persuade them That Schism is only a breach of Love and Charity within the Church and signifies no more than Divisions and Contentions among the Members of the same Church in crying up different Teachers as it happened in the Church of Corinth when one said I am of Paul another I am of Apollo c. and this say they begot those Sidings and Factions which the Apostle there calls and reproves by the Name of Schisms Well But if those lesser Differences and Sidings among the Members of the same Church be by the Apostle stiled Schisms and condemn'd as occasions of great Heats and Animosities How much more must those greater Variances of breaking Communion and setting up Separate Meetings and Ways of Worship against each other be condemn'd for such And how naturally these things tend to destroy Love and Charity is too plain by those flames of Contention which these sparks have already kindled But there is one thing more by which they mislead unwary People in this matter that must not be passed by and that is their making them believe That an Act of Parliament by granting a Toleration hath taken off the Schism and removed the guilt of it for we find the Ring-Leader of the Party venting this wild Notion Baxter's p. 32. viz. If the Supreme Authority loosen our Obligation to the Parish Meeting the Iniquity upon this account is not to be found and the Schism is gone lo here saith he a way opened for the Parliament if they please to rid both the trouble and scruple of Schism out of the Land But can they rid the Sin and Guilt of it too out of the Land If not 't is fit the Scruple and Trouble of it too should remain to keep Men from it the Peace and Unity of the Church is given in strict Charge by Christ and his Apostles to all the Members of it And is any Earthly Power able to loosen this Obligation Can Human Laws vacate the Authority and Obligation of Divine Laws If so we might invert the Apostle's Question and say 't is fitter to Obey men than God The Parliament indeed may take off the Temporal Penalties which themselves have annex'd to the Sin of Schism but the Guilt and Obligation to Eternal Punishment can be taken off by none but God only who hath laid it upon it And yet there is one way by which the Parliament may rid this evil out of the Land and that is by Removing Schismatical Teachers and Suppressing Seditious Conventicles And that way the Iniquity of it may not be found and the Schism may be gone I am Yours A. B. LETTER IX SIR I Shewed in my last the Dissenters artificial concealing the nature and guilt of Schism and their feeding the People with false Notions of it to continue and increase their Party I proceed now to Another Artifice to this end and that is their mistaking or misinterpreting sundry Passages of Holy Scripture whereby they wrest it from the true sense and draw it in to serve their own purpose And herein again they are the Followers of the Pharisees who by their false Glosses and perverse Interpretations made void the Law of God Of this many Instances may be given and that you may be the better satisfied of this Device I shall single out a few And the first I shall mention of these shall be that of Deut. 4.2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you neither shall ye diminish ought from it that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you From this Scripture they infer That the Church of England hath made several Additions to the Word of God and so turn the fault of the Schism upon her by clogging its Communion whith such uncommanded Conditions Now the plain sense of those Words is this Ye shall not Transgress the Commandments of God by doing any thing contrary to them which is to add to them or by omitting any thing required by them which is to diminish from them Now let the Wisest of them shew any one thing Appointed by the Church that is forbidden by the Word of God or omitting any thing required by it and then we shall own the Charge but if they cannot do this which had been done long since if it could have been done at all they must excuse us if we take them not only for false Expositors of the Holy Scriptures but false Accusers of the Holy Church The Additions there forbidden are to the Substance of God's Word by making other and more Precepts and Prohibitions than that hath made and adding new substantial Parts of Divine Worship but cannot with any congruity of sense be extended to the Circumstantials of it as Time Place Habit Gesture and the like which though not particularly determined in Holy Scripture are yet necessarily implied in the general Rules of Order Decency and Edification required in it And yet these Men will never leave asking that Question Isa 1.13 Who hath required these things at your hands Though the nature of the Thing the general Rules of God's Word and the Power set up by Christ in his Church to which we owe Obedience have expresly required these things from us Yea these rare Expositors have unwittingly fallen into that very Evil themselves which they condemn