therefore they despise all Antient Doctors of the Primitive Church and I think in Tertullian's Words against Montanus we may say it to be the Socinians opinion Truth waited for their Coming without which it had been quite lost yet according to their Principles we must all be Scepticks and Pyrhonians always doubting of every thing and never sure of any then in the Word of God is no Truth that we can be certain of we know no Man hath dominion over the Faith of another nor ought to impose his Opinion upon others neither could they who went before us be Masters of our Faith nor we of the Faith of those who are to come after You see I make use of your own Expressions but withal I must tell you that if any one would in former or present times offer to force things of their own upon us to believe we would reject it by their own we mean any thing different from or contrary to the Word of God 't is not their offering to us or of us to others can bind the Consciences but the things offered do if they be the Word of God no human Authority doth per se and of it self tye my Conscience but God's Word doth therefore if any thing be proposed as an Article of Faith we must see whether it be contained in the Word of God which bears Record of it self and so stands in no need of the Testimony of Man 't is not the hand that gives Alms which can make Gold to be Gold or Silver to be Silver nor the Lawyers quoting the Law that can make it to be Law 't is so in it self so is Gospel Gospel in it self without any human help or else you make the Gloss and Interpretation more than the Text and as according to your Principles you may alter your Interpretation one to day and another different from it the next what a Confusion would you leave us in when you are so sickle and cannot agree with your own selves as indeed you make an Alteration in the Questions from what they were in Socinus's days By what they say of Doctrines which according to circumstance of times may be convenient or inconvenient I find them inclined to blame the times to excuse themselves but the Faults which too often are committed the Times are not to be accused of but the Malice or Weakness of Men there being no Season so troublesome as can keep a good Judge from doing Justice or a good Divine from giving a good Interpretation of Scripture so Mens Faults ought to be chastised and not the Times which are as Men govern themselves to be complained of but good and holy Laws ought to be enacted by those whom it belongs to having the Glory of God and the Good of the People before their Eyes new Distempers require new Remedies and new Laws are necessary against new Crimes wherefore I lay hold on this new occasion and once more make bold to both Houses of Parliament humbly to commend the Cause of God and of his Son the Lord Jesus according as I formerly besought them in my Epistle in earnest to mind it or else with David I say Arise O God plead thine own Cause However as to Faith and Practice they give a good Character of themselves as to the first they believe all the Articles of the Apostles Creed but still they reserve unto themselves to give what Interpretation they please but sure we are 't is not that contained in the Nicene and Athanasian Creeds Still there is a Jesuitical Jugling Equivocation and Mental Reservation Ask them which is the true sense of the Words in Jesus Christ his only Son they will not say 't is of his own Nature and Substance and from Eternity which Creed say they was heretofore thought a full and sufficient Summary of Faith till some Men perverted the true and Orthodox Meaning and brought false Glosses upon 't contrary to the plain and natural Interpretation received by the Universal Church then indeed to refute unsound and Anti-scriptural Expositions and wresting of the true Sense to explain and enlarge was found necessary 'T is their Principle thankfully to lay hold on the Message of Redemption by Jesus Christ This seems fair but is very defective for according to them Christ came into the World as a bare Messenger a meer Man to declare the Will of God unto us which others tho not so fully and plainly had done before to die only for our good but not in our stead nor to purchase us by the Merits of his Death So they say the Lord Jesus is God by Favour not by Nature robbing him thus of his Divinity When we seriously come to the matter they are full of Quiblings and Cavils As to the receiving the Message of Redemption 't is according to them by strength of Reason and not of Faith for no true Faith in Christ except Men believe him to be true God as well as true Man As to Practice this Character they give of themselves They fear God walk humbly before him hold no Correspondence with any known Sin c. This is well but not enough for the moral Virtues of the Heathen carryed some of them as far as this But a sound Knowledg in the Mind is required and no sound saving Knowledg of Christ except one knows him for such as he is that is God and Man or else he is but half a Christ an imperfect Mediatour whole Christ is the true Object of Faith These things are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God as well as the Son of Man I am glad to find something like the Matters in question in the first Letter we are told what ground they go upon concerning their Opinions Scripture they own to be the Rule of Faith but unto themselves they reserve the Interpretation which is as bad as what they condemn in Papists to depend upon the Authority of their own Interpretation and so can turn it which way they please so may every Socinian as well as every Quaker have their private Interpretation but to say that Protestants for the interpretation of Scripture do rely upon their own Reason is without warrant and doth not consist with Truth except by Protestants they mean Socinians if this were a fit place I could shew that they have not the same regard as we for Scriptures tho they assert it for they dispute the Truth and Authority thereof but I must come to human Reason which in one page is twice asserted to be the onely Guide God hath given us in matters of Religion for under that head I reduce the three he there mentioneth about Revelation but this is not the Judgment of true Protestants if a Man hath no other Guide but his own Reason 't is a blind one and very defective 't is but one part of three and the least too for to the end that human Reason may be a fit
