yet is he guilty of them all Interiourly or in the sight of God To apply this then to our present purpose 'T is seen hence that Faith is the Basis of all virtuous Life and consequently the want of it the ruin of all virtue and the ready way to all Vice and sin For external Acting or Avoiding are nothing to Christian virtue unless they spring from a Christian motive and 't is only Faith which gives us those Motives and the stability well-groundedness or Truth of Faith which renders those Motives effectual Wherefore unless the Faithful be materially Infallible while they believe God has revealed such and fuch things that is unless God did indeed reveal them and so their Faith be really True all Gods worship and Good life is ill-built ruinous and fals to the Ground And unless some of them or those who are capable to understand it to be True be formally Infallible it would work less effectually in all those who should reâ—lect that they saw not but it might be False or be made so reflect by others who were enemies to Faith nor could the Truth of Christian Faith be defended or made out or be Justifiably recommended to others as True nor with Wisdom and Honesty be profest True by those who judge themselves capable to look through it's Grounds and yet see nothing Conclusive of Truth in them Wherefore this Fallible Certainty of his destroys all Efficacy all Defence and even Essence of Faith and consequently radically subverts and overthrows all Christian Virtue and all true Goodness Which I attest
Certainty we have of all that concerns it ought by consequence be better grounded and firmer then any or all it's superstructures Also 't is ill Divinity to counterpâ—se matters of Faith to the Means to keep men from sin in their lives since Matters of Faith or Christ's doctrin is the very best of those Means or to pretend that Errours in Opinion I suppose he means in Faith that being the point are not more dangerous to mens Souls than a vicious life for this supposes Faith no part of a Christian Life nor Infidelily Heresy Iudaism or Turcism to be vices which by consequence degrades Christian Faith from being a virtue contrary to the Sentiment of all Christianity since the beginning of the Church I shall hope from any impartial and Intelligent Reader who is a Christian that he will acknowledge these Posiâ—ions of mine bear a clear Evidence either in theâ— sâ—lves or in their Prâ—ofs and consequently that the opposite ones advanc't either Explicitely or Implicitly by Dr. St. are both Obscure and which is worse Vntrue The Total Account of Dr. St's Principles THus have I spoken distinctly and fully to Dr. St's Principles It were not amiss to sum up their merits in brief and give a short character of them that so it may be seen how infinitly short they fall of deserving so Honorable a Name But first we are to speak a word or two to the Principles agreed on by both sides of which the First and Third are great Truths and the word God and Obedience due to God now then barely nam'd but no kind of Conclusions are drawn from those two particular Propositions influential to the End intended viz. to reduce the Faith of the Protestants to Principles whence though they are most Certain Truths yet as standing here they are no Principles The 2d and 4th which concern God's Attributes are not at all us'd neither For he cannot use them alone to evince Scripture's Letter is the Rule unless he first prove that Scripture's Letter is the fittest for that End and that therefore it become Gods's Attributes to chuse it which he no where does and whereas he would argue thus Princ. 7. God hath chosen it for a Rule therefore 't is agreeable to his Attributes 't is both Frivolous because all is already concluded between us if he proves God has chosen Scripture for that end for then 't is granted by all it must be agreeable to his Attributes and also Preposterous for he makes that the Conclusion which should be in case he argu'd from God's Attributes the Principle For his Argument ought in that case to run thus Gods Wisdom and Goodness has chosen that for a Rule which is wisest and best to be chosen but Scriptures Letter is such therefore he has chosen it for a Rule The 4th and 5th are either never made use of by him as Principles or else they make directly against himself For Fallible Certainty only which having discarded that which is Infallible he sustains can never make any one know what is God's will This is an ill beginning and a very slender Success hitherto let us see next whether he has better luck with his own Principles The first taking the words literally and Properly as they ought to be taken in Principles is against himself for he confesses there that such a way of Revelation is in it self neccessary to our Intire Obedience to God's will as may make us know what the will of God is but common sense tells us that Fallible Certainty which only having rejected Infallible Certainty he can maintain is farr from making us Know This Principle therefore is either against himself or if he means to go less by the word Know than what is apt absolutely and truly to ascertain 't is nothing to his purpose for so it can only settle Opinion and not Faith The second is Useless Impertinent and in part False The Third is False and Impertinent to boot The Fourth is Ambiguous and taken in that sense when distinguish't which he seems to aym at 't is absolutely False The 5th is Absurâ—d Preposterous and against all Art in putting us to argue from what 's less known to what 's more known and withal totally False The 6th is Sophiâ—tically Ambiguous and in great part False The 7th builds on a groundless pretence and contains a notorious 〈…〉 The 8th is to no purpose or sinâ—â— as appears in the Process of his discourse he means by the words Certainly and Know only Fallible Certainty which is none at all he cannot possibly advance by such a discourse towards the settling us a Certain Rule of Faith Besides he either supposes Scripture as it now stands Sufficient which is to beg the Question or else he confounds God's Ordinary Power working with the Causes now on foot in the world which only concern'd the present point with his Extraordinary or what he can possibly effect by his Divine Omnipitence The 9th only Enumerates the several ways how God may be conceiv'd to make known his will and in doing so either minces or else quite leaves out the Tradition of Gods Church as if it were Vnconceivable God should speak to men by their Lawfull Pastors in the Church whereas yet himself must confess that in the beginning of the Church Faith either was signify'd and certify'd by that or no way The 10th goes upon a False Supposition and includes two Fallaces call'd by Logicians non causa pro causa or assigning a wrong Cause and omitting the True one Also 't is in part False in saying words are equally oapable of being understood spoken or written and lastly it confounds again God's Ordinary Power with his Extraordinary The 11th makes account there is no benefit of Divine Writings but in being the Rule of Faith which is against Common sense and daily Experience The 12th comes home to the point but 't is perfectly Groundless Unprov'd False and as full of Absurdities of severall sorts as it can well â—old The 13th begins with a False Position proceeds with a False and unprov'd Supposition and endeavours to induce a most Extravagant Conclusion only from Premisses granted kindly by himself to himself without the least Proof The 14tb contains three False and unprov'd Suppositions viz. that God promis't his Church to deliver his whole will in Writings or that the Writers of Scripture had any order from God to write his whole will explicitly or that the primitive Church beleev'd it to have such a perfection as to signify without needing the Church all saving Truth to every sincere Reader with such a Certainty as is requisit to Faith The 15th begins again with a False and unprov'd Supposition and draws thence a consequence not contain'd in the Proof and in part against the interest of his own Tenet and Lastly brings in confirmation of it an Instance which makes against himself The 16th putts upon Catholicks a Tenet they never held and is wholly False Irrational and Absurd assuming
that those things he bragg'd of and rely'd on as Principles are in Reality but so many Paradoxes or Impertinences I hope we may sâ—â—cease our Fears and turn them into a more pleasant humour Though the Prognostick be very obvious what he can do in this case yet who knows but for once he may work an Impossibility who as will appear in the ensuing Treatise has told us so many Contradictions In the mean time if he thinks fit to attempt any Reply 't is Evident from the former Discourse what he is to do unless he will strangely Prevaricate from his Duty viz. either to disallow my settling here the nature of Principles and state them better that is either to deny that they are to have any Evidence or Influence at all or else if he allows it to make out that his pretended Principles have those Qualifications which is best done by resolving them into First Principles and connecting them distinctly with their respective Consequences And let him remember that till he does this he neither defends Himself against my present Answer nor gives a home Reply to Protestancy without Principles whatever gay things or things he sayes to particular passages in it since himself acknowledges these Principles of his were intended an Answer to that Book and out of the nature of both Treatises they appear to be the proper Return to it I have no occasion nor is it my intent here to write against the Church of England or any of her Legitimate Sons rather I must declare that in case they all hold as M. Thorndike a Man of Eminent Learning Esteem amongst them declares himself to do Just weights p. 159. that the Scripture interpreted by the perpetual Practice of God's Church is the Ground of Faith which implies that Practical Tradition is that which gives them Christs Sense or Faith and so is their Rule I must heartily applaud their joyning with Catholicks in the main Point of all and which settled is apt to unite us in all the rest What I impugn then here is a pestilent Tenet destructive to all Episcopacy and the very Essence of Church making Church-Governors Useless in their main Duty of Teaching Faith to their Flock and Lame in that of Government For if every private man is to rely on his own Interpretation he ought neither believe nor Obey the Church when the contrary seems to his Fancy to be grounded in Scripture and if that man do but alledge he judges in clear in Scripture and consequently that the Church is corrupt and errs I see not with what Iustice according to these Principles the Church can either excommunicate him or bind him to his Duty I expect Dr. St. will object that I deny divers of his Principles which some of ours have granted for his Friend Dr. T. and he abound in such sleight Topicks To which though I could answer that unusquisque in sensu suo abundat in productions of Human Reason yet I need only alledge Dr. St's ambi-dextrous and ambiguâ—us way of contriving his Principles to look so with different faces that even the same man may sometimes apprehend them to mean thus sometimes otherwise Besides all his Confuters aym nâ—t at one End Mr. E. W. intending only to shew they conclude not the Point they pretend and which is superscribed to them Mr. N. O. to shew their Destructiveness to Government while I take for my task to discover their Oppositness to all Logick True Learning and Common Rationality and that there is nothing at all in him of what was pretended neither Principles Consequences Connexion Conclusions Reduction Influence nor End Nor must he think that every thing that is granted by any for dispute sâ—ke is allowed for good by the Respondent 't is frequent to express we grant things which we only pass as nothing to the main Point which is to be concluded nor can Dr. St. pretend with any reason that others have yeelded them to be Principles whereas I deny it The Authour of Reason and Religion p. 650. has pithily declared his 〈◊〉 of them and their true merit in 〈◊〉 words Whether the fore-mentioned Principles be True False Controverted or Obscure no Verity peculiar to 〈…〉 be deduc't from them which expresses their want of Clear Evidence and so quite degrades them from the Dignity of Principles If any think the Title prefixt to this Book forestals immodestly the Readers Iudgment my Reply usust be that I hope for Readers of more Prudence then to receive Prejudice from so easie an Occasion A Counterfeit Modesty sprung from Sceptical Despair or Disregard of Truth will naturally dislike such Expressions but those who heartily hold there is such a thing as Truth and intirely love It will esteem the open avowing her compleat victoriousness both Fitting and Necessary and that she conquers at present I have all the best Maxims of Rational Nature engag'd for my Security INDEX ABsolute Certainty of Faith asserted p. 21. 22. 50. 51. Attributes of God not engaged to preserve private Interpreters of Scripture from damnable Errours p. 81. to 85. Not to be argu'd from alone p. 32. 33. much less from Power alone p. 33. 34. Certainty how abusively taken p. 164. 165. 166. 168. 173. 174. 179. 180. True Certainty asserted and from its deepest Grounds explain'd p. 167. 168. Moral Certainty in Faith discust p. 176. 177. 178. A Christian Life Spiritual p. 8. 9. 54. 55. 191. to 195. The Church turn'd with the heels upward by Dr. St. p. 96. 97. His six Conclusions examin'd p. 211. the nature of Conclusions laid open p. 222. Faith in Catholicks Rational p. 29. Infallibility requisit to Faith p. 92. to 96. 104. 158. 159. 162. how found in the vulgar how in others p. 133. to 157. Mankind how Infallible and in what p. 186. to 189. Necessary to the being of a Church p. 232. 233. 234. Principles agreed to by both sides examin'd p. 7. 8. c. shown to be two-fold p. 12. Principles not agreed to examin'd The 1st p. 20. the 2d p. 22. the 3d. p. 23. the 4th p. 24. the 5th p. 26. the 6th p. 30. the 7th p. 31. the 8th p. 35. the 9th p. 38. the 10th p. 53. the 11th p. 72. the 12th p. 73. the 13th p. 81. the 14th p. 85. the 15th p. 90. the 16th p. 96. the 17th p. 104. the 18th p. 106. the 19th p. 114. the 20th p. 128. the 21th 22th 23th p. 130. the 24th p. 159. the 25th p. 163. the 26th p. 171. the 27th p. 173. the 28th p. 179. the 29th p. 181. the 30th p. 185. Rule of Faith distinctly clear'd p 44. 45. 49. 54. 55. c. Vnanimously held by Catholicks p. 45. 46. How held by the Council of Trent p. 47. 48. Scripture not the Rule p. 60. to 69. p. 79. 80. How perfect p. 86. 87. c. 109. to 113. Sophistry in Dr. St. laid open p. 25. 26. 27. 28. 30. 31. 74. 75. 131. 132. 161. 164. 165. Ignorance in
