Testament answered 84 Concerning the various Readings 85 The nature and degrees of Inspiration 86 Concerning the Historical parts of Scripture 87 Concerning the Reasonings in Scripture 88 Of the Apocryphal Books 89 ARTICLE VII 91 NO difference between the Old and New Testament Ibid. Proofs in the Old Testament of the Messias 92 In the Prophets chiefly in Daniel 94 The Proofs all summed up 95 Objections of the Jews answered 96 The hopes of anotheâ— Life in the Old Testament 97 Our Saviour proved the Resurrection from the words to Moses 98 Expiation of Sin in the Old Dispensation 99 Sins then expiated by the Blood of Christ Ibid. Of the Rites and Ceremonies among the Jews 100 Of their Iudiciary Laws 101 Of the Moral Law Ibid. The Principles of Morality 102 Of Idolatry 103 Concerning the Sabbath Ibid. Of the Second Table 104 Of not coveting what is our Neighbours 105 ARTICLE VIII 106 COncerning the Creed of Athanasius Ibid. And the condemning Clauses in it Ibid. Of the Apostles Creed 107 ARTICLE IX 108 DIfferent Opinions concerning Original Sin Ibid. All men liable to Death by it 109 A Corruption spread through the whole Race of Adam Ibid. Of the state of Innocence 110 Of the effects of Adam's Fall 111 God's Iustice vindicated 112 Of the Imputation of Adam's Sin 113 St. Austin's Doctrine in this Point 114 This is opposed by many others Ibid. Both sides pretend their Doctrines agree with the Article 116 ARTICLE X. 117 THE true Notion of Liberty Ibid. The Feebleness of our present state 118 Inward Assistances promised in the New Covenant 119 The effect that these have on men 120 Concerning Preventing-Grace Ibid. Of its being efficacious or universal 121 ARTICLE XI 122 COncerning Iustification Ibid. Concerning Faith 123 The differences between the Church of England and the Church of Rome in this Point 124 The conditions upon which men are justified 126 The use to be made of this Doctrine 127 ARTICLE XII 128 THE necessity of Holiness Ibid. Concerning Merit 129 Of the defects of Good Works Ibid. ARTICLE XIII 131 ACTIONS in themselves good yet may be sins in him who does them Ibid. Of the Seventh Chapter to the Romans 132 This is not a total Incapacity Ibid. ARTICLE XIV 133 Oâ— the great extent of our Duty Ibid. No Counsels of Perfection 134 Many Duties which do not bind at all times Ibid. It is not possible for man to supererogate 135 Objections against this answered 136 The steps by which that Doctrine prevailed 137 ARTICLE XV. 138 CHrist's spotless Holiness Ibid. Of the Imperfections of the best men 139 ARTICLE XVI 140 COncerning Mortal and Venial Sin Ibid. Of the Sin against the Holy Ghost Ibid. Of the Pardon of Sin after Baptism 141 That as God forgives the Church ought also to forgive 142 Concerning Apostacy and sin unto Death 143 ARTICLE XVII 145 THE state of the Question 146 The Doctrine of the Supralapsarians and Sublapsarians Ibid. The Doctrine of the Remonstrants and the Socinians 147 This is a Controversy that arises out of Natural Religion Ibid. The History of this Controversy both in ancient and modern times 148 The Arguments of the Supralapsarians 152 The Arguments of the Sublapsarians 158 The Arguments of the Remonstrants 159 They affirm a certain Prescience 161 The Socinians Plea 164 General Reflections on the whole matter 165 The advantages and disadvantages of both sides and the faults of both 166 In what both do agree 167 The sense of the Article 168 The Cautions added to it Ibid. Passages in the Liturgy explained 169 ARTICLE XVIII 171 PHilosophers thought men might be saved in all Religions Ibid. So do the Mahometans Ibid. None are saved but by Christ 172 Whether some may not be saved by him who never heard of him Ibid. None are in Covenant with God but through the knowledge of Christ 173 But for others we cannot judge of the extent of the Mercies of God Ibid. Curiosity is to be restrained 174 ARTICLE XIX 175 WE ought not to believe that any are Infallible without good Authority Ibid. Iust prejudices against some who pretend to it 176 No Miracles brought to prove this Ibid. Proofs brought from Scripture 177 Things to be supposed previous to these Ibid. A Circle is not to be admitted Ibid. The Notes given of the true Church 178 These are examined Ibid. And whether they do agree to the Church of Rome 179 The Truth of Doctrine must be first settled Ibid. A Society that has a true Baptism is a true Church 180 Sacraments are not annulled by every Corruption Ibid. We own the Baptism and Orders given in the Church of Rome 181 And yet justify our separating from them Ibid. Objections against private judging 182 Our Reasons are given us for that end Ibid. Our Minds are free as our Wills are 183 The Church is still Visible but not Infallible Ibid. Of the Popes Infallibility 184 That was not pretended to in the first Ages Ibid. The Dignity of Sees rose from the Cities 185 Popes have fallen into Heresy Ibid. Their Ambition and Forgeries Ibid. Their Cruelty 186 The Power of deposing Princes claimed by them as given them by God Ibid. This was not a Corruption only of Discipline but of Doctrine 187 Arguments for the Popes Infallibility 188 No Foundation for it in the New Testament Ibid. St. Peter never clâ—imed it 189 Christ's words to him explained Ibid. Of the Kâ—ys of the Kingdâ—m of Hâ—â—vâ—n 190 Of binding and loosing Ibid. ARTICLE XX. 192 OF Church Power in Rituals Ibid. The Practice of the Jewish Church 193 Changes in these sometimes necâ—ssary Ibid. The Practice of the Ap stles 194 Sâ—bjâ—cts must obey in lawful things Ibid. But Superiâ—rs must not impose too much 195 The Church has Authority though not Infallible Ibid. Great Respâ—ct due to her Decisions 196 But no absâ—lute Submâ—ssion Ibid. The Church is the Depâ—sitary of the Scriptures 197 The Church of Rome run in a Circle Ibid. ARTICLE XXI 199 COuncils cannot be called but by the Consent of Princes Ibid. Tâ—e first were called by the Roman Emperors Ibid. Afterwards the Popes called them 200 Then some Councils thought on methods to fix their meeting Ibid. What makâ—s a Council to be General Ibid. What numbers are necessary 201 Hâ—w thâ—y must he cited Ibid. Nâ— Rules given in Scripture concerning their Constitution Ibid. Nazianzen's Complaints of Councils 202 Councils have been câ—ntrary to one another Ibid. Disâ—rders and Intriguâ—s in Councils Ibid. They judgâ— not by Inspiration Ibid. The Churches may examine their proceedings and judge of them 203 Concerning the Popes Bull confirming them Ibid. Thâ—y have an Authority but not absolute Ibid. Nâ—r do they need the Popes Bulls 204 The several Churches know their Traditions best Ibid. The Fathers do argue for the truth of the decisions but not from their authority Ibid. No prospect of another General Council 205 Popes are jealous of them Ibid. And the World expects little from them Ibid. Concerning the words
all impure Desires being enjoined as indispensably necessary for without holiness no man can see the Lord. And thus every thing relating to this Article is considered and I hope both explained and proved ARTICLE VIII Of the Three Creeds The Three Creeds Nice Creed Athanasius Creed and that which is commonly called the Apostles Creed ought throughly to be received and believed for they may be proved by most certain Warrants of Holy Scripture ALthough no doubt seems to be here made of the Names or Designations given to those Creeds except of that which is ascribed to the Apostles yet none of them are named with any exactness Since the Article of the Procession of the Holy Ghost and all that follows it is not in the Nicene Creed but was used in the Church as a part of it for so it is in Epiphanius In Anchoreto before the Second General Council at Constantinople and it was confirmed and established in that Council Only the Article of the Holy Ghost's proceeding from the Son was afterwards added first in Spain Anno 447. which spread it self over all the West So that the Creed here called the Nice Creed is indeed the Constantinopolitan Creed together with the Addition of Filioque made by the Western Church That which is called Athanasius's Creed is not his neither â—or as it is not among his Works so that great Article of the Christian Religion having been settled at Nice and he and all the rest of the Orthodox referring themselves always to the Creed made by that Council there is no reason to imagine that he would have made a Creed of his own besides that not only the Macedonian but both the Nestorian and the Eutychian Heresies are expresly condemned by this Creed and yet those Authorities never being urged in those Disputes it is clear from thence that no such Creed was then known in the World as indeed it was never heard of before the Eighth Century and then it was given out as the Creed of Athanasius or as a Representation of his Doctrine and so it grew to be received by the Western Church perhaps the more early because it went under so great a Name in Ages that were not Critical enough to judge of what was genuine and what was spurious There is one great difficulty that arises out of several Expressions in this Câ—â—ed in which it is said That whosover will be saved must believe it That the Belief of it is necessary to Salvation and that such as do not hold it pure and undefiled shall without doubt perish everlastingly Where many Explanations of a Mystery hard to be understood are made indispensably necessary to Salvation and it is affirmed That all such as do not so believe must perish everlastingly To this two Answers are made 1. That it is only the Christian Faith in general that is hereby meant and not every Period and Article of this Creed so that all those severe Expressions are thought to import only the necessity of believing the Christian Religion But this seems forced for the words that follow And the Catholick Faith is do so plainly determine the sâ—gnification of that word to the Explanation that comes after that the word Catholick Faith in the first Verse can be no other than the same word as it is defined in the third and following Verses so that this Answer seems not natural 2. The common Answer in which the most Eminent Men of this Church as far as the Memory of all such as I have known could go up have agreed is this That these Condemnatory Expressions are only to be understood to relate to those who having the Means of Instruction offered to them have rejected them and have stifled their own Convictions holding the Truth in Unrighteousness and chusing darkness rather than light Upon such as do thus reject this great Article of the Christian Doctrine concerning One God and Three Persons Father Son and Holy Ghost and that other concerning the Incarnation of Christ by which God and Man were so united as to make one Person together with the other Doctrines that follow these are those Anathâ—maes denounced Not so as if it were hereby meant that every man who does not believe this in every tittle must certainly perish unless he has been furnished with sufficient means of conviction and that he has rejected them and hardned himself against them The Wrath of God is revealed against all sin and the wages of sin is Death So that every Sinner has the Wrath of God abiding on him and is in a state of Damnation yet a sincere Repentance delivers him out of it even though he lives and dies in some sins of Ignorance which though they may make him liable to damnation so that nothing but true Repentance can deliver him from it yet a general Repentance when it is also special for all known sins does certainly deliver