in others by making more things Unlawfull than God's Word hath made so and Forbidding many things which are no where Forbidden by it which is a plain Addition to the Substance of Religion But those words of Jeremy say these Men Jer. 7.31.19.5 They built the high places of Tophet to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire which I commanded them not neither came it into my heart lay the stress of the Provocation not upon doing what God had Forbidden but in doing what he had not Commanded them But how often must these Men be told and by some of their own Party too that the meaning of those words which I commanded them not is the same with what I had forbidden them for so the thing there referred to expresly was viz. their offering their children unto Moloch Yea that Phrase which I commanded them not is in the Old Testament generally applied to what God had Forbidden They offered strange fire which the Lord commanded not Levit. 10.1 that is which he had forbidden them They worshipped other Gods which I have not commanded i.e. which I have forbidden So that to make it necessary to have an express Command for every Circumstance of Divine Worship and to charge the doing any thing in it without such a Command for an Addition to God's Word is it self a plain Addition to it where no such thing is either mentioned or required Yea the mistake hereof hath been so frequently and so fully laid open that they must be past all shame that have the face to mention it any more Another Text perverted by these Artists is that of Joshua 7.13 where
Joshua is commanded to Sanctifie the People because there was an Accursed thing among them which must be taken away before Israel could have Peace or stand before their Enemies Now this Accursed thing was a goodly Babylonish garment two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels which Achan had stole and hid in the earth in the midst of his tent ver 21. which being done contrary to the Covenant and Command of God he troubled Israel who could find no rest till Joshua by God's Command destroy'd this Accursed thing and Burnt Achan who had purloined it But what use do these Expositors make of this Scripture Why a goodly one indeed the accursed thing must be the Common-Prayer the Babylonish garment the Surplice the wedge of gold the Cross and other Ceremonies the shekels of silver the Consecrated Vessels of the Temple and these being set up as so many Idols in the Temple must be all removed before there can be any Peace in Israel Is not this a rare Exposition May not a pregnant Fancy interpret all these in a different sense calling the Covenant the accursed thing which would give Three Nations no Peace till it was removed may not the Babylonish garment be the long Cloak which hath been made a Covering for much Rapine Oppression and Dissimulation May not the wedge of gold be the great Idol of Presbytery And the silver shekels the Silver Trumpets that sounded the Alarm to War and after cried up the great Diana of the Ephesians All which being set up as the abomination of desolation in the holy place must be destroyed before the Nation can be restored to Peace and Tranquillity If they do not like this Exposition let them take heed how they offer at the like since you see an ordinary Wit may wrest such Passages to any purpose I shall mention but one Text more at present that hath been abused by these Interpreters and that is that of St. Paul in the 1 Cor. 10.32 Give no offence neither to the Jews nor to the Greeks nor to the Church of God In which words the Apostle exhorted the first Christians to walk so warily and inoffensively as not to hinder the Conversion of any that neither Jew nor Gentile might be kept off from embracing Christianity or harden'd in their enmity and opposition against it and the plain sense and use we are to make of it is to beware that we do not lay any stumbling-block in the way of Christians or be unto them an occasion of falling But what sense do these Learned Interpreters put upon these words Why they take Offence there mentioned by the Apostle not for an occasion of Sin but for any thing that discontents or displeases and so would have Superiors take heed of enjoining any thing that may grieve or displease the Godly Party meaning themselves and indeed they are so tender that a small matter will grieve them yea if they have not their way like froward Children 't will be hard sometimes to keep them quiet and so would have not the Wisdom of Superiors but their own Fancies and Humours the measure of Government An admirable Exposition to serve their purpose and a singular Device to please and propagate the Party which is too well known to be farther insisted upon by Yours A. B. LETTER X. SIR ANother Artifice of Dissenters to uphold their Schism is to promote the Interest of the Party and to confine the Offices of Kindness and Charity to those of their own Sect. This was likewise the way of the Pharisees of whom our Saviour observ'd Mat. 5.46 47. That