he can go to work more Logically and exactly in finding out the true nature and notion of a Rule and show me I take it improperly I shall heartily thank him and acknowledge my mistake But I never yet discern'd any such Attempt nor do I see any reason to fear any such performance And I much doubt should any Catholick Divine out of a Charitable Intention of Union which I shall ever commend and heartily approve trusting to the Equivocalness of the word say Scripture is the Rule or a Rule I much doubt I say that when the thing comes to be examin'd to the bottom it will scarce tend to any solid good for however Words may bend yet the true Grounds of Catholick Faith are Inflexible and we must take heed lest while we yield them the Word they expect not as they may justly having such occasion that we should grant the Thing properly signify'd by that Word which if they do we must either recede or else forgo Catholick Grounds But now the difference between me and Dr. St's party is in the very Thing it self and this as wide as Contradiction can distance us For Dr. T. whom he still abetts makes it possible that he has neither True Letter nor True sense of Scripture that is makes his Rule of Faith and consequently his Faith built solely on It possible to be False And all that go that Way fall unavoidably into that precipice while they admit no Grounds but what are Fallible as I have shown at large in Faith Vindicated and Reason against Raillery Whereas I still bear up to the Impossibility that Christian Faith should be a Ly and consequently I maintain that the Rule of Faith which engages the Divine Authority on which its Truth solely depends and without engaging which it might be all False must be Impossible to be False or Infallibly certain And hence taking my rise from the Nature of Faith in which all Protestants and indeed all that have the name of Christians except some few speculators agree with me viz. that taking it as built on those Motives left by God for his Church to embrace Faith that is taking it as it ought to be taken 't is above Opinion and Impossible to be False hence I say building on this mutual Agreement I pursue a solid Union which I declare my self most heartily to zeal Hoping that this point once distinctly clear'd against the Sophisms and blinding Crafts of some weak Heterodox Writers it will quickly appear that 't is every mans Concern who is of Capacity to look after such Grounds that the Divine Authority on which the Truth of all Faith depends is engag'd for the Points he holds as are absolutely Certain or Impossible to be False And I make account that were this quest heartily pursu'd it would quickly appear both by others Confessing the possible Falsehood of theirs as also by inforcing Reasons nay by Dr. Tillitsons yielding to the sufficiency of this Rule even when he was to impugn it that nothing but Tradition or the Testimony of the Church can be such a Ground Perhaps also it might be shown that both more learned and more sober Protestant Authors have own'd the admitting Tradition and a reliance on the Churches Authority for their Faith and for the true sense of Scripture in order to the attaining true Faith than those are who have maintain'd this private-spirited way so zealously advanc'd by Dr. St. of leaving it to be interpreted by every vulgar head to the utter destruction of Church and Church-Government This is and shall be my way of endeavouring Vnion which beginning at the bottom and with our mutual Agreement in so main a point that it bears all along with it viz. the Absolute Certainty of Faith is hopeful to be solid and well built and so Effectual if it please God to inspire some Eminent and Good Men to pursue home a Principle which themselves have already heartily embrac'd If not I have this satisfaction that I have done a due right and honor to Christian Faith and given it that advantage by asserting its perfect security from error as Gods Grace assisting is apt to make it work more efficaciously both interiourly and exteriourly in those who already possess it Fourth Examen Sifting the the ten following Principles concerning the Letter-Rule and Living Rule of Faith THe right nature of the Rule of Faith being thus stated 't is high time to address to our Examen how Dr. St. from Principles settles us such a Rule beginning from his tenth 10. If the Will of God cannot be sufficiently declar'd to men by Writing it must either be because no Writing can be Intelligible enough for that end or that it can never be known to be written by men Infallibly assisted The former is repugnant to common sense for words are equally capable of being understood spoken or written the later overthrows the possibility of the Scriptures being known to be the word of God I have already said and in divers books manifoldly prov'd that no declaration of God's will or which is all one in our case no Rule of Faith is sufficient conâ—â—dering the Nature and Ends of Faith 〈◊〉 obligations arising from it but 〈…〉 to be false and built on Infallible Grounds This premised we are to inquire whether Writing be the best Way for thus assuring it in all Ages to the end of the world To come then closer to our Answer We are first to reflect again what Dr. St. means by the Will of God at least what he ought to mean by it For these words at the first sight seem to signifie onely some External Actions commanded by God to be performed or avoided and it is the Dr's Interest they should be taken onely in this sense for such a will is more easie to be signifi'd by Writing than some other things of a more abstruse spiritual and dogmatical nature which yet are of absolute Necessity to be believ'd by the Church such as are the points of the Trinity Incarnation and Godhead of Christ who dy'd for us since then Gods Will extends not only to aim at Mankinds Attainment of his Last End or True Happiness but also to provide for the best means to it or to give us knowledg of those Motives which are apt to create in man a hearty Love of Heaven above all things the best Condition of Mans Happiness or Immediate disposition to it it follows that the holding all those Tenets which contain in themselves such Motives do all come within the compass of the Will of God To omit many others I will instance in two Points of main Concern and Influence towards Christian Life namely the Godhead of Christ and the Real Presence of Christs Body in the Sacrament Now who sees not how wonderful an Ascendent both these if verify'd must needs have over Christian hearts Can any Amulet of Love be so charming or apt to elevate to the Love of God above all things as
to be ascertain'd that he who was really GOD Infinite in all his Attributes and Infinitely happy in himself should purely out of his overflowing Goodness toward miserable mankind take his nature upon him become his Brother Friend Physician Master nay suffer for his sake many hardships during his life and at length buffeting scourging crowning with thorns and a most cruel death on the Cross and to keep the remembrance of these many Benefits warm in our hearts to give us after a wonderful manner his most precious Body and Bloud in a Sacrament instituted for that end by this means not only reviving the memory of the former incomparable love-motive but also adding new Incitements to that best of virtues by our apprehending lively that he so dearly embreasts and embosoms himself with us by his uniting himself to us through his corporal presence that so our souls may by means of the Love springing from this consideration feed on and be united to him Spiritually On the other side if these be not Truths but that the Church may perhaps erre in embracing them who sees not that the Church it self is Idolatrous at least materially in giving True Divine Honor which is Proper only to the Creator to a Creature Each of these two Points then is of that High concern as to Christian Life and Practice that it must needs be of its own nature either a most wicked and damnable Heresy to deny or else to assert it Wherefore 't is the highest Impiety to imagin that God has left no Way to ascertain Mankind whether these two Points omitting many others be True or False since 't is unavoidable they are if True the greatest and most efficacious helps to Christian Devotion that can be If False the greatest Hindrances to the same as corrupting the best Devotions of those Christians into Idolatrous worship The Knowing then the truth of these and such like being most certainly will'd by God we are to expect such a Rule of Faith as is declarative of these and such as these with Absolute Certainty Let us now consider whether Writing be the best means for such an end which if it be not it may certainly be concluded from Gods Wisdome Goodness c. that it hath not been made choice of or intended by God for it But 't is observable that Dr. St. perpetually waves any Discourse of this nature and chuses rather to argue from Gods Power which though I have already shown how Incompetent and Absurd it is let us examine at least what works he makes of it If says he the will of God cannot be sufficiently declared to men by writing it must either be c. I must distinguish the words cannot be declared by writing as I did formerly and affirm that they may either mean that the Way of Writing as taken in the whole latitude of its nature and standing under Gods Infinite Power ordering it with all possible Advantage to the end intended cannot sufficiently declare Gods will as to such Points or they may mean that Gods Revelation of his Will by Writing so qualifi'd as it is now actually found in the Scripture cannot sufficiently or with absolute Certainty declare Gods Will as to the Points aforesaid to men of all capacities in all future Ages Taking them in the former sense I deny the Proposition and say that Gods will as to such Points can be sufficiently declar'd by Writing For 't is absolutely within the compass of Gods Power to contrive a Book on that manner as might define exactly or else explicate at large in what precise sense every word that expresses each point of Faith is to be taken and to provide that it should never be taken in that book in more than that one sense or if in more to notifie to us in which places 't is taken in a different meaning He could also have laid it so that a hundred or two of Originals of these Books might be preserv'd publickly in several distant Countries from the Beginning which might by their perfect Agreement bear Testimony to one another and so assure us the Text was kept hitherto inviolate even to a tittle and also remain a Standard to correct all the multitudes of Diverse Readings which as experience shows us is apt otherwise to set the Copies at variance with one another He could also have so order'd it that the Original Languages might have been as well understood by the Generality of the Church as their own is so have avoided the Uncertainty of Translations Again lest crafty Hereticks should at any time for the future by wittily alluding places or playing upon words or other Sophistries pervert the sense Gods Power could have caus'd a Book to be written after the manner of a large Prophecy foretelling that in such a time 〈◊〉 place such and such a Heretick should arise perverting such and such a Point and forewarn men of his Sophisms and Errours This and much more might have been effected by Gods Power to establish Writing such an absolutely Certain and Intelligible Way which why his Wisdome should not have done in case Faith be an Assent which while it relies on the Ground God has left for Mankind cannot be an error as it may be if none can be absolutely certain both of the Text and sense of Scriptures I would gladly be informed Especially since Dr. St. tells us here Princ. 15. there is no need of an Infallible society of men either to attest or explain them and all that is Fallible as common sense tells us falls short of elevating it above possibility of being an Errour whence follows that there being no means on foot in the world Tradition of the Church failing or being set aside to secure us absolutely of this it can only be had by the Extraordinary Operation of Gods Power securing the Letter of such writings and rendering those VVritings themselves perfectly Intelligible in the manners assign'd in case VVriting be indeed the RULE OF FAITH VVriting then can be the Rule of Faith or able thus to ascertain Faith to us if Gods Infinit Power undertakes the framing it such as I have express'd but because experience tells us 't is not so order'd let us leave this Platonick way of considering how thing should be in that supposition and following the Aristotelian consider things as they are and accordingly examin how Gâ—ds Wisdome has thought fit to order such Writings actually and thence gather whether however 't is agreed between us they be most excellent for other uses and ends they were ever intended by the same Wisdome for a Rule of Faith To evince the contrary of which not to repeat those many Arguments I have brought elsewhere I fartner offer these Reasons First If the Writings of men divinely inspir'd were meant for a Rule of Faith then either all such Writings as such are therefore to belong to that Rule or some onely If all then since some Writings granted to have been written by
