A PERSWASIVE TO AN Ingenuous Tryal OF OPINIONS IN RELIGION LONDON Printed for Tho. Basset at the George near St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet 1685. A PERSWASIVE TO AN Ingenuous TRYAL OF Opinions in Religion § 1. THE great reason why they are few in comparison who come to a right understanding and a well-grounded Perswasion in matters of Religion is because they are not many who make a due inquiry into them Were this done more generally there would not be so much ignorance and errour in the world nor so great a variety of Opinions and Sects as there is and for the most part hath been in the world And there are three sorts of men who fail of knowing the truth for want of due endeavours to find it out Some there are who want ability or opportunity to inquire others who wanting neither do utterly neglect it and will not apply their minds to it at all a third sort make but a very imperfect search after truth And so all ignorance or mistake in things of moment that concern the salvation of men or the peace of the Church may be attributed either to want of power and means to inquire after truth or to unwillingness and perfect negligence where it may be sought and attained to or to laziness inactivity and partiality in seeking it To the first sort we are not onely to reckon Ideots who want a competent measure of Reason and Understanding wherewith to judge but those also that having the same common natural gifts of the mind with others are yet by reason of their outward circumstances kept almost invincibly ignorant having very little or no occasion given them to inquire into things that they might know them better And thousands who sit in Pagan or Mahumetan or Popish darkness are thus detained in gross errours and remediless ignorance as the case at present stands with them But blessed be God this is not our case who live in such a time and place as put no man under circumstances of incurable ignorance As for the second sort of men who have plentiful means and fair opportunities of being better informed but utterly neglect to use them they are either such who remain under the power of those false Principles which were instilled into them in their Education or who blindly follow erring Guides whose persons they have in admiration resolving never to trouble themselves with a free and impartial use of their own reason concerning those Doctrines which they have in their own opinion wisely and safely taken upon trust It happens likewise very often that men are led away by lofty conceits of their own judgment and the extravagant opinion they have of themselves will not suffer them to attempt such an ingenuous examination of things as implies a possibility of their being deceived But I believe they are more who take up Opinions and engage in Parties for worldly ends and carnal interests and these of all others are farthest from inquiring conviction because it is a great uneasiness to a mans mind to find himself mistaken in those opinions which are for his profit or pleasure in this world And mostly the power of custom strengthens all these causes of obstinacy in neglecting to inquire Men are not willing to quit the Perswasions they have for a long time entertained but had rather keep where they are without troubling themselves to begin all anew and to inquire whether they have not been all along deceived And where most of these obstructions meet together as they often do in the same person if he be not succoured mightily by the grace of God his mind is barred up for ever against the knowledge of the truth A third sort miss of the truth not that they make no inquiry but because they do this very imperfectly and superficially and that either through sloth and laziness being not willing to take that pains and care which is requisite for the discovery of truth or through partiality whence it comes to pass that they examine and 〈◊〉 onely or chiesly what is offered in favour of their own side and make it the great end of their search not to follow what shall appear to be true upon inquiry but to be confirmed in their present Perswasion And because diligence and honesty are very necessary dispositions in order to the right understanding of a great many things in Religion no wonder that they who inquire without these advantages are rather hardned in Errour than convinced of the Truth Now these being the common causes of ignorance and errour amongst us at this day and since they all center in want of due inquiry I shall set my self to excite all sorts of people who are not made incapable by natural weakness of understanding to prove and examine things which concern their own Souls and the peace of Christians with that diligence and ingenuity which becomes reasonable creatures And though I know 't is a hard task that I am undertaking by reason of the prejudices and corrupt interests of men which I must encounter yet I am sure no advice can be more rational than this that we would be perswaded to use our Reason which if we do not we lay up the common Talent of our natures in a Napkin For God hath endued us with Faculties whereby we can discern between Truth and Errour and moreover with a natural desire to know the truth so that the use of these Faculties is inexcusably neglected and this desire is foully corrupted and debased if we are easily imposed upon in things of great moment God in our creation hath enabled and inclined us to seek the knowledge of Truth and to inquire into the grounds of our Belief and Practice And therefore to neglect this is to abuse the first Gifts of God and to sin against Nature And it should be every mans care to find out that truth which concerns Religion and another life 〈◊〉 this is every mans greatest interest we should 〈◊〉 most diligence there where to be deceived is of most dangerous consequence But because there are some plausible Pretences against a due and impartial enquiry in matters of Religion I shall prepare my way by endeavouring to remove those Prejudices that lie against it and in order hereunto I shall consider these three Questions 1. Whether it be dangerous to private men to leave them to use their own judgment and to be led by it in matters of Faith and Religion 2. Whether a general liberty of examining and judging in those things doth mischief in the Church and be the cause of Schisms and Heresies 3. Whether if every one have a just Right to examine for himself this be not a good reason for Toleration or the universal liberty of practising according to a mans Conscience or Perswasion after examination § 2. 1. Whether it be dangerous to private men to allow them the use of their own judgment in matters of Religion Now to leave men wholly to themselves
