stand seized of as good Authority to interpret Scripture as any they can justly pretend to And that we use it more duely and rightlâ— may appear hence That we not only diligently use all lawful Means to come to the Knowledge of Truth but Condemn all those ill Arts which obscure or corrupt it We have no Index Expurgatorius to Expunge or Alter any Passages in the primitive Fathers or any other honest Authors if they do not please us yet by this one base unpaidonable Aâ—tifice the Romanists whilst they have been undermining the sufficiency of the Scriptures have shaken the Authority and weakned the Evidence of Tradition and so difarmed the Church of her best Weapons of Defence for certainly a Tradition is best proved by those who lived in or near those times when it was delivered But how shall we believe their Testimony when their Writings are daily Curtail'd Changed and Falsified at pleasure And had not that God who takes Care of his Church caused the Chear to be discovered it would have done more Mischief then all the diligence and pains of all the Romanists in the World could ever have made a just satisfaction for But this it is for a particular Church to set up for Infallibility which is a point that can never be gained without putting out the Eyes of all at present living and stopping the Mouths of all that went before them For though I beleeve that God will never deâ—ert his Church in all parts of it in Matters necessary to Salvation yet he has not given her any Power over the Faith but She is Tied to that and that alone which was at first delivered to the Saints And if the Roman or any other Church or an Angel from Heaven should teach any other doctrine then what we have received they ought to be so far from being regarded that if we follow St. Paul they ought to be Accursed That we Adhere to the Scriptures thâ— Romanists cannot justly blame us because they themselves Acknowledge their divine Authority For see the Council of Trent doth Sess 4. decret de Can ' Script ' but they accuse us as too strict Scripturists upon two Accounts First because we Admit not Tradition to be of equal Authority with the Holy Scriptures Secondly because we receive not several Books as Canonical or of unquestionable divine Authority which they have thrust into the Canon As for Tradition and its Authority I shall Treat of it more distinctly in the next Paragraph and there answer this Accusation As for the Canon of Scripture we own the very same and no other which the Church of God hath Handed down to us after the Canon of Scripture was Compleated As for those Books Called Apocrypha which the Council of Tâ—ent first made Canonical it is Apparent That we do not by that Title utterly Condemn them but rather Repute them of an Inferiour or Ecclesiastical Authority because we Read them in our Churches for Instruction of Manners and inciting to good Living And sometimes use them for the Illustration of Doctrine but never to Introduce or Found any Doctrine upon and this is as much as the Ancients allowed them The Jewish Church was the Keeper and Preserver of the Canon of the Old Testament as much as the Christian is of the Old and New now But they had none of those Books in their Canon And therefore if any Assert that those Books do belong to the Canon the Consequence will be That the Jewish Church did not preserve the Canon of Scripture entire and true and for the same Reason any one may suspect the Christian and so render the Authority of the whose dubious So injurious are the Romanists to the Faith it self whilâ—st they set up their own Authority against the whole Church of God Besides if they will not own that we received the entire Canon of the Old Testament from the Jewish Church they ought to tell us from whom â—e did receive it and to whose Custody it was Committed till the time of Christ and his Apostles But whoever will be at the pains to read the Scholastical History of the Canon of Scripture Written by our Learned Dr. Cosins Bishop of Duresâ—ne will be abundantly satisfied that the Tridentines under pretence of Tradition have Enlarged the Canon of Scripture contrary to the Tradition of the Church of God in all Ages even to their own time Thus when Modern Mens bare word must be allowed a sufficient Authority to Vouch a Tradition a Pretence of Tradition is set up against the truth of it and so Tradition it self rendred doubtful or useless And therefore I shall not trouble my self to pursue those many particular sâ—uffling pleas which they use to Justify themselves in offering violence to the Sacred Canon But if you would know the true Reason which it was their Business to Conceal I believe Spalato hath Hit on it Suas non poterant Nâ—nias ex Sacrâ Scripturâ verè Canonicâ probare ideoque noluerunt permittaere us 〈◊〉 aliae Scripturae etiam non Canonicae eriperentur quo suas qualescunque â—aberent â—â—â—retras unde spicula desumerent ac praeterea viderent ac praeterea ne viderentur â—ein aliquâ Protestantibus cedere aâ—t consentire maluerunt etiam falsa tueri 〈◊〉 de Repub. Ecc. lib. 7. cap. 1 Num. 28. XLIV He that doth believe the Scriptures to be the Word of God must of course believe their Sufficiency or that they contain all Matters necessary to Salvation for they give this Testimony to themselves And he that believes them to be the Word of God must believe the Testimony they give either of themselves or others St. Paul saith They are able to make Man wise to Salvaâ—ion 2 Tim. 3. 