justly charge upon the Church of Rome and by that means a Refutation of most of those Tenets in one short Essay will be more profitable as I hope it will be more acceptable to an ordinary Understanding So that upon this account as you will hereby with more ease be furnish'd with what you may be sure is true being drawn from the Fountain of Truth you will I hope be the more easily induc'd to pardon my Undertaking as designing nothing but Honesty I have chosen this way of Writing to you Madam First because I know you delight in conversing with the Holy Writings and so I shall be more conformable to your Inclinations And Secondly though I reverence the Judgment of the Fathers of the Church and General Councils duly assembled and not sway'd by popular Insolence yet as I once objected to one by word of mouth without receiving a satisfactory Answer The Church of Rome says That we have False Copies of the Fathers and we answer That they have corrupted the True so that one of us must needs be in the wrong And how shall we be satisfied in this without comparing them to the Testimonies of the Scriptures And as for General Councils they have of late been purg'd or rather perverted by the Over-ruling Power of Popes and their Popular Factions insomuch that when they began to act against the Interest of the See of Rome though never so justly they were no longer allowed the liberty due to General Councils And then what dependence can we have from them And Lastly the Infallibility of the Church of Rome can be no better a Decider of Controversies than the other two because that must be prov'd if possible from the Scriptures So that when all other Instruments have been tried the Scriptures will prove the only Infallible Touch stone From these and the like Considerations this Piece was at first conceiv'd and is now produc'd for your Service and for such of your Female Companions or Acquaintance as you shall think fit to communicate it to and I hope it will give Satisfaction Be pleas'd therefore to consider that 't is the duty of every Christian to read and be acquainted with the Holy Scriptures And though the Council of Trent denied the reading of them to the Laity pretending that the Vulgation of them was the cause of so many Heresies abroad in the World yet by the leave of the Fathers assembled in that Particular General Council we cann't conceive how a Country Plough-Jobber should by reading the Scriptures be the Author of an Opinion either Orthodox or Erroneous But as might easily be prov'd if it were to the present purpose the Original of all Sects were Men who to shew their Parts and Learning took upon them to scrutinise and enquire into the Sense of Holy Writ and so spread the prime Infection I will trouble you with but an Instance or two to this purpose and so proceed Arius that known Heretick as well for his Learning as the many Proselites he gain'd to his Party meeting with that Text Joh. 17. 3. This is life eternal to know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent thought of a trick by misplacing a Point to seclude Christ from being True God. In the Original 't is This is life eternal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. To know thee only to be true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent But he puts the Comma after the Particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 only and so corrupts the Sense by misplacing the Point a trick which certainly none but a Scholar could have thought on Thus we find Gregory the Great openly asserting That whoever should call himself Universal Bishop was Antichrist but the succeeding Bishops of Rome disputed the contrary and arrogated to themselves the Title I might likewise urge the Feuds of the Franciscans and Dominicans and other Orders of the Church of Rome to prove that all Quarrellings and jangling Disputes about Matters of Religion have in all Ages been broach'd by Men of Learning But to come nearer home would it not be very absurd to imagin that such a silly fancy as Quakerism could ever have been heard of or so long upheld among us if some such Man as Penn who is thought no great stranger in a College of Fame had not at first insinuated it into some poor ignorant People who were not able to resist his Logick or it may be were more taken up in their worldly Employments than the Study of Holy Scriptures And indeed it is not probable that one who is better skill'd in the management of a Plough than a Logical Argument should be able to define in Matters of Faith and Doctrin It may be sooner prov'd that the principal Authors and Abetters of most of our Divisions came from Rome than that they sprung from ignorant People reading the Scriptures And if you please to peruse these Papers you 'll find that the Chuch of Rome in that Council had other Ends in denying the Scriptures to the Common People than the Suppressing of Sectaries as they pretended I come therefore to the business I propos'd to your Consideration the Duty incumbent on every Christian to read and understand the Holy Scriptures This I present to your Meditation in the first place as Preparatory to that which is to follow It being my intent in this Undertaking to have to do with nothing but Scripture Quotations And so I begin Deut. 6. 6. And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house and when thou walkest by the way and when thou lyest down and when thou risest up And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thy house and on thy gates The words were spoken to the whole Congregation of Israel and need not be explain'd Deut. 17. 18. And it shall be when the king of Israel sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom that he shall write him a copy of this Law in a book out of that which is before the Priests the Levites and it shall be with him and he shall read therein all the days of his life c. Where give me leave to take Notice That it being impossible to keep the Scriptures from the Eye of the more Ingenious Gentry they have been furnished with a Vulgar Latin Translation of the Bible which they call though falsly enough St. Jerome's and lest the Corruptions wherewith they had prudently loaded it should be discovered Pope Sixtus the V. in the Year 1578 published a Greek Copy purposely forg'd by Cardinal Carapha to make Men believe That the Latin was agreeable to the Original Josh 1. 8. This Book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth but thou shalt meditate therein day and