of Man's Wisdom or with studied affected pompous Expressions which only bad Causes stand in need of but as our Faith doth not stand in the Wisdom of men but in the Power of God so I endeavoured with good Arguments drawn out of his Word which hitherto remain unanswered to confute Heresie and Sophistry One must not so much mind Words and Stile when the Question is about Things Those Men who mind more how they say than what they say desire their own Glory more than the Good of others In a Declamation one hath more Freedom of Stile than in difficult and deep Points of Divinity Philosophy and Mathematicks certain Matters are not adapted to a lofty Stile they that are so fond of this more than of the other are like those who prefer the Shell before the Oyster or the Stone before the Kernel Now to come to that which concerns me I say it being no evil thing to promote a good Cause by all lawful means for Right and Favour to countenance it are not incompatible not to be wanting in any thing depending upon me the Parliament then sitting and I knowing how there are several honorable and worthy Members who lay to Heart the Glory of God wherein the good of the Nation doth consist with all due Respect in an Epistle Dedicatory I humbly commended and offered it to the serious Consideration of both Houses in hope that this might happen to be a means amidst their application to the great National Concerns of another nature to draw their Eyes towards this Cause thereby to bring a Blessing of God upon their Proceedings for the greater the Emergencies and Occasions are the more need of God's Favour which may be procured no better than with doing such things as are acceptable in his sight as is the care of his Honour and Service After I had done the most and in my Book about several Points proved the Falshood of Socinianism I thought I might shew the Necessity of a Remedy and endeavour to set to work as many Hands as I could and as no Man may deny it to be the Concern of a Parliament for every new one doth appoint a Committee of Religion to look into things belonging to 't always necessary but specially when the most fundamental part of the Doctrine of the Church by Law established is daily publickly and in print stricken at so I thought I might humbly address to both Houses as the undisputably competent Judge of such things wherein I think I have done nothing contrary to the Laws of God and of the Land nor to the Rules of Charity and so deserve not the hard Names nor ill Language given me by those who have no better Argument to defend a bad Cause for all their pretended good nature and to throw Dust into Peoples Eyes only to shuffle off the matters in question The truth is that Society of Men are against all manner of restraint in matters of Religion they would have every one believe and profess what seems good in his eye and so of the Church which is the House of God to make a meer Babel and Confusion without Order and Rule which Frame will at last rend in in pieces and ruin it In the Church there must be some Authority of the Rulers of it over the Members Christ hath formed and given it a Being and left Rules for the preservation and well-being thereof the Admiministration of which he hath committed to her Governours and to what purpose should those Laws be if there was no Executive Power there is an Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction with a Coercive and Expulsive Power there are Pales and Walls to hinder Wild Boars and ranging Bears from coming in and Doors to turn out those who offend infect dishonour endanger and would undermine it And Convocations which I see they care not for are necessary from time to time to promote her good and to remedy or prevent Inconveniences chiefly those which relate to Doctrine and tho' we attribute an Infallibility to none of them as there is none upon Earth yet 't is their Province for their own Members to declare about Heresie Blasphemy and other things contrary to sound Doctrine and Piety To me there appears none more competent Judges in such things than those who have Christ's Commission to feed and to rule over his Flock and in the right administration of this Office the Civil Powers called the Nursing Fathers of the Church are bound to protect and assist them against the Enemies of the holy Trinity and of the Person of Jesus Christ such are Socinians Tho' according to Times and Places Men have different Notions of divine Truths yet a real divine Truth is such at all times and in all places 't is not the Opinion which Men have of it that makes it to be Truth or not Truth nor can the several contrary Interpretations change it so if the 39 Articles specially those that relate to Faith were true at first they must be so at last and no following Convocation can make them not to be what they are or to be what they are not 't is not the stamp of any