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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A36910	The Young-students-library containing extracts and abridgments of the most valuable books printed in England, and in the forreign journals, from the year sixty five, to this time : to which is added a new essay upon all sorts of learning ... / by the Athenian Society ; also, a large alphabetical table, comprehending the contents of this volume, and of all the Athenian Mercuries and supplements, etc., printed in the year 1691.	Dunton, John, 1659-1733.; Hove, Frederick Hendrick van, 1628?-1698.; Athenian Society (London, England)	1692 (1692)	Wing D2635; ESTC R35551	984,688	524

not necessary nor ordained by the Apostles and he gives many reasons to which he adds divers Examples in Ecclesiastical History by which one may see he believes it not necessary that there be an Union of Discipline amongst the Churches Upon this occasion he particularly makes use of the Epistles of St. Cyprian by which it appears according to Dr. Barrow that every Bishop lay under a double obligation whereof one regarded his Flock in particular the other the whole Church By the first he was obliged to take care that every thing be done in good order in his Church and that nothing should be done which was not for Edification and this should be endeavour'd by taking counsel of his Clergy and his People By the second he was obliged when the good of his Flock required it to confer with other Bishops touching the means of preserving Truth and Peace But in that time a Bishop knew not what it was to be hindered from acting according to the extent of his Power by appealing to a Superior Power to which he was obliged to give an account of the Administration of his Charge Bishops were then as Princes in their Jurisdictions but they omitted not to keep a certain Correspondence for the preserving an universal Peace Statutum est omnibus-nobis saith St. Cyprian ac aequum est pariter ac justum ut uniuscujusque causa illic audiatur ubi est Crimen admissum singulis Pastoribus portio Gregis sit adscripta quam regat unusquisque praepositus rationem actus sui Domino redditurus and elsewhere Qua in re nee nos cuiquam facimus nec Legem damus cum habeat in Ecclesiae administratione voluntate sui liberum arbitrium unusquisque praepositus rationem actus sui Domino redditurus Dr. Barrow shews after this the Inconveniencies which would attend the Government of the Christian Church if it should acknowledge one Visible Head A famous Divine of the Church of England having maintained the Unity of an Ecclesiastical Discipline so that all the Christian Churches ought to be according to him in the nature of a Confederacy which submits every Church in particular to an entire body if it is permitted so to speak Dr. Barrow believes he is obliged to refute this Tenet and to that end he hath drawn from his Works twelve proofs of this Opinion which that Divine has spread in divers places and which he proposed with great care altho' after a manner very obscure and intricate This last Author having objected for instance to those who believe not that the Unity of Discipline is necessary the Article of the Creed where 't is said I believe in the Holy Catholick or Vniversal Church and the Creed of Constantinople where 't is said The Holy Catholick and Apostolick Church Dr. Barrow answers to this that this Article is not in the Abridgment of the Christian Faith which is found in St. Irenaeus Tertullian and St. Cyprian no more than in the Creed of the Council of Nice And 1. That it was not in the Apostles Creed which the Church of Rome makes use of but that it is added after the Times of Ruffinus and St. Augustine against the Heresies and Schisms which sprung up in the Christian Church 2. That it agrees with the Unity of the Catholick Church in many respects and that this is not the manner of Unity which is in Question and which is not decided in the Creed 3 'T is fairly supposed that the Unity which is spoken of in the Creed of Constantinople is that of outward Government 4. That one might reasonably think that the sense of this Article is no other than this That we make profession to remain stedfast in the body of Christians which are scatter'd throughout the whole World and which received the Faith the Discipline and the Manner of living Ordained by Iesus Christ and his Apostles that we are bound to be charitable to all good Christians with which we are ready to Communicate That we are willing to observe the Laws and Constitutions and Ioynt-Opinion of the Churches for the Conservation of Truth Order and Peace Lastly That we renounce all Heretick Doctrines all scandalous Practices and all manner of Factions 5. That it appears that this is the sense of this Article because that he hath put it in the Creed to preserve the Truth Discipline and Peace of the Church 