was to read the Books of the Kings for their Information how to Rule well so that all Men would read the Holy Scriptures in general would be good Counsel because they afford the best Instructions for living well 2. Ignorance in the Scriptures is dangerous because it is the greatest Reason of Mens running into all sorts of Errors When the Sadducees proposed to our Saviour the Business of the Woman that had had seven Husbands asking him whose wife she should be at the resurrection falsly supposing If there ever would be a Resurrection there would also be Marrying and giving in Marriage at the Resurrection Jesus answered and said unto them Ye do err not knowing the Scriptures And here Madam I might take notice of the Subtlety of the Church of Rome in denying the Scriptures to the Laity because maintaining so many Errors so directly contrary to Scriptures that any discerning Eye must needs discover them Such are Purgatory Pope's Pardons Adoration of Images praying to Saints and Angels and the like But our Lord said of the Pharisees Matth. 15. 14. Let them alone they are blind leaders of the blind And if the blind lead the blind both shall fall into the ditch I shall say nothing therefore to these at present but proceed 3. To shew That Ignorance in the Scriptures is very Dangerous because as it is the cause of Sin and Error so by Sin and Error it must consequently be the cause of Destruction Isay 5. 13. Therefore my people are gone into captivity because they have no knowledge and their honourable Men are famished and their multitude dryed up with thirst Therefore hell hath enlarged her self and opened her mouth without measure and their glory and their multitude and their pomp and he that rejoyceth shall descend into it Psalm 95. 10. Forty years long was I grieved with this generation and said It is a people that do err in their hearts and they have not known my ways Vnto whom therefore I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest Prov. 1. 24. Because I have called and ye refused I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded but ye have set at nought all my counsel and would none of my reproof I also will laugh at your calamity I will mock when your fear cometh when your fear cometh as desolation and your destruction cometh as a whirl-wind when distress and anguish come upon you Then shall ye call upon me but I will not answer ye shall seek me but ye shall not find me for that ye hated knowledge and did not chuse the fear of the Lord. But to come a little nearer home Christ Jesus has brought Life and Immortality to Light by the Gospel But this says he is the condemnation by way of Eminence That light is come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil For every one that doth evil hateth the light neither cometh he to the light lest his deeds should be reproved but he that does truth cometh to the light that his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God Joh. 3. 19. And surely Madam If they that deny us the Scriptures had not something to be ashamed of they would not shew themselves so much concerned to keep People in Darkness It must needs be a Device of the Devil to keep Men in Ignorance that they might be damned according to the Apostle 2 Cor. 4. 3. If our Gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost In whom the God of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine upon them But we know that Christ will one day be revealed in flaming fire to take vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ 2 Thessal 1. 8. If it is objected That this Text speaks of Heathen Persecutors we may answer That those Christians who are not acquainted with and consequently not obedient to the Gospel of Christ are worse than Heathens I beseech you Madam to consider If it was through Ignorance of the Scriptures the Jews crucified the Lord of Glory as the Apostle says it was 1 Cor. 2. 8. We that are Christians had best take heed That we do not through Ignorance crucifie him again And if it was a Shame for the Corinthians not to know the Scriptures in the very dawning and twilight of Christianity 1 Cor. 15. 34 what an abominable shame must it needs be for us after almost seventeen hundred Years to know no more or it may be not so much To conclude this Point The Apostle dedicates his First Epistle to the Corinthians To All that in Every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. And what he should do so for unless he intended it should be read by All I can't imagin If he intended it only for the Fathers of that Church he might in fewer words and consequently with less trouble have said To the Elders of the Church at Corinth or else directed it to the Bishop of that Church only But he knew the Scriptures were able to make Men wise unto salvation and therefore would have all Men read them And our blessed Saviour knew that the Jews thought they had Eternal Life in the Scriptures therefore he bids 'em Search them Joh. 5. 39. The Injunction is the same upon Christians also And then certainly if the Captain and Author of our Salvation bids us Search we may notwithstanding the Insinuations of some bold Men to the contrary By what Rule else should we try the Spirits whether they be of God as St. John adviseth us 1 Ep. 4. 1. if not by the Rule of God's Word Upon this account therefore among others we are bound to read search and be well acquainted with the Scriptures I presume then after all that has been produc'd to prove this first Position what the Evangelist says of the Revelations Chap. 1. 3. may on good grounds be attributed to the rest of the Sacred Writings Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things that are written therein And now Madam having made good from Scripture Testimonies the Necessity of being acquainted with the Scriptures though I have already gone beyond the ordinary bounds of an Epistle yet I crave leave to trespass a little farther on your Patience in giving you a cursory view of some of the Principal Doctrins of the Church of Rome and demonstrating how contrary they are to the Word of Truth In order to which I shall with all possible brevity enquire I. Whether any Man can do more than he ought to do II. Whether any Man by his own Works can merit Heaven III. To whom it belongeth to Forgive Sins IV. Whether the Scriptures warrant Worshiping of Images or Praying to Saints and Angels V.
