errour is charged in sacred Writ upon the Will as the original of it This doth not render Religion uncertain Fallibility and certainty are not inconsistent There may be an actual certainty where there is no absolute infallibility A Judge is not infallible and yet he may be certain that the sentence which he pronounceth is right A man may be sure of what he sees plainly demonstrated before him altho' he is not out of the power and influence of all deception When a foundation is laid and some build gold silver and precious stone upon it others wood hay stubble it is as easie for one who is not infallible to discern the difference betwixt these superstructures as to distinguish a wall of marble form that which is made of brick If there be no certainty without infallibility Scepticism must be admitted and a stop put to all proceedings of Justice No Man ought to be condemned to suffer a penalty except it be certain that he deserves it and who are there but fallible Men to give evidence and judge of his demerits If the Promises of Scripture have sâ—â—â—â— sence as is contended for how comes it to be known It is a received principle amongst those with whom we are concerned That they cannot be sure of the meaning of the Bible without the interpretation of an infallible Spirit and by consequence we must be sure that the Church is infallible before we can be sure of the Sence of Scripture and if so the promise cannot be alledged as an argument to prove infallibility for then there will be a perfect circle The sence of the promise is justified by the infallibility of the Church and the infallibility of the Church by the sence of the promise From hence it is apparent That the meaning of the promise may be known without the interpretation of an infallible Spirit and if so why not the sence of other places of Scripture If we should enter upon an examination of the particular Texts of Scripture which are pretended to favour the Infallibility which the Romanists contend for they would be found no way answerable to that purpose for which they are produced They are such as these If he neglect to hear the Church c. Lo I am with you to the end of the world He will guide you into all truth He that heareth you heareth me It seemeth good to the Holy Ghost and to us The Church which is the pillar and ground of Truth He that will not hearken to the Priest shall die Thou art Peter and upon this rock will I build my Church I have prayed that thy faith fail not Feed my Sheep To all which we briefly answer in order 1. When we are commanded To hear the Church This Church may be the Greek or Protestant as well as the Roman and hearing doth not imply the infallibility of it Every Parishioner is commanded to hear the Minister which is set over him and yet no body from thence will infer that he is infallible This Church we are not to believe without making any scrutiny but lie under obligation to try all things and hold fast that which is good The command of the Church doth not free us from sin in our conformity to it The Jews contracted a deep guilt in compassing the death of our blessed Lord tho' they did it in obedience to their Governours Not only Pastors but the Sheep know the voice of their supreme Shepherd and are in a capacity to distinguish it from the voice of a stranger 2. When it is said I will be with you to the end of the world This assures us of the presence of Christ with his Ministers so long as the world endures but not that he will give the same measure of assistance which the Apostles did enjoy That which is sufficient in every Age is ascertained by this promise but not that which is efficacious to such a degree as will secure them from all errour for then every particular Pastour will be as Infallible as every Apostle was 3. When it is asserted That when the Spirit of Truth is come He will guide you into all truth it cannot be proved That this promise is made to any besides the Apostles The context plainly appropriates it to them I have many things to say unto you but ye cannot bear them now These words have an evident aspect upon the Disciples only If we should grant That not only the Apostles but their Successors are the objects of the promise what is intended to be proved will not follow namely Infallibility The direction of the Spirit may be opposed He gives in all ages a sufficient but not an irresistible guidance Many tho' they are put into a right way by him yet desert it and follow their own erroneous apprehensions 4. Those words He that heareth you heareth me are spoken of the Seventy Disciples not assembled in a Council but as going up and down from place to place to preach the Gospel So that if they be construed in such a fence as to favour Infallibility they will prove more than is desired namely That this priviledge of not erring belongs to every Preacher who has a lawful authority conferred upon him to publish the Gospel 5. Those words It seemeth good to the Holy Ghost and to us do not argue That the blessed Spirit will infallibly assist in all future Councils They assert what was done at this present Convention but hold forth no promise of the same degree of assistance in all Ages The reason of this extraordinary aid was peculiar to those times The Apostles then were to lay the foundation to fix an unerring rule both for the converted Jews and Gentiles