15. 16. But that cannot be so unIess they contain at least all things necessary thereto But though the Scriptures be thus sufficient and contain a certain Sense in themselves yet by reason of the distance of time when they were Wrote through Unskilfulness in Oriental Customes and Phrases where they were Wrote through Ignorance of some particular Tenets which some Argumentative part of Scripture is Levelled against and â—uch like Causes But above all through the Perverseness of evil Men and Seducers it so falls out That those Scriptures which are of a certain Sense yea plain in themselves are made obscure to us and we either become doubtful of their Meaning or follow a wrong Meaning For what is or can there be so plain and easie which some wiâ—ked Men have not or cannot render intricate and perplexed especially to weak Judgements and faciIe Tempers Now for the Discovery of the true Sense of Scripture in this Case true and genuine Tradition is possibly the best Help and surest Refuge and to Wrest the Scriptures out of the Hands of Hereticks and Restore the Rule to its true Force right Use and proper Meaning perhaps there is not a surer nor more effectual way for our Blessed Saviour Himself Wrote
AN Historical Account OF THE Antiquity and Vnity OF THE Britanick Churches CONTINUED From the Conversion of these Islands to the Christian Faith by St. AVGVSTINE to this present Time By a Presbyter of the Church of England Imprimatur Z. ISHAM R. P. D. HENRICO Episc Lond. Ã Sacris LONDON Printed for W. Whitwood at the Angel and Bible in Little Britain MDCXCII The EPISTLE to the READER Courteous Reader FOR Right or Wrong so we Call all Not that we Believe they will be so but because we would have them so For when a Man hath been at no small Pains at least as he thinks for the Benefit of Others he is very prone to expect as his due a Return of Kindness or Candour But on the otber Hand He who is at the trouble to Peruse takes it to be his Privilege to Judge and so far he judgeth rigbt if he proceed not further thinking he cannot be a Judge unless he be malicious And that the Business of Reading a Book is to find or make more Faults then there is not to make an honest Advantage of what may be found useful Vpon this Score he that Adventures on the Press brings Himself like a Bear to a Stake where though he may Fancy he Creates Others great Diversion yet He himself is sure to be the Sufferer and becomes liable to be Baited at every ones pleasure But be it as it will I have wrote my Thoughts freely and I Envy no Man the same freedom of speaking his Only I could wish all Men would Consider That sometimes Men run down-Hill faster then is for their own Convenience and that Liberty loseth its Nature when it degenerates into Licentiousness or becomes a Cloak of Maliciousness I will not waste time in fruitless Aâ—ologies For if this small Tract hath nothing in it self to Buoy it up it must certainly Sink for it is not all the Daubing and Flattery in the World that will Perswade Honest Sober or Judicious Men to embrace Senseless Impertinence And as for Others I desire not the Scandal of their good Opinion If this little thing should be any whit taken Notice of in the World I know it will be bitterly Objected That I seem inclineable to the Exercise of a more severe Discipline then hath at least oâ— late been Exercised amongst us or then this loose Age will bear in which perhaps there is too much Truth But I could wish the Reader would suspend his Censure till he hath Considered these few things I shall Return in Aâ—swer First that in an Age wherein all Men are Caâ—vers to themselves for Religion it is but equal that they sbould not deny me who am very sparing of using it the same Liberty with themselves especially since a wanton or loose Practice of Religion may be as uneasiâ—â—o me as the strictest Rules Order or Decency can be to them Secondly because in this I am not Singular but have not only the Judgement of the Fathers and Practice of the Primitive Church but the Constitutions of our own Church on my side which to Avoid Numâ—rous Instances is evident from the Preface before the Commination Aâ—pointed to be Read on Ash-Wednesday Thirdly that the more ungratefuâ— it may be to Vn-governable tempers So much the more necessary it is foâ— the Safety and Peace of the Church and perhaps also of the State For for want of this all things Run into Disorder and Consusion Discipline being