us as plainly here that the Wine was still the Fruit of the Vine after Consecration as before he did that it was his Blood. But to this we may add what St. Luke says of his instituting his Supper Luk. 22. 19 And he took Bread and gave thanks and brake it and gave unto them saying This is my Body which is given for you and so of the Cup This is the New Testament of my Blood which is shed for you Where if I were given to Criticism I might take notice as Beza has done that Christ says This is my Body which is given for you not to you But to let that pass we know that Christ was not yet Crucified till after the institution of this Feast So that here 's another figure he makes use of the Present Tense instead of the Future instead of this is my Body which shall be given for you he says which is given for you as if it was a thing already done Now in my opinion it wou'd have been much more for Transubstantiation if he had us'd the Future Tense and told 'em plainly This is my Body which shall be crucified for you and his acting the contrary nulls all Pretences to the Doctrine from his words But Bellarmin has wittily suggested another kind of Argument which I shall the rather mention because it has lately been started afresh and that is If these words Hoc est corpus meum do not intend Transubstantiation they must want a Grammatical Construction For the Pronoun Hoc cannot Adjectively agree with Bread as its antecedent Substantive for Bread is of the Masculine Gender Neither can Hoc be spoken Substantively of a thing that is seen and openly known unless that thing be of the Neuter Gender But Bread is of the Masculine both in the Greek and Latin. No man going to shew another his Brother wou'd say Hoc est frater meus neither wou'd any man say of the King's Image Hoc est Caesar But all this is but a sly Insinuation to cajole those that know no more of Grammar than this Argument wou'd teach ' em And I have so much Charity for that great Man as to believe him too good a Grammarian to be gull'd by so poor an Artifice I suppose he cou'd not be ignorant if he knew any thing almost of the invalidity of such a shift he knew well enough I dare say that Hoc is here us'd as a Relative and as such that it might very well refer to either of the two Substantives Bread or Body and in this case the seeing or not seeing the Bread signified nothing but as the Relative wou'd refer to both Bread and Body it was in his Power to make it agree with which of the Substantives pleas'd him And so Hic est Corpus meum wou'd have made as much for Transubstantiation as Hoc c. and wou'd have been as liable to Cavil and Dispute yet he that spake the words wou'd shew himself a good Grammarian either way And so tho' 't is true 't wou'd be improper to say of a man's Brother Hoc est frater meus yet it may well enough be said of the King's Image Hoc est Caesar because as Hoc relates to the Image and not to Caesar immediately the Image being a thing without life for that reason the Relative is of the Neuter Gender But to take a Simile nearer to the present question Suppose a little Girl as like her Father as t is possible for her to be she being among more of her Sisters any Person shou'd single her out from the rest and say of her This is the Father himself I wou'd know how we shou'd make this Sentence into Latin to avoid a Metamorphosis I must confess if it had been spoken thus This Girl c. Hoec Puella the Article of the Feminine Gender had been most proper but as the word Girl is only included for understood and Father exprest the Article of the Masculine Gender is as proper because the Article may indifferently be referr'd to either the Girl or the Father And this suggests to me another Argument against taking these words of our Saviour literally The Girl here by reason of her being so like her Father is said to be the very Father himself Now wou'd not the By-standers be call'd Fools or worse if they shou'd presently vindicate the Poet's Metamorphosis of Iphis by believing the Girl is at that instant turn'd into a Man and yet the Expression is no Hyperbole but as the common way of speech is to call the Picture or Representative of a Man the Man himself and thus our Saviour might say This is my Body and yet only intend the sign for the thing signified All this while I think I have not made the least appeal to our Sences tho' in a Matter so obvious to 'em and yet can find no ground for the belief of Transubstantiation But as in things that are obvious to sence our Senses cannot be deceiv'd so neither did our Saviour ever deny us the Evidence of our Senses in such cases but thus he expostulates Have ye not seen the Miracles which I did openly And in order to convince us of the reallity of his Resurrection he appeals constantly to our Senses Reach hither thine hand and thrust it into my side a Spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have He is not here says the Angel but is risen as he said see the place where they laid him There 's none of him And why might not he have had two Bodies then one in the Grave and another to shew to his Disciples as well as so many Thousand now No then his Resurrection wou'd have been taken as a Trick that some body like him had personated him for 't wou'd be contrary to sence that the same Body shou'd be whole and entire in two places so far distant at the same time ' Twou'd be a Miracle but against reason and that no Miracle ever was but the Miracle of Transubstantiation Some Articles of Faith are above our Reason or Sence but none contrary to both Reason and Sence And thus Madam I have endeavour'd to prove the great Disagreement between some of the Principal Doctrines of the Church of Rome and the Holy Scriptures And this I presume I may say for my self that wherein I have meddl'd in the clearing of an obscure Text I have done nothing out of a design'd Endeavour to run down an Opinion but as I thought in my Conscience it was Erroneous One thing only I desire at your hands if you let any of the adverse Party have a sight of these Papers that you wou'd desire 'em to be upon the square and not quote Humane Testimonies against the Holy Scriptures And if they can make good those Doctrines here censur'd from the Word of God notwithstanding what is here produc'd I my self will become a Roman Catholick with the first appearance of Truth in those Doctrines I have hitherto thought False But as I think that can never be done so I humbly recommend this plain but I hope faithful Piece to your serious Perusal and hope it may prove to your compleat Satisfaction and that you may reap the full Benefit of a sincere Believer of the Gospel in the end Which that God of his infinite Grace and Mercy through his Son Christ Jesus will grant to you and yours is and ever shall be the constant and hearty Prayer of Madam Your most humble Servant c. FINIS