a man from the guilt of unknown sins and from the Wrath of God due to them God only knows our hearts the degrees of our knowledge and the measure of our obstinacy and how far our Ignorance is affected or invincible and therefore he will deal with every man according to what he has received So that we may believe that some Doctrines are necessary to Salvation as well as that there are some Commandments necessary for Practice and we may also believe that some Errors as well as some Sins are exclusive of Salvation all which imports no more than that we believe such things are sufficiently revealed and that they are necessary Conditions of Salvation but by this we do not limit the Mercies of God towards those who are under such darkness as not to be able to see through it and to discern and acknowledge these Truths It were indeed to be wished that some express Declaration to this purpose were made by those who have Authority to do it But in the mean while this being the Sense in which the Words of this Creed are universally taken and it agreeing with the Phraseology of the Scripture upon the like occasions this is that which may be rested upon And allowing this large Explanation of these severe words the rest of this Creed imports no more than the Belief of the Doctrine of the Trinity which has been already proved in treating of the former Articles As for the Creed called the Apostles Creed there is good reason for speaking so doubtfully of it as the Article does since it does not appear that any determinate Creed was made by them None of the first Writers agree in delivering their Faith in a certain Form of Words every one of them gives an Abstract of his Faith in Words that differ both from one another and from this Form From thence it is clear that there was no common Form delivered to all the Churches And if there had been any Tradition after the Times of the Council of Nice of such a Creed composed by the Apostles the Arians
If God has clearly revealed it we must acquiesce in it because we are sure if he has lodged Infallibility any where he will certainly maintain his own Work and not require us to believe any one implicitly and not the same time preserve us from the danger of being deceived by him But we must not persume from our Notions of things to give Rules to God It were as we may think very necessary that Miracles should be publickly done from time to time for convincing every Age and Succession of Men and that good Men should be so assisted as generally to live without Sin These and several other things may seem to us extreme convenient and even necessary but things are not so ordered for all that It is also certain That if God has lodged such an Infallibility on Earth it ought not to be in such hands as do naturally heighten our Prejudices against it It will go against the grain to believe it though all outward appearances lookt ever so fair for it But it will be an unconceivable method of Providence if God should lodge so wonderful an Authority in hands that look so very unlike it that of all others we should the least expect to find it with them If they have been guilty of Notorious Impostures to support their own Authority if they have committed great Violences to extend it and have been for some Ages together engaged in as many false unjust and cruel Practices as are perhaps to be met with in any History These are such prejudices that at least they must be overcome by very clear and unquestionable Proofs And finally if God has setled such a Power in his Church we must be distinctly directed to those in whose hands it is put so that we may fall into no mistake in so important a Matter This will be the more necessary if there are different pretenders to it We cannot be supposed to be bound to believe an Infallibility in general unless we have an equal Evidence directing us to those with whom it rests and who have the dispensing of it These general Considerations are of great weight in Deciding this Question and will carry us far into some Preliminaries which will appear to be indeed great steps towards the conclusion of the matter There are Three ways by which it may be pretended that Infallibility can be proved The one is the way of Moses and the Prophets of Christ and his Apostles who by clear and unquestionable Miracles publickly done and well attested or by express and circumstantiated Prophecies of things to come that came afterwards to be verified did evidently demonstrate that they were sent of God Wheresoever we see such Characters and that a Miracle is wrought by Men who say they are sent of God which cannot be denied nor avoided and if what such Persons deliver to us is neither contrary to our Ideas of God and of Morality nor to any thing already revealed by God there we must conclude that God has lodged an Infallible Authority with them as long and as far as that Character is stampt upon it That is not pretended here For though they study to persuade the World that Miracles are still among them yet they do not so much as say that the Miracles are wrought by those with whom this Infallibility is lodged and that they are done to prove them to be Infallible For though God should bestow the Gift of Miracles upon some particular Persons among them that is no more an Argument that their Church is Infallible than the Miracles that Elijah or Elisha wrought were Arguments to prove that the Iewish Church was Infallible Indeed the Publick Miracles that belong'd to the whole Body such as the Cloud of Glory the Answers by the Vrim and Thummim the Trial of Jealousy and the constant Plenty of the Sixth Year as preparatory to the Sabbatical Year seem more reasonably to infer an Infallibility because these were given to that whole Church and Nation But yet the Iewish Church was far from being Infallible all that while for we see they fell all in a Body into Idolatry upon several occasions Those Publick Miracles proved nothing but that for which they were given which was That Moses was sent of God and that his Law was from God which they saw was still Attested in a continuance of extraordinary Characters If Infallibility had been promised by that Law then the continuance of the Miracles might have been urged to prove the Continuance of the Infallibility but that not being promised the Miracles were only a standing Proof of the Authority of their Law and of God's being still among them And thus though we should not dispute the Truth of the many Legends that some are daily bringing forth which yet we may well do since they are believed to be true by few among themselves they being considered among the greater part of the knowing Men of that Church as Arts to entertain the Credulity and Devotion of the People and to work upon their fears and hopes but chiefly upon their Purses All these I say when confessed will not serve to prove that there is an Infallibility among them unless they can prove that these Miracles are wrought to prove this Infallibility The second sort of Proofs that they may bring is from some Passages in Scripture that seem to import that it was given by Christ to the Church But though in this dispute all these Passages ought to be well considered and sanswered yet they ought not to be urged to prove this Infallibility till everal other things are first proved such as That the Scriptures are the Word of God That the Book of the Scriptures is brought down pure and uncorrupted to our hands and that we are able to understand the meaning of it For before we can argue from the parts of any Book as being of Divine Authority all these things must be previously certain and be well made out to us so that we must be well assured of all those Particulars before we may go about to Prove any thing by any Passages drawn out of the Scriptures Further these Passages suppose that those to whom this Infallibility belongs are a Church We must then know what a Church is and what makes a Body of Men to be a Church before we can be sure that they are that Society to whom this Infallibility is given And since there may be as we know that in fact there are great differences among several of those Bodies of Men called Churches and that they condemn one another as guilty of Error Schism and Heresy we are sure that all these cannot be Infallible for Contradictions cannot be true So then we must know which of them is that Society where this Infallibility is to be found And if in any one Society there should be different Opinions about the Seat of this Infallibility these cannot be all true though it is very possible that they may be all false
other Church has them equally with her or beyond her If all these must be discussed before we can settle this Question Which is the true Infallible Church A Man must stay long e're he can come to a point in it Therefore there can be no other way taken here but to examine first What makes a particular Church And then since the Catholick Church is an united Body of all particular Churches when the true Notion of a particular Church is fixed it will be easy from that to form a Notion of the Catholick Church It would seem reasonable by the Method of all Creeds in particular of that called the Apostles Creed that we ought first to settle our Faith as to the great Points of the Christian Religion and from thence go to settle the Notion of a true Church And that we ought not to begin with the Notion of a Church and from thence go to the Doctrine The Doctrine of Christianity must be first stated and from this we are to take our measures of all Churches and that chiefly with respect to that Doctrine which every Christian is bound to believe Here a distinction is to be made between those Capital and Fundamental Articles without which a Man cannot be esteemed a true Christian nor a Church a true Church And other Truths which being delivered in Scripture all Men are indeed obliged to believe them yet they are not of that nature that the Ignorance of them or an Error in them can exclude from Salvation To make this sensible It is a Proposition of another sort That Christ died for Sinners than this That he died at the Third or at the Sixth Hour And yet if the Second Proposition is expresly revealed in Scripture we are bound to believe it Since God has said it though it is not of the same nature with the other Here a Controversie does naturally arise that wise People are unwilling to meddle with What Articles are Fundamental and what are not The defining of Fundamental Articles seems on the one hand to deny Salvation to such as do not receive them all which Men are not willing to do And on the other hand it may seem a leaving Men at liberty as to all other particulars that are not reckoned up among the Fundamentals But after all the Covenant of Grace the Terms of Salvation and the Grounds on which we expect it seem to be things of another nature than all other truths which though revealed are not of themselves the Means or Conditions of Salvation Wheresoever true Baptism is there it seems the Essentials of this Covenant are preserved For if we look on Baptism as a Foederal admission into Christianity there can be no Baptism where the Essence of Christianity is not preserved As far then as we believe that any Society has preserved that so far we are bound to receive her Baptism and no further For unless we consider Baptism as a sort of a Charm that such words joined with a washing with Water make one a Christian which seems to be expresly contrary to what St. Peter says of it 1 Pet. â— 21 That it is not the washing