in this business without directing them to use the best helps they can to find out the truth is very dangerous indeed and no wise man will contend for this liberty of judgment in behalf of Christian people or of any sort of men whatsoever for this were not so much to advise them to judge for themselves as to conclude for themselves before they had taken any pains to judge For I do not see how men can be said to judge who refuse the means without which they can make no tryal Now the assistance of men of greater knowledge and ability than themselves have is one very necessary means by which private and unlearned persons are to examine and judge in matters of Religion And God hath not onely given us ability to find out some truths by our selves but also to weigh and consider what others offer to us And therefore he hath appointed Governours and Guides of Souls that are to feed the Flock and to instruct Christian people in the way to Heaven And one part of their work is to enable them to give an answer to every one that asketh a reason of the hope that is in them I Pet. 3. 15. which I conceive they cannot do without informing and helping them to judge for themselves So that liberty of examining in order to private judgment does by no means exclude advising with and hearkening to men of greater skill and ability than our selves especially to the publick Guides of Souls but rather makes it necessary so to do this being one means of Gods appointment by which we are to inform our selves And I grant that without very good and clear reason we are not to depart from their Doctrine but in all doubtful cases to presume in favour of it But that it should be dangerous to private persons to weigh and consider as well as they can what their Guides teach them to believe or to do this is that which I can by no means understand unless it were a dangerous thing to follow our Guides like men that have Reason and not like beasts that have none It is at any time as safe to follow a Guide with our eyes open as to suffer our selves to be blindfolded and then to follow him by a string God hath referred us to Guides Heb. 13. 17. but yet he hath trusted us to our selves too and we are to try the spirits whether they be of God otherwise we may follow Guides that want Guides themselves And if the blind lead the blind both fall into the ditch To say that inquiries after truth with the best endeavours and means that we have in our power is the way to be mistaken is to reproach our own Reason and God the Author of it since as it seems the more we exercise and improve our Reason the more likely we are to be in the wrong and to deceive and abuse our selves At the great day of Accounts Seducers shall answer for those whom they have deceived And therefore the Guides of the Church are strongly obliged that they do not through wilfulness or negligence mislead us But if they mislead us in things that touch our eternal state I do not sind that all the blame will lie upon them but rather that we also shall answer for it our selves Otherwise why should our Saviour say Why of your selves do ye not judge that which is right Luke 12. 57. and St. John Believe not every Spirit but try the Spirits c. 1 Joh. 4. 1. and St. Paul Prove all things hold fast that which is good 1 Thess 5. 21. and Let no man deceive you 2 Thess 2. 3. Again if it be dangerous to permit men to judge for themselves in that sense wherein I contend for it then these are not wholsom but very dangerous Exhortations And yet if a Church which pretends to be an Infallible Guide in Religion could make it out clearly and plainly that she is so I should without much examination of her particular Doctrines receive them as the Oracles of God But then I must have stronger Arguments to assure me that she is infallible than those which at present make me certain that she is actually deceived For to submit to a pretended infallible Authority without knowing why I do so is to put it into the power of others for ought I know to lead me into the most damnable errours and to call Virtue Vice and Vice Virtue Therefore they must be very convincing Reasons upon which I am to believe that of my Guide which being once admitted I must take his bare word afterward for all things else I think none of the Roman Communion will deny this And then it will follow that for my own safety I am to use my own Reason and Judgment as severely as I can before I admit this fundamental Article of their Faith And this will amount to what I say that it is so far from being dangerous for men to use their own Judgment in matters of Religion that it is very dangerous for them not to do so since otherwise they are likely to follow men of the greatest confidence as they for the most part are who have the least reason for it Besides if I am led into errour by the Authority of a Church that does not pretend to Infallibility I may hope to recover the knowledge of the truth especially if it be a matter of great consequence more than if she pretended and I believed her infallible For such a Church will not so readily deny me the means of examining her Doctrine and so I may be able to discover the errour my self If not I have this comfort at least that my Guides being not engaged to contend that they are infallible are themselves in the way of detecting their own mistake and will more easily come off from it But they that pretend to Infallibility are stak'd down to their Opinions and though their Cause be never so bad they are engaged to serve it And therefore this Pretence is so far from discharging me of the pains of using my own Judgment and Reason in matters of Religion that I make the most foolish venture in the world if I do not use my Reason as strictly as I can in examining that very Pretence before I admit it And though a Churches claim to Infallibility were in it self never so just and well-grounded it is to me but a Pretence till I understand the grounds of it Nor can any man blame me if before I am convinced of the Infallibility of that Church I take those particular Doctrines into consideration which are to be believed upon this account that I may this way also judge of the reasonableness of that Pretence for 't is not for nothing that men would be thought infallible If I find the Doctrine they would put off with such authority to be indeed divine and heavenly rational and scriptural tending to the reformation and salvation of Mankind this will incline me to
