be believ'd as a Necessary Point in order to give a man the denomination of a Disciple of Christ or a True Christian and for this reason our False Masker conceals this place even when he was pretending to give an account of those Texts which mentioned our Blessed Saviours Commissions to his Apostles This shews what a Perfidious Scribe we have got one that makes nothing of wilfully leaving out any Text of Scripture to further his design and purpose and at other times he as wilfully perverts plain Texts to the same end The consideration of which strange behaviour will I doubt not obtain me an Excuse among Impartial and Intelligent Readers for my manner of handling this Adversary whose obstinate Hypocrisy and dissimulation call for no other than the severest Chastisements and Correptions though I confess it is with no mean regret and reluctancy that I put my self upon this way of writing but tâ—ere is no help for it in the present case he must of necessity be disciplined and taught as the men of Succoth with Thorns and Briars I should not have undertaken this task upon my own private and personal account because Contempt and Neglect are the best Return in this case but when I saw our Holy Religion endanger'd by his sacrilegious attempts of depriving us of the greatest part of it and when I observ'd his Rude encroachments on the Profess'd Schools of Learning I found it was a Publick Cause and that every one who would had a right to engage in it and to oppose him as a Common Foe as a Proclaim'd Rebel as an Out-Law as a Pest of the Community and to treat him accordingly I will stay a little to examine one ridiculous passage p. 304 I had offer'd to prove that there is more than that One Article Iesus is the Messias to be believ'd to make a man a Christian by producing that place Rom. 10. 9. If thou shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him i. e. Christ Jesus from the dead thou shalt be saved where the belief of Christs Resurrection is propounded as absolutely necessary to salvation and if so then Iesus is the Messias is not the Only Article as he often inculcates What is his Answer to this To believe the Resurrection of Christ saith he is in effect the same as to believe him to be the Messias and so is put to express it And again p. 305. Believing Christs Resurrection is put for believing him to be the Messias so that these which seem to be Two Articles are but one and the same And if they be so then why throughout all his Collection of places out of the Evangelists and Acts did he not mention all those Texts which are very many that speak of our Saviour's Resurrection and why did he not reckon them to be the same with those that speak of Iesus's being the Messias Why did he not all along tell us that one is put to express the other The true Reason is because he thought of no such thing at that time but hath invented it since to shift off what I said This is such an other piece of Invention as that in his First Vindication p. 6. that he designed his Treatise of the Reasonableness of Christianity chiefly for Infirm Christians such as disbeliev'd or doubted of the Truth of Christianity and again in his Second Vindication p. 152. he saith he chiefly design'd his book for Deists though bâ— the way we may take notice of his Contradicting himself for Deists are no Christians and if he design'd his book chiefly for one he cou'd not design it chiefly for the other And yet if you consult his whole Treatise of the Reasonableness of Christianity you shall not find one syllable that intimates any such Design though there if any where he was obliged to discover and declare it that the Reader might not mistake the Intention of his book This proves that what he hath since added in both his Vindications is mere Fiction and Sham and he was forced to fly to this Asylum when I hâ—d laid open the mischief of his Papers This may convince us that he will first assert and print any thing and then afterwards he will in his Sniveling way come and Retract it or gloss it over with some pitiful Evasion But where is the Probity where is the Integrity of the Man all this while Nay to return to the Present Matter it is plain that he designedly omitted those places which mention our Saviours Resurrection because it was his perswasion that they belong not to this Proposition Iesus is the Messias He declares as you lately heard that in St. Peters Sermon Christs Resurrection as well as his Sufferings and Death was brought in only by the bye and was not a Principal Article was not principally aym'd at but that this Proposition Iesus is the Messias is the sole Truth the Apostle labour'd to bring them to the belief of and lately we were told by him that the Resurrection of Christ is no more to be believ'd to make a man a Christian than any Ordinary Truth or Proposition recorded in the New Testament Yet after all this he palpably contradicts