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truth_n	age_n	church_n	true_a	1,952	5	4.9061	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A51154	An apology for the clergy of Scotland chiefly oppos'd to the censures, calumnies, and accusations of a late Presbyterian vindicator, in a letter to a friend : wherein his vanity, partiality and sophistry are modestly reproved, and the legal establishment of episcopacy in that kingdom, from the beginning of the Reformation, is made evident from history and the records of Parliament : together with a postscript, relating to a scandalous pamphlet intituled, An answer to The Scotch Presbyterian eloquence.	Monro, Alexander, d. 1715?	1693 (1693)	Wing M2437; ESTC R20155	87,009	107

hath been worshipped such Constitutions and Solemnities have been derived from the Apostles or Apostolick times When the World was enlightened by the knowledge of the Son of God he did not extinguish the light of Reason but he supposes it and reasons from it and strengthens it and there is nothing more strongly enclined towards God and the Communications of his Spirit than true and unbiassed Reason Therefore such Constitutions as the reason of all Mankind is agreed in have nothing in them contrary to the purity of our Religion If Anniversary days and Festivals have been profaned among the Pagans to the worship of Idols why may they not be sanctified by the true Object of Worship and the honour of Jesus Christ Publick Solemnities have nothing in their own nature that is reproveable no more than the motion of the Sun or the vicissitude of Seasons if any part of our time be abused to excess or riot or the worship of an Idol we are liable to the Justice of God But when we return from Idols to the true God when we change our excess into fasting and prayer and when the whole Scene is become pure what is there in all this that can be blamed Do not we see all Nations agree in this that publick Solemnities and anniversary Festivals and Fasts are necessary to the being and beauty of Religion even those Nations that are at the greatest distance from our Customs our Language our Laws and way of living upon the Conversion of Nations to the Christian Religion some of the places where they worshipped their Idols have been dedicated to the true God and was it not a happy Victory over the Kingdom of Darkness when the publick Solemnities of Idolatry times and places have changed their Objects their Exercises and their End It is true the great Anniversaries of the Jewish Religion were appointed immediately by divine Authority But had not they other Anniversaries not immediately appointed by God and do you read that ever the Prophets did reprove the Jews for such Anniversaries They did indeed reprove their negligence and indevotion in them but the thing it self was acknowledged reasonable and prudent and a very powerful instrument of true Religion when managed with Contrition true Simplicity and Piety Zach. Did ye at all fast unto me saith the Lord. The Fasts mentioned here are of humane appointment and yet anniversary Our Saviour was present at the Feast of the Dedication for which there was not any immediate Divine Institution and though he had not been present if it had been superstitious he had certainly reproved it and given directions against such usages in the general To shake off all the externals of Religion is as dangerous as the multiplying of them the one is the Error of the Romanists and the other the superstition of the Dissenters It is certain that nothing preserves Knowledge of Christian Religion amongst the Body of the People more than the Festivals of the Church for it is not left to the Arbitrary or Extemporary Fits of Devotion but the Church by her excellent Discipline orders the matter so that it is not possible to forget the Faith unto which we have been once Baptized but amongst the Presbyterians in Scotland the People are taught by their Leaders to despise all Forms such great souls ought not to be fettered to the Rules and Methods of the Universal Church and therefore it is very rare to find a Child in the West of Scotland that can repeat the Commandments or the Creed I mean the Children of Presbyterian Parents and by such Enthusiastick pretences Atheism is insensibly promoted and the Body of the People alienated from the simplicity of Christian Religion and scarcely will they allow any man to be acquainted with true Religion that mentions those first Principles of it It is not possible to tell how much their opposition to Forms and Festivals of the Church has infatuated their People there is nothing can make a Clown in the West of Scotland laugh so heartily as when the Curate recommends to their Children the Creed the Lords Prayer and Ten Commandments and therefore they have no opinion of any Mans understanding unless he entertain them with Discourses of Gods unsearchable decrees of Justification before Conversion and how the Convictions of natural Conscience may be distnguished from the Convictions that proceed from the Spirt of God to observe the Festivals of the Church is but a piece of antiquated Superstition But we ought to remember that the stated Festivals and Fasts of the Church do preserve and increase true Devotion and Mortification Fasting is acknowledged a necessary Instrument of Religion by all Nations who profess any Religion at all It is not enjoyned but suposed by our Saviour why may not then the Church regulate and direct the Publick Solemnities of Fasting as well as of Prayer There is nothing so