many others give Living voice an incomparable Advantage over Dead Characters in point of Intelligibleness and Expressiveness And though Dr. St. may contend that whatever advantage in signifying That has over This may possibly be put in writing and exprest by means of many large Explications writ by the person himself that was to deliver his mind yet he can never show that those Multitudes of words in those very Explications have the same degree of Significativeness and Intelligibility as if they had been spoken vivâ voce by their Author since they will still want all or most of the Advantages now spoken of which manifestly determine the signification of words To omit that all this will little make for his purpose when he comes to apply it since Scripture has no such large Explications writ upon it to supply that less clearness of expressing which the way of writing is necessarily subject to if compar'd with that of speaking much less if daily practise go along with living voice to declare mens minds as is found in Tradition As for what he adds and builds on that Scripture may be known to be the word of God If he means it may be known to be such according to the Grounds he proceeds on he ought either to have put it amongst Principles agreed on by both sides or else have prov'd it which he no where attempts but afterwards Princ. 15. very solidly and learnedly disproves and confutes while he denies the necessity of any Infallible society of men to attest or explain those VVritings For since in the bare Letter as it lies there are found many passages which contradict one another and abstracting from all Interpretation and Attestation of the Letter no part of it is to be held truer than other for if it once lose the repute of being Gods word as in that case it must 't is all equally liable to be false it follows that if there be neither any men Infallible in attesting nor in explaining those Writings all the World may be deceiv'd in performing both those duties and so all Mankind may be deceived both in judging the Scriptures which we now have to be the same book which was writ at first since there is no INFALLIBLE Attestation of it and also may be deceiv'd in judging there are not Contradictions in it since there is no Infallible Explanation of it to secure it from many such Imputations Evident in the bare Letter taking it as un explain'd or uninterpreted Any man of reason would think that to leave Scripture in such a pickle were but a slender provision to give it such a Certainty as will fit it to be a Rule of Faith if he but reflects that that Rule must be the Basis of all our Knowledg that God ever reveal'd any thing at all that is of all Mankinds way to salvation But suppose it thus granted that the will of God can be fufficienty declared to Men by writing in the manner declared above let 's see what follows 11. It is agreed among all Christians that although God in the first Ages of the VVorld did reveal his mind to men immediately by a voice or secret inspirations yet afterwards he did communicate his mind to some immediatly inspir'd to write his VVill in Books to be preserv'd for the benefit of future Ages and particularly that these Books of the New Testament which we now receive were so written by the Apostles and Disciples of Iesus Christ. This is granted only it is not agreed among all that bear the name of Christians of what nature this benefit is which God intended men in future Ages by the Scriptures whether of strengthening them in Faith and stirring them up to good Life or teaching them their Faith at first and assuring it to them nor how this benefit comes to be deriv'd to the Generality whether by Immediate reading and penetrating it themselves or through the Preaching and Instruction of some others deputed by God for that end who have Faith in their hearts already by some other Means But we are to expect Dr. St. will in the process of his discourse clear this point solidly and throughly for 't is the main hinge of all this Controveesie He goes forward thus 12. Such Writings have been received by the Christian Church of the first Ages as Divine and Infallible and being deliver'd down as such to us by an Vniversal consent of all Ages since they ought to be owned by us as the Certain Rule of Faith whereby we are to judge what the Will of God is in order to our salvation unless it appear with an Evidence equal to that whereby we believe those Books to be the Word of God that they were never intended for that end because of their obscurity or Imperfection This whole Paragraph amounts to one Proposition which is this such Writings viz. penn'd by men divinely inspir'd for the benefit of future Ages receiv'd at first and deliver'd down ever since as Divine and Infallible are to be held the Certain Rule of Faith unless there be Evidence of their Defectiveness equal to that of their being Gods Word Which is a bare Assertion neither prov'd from any Principle agreed or not agreed on and therefore perfectly Groundless and unprov'd and False into the bargain though the main stress of his whole discourse relies on it Now that 't is False I prove because its Contradictory is True For there may be writings penn'd by men Divinely inspir'd and deliver'd down to us as Divine and Infallible and yet we need not be bound to hold them the Rule of Faith though we have not equal Evidence of their defect as we have that they are the VVord of God Since to be writ by men divinely-inspir'd to be Divine Infallible and the word of God signifies no more but that they are perfectly Holy and True in themselves and beneficial to mankind in some way or other and this is the farthest these words will carry but that they are of themselves of sufficient Clearness to give sincerely-endeavouring persons such Security of their Faith while they rely on them as cannot consist with Error which is requisit to the Rule of Faith these words signifie not They may be most Holy they may be most True in themselves they may be exceedingly Vseful or Beneficial to mankind and yet not be endow'd with this Property which yet the RVLE OF FAITH must have And whereas he says they are for these reasons to be owned for the Rule of Faith that is we are for these reasons to judge and profess them such unless it appear with an equal evidence c. that they are defective sure he never understood what Iudging and Professing is built on who can make such a Discourse Our Assent or Iudgment is built on the Grounds or Reasons which conclude the thing to be as we judg and not on our seeing nothing to the contrary for in case the reasons produc'd conclude not the thing to
enough and apply that Capacity to their power by as great a Diligence as any nor can he in Charity deny but they sincerely endeavour to know the meaning of it in such points Therefore he cannot deny but the persons attending to the Rule are faultless either in understanding Scripture in these points if it be to private Understandings clearly intelligible or VVill to understand it if they could and indeed 't is Incredible they should not will or desire this since they use such exact diligence in it and solemnly profess to rely on the Letter alone or that did they indeed sleight the Letter or purposely decline relying on it their byass should not manifestly appear in so long time and they be branded for Evident Insincerity He cannot deny then but the Persons are faultless as to their Capacity and Will to understand the Rule therefore unless he will renounce his Reason he cannot deny but the Fault must be in the same Persons judging that to be the Rule which is not and consequently that the Letter of Scripture is not alone and of it self clear and Intelligible enough to preserve private men both capable and diligent and relying solely on It from possibility of Error no not from actually Erring in most Fundamental Points of Faith nor consequently has it in it the true nature of the Rule of Faith and so since God never intends any thing should do what its Nature reaches not to do that is should do what it cannot do 't is manifest Scriptures Letter was never intended by God for that End or to be such a Rule 13. Although we cannot argue against any particular way of Revelation from the necessary Attributes of God yet such away as writing being made choce of by him we may justly say that it is repugnant to the nature of the design and the Wisdome and Goodness â—f God to give infallible assurance to persons in writing his Will for the benefit of Mankind if those Writings may not be understood by all persons who sincerely endeavour to know the meaning of them in all such things as are necessary for their salvation It is not yet prov'd nor ever will that God hath made choice of the Way of writing for a Rule of Faith nor design'd it for that end nor that the benefit he meant Mankind by such Writings was to Ground their Faith on what appear'd to their private Judgments to be the sense of the Letter therefore 't is no wonder if all persons stould hap to misunderstand it even in such things as are necessary for their salvation notwithstanding their sincere endeavour to know the meaning of them since God has never promis'd that any who takes a way never intended by him for such an End shall infallibly arrive at that End by such a Way nor is the Wisdome and Godness of God at all concern'd in preserving any from Error if they take such a Way especially if we reflect upon these following Considerations First That God hath no where engaged his word to secure every single or private man from Error who shall sincerely endeavour to find his Faith in the Scripture in case he rely on his own private Judgment neglect to hear his Pastors whence if such private persons rely on Gods promis'd Assistance to such an End they rely on what neither is nor ever was and so no wonder their hopes fail them if those Hopes be groundless Secondly They cannot but know if but meanly vers'd in the world that whole Bodies of men and amongst them divers of great learning interpret Scripture several ways in very concerning points of Faith and it must needs favour of a proud self-conceit in any person to think God regards his single self more than he does whole Bodies and Great Multitudes Again it cannot without a strange Unreasonableness Uncharitableness be imagin'd or judg'd that not one person of those many who adhere to the opposite Tenet as clear to them in Scripture according to their best Judgment does sincerely endeavour to know the meaning of these Sacred Books and if they do then Common sense tells this private person that the whole Foundation on which his Hope is built is unsound and that more is requisite than the Letter of Scripture and a sincere endeavour to understand it and that if these suffice to direct him right they ought for the same reason be sufficient to direct another and so he ought to doubt whether himself or those others proceeding on the same Grounds and having the same Means be in the right that is he ought to doubt of his Faith no better grounded Lastly This private man belongs to some particular Church and so has Pastors and Governors set over him to teach and instruct him and those too as wee 'l suppose read and rely on the Scriptures Also he must judg this Church sincerely endeavours to know the meaning of Scriptures for this being the requisit condition to find right Faith without this his Church has no right Faith and so is no Church now for a private man who is subject to such a Church and ought to be taught by the Pastors of that Church not to submit to the Judgment of that Church and his Lawful Pastors as to the Sense of Scriptures or his Faith even though they be sincere endeavours as well as he but to adhere to that for his Faith which appears to his private self to be in the Scriptures though he contradict and defy all the Church he his a member of in so doing which he ought to do if he proceed on this Principle that Scriptures may be understood by all persons who sincerely endeavour to know the meaning of them in all things necessary for his salvatiou for he ought not for any mans sake relinquish his Faith or its Rule I say to behave himself thus as in that supposition he ought is such an intolerable ma apert Presumption so Sensless and Unnatural and Self-condemning a Rebellion and such a Fanatick Spiritual Pride as I much doubt will give a man but small title to hope for Especial Assistance from Gods Wisdom and Goodness At present I onely remarke the Faults of this Principle which are these First That it supposes God has made choice of or designd the Scriptures to be this Rule of Faith for private persons Next that Gods Wisdome and Goodness is Engag'd that it be thus Intelligible to every sinâ—ere Eadeavourer Neither of which is in the least prov'd or proveable Lastly when he comes to the close instead of making it so intelligible as that all sincere Endeavors might therby be absolutely secur'd from erring as to the Truth of their Faith which is the Duty of the Rule of Faith seeing very well these slight Grounds were not able to carry so far he substitutes in their room these waty words in all such things as shall be necessary for their salvation so that though they erre in all the main points of
act as they adjudg'd had both led them into actual Errour and punisht them thus grievously in that case for adhering to Truth which are too horrid blasphemies to be heard or imagin'd But if they mean onely for some time of that Law or some Ages immediately before Christ when the Synagogue was most corrupt this implies a Confession that such a Society was necessary in the Ages foregoing and then Dr. St. is to show us why it was not equally necessary in the later as in the former and not suppose it gratis Nor was the Synagogue ever more corrupt than in our Saviour's days and yet we see how severely he enjoins the Jews of that time to obey the Scribes and Pharisees because they sate in Moses his Chair which it were blasphemy to say Christ could do if he had not secur'd their Doctrine from being Erroneous that is preserv'd them Inerrable in that Affair Add that were all granted yet there is far more necessity of explaining the Scriptures now than at that time For the Law was in a manner all of it either matters of Fact to be done or Moral Duties and so agreeable to nature whence both of these were far more easily expressible in proper language and consequently Intelligible than the sublime spiritual and mysterious Tenets of the Law of Grace which are more hard to be exprest in per words and being more removed from our knowledg the natures of the Things are more hard to be penetrated and so those words more difficult to be rightly comprehended and understood without an Interpreter than were those other 16. There can be no more intolerable usurpation upon the Faith of Christians than for any person or society of men to pretend to an Assistance as Infallible in what they propose as was in Christ or his Apostles without giving an equal degree of Evidence that they are so assisted as Christ and his Apostles did viz. by miracles as great publick and convincing as theirs were by which I mean such as are wrought by those very persons who challenge this Infallibility and with a design for the Conviction of those who do not believe it Thus the Dr. makes sure work against the Infallibility of any Church which overthrown his single self nay any private man or woman that has but self-conceit and confidence enough to proceed openly upon these Principles of his is upon even ground with the best nay all the Churches in the World at the main point of understanding and determining what 's Faith what not Nay more may defie all the Governours of all Churches in the World if he or she be but conscious to themselves that they sincerely endeavour and soberly enquire for the true meaning of the divine writings for these being their Rule of Faith and being assuâ—ed by Dr. St. that they cannot miss if they soberly enquire of what is necessary for salvation and being inform'd by common Reason that 't is a point very necessary to the salvation of a Christian or one who is to follow and adore Christ to know whether he be God and so may without fear of Idolatry have Divine Honour given him or no these things being so in case it should seem to the best judgement of such a man and let him be for example one brought up in the Church of England and newly turn'd Socinian that Christ is not God he ought not to relinquish his Rule of Faith at any rate nor what he judges the Scriptures sense of it this being his Faith but maintain it boldly against all his Pastors talk and quote Scripture as briskly as the best of them all desy them to their faces nay dye in defence of his interpretation of it and be a special Martyr though he take his death upon it that all his lawful Pastors and the whole Church of which he is a member are most hainons Idolaters for giving the worship proper to God to a man In this case 't is plain the Church cannot pretend to oblige him to believe her interpretation of Scriptuâ—e Alas all such power is quite taken out of her