what he hath said and in plain terms tells us that Christ's Resurrection and his being the Messias are the very same and one is put to express the other Before he held them to be distinct and so distinct that where he found the one he could not find the other as in several places of the New Testament that he consulted The Resurrection of our Lord was not taken notice of by him as appertaining to the Messiaship When St. Peter in the main part of his Sermon preached concerning Christ's Resurrection our Expositor told us that it was made use of only as an Argument to perswade them of this Fundamental Truth that Iesus is the Messias p. 269. and yet now all of a sudden this Proposition is equivalent nay is the same with Iesus rose from the dead There is no account in the world can be given of this but that he will be saying something though it be to his own apparent Confutation See here the Influence of Company It is a Common Topick but the Reality of it could never be more evinced than in this Instance Here we see how it tinctures mens Manners and transforms them into the shapes of those they associate with Here is one that hath spent his days among Talking and Gossiping people and they have made him such a one as themselves He hath learnt of them the knack of Perpetual Jabbering and his Tongue will wag when the Sexton is covering him with Moulds But if this were all we might pass it off with a little mirth But alas it is dismal and horrid to consider what a Profligate Writer shews his Head in the World who is neither ashamed to contradict himself nor the Holy Writings of the Apostles And so he brings a contempt on the things of God and Religion and
journeys end and therefore p 403 c. spends his languid remains upon Mr. Bold's feeble Vindication of him where he hath made his case worse if it be possible then it was and involves him further in self-contradiction But seeing the Western Gentleman was so loving and friendly to to the Creed-hater this same Creed-hater was resolv'd right or wrong to assert and vindicate whatever that Gentleman said it dropping from the pen of so Dear a Friend who did what he could to help our lame Vindicator over the stile Though afterwards he shews him a Dog-trick p. 440. where he snarls but covertly against him he disapproves of Mr. Bolâ—'s indispensaâ—ble necessity which he speaks of But because he must not seem to fall out with him so soon after sworn friendship he makes a Distinction between absolute and conditional necessity and so compromises the matter Now all is well again and Mr. Lock and Mr. Bold are as Great as two Inkle-makers Now the stile runs thus Mr. Bold and I say p. 448. I follow Mr. Bolds order p. 449. Mr. Bold's reasoning is clear and strong p. 468. because he reasons for him Now you 'l find Mr. Lock vouching every syllable that Mr. B. saith sense or non-sense he swallows all dowâ— and sordidly licks up his drivel as he doth his own in his Loathsom Repetitions and desires and infects his Paper with it Nay he solemnly engages for him for the future I dare answer saith he for Mr. Bold 418. But have a care Sir of satisfying remember that I pray if he shall please to turn Turk and read Lectures to me out of the Alcoran I promise to attend to him Our Stroling Tutor pretends to tell us p. 451. what answering with ill language is call'd in his Country but let him first prove that a Vagrant is of any Country There are several other Passages in this Authors Bundle of Sheets which I might reflect upon but lest I should be thought to be too Severe and Unmerciful to him I will here hold my hand I hate to insult over a poor Worm of what sort or denomination so ever otherwise I would here riâ—le and uncase the Whole Bloated Pamphlet that is before us and let the world further see what a miserable Arguer what a poor Manager of Controversies we have got and offer some other incontestable proofs of his design to erect a New and Maimed Christianity in opposition to the Old Catholick one It is but some part of his Paper-Fardel that I have handled perhaps when I have perused the rest he may hear further from me I deal with him as he doth with his Bantlings I don't cram and gorg him but give him a little at a time I have thrice as much more to say to him about his Vindication besides a Just Set of Animadversions on some other parts of his Education whence if I see Occasion I shall make it appear that he is neither fit to teach Children nor Men And I hope I shall do good service to Church and State in further unmasking of him Brief Animadversions on a late Reply of Mr. Bold of Steeple in Dorset-shire to what I had writ against his Defence of the One Article THere is a necessity of making some Addition here unless I should give the Reader the trouble of a Formal Answer to some thing that Mr. Bold one of Mr. L's Proselytes hath lately publish'd and unless I should send it to the Press by it self