proper to fix our attention as Fasting it delivers the Soul from the oppressions of the Body and restores it to its true and native Sovereignty over our Lusts and Passions The stated Periods of Fasting oblige the most stubborn and impenitent to think of his Soul and the visible Practice of the Church Preach Repentance more effectually and make more lasting Impressions than the loose and indefinite Homilies of self-conceited men The External Solemnities of Religion may be abused as the most excellent things are when they are left to the Conduct of humane weakness but it is not possible to preserve Religion among the Body of Mankind without those Vehicles of Form and Order Nothing hinders the Reformation of the Grecian Churches from the variety of their Errors and Superstitions so much as the open neglect of Fasting among the Protestants and this Practice is not to be defended but rather lamented and amended What a Cruelty is it in all the Sectaries to deprive the People of the Publick helps of Prayer and Fasting Who can justifie this that considers the many Incumbrances Tentations Weaknesses that we daily encounter They that set up Methods of their own in opposition to the Wisdom of the Church in all Ages may amuse the People for a while but can produce nothing that is solid or useful It is certain that the Grecian Churches had long ere now made an utter Apostacy from the Christian Religion if the ancient and fix'd Discipline of the Church did not retain them in the Faith and when we consider how much the Religion that we are Baptized into triumphs over Sensualities and Concupiscence we cannot but acknowledge the Wisdom and Beauty of the ancient Discipline The most useful things in Art or Nature may be sadly abused by Folly or Ignorance We are not to separate from the Roman Church further than they have separated from the Wise and Primitive Constitution of the first Ages of Christianity and all the Protestants abroad seem to agree in this Truth for they Preach and Pray Publickly upon the great Fasts and

into a higher ferment they are Successors of Judas Iscariot and Rabshakes No doubt the Sisters will think that the Vindicator is a precious convincing man he tramples upon the Episcopal Clergy as if they were below his notice there is no grapling with a Giant of so much strength and reason We must be taught better manners than to venture upon this man of Oak and Forehead poor Creatures Have not we been taught better than to make publick the Secrets of the Faction if this man write once again he will ruin us for ever Is not the World well mended by this Reformation But I had rather prove the Vindicator a Lyar than call him so and therefore you may ask him who gave him information that my Lord Dundee had gathered together at Edenburgh two thousand men of the Kings disbanded Forces that with them he might surprize the Convention when all the Nation knows that when he retir'd from Edenburgh he had not above thirty or forty to attend his Person Who saw the two thousand And how comes the Vindicator to six upon that precise number twice Where were they Mustered And is it likely that my Lord Dundee at the Head of two thousand well trained old Soldiers could be forced to retire from Edenburgh by all the Vagabond Russians that came from the West Let the Vindicator recollect himself a little and enquire where he had this information What my Lord Dundee intended is not the Subject of our present enquiry but I am very sure that if he had had the fourth part of that number the Vindicator alledges he could have quickly made the Convention at that time retire and this I confidently think though the Vindicator Confutes this probability by telling Mr. Morer that the Presbyterian Confidence is built on a better foundation than such as Dundee was and here I must take notice of this Gentlemans Charitable Temper and Condescention Mr. Morer one of the Prebendaries of Sarum wrote that none doubted but that if my Lord Dundee had lived he would have changed at that time the Face of Affairs in Scotland From this the Vindicator concludes that the Episcopal Party in Scotland placed their Confidence in none higher than my Lord Dundee how is it possible to shun those venomous darts of spite and ill nature So when ever you speak to a Presbyterian I advise you to take good heed what you say and how if you do not say every thing that may be said they are sure to conclude that what was left unsaid was not at all believed by you so when Mr. Morer writes again he must tell his Patron that though such a change was probable according to the situation of Affairs at that time yet the Episcopal Party placed their Confidence in God For if his words are not thus guarded the Presbyterians will immediately conclude that the Episcopal Party are but a pack of Atheists that place no Confidence in God but lean on the Arm of Flesh I return from this Digression to that that I lately mention'd viz. The Vindicators story of two thousand disbanded Soldiers which carries with it all the marks by which a willful and deliberate lye may be known from modest and ingenuous Truth and the reason why I instance in this particular is because the Vindicator was at Edenburgh or not far from it about that time and therefore it is not probable but that he might have known the truth and from this I conclude that either he lies deliberately and willfully or his Informers are Lyars and idle talkers or at best he himself is guilty of supine negligence in gathering true Informations For to do him Justice I promise to