hands by these new principles not to act exteriourly as she does for that were to oblige him to deny his Faith in his Actions and carriage and this in so hainous a point as committing flat Idolatry and which his Rule of Faith tells him is such Nor to acquiesce so far as to hold his tongue and not contradict the Church for 't is both ingratitude to God who has so plainly reveal'd it to him in Scripture not to stand up for his honour so wickedly violated by the Church and withall most uncharitable to his neighbour not to communicate to him the light he has receiv'd by such plain Revelation from God's word and to endeavour his reducement from so grievous an Idolatry especially if this man be a Minister of the Church of England whose Office and Duty 't is to hold forth or preach what he judges God's word Nay though it were a Lay-man or a Lay-woman all 's a case why may they not with as much reason make known so concerning a truth plainly reveal'd to them as Aquila and Priscilla did of old As for all power of the Church to restrain them that 's quite thrown out of doors Humane commands can have no force when the best duties to God and man are neglected by obeying and the more the Church is obstinate and opposes this private man or woman by so much greater is the necessity of his or her informing the Church right and standing up for the Truth Hereafter more of this at present let us see how he destroyes infallibility in the Church which is his chief design and indeed it makes very much for his purpose for I so far concurr with him that if it be but fallible in attesting or explaining Scripture 't is little available to the grounding Christian Faith so that if infallibility be but overthrown and these Principles setled in its stead every private man is a Church which our corrupt nature loving liberty will no doubt be very taking and please the rabble exceedingly He is so earnest at his work that he stumbles for hast For first who did ever pretend to an infallibility equal to what was in Christ or his Apostles as his words import Christ was essentially infallible the Apostles by Immediate Inspiration from God The Church pretends indeed to be infallibly assisted but that she pretends to have it either essentially as God has it or by way of immediate inspiration as the Apostles had it is a thing I never yet learnt 'T is enough to justify her constant claim of infallible assistance that she have it mediately or by means of the ordinary working of natural and supernatural causes so shee but have it And to have it this way seems far more agreeable to reason than the other of immediate inspiration as to have by way of immediate inspiration was far more fitting for the Apostles For
Position abating the Degree of it for I take it to be equally or more absurd not to assent to the Infallibilty of a great body of men which is all that is pretended whatever Reason or Tradition appear for it without an evident Miracle The second part is likewise granted in case it suppose as it seems to do the knowledge of their Infallibility deriv'd only from those very books which they recommend and in passages which they are to explicate ere they can be sure of such an infallibility Otherwise 't is possible a book obscure in multitudes of other passages may be clear in that one which relates them to the Church or that body which they are to hear and obey as to the proper interpreters of the Scriptures in Dogmatical and controverted passages which belong to Faith But the Dr. should do well to shew us any society of men or Church that pretends to build her Infallibility only on the Scriptures interpreted by that very Infallibility Otherwise it will not touch our Church who claimes the Supernatural assistance of the Holy Ghost upon her Rule of Faith Tradition and as for her being naturally supported from errour in attesting former doctrines 't is grounded by those who discourse of that point upon Humane nature as to its infallible Sensations and on its Rationality which renders it incapable to do any thing without a motive as they must do should they transmit a not-deliver'd that is an evidently-new doctrine for an old or deliver'd one 18. There can be no hazard to any person in mistaking the meaning of any particular place in those books supposing he use the best means for understanding them comparable to that which every one runs who beleeves any person or society of men to be infallible who are not for in this later he runs unavoidably into one great error and by that may be led into a thousand but in the former God hath promis'd either he shall not erre or he shall not be damn'd for it This whole Paragraph is built on a false and unprov'd supposition viz. that any Adversary of his beleeves any society of men to be Infallible which is not Other faults there are in it and that good store as granting in effect here what he lately deny'd that a man using the best means for understanding Scripture may mistake the meaning of any particular place though not with a hazard incomparable to that of the other whereas if Scripture be the Rule of Faith as he contended 't is impossible that a man relying and proceeding upon it and using that means in the best manner he can possibly should come to erre in his Faith for in this case the man having done all that can be done by him as to the understanding the Rule the fault must needs be in his judging that to be a Rule which is none But this main and fundamental error is coucht in the last words in the former God hath promis'd he shall not erre or shall not be damn'd for it what mean in the former case c. This certainly and nothing but this if we may trust his own words in mistaking the meaning of any particular place in thâ—se books supposing he use the best means for understanding them Now 't is a strange thing to me that God should promise that a man mistaking the meaning of these books should not erre in so doing But omitting this slip of Dr. St's Reason or memory I ask what means this disjunctive promise either of not erring or not being damn'd for it Why it means that Dr. St. knows not well himself what to say to the point or whether he should stand to it or no that a man using the best means for understanding Scripture that is according to him the best means lest by God for him to arrive at Faith should not erre and therefore he warily subjoyn'd or he shall not be damn'd for it and then he thinks himself secure enough from confute it being a hard thing to conclude of any particular wellâ— meaning man when he is damn'd when not whereas it might perhaps be no such hard matter to prove whether what he held was true or not I could ask him whence or how he comes to this assurance of God's disjunctive promise here so confidently asserted on the truth of which the salvation of so many souls necessarily depends Not by Tradition For this would make him rely on a society of men or a Church which he hates with all his heart not by Scripture for this would make the same thing be the proof to it self not by Reason for we are to suppose he has done his best in that already and yet as is shown has effected nothing But I would demand of him seriously did God ever promise that if one takes such a way as for want of a due intelligibleness in proportion to his capacity is not able to secure him from error he shall not erre or that if he will needs be wiser than his Pastors and chuse a Means for such an end which God never intended for that end he shall yet be sure to arrive at that end by that means or that if by relying on it and erring he shall happen to fall short of sufficient means he shall notwithstanding miraculously be sav'd without sufficient means These are the points he is to consider well and speak to and not thus confidently call every thing a Principle which he thinks fit to say on his own head though never so extravagant In a word let him prove Scripture to have in it the nature of a Rule of Faith or which will fall into the same to have been intended by God for that end that is to be of it self such to people of all capacities that soberly enquire as secures them from erring in Faith while they rely on it and this of it self without needing any society of Men or Church to attest or explain it and then I shall yeild his discourse to run as currently as his own heart can wish but in proving this he hitherto hath and ever must fall short most miserably He hath often as I noted formerly instead of saying his Rule of Faith should preserve those who endeavour to follow it from error or from missing of truth substituted those words cannot miss of what is necessary for their salvation and such like The examination of which words I have reserved till now and that I may do him all right imaginable I will press his Argument or rather indeed bare saying in behalf of Scripture as far as my reason can carry it None can deny but that the knowledge of a very few points are sufficient for well-meaning particular persons as appears by the Ieweâ— that were sav'd and many silly and weak Christians since nor can it be deny'd but every one that reads Scripture or hears it read by one they dare trust may understand some few good things to which if they live up heartily and
be Formally Infallible in the Grounds of Faith and so able to discourse of those Grounds and make out their Absolute Certainty by way of Skill or Art there ought to be moreover another sort of men in the Church Formally-Infallible in discerning the True and distinct notion of each Point of Faith and this is the proper work of the Governours of the Church For these by reason of their State of Life which is to meditate on God's Law day and night their perpetual Converse with the Affair of Faith by Preaching Teaching Catechizing Exhorting their Concern to overlook their Flock lest any Innovatour should infect them with Novelties their Constant Addiction to observe exactly their Rule Tradition the Standard by which they govern themselves in distinguishing the true Faithfull from revolting Apostats or Hereticks their Duty to be well vers't in the Doctrine of Fathers and Acts of former Councils and according to these soberly and gravely not quirkingly and with witty tricks to understand and interpret Holy Scripture These Eminent Personages and Chief Magistrates and Mâ—sters of the Faithfull being tâ—us furnisht with all requisite endowments to give them a most distâ—nct and exact knowledge of the doctrine descended to them by Tradition and of the sense of the Church in case any Heretick revolts openly from the formerly deliverâ—d Faith these Men I say are by the Majesty and sway of their moâ—t venerable and most ample Authority to quash and subdue his petty party newly sprung up and either reduce him to his duty by wholsome advice and discipline or if he persists in his Obstinacy to cut him off solemnly from the Church by Excommunication that so the sounder Faithfull may look upon him according to our Saviours command as on a Heathen or a Publicanâ— it being thus made evident that he stands against all his Superiâ—urs and rebels against the most sacred Authority upon Earth Or in case that Heretick cloak his poisonous doctrine in aâ—biguous expressions or goes about to pervert the words used formerly by the Church by drawing them to a sinister sense never intended by Her They being perfectly acquainted with the language and sense of the Church are to invent and assign proper words to express the Churches sence and such as are pertinent and effectual for the present juncture and exigency to defeat the crafty Attempts of those quibbling Underminers of Faith or else they are to clear the true sence of the former words us'd by the Church by declaring in what meaning the Church takes and ever took them And sometimes too beating the Heretick at his own weapon Scripture's Letter by avowing this to be the sence in which the Church ever took such and such places Hence they are said to define Faith that is to expresse in distinct words it 's precise Limits and bounds that so no leaven of Errour may possibly intermingle it self and to seal and recommend their Acts by stamping on them the most Grave most Venerable and most Sacred Authority in the whole Christian world Now that this Authority of the Church Representative is Infallible in knowing the Points of Faith and that on the best manner is prov'd hence because if such a Learned Body consisting of the most Eminent and Knowing Personages in the world can be deceiv'd while they rely on the Means left by God to preserve mankinde from errour in understanding the Points of Faith 't is evident no man in the world can be â—â—cur'd thereby from Errour and so the Means would be no Means to arrive at Truth but rather a Means to leade men into Errour since they err'd relying solely on that which it being supposed to have been intended by God for a Contrary end is absolutely Impossible 5. Though the Substance or Essence of Faith consists in believing what is True upon the Divine Authority certainly engag'd for those Truths which is the Formal Motive of Believing and therefore 't is enough for trne Faith that the â—Generality of the Church or the Vulgar be materially Infallible in their Faith yet it addes evidently a great perfection to Faith that they be Formally Infallible and that the Faithfull see with Infallible Certainty that the Divine Authority is actually engag'd when they believe First because Faith is an Intellectual Virtue and so to proceed knowingly upon it's Grounds makes it more Agreeable to the Understanding and Perfective of it 2. Because the more evident 't is that the Divine Authority is engag'd the more heartily those who reverence it are dispos'd to submit their Iudgments by believing whence Faith in such Persons is more lively firm and Immoveable also more Efficacious and if other Considerations be equal more apt to work through Charity than it is in others Moreover such Faithful are incomparably more able to satisfy and convert others being able as is supposed to make â—ut evidently the Grounds of their Faith Wherefore every thing being then in it's perfectest state when 't is able to produce it's like or another of it 's own kinde 't is a signe that Faith in such men is Ripe Manly and Perfect since 't is able to propagate it sâ—lf to others or as S. Paul phrases it gignere in Evangelio Whence those who are to convert souls and propagate Faith are oblig'd to labour all that may be to accomplish themselves in this particular lest they fall short of this Perfection which seems properly and peculiarly due to their state For 't is not so opprobrious to the Layity to be unable to perform this but 't is highly so to them because they are lame without it 6. Notwithstanding this 't is God's Will that all the Faithfull should be formally Infallible in their Faith or know Infallibly the Grounds of Faith cannot be False as far as they are capable For this being as was lately shown a Perfection in Faith and God who is Essential Goodness not being Envious but desirous his Creatures should have all the Good they are capable to receive especially such goods as tend to the bettering their souls and promoting them towards Heaven it follows that he wills them this Perfection in Faith as far as it can stand with the Universal Order of the World or the particular natures of Things that is as far as they are capable to receive it 7. He hath therefore ordain'd such a Means by which to know his Will as far as concerns our Belief or what he would have us believe that is he has constituted such a Rule of Faith that it's Certainty may be most easily penetrable by all degrees and sorts of the Faithfull Whence follows most evidently that Tradition and not Scripture is that Rule For of all ways of Knowing and Ascertaining imaginable nothing is more easie to be comprehended or to satisfy people of all sorts then is that of Witnessing Authority as we experience in their perfect belief of K. Iames or K. H. 8ths existence and such like The Grounds of which Truths not needing to be