Which I find there is no reason to do because some very brief Animadversions on that Author 's feeble Attempt will serve the turn It is the unhappiness of this Gentleman who I think means well as to the main that he hath espous'd a Groundless and Unscriptural Notion and then thinks himself obliged to vindicate it Good man he is easily warped as his best Friends complain and lament They allow him to be serviceable in an honest Practical Discourse but find him not able to discern the Merits of a Cause in Controversy or if he did to manage it aright If you will believe him he is a man of a Cold Phlegmatick complexion p. 24. and he often boasts himself to be one of Temper and Mildness But then he must mean it thus that he comes sober and gentle to destroy our Religion and to shatter Christianity of which he hath given us sufficient proof in these as well as in his former papers Nay we must not think him to be so Phlegmatick and Mild as he would perswade his Readers he is for I assure you he comes on like a Smart Antagonist and falls upon me without Mercy as well as without Judgment He complains of Vineger in my Ink p 4. but let the Reader judg what Gall there is in his when he charges me with coarse treating Pref. p. 3. weak and sorry stuff p. 46 jumbling p. 24. banter p. 2. imperious rambling Pref. p. 16. Nay he rises higher and declares that he finds in my papers Railing p. 52. sulphureous eruptions p. 47. Malignity Pref. p. 4. nay to consummate all Antichristianism Pref. p. 4. You see the man disgorges choler in stead of Phlegm He hath got heart of late from his new Friendship and League with the Vindicator whose upstart Conceits he is resolv'd to defend and especially the One Article though it be with defiance of all the other parts of Christianity Accordingly he declares with much confidence that the belief of Iesus's being the Messias is the ONLY Article indispensably necessary to make a man a Christian and as the Consequence of that that the belief of more is unnecessary Pref. p. 4. Which is as much as if he should speak thus to his Auditors There are a great many Ministers of the Gospel that hold it is necessary to the making a man a Christian that he should believe several Truths and Doctrines recorded in the New Testament as that we are by nature the children of wrath that we are freed from this wrath by the Meritorious and All-sufficient Undertakings of Christ Iesus who is both God and Man that he gave himself a Sacrifice for us and satisfied Divine Justice by paying an Infinite Price for us that hereby he hath purchased Justification Pardon of sins and Eternal Life for us that this Saviour and Redeemer rose from the dead and is exalted unto Glory and will judg the quick and the dead at his last appearing But my Friends I must tell you those that preach these doctrines as necessary to be known and believ'd in order to make men members of Christ and of his Church talk idly and impertinently and are not at all to be attended to For it is my opinion and I have preach'd to you and I have thrice printed it that none of those foresaid doctrines which either Jesus Christ or his Apostles deliver'd are necessary to be believ'd to give you a Title to Christianity You and I may be true Christians though we are ignorant of every one of
those Doctrines before rehears'd though we know nothing of the nature and intent of them nay though we never heard of them for there is but One Article of Faith and no more that is required to make us Christians and that is this that Iesus is the Messias If you believe this take it upon my word you need nothing more I mean as to matter of Faith to make you True and Living Members of Christ. This alone is that which properly deserves the Name of Iustifying Faith and is that Faith which God will impute to a man for Righteousness I have been blamed by several of my Brethren in the Ministry for preaching and printing such doctrines as this and they have baffled me as they think out of the Holy Scriptures and have demonstrated that there are sundry other Points of Faith that are required to be believ'd in order to the making a man a Christian but I can't be brought to listen to what they say Neither Church-men nor Dissenters shall bring me off from this perswasion I will rather stick to Worthy Mr. Hobbs and Mr. Lock then part with my Opinion at the sollicitation of Thousands of Divines and other Christians whom they call Orthodox I 'm chiefly confirm'd in this Notion by the latter of those Gentlemen whom I named who cruises up and down the Countries to propagate this doctrine and I hope will take Steeple in his Circuit very suddenly and then he will further satisfy you though I should not have used that word Satisfying because it is â—o hateful to him and instruct you in that and some other matters relating to Religion which no Christian ear ever heard of before After Mr. Bold had asserted the