pretends to great things in teaching Religion but then I should be something forward to give him a tryal too for otherwise I might encourage a very impudent Hypocrite to be more impudent still and to play upon my easiness till I had swallowed all the foolish and damnable Opinions which he would have me believe for his own advantage Secondly When we meet with Doctrines that seem to strike at the foundations of Morality and good living we are to examine them too before we yield our assent though they be recommended by men of name and authority For the end of divine truth is a good and holy life and therefore I should suspect that to be false Doctrine which in my judgment either takes away the necessity of Piety and Virtue or discourages men from endeavouring to attain them For instance I find this Doctrine maintained by some men of great note That God hath from all eternity absolutely chosen some men to salvation and reprobated the rest without respect to any personal qualifications Now if this be true I cannot see for my life how the obtaining of eternal happiness and the avoiding of damnation depends upon any care of mine or upon any thing that I can do since every mans state is absolutely over-ruled by predestination and an irreversible decree so that let me do what I please all that I can do for another world will be but lost labour and might as well be spared But if I am sensible of this it is but reasonable that I should not rely upon the credit of the Author or of the Preacher for so perilous a Doctrine but because it is pretended to be grounded upon the ninth Chapter to the Romans I should go to the Apostle my self and carefully inquire into his meaning in that place by the best Rules of interpretation that I can learn And whoever goes thus impartially to work will find that the Apostle in that place was discoursing of another Question and indeed upon a subject that has nothing to do with this Question of absolute Election or Reprobation of the persons of men and that though the words sound that way to a man that is already prepossess'd yet the meaning of them is nothing to the purpose Suspicion of Doctrines when it is grounded upon so good a reason as we are now speaking of should cause inquiry and then that inquiry will discover on which side the truth lies He that would be a Libertine and live as he lists may be pleased when he meets with any pretended Doctrine of Religion that will excuse a wicked life or discourage Virtue and holiness and therefore it is likely that he will rest satisfied and examine no farther But an honest mind will not let a man deceive himself in this manner but if it does not cause him to reject such Opinions as soon as ever he has well satisfied himself of their consequences it will at least keep him from admitting them till he has tried them every way that he can Thirdly We ought also to be very well satisfied and that upon much consideration of the matter before we separate from the Communion of the Church where we live For whatever some men may think of it this is a business of so weighty a nature and consequence that it is not to be resolved upon or continued in till we are sure we are in the right and that upon most plain and evident reasons And if there be any case in which a Christian ought not to go rashly to work this is one And therefore it is greatly to be lamented that so many amongst us pretending to the power of Godliness should make so light a matter as they plainly do of running into separate Congregations it being very notorious when one discourses the point with them that they never enquired why the Church-Assemblies were to be forsaken and what it is in the establish'd Forms of Worship or in the Terms of our Communion that makes it needful for an honest and wise Christian to depart from it And this is an Argument that they take it to be a matter of very little consequence for otherwise they would have applied themselves with more diligence to weigh it in all the particulars that belong to it And therefore I shall offer some Reasons in behalf of such inconsiderate People to convince them how bold and dangerous a thing it is to separate from this Church of England unless they were fully satisfied upon mature examination that there are just and necessary causes for separation such namely as will make them sinners against God if they do not separate 1. If without just cause I separate from this Church I do wilfully reject the great blessings and advantages of Communion with it and must be answerable to God for slighting that merciful providence of his through which I happened to be born and bred in a place where I might enjoy the benefits of Church-Communion without venturing at any disorderly and sinful practice for them Surely it is no small blessing if my lot has been cast where so great a blessing did as it were lie in wait for me where the true Christian Doctrine and way of Worship was recommended to me by publick Authority and establish'd by Law and Custom and defended to my hand by clear and strong Arguments If this be our Case in the Church of England then my separation from her I say it again makes me guilty of a stupid and ungrateful contempt of Gods exceeding mercies in disposing my condition in this World so to my advantage that I was born baptized and bred in a place where the Truth invited me and was ready to receive me before I made one step towards a search after her Indeed to be baptized within the Communion of a particular Church and to have been born and to live under that Authority which requires me to keep close to it is of it self no sufficient reason why we should continue to be of it but it is a mighty reason why we should examine things carefully before we leave it or take up a resolution never to return to it if we have left it already because if there be no just reason for separation we shall have the more to answer to God For it is a great fault to neglect searching after the Truth in matters of this concern even when it lies a great way off from a man but it is much more inexcusable to reject it when it lies at our doors 2. I had need be very careful and impartial in this case since if the reasons upon which I separate be not really weighty and substantial I am at once guilty of throwing off that subordination and subjection to the Pastors and Guides of the Church which the Christian Profession requires and of contemning the lawful commands of my Superiours in the State contrary to the Rule of the Gospel which obliges me to submit to their Ordinances I should not easily be