6. That 't is not reasonable to explain this Article in any manner which agrees not with the Apostolick Times and Primitive Church for then there was no Union of Discipline amongst Christians like to what has been since As it was objected to Dr. Barrow that this opinion favours the Independants so afterwards he shews the difference between it and that of these Men after which he draws divers consequences from his own positions as That those who separate from the Communion of the Church in which they live that is established on good foundations are Guilty of Schism and ought to be Censured by and excluded from the Communion of all other Churches and they must not think themselves to be exempted from Error altho some other Church would receive them as a Subject cannot withdraw himself from the obedience of his natural Prince in putting himself under the Protection of another This also is defended by the Apostolick Canons which the antient Church hath observ'd with much Care as Dr. Barrow makes appear by many examples This is according to his opinion a means to extirpate Schisms and not that which is proposed by the Roman Church to wit to Establish a Political Vnion amongst divers Churches by which they are Subordinate to one only Every Church ought to suffer the others to enjoy in peace their Rights and Liberties and content it self to condemn dangerous errours and factions and to assist with Counsel the other Churches when they have need thereof The second Volume contains the explication of the Creed in 34 Sermons upon this Article I believe in the Holy Ghost The rest being briefly explained because that the Author has treated of 'em in other places of his Works marked in a little advertisment which is at the End of his Sermons These Sermons are not simple explications of the Letter of the Creed The Author hath explained the Articles as he had occasion by divers texts of Scripture treating of the matter that he found therein and the particular circumstances of each text He shews first how much doubting is necessary and on the contrary in the two following what Faith is Reasonable and Just. In the fourth and fifth he explains Justification by Faith He afterward proves in four Sermons successively the existence of a Deity by the Works of Creation by the order of the Body of Man consent of all Nations and by supernatural effects The tenth and two following treat of the Unity of God of his power and of the creation of the World In the 13th and to the 20th the Author

Ordination and that it belongs to the Bishop only to confer it and she allows the Distinction of Orders And tho' there is none under a Deacon because the Scripture makes mention of none yet she acknowledges that they are very antient Sixthly As for the Real Presence tho' Dr. Wake treats of it at length we will omit speaking of it until we come to the XII Article where there are many Books seen that concern this Subject Seventhly We receive says the English Expositor with equal Veneration all that comes from the Apostles let it be by Scripture or Tradition provided we be assured that they are the true Authors of the Doctrine or Practice attributed to them so that when we are shewn that a Tradition was received in all Ages and by all Churches then we are ready to receive it as having the Character of an Apostolical Institution So our Church does not reject Tradition but only the Tenets and Superperstitions which Rome pretends to justify after this way Eighthly And as for the Authority of the Vniversal Church of all Ages the English acknowledges 1. That they have received Scripture from their Hands and it is chiefly for this Authority that they look upon Solomon's Song to be Canonical and reject other Books Apocryphal which perhaps they would have received with as much ease These Books have our respect even before we know by reading whether they be worthy of the Spirit of God but this Reading confirms us in the respect which the Authority of the Church gives unto them as to the Holy Writings II. If there had been an Vniversal Tradition not contested that had come from the Apostles to us concerning the meaning of the Holy Books as concerning their number the Church of England would receive it also but she does not believe that a particular Church such as that of Rome should usurp this Priviledge nor that it ought to force others to follow the Interpretations which she gives of the Passages of Scripture III. When any Disputes arise concerning Faith the best way to appease them is to assemble a Council but it does not follow that such an Assembly can say as the Assembly of the Apostles at Ierusalem It seem'd good to the Holy Ghost and to us nor that it is Infallible or that it's Canons are not subject to Correction IV. Dr. Wake goes on and says When we say I believe in the Holy Catholick Church we do not only understand that Iesus Christ has planted a