but of one medium and that a false one too for 't is nothing else but a groundless supposition that Men would want due means for the examination of their Religion were the Press any whit restrained I say any whit for we do not plead for a total Restraint but for a just and due Regulation And were the Press so regulated yet would it not be attended with any of these ill Consequences with which this Author is pleased to charge it for since Men have sufficient means for the trial of their Religion if they do it not their fin and folly must be imputed not to the Restraint of the Press but to their own Ignorance or Negligence for as some cannot so others will not But our Author goeth on and so must we SECT VII 5. THis Author's fifth Allegation against the Restraint of the Press takes up more than three Pages but the full Substance of it is this It prevents Acts of Charity to the Souls of Men it invades the natural Rights of mankind and destroys the common Tyes of humanity so he This is Dogmatically and Magisterially delivered and since it is such ◠grievous Charge it had need be very well proved And how doth our Author make it out He tells us That all Men are obliged especially in Matters of Religion to communicate to one another what they think is the Truth and the Reasons by which they endeavour to prove it To which I answer thus That we are indeed concerned not only to profess a Religion but promote it too I think that he who hath one jot thereof will never deny We are bound by several Obligations to instruct and teach our Neighbour in the Principles of that Religion which we own our selves St. Paul commands it Edify one another and so again Teach and admonish one another We are engaged by the frequent Commands of God and that eternal Law of Charity in our Capacities and as occasion is offered to propagate our Religion to plant it where it is not and to water it where it is But then methinks before we do this we should not only think as this Author saith but secure our selves and others too that the Religion which we advance in the World be indeed the Religion of God we must be sure that we plant not Weeds instead of Flowers that we sow not Tares instead of Wheat For to promote a Religion which may possibly be false were a desperate Venture indeed and he that doth it hazards the Honour of God and the Souls of Men. I find that our blessed Saviour and his Apostles taught no Doctrine but what they were sure of We speak that we know saith our Lord and thus St. John We know that we are of the Truth Certainly whosoever undertakes and is obliged to instruct another in matters of Religion had need be very well informed himself For if our Directions should chance to prove wrong What Excuse could we make Suppose we instil into the minds of Men Error and Heresie instead of Truth What were this but to ruin the Souls of Men though we might think to save them It 's true our good Intention and Ignorance may excuse such an ill Act à tanto but though such a mistake may somewhat extenuate the Fault yet can it no way lessen the fatal Consequence that doth attend it Suppose a Physician who really intends to cure his Patient by a mistake of his Remedy should chance to kill him the poor Patient who dieth only by a mistake suffers as great an injury as if his Physician had poysoned him knowingly and with design 'T is indeed an Act of Charity to instruct the Ignorant and lead the Blind but withal the Man who undertakes it must have Eyes in his own Head lest if the blind lead the blind they both fall into and perish in the Ditch Certain it is we are much engaged very strictly to sift the Grounds of that Religion which we are to propagate in the World and teach our Neighbours lest otherwise through our own mistake and his confidence we become guilty of cruel Charity and prove instrumental to damn that Person whom we should endeavour as far as we can to save And as it is a dangerous thing for private Persons to promote any false Religion though they themselves being mistaken do think it true so to permit other Men to publish heretical Doctrins cannot be the Duty of those Persons who have Authority and should have Zeal to prevent it To restrain this unchristian Liberty of the Tongue Pen and Press is not as this Author doth boldly assert To invade the natural Rights of mankind nor to destroy the common Tyes of humanity For if it be a Man's natural Right to persuade his Neighbour either by his Tongue or his Pen to entertain an Opinion really heretical whether he thinks it so or not 't is also his natural Right to draw him into Sin for if he prevail that will be finis operis though not operantis it will be the issue of the Act though it were not the intention of the Agent We cannot doubt but that St. Paul very well understood what natural Right every Man hath to use his Tongue and in what cases he ought to do it and thereby to communicate his Thoughts to his Neighbours but suppose a Man's Thoughts be wild and his Opinions heretical must he be left at Liberty to impart such Thoughts and vent such Opinions even as he pleaseth See what St. Paul saith concerning Hereticks Their mouths must be stopped i. e. they must not be permitted by personal Conferences to communicate their ill Opinions to inform or which is all one to corrupt the Judgments of other Men so thought