be so as it happens in many Controvertists who are well instructed in the Grounds of their Faith yet not so well verst in the nature of particular points but believe them only by Implicit Faith or else one of their knowledges may be more Clear and distinct than the others and so serve to perfect and advance it in the same manner as Art does Nature Least of all can it follow that the Infallibility of the Church Representative is needless for This is not intended to teach the Faithfull their Faith at first nor do I remember ever to have seen a Generall Council cited in a Catechism but this is performed by the Church Diffusive by her Practise and Language and by her Pastors in their Catechisms and Instructions But it 's use is to secure and preserve Faith already taught and known from receiving any taint by the Equivocating Heretick and to recommend it more Authoritatively to the Faithfull when clear'd And whoever reads my 4th Note will see so many particularities in the Members which compound a Representative Church above others who are purely Parts of Ecclesia Credens that he cannot in any Reason judge them Vseless though those others be in an Inferiour degree Certain of their Faith too For all this while the word Infallible which seems to have so loud a sound and is made such a monstrous peece of business by the Deniers of it is in plain Terms no more but just barely Certain as I have prov'd Faith Vind. p. 37. 38. and Reason against Rail p. 113. To come closer up then to my Adversary His 20th Principle which speaks of Assent in common is wholly built upon a False supposition that it can only be Grounded upon Evidence For however indeed in perfect Reflecters that are unbyast Evidence of the Object or of the Credibleness of the Authority is alwayes requisit to breed Assent yet Experience teaches us that Assent in weak and unreâ—lecting persons is frequently built on a great Probability sometimes a very little one and sometimes men Assent upon little or no reason at all their Passion or Interest byassing their wills and by it their Understandings and this many times even against such reason as would be Evident to another Again matteriall Infallibility which is enough to that Assent we speak of precisely and solely consider'd depends solely at least Principally on the Object contrary to what is there asserted And whereas he says Princ. 29. that the Infallibility of every Particular person is not asserted by those who plead for the Infallibility of a Church he sees by this discourse it both is and must be Asserted and that we maintain that every particular person must be materially Infallible or incapable of erring while he relies on the Grounds laid and recommended by God that is while he believes the Church which yet is far from rendring the Formal Infallibility of the Church useless unless he will say that because it suffices for the pitch of weak people whose duty 't is not to maintain and make out the Truth of their Faith that they be simply in the right or void of Errour and that they see after a gross manner that the thing is so though they cannot defend it therefore there is no need that those whose duty 't is to do so should be able to penetrate the Grounds of Faith and so explicate prove and maintain it to be True Nor will it follow that though the Generality were after a rude and gross manner formally Infallible in their belief that the Church is Infallible and therefore that the Points she proposes are all likewise Infallibly-true it will not follow I say hence that a greater and clearer and more penetrative degree of Formal Infallibility is useless in Church-Governours for as appears by my 4th Note there are many other things to be done by them of absolute necessity for the Church which far exceed the pitch and posture of those dull Knowers of the lowest Class which is the next degree above Ignorance and are unauthoriz'd to meddle in such affairs Unless he will say that Art is needless because there is Nature or that there needs no Iudges to decide such Cases in which the Law seems plain And thus much for the clearing this concerning Point In the rest of his Principles I shall be briefer But I must not pass over his Transition to them which is this We are further to enquire what Certainty men may have in matters of Faith supposing no External Proponent to be Infallible And he need not go far to satisfie his Enquiry For it being most evident by the Disputes between the Protestants and Socinians that Scripture needs some External Proposer of it's true meaning in such kinde of Points as also some External Proposer or Attester that this is the true Text of it on which all is built Also it being evident that Dr. St. Princ. 15. denies any Infallible Proposers of either of these and that here again he pursues close the same doctrin Lastly this Proposer being such that however we can have Certainty without It that the Divine Authority is to be believed yet we must depend on It for the Knowledge when and where 't is engag'd that is we must depend on It for the Certainty of our Faith It follows that in case this Proponent be not Infallible it can never be made out with Infallible Certainty that the Divine Authority stands engag'd for the Truth of any one Point of Faith and consequently that the Certainty men have in matters of Faith is not an Infallilible one And if it be not an Infallible Certainty which Faith has as he no where challenges but very laboriously disproves it he need not go far to enquire or learn what Certainty it must have for Common Sense tels him and every man who has the least spark of Natural Logick that if Faith must have Certainty as he grants and have not Infallible Certainty it must either have Fallible Certainty or none at all there being no Middle between them and so we must make account that because it overstrains D. St's weak Grounds to assert Faith to be Infallibly Certain therefore his next Attempt must be to overstrain Common Sense and to the inestimable Honour of Christian Religion maintain that all Christian Faith is Fallibly-Certain But he must do it smoothly and warily and however he nam'd the word Infallible loud enough and oft enough when he was confuting it yet he must take heed how he names the word Fallible Certainty when he is asserting it lest it breed laughter or dislike though it be evident out of the very Terms that he who confutes Infallible Certainty must maintain Fallible Certainty sf he maintains any But now he begins his defence of Faiths Fallible Certainty and 't is fit we should listen Monstrous things use to challenge and even force Attention from the most unconcern'd 24. There are different degrees of Certainty to be attained according to the
make it more a Certainty or a better Certainty which makes the Conclusiveness or Evidence had from the Object needless to create a Certainty and signifies thus much in plain Terms Think or imagine what you will so you imagine it strongly and hold it stifly you are as Certain of it as may be Had he said A Christian is or may be thus Certain by such a Proof had from the Object as was truly Conclusive of the Thing how Genuin Coherent Clear had his Expression been which now is forc't Incongruous and Obscure how Agreeable to Reason and the nature of Certainty as all Mankind understands it which now is most Irrational and Unsuitable to the same Nature How Honourable and Creditable had it been to his Cause and to himself too as a Writer But men that have not Truth on their side and consequently are quite destitnte of found Principles and true Grounds must not dare to speak Sense Himself told us Princ. 20. that the nature of Assent is agreeable to the Evidence we have of it in our Minds let him remember then that the highest degree of a firm Assent requires in reason the highest gree of Clear Evidence to beget it which yet he lately deny'd to be had from Moral things and attributed it peculiarly to the Mathematicks So that all is Incoherent all is Common and big words hollow and so of a loud and high Sound but without any determinate Sense Again how does it follow that because a Christian is thus Certain that the Scriptures are the Word of God that therefore his Faith is thereby resolved into the Scriptures as into the Rule and Measure of what he is to believe There is not the least show of consequence for this unless he had first prov'd that God had intended to speak so clear in the Scripture as every private Understanding should not sail of being secur'd from mistake while it rely'd upon It as also that God had spoken to us no other way but by the written Word which he has no where prov'd nor can ever prove And if the former of these as experience tels us 't is be wanting 't is not a Rule to those Persons if the latter 't is not necessarily the Measure of what they are to believe 29. No Christian can be oblig'd under any pretence of Infallibility to believe any thing as a matter of Faith but what was revealed by God himself in that Book wherein he believes his Will to be contained and consequently is bound to reject whatsoever is offer'd to be imposed upon his Faith which has no foundation in Scripture or is contrary thereto which Rejection is no making Negative Articles of Faith but only applying the general Grounds of Faith to particular Instances as because I believe nothing necessary to Salvation but what is contain'd in Scripture therefore no such particular things which neither are there nor can be deduc't thence If Christians were bound to hold that God had reveal'd his whole Will in that Book and this so clearly that all or most Chriâ—tians could not miss of understanding it right so as thereby to be absolutely Certain of their Faith then indeed the first half of his Principle here runs very currently and smoothly but these rubs lying still in the way which Dr. St. has not in the least removâ—d they being also satisfy'd by the General Conceit of Christianity and by the Nature and Genius of Christian Faith that it cannot possibly be an Errour or Lye and consequently muâ—t have such Grounds as cannot possibly permit all the world to be in an Errour while they rely on them that is Grounds which are Infallibly secure and on the other side observing both by experience and Reason that Scripture is not such a Ground as that private Understandings applying to it are thereby perserv'd from possibility of erring as Dr. St. also confesses in his next Principle hence they are invited strongly to conceive that God has left some Persons on earth easily to be found who may supply what is wanting of Clearness to Scriptures Letter in the highest Points of Faith and that God will some way or other perserve them from erring and that while thus protected by God's signal Providence whether this be performed Naturally Supernaturally or both wayes they cannot Erre in that Affair or in acquainting us with right Faith So that unless Dr. St. make out solidly that Scripture has in it the true nature of the Rule of Faith of it self and without needing any Church he must expect in reason that the very nature of Faith will necessarily incline all sincere persons who have due care of their souls and of finding out true Faith to beleeve the Infallibility of the Church And whereas he says that their rejection of such Points which have no Foundation in Scripture or are contrary thereto is no making New Articles of Faith but only applying the General Grounds of Faith to particular Instances he discourses therein very consonantly to his own Grounds were they worth any thing Yet I have one thing to propose to his Consideration which is that to justify his Reformers he must produce Grounds full as good or rather better for the Rejection of those Points as for his Faith or to speak more distinctly he must have as perfect or rather perfecter Certainty for these two Propositions Nothing it to be beleeved which has no Foundation in Scripture and This or that rejected Point has no Foundation in Scripture as he has for any point of Christian Faith For since upon the Evidence they had of these two Propositions they disobey'd and rebell'd against their then lawful Superiours and Church Pastors and broke Church-Union which was evidently forbidden by God's Law and so the preserving Union obeying them is a point of Faith and which themselves confess is such and binds them as such in case the reasons for their imposing New points be not valid that is if these two Propositions on whose Evidence they rely'd when they alledged they were wrongfully impos'd and thence rejected them be not True it follows that they must at least have equal Evidence nay more for bare Equality would only Balance them in a doubtful suspence berween either side that those Propositions on which they grounds their Rejection of those Articles and disobedience to their Pastours aad Superiours are True as they have for their Faith And if the Grounds of this Rejection ought to be more Certain then the Grounds of their Faith there is either some thing wrong in the pretended Grounds of their Faith or else their Negative Articles ought to be allow'd the honour of being Points of Faith too since their greater Certainty gives them fair and equal Title to it if not Absolute Preeminâ—nce 30. There can be no better way to prevent mens mistakes in the sense of Scripture which men being Fallible are subject to than the considering the consequence of mistaking in a matter wherein their salvation