away the filth of the flesh but the answer of a good Conscience towards God that saves us We must conclude That Baptism is a Foederal thing in which after that the Sponsions are made the Seal of Regeneration is added From hence it will follow That all who have a true Baptism that makes Men Believers and Christians must also have the true Faith as to the Essentials of Christianity The Fundamentals of Christirnity seems to be all that is necessary to make Baptism True and Valid And upon this a distinction is to be made that will discover and destroy a Sophism that is often used on this occasion A True Church is in one sense a Society that preserves the Essentials and Fundamentals of Christianity In another sense it stands for a Society all whose Doctrines are true that has corrupted no part of this Religion nor mixed any Errors with it A true Man is one who has a Soul and a Body that are the Essential Constituents of a Man Whereas in another sense a Man of Sincerity and Candor is called a true Man Truth in the one Sense imports the Essential Constitution and in the other it imports only a Quality that is accidental to it So when we acknowledge that any Society is a true Church we ought to be supposed to mean no other than that the Covenant of Grace in its Essential Constituent parts is preserved entire in that Body and not that it is true in all its Doctrines and Decisions The Second thing to be considered in a Church is their Association together in the use of the Sacraments For these are given by Christ to the Society as the Rites and Badges of that Body That which makes particular Men Believers is their receiving the Fundamentals of Christianity so that which constitutes the Body of the Church is the Profession of that Faith and the use of those Sacraments which are the Rites and Distinctions of those who profess it In this likewise a distinction is to be made between what is Essential to a Sacrament and what is the exact observance of it according to the Institution Additions to the Sacraments do not annul them though they corrupt them with that adulterate mixture Therefore where the Sponsions are made and washing with Water is used with the words of Christ there we own that there is a true Baptism Though there may be a large Addition of other Rites which we reject as Superstitious though we do not pretend that they null the Baptism But if any part of the Institution is cut off there we do not own the Sacrament to be true Because it being an Institution of Christ's it can no more be esteemed a true Sacrament than as it retains all that which by the Institution appears to be the main and essential parts of the Action Upon this account it is That since Christ appointed Bread and Wine fo his other Sacrament and that he not only blessed both but distributed both with words appropriated to each kind we do not esteem that to be a true Sacrament in which either the one or the other of these kinds is w ithdrawn But in the next place there may be many things necessary in the way of Precept and Order both with relation to the Sacraments and to the other publick Acts of Worship in which tho' Additions or Defects are Erroneous and Faulty yet they do not annul the Sacraments We think none ought to Baptize but Men dedicated to the Service of God and Ordained according to that Constitution that was settled in the Church by the Apostles and yet Baptism by Laicks or by Women such as is most commonly practiced in the Roman Church is not esteemed null by us nor is it repeated Because we make a difference between what is Essential to a Sacrament and what is
These words in themselves and separated from all that went before seem to speak out this matter very fully But when the occasion of them and the matter that is treated of in them are considered nothing can be plainer than that our Saviour is speaking of such private Differences as may arise among Men and of the Practice of forgiving Injuries and composing their Differences If thy Brother sin against thee first private Endeavours were to be used then the Interposition of Friends was to be tried And finally the matter was to be referred to the Body or Assembly to which they belonged And those who could not be gained by such Methods were no more to be esteemed Brethren but were to be looked on as very bad Men like Heathens They might upon such refractoriness be Excommunicated and Prosecuted afterwards in Temporal Courts since they had by their Perversness forfeited all sort of right to that Tenderness and Charity that is due to true Christians This Exposition does so fully agree to the Occasion and Scope of these words that there is no colour of Reason to carry them further The Character given to the Church of Ephesus in St. Paul's Epistle to Timothy 1 Tim. 3. That it was the pillar and ground of Truth is a Figurative Expression And it is never safe to build upon Metaphors much less to lay much weight upon them The Iews described their Synagogues by such honourable Characters in which it is known how profuse all the Eastern Nations are These are by St. Paul applied to the Church of Ephesus For he there speaks of the Church where Timothy was then in which he instructs him to behave himself well It has visibly a relation to those Inscriptions that were made on Pillars which rested upon firm Pedestals But whatsoever the strict Importance of the Metaphor may be it is a Metaphor and therefore it can be no Argument Christ's promise of the Spirit to his Apostles Jâ—h 16.13 that should lead them into all truth relates visibly to that extraordinary Inspiration by which they were to be acted and that was to shew them things to come so that a Succession of Prophecy may be inferred from these words as well as of Infallibility Those words of our Saviour with which St. Matthew concludes his Gospel Matth. 28.20 Lo I am with you always even to the end of the World infer no Infallibility but only a promise of Assistance and Protection Which was a necessary encouragement to the Apostles when they were sent upon so laborious a Commission that was to involve them into so much danger God's being with any his walking with them his being in the midst of them his never leaving nor forsaking them are Expressions often used in the Scripture 2 Cor. 6.16 Heb. 13.5 which signifie no more but God's watchful Providence Guiding Supporting and Protecting his People All this is far from Infallibility The Last Objection to be proposed is that which seems to relate most to the Point in hand taken from the Decree made by a Council at Ierusalem Act 15.28 which begins It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us From which they infer That the Holy Ghost is present with Councils and that what seems good to them is also approved by the Holy Ghost But it will not be easie to prove that this was such a Council as to be a pattern to succeeding ones to copy after it We find Brethren are here joined with the Apostles themselves Now since these were no other than the Laity here an Inference will be made that will not go easily down If they fate and voted with the Apostles it will seem strange to deny them the same privilege among Bishops By Elders here it seems Presbyters are meant and this will give them an Entrance into a General Council out of which they cannot be well excluded if the Laity are admitted But here was no citation no time given to all Churches to send their Bishops or Proxies It was an Occasional Meeting of such of the Apostles as happened to be then at Ierusalem who called to them the Elders or Presbyters and other Christians at Ierusalem For the Holy Ghost was then poured out so plentifully on so many that no wonder if there was then about that truly Mother Church a great many of both sorts who were of such Eminence that the Apostles might desire them to meet and to joyn with them The Apostles were Divinely Assisted in the delivering that Commission which our Saviour gave them in charge To preach to every creature and so were Infallibly Assisted in the Executing of it Mark 16.15 yet when other Matters fell in which were no Parts of that Commission they no doubt did as St. Paul who sometimes writ by Permission 1 Cor. 7.6 12. as well as at other times by Commandment Of which he gives notice by saying It is I and not the Lord He suggested Advices which to him according to his Prudence and Experience seemed to be well founded and he offered them with great Sincerity for though he had some reason to think that what he proposed flowed from the Spirit of the Lord ver 40. from that Inspiration that was Acting him yet because that did not appear distinctly to him he speaks with Reserves and says ver 25. he gives his judgment as one that had obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful So the Apostles here receiving no Inspiration to Direct them in this Case but observing well what St. Peter put them in mind of concerning God's sending him by a Special Vision to Preach to the Gentiles and that God had poured out the Holy Ghost on them even as he had done upon the Apostles who were Iews by Nature and that he did put no difference in that between Iews and Gentiles Acts 15.9 purifying the hearts of the Gentiles by Faith They upon this did by their Judgment conclude from thence That what God had done in the particular Instance of Cornelius was now to be extended to all the Gentiles So by this we see that those Words seemed good to the Holy Ghost relate to the Case of Cornelius and those Words seemed good to us import that they resolved to extend that to be a general Rule to all the Gentiles This gives the Words a clear and a distinct Sense which agrees with all that had gone before whereas it will otherwise look very strange to see them add their Authority to that of the Holy Ghost which is too Absurd to suppose Nor will it be easy to give any other consisting Sense to these Words Here is no Precedent of a Council much less of a General one but a Decision is made by Men that were in other things Divinely Inspired which can have no relation to the Judgment of other Councils And thus it appears that none of those Places which are brought to prove the Infallibility of Councils come up to the Point