St. Paul Now he who pleads for an universal Liberty as the natural Right of all Mankind to communicate to other Men whatever they think to be a Truth whether it be so or not must censure St. Paul as a Man either ignorant or else an invader of Men's natural Right since he so positively declares that some Men's Mouths must be stopped And in order to this the same Apostle gave Bishop Titus this Direction A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject i. e. excommunicate him cast him out of the Church and certainly if the Person of an obstinate Heretick must be rejected his Books may not be admitted for as to his Person his Breath is infectious His words eat like a Canker and as to his Writings there is in his Ink more Poysons than one Now since there are so many heretical Pens at work amongst us there is great need now if ever that some spiritual Argus should attend and watch the Press lest more venemous Doctrins should steal from thence to infect and kill the Souls of Men. And this I think is a sufficient Answer to this Author's fifth Allegation SECT VIII 6. THis Author's sixth Allegation against the Restraint of the Press
unhappy as not to apprehend the Mysteries of Religion Doubtless the Reason must needs be this their own Understandings though exercised to their utmost Ability could not inform them better for want of some other and clearer Light And what was their Case would have been ours had not God enlightened and blessed the Christian Church with Divine Revelation But withal this great Blessing of Divine Revelation doth not exclude but require the very utmost Exercise of human Reason for we must employ not only our Eyes or Tongues but our Understandings in reading the Word of God it must be our great Endeavour by the use of all proper means to find out the true Meaning of what we read and when upon good Grounds we are satisfied that the right Sense of such or such a Text is this or that though the Matter therein delivered be above the reach of our Reason yet the same Reason will oblige us to believe it as an undoubted Truth because that God who cannot lie hath so revealed it And this I think is all which humane Reason hath to do in Matters of Faith and Worship unless it be to oblige us to the Practice of what we know and believe To conclude this Subject our Lord saith of himself I am the light of the world the same thing he said to his Apostles too ye are the light of the world so they were not only by their Holy Example but by their Holy Doctrine too Why else doth the Apostle mention the Glorious Light of the Gospel The Light of Reason is but as the Light of a Glow worm the Light of the Law is but as the Light of a Star but the Light of the Gospel is as the Light of the Sun a very glorious Light indeed Now if this be true if Christ himself if the Apostles of Christ if the Gospel of Christ be so many Lights differing in Number had not this Author strangely forgot himself and his Bible when he told the World in his printed Paper that the Reason of Man is the Light nay the only Light which God hath given him to distinguish the true Religion from the false ones and again that God hath given to Men no other Guide but their Reason to bring them to Happiness and yet a third time that the People's common Notions are the Tests and Standards of all Truths If these three Propositions be true or any one of them I do confess that the small Light of my own Reason hath not yet enabled me to discern any difference betwixt the clearest Truths and the grossest Errors And verily the exposing such notorious Falshoods to the view of the World by the help of the Press is a very strong Argument why its Liberty should be restrained But to go on SECT II. THE main Arguments which this Author pleads for an universal Freedom of the Press are drawn from these two Topicks First From the great Usefulness of Printing which hath been so very beneficial to the Christian Church Secondly From several great Inconveniencies which as he saith would follow were the Press once more restrained and limited I. This Author pleads the great Usefulness of Printing as an Argument that the Press should be unlimited To which I answer Two ways 1. By way of Concession we do easily grant that the Invention of Printing hath proved very beneficial to the Christian Church 'T is this which hath diffused the knowledge of useful Arts and Sciences and all sorts of humane Learning 'T is this which hath furnished our Libraries with vast Numbers of excellent Books 'T is this which hath furnished our Churches and our Families with great Store of Bibles and we easily grant what this Author asserts that to this Art of Printing we owe under God the happy and quick Progress of the Reformation But 2. By way of denial we cannot grant that the usefulness of the Press is a good Argument that its Liberty should be unlimited For notwithstanding these great Advantages which both Religon and Learning have reaped from this curious Art of Printing may not it as well as many other things very useful in their own Nature be so abused and perverted as to become Instrumental to the great Detriment of Mankind 'T is an old Rule corruptio optimi pessima the better things are when well used the worse they grow when corrupted The Sword is an excellent Instrument when it defends the guiltless