A LETTER TO A LADY Furnishing her with Scripture Testimonies Against the Principal Points and Doctrines OF POPERY All Scripture is given by Inspiration of God and is Profitable for Reproof for Correction for Instruction in Righteousness That the Man of God may be Perfect throughly furnished unto all Good Works 2 Tim. 3. 16 17. The Law of the Lord is Perfect converting the Soul c. Psal 19. 7 8 9 10 11. Search the Scriptures c. John 5. 39. Blessed is he that readeth c. Rev. 1. 3. Licensed July 6. 1688. LONDON Printed for John Taylor at the Ship in St. Paul's Church-Yard M DC LXXX VIII Admonition to the Reader concerning the Authority and Vse of the Holy Scriptures THe following Papers being intended only for a private Satisfaction and not for the publick View are writ in a Stile agreeable to the Sex to which they are dedicated and the few Arguments here and there added either to explain or Illustrate a Text of Scripture are such as are more obvious to a Female Capacity than perhaps the common way of Arguing used by one great Disputant against another is For it was no more my intent than it was my Business in writing to Women who by Reason of their general want of Learning understand nothing of Logical Reasoning and as little of Syllogismal Inferences to endeavour to make a thing plain by rendring it more unintelligible But to make every thing as obvious and plain to the most ordinary Understanding as I might tho' my Words were never so homely And though it is confest The Lady to whom these Papers were especially directed is a Person endued with better Parts and more Learning than others of her Sex generally are yet I considered That many more of her Society or Acquaintance might be concerned in the Reading of them And therefore I thought as a plain Method would not be unpleasant to the Lady her self so it would certainly be both more Acceptable and Profitable to others not loaden with so much Sagacity and Understanding But since in this Undertaking I have wholly relyed on the Testimony of the Scriptures and have drawn all my Arguments from them I think it proper to vindicate my Proceeding that way by giving the Reader a cursory Account of the Supreme Authority of the Sacred Writings consisting in two Particulars The First is Their containing fully all things needful for our Salvation And the Second Their being sufficient to determine Points of Doubt and Controversie In both which I shall still make my Appeal to the Scriptures themselves and likewise intermix a few Testimones of the Fathers not for Confirmation of the Scriptures Authority for that is evident enough in it self but to shew the Opinion of those great Pillars of the Church in a Matter about which there is so great a Disagreement betwixt us and the Church of Rome I begin therefore with the first Evidence of the Supreme Authority of the Scriptures Their containing fully all things needful for our Salvation The Evangelist Joh. 20. 30. tells us That Jesus did many signs in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book But these says he are written That ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the son of God and that believing ye might have life through his name And Cyril in Praef. in Johan this Gospel by S. John may without Injury be thought to excel the other three says S. Cyril and he gives no weak Reasons for it One of which is That it contains all things pertaining to Truth which the other do also but not in so high a Strain For whereas the rest do most Exquisitely describe the Genealogy of our Saviour either descending from Abraham to Joseph or ascending from Joseph to Adam S. John has not much laboured in these Matters but with an aspiring Mind seems to soar beyond Human Possibility and is not afraid in express Words to set down his Ineffable Generation In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God And so aspires directly to the Foundation of Divine Truth Where by the way it will not be amiss to observe That this Evangelist was the beloved Disciple of our Lord and therefore it cannot reasonably be supposed he would conceal any thing from him that was necessary to be known But on the contrary he revealed more to him than was needful to be set down in some Particulars whereof he was commanded to be Silent as may be seen Rev. 10. 4. But when any thing might be known he is to declare it Chap. 22. 10. and Chap. 1. 3. They are blessed who read and hear the words of this prophecy with an intent to keep those things which are written therein So then though we are ignorant of some things yet by what is written we may sufficiently be acquainted with whatever is necessary for us to know S. Paul Acts 20. after he had told the Ephesians Verse 30 That of their own selves should arise men speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them At the 32 Verse he commends them to God and to the Word of his Grace which he tells them is able to build them up and to give them an inheritance among all them which are sanctified And lest it should be thought that he had broached some unwritten Traditions of his own he professes Chap. 26. 22. That having obtained help of God he still continued witnessing both to small and great but saying no other things than those which the Prophets and Moses did say should come Accordingly he tells the Romans in his Epistle to them Chap. 1. 16. That he was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ because it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth And Chap. 15. 4. Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning that we through Patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope And says S. Chrysostom Wherefore are these things written but that we should In Rom. hom 9. In 2 Cor. hom 13. In synop Athan. learn them For says he The Scriptures are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of all the most exact Ballance Guide and Rule And according to S. Athanasius they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Anchors and Support of our Faith. And Irenaeus calls them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iren. l. 3. c. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the immoveable Canon of Truth and the Pillar and Foundation of our Faith. And we being sure of what the Apostle says 2 Tim. 3. 16 17. That all Scripture is given by Inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrin for reproof for correction for instruction in righteousness That the man of God may be perfect throughly furnished unto Canonem fidei in Prophetarum Apostolorum libris figi atque terminari Aug de C. D. l. 11. c. 41. all good Works may safely conclude with S. Austin