Darling Proposition he presents us with an other which is no less strange and monstrous and from whence we may guess at the Character of the Man who is Mr. L's humble admirer His express words are these Pref. p. 5. A mans knowing that Iesus Christ hath revealed such a doctrine brings him not under an Obligation to believe it but he may notwithstanding that withold his Assent This is the maxim of Mr. L's New Christian but the Mischievous Ingredients of it are sufficient to shew the nature and design of this Writer for though he will perhaps say that he delivers that afterwards which is contrary to the interpretation which I make of these words yet the Answer is plain that he makes nothing of Contradicting himself and therefore this is no Plea He can say and unsay as he thinks fit of which I gave several Instances in my Reflections on what he writ before This then is no excuse at all but rather shews his Weakness that he can't tell when he talks inconsistently or his Insincerity and Perverseness that he will make use of Contrarieties to serve his own ends I know likewise he will say that he speaks this of those Doctrines the belief whereof doth not constitute a man a Christian but this is a mere Evasion and he can't possibly make use of it with any shadow of Sense for if you ask him what those Doctrines are he will tell you that they are those which I before specified and reckon'd as Fundamentals of Christianity But he denies them to be such and he can't do otherwise for if there be but One Article of Faith necessarily to be believ'd to make a man a Christian which is the thing he so stiffly maintains then all the rest are not necessary to be believ'd to make him so or to denominate him to be such Having thus prevented and obviated the Cavils which he might start I 'll now very concisely present unto the Reader a few Remarks on that Proposition which I quoted out of Mr. B's last printed Papers viz. that I knowing that Christ hath reveal'd such or such a Doctrine brings not a man under an obligation to believe it but he may notwithstanding that with hold his assent First this baffles the end of Christ's revealing his doctrines to the Sons of men for without doubt they were reveal'd for this very purpose that we should yield assent to them But this Gentleman tells you that there is no such thing Revelation hath no affinity with Assent and therefore this could not be the End and Design of that And herein he follows the Patern sent him by a late Writer in his Christianity not mysterious p. 38. Divine Revelation saith he is not a motive of Assent nor a ground of our persuasion or a reason we have to believe a thing as if we were to receive it only because reveal'd Secondly This separates Knowledg from Belief and makes Religion and even Christianity it self a mere Notional Speculative thing We may according to this Wise Shaper of Christianity read the New Testament and see what Christ and the Apostles deliver'd there as matter of Belief but we are not under an obligation to believe what they delivered We may if we please look into the Gospel and the Acts but have a care of peeping into the Epistles and thence stock our selves with Propositions and furnish our Brains with Knowledge as well as our Tongues with something to talk of but we are excused from yielding Assent to the truth of them Such a monstrous Idea doth this Writer give us of that Sacred Institution of the Blessed Jesus Thirdly This is bidding defiance to the Divine Authority of the Scripâ—ures for whoever refuses to believe those doctrines which are reveal'd in the Sacred Writings doth in effect declare that those Writings are not divinely inspired And yet Mr. L's Disciple assures his Reader that though Truths and Doctrines be reveal'd in the Writings of the New Testament yet we are not obliged to give credit to them and to profess our belief of them which is no other then annulling the Authority of the Scriptures Fourthly This Assertion destroys that very One Article which he contends for for if the revealing of a Truth obliges us not to believe it then we may with hold our Assent to this Proposition Iesus is the Messias as well as to any Other for seeing they are all equally reveal'd in the Scripture we ought to make no difference So that you see the poor Foolish Builder pulls down his own Structure with his own hands The Beloved Article which he so much insists upon is ruined by what he himself asserts This is the just Judgment of God on such audacious Innovators and Depravers of Christianity Whilest they are throwing down the Propositions which others with great reason assert they demolish their own Fifthly and lastly This wild Proposition of the Replyer is destructive of all Reveal'd Religion Let there be never so many doctrines reveal'd to us by the Holy Spirit in the Divine Oracles a Christian is under no obligations according to him to believe them for all being alike reveal'd they may be equally disbeliev'd This is the New Theology of our giddy Worshipper of that Idol Opinion of One Article One would scarcely