Christian Church which is to last to the end of the World but also that the Son of God will conserve either among the Christians or in the Vniversal Church Truth enough to denominate it such a Church that is he will never suffer that Truths requisite for Salvation should be unknown in any place So that tho' the Vniversal Church can err it does not follow that it can sink altogether nor become wholly erroneous because then it would cease to be but such a particular Church as that of Rome can err and fall into utter Apostacy And tho' the Fundamental Points be clearly contained in Scripture and that it is very hard that one Man alone should gain-say the Opinion of all the Church nevertheless if this Man was certainly convinced that his Opinion was grounded upon the undoubted Authority of the Word of God we would be so far being afraid to bear with him that we all agree that the most glorious Action that St. Athanasius ever did was that he alone maintained Christ's Divinity against the Pope the Councils and all the Church V. And so tho we acknowledge that God has subjected Christians to the Government of the Church for Peaces sake and to preserve Vnity and Order and that she has power to prescribe to her Children what Doctrines are and are not to be publickly taught in her Communion yet we believe that the Holy Scripture is the only Support of our Faith and the last and infallible Rule by which the Church and we are to govern our selves Ninthly That there are some that think that the Church of England makes the Fathers of the three First Ages Idols and equals them in Authority to the Holy Scripture But Mr. Wake will undeceive them for says he Tho' we have appealed to the Churches of the first Ages for new Proofs of the truth of our Doctrine it is not that we think that the Doctors of those times had more right to judge of our Faith than those had that followed them but it is because that after a serious examination we have found that as for what concerns the common Belief that is among us they have believed and practised the same things without adding other Opinions or Superstitions that destroy them wherein they have acted conformably to their and our Rule the Word of God notwithstanding it cannot be denyed but that they effectually fell into some wrong Opinions as that of the Millenaries and Infant Communion which are rejected by both Parties Tenthly Whether one may be saved in the Roman Church the English think that as she yet conserves the Fundamental Doctrines those that live in her Bosom with a disposition to learn and leave off their pernicious Errors and profess all the truth that they will discover may be saved thro' the grace of God and Faith in Jesus Christ and by a general Repentance that puts their Errors in the number of the Sins they do not know of But that ill use may not be made of this charitable Grant the Expositor limits it as followeth I. That it is harder to be saved in the Communion of this Church since the Reformation than it was before because its Errors were not so well known nor so solidly refuted which rendred the ignorance excusable II. That they that live among Protestants and in a Country wherein they may learn and make publick and open profession of the Truth are more condemnable than the other III. That Priests are yet more than Laicks In a word the Protestants hope that the good Men of the Roman Church will be saved but they have no assurance that they are to be saved Whereas they are assured That they will be saved that live Christian-like in their own Communion They do not know whether God will condemn Roman Catholicks for the Errors they professed taking them for truth but they are assured that the Crime of those that being convinced of Popish Superstitions leave the Protestants thro' motives of Interest and Ambition and maintain Tyrannical and Superstitious Tenets against their Consciences deserve no pardon Eleventhly As for Idolatry the Homilies of the Church of England accuse that of Rome as well as the English Doctors who lived under Edward the VI. and Queen Elizabeth The Catholicks object that the Learned of this Kingdom changed Opinion in the Reign of King Iames the First and begun to maintain that the Church of Rome was not Idolatrous but these Gentlemen are so unlucky in Proofs that of six Authors