they indifferently pay to all Men for that which is due to God only whereby they obey God rather than Man so this Obedience was embraced by them before the other For 't is indeed an argument of no little discretion but of a quick and most piercing Judgment if we can discern what Opinion is to be followed and what is rather to be rejected In a word our Lord himself in the Gospel says Beware of them which come to you in sheeps cloathing but inwardly are devouring wolves Therefore a watchful Soul and setled Mind are required in order to our discovering the plain simplicity of Sheep or the more hidden malice and greediness of Wolves Whence we may learn what great danger they are in who neglect the study of the Holy Scriptures from which only they can be furnished with such a knowledge and discretion St. Austin has an Expression which makes a great bluster in the World I would not believe the Gospel says he if the Authority of the Catholick Church did not move me to it Upon this the Authority of the Church is magnified above the Authority of the Scriptures But if St. Austin did not intend any such thing where are we then He express'd himself once to this purpose Thou O God hast assur'd me that not they who Aug. Conf. l. 6. c. 5. believ'd thy Books which with so great Authority thou hast establish'd in almost all the World but they who did not were culpable Neither are they to be heard who shall ask me how I know that those Books are given to Men by the Spirit of One most true God. Which shews that he did not altogether rely on the Testimony of the Church which was only outward but chiefly the inward Witness of the Holy Ghost in his Conscience But we may know more of his Mind by more of his Words We says he do not bring a false Ballance that we may make things Idem cont Donat. l. 2. c. 6. weigh what we please and how we please and so give judgment what is light and what heavy But we give you the divine Ballance of the Holy Scriptures the Treasures of the Lord and by that we tell you what is heavy yet not we but the Lord himself who having weighed all things already we tell you from him what is heavy c. And can we think that Great Father ever intended to set up the Authority of the Church above the Scriptures He does not say We tell you from the Church what is light and what heavy but we tell you from the Scriptures And thus again There are says he certain Books of the Id. de unit Eccl. c. 3. Lord to whose Authority we wholly assent which we firmly believe and in all things obey In them let us seek the Church by them let us discuss our Cause Now if St. Austin did really believe the Scriptures on no other account than barely the Churches Testimony why does he say He must find the Church in the Scriptures This would be to run round in an indeterminate circle first to look for the Church in the Scriptures and then to search for the Scriptures in the Church I don't see how these can stand together But let it be as it will we may with more safety give credit to what a Man is constant in than to what he says but once or it may be never at all and so we may assure our selves of the concession of this Holy Father to what we assert That the Scriptures are the supreme Decider of Controversies The only thing needful to be added to what has been already produc'd is That nothing ought to be put to or taken from the Word of God. Bellarmin acknowledges the Scriptures to be a Rule but says 't is only partly so for the Scriptures joyn'd with Traditions make one perfect Rule But we have seen that the Scriptures alone are a perfect Rule and An Infallible Rule says St. Basil ought to be so without addition or diminution And Basil cont Eunom l. 1. Id. Conf. Fid. further That it is a manifest departing from the Faith and an evidence of Pride either to take away any thing from what is written or to add any thing that is not written for our Lord has said My sheep hear my voice And says St. Jerom Whatever does not come from the Jerom. in Matth. 23. Holy Scriptures is as easily condemn'd as approv'd Eusebius tells us That after the Death of the Euseb Hist l. 3. c. 32. Apostles though the Scriptures were extant yet the Church did not long continue an unspotted Virgin but Heresies and Corruptions of the Gospel encreased apace And then I would fain know what method the Orthodox Doctors took to purge and refine the Church again I suppose it may be answer'd that A General Council was to represent the whole Church and to determine the Points in Controversie Granting this the next Question will be which way the Doctors assembled in Council proceeded in this great Affair Did they appeal to the Church The most impious Hereticks would confidently affirm That only they were of the True Church Wou'd they appeal to the Fathers There were many Learned Men who in their Writings maintain'd the worst of Heresies Wou'd they appeal to Apostolical Traditions The Founders of many of the greatest Heresies lived in the Times of the Apostles and on that score had as good a plea for their knowing their Sentiments as any of the Orthodox Fathers could have I am certain the first Nicene Council took no such way but on all occasions urg'd the Scriptures against the Opinions of those Hereticks they were to deal with as might be shewn at large if it was absolutely necessary to our purpose At present let us content our selves with a few Testimonies of the Fathers against such proceedings And first against Appealing to the Churches Custome St Cyprian says a Custome which some have taken up Cypr. ad Pomp. cont Steph. Pap. ought not to prevail against the Truth for Custome without the Truth is but the Ornament of an Error For which Reason let us forsake the Error of such a Custome and follow the Truth And when S. Austin bids us seek the Church in the Scriptures he cannot intend in my Opinion That we should follow the Church in any thing repugnant to the Scriptures But besides A Rule of Faith ought to be Perfect But Origen tells us That as Orig. in Ezech. hom 1. on every Floor there is Chaff as well as Wheat so is the Church on Earth some part Wheat and the rest Chaff And upon Matth. 21. 14. where it is said Id. in Matth. hom 15. That the blind and the lame came into the Temple to Christ and he healed them The Moral Construction of this says he is That in the Church all cannot see neither can all walk Upright but some are Blind and others Lame To which he immediately applies this Remedy as