as many as he can on the other's head The sum of all which is this CLAW ME AND I WILL CLAW THEE It is worth the observing that the Vindicator subscribes himself at the close of his Letter to Mr. Bold which in a conceited manner he claps into the Preface his most humble servant A. B. Upon which these short Remarks may be made 1. That he is ashamed of his Name and that with good reason 2. He is ashamed of his Cause and dares not Personally own it and set his Name to the defence of it This and the former may be reckon'd as the only Instances of Shamefacedness and Modesty that the man was ever guilty of But 3. We may gather from those two letters which he hath affixed to the end of his Epistle Who he is for though he hath only set down A. B. yet he hath left us to add the next letter C and then we know what person is meant viz. a Breeder up of Boys to learn their First Rudiments a Learned Teacher of A B C. concerning which you may find more p. 272 273. Educat From the Preface and Epistle I pass to the Book it self the first part of which is spent in the old known way of Malefactors at the Bar they are always willing to evade the Charge to insist upon the little Niceties and on the Formality of words and the Exact Punctilio's of Matter of Fact This is the practise of our Criminal p. 6 7. and he thinks thereby to palliate his Guilt He is loth to own it for he knows his demerit and the Consequence of it He is to be excus'd indeed for this or rather there is a known Proverb that excuses him that makes him so backward to Confess I have given an account of this matter in my Socinianism Unmask'd p. 5 6. and have also shew'd since that the Formal Words are agreed to by his late Proselite So that his own Gizzard Mr. Bold comes in Evidence against him and lets us know that we have no reason to listen to him when he waves the Enditement He will say and unsay as it comes into his head and will put the Reader off with any shuffling suggestions merely to evade what I had justly lay'd to his charge One of his great Cavils is that I alledge matter of fact but do not justify the Allegation p 2 and 7. and undertakes to prove it from my pretending as he saith to know and deliver his thoughts p. 8. This saith he there is an Instance of False Allegations in matters of Fact and such as are not capable of a Negative proof Such poor little trifling stuff doth he obtrude upon the Reader as if one that had read his Writings could not in a probable way tell what his thoughts of such a subject were unless you will say he dissembled when he wrote and this perhaps is it which he means when he saith there concerning me that that I affirm what I do not know And so you see what he hath got by caviling against what I alledged he hath before he was aware let the world know that he believes not what he writes that his Thoughts and his Pen hold no correspondence that when he pleads for One Article only he doth not think that there is but One but however he designs to root out All by reducing all the Articles of Christianity to One Who would attend to any of his Objections when it is plain that it is not his business to search out Truth but to betray it He hath nothing to say to what I replied to his former Vindication and therefore now to cheat the world and amuse the Reader and to give farther proof of his daring Confidences he bids me p. 9 25 72 c. go to work again 1. to prove that there are these words in his Reasonableness of Christianity viz. that Nothing is required to be believed by a Christian as absolutely necessary to make him such but this Proposition Iesus is the Messias 2. to prove that he set himself on purpose to find but one Article of Faith 3. to prove that he contends for One Article of Faith with exclusion and defiance of all the rest 4 to prove that the believing of Iesus to be the Messias is not the only Article sufficient to make a man a Christian. And several other things he calls upon me to prove and the silly Accountant scores them up as he goes along and sets down the Figures And he would not have left off where he doth but that the Innocent had number'd as far as he could go There is not one Particular he mentions which I have not proved and evinc'd in my Socinianism Unmask'd and therefore I scorn at the motion of such a Whiffling Objector such a Crude Repeater of what he had said before in his First Vindication but now hath lately vamp'd up and sent abroad again I scorn I say to produce the same Proofs again and to affront the Reader with Needless Repetitions which is the guise of this trifling Writer But seeing our A B C darian calls to me over and over again to prove this and to prove that I will now put him upon Proving and see how he will discharge that part In order