but it proves an unhappy Tool when it murders the Innocent Physick duly administred by a Learned Physician may preserve a Life but being misapplied by an ignorant Mountebank it tends to destroy it 'T is certain that the Art of Printing hath done a great deal of good and we are to bless God for it but withal it is as certain that it hath done and still may do a great deal of Mischief and we are to lament it When the Press tends to promote Religion and Virtue 't is well employed and ought to be encouraged but when the Press tends to promote Vice and Irreligion it ought to be discountenanced and restrained 'T is evident that the Press hath been used to publish a great Numbers of such Papers as tend to debauch the Lives and corrupt the Judgments of Men such are our obscene Poems our profane and wanton Stage-plays where Vice is not only represented but so promoted that we may justly fear that as all their Spectators lose their Time so many of them may lose their Innocence too For since the Hearts of Men are so prone to evil and become so like to tinder apt to take Fire from every little Spark 't is hard to see those Vices which are pleasing to Flesh and Blood represented upon a publick Stage and yet not be infected by them And as these are very like to debauch their Spectator's Morals so are there many other printed Papers as like to corrupt their Reader 's Judgments Such are those many Volumes printed in Defence of Popery and which is worse such are those Books printed in the Defence of Arianism Socinianism and other Heresies justly condemned by the Catholick Church in the first and purest Ages of Christianity 'T is reported that our modern Socinians have already perverted a considerable Number of Men not only by their personal Insinuations but by their printed Papers and 't is very probable that they may yet make many more Proselytes to their dangerous Opinion if the Press be still permitted to publish whatever they think fit to write For their Books contain Arguments so plausible so seemingly strong that they may pass for clear Evidences and Demonstrations amongst the unlearned Multitude who are in no capacity to discover the Fallacies that lie in them Now since the Press may as well do harm as good 't is very reasonable that it should be well regulated to promote that good and prevent that harm 't is very fit that no new Books should be published till they have been first supervised and allowed
is this There is no medium between Men's judging for themselves and giving up their Judgments to others We grant it but what then His Inference is this If the first be their Duty the Press ought not to be restrained But why not His Reason is again the same because it debars Men from seeing those Allegations by which they are to inform their Judgments That 's his Argument to which I answer thus We must distinguish betwixt Man and Man betwixt such as can judge for themselves and such as cannot where the Scripture is express the Words plain and the Sense easie every Man who hath a competent use of Reason and can read his Bible may judge for himself But when several Interpretations are given of any Texts when Doubts are raised when Arguments are produced to defend both Parts of a Contradiction there is a vast number of Men who are no more able to judge which is true and which is false than a blind Man is to distinguish betwixt a good Colour and a bad one 'T is the great unhappiness of such Persons that in matters of Controversy they cannot rely upon their own weak Reason but must either suspend their Judgments or else give it up to the Conduct of some other Person and who is so fit to be trusted with it as their own Ministers provided they be as every Minister should be Men of Piety and Parts able to satisfie Doubts remove Scruples and convince Gainsayers But if Men give up their Reason to the Clergy this Author who vilifieth our Clergy as much as possible he can gives our People an intimation that by so doing they make us the Lords of their Faith But how doth that follow suppose two Persons are engaged in a doubtful Controversie about an Estate claimed by both these Persons being of themselves unable to determine the Case appeal to the King's Judges but do they thereby make those Judges the Lords of that Estate which is contended for surely no the Judge doth no more than according to Evidence and Law declare to which Person that Estate doth justly belong So it is in our present Case several Parties of Men lay Claim to Truth as theirs and produce Evidences for it Now a Man unable to satisfie himself which side Truth is to be found consults his Minister who by Evidence of Scripture which in this case is the only Law assures his Neighbour the Truth lieth here or there And indeed that the Minister is the most proper Judge in Controversies relating to Religion we cannot doubt if we dare believe the Prophet who saith The Priest's lips should preserve knowledge and they should seek the Law at his mouth for he is the messenger of the Lord of Hosts This Text doth not constitute us nor do we pretend to be Lords of our People's Faith but as the Apostle speaks Helpers to the Truth We do not require any weak Believer's assent to any one Article of Faith whereunto God requires it not though the Church of Rome doth so And how unjustly then without Modesty