not only the Fence about Doctrine but the Prâ—curer and Preserver of good Manners and sober Conversation And in vain shall Men Reason Talk or Preach whilest the Corruptions Discontents Pride and various ill Humours of the greatest part of Mankind knows no other Awe then the simple Restraint of bare Perswasions Both Romanists and Dissenters frequently with open Mouâ—h upbraid us that we have not that Influence on the Lives Manners and Actions of our People which they have and that meerly for want of Discipline which indeed is true though we do not desire so much as they have For by woful Experience we find that they can as powerfully Influence them to ill Actions as good But at the same time they forget to tell us that they Joyn all their Forces and make all possible Interest that we may be Tied up from the Exercise of the most just and necessary Discipline and that purely in fear lest a Discipline as primitive as our Doctrine joyned together should get Ground so fast in the World that in time they might become Ashamed or grow weary of their Trade What is here wrote is only a Preparatory to my principal Design which was to shew That notwithstanding all the High and Specious Pretences of the Romanists when Matters are thoroughly Examined the only true Reason of their difference with us would be found to be Interest and that such an interest as to say no worse is very unbecoming the Professors of Christian Religion This alone was first in my thoughts and the rather because I observed that many had touched upon it in their Way but no Man so far as I know had ever yet made it his Business But upon second Thoughts though I did not depart from my first Design yet I thought fit to Enlaâ—ge it not only because some would think that alone would look more like a Libel then a just Plea but because I my self did think that to Common Apprehensions it would leave things in the dark and not be very profitable to any and perhaps to some hurtful For as some vain Mindes are Apt to take Occasion from our Dissentions to Burlesque all Religions so some Persons Addicted to the Reading of Controversies have Learned Skill enough to Condemn others but not to know themselves and they can tell you what they are not but not what they are Now a purely Negative Religion at best is next to no Religion if it be any at all Now though this be not the fault of those Authors who are bound to follow their Adversaries Steps but of those Men who will only Busie themselves in such Authors yet whâ—n my Method and Matter was wholly at my own Choice and in my own power I could not think my self excuseable if I should procced only in a destructive way And therefore in reference to the Parts which are to follow I did propound to my self to state the Case between us in each particular to set down positively what we do Hold or can Allow And then to Enquire into the Reasons of the Controversie both pretended and real for that Method I take to be best which leaves Men not at a Loss for Right whilest it sortifies them against the Wrong But my Comfort under my afflictions is this that my Share is inconsiderable in respect of my Great Master's or his true Follower St Paul who underwent the full Trial of all those things whereby he Teacheth us to Approve our Selves Ministers of God amongst which I think I have some peculiar Interest in these
much before others in a more certain Hope of his future Bliss as he is more true to his duty whilest those that cast off all care of this duty whatever they may have of the Name have nothing of the Sincerity of Christians and consequently are not to expect the Reward V. This Argument hath engaged me longer then I intended and therefore what others I shall take Notice of I shall little more then mention and certainly that Man who understands and values his Religion will be concerned for the Honour of it which is by nothing more blasted if not as to some wholly ruined then by Contentions and Divisions It is Reported of Socrates that he particularly gave God Thanks for three Things Viz. That He was a Man and not some other Creature That he was born in Greece the then most Civiliz'd Part of the World And that he had his Education in Athens the then most famous School of Philosophy in the World How much greater Cause have we with daily Thanks and Praises to Celebrate Gods Holy Name by whose Blessing we are Christians whereby we have not only an unerring Rule to walk by but also from the Revelations and Promises of the God of Truth â—nd by the Earnest and Pledge of his Sons Resurrection and Ascension are assured of that Immortality and those future Joys which that wise Heathen only blindly Grop'd after But can we think to perswade others of the truth of this by living unspeakably worse then they who could pretend to no such advantages Or if this be true then do not we by our Divisions raise a great Scandal and Prejudice against such glorious Truth We â—â—ast That Ours is the best Religion in the World Nay more and that truly That Ours is the only true Religion in the World for there is Salvation in no Other nor any other Name Given under Heaven whereby we must be faved but that of the blessed Jesus Acts 4. 