Baptism all past Sins were Pardoned and blotted out 2. That it is difficult for a Man to reestablish himself in the State of Salvation if he falls into a Mortal sin after Baptism 3. That those who neglect Baptism and die without being Baptized are Damned 4. That those who died without it but who have not neglected nor retarded their Baptism by their fault are neither Glorified nor Punished whether they die in their Infancy or in a more advanced Age they desired to be Baptized We may see by this Doctrin and by several others that the Christian Societies of this Age without excepting one cannot boast of following in all things the Doctrin of the Fathers Divinity has its Revolutions as well as Empires Dissertationes in Irenaeum Auctore Henrico Dodwello A. M. Historices in Academia Oxoniensi Prelectore Camdeniano Accedit fragmentum Philippi Sidetae hactenus ineditum de Catichistarum Alexandrinarum Successione cum notis 1. TThe third Dissertation which is the first we shall speak of is taken up in Examining the time of the Birth and Death of St. Iranaeus as these two Epochs were never took notice of by any Author it must be traced out by the help of Conjecture And thus Mr. Dodwell endeavours it Profane History furnisheth us with no Instances which can help us to discover the Birth of St. Iranaeus because since Tacitus who lived in the Reign of Trajan to the end of the Empire of Commodus we have no exact History and that the Latin Authors of the History of Augustus began after Adrian It is true we have many Monuments and Inscriptions of Trajans whence Constantine the Great compared them to the Herb which we call Pellitory of the Wall But when we are not assisted by History all these Antiquities can no more maintain the weight of Consequences than Types and Figures in Divinity We have no clearer Demonstrations from the History of the Church since the Chronicle of Eusebius is now so corrupt and that the Copiers have occasion'd so much Disorder that one can scarcely find any thing fix'd or certain therein We are therefore now to except the great Insight from the Writings of St. Irenaeus himself which may serve to guide us in these almost unconquerable Darknesses this is the Method our Author follows St. Irenaeus speaks thus of the Apocalypse It is not long since it appeared it was almost in our time at the end of the Reign of Domitian The Latin Interpreter makes use of these words nostro seculo to denote what we have translated in our time and Eusebius who speaks of the same passage saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It remains therefore to know what the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies it is certain that the Ancients distinguish'd Times by Generations some giving Twenty five Years to each Generation and some Thirty and others allowing three Generations to each Age. But all did not assign the same beginning to each Generation According to some the time of Infancy was reckoned for nothing and often said that a thing was done in the time of their Fathers tho' it happened after their own Birth because they had share in it and by reason of their under Age and that they could not remember it They accounted their Generation to begin no sooner than they succeeded their Fathers in the managing of Affairs There were others which begun to reckon their Generation from the very Moment of their Birth and so Eusebius used to do as appears by a place cited by the Author Supposing therefore that Irenaeus begins to reckon his Generation from the very time of his Birth it follows that since he places it almost towards the end of the Empire Domitian he must be born under one of the Successors of this Emperor Nerva reigned but a short time the Empire of Trajan was much longer so tho' the Reign of the first should be reckoned for nothing it must be notwithstanding concluded that St. Irenaeus was born at the beginning of the Reign of Trajan or else under the Empire of Nerva S. Irenaeus saith also in a Letter which he writ to Florinus that he had seen him in Asia whilst he was but young 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with St. Polycarp Mr. Dodwell endeavours to prove that this Father gave the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to Persons of Twenty five and Thirty Years of Age whence he concludes that he was more than Twenty five but he was not Thirty Year old when he was in Asia with Polycarp We likewise read these words of this Father in the same Letter to Florinus I saw you whilst I was but a Child in the lower Asia with Polycarp when you made a great Figure at the Royal Court and endeavoured to insinuate your self into the mind of this Holy Man He shews that by this Royal Court that of the Emperor Adrian must be understood who could not make so quiet a Voyage into Asia as to give occasion to Florinus to pursue a Friendship with Polycarp before the Year CXXII of the Common Aera of Iesus Christ. In fine St. Irenaeus tells us in the same Letter That he often heard Polycarp say upon the Subject of the first Founders of Heresie who openly divided the Church in his time O God to what time am I reserved We need then only know precisely the time in which the Hereticks Marcion Basilides Valentinus Saturninus Cerdon and others took off their Masks Mr. Dodwell endeavours to shew that it was in the same Year of the Voyage of Adrian CXXII so that St. Irenaeus being then Twenty five Years it follows that he was born toward