the most effectual They says he who are sensible of their own Blindness since there is no other way to be rid of it but by the Word of God they should apply themselves to that and they cannot miss of a Cure. Which is enough to prove the Insufficiency of the Churches Customes or Authority as to Matters of Faith at least Secondly Neither will the Testimonies of the Fathers be of any Force in this Particular For a Rule of Faith must be full of Knowledge and sufficiently able to instruct us But what says S. Austin of himself I am Aug. ep 119. not only ignorant says he in many other Things but even in the Holy Scriptures themselves I am yet to learn more than I know already And thus he elsewhere Ep. ad Hiâ—â— expresses himself To the Books of the Scriptures only which are called Canonical do I owe this Honour that I firmly believe That none of their Pen-Men have err'd in any thing they have written But I esteem other Writers according to their Sanctity and Learning I do not think any thing true meerly because it was their Opinion Which very well agrees with that Axiom of Tertullian If says he a Bishop Tertul. de praescr haeret or Deacon if a Widow or Maid if a Doctor or even a Martyr should err from the Rule would the Error be e'r the Truer or Better for their Sakes We do not prove the Faith by the Persons but the Persons by the Faith. And the Acknowledgment of Biel is to the Bieâ— sup Can. Miss l. 41. same purpose That the Authority of the Fathers compells no Man to assent to their Sayings unless they build on the Holy Scriptures or Divine Revelation On this account therefore S. Austin might well cry out Aug. in Psal 57. Let our Writings be withdrawn that the Book of God may be introduced And as for Apostolical Traditions let the Testimony Iren. l. 3. c. 1. of Irenaeus serve for all By the Apostles says he the Gospel came down to us which they then preached and afterward by the Will of God they delivered to us in the Scriptures what was to be the future Foundation and Pillar of our Faith. Now if neither the Customes of the Church nor the Judgment of the Fathers nor Tradition can be a perfect Rule of Faith no more can all these united in a General Council be so For a Rule must be in every respect perfect But we have seen That the Church is in many respects Defective and the Fathers subject to Ignorance and Error And if Irenaeus may be credited The Apostles preached nothing contrary to what they have left us in Writing and therefore there can be no Place for Apostolical Traditions So that a Rule which is Imperfect and Defective in every Part must needs be so in the whole And Bellarmin himself has proved Bellarm. de Concil l. 2. c. 12. That the Decrees of General Councils cannot be a perfect Rule because they cannot pretend to immediate Divine Revelation That they may Err in some things and in many of their Definitions they conclude only Probably But a Rule of Faith ought to be every way Perfect and to conclude necessarily And such an absolute Perfect Rule the Scriptures appear to be not only from their own Testimony but from Testimonies of the greatest Pillars of the Church in the Second Third Fourth and Fifth Centuries And therefore if any Man's Interest has led him to a contrary Judgment in the later Ages of the Church his Opinions ought not to be set up as a Standard against Antiquity joyn'd with Truth From hence then we may infer what has been already asserted That the Scriptures being of themselves a perfect and Un-erring Rule nothing must be put to or taken from them To which purpose besides what has been produced already the Reader may give himself the trouble of Perusing the following Texts Deut. 12. 32. Josh 1. 7. Prov. 30. 6. Gal. 1. 8. and 3. 15. Rev. 22. 18 19. And let him learn the Danger of Adding or Taking away that is Doing any thing contrary to the Scriptures From these Lev. 10. 2. Isai 1. 12 13 14 and 66. 3. Hos 9. 15. Matth. 15. 6 9. Mark 7. 9. Gal. 4. 10. From all which Texts will evidently appear the Invalidity of any thing that is not built upon the true Foundation and the danger of being led away by such Vanities And so I hope I have sufficiently vindicated my Relyance on the Testimony of the Scriptures in the Business of the following Undertaking I shall only trouble the Reader with two or three necessary Cautions concerning the right Use and Understanding of those Sacred Writings and then give him his Liberty to proceed I. If any Man will make choice of the Scriptures for his Guide in matters that concern his Well-being here and hereafter he must have a care of believing every Spirit We must not take things of such Moment on Trust meerly because they are asserted by one that Pretends to great Learning or Inspiration for we are to look on the Gentlemen of these Times as such as will make the best they can of every Word when they meet with one of an ordinary Capacity Therefore II. It behoveth every Man that hath any regard to his own Safety to search into these things himself to read the Holy Scriptures diligently that so he may learn from them whether such things are true or no. But as I am now Writing to those of the meanest Rank in Learning lat east It is necessary that I caution such Readers of the Scriptures against laying too much stress on the literal Interpretation of a Text For the Holy Ghost very often makes use of Metaphors and other Obscurities wherein the Sense is not obvious to every Eye And tho' as S. Austin says There is nothing so obscure in one Place which in another is not made plain Yet it is not supposed that an ordinary Reader knows how to find that Place out or if he does that he has Judgment enough to satisfie himself For the Scriptures consist of a Soul and a Body The Body is the Letter and the Soul is the true Interpretation Every Man therefore says Origen that De princip lib. 4. desires to come to the Knowledge of the Truth must have his Eye on every Word for every Nation has a different way of speaking let him therefore mind rather what is signified than with what Words it is expressed For there are some things which no Human Words can explain but they are only conceivable in an honest Vnderstanding By which Rule also we come to the Knowledge and Vnderstanding of the Holy Scriptures that what we read is not to be understood according to the Letter but according to the Divinity of that Holy Spirit which inspired it Wherefore the Honest Reader will do well to take care That he is not drawn by the Letter out of the right