human Authority that may make a divine Institution to be divine or not and tho a new Convocation should repeal what in Fundamentals a former one setled yet some reasons for it ought to be produced About doubtful things Advice may be asked as it was in the Dispute about Circumcision when Paul and Barnabas were sent to Jerusalem for Counsel about it nothing must be omitted that may lawfully contribute towards clearing of the matter but when after a serious Examination by the Rule of God's Word according to the true signification of the words in the Original the scope of the place and the Analogy of Faith Articles of Faith once are declared 't is fit to stand to them and the Church by which they are received is enabled to judg of what is or is not contrary thereunto and to keep from coming in those who would against her mind and turn out her own Members which hold Doctrines contrary to the Truth she professeth So the Church of England being satisfied that the Socinian Tenets are quite contrary to the 1st and 2d Articles of Faith she believes hath right to turn out Socinians that are within her Pales and hinder those who would come in from without And if she wants a sufficient Power she may very well sue for help from the Civil which is the legal way for Relief and when this takes an effectual Course about it 't is Wrong and Injury to the Right and Liberty of the Subject no more than 't is Injustice to hinder one Fellow-Subject from hurting another This is no Popish Principle nor contrary to those of Reformation But where a National Church is setled to allow every Man a liberty to frame unto himself what Notions he pleases of Religion then to promote vent and publish it to the Disturbance of what is
Guide it must be first subordinate to Revelation which is the prescribed Rule and from which it ought not to recede no more than a Judge from the Law as Paul told Ananias or else he is in danger of falling into Precipices that 's the Light it must follow and as the Soul is guided by Reason so must Reason be by Revelation neither can Reason and outward Revelation do the Work without inward Revelation whereby Reason is supernaturally endowed and this is Faith a Gift of God this is the ground of our Blessed Saviour's giving his Father thanks for revealing the Mysteries of Faith and Salvation unto Babes that is those who as yet in his Sense were not capable of Reason and plainly tells Peter that if he knew and confessed him to be the Son of the living God Flesh and Blood or his natural Reason had not revealed it unto him but his Father which is in Heaven When the Lord Jesus was upon leaving this World he promised his Disciples a Guide what their own Reason no such thing but the Holy Ghost the Spirit of Truth who should teach them all things and bring to remembrance whatsoever he had said unto them and he was to abide with them for ever this Spirit of God is the right Guide whom true Protestants own to lead and guide us in the way of Salvation and this he doth not according to human Fancies or private Inspirations but according to the Rule of the Word for saith our Saviour he shall receive of mine that is my Word and shall shew it unto you for he shall not speak of himself he teaches and applies the Word and his working is by the Apostle called the Spirit of a sound Mind which God hath given us so that a sound Mind an Orthodoxy in the Faith is an Effect of God's Gift not of our Reason or of any thing else in us wherefore David saith give me Vnderstanding according to thy Word But these things Socinians have been told over and over and in the Preface and latter end of my Book I think I said enough to satisfie unbyassed Persons so have others too this is the sure and infallible Guide which God hath given us and not any human Authority different from or contrary to it the Pope we cannot own for he is a Party and sets up for himself nor the antient Writers if they deviate from the Rule but 't is a good Argument for the things wherein they follow it Men must not be so selfish and wilful as to despise others who may have the Spirit of God as well as themselves and being Witnesses of those Times are able to inform us how things stood in their time and cannot be partial for this wherein we live The Author of the first Letter hath a touch upon the matter and that 's all 't is about the interpretation of what S. John saith the Word was made Flesh I confess there is a great difference in the interpretation we say according to the natural Signification the Word or Son of God took upon him our human Nature they say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we translate the Word signifies Reason rather than Word and they infer that the Reason or Wisdom of God was communicated unto Jesus Christ this is a very much forced Interpretation and fetch'd afar off for all along the Word is spoken of as a Subject and they would make a shift to turn it into the Predicate Now what shall we do of these two Opinions to find out the true one for if every Person or Party be allowed such a Latitude as to interpret things after their own Fancy there will be no end of false Glosses and wrong Interpretations how doth the Goldsmith do to know true Gold or Silver from that which is false he brings it to the Touch-stone so must we in this case between them and us is a Difference the Party must not be the Judge 't is not just they should be Judges in their own cause nor we in ours then we must agree about a Judge such as is impartial and infallible and none but God is such now God doth not immediatly speak from Heaven for he doth it in his Word that is his Will and ought to be our Law