the XCVII Year of Iesus Christ far from the common opinion which says he was not born till the CXL Year of our Lord. Mr. Dodwell hath made appear in his first Dissertation that the Hereticks came from amongst the Jews and separated by a publick Schism from the Christians but under the Empire of Trajan These are some of the Reasons he hath made use of Hegesippus tells us in a passage which Eusebius preserv'd for us that the Church remained a Virgin during the Life of the Apostles and the first Disciples of our Lord and that it was after their Death that Men publickly preach'd against the Truth This same Author saith also That the first that separated himself from the Church was one Thebutis because he was not raised to the Episcopacy of Ierusalem which happened as Hegesippus says after the Death of Simeon Son of Cleophas and under the Empire of Trajan Whence it follows that this Thebutis separated himself from the Church not till the Year CXVI of our Lord and the last but one of this Prince seeing that since the Death of Simeon the See of Ierusalem was vacant but that Year The Author confirms all this by Passages of St. Paul St. Iohn St. Peter and St. Iude who observe as he pretends that there were many False Doctors arisen when

perfect and we know not what those meant who had the care of this Edition in putting in the Latin Title Opus integrum unless these words signifie only that there have been inserted in divers places additions which the Author had made 1. For to conceive well the change which happened by little and little in the Christian Church we must begin at the Original and consider the State in which it was for the first six Ages Hegesippus assures us that during the Life of the Apostles Hereticks scarcely durst appear but that as soon as these Holy men were dead a great number of them were seen openly to oppose the truth In that time divers Philosophers attacked the Christian Religion with so much the more boldness that the Christians were destitute of Persons who could refute the Pagan Religion and defend Christianity with sufficient eloquence This is what Lactantius testifies in these words Si qui sorte literatorum ad eam contulerunt defensioni ejus veritatis non suffecerunt And a little lower after having named Minucius Faelix Tertullian and Cyprian quia defuerunt apud nostros idonei peritique Doctores qui vehementer qui acriter errores publicos redarguerent qui causam omnem veritatis ornate copioseque desenderent provocavit quosdam hac ipsa penuria ut auderent scribere contra ignotam sibi veritatem This scarcity of able men made many Hereticks to slip in amongst the Christians and easily seduced the weak and ignorant who were in a very great number But as soon as there were Christian Emperours the corruption was much greater pleasures began to be introduced into the Christian Church and amongst Ecclesiasticks there appear'd Enmities and Divisions And because Bishops were rich and considerable they made use of all manner of means to attain Bishopricks and when they came to it they assum●d a Tyrannical Authority These disorders always encreased until they came to a great head as Vsher shews is too evident by many passages of famous Authors who have left us frightful Characters of the corruption of their Ages It encreased particularly in the time of Boniface III. who came to the Chair in Dcvi and who obtained of the Emperor Phocas the title of Ecumenick Bishop and Chief of the Church The Historians of that time describe this Phocas as the wickedest man in his Age and Cedrenus saith that a holy Monk having asked of God several times why he had made Phocas Emperour a voice from Heaven at last answered him Because I have found none worse This History true or false marks the horrour People had for the memory of Phocas Vsher believes that it was then that Antichrist came into the World and that he was during some Ages but in his Childhood Boniface according to him contributed not a little to the establishing and extending his Empire Yet there were Assemblies held and couragious Persons found that opposed the progresses of certain Tenets who have much contributed to the Grandeur of the Ecclesiasticks in general and Popes in particular amongst which our Author seeks for Antichrist as most part of the Protestants do A Council composed of cccxxxviii Bishops condemned in the year Dccliv at Constantinople the worship of Images and gave this reason for their proceeding that there is but one Image instituted by Jesus Christ to wit the Bread and Wine of the Eucharist which represent his Body and Blood Although the second Council of Nice opposed it and re-established the worship of Images in Dcclxxxvii These Canons were rejected in the West by the Churches of great Britain as our Archbishop shews by divers English Authors The Churches of Germany and France did the like in Dccxciv in the Council of Francfort