they would only salute their own brethren and do good to none but such as did do good to them meaning that they made those of their own Sect the sole Objects of their Courtesie and Beneficence We read of the Samaritans that they would scarce shew the way to a Jew or perform the common Offices of Humanity and Hospitality but to those of their own Party and therefore we find that when our Saviour was passing through a Village of the Samaritans they denied him and his Disciples all Entertainment because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem Luke 9.52 53. A Learned Divine hath observed of the Donatists of Old Dr. Cave That they confin'd all acts of Benevolence and Civility to those of their Sect and upheld their Separation from the Catholick Church by the Artifice of Trade for they would employ none to Till their ground or to be their Stewards but such as espoused their Opinion and so kept up their Party merely by Trading within themselves And hath not this Device been made use of to the same purpose in our Days Hath not Interest and Trade had a great hand in our Divisions Have not some on whom others depend for their Work and Subsistence employed none but those of their own Faction And have not many of the meaner sort been tempted to Separate Meetings merely to find encouragement from them May we not see their great diligence in promoting those of the Party to Places of Trust and Profit yea in making Matches too which they generally do within the Tribe not only to keep up the Old Stock but to breed a new Race of Dissenters These things are too common and notorious to need any proof Now how serviceable this Stratagem is to support and increase the Party is easie to conceive for Interest being the great Wheel that puts the World in motion that which best promotes and sets that a going shall be sure to have many Followers We read of some that follow'd our Saviour for the loaves John 6.26 66. and when they failed walked no more with him and there are many still that espouse a Party to get Bread and enter into a seemingly Religious Company the better to carry on and advance their Trade We are told of some whose gain is their greatest godliness and though no man can serve God and Mammon yet these will be serving of Mammon even when they appear the most Zealous Servants of God Their Teachers too are busie to promote the Interest of their Followers the better to promote their own and labour hard to advance their Trade that they may have the richer Prize and make the better Merchandize of them The Apostle makes mention of some unruly vain talkers and deceivers who subvert whole houses teaching things that they ought not for filthy lucres sake Tit. 1.10 11. and of those he declares that whatever pretences they may make they serve not our Lord Jesus Christ but their own belly Rom. 16.17 The love of money saith St. Paul 1 Tim. 6.10 is the root of all evil and especially of the evils of Error and Divisions for while some have coveted it saith he they have erred from the faith This hath made some forward to vent and others as ready to receive and be carried about with strong delusions and you need not doubt but many will
they are carried on and kept in Ignorance of a great part of their Duty The great Duties of Unity Peace and Order in the Church of Christ can never be fairly explained or inculcated in those places where their very Meetings are a contradiction to them The heinous nature and guilt of Schism must not be laid open since all their Conventicles are founded upon it The tender point of Divisions so sharply rebuked by the Apostle must not be touch'd upon there where so many love or live by them And now let any impartial Man judge where we are like to find the best means of Edification either in the publick Assemblies of the Church where the whole mind and will of God is truly and faithfully Revealed or in the Separate Meetings of Sectaries where the bare upholding of them tempts them to so much Falsification But where then lies the Fallacy or Mistake in this Matter Why the People are imposed upon by false Notions of Edification For First Some take the fond Opinions and affected Phrases of a Party for the best means of Edification Thus if they hear any discoursing of Election and Reprobation in which they commonly canonize themselves and roprobate others if they saucily pry into and pass their Judgment in those secret things that belong to God and withal misinterpret the reveal'd things that belong to them they think themselves mightily edified though they know nothing aright in those matters Again if they hear them talking of Rolling upon Jesus Christ and Lying flat upon the Promises with other such Mystical and Phrase-Divinity they prick up their Ears and are wonderfully pleas'd with the unintelligible Jargon If they happen to go to the Church and hear the plain Sense of the Gospel laid open and the true Notions of Justification Regeneration Conversion and Salvation explain'd to them they think themselves