and Rule in matters of Faith I will believe no Man's Assertion except out of Scripture he proves it to me the like he may justly expect from me but in case of that Text of Scripture he and I give different Interpretations what 's to be done we ought still to keep in the same Court and wait for a Decision from the same Judge then I must prove my Interpretation by some other place of Scripture or else he must not believe me nor I him except he doth the like and if Men will but lay aside Prejudices and be acted by a real and sincere desire to find out the Truth God will not leave them but therein afford such Helps as shall answer their Good for all Scripture is given by Inspiration of God and is profitable for Doctrine for Reproof for Correction for Instruction in Righteousness that the Man of God may be perfect Now let us come to our Point and reduce the Rule to a Practice the Question is Whether by the Word is meant a Person as we say or a Quality as they would have it there is a great Difference between Persons and Things now to find out the Truth this Text must be compared with others we need not to go far for in the first Verse of the Chapter we read thrice the same Name in the beginning was the Word was signifieth existed had a Being which relateth to a Person and not to a Thing the same Word was with God and was God what a Quality with God and a Thing God doth the Evangelist begin his Gospel in so high a strain only to tell us how Reason was in the beginning how Reason was with God and Reason was God or in plain Words that God was Reasonable which is a Truth known to every one so no need to tell it but he would acquaint the Readers with things before unknown to them besides doth this hold any proportion with the Nature and Excellency of the Gospel and great Tidings of Salvation this indeed is to exalt Reason and because they make a God of their Reason therefore for Name 's sake Reason must be deified then according to their Principle this Reason must be an efficient Cause of all for all things were made by him and without him was not any thing made that was made to create and make things is the Property and Act of a Person and not of a Thing in him as in a Person and not as in a Thing was Life and the same Apostle calls him the Word of Life that Life which was manifested and that Eternal Life which was with the Father first and then was manifested unto us as if
and to be incarnate being made Flesh and Incarnation signifie the same May be you will deny it 't is but what some of yours do in a thing of the like nature as that to make and to create the World signifie not the same thing If the Word which as S. John saith was God was made Flesh I think that according to all Rules of Logick out of those Premises we may conclude how God was incarnate or made Flesh and that Act we may well call Incarnation As to the other part that it is only by Deduction you cannot be ignorant how there are such Deductions as are equivalent or next to the Expression for when the chief Assertion contained in Scripture is true so must also be whatsoever is therein included and in the Explication of it drawn by a true and right Consequence Thus tho' in the Sixth Commandment to give one Poyson be not expressed yet by a true and certain Consequence 't is deduce out of these Words Thou shalt not kill so starving one to death is adjudged Murther and punished as such Tho Incest be not expressed in the Seventh yet none will deny it to be forbidden under these Words Thou shalt not commit Adultery so is Fornication and so of every other Precept wherein when a Sin is forbidden all of the same kind are so and also the Virtue contrary to the Sin is prescribed And tho there were some difference in the Nature of the thing yet hence we infer this certain Truth that tho some things be not expresly set down in Scripture yet are therein contained and thence deduced by a true and lawful Consequence Of this sort are the words Trinity and Incarnation and if the Names then also the Things for the Use of Words is to signifie Things As to what is added in Answer to the Assertion that the Son of God was made Man how the Vnitarian will say The Son of God doth not always signifie God 't is thereby implyed that sometimes it doth and that grants what we desire for thus we know that when it is simply and absolutely attributed to Christ which is never so to any Angel or Man we may conclude that then it necessarily signifies God As to what is answered to the other Text The Word was made Flesh that the Word doth not plainly signifie God I only say this how John saith the word was God I leave them in his hands and let them come off as they can As to the Third Text the Vnitarian will say what he said before That God may be manifest in the Flesh without being incarnate he may say what he pleases if he proves nothing nay not so much as go about it surely they claim a Priviledge to be believed in what they say upon their bare word but seeing they give no reason for what they say we may suppose those great Masters of Reason have none to give their Reason fails them and is succeeded by Passion I see they found out a short way to answer all Arguments against them either with not taking notice of them and thus they answer my Book or with denying every thing without giving any Reason for it This puts me in mind of a common Saying when I was in the Philosophy School Plus negabit asinus quà m probabit Philosophus The dullest Fellow in the World can deny more than the greatest Philosopher is able to prove do but always deny and at last the Philosopher will have nothing to say There is no arguing against those