much from the Blessed Virgin on the one hand as she had been over-exalted on the other So they said that Christ had only gone through her But this Impiety sunk so soon that it is needless to say any thing more to refute it The Third Branch of the Article is That these two Natures were joined in one Person never to be divided What a Person is that results from a close Conjunction of Two Natures we can only judge of it by considering Man in whom there is a Material and a Spiritual Nature joined together They are Two Natures as different as any we can apprehend among all created Beings yet these make but One Man The Matter of which the Body is composed does not subsist by it self is not under all those Laws of Motion to which it would be subject if it were mere inanimated Matter but by the Indwelling and Actuation of the Soul it has another Spring within it and has another Course of Operations According to this then to subsist by another is when a Being is acting according to its Natural Properties but yet in a constant dependance upon another Being so our Bodies subsist by the Subsistence of our Souls This may help us to apprehend how that as the Body is still a Body and operates as a Body though it subsists by the Indwelling and Actuation of the Soul so in the Person of Jesus Christ the Human Nature was entire and still acted according to its own Character yet there was such an Union and Inhabitation of the Eternal Word in it that there did arise out of that a Communication of Names and Characters as we find in the Scriptures A man is called Tall Fair and Healthy from the state of his Body and Learned Wise and Good from the qualities of his Mind So Christ is called holy harmless and undefiled is said to have died risen and ascended up into Heaven with relation to his Human Nature He is also said to be in the form of God to have created all things Phil. 2.6 Col. 1.16 to be the brightness of the Father's glory and the express image of his person with relation to his Divine Nature The Ideas that we have of what is Material and what is Spiritual Heb. 1.3 lead us to distinguish in a Man those descriptions that belong to his Body from those that belong to his Mind so the different apprehensions that we have of what is created and uncreated must be our Thread to guide us into the Resolution of those various Expressions that occur in the Scriptures concerning Christ. The design of the Definition that was made by the Church concerning Christ's having one Person was chiefly to distinguish the nature of the Indwelling of the Godhead in him from all Prophetical Inspirations The Mosaical degree of Prophecy was in many respects superior to that of all the subsequent Prophets Yet the difference is stated between Christ and Moses in terms that import things quite of another nature the one being mentioned as a Servant the other as the Son that built the House It is not said that God appeared to Christ or that he spoke to him but God was ever with him and in him Joh. 1.14 and while the Word was made flesh yet still his glory was as the glory of the only begotten Son of God The Glory that Isaiah saw was called his Glory and on the other hand God is said to have purchased his Church with his own Blood If Nestorius in opposing this meant only as some think it appears by many Citations out of him that the Blessed Virgin was not to be called simply the Mother of God but the Mother of him that was God and if that of making Two Persons in Christ was only fasten'd on him as a Consequence we are not at all concerned in the Matter of Fact whether Nestorius was misunderstood and hardly used or not but the Doctrine here asserted is plain in the Scriptures That though the Human Nature in Christ acted still according to its proper Character and had a peculiar Will yet there was such a constant Presence Indwelling and Actuation on it from the Eternal Word as did constitute both Human and Divine Nature one Person As these are thus so entirely united so they are never to be separated Christ is now exalted to the highest degrees of Glory and Honour and the Characters of Blessing Honour and Glory are represented in St. Iohn's Visions as offered to the Lamb for ever and ever It is true St. Paul speaks as if Christ's Mediatory Office and Kingdom were to cease after the Day of Judgment Rev. 5.13 and that then he was to deliver up all to the Father But though when the full number of the Elect shall be gathered the full End of his Death will be attained and when these Saints shall be glorified with him and by him his Office as Mediator will naturally come to an end yet his own Personal Glory shall never cease And if every Saint shall inherit an everlasting Kingdom much more shall he who has merited all that to them and has conferred it on them be for ever possessed of his Glory The Fourth Branch of the Article is concerning the Truth of Christ's Crucifixion his Death and Burial The Matter of Fact concerning the Death of Christ is denied by no Christian the Iews do all acknowledge it the first Enemies to Christianity did all believe this and reproached his Followers with it This was that which all Christians gloried in and avowed so that no question was made of his Death except by a small number called Docetae who were not esteemed Christians till Mahomet denied it in his Alcoran who pretends that he was withdrawn and that a Iew was crucified in his stead But this corruption of the History of the Gospel came too late afterwards to have any shadow of credit due to it nor was there any sort of Proof offered to support it So this Doctrine concerning the Death of Christ is to be received as an unquestionable Truth There is no part of the Gospel writ with so copious a Particularity as the History of his Sufferings and Death as there was indeed no part of the Gospel so important as this is The Fifth Branch of the Article is That he was a true Sacrifice to reconcile the Father to us and that not only for Original but for Actual Sins The Notion of an Expiatory Sacrifice which was then when the New Testament was writ well understood all the World over both by Iew and Gentile was this That the Sin of one Person was transferred on a Man or a Beast who was upon that devoted and offered up to God and suffered in the room of the offending Person and by this Oblation the Punishment of the Sin being laid on the Sacrifice an Expiation was made for Sin and the Sinner was believed to be reconciled to God This as appears through the whole Book of Leviticus was
all are not actually good and so put in a way to be saved that God did not intend that it should be so for who hath resisted his will The Counsel of the Lord standeth fast and the Thoughts of his heart to all Generations It is true Rom. 9.10 Ps. 33.12 His Laws are his Will in one respect He requires all to obey them He approves them and he obliges all Men to keep them All the Expressions of his desires that all Men should bâ— saved are to be explained of the Will of Revelation commonly called the Sign of his Will When it is said What more could have been done Isa. 5.4 that is to be understood of outward Means and Blessings But still God has a secret Will of his good pleasure in which he designs all things and this can neaver be frustrated From this they do also conclude That though Christ's Death was to be offered to all Christians yet that Intentionally and Actually he only died for those whom the Father had chosen and given to him to be saved by him They cannot think that Christ could have died in vain which St. Paul speaks of as a vast Absurdity Now since if he had died for all Gal. 2.21 he should have died in vain with relation to the far greater part of Mankind who are not to be saved by him they from thence conclude That all those for whom he died are certainly saved by him Perhaps with relation to some subaltern Blessings which are through him Communicated if not to all Mankind yet to all Christians he may be said to have died for all But as to Eternal Salvation they believe his Design went no further than the secret Purpose and Election of God and this they think is implied in these words John 17.9.10 all that are given me of my Father Thine they were and thou gavest them me He also limits his Intercession to those only I pray not for the world but for those that thou hast given me for they are thine and all thine are mine and mine are thine They believe that he also limited to them the extent of his Death and of that Sacrifice which he offered in it It is true the Christian Religion being to be distinguished from the Iewish in this main Point that whereas the Iewish was restrained to Abraham's Posterity and confined within oneRace and Nation the Christian was to be preached to every Creature Universal words are used concerning the Death of Christ But as the words Mark 16.15 preaching to every Creature and to all the World are not to be understood in the utmost extent for then they have never been verified since the Gospel has never yet for ought that appears to us been preached to every Nation under Heaven but are only to be explained generally of a Commission not limited to one or more Nations none being excluded from it The Apostles were to execute it in going from City to City as they should be inwardly moved to it by the Holy Ghost So they think that those large words that are applied to the Death of Christ are to be understood in the same qualified manner that no Nation or sort of Men are excluded from it and that some of all kinds and sorts shall be saved by him And this is to be carried no further without an Imputation on the Justice of God For if he has received a sufficient Oblation and Satisfaction for the Sins of the whole World it is not reconcileable to Justice that all should not be saved by it or should not at least have the Offer and Promulgation of it made them that so a trial may be made whether they will accept of it or not The Grace of God is set forth in Scripture by such Figures and Expressions as do plainly intimate itâ— efficacy and that it does not depend upon us to use it Eph. 2.10 2 Cor. 5.17 Phil. 2.13 Ps. 110.3 Jerem. 31.33 34. Ezek. 36.26 27. Rom. 9.21 or not to use it at pleasure It it said to be a Creation we are created unto good works and we become new Creatures It is called a Regeneration or a New Birth it is called a Quickning and a Resurrection as our former state is compared to a feebleness a blindness and a death God is said to work in us both to will and to do His people shall be willing in the day of his power He will write his Laws in their hearts and make them to walk in them Mankind is compared to a Mass of Clay in the hands of the Potter who of the same lump makes at his pleasure Vessels of honour or of dishonour These passages this last in particular do insinuate an Absolute and a Conquering power in Grace and that the love of God constrains us as S. Paul speaks expresly All outward coaction is contrary to the nature of liberty and all those inward Impressions that drove on the Prophets so that they had not the free use of their Faculties but felt themselves carried they knew not how are inconsistent with it yet when a Man feels that his Faculties go in their method and that he assents or chuses from a thread of inward Conviction and Ratiocination he still acts freely that is by an Internal Principle of Reason and Thought A Man acts as much according to his Faculties when he assents to a Truth as when he chuses what he is to do And if his Mind were so enlightned that he saw as clearly the good of Moral Things as he percieves Speculative Truths so that he felt himself as little able to resist the one as the other he would be no less a free and a rational Creature than if he were left to a more unlimited Range Nay the more evidently that he saw the true good of things and the more that he were determined by it he should then act more suitably to his Faculties and to the Excellence of his Nature For though the Saints in Heaven being made perfect in Glory are no more capable of further Rewards yet it cannot be denied but they act with a more accomplished Liberty because they see all things in a true Light according to that in thy light we shall see light Psal. 26.9 And therefore they conclude that such an overcoming degree of Grace by which a Man is made willing through the Illumination of his Understanding and not by any blind or violent Impulse is no way contrary to the true Notion of Liberty After all they think That if a Debate falls to be between the Sovereignty of God his Acts and his Purposes and the freedom of Man's will it is modest and decent rather to make the abatement on Man's part than on God's but they think there is no need of this They infer That besides the outward Enlightening of a Man by Knowledge there is an inward Enlightening of the Mind and a secret forcible conviction stampt on it otherwise what can be meant