Scripture that belongeth to a Discourse be agreeable to the designe and scope of that Discourse to which it belongeth This Rule as it is necessary for all to observe so it is especially to be urged upon men that are apt to interpret places that are not of themselves plain by those Opinions that they are already possessed with a belief of but for which they have little ground besides the mere sound of some Texts which at first hearing seem to be of their side but which if they were compared with the designe of the holy Writer in that Chapter or Book would be found to mean quite another thing All that I shall say besides of this Rule is that the difficulty of many places that are not of themselves plain will be removed by observing it For instance by this way we shall easily be satisfied that that forementioned place of St. Paul Who maketh thee to differ from another was chiefly meant of those extraordinary gifts which were distributed amongst believers in the first Ages of the Church and therefore though in a qualified sence this is true of all saving Graces it is very consistent with all those Scriptures that suppose the difference between the righteous and the wicked to depend upon something which is in the power of the righteous If we mangle coherent Discourses and take a shred or a phrase of Scripture by it self without regard to the main scope of the place and this to prove what what we would have we do not try our Opinions by Scripture but we interpret Scripture by our own Opinions Thus I have shewn what Cautions are to be observed in judging by Scripture I doubt not but all will acknowledge them to be very reasonable and equal and if all men had observed them who have a just veneration for the Scriptures the Word of God had been better understood and less wrested unsound Divinity had not easily passed for Scriptural Truth and all occasion of those unjust Reproaches had been taken away which the Church of Rome throws upon us for allowing to all Christians the free use of Gods Holy Book And thus much for the Rules of Reason and Scripture 3. The third I mentioned was Antiquity and Catholick Tradition Now if this Rule as I said at first be of excellent use then they are in the best way to find out what is the true Christian Religion by it who stick to the Holy Scriptures though they are not capable of using it otherwise For if that be true which was most anciently taught and believed in the Church and which was received all along in the best Ages of the Church then he that can prove his Faith by Scripture has the Argument of Antiquity and Catholick Tradition unquestionably on his side because the Scriptures are the most ancient Records of our Religion and they have been delivered down to us as such from the beginning through all Ages to our present times But we acknowledge also the testimony of Antiquity of something of a later date that is of the antient Fathers of the Church to be of very good use for the clearing of some places in Scripture for shewing what Order and Discipline was left in the Church by the Apostles for confirming us in points of Faith grounded upon the Scriptures but which have been disputed and opposed by Hereticks and likewise for confuting those gross errours in Belief or Practice which of later days have been brought in amongst Christians especially those of the Church of Rome But how things are to be examined by this Rule I shall not here direct because this is the subject of an excellent Discourse already published And thus much concerning Rules whereby to try Opinions in Religion § 7. III. The Dispositions wherewith we are to search for the Truth by these means are also of necessary consideration for whatever other advantages we have if we be greatly defective in these we shall very often lose our labour and fall into mistakes of dangerous consequence To qualifie a man for receiving Truth when propounded with sufficient evidence or to find it out by his own search there must be these three things 1. A prepared mind 2. Competent Diligence 3. Prayer to God for his blessing upon that Diligence 1. A prepared mind which our Saviour calls a good and honest heart Now this consists in Humility Ingenuity and Sincerity Humility is necessary because overweening and self-concit makes a man apt to despise what those of a different Perswasion can say for themselves before their Arguments are considered and in general to neglect that help which may be had by the advice and reasoning of others So likewise vain-glory fixeth a man in an errour he hath once defended and while he is unwilling to acknowledge a mistake he strains all his Wit to delude himself into a stronger belief of it and of his ability to defend it In Controversies he is desirous of victory and would fain be thought some-body and therefore he studies more to expose an adversary than to inform himself And if he be yet to chuse his side of a Question he takes the wrong one if it be more fashionable than the right Therefore says our Saviour Whosoever doth not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child i. e. with a meek and pliable spirit shall not enter therein Again says he My sheep hear my voice intimating that they would be easily convinced who were of tractable and humble minds And therefore he adds concerning the Pharisees that they rejected him because they were not of his Sheep i. e. because of their haughty and inflexible dispositions Prejudice is apt to bar the mind against conviction as well as Pride and therefore to Humility we must adde Ingenuity and Sincerity by which a man is qualified to distinguish between the suggestions of Prejudice on the one side and the force of good Reasons on the other Ingenuity is opposed to those Prejudices that are either unavoidably contracted or taken up through weakness of understanding Of the former sort are the Prejudices of Education or conversing altogether with our own Party Men are generally prepossess'd with great favour to those Opinions in which they have been all along trained up and which have been instilled into them by all that they have conversed with And therefore we cannot be meet Inquirers after Truth if we want the ingenuity of suspecting our selves on this side and trying those Perswasions in which we have been bred up with the greater impartiality and severity Some men are prejudiced by an unaccountable inclination toward an Opinion or an antipathy against it and these ought the more carefully to distinguish between the warmth of their imaginations on the one side and the force of Arguments on the other and not to take a passionate fondness for a conclusion or an aversion from it to be a Reason one way or other It is very incident to weak minds to prejudg in favour of
their Opinions whose persons they admire and mostly to that degree as not to hear with any patience an Argument against them Such a Precious man said this or that and therefore no body must say otherwise But it is at once disingenuous and silly to entertain such an opinion of any man as to take all that he says for Gospel for the best men are fallible and 't is easie for an Hypocrite to make himself pass for a Saint in the opinion of ordinary people and therefore men may be led into great errours whose judgments are captivated in this manner To this we may adde that Prejudice which arises from conceiving hard things of mens persons which an ingenuous man will by no means yield to but will consider what another says though he does not fancy the man It is reason enough with some people to reject all that their Minister says to convince them of their mistakes if he be called a High Church-man or goes for an Arminian and all this while they stand in their own light and will not suffer themselves to be instructed in many profitable Truths which they might learn Thus the Jews though they were astonished at our Saviour's Doctrine and Works yet believed not and this because