The rule being once setled the necessity of the continuance of the same degree of assistance did cease The Heavens did forbear to rain down Manna so soon as the Israelites were in possession of a Country furnished with all convenient provision It is no good consequence That because the Sanhedrim in Moses's time was endued with an extraordinary Spirit therefore the same favour must be indulged to all their Successours even to the Council which put the Lord of Life to death 6. In those words The Church of the living God the pillar and ground of Truth The word Church must import That in which Timothy is directed how to demean himself and that undoubtedly was the Church of Ephesus of which he had the Ecclesiastical inspection That Church did hold forth the True Doctrin of the Gospel in its publick Profession even as pillars upon which the Edicts of Princes are fastned expose them to the view of all that pass by The expression alludes to the Temple of Diana much celebrated for its magnificent Pillars upon which the rules of the Religion of that Goddess were inscribed The Apostle intimates That those Columns were the Pillars of falshood but the Church of Christ in the City the Pillar of Truth holding forth the True Doctrin of
coveted p. 234. l. 9. r. enlarged p. 294. l. 16. r. flaws p. 302. l. 2. r. to induce p. 315. l. 13. dele which p. 318. l. 22. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 323. l. 31. r. are in p. 345. l. 33. r. and the p. 348. l. 21. r. used The Reader is desired to amend with his Pen what lesser faults and mis-pointings he meets with A TREATISE relating to the Worship of GOD. SECTION 1. Concerning the Nature of Divine Worship HE who will give himself leisure to ponder the importance of Religious Veneration and the innate pronity in men to form incongruous Notions of it and the restless attempts of the Infernal Spirit to cherish this inclination and keep us from right conceptions about it will easily be induced to justifie the present Inquiry Religious Worship is deservedly accounted by the Hebrews as one of the Pillars which support the World and prevent its retirement into its primitive Abyss It cannot be expected that the Arm of Omnipotence which bears up all Things should continue to be so propitious where the Homage due to Heaven is not paid It is a provocation of the first magnitude to neglect the making our reverential acknowledgments to Him to whom we are indebted for our Existence and whatsoever contributes to our real Felicity There cannot be a more open affront put upon the indispensable Law of Gratitude If we reflect upon the Bounty of the Supreme Being it will easily inform us that some thankful return is to be made and to Worship and solemnly own the infinite Excellency of our Benefactor is all that we are in capacity to do No real addition can accrue to boundless perfection Of this Worship which is so important we are apt to entertain very unsuitable apprehensions A sense of the Deity is deeply rooted in humane Nature and by reason of the natural depravation it lies under there is an universal belief of our being obnoxious to Divine Justice This raiseth fears and jealousies and puts the Soul upon devising ways whereby the Supreme Being may be atoned Invention is set upon the Rack and as many reconciling methods thought upon as there are diversities of Humors 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is the true fountain of that Superstition which we often meet with in the Writings of the Heathens They upon a deliberate view and survey of themselves finding that they were not in a temper agreeable to the Idea which they had of a Sovereign Being and likewise unable to contest with his power which they had reason to believe their own delinquencies would not permit to be propitious unto them They fell to contrive several ways of Worship in order to the procuring an Atonement At first they Sacrificed Plants afterwards Beasts at last Men. The meanest creatures as Apes Onions Garlick they courted with Divine Veneration Euseb de laudibus Const p. 645 Vales fearing otherwise they might neglect the giving their due regards to that transcendent power which appeared in the formation of them They dressed up their Religion with all the Ornaments of Art thinking by their pompous Addresses to reconcile the Deity and induce him to favour them with a benign Aspect To this we may add the uncessant endeavours of our Infernal Adversary to keep us from right conceptions of Worship He invents several ways and keeps up the credit of them by blending something with them which he borrows from the divine Institutions Correspondencies betwixt his Worship and some rites recorded in the Bible are evident demonstrations of this truth The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euseb praep Evan. l. 1. p. 37. Plut. Symp. to which religious Addresses were made exactly answer to the Pillar of Stone which Jacob erected in Bethel The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at the solemn Feast of Bacchus is agreeable to the bearing of boughs at the Feast of Tabernacles The garment embroidered with Gold worn by those who were concerned in the Solemnity bears some similitude to the Sacerdotal Vestment worn by the High-Priest The two Stones Pausan in Arcad. Fel. Sel. p. 173. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ignis Jehovae Delph Phoeni. c. 11. p. 115. within which the Rites of Ceres were kept are parallel to the Two Tables upon which the Decalogue was engraven The eternal Fire in the Temple of Vesta wants not a resemblance of the Fire which by the Law was always to burn upon the Altar At the place where the infernal Oracles used to be given forth there was a Curtain in imitation of the Tabernacle A Tripos like to the Ark of the Covenant A Holmus made after the manner of the propitiatory A Table resembling that upon which the Shew-bread was placed Philost vit Apol. l. 3. c. 3. p. 11◠The most sacred Oath amongst the Indians by a Well did derive its Original from Beersheba the Well of the Oath where Abraham swore to Abimelech The Well they stile 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Well of Conviction A little way off was placed a Vessel of Fire call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the fire of Pardon where they purged themselves from involuntary sins It is believed This was an imitation of John's Baptism by Water and Christ's by Fire The words of Tertullian concerning the Infernal Spirit are agreeable to all this Praescr p. 339. Res Sacramentorum Divinorum in Idolorum mysteriis aemulatur These instances make it obvious that there has been in some particulars a similitude betwixt the Worship of Jehovah and the Rites which have been practised in the Kingdom of Darkness This agreement must happen either fortuitously or else be designed by some intelligent Being The first cannot be asserted with any good reason It is not conceivable how there should be a harmony in so many things of a positive nature without the interposals of an intellectual Principle If it was designed then God must either intend an imitation of the Worship of the Devil or the Devil the Worship of God to assert the first is highly incongruous God forbids his people to enquire into his Worship and learn the ways he had seduced the Heathens into It cannot be imagined that he should teach them that which he forbids them to learn The Mosaical Law was enacted with a design to obliterate the memory of the Religion of the Idolaters and therefore we cannot think that he would make any of their injunctions a part of his own The Records of the Worship of Jehovah are of a more early date than those which represent unto us the Worship of the Heathens And we cannot conceive how the contents of the Ancient Record should be an imitation of what is contained in the Modern The Author of the Maccabees says 1 Macc. 3.48 that the Heathens set up Idols which have some likeness to those things which are contained in the Law And the Fathers of the Christian Church generally accord in this that the Ethnick constitutions did
is the Maker of them So he has impressed his Signatures upon his Word There are some particulars in it which are evident demonstrations That a Divine Hand is concerned in the composure of it In the Prophetical part we have manifest indications of Divinity It is peculiar to God to foretel things to come This in the most exact manner is frequently done Josiah and Cyrus are by name expressed many years before they appeared in the World Alexander's conquest with his miraculous expedition is described by Daniel with as much clearness as if he had been a Spectator of his Military Atchievements The time place and manner of the Birth of our blessed Lord is expresly foretold many Centuries before it came to pass In the Preceptive part Laws occur concerning the inward motions of the Soul with severe penalties to be inflicted upon transgressors which can be framed by none but God himself If by Men they must either be Wise and Good or Foolish and Bad. Not the first because it is not consistent with the methods of a Wise Legislator to make a Law and fortifie it with a minatory Sanction about things of which he is no competent Judge Nor of a good Man to ascribe a Divine Original to that which he knows has no other beginning than what it received from his own invention Not the second Because there is so much superlative Wisdom and Goodness resplendent in them as will not suffer us to suspect That they were the contrivance of ill Men or such as were defective in point of Understanding In the Dogmatical part The desire of all Nations together with the redemption of Mankind by him from that burden under which the whole Creation groaned is fully discovered Tho' the greatest Wits spent themselves in their inquiries about it yet they were as ignorant of the true Fountain of this Blessing as of the Head of Nilus They speak indeed in order to the atoning of the Supreme Being of the Sacrifices of Plants Beasts and Men but the Sacrifice of him who is both God and Man never entred into their thoughts After their best endeavours without that success which they hoped for a discovery was made by the Prophets and Apostles The wisest of Men did embrace it and made it their choice rather to lose their lives than to renounce the belief of it It is natural for us to conceive That to be True which such persons entertain with so resolved an assent and that Truth to be disclosed by Divine Wisdom which all humane Wisdom tho' engaged in a diligent inquisition after it could make no discovery of This great Blessing which God had prepared for them which love him no eye had seen nor ear heard