who deny Principles now this is a great one for Men to give Reason as for what they affirm so for what they deny this is the part of Rational Men We attack them out of Scripture and they ought in our way to answer us out of the same as their School-Arguments we answer in their way But to return to what the Unitarian saith that The Son of God doth not always signifie God I say 't is not always necessary to our purpose it should And to state the Question well these two things ought to be observed First The Question is not at all about Angels or Men but about the Person of the Lord Jesus The Second The Name God is not improperly taken This being premised I say how the words Son of God when spoken of Christ do signifie God which to prove out of many Texts I shall bring only two in S. John's Gospel and if in the whole Bible there was but one yet it would be sufficient for every word therein is Truth and if once the Holy Ghost therein declares the Son of God to signifie God 't is not in the power of Men or Devils to make it otherwise Besides that the two Texts are so plain that there is no ground left to Cavil The first place is about the Interpretation given some words spoken by our blessed Lord whereby said the Jews thou makest thy self God which our Saviour rendered by these I said I am the Son of God So that the words God Son of God signifie just the same The Question between our Lord and the Jews was not about the meaning of what he had said they were agreed about it but the Dispute was whether those words were Blasphemy which they affirmed and he denied Those words in question spoken by our Saviour are in ver 30. I and my Father are One which because they are most material to the Question I shall thereupon observe this How therein Christ expresses Two Persons Himself and the Father the word I he explains by the name Son I said I am the Son of God and as by the first words of the Verse he makes a distinction of Persons so by the last he affirms a Oneness between Him and the Father when he saith they are One. This Oneness cannot be of a Personality which already he hath distinguished what else then can it be but in Nature and consequently in the Attributes thereunto belonging With this Text is to be compared the other I am in the Father and the Father in me It is very idle and frivolous for them to think they are One only in Will and Consent for if our Saviour's meaning had been only so and no farther the Jews would never have branded it with Blasphemy nor offered to have stoned him for it they well knew how by their Law no Man could be guilty of Blasphemy for saying his Will and Consent was one with God's for they were commanded to conform their Will and Mind to the Will of God that thereby might be a perfect agreement between their God and them between his Law and their Obedience Therefore to make this in their opinion to be Blasphemy there must be something of another nature which they declare plainly enough because that thou being a Man makest thy self God So the Question came to this Whether the Lord Jesus was God Which the Jews denied as now Socinians do but our Lord affirmed as after him
contrary to their Subscriptions are departed from the Doctrine I call it the true about Predestination to fall into Arminianism so they may embrace Socinianism as you say the majority now doth and so successively and by degrees pass into any other Heresie for which you give this reason Men cannot help the altering of their Minds This truly and properly is the Religion of Libertinism and Atheism is the next step So Men may plainly see what a kind of Religion you are striving for and would bring us into To what hath been said about Convocations this I shall add that though ye seem to slight a Convocation yet let me tell you either in Quality or Number 't is no despicable Body it being the Representative of a considerable part of the Nation and 't is hoped from the Piety and Wisdom of the Parliament that in Matters of Religion upon occasion they will not despise their Advice and Address In the Disputes about Socinians and us we are agreed to be judged by the Word of God yet they dislike our making use of it against them too much as they think but this Gentleman who in the beginning of his Letter complains of my numerous Quotations of Scripture Phrases as he calls it hath taken effectual care to avoid giving me cause to complain of the like against him for in the whole Letter there is but one Quotation just at the latter end of it and 't is usher'd in with this Christian Preamble ' The ill-natur'd turn of your Title-Page and the malicious and persecuting design of your Preface convinced me that if we may believe our Saviour Christ you know neither the Father nor the Son this is what we call To beat a Man with his own Weapons his own he hitherto used to little purpose at last he resolv'd to try whether the same I made use of against him would do his Work but he is so unskilful in handling of it that 't will not serve his end but is against rather than for him He saith to me If we may believe our Saviour Christ the if may well be turned against you out of another Mans Pen it were not questionable as 't is out of yours I wish you would believe him as we do when he absolutely and without any limitation doth call himself the Son of God as some times they wrest his Words so here they would make him say that I know neither the Father nor his Son whereupon he quoteth this Text They shall put you out of the Synagogues yea the time cometh that whosoever killeth you shall think that he doth God service and these things will they do unto you because they have not known the