the Authour and Finisher of our Faith is the true reason why I with so much zeal and Earnestness oppose him and his Friend for advancing Vncertainty and consequently Scepticism in Faith however they and their angry passionate party are pleas'd to apprehend me I perceive Dr. St. will hope to evade by saying that Christian virtue may be upheld by the Certainty we have of some Points of Faith though others be Vncertain which Points to make his Uncertainty of Faith go down the better he cals here Opinions But if he means by Opinions the Tenets of a Trinity Christs Godhead and Presence in the B. Sacrament all most highly concerning Christian Life one way or other in which we discern great parties differing who all â—dmit the Scripture and use the best means to interpret it as far as we can perceive nay and consider the consequence of mistaking too which he makes the very best means of all If I say these and such as these be the Opinions he speaks of and counterposes them to means to keep men from sin in their lives and that the Rule of Faith he assigns leaves whol Bodies of Reliers on it in actual Errour in such Fundamental Points of Faith and of most high concernment to good life as has been shown even while they proceed upon it 't is evident 't is not the Rule God intended his Church and mankinde to build their Faith on and so none can presume of security of mistake by relying purely upon it but all of Concern not known before by some other means that is all which it alone holds forth may be also liable to be a mistake likewise unless some other Authority more ascertainable to us then it abets it's Letter in such passages as are plain because they are either meerly Moral or Narrative or explain it's sense in others which are more spiritual and supernatural and so more peculiar and Fundamental to Christianity Recapitulation To meet with the absurd Positions exprest or else imply'd in the Doctrin deliver'd here by Dr. St. in these last Eleven Principles of his I take leave to remind the Reader of these few opposit Truths establisht in my former Discourse 1. That Assent call'd Faith taken as built on the Motives left by God to light Mankind to the Knowledge of his Will that is taken as it ought to be taken and as 't is found in the Generality is for that Reason Absolutely that is more then morally Certain or Impossible to be False 2. Though the Nature of Assent depend immediatly on the Evidence we have of it in our minds when 't is Rational yet in case it be True as the Assent of Faith ought to be it must necessarily be built and depend fundamentally on the nature of the Thing since without dependance on It this Evidence it self cannot possibly be had 3. A man may be materially Infallible or out of possibility of being actually deceiv'd in judging the divine Authority is engag'd by adhering to another's Iudgment who is Infallible or in the right in thus judging though he penetrate not the reason why that other man comes to be Infallible Also he who is thus Infallible being in possession of those Truths reliev'd upon the Divine Authority as the Formal motive of believing them which Truths as Principles beget those good Affections in him in which consist our Christian Life such a man I say has consequently enough speaking abstractedly for the Essence of Saving Faith though he be not Formally or knowingly Infallible by penetrating the Conclusiveness of the Grounds of Faith 4. To be thus materially Infallible or thus in the right in judging the Divine Authority is engag'd is requisite and necessary for the Essence of Faith otherwise the believing upon the Divin Authority when 't is not engag'd and so perhaps the believing and holding firmly to abominable Errours and Hereticall Tenets might be an Act of Faith to assert which is both absurd and most impious 5. 'T is requisite to the Perfection of Faith to be formally or Knowingly Infallible that the Divine Authority is engag'd For since it hazards Heresy and Errour to judge that the Divine Authority is engag'd for any point when 't is not it ought to breed suspence and caution in Reflecters till they see it engag'd consequently the better they see this the more heâ—rtily they are apt to assent to the point upon the Divine Authâ—rity So that the Absolute Certainty of the Grounds which conclude the Divine Authority engag'd betters and strengthens the Act of Faith 6. However it be enough for the Faith of those whose downright rudeness lets them not reflect at all to be only Materially Infallible that God's Authority is engag'd yet 't is besides of Absolute necessity to Reflecters who raise doubts especially for those who are very acute to discern some reason which cannot deceive them or to be formally or knowingly Infallible that 't is indeed actually engag'd for those points Otherwise it would follow that provision enough had been made by God to satisfy or cause saving Faith in Fools and none at all to breed Faith wise men which without satisfaction in this in point is in possible to be expected in such through-sighted Reflecters The same Formal Infallibility is necessary for the wisest sort of men in the Church both to deâ—end Faith and establish it's Grounds in a Scholar-like way as also for their Profession of the Truth of Faith and other Obligations incumbent on them as Faithfull and lastly for the Effects which are to be bred in them by Faith's Certainty 7. Though then the Rule of Faith needs not to be actually penetrated by all the Faithfull while they proceed unreflectingly yet it ought to be so qualifi'd that it may satisfy all who are apt to reflect and so to doubt of their Faith that is it 's Ruling power ought to be penetrable or evidenceable to them if they come to doubt and also so connatural and suitable to the unelevated and unreflecting thoughts of men of all sorts that it be the most apt that maybe to establish the Faithfull in the mean time and preserve them from doubting of their Faith Both these are found in Tradition or Testifying Authority and not in Scripture's Letter That therefore and not This is the Rule of Faith 8. Infallible Certainty of Faith being rejected the Moral Certainâ—y he substitutes must either be a Fallible Certainty or none this later is Impious the former is non-sense Wherefore all Dr. St's Discourse of Faith while he rejects Infallibility must forcibly have the one or the other of these Qualifications 9. A firm Assent to a thing as True renders no man Certain of what he thus assents to for so Hereticks might be truly Certain of all the pestilent Errours they hold so they but firmly assent they are True 10. Faith being the Basis of all Christian Virtues on which all our spiritual Edifice is built and from whence we derive all the
gratis this position that nothing but Miracle ought to serve whether there be other Means laid or no Or that no Proof but Miracle can possibly be sufficient to satisfy mens Reasons in a thing Subject to Reason For the Natural Assistance of the Church is such of it self and the Suppernatural supposing the knowledge of Sanctity in the Church is as plain Reason as that the greatest motives to Goodness and Interiour Goodness caus'd by those motives will make those good men who have it act as good men ought and are apt to do The 17th proceeds wholly upon a False Imputation laid on our Church and on his confounding most absurdly the notion of the Church with that of the Schools or rather taking a few speculative Divines and those the weakest to be the Church The 18th is again built on an unprov'd Supposition of which kind of Grounds he is still very free and on a falsely pretended promise from God so to secure any private-spirited Contemner of the Church that he shall be in the way to Salvation whether he Err◠or no though as common sense and the Order of the world gives it he forfeit both his Reason and his Virtue by not hearing his Lawfull and Learned Pastors rather than his self-conceited Ignorant self The 19th has the same Faults with the former and is wholly False even though his own Supposition mention'd in the close were freely granted him which 't is not The four Principles following are made up of these Errours 1. That we hold that no man can have a True and saving Faith unless he sees and knows that the Proponent is Infallible 2. That the nature of Assent when rational depends not on the Object 3. That one cannot have an Infallible Assent in Faith without Infallible Assistance to judge of the Points of Faith themselves 4. That there is no middle between no particular person and every particular person being formally Infallible whereas my Tenet is that some must be so most may be so and all need not be so 5. That because all must be materially Infallible or in the true Faith but know not how they are so therefore 't is useless that any should know how to make out those Grounds to settle explain and defend Faith and it's Certainty These with his self-contradiction are the jarring Elements which compound these four terrible Principles with which he hopes to undermine and blow up the Churches Infalibility and the absolute Certainty of all Christian Faith The 24th gives good words in common of Certainty and Evidence but he means by the former Fallible Certainty by the Later only some Probability or Improbability so it but appears so to the Subject And is a total prevarication from Settling the Truth of Faith to not doubting the Truth of the Scripture of which there is no question The 25th holds forth a most wicked and gross Absurdity destructive of all Certainty Evidence Faith Christianity and even Man-hood viz. that to Assent firmly to any thing as True is to be Certain of it And intimates two others viz. that a man who is now Certain of a thing may at another time know that thing to be False though not at the same time as also that such a Certainty is competent for Belief or Faith The 26. speaks Evident Truth in the beginning of it but is nothing available to his cause but rather against him The Inference thence is False being defectively exprest and when rectify'd is also a clear Truth but highly prejudices himself The 27. is utterly 〈◊〉 of common Sense Certainty Faith and Christianity The 28. Principle is a weak and inconsistent Discourse The 29. supposes Scriptures Intelligible enough in all Points of Faith without the Church and to contain expresly God's whole will o◠every Article of Faith or at least with such a Ground of it there as that 't is deducible thence by private understandings with a Certainty competent for Faith none of which he has at all prov'd nor ever will The 30th and last confesses all men liable to Errour in Faith though relying on the Means left by God to secure them from it which evidently makes that means to be none and assigns a way for their best security which all Erring Sects in the world as far as we can discern take and yet still erre And lastly for an Upshot he makes account like a Solid Divine that our Christian Life is not at all Interiour but only Exteriour and consequently that Faith is no part of a Christian's Life nor the means to the other parts of it nor Infidelity and Heresy a Sin or Vice and then all 's safe and his Principles stand firm for then 't is evident that every private man may reject the Church at pleasure and be sure to understand as much in Scripture as is necessary to Salvation for if these be no sins and so do not damn a man either immediatly or mediatly there is nothing that will But indeed in Dr. St's kind of Reformation they are rather to be accounted Cardinal and Fundamental Virtues Such Sensless Principles ought to produce no better Fruit for this sutes their Practice and his Principles Rebel against God's Church break the most Sacred Order of the World and do but talk stoutly and with a bold grace and a pretty way of Expression of Scripture and God's Word and then all is Holy and Good Reflecting then back on the nature of Principles and considering that to deserve that name they must necessarily have in them two Qualifications viz. Evidence in themselves and Influence upon some other Propositions which are to derive their Evidence from them and it being manifest both out of this short Review and much more out of the full Replies to each of them that not one of those which D. St. here cals Principles but is either Vnevident and False or if True Impertinent and void of any the least Influence upon the Point he aym'd to prove by them They are clearly convinc't to have nothing in them like Principles or entitling them to the honour of that name and that he might with far more reason have call'd them Conceits Paradoxes Quodlibets or Crotchets And I know no better way for him to vindicate them but to entreat his Fellow-Hater of Infallibility Dr. T. who has a special gift at* putting Principles into Categorical and Hypothetical Syllogisms to undertake these that so the world may see the rare consequences that arise from them to which lest he should fail his Friend we now address The Sixth Examen of Dr. St's Six Conclusions ANY man who had either heard of Logick or reflected a little upon Nature would verily have thought that such obscure Principles should necessarily have produc't more obscure Conclusions since the Evidence of the Later being deriv'd only from the former and participated from them must needs be found in a lesser degree of Perfection in these than is the Evidence of those former from whence 't
examin'd as things of that nature are to be examin'd which is so evident to all men of common sense that it cannot need Proof and can scarce admit any I am sure is never prov'd by him That is 't is no Conclusion drawn from any of his Principles but putting in stead of the same Rules of tryal and Motives these words the same way which includes them both equivalently 't is only a Repetition of his 5th and 6th Principle and continues the same affected ambiguity in the word Revelation as he us'd formerly nay and is the same nonsense too in case he takes Revelation in either place for a point of Faith reveal'd and the Infallibility of the Church for that only which is built on Natural Assistance that is for it 's Human Testimony for so 't is most manifest the same motives neither are nor can be common to both For Points of Faith are receiv'd upon Authority as their proper Motive and are Relative to That and the Human Authority of the Church depends on Maxims of meer natural Reason and not at all on Authority which evidence they depend upon different motives and so must be examin'd by motives which are not the same This pretended Conclusion then is no new Proposition from his Premisses as a Conclusion ought to be but the self same with them and is either self-evident or else a meer peece of Folly and Nonsense that is the Terms of it being clear'd both False and unprov'd and so again no Conclusion which must be made evident or Prov'd 3. The less convincing the Miracles the more doubtfull the marks the more obscure the sense of either what is call'd the Catholick Church or declar'd by it the less reason hath any Christian to beleeve upon the account of any who call themselves by the name of the Catholick Church No man in his wits could any more doubt of this then of what 's most Evident by the Light of Nature for Convincingness of Miracles Evidence of the Marks and Sense of the Church being evidently Means or Reasons to believe this Conclusion putting less of 〈◊〉 these Reasons amounts in plain Terms to this Indentical Proposition Where there is less reason to believe there is less reason to believe which is Dr. St. can show possible to follow out of any of his Principles as Premisses as he here pretends he will do more then Miracle For he hath not there prov'd in the least that our Miracles are less convâ—ncing our Marks