or Truth doth this Man stigmatize us as Lords of our People's Faith But beside those weak Christians who in controverted Points cannot judge for themselves there are some other of clearer Heads and more improved Understandings that can and for their sakes this Author saith that the Press ought not to be restrained and his Reason is this Because the Restraint of the Press debars them from seeing those Allegations by which they are to confirm their Judgments This Argument in effect hath already been offered once and again and hath as often been replied to but for the greater satisfaction of my Reader I shall again consider and enlarge my Answer to it and this it is Not knowing and intelligent Christian who is well able to judge for himself can want any new Allegations from the Press to confirm his Judgments in any disputed Points of Faith or Worship because we have already sufficient Rules to judge by For 1. We have the Scripture preached in our publick Churches and if we please we may read and consider them in our private Families and Closets And here I do again affirm that all matters of revealed Religion must be examined proved and determined by the written Word of God This is the only sure balance to weigh and touch stone to try all Matters of Faith and Worship To this our Lord sent his hearers Search the Scriptures and again How readest thou And which is remarkable the ignorance of Scripture did he make the only occasion and ground of Error in Points of Faith so he told the Sadducees Ye err but why not knowing the Scriptures by which our Lord himself proved that great Doctrine of the Resurrection which they denied And when our Lord would prove himself to be a greater Person than David he did it by that Text The Lord said unto my Lord c. This course took our blessed Saviour and so did his Apostles too and so must we we must take the Scripture for our Guide in Matters of Religion for that is the only and infallible Rule and unalterable Standard to measure all the Doctrines and Practices which such or such a Church doth teach recommend or require from us But if it shall be again demanded who must be the Judg whether amongst different Interpretations of Holy Writ this or that be the true one whether in controverted Points such or such a Text do certainly warrant such or such a Doctrine as is grounded thereon I answer again 2. We have the united Judgment and Decrees of several Councils those I mean that were convened in the first and purest times before the Superstitions and Idolatries of Rome had crept in by degrees thro' carelesness vice and ignorance and over-spread the Church The grand Controversie now on foot amongst us concerns the Divinity of Christ the Personality and Deity of the Holy Ghost that Christ in the most strict and proper Sense of that Notion is truly God that the Holy Ghost is a Person and a Divine Person we affirm but our Socinians who are the spawn of old Arius make bold to deny To justifie our Doctrine we cite such and such Texts and to establish their Opinions as well as they can they do the same thing as for the Scripture which we produce to prove the Doctrine of the Trinity because humane Reason cannot comprehend it they do either question the Authority of such Texts or else they wrest them to such an intolerable Sense as every sober Man's Reason may justly abhor Now the Question is Who must judge betwixt us and them Who must determine whether the Scripture be on their side or ours I answer That Heterodox Opinion now much contended for which we call Socinian did appear under some other Names very early in the Christian Church In the first Age the Godhead of Christ was denied by the Jews and particularly by Ebion in the Third Century by
one Theodatus Artemon and Beryllus and Sabellius in the Fourth Century by Arius Eunomius and some others And in the same Age the Personality and Divinity of the Holy Ghost was denied by Macedonius and some others who were there branded by a particular Name and called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Oppugners of the Holy Ghost These Heterodox Opinions beginning to spread and disturb the Peace of the Christian Church and some other ill Opinions arising too several General Councils were summoned by several Christian Emperors the Nicene Council by Constantine the Great whose main work was to examine the Opinion of Arius the Council of Constantinople called by Theodosius the First to debate the Opinion of Macedonius the Council of Ephesus called by Theodosius the Second to consider the Opinion of Nestorius and the Council of Chalcedon summoned by the Emperor Martian to consult about the Opinion of Eutyches These Councils consisting of some Hundreds of Bishops having the Glory of God in their Hearts the Settlement of the Church in their Eyes and the Bible in their Hands did after a mature deliberation pronounce the Opinions of these Men to be contrary to the Doctrine of the Gospel and the obstinate defenders of them to be Hereticks And certainly the determinations of these General Councils which were made up of Persons exemplary for their Piety and eminent for their Learning who resolved on nothing without mature Advice and Deliberation are of as great Authority and afford as much Satisfaction in Matters of Religion as any thing of Man can be or do For the