to this I am to acquaint the Reader that this Gentleman in his Former Vindication call'd for a List of Fundamental Articles i. e. such as the Holy Scripture represents to us as requisite to be known and believ'd that we may be True Christians I obey'd the demands of this pert Vindicator and perform'd the Task which he was pleas'd to set me in my first Chapter of my forenamed Treatise I assign'd a considerable number of Articles of the Christian Faith as absolutely necessary to be known i. e. so far as they can be known for there are Great and Profound Mysteries couch'd in some of them so that I had reason to say they were in some measure which expression the Vindicator vainly objects against p. 70. to be known and understood and to be believ'd and I particularly and distinctly proved that all of them are of that nature and consequently no man can be a Christian without a competent knowledge and belief of these Doctrines I also there propounded a General Rule whereby all such Articles and Doctrines may be discern'd i. e. they may be known to be such from the Nature of the things contained in them for no Evangelical Truths are absolutely and indispensably necessary to be known and to be assented to in order to the constituting of us Christians but those that have Immediate respect to the Occasion Author Way Means and Issue of Mans Redemption and Salvation But our Vindicator attempts not in the least to invalidate this Description of Necessary Articles nay though he mentions it again p. 130. yet he can't invent any thing to object against it only asks this and the other Question nothing to the purpose Our bold Reformer in Divinity scribles on
and shews not himself concern'd to disprove what I propounded and asserted No he doth not so much as pretend to it But he quarrels and shuffles and makes a long Harangue about the Set Number of Fundamental Articles and enquires p. 69. whether there be neither more nor less then I have assign'd Which is nothing to the purpose for Christianity consists not as this Narrow soul'd Man would suggest in a Point If he will make it his business to score them up so let him it is none of mine I have assign'd several Articles of Necessary Belief I have particularly Enumerated such Doctrines as have all the Marks of being Fundamental Let him prove that they have not those Marks or let him take what course he pleases to prove that they are not Fundamental Truths and such as ought to be known and asserted to in order to make us Christians and when he hath done this particularly and distinctly I will be aâ— leisure to tell him whether I think there be any more that belong to the Foundation I have done my part I have proved that more then One Article is absolutely requisite to make a man a Christian and yet he is still craving and calls to me and demands and requires and challenges me to prove this and that and yet will not prove any thing himself This is a Mad way of Writing to boast still of his One Article and yet not shew that any one of these Articles which I nam'd ought not to be added to it This is the business he should have undertaken and therefore for the future I expect that he either allows of those Articles as Fundamental or else particularly shew that they are not Pray set your self to this work and prove if you can that all those Articles which I have mention'd are not necessary to be believ'd to make men Christians and by that time you have done this I shall find you fresh employment which will hinder a mans jaunting to my Young Masters houses and his going a Gooding And the Justice and Fairness of my dealing with him will appear from this that I hold him to his own Rule The Rule of Fair Dispute saith he is to prove where any thing is denied to Evade this is shuâ—â—ing p 451. He stiffly denies that those Propositions which I assign'd are necessary to be believ'd for the constituting a man a Christian I call upon him to prove it I have made it evident that they are all of them Fundamental Articles but he will not own them to be such then I say Prove the contrary I expect this of you I demand and require it of you and will insist upon it to use your own peremptory stile Your Talk is this to prove that those doctrines of the Gospel which I enumerated are not as necessary to be known and believ'd to constitute a man a Christian as that One Article which they have nam'd And when you have tried what you can do towards a proof of this I 'll tell you then what I have more to say to you But you see I put you upon following your own Rule and if you do not observe it you are by your own sentence a Shuffler It is observable that this Long-winded Rambler hath spent above 20 pages viz. from p. 48 to p. 71. in Little Queries Evasions Shiftings Wranglings about words and yet with pretences of great Seriousness But especially he is for his Queries he is every where Asking he hath more and more