they were offended at him for the meanness of his Parentage Some are so weak as to be prejudiced against Opinions and Practices meerly because they have heard them often abused nicknamed and inveighed against in a rude and reproachful manner And this goes a great way with some Dissenters to make them deaf to all our Reasons that when they are got together they hear the Rites and Prayers of our Church scoffed at and called by vile names But it stands not with the least ingenuity to run away with prejudice against things that are abused and laugh'd at without examining whether there be reason for it Sincerity is opposed to those Prejudices that arise from vicious affections and worldly interests and it consists in a firm resolution to do the Will of God and a vehement desire to know it for that end And this is a most necessary preparation to know the Truth because nothing is more common than the perverting of mens judgments by the inordinacy of their lusts and the serving of a corrupt interest The love of any Vice makes a man partial and insincere in examining the truth of that Doctrine by which he stands condemned The belief of it is uneasie to him it is not for his interest that it should be true This is the reason why the fool saith in his heart There is no God The worldly interests of men do strangely byass and fashion their Judgments It were a thing never enough to be admired that so many men of Parts and Learning should not be ashamed of those pitiful grounds upon which they maintain the Supremacy of the Pope the Doctrine of Purgatory the Half Communion the Sacrifice of the Mass the Invocation of Saints and the like but that those things do notoriously serve the Wealth and Grandeur of the Roman Church If it be needful to go to a Conventicle for the getting of a rich Fortune or the bettering of a mans Trade a little enquiry will for the most part serve his turn and satisfie him that the Separation is lawful and the Causes of it are just A man ought to set aside all consideration of his worldly interest and to propound eternal life to himself as the end of his inquiry when he labours to know the Truth The affectation of Popularity and the love of Praise and Flattery cannot consist with a sincere love of the Truth and does very often hinder the attainment of it It is hard to convince men of those things that check their vainglorious ends and purposes And therefore says our Saviour How can ye believe in me that receive honour one of another and seek not that honour which cometh of God onely The wise man exhorts us to buy the truth intimating thereby that we must quit all our sinful lusts and affections and our carnal interests in prosecuting of it In a word we must be in mind prepared to believe all truth by being resolved to do whatsoever appears to be the Will of God let what will come of it in this World having our hearts evermore fixed upon the great concernment of eternal life And this is more necessary for the best knowledge than vastness of Parts and Learning Where the mind is thus prepared there will be little need to press the two remaining Dispositions whereof the former is 2. Competent diligence Errour is sometimes made to look so like the Truth that a superficial examination will not serve to distinguish one from the other Sometimes the Truth must be had by laying a great many things together and the proof does not lie in one but in many Arguments pointing the same way Sometimes also a conclusion is offered with the shew of many Motives of credibility which neither singly nor joyntly prove what is intended And here patience and industry commonly helpeth more than quickness of judgement Our Saviour bad the Jews search the Scriptures those very men who in all probability had read them but as it seemeth not with diligence enough It were very well if those that begin to study Divinity would not presume upon the diligence and honesty of others whose Books they see full of Citations of Scripture but take some pains to judge whether that be the true sence in which they are quoted For want of this several have miscarried in their first entrance upon this work and the errours of men of name and authority have been propagated It would also be very happy for this Church and for themselves too if the dissenting people would not presently conclude that what they read in the Books of their own way is all agreeable to Gods Word because they see abundance of Scripture in them but would use some diligence to judge whether that be the true meaning in which the Scripture is there understood It was doubtless with designe to catch such slothful people that the Catechism of H. T. was published in our Language wherein he pretends to prove all the lewd Doctrines of the Romish Religion by Texts of Scripture But if any man will take the pains to examine his pr̄oofs he shall find such miserable wresting and perverting of the Scripture that he will never trust a Book more merely for store of Scripture-Phrases and Citations but go to the Fountain of Truth it self the pure Word of God to see whether the interpretations of men are indeed the unpolluted streams of that Spring from whence they are said to come We must be willing to sift things to the bottom if we would not be imposed upon A very little pains will serve to make a man confident but 't is not a little that will make him confident upon safe grounds 3. To Diligence we must adde Prayer for the divine Illumination
In searching for Truth we must implore his help who is the God of Truth whose Word is the Word of Truth and whose Spirit is the Guide into Truth that he would free our minds from all prejudices and corrupt affections and from every thing which obstructs a right understanding If we lack wisdom we must ask it of God who giveth his holy Spirit to them that ask him And now I dare appeal to all that read these Papers if it had not been to the unspeakable advantage of Gods Church and the Souls of men if all that profess Christianity had inquired into the Controversies of Religion so far as they are concerned in them with these Dispositions that I have recommended And therefore I do the more earnestly desire them to lay their hands upon their breasts and in good earnest to ask themselves if they have in this manner sought the knowledge of the Truth with a mind thus prepared with impartiality and diligence and constant Prayer for Gods blessing and direction § 8. IV. My next business is to offer some Considerations to perswade our people to an honest and impartial tryal of Opinions in Religion This indeed cannot be done by all with equal advantage because of the difference of mens abilities but something is to be done by all and every one is to do what he can and God expects no more If we chuse a way of Religion at random or without honest care to know the Truth we are in great danger of falling into delusion because there are false Religions and damnable