father nor me But how well applyed let us see not at all to his purpose for there the Lord Jesus foretold his Disciples that for his sake and upon his account Persecutions should befall them I ask whether in earnest he looks upon himself and other Socinians to be Disciples of Christ May be such as Judas was who betrayed his Person as they do his Truth but true Disciples that cannot be for suppose that Sect were brought under the Rod it would not be for his Cause His Apostles as we read in several places of the Book of the Acts suffered Persecution for owning Christ to be the true Son of God the holy one the Prince of Life and not for affirming him to be a meer Man who had no Being before he was born of the Virgin Mary and denying him to be true Eternal God of the same Nature with the Father certainly if God should bring you to Punishment ye could not have the face to say it is for the same Cause as his Disciples suffered they suffered for giving him his due and ye for robbing him of it Therefore to retort your own Argument upon you I say ye know neither the Father nor the Son for the Father ye cannot know but in and by the Son The Son ye do not know for ye will not own him to be what he is namely true eternal God blessed for ever thus out of our Saviour's own Words I conclude against you as in this same Cause and upon the same account he did against the Jews who looked on him as a meer Man and would by no means own him truly to be God Son of God Ye neither know me nor my Father if ye had known me ye should have known my Father also Wherefore since ye know me not ye know not my Father neither This weight I farther lay upon you how as ye know not so ye have not the Father for ye deny the Son to be what he is indeed of the same Nature with the Father and the Apostle saith Whosoever denyeth the Son the same hath not the Father to deny the Son is not only to deny him to be but also to deny him to be what he is And now since I am upon this your Words If we may believe our Saviour Christ are a Motive for me to go on and to call things by their Name to say ye are a sort of Infidels for ye will not believe God tho' he speaks from Heaven not only once but twice and thrice in our Lord's Baptism in his Transfiguration and at another time when the Voice came from Heaven God the Father from Heaven proclaimed him to be his beloved Son in whom he is well pleased with a Command to hear him Hear ye him yet ye will not believe the Father nor hear the Son who appeals to that Testimony of the Father nor when he calls himself God's Son onely begotten who is One with the Father in Power equal with him For what things soever the Father doth these also doth the Son likewise that the Father sent him out of his Bosom that he came down from Heaven he proceeded and came down from God and so many more things to that purpose But now he speaks to you as once he did to the Jews Why do ye not understand my speech even because ye cannot hear my word yet him ye will not hear but mark what will become of it And it shall come to pass that every soul which will not hear that Prophet in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you shall be destroyed among the People Ye would rob him of that Glory and Honour which he received from God the Father which not only is recorded by the Evangelist but confirmed by an Apostle with all the necessary Circumstances what where and when We were eye-witnesses of his majesty for he received from God the Father honour and glory when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased which he affirms not by hear-say but as ear-witness for he addeth And this voice which came from heaven we heard when we were with him in the holy mount But ye will hear neither Christ nor his
I said the Enemy and Plague of Socinianism was gotten into the Bowels of the Church the more the Pity and therefore seeing they will not hide themselves for shame here I do humbly desire the Heads and Governours of it to take notice of Socinians boasting to be Members of the Church and care to weed them out Good Lord Men who overthrow the first Article of our Religion of one God in three Persons and the second of two Natures in one Person besides others the Athanasian Creed the the first part of the Litany with several others of the Service Book yet they have the face to call themselves Members of the Church However 't is worth the inquiring into what they ground upon their calling themselves Members of the Church we already have taken notice of one place wherein speaking of themselves in the third Person they say For Peace sake they submit to the Phrase of the Church and own three Persons so they seem not to be much concerned for the Truth to know whether what they or we say be true but they take care of their Safety being as they pretend alarm'd with fear of Fire and Faggot and to save their Bacon therefore I am apt to believe that what they say in relation to this is more out of fear of Punishment than of love for Truth however for Peace sake they are Members of the Church but to dive into the bottom of this Title of theirs of being Members of the Church two Places I am to look into the first is this As for those late English Writers sometimes called Unitarians and very injuriosly termed Socinians they seem desirous to wash their hand of it and their disputing some of the Articles of our Church hath proceeded chiefly from their Apprehension that it would be Idolatry to admit them Thus still under disguise and of a third Person they are those late English Writers who call themselves Vnitarians who seem desirous to wash their hand of Socinianism so 't is only seemingly