retract this publickly if he get five or six men of any note even amongst the Presbyterians in Edenburgh who will declare it under their hands that they knew that my Lord Dundee had gathered together two thousand Disbanded Soldiers at Edenburgh before he retired from the Convention And the Vindicator himself cannot deny but that this is an extraordinary piece of Condescension that I should leave it to be decided by the Testimony of Presbyterians themselves since he rejects all Episcopal Witnesses The next thing I instance as to his Candour and Integrity is this that in the third page of his Preface he writes that there was Advice writen by Dr. Canaries to Mr. Lisk to be communicated to the Episcopal Party That they should yield feigned Obedience to the Presbyterians at present and these words he caused to be Printed in a different Character that every one might conclude they were the words of Dr. Canaries Letter whereas the Doctor never wrote such a thing nor any thing that can yield any such Consequence And 't is yet more pleasant to read his Letter that justifies this disingenuous usage because forsooth feigned Obedience was a Scriptural Phrase and though the Doctor wrote no such thing yet he thinks he was allowed to Print this Relation of him so as all the World might conclude these words were the express words of Dr. Canarie's Letter and this Lie is more unpardonable than the former because it is deliberate and unrepented off I shall mention one Instance more of his Candour and Integrity and it relates to Mr. Macmath whom he injures most atrociously And because he raises all his Batteries against Mr. Macmath the Minister of Leswade we need no other proof of the Vindicators ingenuity nor no other Character of his genius than to read that part of his Libel that relates to Mr. Macmath First he charges him with Drunkenness but the Vindicator knew no such thing only the barbarous Villains who wounded him upon the Road as he was Travelling from Edenburgh to his own House they would take care to transmit to the Vindicator such stories as were most convenient for him to propagate but Mr. Macmath was that very night before he came from Edenburgh in the company of two Gentlemen of Honor and Integrity and appeals to them whether they could perceive in him either the first beginnings or the least appearance of any excess or disorder and their Testimony is of greater authority than all the stories that the Vindicacor can patch together from such Villains as made an attempt upon his life Next he charges him with amorous wanton and lascivious behaviour and I am glad the Vindicator mentions it because in this very story we have a notorious instance of their Villany and Hypocrisie there was a poor woman hired by the Presbyterians to say that Mr. Macmath once made Love to her and she was prevailed with by her Brother a Presbyterian to say so and when she was encouraged by them again to adhere to what she said she declined it and told them that she had said enough for any thing she had gotten Her Brother who had taught her thus to accuse an innocent man was smitten with such a remorse when he came to consider more narrowly what he had done

Festivals of the Church The publick Seasons of Devotion are the Catechism of the People It is true when there is no day fixt for the Uniform Celebration of such a Mystery it may be remembred by some but it is not credible that all the People will remember it but when the day is fixt we cannot forget it and from our Infancy we are easily trained in the Nurture and Admonition of the Lord and in the simplicity of Christian Religion free from Jewish Superstition touch not taste not handle not with which all our Sectaries are unhappily Leavened as well as from giddiness and Enthusiasm The next thing that I mention is his Accusation against the Episcopal Church that they were guilty of Schism For He tells us that he knows no Schism but such as was caused by his Opposites and this is pleasant enough There is a Company of men lately started up in the Christian Church and if the Universal Church does not immediatly strike Sail to their Novelties all must be concluded Schismaticks By our Baptismal Vowes we are obliged to preserve the Unity of the Catholick Church we are Members of that visible Body that worship the true God through Jesus Christ and consequently we are obliged to worship God in Unity and in Society nor can we separate from any sound part of the Catholick Church that does not require unlawful Conditions of Communion and such as are forbidden by that God whom we Worship Upon this Hypothesis I think it impossible for the Presbyterians of Scotland to defend themselves against the Charge of Schism in its most rigorous and formal Notion First Because they separate from all Churches Ancient and Modern there is not now a Church upon Earth with whom they think they may Communicate without fear of being polluted The Protestants of France observe the Festivals of the Church as also the Protestants of Geneve and Swisserland and the Calvinists in Germany do the same As for the Lutherans of Germany Denmark and Sweedland we dare not so much as once name them they have all of them Liturgies and Festivals and Organs and Divine Hymns distinct from the Psalms of David As for the Socinians of Poland though they agree in some things with them yet they would no doubt refuse their Communion They must refuse upon their Principles the Communion of the Grecian Church and all the Subdivisions of it and they cannot joyn with the Papists nor yet