Errours in the World Saith St. John Try the Spirits whether they be of God because many false Prophets are gone out into the world There was danger of running into grievous errour in the best and purest Age of the Church if Christians were not careful to examine things And surely the danger is greater in this corrupt Age and this extremely-divided State of Christendom It often happens also I doubt for the most part that Seducers are more diligent and wise to propagate Errour than good men are to gain Proselytes to the Truth The former are evermore too hard for the latter in confidence peremptoriness threatning of damnation magnificent and lofty pretences and where the case calls for it in artificial addresses and insinuations And this makes our danger the greater if we are not resolved to try before we trust Nay if we were secure from Impostors yet because no man is infallible we should not surrender up our Belief wholly to the Authority of any man but judge of his Doctrine as well as we can Because there cannot be a stronger ground for our assent to any thing than that God has said it we are to be very careful how we receive an Opinion for which Texts of Scripture are multiplied one upon another i. e. we must see whether they do indeed prove the thing in question for otherwise we may by the pretence of so great Authority be the more fastned in some dangerous errour We are exposed to manifest hazard if we are apt to admire a man for bringing much Scripture to serve his purpose but not to think it needful to see whether those passages of Holy Writ be pertinently applied or not To this I must adde that the errours we may fall into for want of enquiry and examination may for ought we know be of dangerous consequence to our own Souls Some there are that wrest the Scriptures to their own destruction and if we are in their way they may wrest them to ours too We may inconsiderately take up Principles that will by degrees debauch our Consciences and reconcile us to wicked practices and in many instances eat out the sense of good and evil sin and duty On the other hand by considering things as impartially and judiciously as we can we shall not onely be secure from running into great errours but the Doctrines of true Religion will become more plain to us and we shall have a more clear and distinct apprehension of them which will reward our endeavours with great pleasure and satisfaction For next to the delight of a good Conscience gained by doing what we know to be our duty there is no pleasure more pure and agreeable to the best part of our nature than that which arises from an improved knowledge in the things of God And having well weighed and considered the grounds of our Perswasion we shall adhere more stedfastly to that truth which we have learn'd and not be easily unsetled by the Sophistry or the Confidence of ill men being prepared to shew that there is no sound Reason in the former and no just Cause for the latter And when Seducers perceive that we have inquired too far into things to be born down with peremptoriness or to be deluded with colours they will be discouraged from attempting to draw us into their Net Moreover it will be no little satisfaction to us when we are going out of the world that we have all along taken due pains to inform our selves in things of the greatest concernment to us viz. those which regard our everlasting salvation and that the errours into which we may have fallen were not to be imputed to want of honest diligence in inquiring after the Truth but onely to humane infirmity In the mean time we cannot have the conscience of sincerity upon good grounds if we do not with diligence apply our selves to know all our duty and consequently all that divine Truth which is the Rule of it or which leads to the performance of it One character of that good and honest heart which our Saviour compares to the good Ground is to understand the Word And the reason why the Pharisees did not understand was because they were not of God but of their Father the Devil whose lusts they did One reason why God in his wisdom permits Impostures and Errours to go up and down in the World is because this serves to make a more evident difference between those that are sincere and honest and those that are not so For in these circumstances good men will take the more pains to distinguish between Truth and Errour while the insincere either take up that Profession which serves best for their worldly ends or take occasion by the differences that are in the World about Religion to throw off all pretence to Religion it self There must be herefies among you saith St. Paul that they which are approved may be made manifest To which we may adde that by honest endeavours to be rightly informed in matters of Religion we do in some measure qualifie our selves for the happiness of another life and shew that we are disposed heavenwards and desirous of that infinitely-better state of things where Darkness and Errour shall be done away For one great part of the Reward promised in a better life is that we shall know divine things more perfectly there than we can do in this World But this can be
no happiness to any but to those that are lovers of Truth and Goodness here I shall conclude this point with one consideration more That at this time we have very confiderable advantages and opportunities towards the discovery of Truth in the present Controversies among us We of this Church are perswaded that Papists and other Sectaries do causelesly divide from our Communion and grievously sin against God and endanger their own Souls as well as disturb the quiet of the Church by their separation from it and their combinations against it And therefore some pains has been taken more than ordinary to shew them the errour of their way by going through the several points upon which they pretend to justifie their doings And it is plain as I have shewn already that in things of this nature they are mightily concerned to know the Truth And therefore if they neglect so fair an opportunity of examining things as is now offered them they will have the more to answer for another day The several Controversies between this Church on the one side and the Dissenters and the Recusants on the other are stated and argued in a plain and familiar way and brought down for the most part to the capacity of ordinary Readers And therefore let both the one and the other look to it that they do not either in obstinacy or in laziness or for worldly interest put away the Truth from themselves We should be very sorry if our endeavours should have no other effect than to make them more inexcusable at last It will be our grief but it will be their condemnation § 9. V. When after due examination we have setled our selves upon true grounds whether in keeping our first Perswasions or in changing them if we found they were wrong for better we must remember that