neither had it entred into the heart of any man to conceive till a Revelation from Heaven was vouchsafed In the Promissory part We have a clear account of the Future State of Men. All the Heathens were very inquisitive about it Every one of them desired life and that their life might be happy and this happy life Eternal This put an edge upon them in their search and yet they did not arrive at any true satisfaction Socrates who was not inferiour in Wisdom to the best of them was very dark in his apprehensions as appears by his dying words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Just Mar. Or. Coh ad Graecos p. 33. c. But now is the hour of going away mine to dy yours to live which of us shall be most happy is unknown to all except God himself This which natural reason is so much puzzled about The Doctrin of Christ has made a full disclosure of Life and Immortality are brought to light by the Gospel and represented in such clear colours that many upon the discovery became impatient of a confinement in this sublunary State and earnestly covet their Martyrdom that they might be translated into an enjoyment of it It is very agreeable to us to conceive That where Reason did end in its inquiries about this matter Revelation began and that the Wisdom of Heaven is concerned in this acceptable disclosure The lineaments of it are as conspicuous in it as the cotrivance of Joab in the speech of the Woman of Tekoa As innate characters so external miraculous operations evidence the reality of the Word of God By reason of the slowness of Men to entertain it it was the Divine Pleasure to quicken their belief by Miracles Under the Old Testament supernatural works were done by Moses and the Prophets Under the New by Christ and the Apostles After their Preaching in order to the confirmation of it They did such things as exceeded all the productions of Nature There was no collusion in them They did not vanish so soon as they were done but by their permanence did demonstrate their reality They were not done in corners but openly in the presence of the most critical Spectators They were produced in an instant at the speaking of a word They were so evidently great That sublimated malice had not confidence to attribute them to any thing less than to him who has the regency in the Infernal Kingdom Which calumny was sufficiently refuted by the reply of our Saviour That no Man can with reason apprehend that the Prince of Darkness would be accessary to the production of such works as tend to the confirmation of a Doctrin calculated for the ruine of his Kingdom These Miracles were the Credential Letters whereby our blessed Lord did evidence that both He and his Doctrin came from God No Man can produce them without the influence of an extraordinary power and it is not congruous to the Veracity and Goodness of the Supreme Being to lend such a power to any person in order to the ratification of an errour It is vain to pretend That Miracles can be of no use in the present case because of the difficulty in discerning which are True and which are False It may be as well said That the Broad Seal is no certain evidence of the Royal Authority because there is a possibility it may be counterfeited A due consideration of all circumstances will quickly deliver us from the fear of being imposed upon A diligent circumspection doth often discover that to be Brass which is commonly received for current Coin If Miracles were not discernable from lying Wonders our Saviour would not so familiarly appeal unto them as he doth for the justification of his Doctrin Tho' there may be some difficulty yet not always a Miracle is a work that exceeds the bounds of Nature These bounds in many cases are not concealed but obvious to every capacity It is clear That a finite Being is so limited as not to be able by its own power to raise to life one that has been four days dead to give sight to one who is born blind to cure Chronical diseases in a moment at the speaking of a word Where the bounds of Nature are clear as they are in these instances
Heaven The words do not speak the indefectibility of that Church but the present state only This Pillar began to decay in Domitián's time Rev. 2.5 and is at this day utterly demolished If it be granted That the words under consideration have an aspect upon the Universal Church no advantage will from thence accrue to the plea for Infallibility She is not represented as the ground and pillar of all Truth but of Truth in general which may be limited to that which is fundamental Tho' she cannot fail in this particular for then she will lose her essence and cease to be yet she may in other points very useful to be known If by Truth we understand all Truth the words may set forth the duty of the Church what she ought to do and not the actual performance what she always does When the Disciples are stiled the salt of the earth this doth not argue an invincible quality in them whereby they are secured against the danger of losing their savour but a constant obligation upon them to retain it and season others with it 7. When it is said Dent. 17.12 That man that will not hearken to the Priest shall die no advantage will from thence redound to the Bishop of Rome except he can make it appear That He is Successour to the High Priest under the Law and vested in the same