the History of which may be seen as well as that o● Nice in a Dissertation of Mr. Alix's intituled Dissertatio de Conciliorum quorumvis definitionibus expendendis at Paris 1680 in 8 vo Charlemagne writ himself against Images and sent what he writ to Pope Adrian who had had his Legates at the Council of Nice and who had approved thereof But it is not the custom of Popes to learn Religion from any one Adrian had no respect to the remonstrances of Charlemagne whom he endeavoured even to refute the Images were adored at Rome as much then as before and his Successors did as much as he 'T was this that obliged Lewis the meek to convocate in DCCCXXV an Assembly of learned men at Paris who examined the question of Images and condemned their worship They even collected a great many passages out of the Ancients who disapproved them and sent them to Pope Eugenius II. by Ieremy Bishop o● Sens and Ionas Bishop of Orleance with order to treat mildly of this Affair fearing that in resisting too much they should engage him to an obstinacy whence he would not recede In DCCCXXXIII The Sons of Lewis the meek having conspired against him the rumour run in France that Gregory the fourth was onward in his way to come thither to excommunicate Lewis and those of his party but the Bishops who were engaged in the Interests of this Prince declared that they would submit in no wise to his will and that if he came to excommunicate them he would return himself excommunicated Vsher besides relates divers other examples by which it appears that the Liberty of the Churches of France and Germany was not yet quite extinguished even at the end of the tenth Age seeing it was thought strange that a Cardinal sent from Rome blessed a Chappel in the Diocess of Tours without the permission of the Bishop of that City There are also remarkable words of Arnulph Bishop of Orleance in a Council of Rheims held in DCCCCXCII where he saith speaking of the Pope If he is destitute of Charity and pufft up only with his Knowledge he is the Antichrist who is seated in the Temple of God and who shews himself as if he was a God But if he has neither Charity nor Wisdom he is in the Temple of God as a Statue or as an Idol from whom an answer can be no more expected than from a Marble Si caritate destituitur solaque scientiâ inslatur extollitur Antichristus est in Templo Dei sedens se ostendens tanquam sit Deus Si autem caritate fundatur nec scientia erigitur in Templo Dei tanquam Statua tanquam Idolum est à quo responsa petere marmora consulere est If this principle of Arnulph is true it 's requisite the Defendors of Popes discover by what wonder they are all full of Charity and Learning altho' they appear in our eyes either Ignorant or Proud and oftentimes both together Vsher then sheweth how that the Tenet of Transubstantiation was much resisted which began to be introduced in the ninth Age. He rangeth among the Defenders of the spiritual presence Rabanus Maurus Bertram Iohn Scot Erigene and several others upon which we may consult Mr. Arnauld and Claude in their dispute

Understanding wherefore to enlighten the Understanding its sufficient to encline the Passions and the Will That is to say before all things we must perswade the Understanding because a Man can't will or consent where he is not convinc'd whence it follows that the Understanding inclines the Will when it is perswaded there must not be an immediate Action of the Mind upon the Will because there must be only a Predication to enlighten and convince the Understanding by the Evidence of Truth Mr. Iurieu who hath studied much the heart of Man and knew all its foldings tells us quite contrary viz. That 't is the Passions and not the Understanding which determins the Will They prevent deliberation the violent Motions which they cause leave not the Understanding time to judge Video Mcliora Proboque Deteriora sequor This is the condition of all Men. They raise up an Eternal War in themselves and after much strugling they are carry'd away to sensible Objects and Charms in spight of the Light of the Understanding Man believes a thousand things only because he wou'd believe 'em and his Passions plead for an Interest even the Air of a Mans Face changes according to the Nature of the Passions so much is Passion the Mistress of the Judgment In fine according to Mr. Iurieu the Understanding is so little Master of the Will that we ought to look upon it as a Passive Faculty which receives Ideas as they are imprest upon it 't is an Ice which receives Images and reflects 'em more or less distinctly now as it acquiesces it determines not the Will ceases not to revolt and follow the Motions of the Passions If the Understanding resists it is only in those things wherein it hath not acquir'd a habitude of Sinning without remorse and which stay upon the brink of the Precipice being at a loss how to free themselves