12. And I can still remember That when I was a Youth I have heard plausible Harangues in Sermons and doleful Petitions in Prayers about them who sate in darkness and in the Regions of the Shadow of Death And doubtless as the Case of the one was Lamentable so the Zeal of the other was so far Commendable But when I Consider that those Men had destroyed the Mother that bore them and thought the Gospel was no further Advanced then their Schism was propagated I cannot but wonder with what Confidence a parcel of Seditious Rebellious Schismaticks could think themselves the only Fit Men to bear the Light to Conduct those that lay in darkness into the bright Sun-shine of the Gospel â—ut as I have heard little of their Endeavors so less of their Success neither ought any in reason to hope for much better who are studious to promote Divisions For suppose a discreet Heaâ—hen should come amongst us and observe how one Church Anathematizeth another how every Party pretends it self to be in the right and as peremptorily condemns all others to be in the wrong and what Multitudes of Divisions there are amongst us would not this be a strong temptation to Him to be of that Religion which they could not agree in themselves But when he should further see the open violence and unusual Mischiefs which the Divisions in all places produce he would surely Resolve with himself of all others to Fly that Religion for when all 's done let us say what we can Men will believe what we do Mens Words and Actions are often too far asunder But they generally Act what they really think and therefore most persons think it safer where they can to judge of Men by their Actions rather then their Sayings as being surer Indices of their Minds and having a closer Correspondence with their Hearts and Designes so that if they see Christians to be of a froward perverse Conversation they will judge no better of their Religion So great Reason we may see had the Apostle to give us in Charge to Walk in Wisdom towards them that are without Col. 4. 5. The Result of this Consideration briefly amounts to thus much That Divisions not only produce many foul Irregularities and inexcusable Enormities amongst our selves but also misrepresent and scandalize our Religion so as rather to affright others from it then allure them to it by which means the Practice of Christians is debauched the Propagation of the Gospel hindered the Truth as unjustly as highly dishonoured and the whole design of Christianity in a manner frustrated And if any Man be so in love with Schism as to think this a small Crime or so blind as not to see it I scarce know what I can do more for him except to pray to God to open his Eyes and turn his Heart VI. And yet there is still something further and very considerable to be offered in this Case for nothing is more directly binding then a Precept and nothing more strongly binding then a Precept from him who hath the whole Propriety in us and absolute Sovereignty over us So that if the God of all Power who hath Created us and his Son Jesus Christ to whom he hath Given all Power have expressly required this Unity then the indispenseableness of the duty on our part can be no longer a dispute nor can this be a doubt to any who have but lightly perused the Holy Scriptures for though it may be enough to any Considerate Person That the whole Current of Scripture bears against all Disorderliness Unruliness and Unquietness yet that our Mouths might be for ever stopped the thing it self is Commanded in as plain and express terms as can be desired Thus St. Paul 2 Cor. 13. 11. Be of one Mind live in Pence Thus St. Peter 1 Pet. 3. 8. Be ye all of one Mind And that we might know that this Unity must be as well in Practice as in Judgement we are Commanded as well to walk by the same Rule as to Mind the same thing Phil. 3. 16. And St. Paul takes not a little pains to explain the necessary duty of every Member of Christ in walking orderly in their several stations to this end That there should be no Schism in the Body 1 Cor. 12. 25 I could heap up many more Testimonies but I think it needless for any one ought to be enough to him who owns the Holy Scriptures to be stampt with the Authority of Heaven and to contain what is the Will of God that we should believe and do And if a Word a Nod a Beck from a Master shall command or direct a Servant at his pleasure can we think not only to neglect but to bid open Defiance to the Commands of the Almighty and be guiltless or ' scape Scot-free The Sin in violating any Command is always so much the greater by how much the greater is the Authority of the Person Commanding from whence we may learn how great a Sin is the Violation of that Christian Unity