doubtful our sense obscure nor so much as mention'd those points much lesse gone about to confute our pretence of their Convincingnesse and Evidence and without doing this to pretend this is a Conclusion and that it follows from his Principles whereas it is incomparably more evident then the best of those he makes use of is to abuse the common regard due to his Readers and to declare he makes account they never knew what belong'd to ordinary Natural Logick or the Common Light of Reason 4. The more absurd any Opinions are and repugnant to the first Principles of Sense and Reason which any Church obtrudes upon the Faith of men the greater reason men shill have to reject the pretence of Infallibility in that Church as a grand Imposture This is just such another as the former For it being self-evident that Absurdities and Contradictions are not to be held and self-evident likewise that that which recommends such things to our belief 〈◊〉 to be rejected this pretended Conclusion amounts to this plain Truth that What has more reason to be rejected has greater or more reason to be rejected which is an Identical Proposition so plain that it cannot need or admit Proof and if it did or could there is not the least semblance of any thing offer'd in his Principles to prove it by nor any sentence or clause in them concerning that matter which has the tenth part of the â—lear Evidence that shines in this Proposition which he pretends follows from them as a Conclusion 5. To disown what is so taught by such a Church is not to question the veracity of God but so firmly to adhere to that in what he hath revealed in Scriptures that men dare not out of love to their souls reject what is so taught The first part of this is of the same nature with the former For the words such a Church and so taught meaning absurdly and repugnantly to First Principles the Truth of it is full as self-evident to all Christians who hold God the Authour of Truth as 't is that The Authour of Truth is not the Authour of Lies The rest of it which would seem to put the opposite to the foregoing part and tels us that to disown what is so taught by such a Church is firmly to adhere to what 's revealed in Scripture c. is absolutely False for to disown what is so taught by such a Church amounts to no more but to hold to the First Principles of Sense and Reason in points conrrary to those Principles obtruded by that Church which a man may do and yet be an Athiest for any thing Dr. St. has brought to make him adhere to Scripture for I much doubt that a profest Fallible Certainty for such wonderful extraordinary Points as he will be bound to believe if he becomes a Christian will scarce be able to give him full satisfaction of their Truth if he guide himself by the First Principles of Reason as Dr. St. pretends he should Nor is it in Dr. St's love of his Soul as he like a Saint pretends here but Humour and Interest to adhere so firmly to his private Interpretation of Scripture for his Rule of Faith which he cannot but see has not in it the nature of such a Rule nor consequently was ever intended by God for such an end since renouncing Infallibility in men he must confess that all possible means being used to finde out Truth by Interpretations of Scripture no better grounded it still leaves all the Reliers on it in a possibility of being mistaken as himself also confesses Princ. 30. that is Insecure that their Faith is True or only Fallibly Certain of their Faith Before I proceed to his sixth and last Conclusion it were not amiss to examine these according to the Noâ—es put down formerly containing some Qualifications necessarily belonging to all Conclusions and to show by their want of all those how utterly unlike these five last are to what they pretended to be And first not one of them follows out of his Principles as from their Premisses as I show'd in each of them 2. Their Verity is known and evident to all Mankind independently on those Principles of his 3. Their Verity is more known than is that of those Principles For speaking of the main import and weight of them abstracting from some particular words and phrasing his notions they are all in a manner self-evident and Unexceptionable whereas his thirty Principles are liable to
Church-Authority and if she had none her self 't is evident she could give none whence will follow that the Reformed Churches deriv'd nothing which was Constitutive of a Church from any foregoing one but were wholly erected anew and then I would know what Authority under that of Iesus Christ who constituted the Church at first had power to constitute it anew But if Dr. St. says that the Church of Rome rely'd on the Means left by God to ascertâ—â— Faith then 't is manifest that doing so she could not erre in Faith and so is as sound as may be whatever our Talking Disputant says Since then there is no middle between relying on the Means left by God to ascertain Faith and not relying on it and so that Body in Communion with the Roman Church must necessarily do one of them and if she does rely on it she must needs have all true Faith and so be very healthfull or sound if she does not she mâ—st needs have no True Faith at all and so not only lose her Health but her Essence too which by consequence un-churches the Reformers also it were good Dr. St. would consider the point over again and not talk thus any thing at random without proof As for his saying for saying things craftily and prettily is his only Talent that the Church of Rome by which I presume he means as we do those Churches in Communion with the Roman is not the Catholick Church this will be best decided by settling the Certain Rule of Faith and then by applying of it to consider whether any body out of her Communion have not deserted that Rule which if they have they will be prov'd thence to have no Faith nor consequently to have in them the Essence of a Church and so if this defect appear in them all they can be in true speech no parts of the Church in which case it must necessâ—â—ily follow that those in Communion with the Roman are the Catholick Church Let us begin with Grounds and pursue them by close discoursing and things will easily be decided but this Talking Voluntaries this countersfeitiâ—g and pretending to Principles and Conclusions when there is in reality neither the one nor the other is good for nothing but empty show These excellent performances having emboldend this man of Confidence to conceit he has done wonders he sounds the Triumph of his own Victory in these words This may suffice to shew the validity of the Principles on which the Faith of Protestants stands and the weakness of those of the Church of Rome These words give us occasion to reflect back on his Promise and his Performances His Promise was to reduce the Faith of Protestants to Principles What he has perform'd is this He has not yet laid one Proposition which is to him a Principle that is which he makes use of to conclude what he designs but what is both Obscure and False He has settled no Faith at all but brought all into Opinion by discarding Infallible and maintaining only Fallible Certainty And had he indeed settled any Faith yet he has not produc't own word to settle the Faith of Protestants in particular but all will equally fit a Socinian or a Quaker and his way of managing his Rule will much better sute with a Quaker or any Fanatick than with a Protestant Also in stead of reducing to Principles he at first begins to deduce from Principles and in the process of his discourse he puts Conclusions for Principles and Principles for Conclusions and so reduces and deduces that is draws backwards and forwards blows and sups both at once In a word the Total sum of his Heroick Atchievments amounts to this He has layd thirty Principles which wanting either evidence or else necessary Influence upon what he pretends to prove are no Principles He hath so reduc't to those Principles that he makes six Conclusions follow that is he deduces from them and so he has so reduc't to principles that he has not reduc't to them He has put that for a Rule which wanting power to direct aright those who are ro rely on it is evidently no Rule He has attributed such a Certainty to his Faith as is a Fallible one that is no Certainty but a Chimaera and consequently he has so Principl'd Faith as makes it no Faith but Opinion only He has made six Propositions so follow out the thirty which for want of necessary coherence with them do not follow Lastly he has made those to be Conclusions which for want of Premisses and by reason of their greater Evidence than is fonnd in his Prinâ—iples and for many other regards are not Conclusions but rather Principles All which is shown in their proper places So that his perplexing Intricacy in contriving and posturing his words oddly being once unravell'd their affected ambiguity clear'd and his Insignificances and Incoherences layd open the Common Light of nature will inform any Attentive and Intelligent Reader that Dr. St. has not reduc't the Faith of Protestants to Principles but that his whole discourse attempting it is reduc't to Contradictions Yet in confidence of his vast performances he ventures upon this grand Conclusion that shall strike all dead From all which it follows that it can be nothing but wilfull Ignorance weakness of Iudgment strength of prejudice or some sinful passion which makes any one forsake the Communion of the Church of England to embrace that of the Church of Rome But with how much greater reason may I conclude that in case the Church of England owns his way of discoursing herâ— and holds not that the Tradition Practice and Sense of Gods Church is to give us that assurance of the meaning of Scripture as to build Faith on it but that 't is to be left to every privâ—te mans Fancy to be his own Iudge in that affair nothing but either an Invincibly-weak Ignorance or the wicked Sin of Spiritual Pride making private men scorn to submit their Judgments to persons wiser than themselves or to be taught by their lawfull Pastors whom God has appointed for that end can make any man remain in the Communion of the Church of England and not unite himself to the Communion of the Church of Rome Especially since they all hold that Faith cannot possibly be False so must hold that the means to Faith cannot possibly lead the reliers on it into errour and yet if but meanly verst in the world they must needs experience that those who do rely on their own sense of Scripture differ in most Fundamental points of Christianity and so oneside necessarily erre in so doing FINIS TRANSITION TO THE Following Discourse HAving thus totally defeated Dr. St's Attempt to reduce his Faith to Principles and shown that in stead of performing this all the most substantiall parts of his Discourse are reduc't to so many Contradictious it may perhaps be expected I should assert the Truth of my own by showing that 't is built on
such Firm and Evident Grounds But I presume I have already perform'd this in my Sure-footing and its Corollaries as also in Faith Vindicated and its Inferences and if it shall appear needfull or be requir'd of me by Learned Men it may perhaps hereafter be brought into a closer and more rigorous Form Yet that it may be seen how easily our Discourses concerning the Certainty and Ground of Faith are resolvable into Evident Principles I shall annex for an Instance a small Peace of mine whiâ—h though it was never pretended to be a severe Process by way of Principles but only meant for a connected Discourse yet I doubt not but I shall show that each main Ioynt of it where it speaks assertively has a Firm and Evident Principle at the Bottom giving it Stability and Evidence and through vertue of these Qualifications rendering it Solidly and Absolutely Convictiveâ— THE METHOD To Arrive at SATISFACTION IN RELIGION 1. SInce all Superstructures mnâ—t needs be weak whose foundation is not surely laid He who desires to be satisfy'd in Religion ought to begin with searching out and establishing the Ground on which Religion is built that is the First Principle into which the several Points of Faith are resolv'd and on which their Certainty as to us depends 2. To do this 't is to be consider'd that a Church is a Congregation of Faithful and Faithful are those who have true Faith Wherefore till it be known which is the true Faith it cannot be known which is the true Church Again A Council is a Representative A Father an Eminent Member of the Church and a Witness of her Doctrin Wherefore till it be known which is the true Church it cannot be known which is a Council or who a Father Lastly Since we cannot know which is Scripture but by the Testimony of those who recommend it And of Hereticks we can have no security that they have not corrupted it in favour of their false Tenets neither can we be secure which is Scripture till we be satisfy'd who are the truly Faithful on whose Testimony we may safely rely in this affair 3. Wherefore he who sincerely aims at Satisfaction in Religion ought first of all to find out and establish some assured Means or Rule by which he may be secured which is true Faith For till this be done He cannot be secure either of Scripture Church Council or Father but having once done this is in a ready way to Judge certainly of all Whereas if he begin with any of the other or indeed argue from them at all till the Rule of Faith be first settled he takes a wrong Method and breaks the Laws of discourse by beginning with what is less cortain and indeed to him as yet uncertain and in effect puts the Conclusion before the Premisses unless he argue Ad Hominem or against the personal Tenets of his Adversary which is a good way to Confute but not to Satisfie 4. And because the Rule of Faith must be known before Faith can be known and Faith before Scripture Church Councils and Fathers it appears that to the finding out this Rule no assistance of Books will be requisite for every one who needs Faith is not capable to reade and understand Books There is left then only Reason to use in this Inquiry And since People of all Capacities are to be saved much sharpness and depth of wit will not be requisite but plain Nâ—tural Reason rightly directed will suffice 5. This being so the Method of seeking satisfaction in Religion is become strangely both more short and easie For here will need no tedious turning over Libraries nor learning Languages nor endless comparing voluminous Quotations nor so much as the skill to read English all being reduc'd to the considering one single Point but such an one as bears all along with it and this too comprehensible as will appear to a mean understanding Again the large debating particular Points in a controversiall way is by this means avoided For when the Right Rule of Faith is certainly known then as certainly as there is any faith in the world all that is received on that Rule is certain and of faith Not but that 't is of excellent use too to cherish and strengthen the faith especially of Young Believers by shewing each particular Point agreeable