Truths of God once taught the World by Christ and his Apostles being unchangeable for ever and our Bibles which are the only Rule to measure Religions by continuing one and the same for ever that which was an Error in those early days must needs be an Error still and that which was a Truth then must needs be a Truth now And if we cannot think of any more proper means for the right understanding of Scripture and the discovery of Truth and Error than the deliberate and unanimous Judgment of so many hundred pious learned and unbiassed Men assembled together then certainly the determinations of those antient Councils are very considerable Evidences for Truth and against Error And the rather because they consisted of such Persons who besides their eminent Piety and Learning had the great Advantage of living nearer the Apostles age and thereby were the better able to inform themselves and us what was certainly believed and done in the very infancy of the Christian Church SECT IX 3. THE Writings of the Antient Fathers those especially that lived within the first six Centuries where-ever they agree and are not since corrupted or maimed by the Frauds and Forgeries of the Roman Church are of singular use in this Matter too That Ignatius Clemens Origen Athanasius Cyril Nazianzene Basil Chrysostom Hierom Austin and many others both in the Eastern and Western Churches were indeed Persons of great Piety and excellent Parts our Socinians without breach of Modesty cannot deny And although some of these great Names in some particular Matters had their peculiar mistakes and shewed themselves to be but Men yet in all Points where we find an unanimous Consent amongst them we are to have so much Veneration for their Authority as not easily to suspect or contradict it True it is if we take these Fathers singly Man by Man where we find any of them alone in their Opinions as Origen in reference to the Punishments of Hell and St. Austin in reference to Infants that die unbaptised we are not in this case much more obliged to accept their Judgment than the Judgment of some single Person yet alive But if we take All the Fathers who lived within six hundred Years after Christ together and in a lump where we find them One in Judgment they are enough to make a wiser Council than any hath been since their time they are enough to inform us what is Error and what is Truth But SECT X. 4. BEcause Learned Men whose Fortunes are Mean cannot purchase and unlearned Men whose Intellectuals are weak cannot read and understand the voluminous Writings of the Fathers we have several Systems of Divinity Confessions of Faith short Abridgments of Christian Religion which are especially to unlearned Persons great helps in this matter too And here methinks those antient Creeds of the Apostles Nice and Athanasius which are so generally received by the Church of God are of great Authority to settle our Judgment in the main and most necessary Points of Faith Besides we have many Choice and Excellent Catechisms composed by Men that were Pious Judicious acquainted with Scriptures well versed in the Primitive Councils and Fathers These short Catechisms compiled by Persons of singular Endowments and approved by the Church are little less than contracted Bibles containing in them whatever Man is obliged to know and delivering enough in easie Terms to inform us in Matters of Practice to secure us from Errors and confirm our Judgments in all the great Points of Faith In short the substance of my Answer to this Argument is this since we have the written Word of God to be our Rule and since this Word in some material Cases according to the different Fancies and Interests of Men hath different Interpretations given concerning its true Sense and Meaning 't is our safest way for our better Satisfaction to betake our selves to the most able faithful and unbiassed Judges and they are the most antient Councils and the Primitive Fathers whose Judgments are declared in our several Creeds in other publick Confessions of Faith and Orthodox Catechisms set forth or approved by the Church of God And since we are very well stored with these excellent Helps I do once more conclude that no Man whether learned or unlearned can need any new Arguments from the Press to confirm his Judgment in Matters of Religion SECT XI 7. THis Author's seventh Allegation against the Restraint of the Press runs thus If it be unlawful to let the Press continue free lest it furnish Men with the Reasons of one Party as well as the other it must be as unlawful to examine those Reasons To this I answer thus We must distinguish between Party and Party between one who is Orthodox and one who is Heretical this distinction being premised I shall resolve this Hypothetical Proposition into these two Categorical ones That it is not lawful for many Orthodox Christians to Examine those Reasons which Hereticks may urge in defence of their ill Opinions And therefore that the Press should not be permitted to furnish such Christians with any such Reasons 'T is notoriously known that there are amongst us vast numbers of Persons who are of weak Judgments not firmly established in their Faith not able to distinguish Truth from Falshood in a fallacious Argument and therefore are apt to be Tossed up and down by every wind of doctrine now for such