there are duties incumbent upon us growing from the knowledge we have gained 1. We are to be thankful to God for the Truth we have learn'd When we see how miserably some men are mistaken and deluded in things that are both plain enough and of great moment we should not insult over them and grow into self-conceit but into humility and gratitude to God acknowledging it to be of his grace and goodness that we are not led away into the same delusions We are indeed to thank him for all things that contributed towards our escape or recovery If we have a better natural apprehension and judgment than some others who was it that made the difference If we had a good Education and were put into a right way at first it was God that chose those happy circumstances for us If we have recovered from any way of dangerous errour in which we were bred up the conversation the friends the books and all other means by which we came to be better informed were ministred unto us by the good providence of God And that degree of a good mind which either prompted us to inquire or prepared us to do it with success was likewise from his Grace Finally it was his Blessing that crowned all For every good and perfect gift cometh from above from the Father of lights So that in effect God is to have all the praise And if we make it our business humbly and thankfully to acknowledge all his goodness in that knowledge of the Truth to which we have attained we shall reap this great advantage and comfort thereby that by his grace and providence he will communicate to us more and more knowledge if it be needful for us or at least that he will not suffer us to fall into any dangerous errour For we are not safe from damnable errours merely because we believe the Truth at present our perseverance in it depends upon the Grace of God which is forfeited by nothing sooner than by Pride and Ingratitude For God resisteth the proud but giveth grace to the humble And if by the impiety of neglecting to acknowledge God in those Blessings we have received from him we should provoke him to leave us to our selves our Judgments though they be set right at present will easily be depraved and corrupted by vicious affections and by degrees we may fall from one delusion to another till we come to believe the same things with those men whom we were once apt to scorn or to pity for their stupidity and blindness Now the ways are very plain by which we are to express our thankfulness to God for the knowledge we have gain'd We must do this in our dayly Prayers if we would shew our selves grateful in any proportion to the greatness of the benefit we have received We are to thank God for the least of his mercies because we are less than the least and therefore for all the Blessings of this life and of the outward man that we are not blind or lame that we have not distorted limbs or a deformed shape But is it not a more valuable Blessing still to have a mind clear from all foul and monstrous errour endued with soundness of Judgment and replenisht with the knowledge of Divine Truth Does not this therefore call for particular acknowledgments and thanks We must be sure to express our thankfulness by better obedience and by improving in all Virtue and Piety as we have improved in Knowledge Otherwise we receive this Grace of God in vain Knowledge conduceth to a mans true happiness by leading him to do well but if he holds the Truth in unrighteousness by increasing knowledge he does but increase sorrow and that because he increaseth his guilt But that which I chiefly intend here is this That God by inlightning our minds with a more full discovery of the Truth has laid upon us a great obligation in general to love him more perfectly and to perform his Will in all things more readily and cheerfully than we have done And this is true thankfulness if because God hath led us to the understanding of some things which we were ignorant of heretofore we do more heartily perform those plain Duties and obey those divine Rules of which we were not ignorant before Finally it is a principal expression of our gratitude to God for being enlightned and undeceived our selves to be charitably helpful for the undeceiving of others and leading them into the knowledge of that Truth into which God by his providence and grace hath led us For God is never more pleased with us than when we do good one unto another And therefore our charity to our mistaken Brethren is the most acceptable Sacrifice of Praise that we can offer to him But this is so considerable a thing that it ought to go by it self for one remarkable use we are to make of having gained the knowledge of the Truth Wherefore 2. Let us consider how we are after this to behave our selves to others I have already told you that in gratitude to God we are to do what we can to recover those to whom we have opportunities to
do this good office and that because God would have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth This was that which our Lord said to Peter When thou art converted strengthen thy Brethren and if those who are not thoroughly confirmed in the Truth are to be farther instructed there is the same reason for endeavouring to recover those that are quite out of the way Therefore if any of our Friends and Acquaintance or others whom at any time we have a good opportunity of instructing remain under those errours that we have forsaken and have discerned good cause to forsake we must remember that though it was chiefly by the grace and disposal of God that we came to a right understanding yet it was also by humane means by conversing with others or by reading their Books And therefore we should take our selves to be fit Instruments under God for the reducing of them by desiring them earnestly either to hear what we have learned from others or to read those Books by which we have been convinced And we should be the more earnestly engaged in this charity because those whom we may prevail withal will thereby be engaged to help others also and by this means our diligence and charity will be blessed with the good success of propagating the knowledge of Truth so far that we shall not be able to see to the end of it If therefore thou art convinced that thy former Perswasions were erroneous and thy Practices grounded upon them unjustifiable be not ashamed to confess thy mistake but shew thy self glad that thou art now better informed and go to thy Friend and tell him that thou art fully perswaded thy was has been wrong all this while and shew him these Arguments that have set thee right that he as well as thy self may rejoyce in the discovery of the Truth and have the same reason to bless God that thou hast Now when we are thus resolved let us by no means forget in what manner we are to apply our selves to our mistaken Brother for his information i. e. in meekness of wisdom in the spirit of meekness without railing and bitterness