Controversy with that which they think they can the most easily prove the one at the Establishing of Election and the other at the overthrowing of Reprobation Some have studied to seek out middle-ways For they observing that the Scriptures are writ in a great diversity of Stile in Treating of the Good or Evil that happens to us ascribing the one to God and imputing the other to our selves teaching us to ascribe the honour of all that is Good to God and to cast the blame of all that is Evil upon our selves have from thence concluded That God must have a different Influence and Causality in the one from what he has in the other But when they go to make this out they meet with great Difficulties yet they chuse to bear these rather than to involve themselves in those equally great if not greater Difficulties that are in either of the other Opinions They wrap up all in Two General Assertions that are great Practical Truths Let us Arrogate no good to our selves and impute no evil to God and so let the whole matter rest This may be thought by some the lazier as well as the safer way which avoids Difficulties rather than answers them whereas they say of both the Contending Sides That they are better at the starting of Difficulties than at the resolving of them Thus far I have gone upon the general in making such Reflections as will appear but too well grounded to those who have with any Attention read the chief Disputants of both Sides In these great Points all agree That Mercy is freely offered to the World in Christ Jesus That God did freely offer his Son to be our Propitiation and has freely accepted the Sacrifice of his Death in our stead whereas he might have Condemned every Man to have perished for his own Sins That God does in the Dispensation of this Gospel and the Promulgation of it to the several Nations act according to the Freedom of his Grace upon Reasons that are to us mysterious and past finding out That every Man is inexcusable in the sight of God That all Men are so far free as to be praise-worthy or blame-worthy for the Good or Evil that they do That every Man ought to employ his Faculties all he can and to pray and depend earnestly upon God for his Protection and Assistance That no Man in Practice ought to think that there is a Fate or Decree hanging over him and so become slothful in his Duty but that every Man ought to do the best he can as if there were no such Decree since whether there is or is not it is not possible for him to know what it is That every Man ought to be deeply humbled for his Sins in the sight of God without excusing himself by pretending a Decree was upon him or a want of Power in him That all Men are bound to obey the Rules set them in the Gospel and are to expect neither Mercy nor Favour from God but as they set themselves diligently about that And finally That at the Last Day all Men shall be Judged not according to secret Decrees but according to their own Works In these great Truths of which the greater part are Practical all Men agree If they would agree as honestly in the Practice of them as they do in Confessing them to be true they would do that which is much more important and necessary than to speculate and dispute about Niceties by which the World would quickly put on a new Face and then those few that might delight in curious Searches and Arguments would manage them with more Modesty and less Heat and be both less positive and less supercilious I have hitherto insisted on such general Reflections as seemed proper to these Questions I come now in the last place to examine how far our Church hath determined the Matter either in this Article or elsewhere How far she hath restrained her Sons and how far she hath left them at liberty For those different Opinions being so intricate in themselves and so apt â—o raise hot Disputes and to kindle lasting Quarrels it will not be suitable to that Moderation which our Church hath observed in all other things to sâ—retch her Words on these Heads beyond their strict sense The natural equity or reason of things ought rather to carry us on the other hand to as great a Comprehensiveness of all sides as may well consist with the Words in which our Church has expressed herself on those Heads It is not to be denied but that the Article seems to be framed according to St. Austin's Doctrine It supposes Men to be under a Curse and Damnation antecedently to Predestination from which they are delivered by it so it is directly against the Sâ—pralapsarian Doctrine Nor does the Article make any mention of Reprobation no not in a hint no Definition is made concerning it The Article does also seem to assert the Efficacy of Grace That in which the Knot of the whole Dfficulty lies is not Defined that is Whether God's Eternal Purpose or Decree was made according to what he foresaw his Creatures would do or purely upon an Absolute Will in order to his own Glory It is very probable that those who Penned it meant that the Decree was Absolute but yet since they have not said it those who subscribe the Articles do not seem to be bound to any thing that is not expressed in them And therefore since the Remonstrants do not deny but that God having foreseen what all Mankind would according to all the different Circumstances in which they should be put do or not do he upon that did by a firm and Eternal Decree lay that whole Design in all its Branches which he Executes in time they may subscribe this Article without renouncing their Opinion as to this matter On the other hand the Calvinists have less occasion for Scruple since the Article does seem more plainly to favour them The Three Cautions that are added to it do likewise intimate that St. Austin's Doctrine was designed to be settled by the Article For the danger of Mens having the sentence of God's Predestination always before their eyes which may occasion either desperation on the one hand or the wretchlesness of most unclean living on the other belongs only to that side since these Mischiefs do not arise out of the other Hypothesis The other Two of taking the Promises of God in the sense in which they are set forth to us in Holy Scriptures and of following that Will of God that is expresly declared to us in the Word of God relate very visibly to the same Opinion Though others do infer from these Cautions That the Doctrine laid down in the Article must be so understood as to agree with these Cautions and therefore they argue That since Absolute Predestination cannot consist with them that therefore the Article is to be otherwise explained They say the natural Consequence of an Absolute
a Foederal State of Salvation but Christians To them is given the Covenant of Grace and to them the promises of God are made and offered So that they have a certainty of it upon their performing those conditions that are put in the promises All others are out of this Promise to whom the Tidings of it were never brought but yet a great difference is to be made between them and those who have been invited to this Covenant and admitted to the outward Profession and the common Privileges of it and that yet have in effect rejected it These are under such positive denunciations of Wrath and Judgment that there is no room left for any charitable Thoughts or Hopes concerning them So that if any part of the Gospel is true that must be also true that they are under Condemnation Joh. 3.19 for having lov d darkness more than light when the Light shone upon them and visitâ—d them But as for them whom God has left in Darkness they are certainly out of the Covenant out of those Promises and Declarations that are made in it So that they have no Foederal Right to be saved neither can we affirm that they shall be saved But on the other hand they are not under those positive denunciations because they were never made to them Therefore since God has not declared that they shall be damned no more ought we to take upon us to damn them Instead of stretching the severity of Justice by an Inference we may rather venter to stretch the Mercy of God since that is the Attribute which of all others is the most Magnificently spoken of in the Scriptures So that we ought to think of it in the largest and most comprehensive manner But indeed the most proper way is for us to stop where the Revelation of God stops And not to be wise beyond what is written but to leave the secrets of God as Mysteries too far above us to examine or to sound their depth We do certainly know on what terms we our selves shall be saved or damned And we ought to be contented with that and rather study to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling than to let our minds run out into uncertain Speculations concerning the Measures and the Conditions of God's uncovenanted Mercies We ought to take all possible care that we our selves come not into Condemnation rather than to define positively of others who must or who must not be condemned It is therefore enough to fix this according to the Design of the Article That it is not to free Men to chuse at pleasure what Religion they will as if that were left to them or that all Religions were alike which strikes at the Foundation and undermines the Truth of all Revealed Religion None are within the Covenant of Grace but true Christians and all are excluded out of it to whom it is offered who do not receive and believe it and live according to it So in a word all that are saved are saved through Christ but whether all these shall be called to the Explicite Knowledge of him is more than we have any good ground to affirm Nor are we to go into that other Question Whether any that are only in a state of Nature live fully up to its Light This is that about which we can have no certainty no more than whether there may be a Common Grace given to them all proportioned to their State and to the Obligations of it This in general may be safely believed That God will never be wanting to such as do their utmost endeavours in order to the saving of their Souls But that as in the Case of Cornelius an Angel will be sent and a Miracle be wrought rather than that such a Person shall be left to perish But whether any of them do ever arrive at that state is more than we can determine and it is a vain attempt for us to endeavour to find it out ARTICLE XIX Of the Church The Uisible Church of Christ is a Congregation of faithful men in the which the pure Word of God is preached and the Sacraments be duely administred according to Christ's Ordinance in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same As the Church of Jerusalem Alexandria and Antioch have erred so also the Church of Rome hath erred not only in their Living and manner of Ceremonies but also in matters of Faith THIS Article together with some that follow it Relates to the Fundamental difference between us and the Church of Rome They teaching that we are to judge of Doctrines by the Authority and the Decisions of the Church whereas we affirm That we are first to examine the Doctrine and according to that to judge of the Purity of a Church Somewhat was already said on the Sixth Article relating to this matter What remains is now to be considered The whole Question is to be reduced to this Point Whether we ought to Examine and Judge of Matters of Religion according to the Light and Faculty of judging that we have or if we are bound to submit in all things to the Decision of the Church Here the matter must be determined against private Judgment by very express and clear Authorities other wise the other side proves it self For we having naturally a Faculty of judging for our selves and using it in all other things this freedom being the greatest of all our other Rights must be still asserted unless it can be made appear that God has in some things put a Bar upon it by his Supreme Authority That Authority must be very express if we are required to submit to it in a Point of such vast Importance to us We do also see that Men are apt to be mistaken and are apt likewise willingly to mistake and to mislead others and that particularly in matters of Religion the World has been so much imposed upon and abused that we cannot be bound to submit to any sort of persons implicitely without very good and clear grounds that do assure us of their Infallibility Otherwise we have just reason to suspect that in matters of Religion chiefly in Points in which Human Interests are concerned Men may either through Ignorance and Weakness or Corruption and on Design abuse and mislead us So that the Authorities or Proofs of this Infallibility must be very express since we are sure no Man nor Body of Men can have it among them but by a Privilege from God and a Privilege of so extraordinary a nature must be given if at all in very plain and with very evident Characters since without these Human Nature cannot and ought not to be so tame as to receive it We must not draw it from an Inference because we think we need it and cannot be safe without it That therefore it must be so because if it were not so great Disorder would arise from the want of it This is certainly a wrong way of arguing