Questions to put which verifies a good Antient Saying which we have concerning such a Foolish Querist as he hath shew'd himself to be This strange Impertinent humour abounds so excessively in him that one would be curious to enquire what is the source of it whence it is that throughout all these Papers he is ever starting of idle trifling Questions I can resolve it into nothing but this that one whose Converse hath been always with Children must needs assimilate and ape them for as he observes himself Educat p. 220 they are mightily given to this way of asking of Questions and yet this Pedantick Tutour justifies this childish folly in himself of acting thus p. 54 to p. 60. Well seeing he is such an Intemperate and Lavish Asker I hope he will not deny me the liberty of asking him only three or four Questions and I conceive I have as much Authority to demand an Answer as he I. Why doth he pretend sometimes to assert more Articles then one whereas at other times he peremptorily contends but for One which he calls the Sole Article and the Only Article In two or three other places he talks of collecting several Articles but how is that consistent with One Concerning that Account of Faith which he offers to the world he thus speaks p. 232. No one Article which the Apostles proposed as necessary to be receiv'd by unbelievers to make them Christians is ommitted in it When he saith no one Article is omitted it is implied that there are more Articles then one If there be More I demand of him to set down just how many they are seeing he demands the like of me But with all let him tell the world whether he talks thus as one that is Crazed and knows not whether One and Many Articles be the same or whether his speaking thus be a Preparative to his Recanting his former Doctrine Here are several Lesser Questions in the Great one that I propounded let us have his Answer to them all II. What is the Reason that he hath not all this while undertaken to disprove that Plurality of Fundamental Arrticles which I asserted Why neither in his First nor Second Vindication hath he dared to shew that those Articles are not to be believ'd in order to the denominating a man a True Christian and a Member of Christ If he could have done it no body can doubt but that he would and that with mickle Confidence for no one will suspect that it is the want of that that hinders him from such an enterprize This Judicious Player at Dibstones finds fault with my Collection of Fundamentals and yet meddles with no particular one of them only is so senseless and ridiculous as to deny them to be Fundamental Doctrines of Christanity and such as are necessarily to be received by every one that lays claim to Christianity I demand a Reason of this I require a particular and full Account why every one of those Articles is not to be receiv'd as Fundamental I shall insist upon it till he either assigns some Reason or confesses he cannot III. How can he expect that I should comply with his demands which are very numerous and particularly with that of assigning a Set Collection of Fundamentals when he hath told me already that he is resolved like a Well bred man and a Good Christian of one Article to slight whatever I shall offer to him If I should propound such doctrines as I verily believe
think that he should at this time of day have the confidence to talk after this rate and to impose such dangerous and pernicious notions upon the world Or at least one would think that this Writer and his Fellow should not stare and shew themselves so extraordinarily concern'd when we tell them that they are Betrayers of Christianity Having descanted on his Main Propositions and seen what the dismal Contents of them are I 'll look into some other things which are most obvious in his Reply I expected he would have attempted to purge himself of those Self-Contradictions which I laid to his charge and proved in the plainest manner imaginable from his own words which I faithfully set down but he like his brother-Criminal deniâ—â—â— but gives no reason why he doth so He follows the example of the Vindicator and unmercifully Repeats what he had said before And all the rest is studied Evasion Subterfuge Whiffling It is in vain to mention all the Particulars it shall suffice to propound to the Reader 's view one of them and from that let him guess at all the others I had been proving in my Reflections on Mr. B. the Absurdity of the Opinion of One Article and had shew'd how he contradicted himself one Instance whereof was this that he had said that a True Christian is as much oblig'd to believe that the Holy Spirit is God as to believe that Iesus is the Christ which are his own words and yet he saith There is but that One Article Iesus is the Messias to be believ'd to make a man a Christian Whence I inferr'd and whether justly or no let the Reader judge that he spoke things repugnant and contradictory