though we should meet with unhandsome opposition remembring that we our selves not long since were under the same mistakes and had the like fondness for those erroneous Opinions which we would now rescue our Brother from If he does not take information and receive instruction as fast as we did we must not presently grow into passion for some mens prejudices are greater and stronger than others and all men have not the same capacity of understanding and quickness of apprehension and therefore more time is to be allowed and more patience is to be used for the recovery of one man than may be needful in the case of another And because nothing puts a slow or a prejudiced man more backward than rough and bitter discourse therefore more meekness and gentleness and patience is requisite in dealing with him than if we had to do with one of better wit or less prejudice When we would bring a man to the Truth we must avoid all things that will be sure to drive him at a farther distance from it as clamour fierceness and railing will certainly do For this carriage does but harden the obstinate and confound the simple 3. When we are convinced of the Truth as we must not be ashamed so neither must we be afraid to own it but constantly adhere to it by professing it and practising according to it whatever we lose or suffer for so doing For otherwise we are convinced to no other purpose than the increasing of our guilt for he that knows his Masters will and doth it not shall be beaten with many stripes If therefore thou hast hitherto been a Papist but art now convinced of the impious Doctrines and Practices of the Church of Rome or a Dissenter but art now satisfied that there is no just ground for separation from the Church of England be not afraid of the Reproaches and Accusations of those whose errours thou hast left no not though your dependance be in a great measure upon them or your expectations of worldly advantage from them be never so great Consider that thy salvation lies at stake and that the question is whether Gods love is not to be preferred before their favour and that you are now to shew that you do not love the praise of men more than the praise of God Tell them that you will be still glad of their friendship but that you cannot purchase it at so dear a rate as to sin against God for it either by renouncing that which you are throughly convinced is Gods Truth or by going contrary to a Conscience well informed of your duty Let them know that you have been at a great deal of pains to discover the truth in these matters and more than they have been at that you value that knowledge of your duty to which the Grace and Providence of God hath led you at a more just rate than to sacrifice it to every worldly interest and that the industry you have used to inform your self aright would turn to a very evil account if after all you should play the Hypocrite When we have the Truth our loins must be girt about with it we must love it heartily profess it sincerely and contend for it earnestly and practise it honestly When we have bought the Truth by diligent and impartial enquiry we we must not sell it for the gain of worldly Wealth or Honour or any other secular advantage no not for the safety of our lives The sum of all is this Prove all things hold fast that which is good FINIS A Catalogue of several Tracts written by some Divines in and about the City of London for the satisfaction of the Protestant Dissenters 1. A Perswasive to Communion with the Church of England 2. A Resolution of some Cases of Conscience which respect Church-Communion 3. A Letter to Anonymus in answer to his three Letters to Dr. Sherlock about Church-Communion 4. The Case of Lay-Communion 5. The Case of mixt Communion Whether it be Lawful to Separate from a Church upon the account of promiscuous Congregations and mixt Communions 6. The Case of Indifferent things used in the Worship of God proposed and Stated 7. A Vindication of it 8. A Discourse of Conscience 9. A Discourse about a Scrupulous Conscience 10. Some Considerations about the Case of Scandal or giving Offence to Weak Brethren 11. Certain Cases of Conscience resolved concerning the Lawfulness of joyning with Forms of Prayer in Publick Worship In two Parts 12. An Answer to the Dissenters Objections against the Common Prayers and some other parts of Divine Service prescribed in the Liturgy of the Church of England 13. The Resolution of this Case of Conscience Whether the Church of Englands Symbolizing so far as it doth with the Church of Rome makes it unlawful to hold Communion with the Church of England 14. A Defence of it 15. The Case of Infant-Baptism in Five Questions 16. The Case of the Cross in Baptism 17. A Perswasive to frequent Communion in the Holy Sacrament of the Lords Supper 18. The Case of Kneeling at the Holy Sacrament stated and resolved In two Parts 29. A Discourse about Edification 20. A Discourse of Profiting by Sermons and of going to hear where men think they can profit most 21. An Argument to Union taken from the true Interest of those Dissenters in England who profess and call themselves Protestants 22. A serious Exhortation with some important Advices relating to the late Cases about Conformity recommended to the present Dissenters from the Church of England Against Popery these 1. A Discourse about the charge of Novelty upon the Reformed Church of England made by the Papists asking of us the Question Where was our Religion before Luther 2. Discourse about Tradition shewing what is meant by it and what Tradition is to be received and what Tradition is to be rejected 3. The difference of the Case between the Separation of Protestants from the Church of Rome and the Separation of Dissenters from the Church of England 4. The Protestant Resolution of Faith 5. A Discourse concerning a Guide in matters of Faith 6. A Discourse concerning Invocation of Saints 7. A Discourse concerning the Unity of the Catholick Church maintained in the Church of England 8. A Discourse of Auricular Confession 9. A Discourse against Transubstantiation A Catalogue of some Books printed for T. BASSET SPeed's Maps and Geography of Great Britain and Ireland and of foreign parts Hooker's Ecclesiastical Politie Guillim's Heraldry Bishop Sanderson's Sermons Mezaray's History of France Dr. Howell's History of the World In 2 Vol. Dr. Littleton's Dictionary Compleat Clerk Dr. Sherlock's Sermon on the Discovery of the Plot. Medicina Curiosa Miege's French Dictionary Willis's London Tract of Physick Bishop Wilkin's Sermons Principle and duty of Natural Religion Bishop Land's Devotions ☞ All the Works newly printed of Doctor JOHN LIGHTFOOT in two Volumes in folio Illustrated with Maps and several Tables to the Whole with some things never before printed Phil. 2. 12. 1 Cor. 12. 24. 1 Cor 4. 7. Rom. 12. 2. Discourse about Tradition shewing c. Abridgment of Christian Doctrine printed at Doway