scandalous Parts Such as the Worship of subordinate Gods and of Images These are the chief Grounds upon which we separate from the Roman Communion Since we cannot have fellowship with them unless we will join in those Acts which we look on as direct violations of the First and Second Commandment God is a jealous God and therefore we must rather venture on their Wrath how burning soever it may be than on his who is a consuming Fire ARTICLE XXIII Of Ministring in the Congregation It is not lawful for any Man to take upon him the Office of publick Preaching or Ministring the Sacraments in the Congregation before he be lawfully called and sent to execute the same And those we ought to judge lawfully called and sent which be chosen and called to this work by Men who have publick Authority given unto them in the Congregation to call and send Ministers into the Lord's Uineyard WE have two particulars fixed in this Article The First is against any that shall assume to themselves without a lawful Vocation the authority of dispencing the things of God The Second is the defining in very general Words what it is that makes a lawful Call As to the First it will bear no great difficulty We see in the old Dispensation that the Family the Age and the Qualifications of those that might serve in the Priesthood are very particularly set forth In the New Testament our Lord called the Twelve Apostles and sent them out He also sent out upon another occasion Seventy Disciples And before he left his Apostles He told them that as his Father had sent him so he sent them John â—â— 2â— Which seems to Import that as he was sent into the World with this among other Powers that he might send others in his Name so he likewise empowered them to do the same And when they went planting Churches as they took some to be Companions of Labour with themselves so they appointed others over the particular Churches in which they fixed them Such were Epaphras or Epaphroditus at Colosse Timothy at Ephesus and Titus in Crete To them the Apostles gave Authority Otherwise it was a needless thing to write so many directions to them in order to their conduct They had the Depositum of the Faith 2 Tim. 1.13 with which they were chiefly entrusted Concerning the succession in which that was to be continued we have these Words of St. Paul The things which thou hast heard of me among many witnesses the same commit thou to faithful Men 2 Tim. 2.2 1 Tim. 2.1 2 3. 1 Tim. 2.12 1 Tim. â— c. who shall be able to teach others also To them directions are given concerning all the different Parts of their Worship Supplications Prayers Intercessions and giving of thanks and also the keeping up the decency of the Worship and the not suffering of Women to Teach like the Women Priests among the Heathen who were believed to be filled with a Bacchick Fury To them are directed all the Qualifications of such as might be made either Bishops or Deacons They were to examine them according to these and either to receive or reject them All this was directed to Timothy that he might know how he ought to behave himself in the house of God 1 Tim. 3.15 1 Tim. â— 1 3 17 19 22. He had Authority given him to Rebuke and Entreat to Honour and to Censure He was to Order what Widows might be received into the Number and who should be refused He was to receive Accusations against Elders or Presbyters according to directed Methods and was either to Censure some or to lay Hands on others as should agree with the Rules that were set him And in conclusion he is very solemnly charged 1 Tim. 6.20 2 Tim. 2.15 2 Tim. 4.2 5. to keep that which was committed to his Trust. He is required rightly to divide the word of truth to preach the word to be instant in season and out of season to reprove rebuke and exhort and to do the work of an Evangelist and to make full proof of his ministry Some of the same things are charged upon Titus whom St. Paul had left in Crete to set in order the things that were wanting Tit. 1.5 9 13. and to ordain Elders in every City Several of the Characters by which he was to try them are also set down He is charged to rebuke the people sharply and to speak the things that became sound doctrine He is instructed concerning the Doctrines which he was to Teach and those which he was to Avoid and also how to Censure an Heretick He was to admonish him twice Tit. 3.10 and if that did not prevail he was to reject him by some publick Censure These Rules given to Timothy and Titus do plâ—inly Import that there was to be an Authority in the Church and that no Man was to assume this Authority to himself according to that Maxim that seems to be founded on the Light of Nature as well as it is set down in Scripture as a standing Rule agreed to in all Times and Places No Man taketh this honour to himself Heb. 5.4 but he that is called of God as was Aaron St. Paul in his Epistles to the Romans and Corinthians did reckon up the several Orders and Functions Rom. 12.6 7 8. 1 Cor. 12.28 Eph. 4.11 12 13 16. that God had set in his Church and in his Epistle to the Ephesians he shews that these were not transient but lasting Constitutions For there as he reckons the Apostles Prophets Evangelists Pastors and Teachers as the Gifts which Christ at his Ascension had given to Men so he tells the Ends for which they were given For the perfecting the Saints by Perfecting seems to be meant the initiating them by Holy Mysteries rather than the compacting or putting them in joint For as that is the proper Signification of the Word so it being set first the other things that come after it make that the strict Sense of Perfecting that is Compleating does not so well agree with the Period for the work of the Ministry the whole Ecclesiastical or Sacred Services for the edifying the Body of Christ to which instructing exhorting comforting and all the other Parts of Preaching may well be reduced and then the duration of these Gifts is defined 'Till we all come in the Vnity of the Faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect Man This seems to Import the whole State of this Life We cannot think that all this belonged only to the Infancy of the Church and that it was to be laid aside by her when she was farthâ—r advanced For when we consider that in the Beginnings of Christianity there was so liberal an Effusion of the Holy Spirit poured out upon such great Numbers who had very extraordinary Credentials Miracles and the Gift of Tongues to prove their Mission it does not seem so necessary in such a
Arguments for the Negative yet that was not necessary For as a Negative always proves it self so that holds more especially here where that which is denied is accompanied with so many and so strange Absurdities as do follow from this Doctrine The last Topick in this Matter is the Sense that the ancient Church had of it For as we certainly have both the Scriptures and the Evidence of our Senses and Reason of our side so that will be much fortified if it appears that no such Doctrine was received in the First and best Ages And that it came in not all at once but by degrees I shall first urge this Matter by some general Presumptions And then I shall go to plain Proofs But though the Presumptions shall be put only as Presumptions yet if they appear to be violent so that a Man cannot hold giving his Assent to the Conclusion that follows from them then though they are put in the Form of presumptive Arguments yet that will not hinder them from being considered as concluding ones By the stating this Doctrine it has appeared how many Difficulties there are involved in it These are Difficulties that are obvious and soon seen They are not found out by deep enquiry and much speculation They are soon felt and are very hardly avoided And ever since the Time that this Doctrine has been received by the Roman Church these have been much insisted on Explanations have been offered to them all and the whole Principles of natural Philosophy have been cast into a new Mould that they might ply to this Doctrine At least those who have studied their Philosophy in that System have had such Notions put in them while their Minds were yet tender and capable of any Impressions that they have been thereby prepared to this Doctrine before they came to it by a Train of Philosophical Terms and Distinctions so that they were not much alarmed at it when it came to be set before them They are accustomed to think that Ubication or the being in a Place is but an Accident to a Substance So that the same Bodies being in more Places is only its having a few more of those Accidents produced in it by God They are accustomed to think that Accidents are Beings different from Matter like a sort of cloathing to it which do indeed require the having of a Substance for their Subject But yet since they are believed to have a being of their own God may make them subsist As the Skin of a Man may stand out in its proper Shape and Colour though there were nothing but Air or Vacuity within it They are accustomed to think that as an Accident may be without its proper Substance so a Substance may be without its proper Accidents And they do reckon Extension and Impenetrability that is a Bodies so filling a Space that no other Body can be in the same Space with it among its Accidents So that a Body composed of Organs and of large Dimensions may be not only all crouded within one Wafer but an entire distinct Body may be in every separable Part of this Wafer At least in every piece that carries in it the Appearances of Bread These besides many other lesser Subtilties are the evident Results of this Doctrine And it was a natural Effect of its being received that their Philosophy should be so transformed as to agree to it and to prepare Men for it Now to apply this to the Matter we are now upon We find none of these Subtilties among the Ancients They seem to apprehend none of those Difficulties nor do they take any