way And to this end the best advice I can give him is Before he presumes to read to beg the Asistance of God's Holy Spirit to direct and enlighten his Understanding And when he meets with an obscure Text let him pray again and besides that communicate his Doubt to some learned Minister of whose Integrity he is in some learned Minister of whose Integrity he is in some Measure assured and by these means he may be fully satisfied And thus he will shew himself an humble Enquirer and manifest to the World That his Proceedings are from a Principle of Honesty that he searches only for a right Information and on these Accounts he has a Right to that encouraging Precognition of S. Cyril in his Preface to his Comments on S. John's Gospel The Doctrin of all the Evangelists says he is most excellent and of Divine Extraction For as it overlooks all things as it were from the top of a high Tower It so amply accommodates it self to all that follow it that whoever thirsts after Divine Truth if with an honest Mind he enquires into the Sense of the Scriptures he may easily meet with whatever concerns him But this gracious Satisfaction is not conferred on those who make a rash Search and are rather led by Human Reasons than the Authority of the Scriptures forasmuch as the Holy Ghost does not dwell with a depraved Soul nor does he throw his precious Jewels before Swine to be trodden under foot but pours out his Truth into the Hearts of all Religious Searchers after it who not affecting Cavils and Disputes pursue the ready Road to the Kingdom in sincerity To conclude That true Meat and Drink which we have from the Word of God says S. Jerome is the true Knowledge Hier. in Eccl. c. 3. of the Scriptures And all Men having the greatest Encouragement imaginable to read those Holy Writings if they read them to good Purposes and not to wrest them to their own Ends let us go to that Fountain of Divine Truth from whence the meanest Reader may learn whatever is necessary for him to know For says the Royal Psalmist The law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul the testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple The statutes of the Lord are right rejoycing the Heart The commandment of the Lord is pure enlightening the eyes The fear of the Lord is clean enduring for ever The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether more to be desired are they than gold yea than much fine gold sweeter also than honey and the honey-comb Moreover by them are his Servants warned and in keeping of them there is great reward Psal 19. 7 8 9 10 11. And our Blessed Saviour himself bids us Search the Scriptures Joh. 5. 39. I shall conclude therefore with that Pathetick Exhortation of S. Chrysostome That all Men would read the Scriptures and that not cursorily but with the greatest Diligence Chrys in Col. 3. hom 9. that they would get them Bibles as Physick for their Souls And if they will not read the whole let them turn to the New Testament and read the Gospels Acts of the Apostles and Epistles those excellent Teachers If any Mischance befall us come hither as to a Store-house full of wholesome Remedies hence take Relief and Comfort in all Afflictions whether loss of Goods or Friends or Life it self let them not only read once but turn over these Writings again and again and fasten what they read to their Minds that they may be sure to remember it For this is the Cause of all Evils That Men are ignorant in the Scriptures If we go to War without Weapons how can we be Safe Men that are armed may overcome at least in a Capacity to secure themselves but those who are unarmed must fall Therefore do not lay all the Burthen upon the Ministers Shoulders be Sheep but not as Creatures void of Reason but as Men that know something c. And as many Gal. 6. 16. as walk according to this Rule Peace be on them and Mercy and upon the Israel of God. Amen A Letter to a Lady c. MADAM THe Tenderness of the Female Sex renders it more obnoxious to the Sophistry of the Times and the desire of Information in Matters of Religion may make them the more earnest in reading the Pieces sent abroad in the present Controversie And I presume I need not tell you of the subtilty of some Men who to make their Proceedings the more effectual direct their Insinuations especially to those they think are least able to withstand them Your own Experience I suppose may be Evidence sufficient as to this Particular There are a sort of Men in the World who live by their Wits and will neglect no opportunity to insinuate strange fancies into the Minds of the weaker sort of People to make them believe a thing is White upon no other ground than because it is not Black though it may be Crimson in grain Of this sort are they says the Apostle 2 Tim. 3. 6. who creep into houses and lead captive silly women c. And he would have us know That in the last days by means of these Men perilous times shall come The whole Prophecy is interpreted of the Jesuites by Men of Learning in the Church of Rome as you may see at large in a little Book call'd The Moral Practice of the Jesuites publish'd by the Doctors of the Sorbon And these Men have Impudence enough to intrude themselves into Ladies Closets and venturing on their good nature to use their skill and sophistical endeavours to cajole them into a decoy They 'll Reform the Church of Rome in a quarter of an hour and wipe off all Imputations of Error while one may say What 's this if you 'll believe their Stories They 'll tell you that the things which have so often been prov'd against that Church are all Lies That no such Errors are embrac'd by her but that the Church of England if their bold Assertions will do the business has only been guilty and if She had not given her Sons Learning enough to defend her Innocence their Forgeries must have past for current But I hope Madam you know the Church of England better than to give credit to every mouth that is open against Her. And I know you have a discerning faculty beyond many of your Sex whereby to judge of Opinions right and wrong However give me leave to present you with a small parcel of Scripture Testimonies against some of the Principal Errors of the Roman Church I say Scripture Testimonies because though there are many excellent Pieces publish'd by our Learned Divines yet they are too full of Learning for most Female capacities and the Treatises large on every Subject when as I think the Scriptures the Supreme Judge in Matters of Religion so I suppose a short Catalogue of Texts from thence directly opposite to such Tenets as we