unedified because they are not amus'd with some fine Conceits about these things The truth is the less they understand the more they are edified which makes them go to the Church with prejudice where they are entertain'd with found Doctrine and the sober Notions of Religion and to delight only in the Mystical and Vain Talk of the Conventicle whereby they mistake the true means of Edification Again 2ly They mistake the false Heats of Fancy for the true Warmth of the Heart and think they have profited by a Sermon merely because they were pleas'd This is a frequent and fatal Delusion for false Teachers commonly work upon the Passions of their Hearers without a right informing their Judgment and so make them think themselves edified when they are all the while merely deluded To this end a melting Tone solemn Looks vehement Actions are made use of and having by these Arts warm'd their Imaginations make them believe they are fired with a true Zeal and so strangely edified as if they felt some extraordinary Impulses of the Holy Ghost stirring within them when all the while 't is no other than the Motion of the Animal Spirits occasioned by the Heats of Fancy and are chiefly owing to their Bodily Temper Now to cry up these for Edification and going on to Perfection is as one hath observ'd to betray the People into the power of every Impostor who hath the knack to raise these Heats and make them pass for Reason and Conviction of Mind These mortify no Sin nor improve any Virtue and so make men neither wiser nor better than they were before but rather more fickle and inconstant and apt to be carried about with every Wind of Doctrine Whereas true Edification helps men to grow in Grace and Knowledge and leaves more firm and lasting Impressions of Virtue upon the Soul Moreover this pretence to better means of Edification sets the common People a judging between better and best of which by reason of their Ignorance and Instability they are incompetent Judges Indeed there is so much of Humour and Fancy in mens Comparisons between Teachers that lays them open to Great Mistakes and Inconveniences about it it fills the best-meaning Persons among them with endless Scruples whom to chuse and where to go and is a Principle of great Giddiness and Instability Yea the mischeif of it is to great to have any Licence or Countenance given to it in any well-constituted Church for it breaks the Order Peace and good Government of it and naturally creates Division and great Distractions it sets people a gadding after new Inventions and necessarily brings on the Guilt of Schism So that this pretence confutes it self and proves a great hindrance to the Edification it pretends to He that constantly attends the Prayers and Instructions of his Parochial Guide shall learn and profit more than he that hunts about for better means of Edification A rolling Stone we say never gets Moss And he that runs after and heaps to himself Teachers may have his itching Ears tickled but seldom hath either his Heart renew'd or his Life reform'd by such means Again by keeping close to a settled Pastor men may have all the Parts and Duties of Religion one time or other explain'd and applied to them and this will tend more to true Edification than the Oratory of loose and general Discourses which for the most part only enters into one Ear and goes out at the other Besides this running after new Teachers is a great Discouragement to a Faithful Pastor to see himself forsaken of his Flock and find them following Wolves in Sheeps cloathing This tends at once to hinder the Preparations of the Minister and the Proficiency of the People who might have better Sermons and profit more by them if they would more frequently attend them In a word This wanton Humour of leaving their own Minister to go where they can profit best hath been severely condemn'd by the Party that now cherish it in their Followers Mr. Edwards in his Gangraena mentions it as one of the great Errors of the Times in which he liv'd And both Presbyterians and Independents have inveigh'd against it as a Principle of great Looseness and Vanity as may be made appear if need be I am SIR Yours A. B. LETTER XIV SIR THE last Artifice of Dissenters that I shall mention is Their setting up and encouraging little private Schools of Philosophy to prepare and qualifie Persons for the holding of Conventicles The Design of this Stratagem is to keep up a Succession of Factious Teachers and to propagate the Schism to future Generations There are some Sects indeed that take no Care about the Education or Commission of their Holders-forth but leave this Office entirely to the Natural Endowments and Volubility of Gifted Brethren But there are others and particularly the Presbyterians who being many of them bred up in the Universities themselves and thereby knowing something of the Method and Benefit of that Education erect private Schools wherein they do something to the like though for the most part to very little purpose They are sensible of