pains to solve or clear them They had a Philosophical Genius and shewed it in all other things They disputed very nicely concerning the Attributes of God concerning his Essence and the Persons of the Trinity They saw the Difficulties concerning the Incarnation of the Eternal Word and Christ's being both God and Man They treat of Original Sin of the Power of Grace and of the Decrees of God They explained the Resurrection of our Bodies and the different States of the Blessed and the Damned They saw the Difficulties in all these Heads and were very Copious in their Explanations of them And they may be rather thought by some too full than too sparing in the canvassing of Difficulties But all those were more speculative Matters in which the Difficulty was not so soon seen as on this Subject Yet they found these out and pursued them with that Subtilty that shewed they were not at all displeased when occasions were offered them to shew their Skill in answering Difficulties Which to name no more appears very evidently to be St. Augustin's Character Yet neither he nor any of the other Fathers seem to have been Sensible of the Difficulties in this Matter They neither state them nor answer them nor do they use those reserves when they speak of Philosophical Matters that Men must have used who were possessed of this Doctrine For a Man cannot hold it without bringing himself to think and speak otherways upon all natural Things than the rest of Mankind do They are so far from this that on the contrary they deliver themselves in a way that shews they had no such Apprehensions of Things They thought that all Creatures were limited to one Place And from thence they argued against the Heathens who believed that their Deities were in every one of those Statues which they consecrated to them From this Head they proved the Divinity of the Holy Ghost Because he wrought in many different Places at once Which he could not do if he were only a Creature They affirm that Christ can be no more on Earth since he is now in Heaven and that he can be but in one Place They say that which hath no Bounds nor Figure and that can neither be touched nor seen cannot be a Body That Bodies are extended in some Place and cannot exist after the Manner of Spirits They argue against the Eternity of Matter from this that nothing could be produced that had a Being before it was produced And on all Occasions they appeal to the Testimony of our Senses as Infallible They say that to believe otherwise tended to reverse the whole State of Life and Order of Nature and to reproach the Providence of God since it must be said that he has given the Knowledge of all his Works to Liars and Deceivers if our Senses may be false That we must doubt of our Faith if the Testimony of hearing seeing and feeling could deceive us And in their Contests with the Marcionites and others concerning the Truth of Christ's Body they appeal always to the Testimony of the Senses as Infallible And even treating of the Sacrament they say without Limitation or Exception that it was Bread as their Eyes witnessed and true Wine that Christ did Consecrate to be the Memorial of his Body and Blood and they tell us in this very Particular that we ought not to
doubt of the Testimony of our Senses Another presumptive Proof that the Ancients knew nothing of this Doctrine is that the Heathens and the Iews who charged them and their Doctrine with every thing that they could invent to make both it and them odious and ridiculous could never have passed over this in which both Sense and Reason seemed to be so evidently on their side They reproach the Christians for believing a God that was Born a God of Flesh that was crucified and buried They laughed at their belief of a Judgment to come of endless Flames of a heavenly Paradise and of the Resurrection of the Body Those who writ the first Apologies for the Christian Religion Iustin Martyr Tertullian Origen Arnobius and Minutius Felix have given us a large Account of the Blasphemies both of Iews and Gentiles against the Doctrines of Christianity Cyril of Alexandria has given us Iulian's Objections in his own Words who having been not only initiated into the Christian Religion but having read the Scriptures in the Churches and being a Philosophical and Inquisitive Man must have been well instructed concerning the Doctrine and the Sacraments of this Religion And his Relation to the Emperor Constantine must have made the Christians concerned to take more than ordinary Pains on him When he made Apostacy from the Faith he reproached the Christians with the Doctrine of Baptism and laughed at them for thinking that there was an Ablution and Sanctification in it conceiving it a thing Impossible that Water should wash or cleanse a Soul Yet neither he nor Porphiry nor Celsus before them did charge this Religion with the Absurdities of Transubstantiation It is reasonable to believe that if the Christians of that time had any such Doctrine among them it must have been known Every Christian must have known in what Sense those Words This is is my body and This is my blood were understood among them All the Apostates from Christianity must have known it and must have published it to excuse or hide the shame of their Apostacy Since Apostates are apt to spread Lies of them whom they forsake but not to conceal such Truths as are to their Prejudice Iulian must have known it and if he had known it his Judgment was too True and his Malice to the Christian Religion too Quick to overlook or neglect the Advantages which this part of their Doctrine gave him Nor can this be carried off by saying that the eating of human Flesh and the Thyestean Suppers which were objected to the Christians relate to this When the Fathers answer that they tell the Heathens that it was a downright Calumny and Lie And do not offer any Explanations or Distinctions taken from their Doctrine of the Sacrament to clear them from the mistake and malice of this Calumny The Truth is the execrable Practices of the Gnosticks who were called Christians gave the Rise to those as well as to many other Calumnies But they were not at all founded on the Doctrine of the Eucharist which is never once mentioned as the Occasion of this Accusation Another Presumption from which we conclude that the Ancients knew nothing of this Doctrine is that we find Heresies and Disputes arising concerning all the other Points of Religion There were very few of the Doctrines of the Christian Religion and not any of the Mysteries of the Faith that did not fall under great Objections But there was not any one Heresy raised upon this Head Men were never so meek and tame as easily to believe things when there appeared strong Evidence or at least great Presumptions against them In these last Eight or Nine Centuries since this Doctrine was received there has been a perpetual Opposition made to it even in dark and unlearned Ages In which implicite Faith and blind Obedience have carried a great sway And though the Secular Arm has been employed with great and unrelenting Severities to extirpate all that have opposed it Yet all the while many have stood out against it and have suffered much and long for their rejecting it Now it is not to be imagined that such an opposition should have been made to this Doctrine during the nine hundred Years last past and that for the former eight hundred Years there should have been no Disputes at all concerning it And that while all other things were so much questioned that several Fathers writ and Councils were called to settle the Belief of them yet that for about eight hundred Years this was the single Point that went down so easily that no Treatise was all that while writ to prove it nor Council held to establish it Certainly the Reason of this will appear to be much rather that since there have been Contests upon this Point these last Nine Ages and that there were none the first Eight this Doctrine was not known during those First Ages and that the great Silence about it for so long a time is a very strong Presumption that in all that time this Doctrine was not thought of The last of those Considerations that I shall offer which are of the nature of presumptive Proofs is that there are a great many Rites and other practices that have arisen out of this Doctrine as its natural Consequences which were not thought of for a great many Ages but that have gone on by a perpetual progress and have increased very fruitfully ever since this Doctrine was received Such are the Elevation Adoration and Processions together with the Doctrine of Concomitance and a vast number of Rites and Rubricks the first occasions and beginnings of which are well known These did all arise from this Doctrine it being natural especially in the Ages of Ignorance and Superstition for Men upon the supposition of Christ's being Corporally present to run out into all possible Inventions of Pomp and Magnificence about this Sacrament and it is very reasonable to think that since these things are of so late and so certain a date that the Doctrine upon which they are founded is not much ancienter The great Simplicity of the Primitive Forms not only as they are reported by Iustin Martyr and Tertullian in the Ages of the Poverty and Persecutions of the Church but as they are represented to us in the Fourth and Fifth Century by Cyril of Ierusalem the Constitutions and the pretended Areopagite have nothing of that Air that appears in the latter Ages The Sacrament was then given in both kinds it was put in the hands of the Faithful they reserved some portions of it It was given to Children for many Ages The Laity and even Boys were imployed to carry it to dying Penitents what remained of it was burnt in some places and consumed by the Clergy and by Children in other places the making Cataplasms of it the mixing the Wine with Ink to sign the Condemnation of Hereticks are very clear Presumptions that this Doctrine was not then known But above all their not adoring the Sacrament which