3. 2. In many things we offend all And if a just man falleth seven times a day Prov. 24. 16. Who can boast of being righteous over much Nay where is there a Man so good as that he may number his offences Holy David could not though a man after God's own heart We read of but one man throughout the whole Book of God who was without sin and that was the man Christ Jesus yet it was never said of him that he did more than fulfil the Will of his Father And for us born in sin and conceived in corruption to say we can do more I cannot express the Folly and Nonsense of it By so doing we should make God our Debtor who is Debtor to no Man. If they of the Church of Rome can brag of any works of Supererogation they are such as these The hallowing Daggers for the cutting off Princes that are not for their turn The sacrificing all they please to call Hereticks The denying the Scriptures in a tongue understood by the Vulgar And several others which might be named concerning which they may indeed be ask'd Who hath required these things at your hands But we of the Church of England know of nothing to be done more than what is our duty to do We know the Preachers Doctrin was Whatsoever thy hand findeth for thee to do do it with thy might Eccl. 9. 10. And our Lord and Master's Advice is when we have done all we can to acknowledge our selves but unprofitable Servants having done only what was our duty to do Luk. 17. 10. For no Man lives and sins not If therefore we say that we have no sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us 1 Joh. 1. 8. Nay we make God a Liar who hath said there is not one that doth good Psal 14. 1 3. In a word if there is a Devil to tempt we are still in danger of sinning And if every thought will be brought in to Judgment who can call himself Inncent 'T is my opinion that instead of thinking we can do more than our Duty Every Man should rather repent of the sins as well of Omission as Commission he is daily guilty of and with the Psalmist cry out Who can understand his Errors cleanse thou me from secret faults Psal 19. 12. For our Saviour's censure on the most righteous is Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish Luk. 13. 3 5. To conclude this first Quere if it were possible for any Man to over-do his Duty I would ask any reasonable Man Whether when he has done more than he ought to have done he would not commit a great sin in thinking so and a greater in saying so If the Affirmative holds good then the poor Man has still some part of his Duty to perform viz. to repent of that sin and so in infinitum II. The second Enquiry proposed was Whether a Man by his own Works can merit Heaven Here Madam be pleased to consider with me these few following Texts Deut. 9. 4. Speak not thou in thine heart after that the Lord thy God hath cast them out from before thee saying For my righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this Land but for the wickedness of these nations c. The Land of Canaan of which this Text speaks is generally looked on as a Type of Heaven And then this is plain enough Job 9. 30. If I wash my self with snow-water and make my hands never so clean yet thou shalt plunge me in the ditch and my own cloaths shall abhor me c. And Chap. 15. 14. What is man that he should be clean and he which is born of a woman that he should be righteous Verse 16. How much more abominable and filthy is man which drinketh iniquity like water All spoken by one whose Fellow was not to be found upon the Face of the Earth for Vertue and therefore if any could boast he might Psal 130. 3. If thou Lord shouldst mark iniquities O Lord who should stand But there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared And Psal 143. 2. Enter not into judgment with thy servant for in thy sight shall no man living be justified Isai 53. 6. All we like sheep have gone astray we have turned every one to his own way and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all And Chap. 64. 6. But we are all as unclean things and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags and we do all fade as a leaf and our iniquity like the wind hath taken us away Rom. 3. 10. As it is written There is none righteous no not one there is none that understandeth there is none that seeketh after God they are all gone out of the way they are altogether become unprofitable there is none that doth good no not one Their throat is an open sepulchre with their tongues they have used deceit the poison of asps is under their lips whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness their feet are swift to shed blood destruction and misery are in their ways and the way of peace have they not known there is no fear of God before their eyes All this is spoken of all Mankind in general both Jews and Gentiles and if it be true what can any Man find in himself to challenge Heaven as his due Rom. 6. 23. Eternal Life is called The gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now if Eternal Life be a Gift I would fain know how a Gift can be Merited And if it be for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord I would know whether the same Gift can be said to be Merited by him for us and by us for our selves too if this is affirmed then something to this purpose must follow That the Passion and Death of Christ are Significant and partly not because a Man as a Christian at least may Merit and consequently enjoy Heaven by his own Works without the Application of Christs Merits which would be very Absurd to say no worse of it But if it be denyed then the Consequence will be this That let a Man merit what he will he must be beholding to the Merits of Christ for his Admission into Heaven at last 2 Cor. 4. 4. For I know nothing by my self yet am I not hereby justified but he that judgeth me is the Lord. Let us then suppose a Man to be in the Apostles Case in my Opinion such a Man could have but little Comfort from his own Merits if he being so perfect as not to know any evil by himself should not for all that be certain of his Justification I would ask one of these Meritorious Gentlemen in the Words of the Apostle at the seventh Verse of the same Chapter Who maketh thee to differ from another and what hast thou that thou didst not receive now if thou didst receive it why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it Eph. 2. 8. For by grace