The Understanding is almost always subject to the Will which disposes of all its Reasonings whence we may conclude that 't is not necessary to pass through the Understanding in order to penetrate the Will and as it is this which determines so 't is this by which the Holy Ghost also Acts immediately upon the Mind Thus the Joy that the Souls of the Faithful possess is not a Reason'd Motion nor does it arise from reflection 't is inward Grace which gives it birth In fine it must be an immediate Action of the Holy Ghost upon the Will to overcome its inclination to Evil and draw it back from sensible things The other Proposition we have chosen is this That the Word of God contains Moral Demonstrations capable of themselves only to produce a full and intire certainty of the truth of it That is to say the Scripture has such Evident Characters of the Divinity of its Author that they are sufficient to form this certain perswasion viz. The Scripture is Divine I know not says Mr. Iurieu that ever man yet durst advance what these Gentlemen have done without having a design to lessen the Power and Light of these Holy Characters I dare affirm that there 's not one which can't be avoided by the profane not one that will amount to a proof or to which nothing can be objected But say these Gentlemen It is true there 's nothing which the Mind of Man can't turn into Darkness nevertheless if these Characters of Scripture are not sufficiently evident to produce this certainty will it be a fault in the Wisdom of God to make use of means which are incapable of producing the Effect which he proposed And will it be a lawful excuse for those who are chain'd in the Darkness of Paganism God will only reprove the mal●ce of their heart and the source of their incredulity since he hath hid his Word under so great obscurity that the Characters of Divinity which it bears along with it cannot make one proof They add that if by the Assistance of the Holy Spirit there are not found in Scripture sufficient proofs to produce a certainty which excludes the fear that the Contrary can't be true as Mr. Iurieu says himself then there will be an eternal restlesness For a man can't be fully assur'd that the Scripture is Divine by the Scripture it self doubtless Grace can form a confidence which excludes all doubts that the Scripture is Divine But as Grace is not so prevalent that one can't sometimes be perswaded by the prejudices and darkness of Reason instead of that of Grace So that one shall be at a loss to be so much assured of the Divinity of the Scripture that there won't rest some doubt and some fear that the contrary will be true In fine can't the Scripture be said at least to produce a certain and humane Faith without the Assistance of the Holy Spirit and can't we convince a Heathen that it is Divine by the Light of Reason only Mr. Iurieu confesses that there is nothing appears more contrary to Reason than that these Character of themselves shou'd be able to produce an intire certainty For Man is full of Errors and prejudices which blind his Understanding and hinder him from discovering the Truth Besides the subtilty of Mysteries and their disproportion with the powers of the Soul distract the Reason and cause Insurrections in it Thus he pretends we can have only that certainty of the Divinity of the Scripture that he calls Adhesion which is produced from the Importance and not Evidence of the thing For Example I believe that such a one is my Father I have no demonstration of it says he but the importance of this Truth upon which the Obedience I owe him is founded and the right to his Succession makes my Will adhere thereto Thus as Sensible Advantages recur from this great Truth the Scripture is Divine so it is the visible interest of man to believe whatsover that Commands and that his Will shou'd be absolutely determined by it In a Word the Holy Spirit which acts in us produces with these Characters a greater certainty than naturally could be produced and creates an inward sense of the sweet Efficacy of the Word Without the Operation of Grace the Scripture wou'd continue like an unfruitful Seed upon the heart for it is that which strengthens and encourages the Mind against all its doubts and diffidence The last Proposition that we shall examine is that the Word of God Preacht under Proper External Circumstances manag'd by Providence may cause an Irresistible Grace and overcome all the wickedness of Mans Heart This is the Foundation of the Controversy in Question Mr. Iurieu makes no scruple of saying that this is a Pelagian Opinion and that it wou'd be to make use of the Hereticks Arms which have disturb'd the Church God said Pelagiu● works in us the Will to do what is Holy and Good by Inflaming us with the Prospect and Recompence of future Glory to draw us back from Earthly Concupisence in which we are overwhelm'd Now the Scripture is