and in appearance for else what could make them tooth and nail concern themselves so much for Socinians let it be taken notice of how these pretended Members of the Church confess that they disputed some of the Articles of it and these are none of the less fundamental which they suspected as leading into Idolatry and therefore they would not admit them See what Members of the Church these are who publickly and in Print own that some of the Articles of the Church do tend to Idolatry doth not this very thing deserve Punishment according to Law and to justifie their disputing of some of the Articles they would infinuate as if the Church or some part of it had owned they were in the right Therefore upon the prudent Explication which hath been given he doth not name by whom of some obnoxious Terms they wave the Dispute and come in as Brethren This is as good as to say that in our Articles those that are the most Fundamental are in terms justly obnoxious that is to their Cavils And to shew they had cause to take Exceptions an Interpretation hath according to their Sense been given those Articles and so upon their own Terms they are come in as Brethren if they are come in then they were out before and so no Members Thus it seems they had Correspondency in the Church with some who as they term it prudently made way for them to come in Now doth not this Confession justifie what in my Epistle I said Socinianism is gotten into the Church and consequently shew a necessity to turn it out Thus having as he thinks twisted Socinians with the Church he most judiciously draws this Inference and Ironically bids me defiance I hope Mr. Gailhard will not in anger against them impute Idolatry to our Church as by Law established Can any thing in relation to the Church be spoken more insolently in the face of the whole Nation A strange thing indeed tho' nothing may seem strange from Men whose Principles allow them to say and make themselves any thing Like the grievous Wolves which in Sheeps Clothing enter in among the Flock not to feed but to tare it to deceive the blind they come in with Esau's Hands but the Voice is Jacob's yet being known should bring a Curse upon themselves But 't will be strange indeed if such ones be once found out having under the cloak of taking Care of Souls Poisoned them be not cast out by Suspension or Deprivation according to the severity of the Penal or at least of the Ecclesiastical Laws Upon this occasion the Eyes of the whole Nation are fixed upon my Lords the Bishops The other Place which I must take into consideration is this He tells us speaking of me that to deny the Trinity and our Saviours Divinity is as much as in a Man lieth to pull our Religion up by the very roots and quite to overthrow it which saith he that the Socinians do he takes it for granted That they deny the Trinity and Christ's Deity 't is done in the face of the Sun and that these Points are the Foundation of Christian Religion no true Christian will deny and my Inference is good that pulling down the Foundation the Building doth necessarily fall Yet according to the usual way he would mince the matter thus Yet those who are injuriously called Socinians declare that they only dispute some unscriptural Terms with us but are well satisfied with the Sense put upon those Terms and Explications which a considerable majority seem to be agreed in They cannot leave off the ridiculous juggling in their change of Persons for they are those called Socinians who dispute with us that is with themselves so they act both parts put the Question and answer it be the Socinian and Church-men too but the worst is they want Sincerity that whilst they indeed are the Socinian yet would pass for the Church-men Besides they would have the Dispute to be only about Words and so of no Importance thus whether there be Three Persons in the most adorable Trinity and whether the Lord Jesus and the Holy Ghost be truly God they make it to be a Dispute only about a Word and a Trifle What a Confidence is it for such Men so publickly to vent their Impieties Thereupon they declare to be satisfied upon this ground that a considerable Majority of the Church seem to be agreed with them in their Sense so according to this a considerable Majority of the Church is become Socinian Let him that can believe this for my own part I am not so Credulous however I humbly desire of the Church especially of that lesser part which this Man owneth not to be Socinian to mind what he saith so openly and to take it into their serious Consideration I bring it to their Door and there leave it They are highly concerned to take in hand their own Cause as 't is now become I have done
they are the Metaphorical Doctors of the World who make bold to turn almost the whole Scripture into Metaphors even to set up a Metaphorical God O Sirs first pull out the Beam out of your own eye and then ye shall see clearly to cast out the Mote out of your Brother's Anon we shall meet with some more Cavils of theirs They appear at the Bar whereto indeed they deserve to be called and Plead for themselves thus The first of the 39 Articles saith There is but One living and true God and in Vnity of this Godhead there be Three Persons of one Substance Power and Eternity the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost As to the latter part which is the main Question they pretend to come off with mincing the matter and say by some of their late Prints meaning Socinians I perceive that they for Peace-sake submit to the Phrase of the Church and expresly own Three Persons tho' they think the word Person not so proper as another word might be