to right Reason and Christian Principles and recorded expresly in or deduced by consequence from the Divinely-inspired Books 6. Lastly This Method is particularly suitable to the Nature of sincere Inquirers who if they want the liberty of their own Native Indifferency and be aw'd by any Authority whatever before that Authority be made out cannot but remain unsatisfy'd and inwardly feel they proceed not according to Nature and the conduct of unbyast Reason Whereas when the Authority is once made evident Reason will clearly inform them that it becomes their Nature to assent to it 7. But how will it appear that 't is so easily determinable by common Reason which is the right Rule of Faith Very evidently But first we must observe the Assent called Faith depends upon two Propositions What God hath said is true and God hath said this out of which two necessarily follows the Conclusion that this or that in particular is true Of these two we are concerned only in the later For to examin Why God is to be believed when he has said any thing which they call the formal Motive of faith is not a Task for those who own Christianity But all we have to do is to finde out What God hath said or which in our case is all one What Christ has taught and that whatever it be which acqnaints us with this we call THE RVLE OF FAITH as that which Regulates our belief concerning Christs Doctrine or the Principles of Religion Now I affirm iâ— may be obvious Reason be discover'd which this Rule is and that by looking into the Nature of it or considering what kinde of thing it ought to be which is no more than attentively to reflect what is meant by those two ordinary words RULE FAITH 8. And both of them acquaint us that the Rule of Faith must be the means to assure us infallibly what Christ taught For in case a Rule though we apply it to our power and swerve not from it leave us still deceivable in those points in which it should regulate us we need another Rule to secure us that we be not actually deceiv'd and so this other and not the former is our Rule Next Faith speaking of Christian Faith differs â—rom Opinion in this that Opinion may be false but Faith cannot Wherefore the Rule of faith both as 't is a Rule and as it grounds Faith doubly involves Infallibility in its Notion 9. Let us apply this to Scripture and Tradition for setting aside the Light of the private Spirit grounding Phanaticism there are no more which claim to be Rules of faith see to which of them this
the true Church likewise that a Representative of that Body is a true Council and that an Eminent Member of it delivering down to the next Age the Doctrine believ'd in his whether by expresly avouching it the Chnrches sense or confuting Hereticks is a true Father Lastly they can have Infallible Certainty both of the Letter and Sense of Scripture as far as concerns Faith For if any fault which shocks their Faith whether of Translator or Transcriber creep into any passage or if the Text be indeed right but yet ambiguous they can rectifie the Letter according to the Law of God written in their hearts and assign it a sense agreeable to the Faith which they find there between which and that of the Holy Writers they are sure there can be no disagreement as being both inspir'd by the same unerring Light 22. Contrariwise those that follow not this Rule and so are out of this Church of what denomination soever First can have no true Faith themselves 'T is possible indeed and usual that some and not seldom many of the Points to which they assent are True and the same the truly Faithful assent to yet their Assent to them is not Faith for Faith speaking of Christian Faith is an Assent which cannot possibly be false and not only the Points assented to but the Assent it self must have that distance from Falshood as is prov'd at large in Faith vindicated else 't is not Faith but degenerates into a lower Act and is call'd Opinion Now the strength of an Assent rationally made depends upon the strength of its Grounds all Grounds of that Assent call'd Faith I mean such Grounds as tell us what Christ taught besides Tradition are proved § 10. weak and none Without It therefore there can be no true faith Next for want of that only Infallble Ground they cannot have Certainty which is true Faith who truly Faithful which the true Church which a true Council who a true Father nor lastly which is either the Letter or Sense of Scripture in Dogmatical passages that concern Faith And since they have no Certainty of these things they have no right nor ought in a Discourse about Faith be admitted to quote any of them but are Themselves and the whole Cause concluded in this single Inquiry Who have a Competent that is an impossible to be false or Infallible Rule to arrive at Faith 23. The solid Satisfaction therefore of those who inquire after true Faith is onely to be gain'd by examining who has or who has not such a Rule This METHOD is short and easie and yet alone goes to the Bottom All others till this be had are superficial tedious and for want of Grounds Insignificant The Former Discourse Reduc't to Principles TO shew the precedent Discourse built on most Firm and most Evident Principles and such as I have describ'd in my Preface I request the Reader to look back with attentive Consideration upon it's several parts and he will discern that § 1. The First Paragraph is only a Descant upon this Proposition The Ground is to be laid before the superstructures or which comes to the same that He who builds must build upon something or to put it in more Immediate Terms What 's First is to be begun with that is What 's First is to be First which is resolv'd finally into this Proposition supremely Identical A thing is to be what it is § 2. The Second relies on that famous Maxim of Logicians that The Definition is more known then the Thing defin'd which is self-evident speculatively For the words once understood it comes to this that what clears another thing must be clearer it self that What explains must explain The latter part of it implies that in plain things depending on Authority Honest men are to be trusted before Knaves which is self-evident practically § 3. The third is but an Inference from the two fore-going ones and manifestly depends on the same self-evident Principles § 4. The Fourth is a farther Deduction and since to satisfy rationally is to make men know one way or other plainly amounts to this What 's to be known by all must be possible to be known by all which is as self-evident as 't is that That cannot or is impossible to be done which is Impossible to be â—tne § 5. The Fifth is only a short Descant upon the fore-going parts of this Discourse and so is reduc't into the same Grounds with them § 6. The Sixth is as evident as 't is that Men are not to Assent upon Authority or believe if there be no Reason for it or that Rational Agents are to act rationally § 7. The Seventh states the Question concerning the Right Rule of Faith and shows the way to look after it by vertue of this plain Truth The Meaning of the word signifying any natune is the nature signify'd by that word or which is the very same What 's meant by any word is meant by that word § 8. The former part of the 8th is resumed into this clearest Truth What leaves us in need of a Rule is not a Rule or A Rule is able to regulate which is perfectly equivalent to this A Rule is a Rule The Second Part averrs that Faith taking it for an Assent upon the Motives laid by God which cannot leade into Errour is not it's opposit Opinion which is equivalent to this Faith is Faith § 9. The Ninth only directs our Application of the two preceding Paragraphs to the same purpose § 10. The former part of the Tenth is full as Evident as 't is that Those who are not Scholars as the Generality of the Faithfull are not cannot be satisfy d rationally in those things which require Scholarship which since to be satisfy'd rationally signifies to know imports thus much that Those who cannot know cannot know And the second part is as clear as 't is that That is not the Way which multitudes take yet go wrong which since a Way is that which is to carry one right is as palpably self-evident as 't is that A Way is a Way § 11. The Eleventh which contains the main and in a manner the only point has two parts One that Mankind cannot be Ignorant of what they see and hear and do For since both Reason and Experience tels us that Senses in Men are Conveyers of Outward Impressions to the Knowing Power should Impressions upon those parts not be conveyed thither they would in that case not be Sensitive or Animals and so no Men And did they not perceive when such Impressions are convey'd as they ought they would be destitute of a Power receiving Knowledge by Senses and so again no Men. So that this first part is as evident as 't is that Mankind is Mankind And the Second part of this § directly engages this Identical Proposition The same is the same with it's self that is both of them are self-evident or immediatly implying what is so § 12.
of his ever had from the Church which argues it's perfect Conformity to the Churches Sense in setling and stating the Right Rule of Faith I transcribe then from this Ancient and Learned Father his whole Second Chapter in his Treatise Entitled Against the profane Innovations of Heresy which is this Hic for sit an requirat aliquis c. Here perhaps some may ask since the Canon of the Scriptures is perfect and enough nay more thâ—â— enough suffices to it self for all things what need is there that the Authority of the Churches Sense should be joyn'd to it Because all men do not take the Holy Scripture by reason of its depth in one and the same meaning but divers men interpret it's sayings diversly so that as many Opinions in a manner as there are men seem possible to be drawn thence For Novatian expounds it one way Photinus another Sabellius another and Donatus another Arius Eunomius Macedonius take it in one sense Apollinaris Priscillianus in another sense Jovinian Pelagius Coelestius understand it thus and lastly Nestorius otherwise And therefore it is very necessary by reason of so great windings of so various Error that the Line of the Prophetical and Apostolical Interpretation may be directed according to the Rule of the Ecclesiastical and Catholick Sense From which place we may Note 1. That though he allows the Canon of Scripture perfect and sufficient for all things yet by showing it Interpretable divers ways and this by Great and Learned men and so that they fall into multitudes of Errors by those Inerpretations and thence requiring the Authority of the Churches Sense as necessary to understand it right so as to build Faith on it he plainly shows that Scripture alone is not sufficient for this End since it needs another to atchieve it And hence it is not said simply it suffices for all things but Sufficit sibi adâ—omnia It is sufficient to it self for all things which can only mean that it has all the Perfection due to it 's own nature as I shew'd above p. 87 88 89. or is sufficient for the ends God intended it for reckon'd up by S. Paul to Timothy amongst which no such thing is found as sufficiency of Clearness to every sober Enquirer so as to build his Faith on his private Interpretation of it without the direction of the Churches Sense only which will come to Dr. St's purpose Since then I allow Scripture all Sufficiency and Perfection but this of being sufficiently clear to private Understandings so as to build their Faith on their own Interpretations of it I allow it all this Learned Father or the Ancient Church ever did 2. 'T is observable that he puts not the fault in the Persons but gives for the reason of their misunderstanding it the depth or deep sense of the Scriptures which argues that though some few out of wickedness wilfully mistake yet the General reason of the miscarriage is the disproportion of the Seripture to private Vnderstandings in Dogmatical Points of Christianity as I constantly maintain 3. He cals the Interpretation of it a Line which is Flexible and Dirigible and the sense of the Catholick Church the Rule which lies firm as apt to direct another and so with me he makes the sense of the Catholick Church the only Rule of Faith 4. This Sense of he Church is intimated to be Antecedent to all Interpretation of Scripture and therefore the Church must have had this Sense or Knowledge of Faith by Tradition there being no other way becoming Gods Ordinary Providence but these two 5. These things being so 't is most Evident that when in the former Chapter he mentions the Authority of the Divine Law meaning the Scripture and the Tradition of the Catholick Church he meant them jointly as appears expresly by the very next words beginning this present Chapter nor did he speak there of the means of bringing men to Faith as the Rule of Faith ought to do but of keeping them in Faith or preserving them from sliding into Heresie and since he attributes in this Chapter Convictiveness of what 's Faith only to the Churches Sense 't is manifest all that remains to be attributed to Scripture is Agreeableness of it's Letter if a good Pastor expound it to the present Faith of the Church to see which exceedingly comforts Faith in the hearts of the already-Faithful who must need 's have a high Reverence for the Holy Scriptures Authority The whole strain then of my Discourses here against Dr. St. concerning the Rule of Faith is perfectly consonant to this Learned Father of the Church and to all Antiquity Only our frequent and close Contests with our acute Modern Dissenters have obliged us to a more Scholar-like way of distinguishing our Notions exactly which the Ancients did not and Faith being contain'd in two things the Scriptures and the Breast of the Church of determining which of them is the Proper Ascertainer of Faith to all the Faithful and those which are to be converted and so in true and exact Speech the Rule of Faith and both this Father and Evident Reason give it to be the Church What then Dr. St. is to do in this Point if he makes any such Attempt is to alledge Convincing Testimonies that the Ancient Fathers held Scripture so plain to every Sober Enquirer as to give him such Certainty that he may safely build his Faith on his own Interpretation thereof without needing the Churches when he produces such Testimonies as come home to this or an Equivalent sense he will work wonders and unless he does this he does just nothing But I foresee two unlucky difficulties one that he will not find one Testimony of any Authority which excludes the Church from this Office as himself directly does next that could he produce thousands he would spoil them all at the next word and render them Inconclusive that is Insignificant with telling us very soberly they are all Fallible as to that effect and consequently were perhaps in an Error in all they say FINIS * See Sure Footing 2d Ed. p. 145 146. * Rule of Faith p. 118. Rule of Faith p. 153. Reason against Raillery p. 190 191 c. * Rule of Faith p. 118. See his Preface to his Sermons p. last