requisite in the regular way of using it None can deny this among us but those who will question the whole Christianity of the Roman Church where the Midwives do generally Baptize But if this Invalidates the Baptism then we must question all that is done among them Persons so Baptized if their Baptism is void are neither truly Ordained nor capable of any other act of Church-Communion Therefore mens being in Orders or their being duly Ordained is not necessary to the Essence of the Sacrament of Baptism but only to the regularity of Administring it And so the want of it does not void it but does only prove such Men to be under some Defects and Disorder in their Constitution Thus I have laid down those distinctions that will guide us in the right understanding of this Article If we believe that any Society retains the Fundamentals of Christianity we do from that conclude it to be a true Church to have a true Baptism and the Members of it to be capable of Salvation But we are not upon that bound to Associate our selves to their Communion For if they have the Addition of false Doctrines or any unlawful parts of Worship among them we are not bound to join in that which we are persuaded is Error Idolatry or Superstition If the Sacraments that Christ has appointed are observed and ministred by any Church as to the main of them according to his Institution we are to own those for valid Actions But we are not for that bound to join in Communion with them if they have Adulterated these with many Mixtures and Additions Thus a plain difference is made between our owning that a Church may retain the Fundamentals of Christianity a true Baptism and true Orders which are a consequent upon the former and our joining with that Church in such acts as we think are so far vitiated that they become unlawful to us to do them Pursuant to this we do neither repeat the Baptism nor the Ordinations of the Church of Rome We acknowledge that our Fore-fathers were both Eaptized and Ordained in that Communion And we derive our present Christianity or Baptism and our Orders from thence yet we think that there were so many unlawful Actions even in those Rituals besides the other corruptions of their Worship that we cannot join in such any more The being Baptized in a Church does not tie a Man to every thing in that Church it only ties him to the Covenant of Grace The Stipulations which are made in Baptism as well as in Ordination do only bind a Man to the Christian Faith or to the faithful dispensing of that Gospel and of those Sacraments of which he is made a Minister So he who being convinced of the Errors and Corruptions of a Church departs from them and goes on in the Purity of the Christian Religion does pursue the true effect both of his Baptism and of his Ordination Vows For these are to be considered as ties upon him only to God and Christ and not to adhere to the other Dictates of that body in which he had his Birth Baptism and Ordination The great Objection against all this is That it sets up a private Judgment it gives particular persons a right of judging Churches Whereas the Natural Order is That private persons ought to be Subject and Obedient to the Church This must needs feed Pride and Curiosity it must break all Order and cast all things loose if every single Man according to his Reading and Presumption will judge of Churches and Communions On this Head it is very easy to Employ a great deal of popular Eloquence to decry private mens examining of Scriptures and forming their judgments of things out of them and not submitting all to the judgment of the Church But how absurd soever this may seem all Parties do acknowledg that it must be done Those of the Church of Rome do teach That a Man born in the Greek Church or among us is bound to lay down his Error and his Communion too and to come over to them and yet they allow our Baptism as well as they do the Ordinations of the Greek Church Thus they allow private Men to judge and that in so great a Point as what Church and what Communion ought to be chosen or forsaken And it is certain That to judge of Churches and Communions is a thing of that Intricacy that if private judgment is allowed here there is no reason to deny it its full scope as to all other Matters God has given us rational Faculties to guide and direct us And we must make the most of these that we can We must judge with our own Reasons as well as see with our own Eyes Neither can we or ought we to resign up our Understandings to any others unless we are convinced that God has Imposed this upon us by his making them infallible so that we are secured from Error if we follow them All this we must examine and be well assured of it otherwise it will be a very rash unmanly and base thing in us to muffle up our own Understandings and to deliver our Reason and Faith over to others blindfold Reason is God's Image in us and as the Use and Application of our Reason as well as of the Freedom of our Wills are the highest Excellencies of the Rational Nature so they must be always claimed and ought never to be parted with by us but upon clear and certain Authorities in the Name of God putting us implicitly under the Dictates of others We may abuse the Use of our Reason as well as the Liberty of our Will and may be damn'd for the one as well as the other But when we set our selves to make the best use we can of the freedom of our Wills we may and do upon that expect secret affistances We have both the like promises Direction to the like Prayers and Reason to expect the same Illumination to make us see know and comprehend the Truths of Religion that we have to expect that our Powers shall be inwardly Strengthened to love and obey them Psal. 119.18 35. David prayes that God may open his Eyes as well as that he may make him to go in his ways The Promises in the Prophets concerning the Gospel-Dispensation carry in them the being Taught of God as well as the being made to walk in his ways Ephes. 1 18.3.17 and the enlightening the mind and the eys of the mind to know is prayed for by St. Paul as well as that Christ might dwell in their hearts Since then there is an Assistance of the Divine Grace given to fortify the Understanding as well as to enable the Will it follows that our Understanding is to be imployed by us in order to the finding out of the Truth as well as our Will in order to the obeying of it And though this may have very ill consequences it does not follow from thence that it is
not true No consequences can be worse than the Corruption that is in the World and the Damnation that follows upon sin and yet God permits it because he has made us free Creatures Nor can any reason be given why we should be less free in the use of our understanding than we are in the use of our Will or why God should make it to be less possible for us to fall into Errors than it is to commit Sins The Wrath of God is as much denounced against Men that hold the Truth in unrighteousness as against other Sins Rom. 1.18 24 26. 2 Thes. 2.11 and it is reckoned among the heaviest of Curses to be given up to strong delusions to believe a lye Upon all these reasons therefore it seems clear that our Understandings are left free to us as well as our Wills and if we observe the Stile and Method of the Scriptures we shall find in them all over a constant Appeal to a Man's Reason and to his Intellectual Faculties If the mere dictates of the Church or of Infallible Men had been the resolution or foundation of Faith there had been no need of such a long Thread of Reasoning and Discourse as both our Saviour used while on Earth and as the Apostles used in their Writings We see the way of Authority is not taken but Explanations are offered Proofs and Illustrations are brought to convince the Mind which shews that God in the clearest Manifestation of his Will would deal with us as with reasonable Creatures who are not to believe but upon Persuasion and are to use our Reasons in order to the attaining that Persuasion And therefore upon the whole matter we ought not to believe Doctrines to be true because the Church teaches them but we ought to search the Scriptures and then according as we find the Doctrine of any Church to be true in the Fundamentals we ought to believe her to be a true Church and if besides this the whole Extent of the Doctrine and Worship together not only with the essential parts of the Sacraments but the whole Administration of them and the other Rituals of any Church are pure and true then we ought to account such a Church true in the largest Extent of the word true and by consequence we ought to hold Communion with it Another question may arise out of the first words of this Article concerning the Visibility of this Church Whether it must be always Visible According to the distinction hitherto made use of the resolution of this will be soon made There seem to be Promises in the Scriptures of a perpetual Duration of the Christian Church I will be with you always Matth. 28.20 Matth. 16.18 even to the end of the world And the gates of Hell shall not prevail against the Church The Iewish Religion had a Period perfixed in which it was to come to an end but the Prophecies that are among the Prophets concerning the new Dispensation seem to import not only its Continuance but its being continued still Visible in the World But as the Iewish Dispensation was long continued after they had fallen generally into some very gross Errors so the Christian Church may be Visible still though not Infallible God may preserve the Succession of a true Church as to the Essentials and Fundamentals of Faith in the World even though this Society should fall into Error So a Visible Society of Christians in a true Church as to the Essentials of our Faith is not controverted by us We do only deny the Infallibility of this true Church And therefore we are not afraid of that Question Where was your Church before Henry the Eighth We Answer It was where it is now here in England and in the other Kingdoms of the World only it was then corrupted and it is now pure There is therefore no sort of Inconvenience in owning the constant Visibility of a constant Succession and Church of true Christians true as to the Essentials of the Covenant of Grace though not true in all their Doctrines This seems to be a part of the Glory of the Messias and of his Kingdom That he shall be still visibly worshipped in the World by a Body of Men called by his Name But when Visibility is thus separated from Infallibility and it is made out that a Church may be a true Church though she has a large Allay of Errors and Corruptions mixed in her Constitution and Decisions there will be no manner of Inconvenience in owning a constant Visibility even at the same time that we charge the most eminent part of this Visible Body with many Errors and with much Corruption So far has the first part of this Article been treated of From it we pass to the second which affirms That as the other Patriarchal and Apostolical Churches such as Ierusalem Alexandria and Antioch have erred so the Church of Rome has likewise erred and that not only in their living and manner of Ceremonies but also in matters of Faith It is not questioned but that the other Patriarchal Churches have erred both that where our Saviour himself first taught and which was governed by two of the Apostles successively and those which were founded by St. Peter in Person or by Proxy as Church History represents Alexandria and Antioch to have been Those of the Church of Rome by whom they are at this day condemned both of Heresy and Schism do not dispute this Nor do they dispute that many of their Popes have led bad and flagitious Lives They deny not that the Canons Ceremonies and Government of the Church are very much changed by the Influence and the Authority of their Popes But the whole question turns upon this Whether the See of Rome has erred in matter of Faith or not In this those of that Communion are divided Some by the Church or See of Rome mean the Popes personally so they maintain That they never have and never can fall into Error Whereas others by the See of Rome mean that whole Body that holds Communion with Rome which they say cannot be tainted with Error and these separate this from the Personal Infallibility of Popes for if a Pope should err they think that a General Council has Authority to proceed against him and to deprive him And thus though he should err the See might be kept free from Error I shall upon this Article only consider the first Opinion reserving the Consideration of the second to the Article concerning General Councils As to the Popes their being subject to Error that must be confessed unless it can be proved that by a clear and express Privilege granted them by God they are excepted out of the common condition of Human Nature It is further highly probable that there is no such Privilege since the Church continued for many Ages before it was so much as pretended to and that in a time when that See was not only claiming all the Rights that