priviledges which he will never be able to do If this was so it would not amount to prove him infallible The high Priest with the whole Sanhedrim was liable to mistake as appears by the Sacrifice appointed for the expiation of their errour Lev 4.13 He that would not hearken was to die not because he was of a different opinion from the Priest but by reason of his Pride and contempt of the Supreme Authority which is plainly intimated in those words That Man which will do presumptuously c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is a common case in all Communities In superbia where there is no such thing pretended to as Infallibility When a cause is under debate and the Law requires the last appeal to be made to the Supreme Authority and the person concerned so to do turns his back upon it arrogantly refuses a submission and by consequence evidently endangers the Peace and Security of the whole Community this is a fault of the first magnitude and justly deserves the most severe animadversion If it could be proved That the Bishop of Rome with a Council called by him has as good Authority over All the Churches of the World as the high Priest with the Sanhedrim had over the National Church of the Jews Tho' from thence it would not follow That he is exempt from errour yet none would doubt to assert That his power is not to be treated with contempt 8. That Text Thou art Peter and upon this rock will I build my Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it is no more propitious to the Infallibility contended for than those which have been already considered It is not agreed Whether by the Rock is to be understood Peter himself or Jesus Christ who is stiled a Rock or the confession which Peter made The ancient Fathers incline to the two last If they be preferred the Church of Rome can from thence reap no advantage If we should grant That S. Peter is the Rock spoken of it will not argue any Infallibility promised to him but the declaration of a Divine purpose to make him a firm and successful instrument in the propagation of the Gospel as the rest of the Apostles were and many of their Successours Here is nothing peculiar to S. Peter The other Apostles are represented to be as intimately concerned in the foundation of the Church as he Eph. 2.20 Rev. 21.14 The following words the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it rather prove That the Church shall never cease to be than any universal indefectibility It is certain That there shall be a Church upon the Earth teaching all truth of peremptory necessity to Salvation until the coming of our blessed Lord But that it shall be exempt from errour in all matters of Faith is contrary to experience It was once received as a truth That Infants ought to have the Eucharist administred to them and now it as unanimously exploded for a grand mistake 9. The Prayer of Christ That the faith of Peter might not fail argues rather his not finally falling away than a total exemption from errour He was under great misapprehensions after these words had been spoken to him He believed That Christ would continue upon the Earth and in those dayes restore the Kingdom to Israel That the Gentiles were not to be called in and made partakers of the like priviledges with the Jews If it should be granted That the Petition of our Lord did secure an Infallibility to Peter this would be of no advantage to our adversaries in the present controversie It cannot be made to appear That the Bishop of Rome is concerned in all the Prayers which were made for S. Peter There is in them no mention of any Successour If there had it would be difficult to prove That the Pope is the person Some doubt whether S. Peter was ever at Rome The Scripture is silent in this matter The first Asserters were but of a mean reputation Many figments were devised to support the credit of their relation The common fame which by degrees did grow out of these beginnings cannot be accounted a demonstration so long as there are Catalogues of errours which not only the Vulgar but Persons of Learning have been surprised with To erect Infallibility upon such a fluid foundation is as if an attempt should be made to build a Castle in the Air. If S. Peter was at Rome and left the Bishop of that place to succeed him this might be only in his ordinary power and not in his extraordinary qualifications as personal Infallibility a power of doing Miracles There is as much reason for the Pope to challenge to himself the last as the first and yet I cannot understand that he pretends to it The Miracles in the Church of Rome are usually attributed to some persons that cannot easily be spoken with in order to the knowing the truth If this power had been ascribed to the Pope daily experience would have given the Asserters a flat contradiction 10. Those words Feed my sheep c. do not import the conferring upon Peter any priviledge above the rest of the Apostles but only the insuring to him his interest in the general Commission given to them They were commanded to teach all nations It might lie as an objection against him That he was not included in the number of those who were thus commissioned By his denial of Christ he had in appearance forfeited his right to the Apostleship as Judas by betraying him fell really from it To give him and others assurance That he was one