with the Church of England And their Consciences could not endure to Communicate with the Episcopal Church of Scotland that was against their Covenants and their Obligations as if a man could disingage himself from what he is obliged to by the Common Ties of Christianity and the Vows of Baptism by any Bond or posterior Obligation of his own But if there be no visible Church with which they can Communicate they are certainly cut off from the visible Communion of Saints over the Habitable World and this Pharisaical singularity is so much the more hateful that it is abhorred by all Protestant Churches and if the Vindicator will Read Durellus only he will easily see how opposite this peevishness is to the Sentiments and Practice of all Reformed Churches It is acknowledged by all sober men that to joyn with or abet Schismaticks makes one guilty of Schism and therefore the Presbyterians can by no means require the Members of the Episcopal Church to joyn with them who have wilfully and furiously cut themselves off from the whole Body of Christians but there is lately found out a wise Distinction to save them from this blow they can have occasional Communion with other Churches tho they cannot have a sixt Communion with them Before I consider this Distinction let me inform you that the Ringleaders of the former Presbyterians in Scotland never made use of any such Distinction they themselves reasoned against Separation upon such frivolous pretences as are now alledged by their Successors but the Presbyterians have borrowed this Distinction from English Dissenters And the former Presbyterians did never separate from the Publick Worship under the Episcopal Constitution nor did the latter Presbyterians after the Restoration dream of it until the year 1664. that some of the Western Bigots as had fled to Holland thought that the Faction could not be supported unless People were taught that they were obliged to leave the Communion of the Episcopal Church intirely And accordingly in Ann. 1664. there appeared a Seditious Pamphlet in Octavo Entituled The Apologetical Relation of the Church of Scotland And it is impossible for any Presbyterian to name any one Book or Treatise before this Pamphlet that justified the Separation of Presbyterians from the Publick Reformed Worship under the Episcopal Constitution in the Church of Scotland It is a long time since I Read this Book and therefore I cannot give a particular account of it though I remember that the Author when he comes to that Conclusion that the People were not to hear the Curates he speaks with diffidence and hesitation and in some one place or other of that Dispute he softens this wild and extravagant Paradox by some restrictions and limitations That they were not to hear them always nor constantly but that they ought so far to separate as to keep the Party from being swallowed up in the Communion of the Church Accordingly their first Essays of Schism were but faint and timorous they were not in the beginning so well armed against the Remorse of their own Consciences for this was a Novelty and they did not venture upon it with that boldness and assurance that afterward appear'd to that degree that our Governors were forced to make severe Laws against their Field Meetings which were justly termed by our Law the Rendezvouze of Rebellion And though the Bigots in the West had advanced this Paradox yet the Presbyterians of greatest Note and Learning took no notice of it but kept the Communion of the Church after the Restoration of Episcopacy as punctually as any Church-malt And it is very observable that all the Presbyterian Ministers in Scotland made use of the Christian Forms of the Lords Prayer Creed and Doxology until Olivers Army invaded Scotland and the Independent Chaplains in that Army thought their own Dispensation was above that of Geneva Upon this such of the Presbyterians as would recommend themselves to the Usurper and such as had his Ear forbore those Forms in the Publick Worship and by degrees they fell into desitetude for it was not Creditable to be out of the Fashion and yet they have the Confidence to justifie their Separation from the Episcopal Church partly because such such Christian Forms are retained in the Publick Worship And though they dispute against the use of Forms yet they pronounce the Apostolick Benediction after Sermon as others do except some few who love rather to Paraphrase it than keep to its Original simplicity The unhappy temper of Schismaticks

the rather because we fortifie our Exhortations with the same motives that the Apostles used and with which the Pagan Philosophers could not be acquainted Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purifie unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good Works It is very true that the Pagan Philosophers Preached against Lust and Sensualities and Uncleanness but could they recommend Chastity by such powerful and invincible motives as you meet with 1 Cor. 6. 19 20. What know you not that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you which ye have of God and ye are not your own for ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your body and your spirit which are Gods And without all doubt S. Paul recommended to the Philippians the true use of the Moral Philosophers when he exhorts Phil. 4. 