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A39260 A letter to a friend reflecting on some passages in A letter to the D. of P., in answer to the arguing part of his first letter to Mr. G. Ellis, Clement, 1630-1700. 1687 (1687) Wing E565; ESTC R18718 18,279 34

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far as it is the same with ours as indeed it is in all our necessary Articles ours being no other but those in the Creeds which are as well theirs as ours Thus far then we have often proved the certainty of our Faith and if he require it will be ready to do it again But this he knows well enough and therefore would set us a harder task but it is by all Laws of Disputation in our choice whether we will accept of it or no. Two things more he will have us prove First That we are Absolutely certain of all this And Secondly Not only this but of all that more which our Saviour taught his Apostles But that we are not obliged to prove either of these things we are at least as sure as he is that we cannot and that I will confess to him is sure enough taking his words in his own sense For first he tells us Pag. 23. The profession of Absolute certainty makes a fair approach towards the Doctrine of Infallibility or rather 't is the self same with it And again in the same Page he makes Absolutely certain and Infallible all one thing When therefore he can meet with Protestants that Profess themselves absolutely certain in his sense that is Infallible 't is fit he should call upon them as we do on Roman Catholicks to prove all is their due which they as absurdly as presumptuously arrogate to themselves But whilst he has to do with Protestants of the Church of England who are of a modester disposition let him not put them to the Blush for him by telling them 't is their duty to prove themselves to be as much wiser than they know themselves to be as the Church of Rome thinks her self wiser than all other Churches And truly the next part of his demand is as unreasonable as this to bid us prove that we are absolutely certain of All that Christ taught his Apostles We are certain as was said of that which Christ and his Apostles have taught us in the Holy Scripture writ on purpose to inform us of what they taught and this we have reason to think enough and all that we are bound to be certain of because we cannot imagine if they writ not all that we are bound to know and believe why they were at the pains to write so much for if it be as these men tell us that to believe but a part is as damnable as to believe nothing they had as good have writ nothing as not the whole that we must believe A few lines more might have instructed us in that all more which 't is said we should certainly believe or a few words might have directed us to the Infallible Church to learn it Were those good men so scanted of time or sparing of pains that they could not afford us this all more especially whilst they spend so much of both in writing largely things supposed by all not Absolutely necessary And did the Primitive Church also grudge her Children the full knowledge of this all that Christ and his Apostles taught as the necessary Faith of Christians We do not find in any of the ancient Creeds one branch of this all more which the Trent Council so lately taught and commanded by vertue of Tradition To say no more we have certainty of all that is taught us in Scripture and we know of no more that Christ and his Apostles taught us The Papists say there is more and we are bound to believe it cannot now this Gentleman see by his own Rules of Disputation that he and his Brethren ought to bear their own burden the proof of all this more that he would have us say we are certain of You see I hope by this time that we decline no proof that is incumbent upon us We prove the Scripture to be the Word of God we prove every Article of our Faith by the Scripture and thus we prove we have sufficient certainty of our whole Faith. Our Rule being certain the Faith which agrees with it is certain too If there be any thing more that it is supposed Christ taught and Christians must believe he that affirms it is obliged to prove it or no longer to quarrel with those who know nothing of it Well I perceive this Author has a mind to shew what he can do to prove we have no certainty of our Faith in kindness to us I suppose that he may ease us of the mpossible task as he accunts it of proving that we have And he has done it unanswerably it we will believe him I declare openly saith he that you cannot answer this Discourse However we will try and we have some reason for it seeing he tells us it nearly toucheth our Copyhold which he may well believe we have no mind to part with We have it thus Pag. 30 31. I. God hath left us some Way to know surely what Christ and his Apostles taught This is a certain truth what is then the inference from it II. Therefore this Way must be such that they who take it shall arrive by it at the end it was intended for that is to know surely what Christ and his Apostles taught Alas what dallying is here Who is the wiser for this inference Or who knows one jot the more by it than he did by the Antecedent If God hath left us a Way to know then by that Way we may know If such be his Inferences that he here engageth to make good he needs not fear to make good his engagement tho' his Inference be good for nothing But his next may be better Let us hear it III. Scripture's Letter interpretable by Private Iudgments is not that Way Who doth the man here dispute against Our Doctrine is that The Scripture only is the Rule of Faith or The Scripture contains all things necessary to Salvati●n I suppose it is against us that he would be thought to dispute in this unanswerable Discourse and why doth he not in terms contradict our Doctrine saying The Scripture only is not the Rule of Faith or the Scripture contains not all things necessary to Salvation If because he had in his Proposition used Way for Rule which is very indifferent to us he ought in his Assumption also to use the same word yet why saith he not Scripture only but Scripture's Letter And why more yet Scripture's Letter interpreted by private Iudgments All this packing of the Cards is not for nothing However let us deal fairly and above-board If then by Scripture's Letter he mean as some of his Friends do unsensed Characters I confess Scripture's Letter cannot be the Rule or Way to know But such insignificant things we are unacquainted with in the Holy Scripture which we own if there be any such in his it will lose nothing by throwing them out Yet if he can think it reasonable to allow as much to the Scripture which is a Letter from the infallible God to Men as he expects