The weight of the words of the Article lieth so heavy upon them that under it they must either break or bend this last they chuse to do and would seem to yield not because they believe it but only for Peace-sake Peace to themselves to avoid the Penalty They think the word Person not so proper as another might be still they reserve a Back-door why do they not name the word which is in their opinion more proper than that of Person that word remains in petto in their Breast till there be a fair occasion to declare it Their speaking of Peace is well if with it they join Truth for they ought not to be asunder no Christian is to betray Truth for Peace-sake Now if a Person of the Godhead be described as it is by an incommunicable Subsistence of the Divine Essence the Socinian shall not be acquitted as he pretends It is not my work neither is this a place to shew how frivolous that Plea would prove at the Bar of the Law but I am sure in my Book I sufficiently demonstrated it to be a vain Subterfuge and against the Gospel That trimming Spirit in them which because they have not the upper hand one may easily perceive to Rule throughout in both Letters puts me in mind of the Popish Methods in such Cases as among other Instances it appears by what passed in 1561 in that great Assembly at Poissy in France which the then French King Charles IX appointed to meet and in his Presence therein to have free Conference about Religion between some of the Popish Clergy and some of the Protestant Ministers Because as yet things were not ripe for their Designs they by means of those Conferences would try whether some way might be found out to plaister things over and for the present to compose Differences in order thereunto after some discourses about the Sacraments which between the Cardinal of Lorrain and Theodorus Beza had happened in the K. of Navarr's Chamber where they met accidentally the Popish Party being not willing to venture their Cause upon Disputes first by the Doctors of Sorbon and lastly by the Cardinal of Tournon in the name of the whole Clergy desired the King and Queen-Mother to give the Protestants no Hearing who by the Mouth of Beza had already made a Speech in the Assembly and given an account of their Confession of Faith So then these Publick Conferences not doing the work they did set up Private ones first between Two and Two then between Five and Five of both Religions and among these for the Protestants Peter Martyr was one the Point was about the Lord's Supper On the Popish side the design was not to find out the Truth but only such words as each side might Interpret on his behalf To that purpose several Formules which here I need not to insert were by the Papists offered the Protestants but being ambiguous captious and such as might be understood in a double sense Beza for Conclusion said We must say all or nothing because indeed the Mystery of that Holy Sacrament must be explained The like was practised in their Council of Trent where happened great Heats between the Dominicans and Franciscans about several Points wherein they differ but to displease neither side their Canons about those Matters before they were passed they shewed to both Parties and penn'd them in such Words and Expressions as each side might favourably Interpret for his own Opinion Thus Socinians would follow the same way and admit of such words as may be taken in their Sense and ours too yet tho' we should agree about the Terms they know we do not in the Signification they for Peace sake submit to the Phrase of the Church and own Three Persons yet Interpret it not as the Church doth Again They seem desirous to wash their hands of Socinianism yet defend it as much as they are able Vpon the prudent Explication which hath been given of some obnoxious Terms they weave the Dispute and come in as Brethren yet still believe not as the Church doth nay if we will believe them we are all of a perfect Agreement but if we examine it will be found if by these pretended last Concessions of theirs we agree 't is about some Words when the difference about Things still remains And as then Papists were only to have things quiet for the present so I perceive Socinians are now content it should be so between us to see whether Times may happen to turn for them then indeed they would declare by the word Person they mean not an Incommunicable Subsistence of the Godhead but only an Attribute as Wisdom Love that Christ is God and Son of God by Favour not by Nature and by eternal Generation But all such Trimmers to speak in Job's Words are Physicians of no value and such Remedies cannot cure the Wound but it will break out again and this I call daubing with untempered Mortar 't is not enough to ease of the Pain but the cause must be removed which is the only way to cure for certain and to prevent Relapses this I bring in to shew how Socinians are not so averse from such Popish Practices as they pretend to be and if we narrowly inquire into it we shall find they are willing to join with them in the Practice of the following Maxim where they are the weakest they first pretend for Moderation and Toleration then for an Equality afterwards struggle for Superiority and at last destroy any one that to a hairs Breadth would not come up to what they would have for as Papists brag of a Spirit of Infallibility intailed upon their Church so Socinians are of opinion that the Spirit of God if they own any such thing is departed from other Christian Societies only to be among them who look upon themselves as the only true Interpreters of God's Word as Socinus doth applaud himself in his new fangled Expositions