8. Finally Brethren whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things lovely whatsoever things are of good report if there be any vertue and if there be any praise think on these things Compare this with the place on the Margin and hundreds of such places and from them I conclude that to Preach what the Moral Philosophers commended though we must Preach many things that they could not see and to strengthen them by Christian Motives is a thing very becoming the Ministers of the Gospel because it is indispensably necessary and agreeable to the Practice of our Saviour and his Apostles But the Vindicator tells us Pag. 62. That this is the dialect of men strongly enclin'd to Socinianism I let go this mark of his spite and ill nature for we have no Socinians amongst the Episcopal Clergy of Scotland And if he understands the Socinians they are not so very zealous for Celebrating the Festival of Christs Nativity and Incarnation nor yet are they great Enemies to Presbyterian Government nor can they be thought zealous for any particular Platform were it never so agreeable to the Canons of the Ancient Church any further than their interest is involv'd He tells us a little after that the preaching of some men is such morality as Seneca and other Heathens taught only Christianised with some words so the Vindicator thinks that the morality they recommended to their Hearers was neither higher nor purer than the Doctrines of Seneca and other Stoicks But it may be that they have read Seneca with as much attention as he did and can give as good an account of the Defects of the Stoical Philosophy and wherein it fell short of the Christian Standard One may easily guess whom he means and intends to hit by this waspish accusation But to pursue him thorow all his hiding places and little Subterfuges is as useless as it is wearisom The reason why I kept you so long on this Head was to discover the Genius of the people we have to do with He tells us this Philosophy was never much preached by the Presbyterians but the Philosophy that I have describ'd was preach'd by S. Paul and consequently not opposito unto the Doctrine of Christ crucified as he fancies but rather subservient unto it and a great confirmation of the truth and divinity of it It is very true that the Princes of Philosophers understood not the Revelations of the Gospel but the true exercise of Reason is very consistent with Revelation and S. Paul's discourse to the Athenian proves him a learned and solid Philosopher And tho the Apostles were mean and illiterate men yet God did strengthen their Reason beyond the most accurate Philosophers And when he sent them forth to preach the Gospel they became in the strictest sense greater Philosophers than their Enomies And tho the Christian Religion in its beginnings appeared weak and foolish yet when it was narrowly enquired into it was found to be the wisdom of God and the power of God for the Apostles offer'd the best Reasons to convince both Jew and Gentile that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messins and consequently that there was no other name under heaven known by which men might be saved but the name of JESUS They proved their Mission and their Doctrine by their Miracles and this was an Argument divine and a refragable in its nature as it was obvious and plain to the meanest Capacity and therefore the Author to the Hebrews concludes that the damnation of Infidels is the most just and reasonable thing because infidelity it self is most inexcusable since God did bear witness to the Gospel by signs and wonders and divers miracles and gifts of the holy Ghost True Philosophy and Religion support one another None can be truly religious but he that exercises his Reason and he that exercises his reason must of necessity be religious For the whole of our Religion is a reasonable service God treats us as reasonable Creatures he makes himself Master of our Will by methods sutable to his wisdom and our nature when the light of the Gospel enters the Soul and warms it by its direct beams and perpendicular rays she then chuses what is best with all her force and delight It is certain that if the Moral Philosophers could lay aside their pride and the interest of a Faction they might be sooner gained to Christianity than others they could not but see the beauty and reasonableness of such excellent Morals as were recommended in the Gospel and were far above the lame and defective systems of the Pagan Schools There are no excellent Precepts amongst the Pagans but what are contained in the New Testament and if we recommend Christian vertue by Christian motives I think the whole undertaking is very commendable Why the Vindicator should thus waspishly Comment on an innocent Sentence or two of that Author I cannot tell but he may remember that when we were Boys we were taught that Philosophy in its utmost extent and latitudo was the knowledge of divine and human things And then Christian Philosophy is good Christian Divinity vicê versâ but the Vindicator is afraid lest any one may think him a stranger to Philosophy and therefore tells us that it may be that they understand that as well as their Neighbours And no doubt this Paragraph of his that I have examined is a sufficient Evidence of his Philosophical skill and knowledge Such another Specimen of his Candour and Ingenuity we meet with pag. 66. where he again insinuates that the Clergy are Socinians c. The Author of the second Letter had justly observed that the Clergy could not be erroneous because they could sign the 39 Articles of the Church of England But the Vindicator replies So can many do who every day preach against the Doctrine contained in these Articles And at this rate he may disprove all