for if a True Christian be as much oblig'd to believe one as the other then it is certain that a man can't be a True Christian without believing both and if there be a necessity of believing both to make a man a True Christian then the belief of one only is not enough Now mind what the Replyer saith to this and how fallaciously and sophistically he discourses p. 19. It is as necessary for me saith he to believe that Iesus was at Cana of Galilee and turn'd Water into Wine there as it is that he was crucified without the Gates of Jerusalem because I have the same evidence for the one that I have for the other But I can not say it is of as much Importance for a man to know the one as it is to know the other much less can I say that no man can be a Christian till he knows and believes that Iesus was at Cana in Galilee c. Which is so extraneous and foreign and every ways so impertinent and inconsistent that if one did not know with what Writer this Gentleman symbolizes it might create astonishment to hear such a sensless and incoherent application of these words for whereas I had asserted that a man can't be a True Christian unless he believes other Articles and Doctrines viz. such as I have mention'd before as well as that One of Iesus's being the Christ and accordingly to disprove this he should have shew'd that those Articles are not as necessary to be believ'd as that Single one he mentions he not regarding the matter he was about produces some Historical passages out of the New Testament viz. Christ's being at Cana of Galilee and turning Water into Wine there c. and then thinks though one would think it is impossible he should he hath effected what he undertook But doth not any considerate man see that there is no comparison between these things which he alledges and those other before spoken of between the belief of some Historical Circumstances and the belief of the Grand Fundamental Points of the Christian Religion Is there not a vast difference between these Inferiour Truths and those that are of an Higher nature even such as are of the Essence of Christianity and have Immediate respect to the Salvation of our Souls Though the belief of the former be not absolutely necessary to make a man a Christian doth it follow thence that the belief of the latter is not necessarily requisite for that purpose Who but the Replyer and the Vindicator for he takes his part as to this very thing in his Vindication could first imagine any such thing and then puhlish it to the world What Talent of Reasoning Mr. B. had before he undertook this Cause of the One Article I can't tell but since I am sure he is a very poor Arguer and makes out nothing of what he pretends to but fills up his pages with weak dilute stuff yea without any dash of what is sprightly and generous And that he and his Cause run very low is evident from what he saith p. 24. in â—efence of his One Article The Notion saith he of One Article may induce those who embrace it to esteem more Persons Christians than the other Notion can allow of And thus far I fancy and you say right Good Sir it is no more than a fancy the advantage is on the former's side for I conceive there is no hurt in letting Charity as well as Patience have its perfect work Thus he and he is pleas'd to confess that this is the suggestion that comes from a cold Phlegmatick temper If he means that it is very flat and dull I think every body will agree with him Tho truly we must grant that here are some footsteps of Ingenuity such as it is for here is set forth the True Cause why this doctrine of One Single Article is so vigorously urg'd at this day and even upheld by Pensions Old Reynard would not say a syllable of this throughout his whole Treatise of the Reasonableness of Christianity and his two Vindications of it He thought it was too gross and broad therefore the Dissembler conceal'd it But Unwary Mr. Bold who tells all he knows acquaints us with the true and proper design of the setting up of One Article and the furious appearing against all the rest By this means saith he we shall have more Christians such as they are then ever were before There are many that will imbrace One Point of Christianity who will refuse to own the rest so that we shall have Christians in abundance But whether they be True Christians or whether they be esteem'd to be such that is his word is not material but we shall have the Number of these latter much increas'd and that 's enough And besides saith he we shall have more Charity and there is no hurt in that when there is but One Single Article of Christian Faith we shall all Agree and what a fine world shall we have then Ay but Sir would it not be a better world if there were no Article at all and then besure there could be no Contention whereas now there is occasion for it for some will not allow of the One Article you speak of Therefore according to your own way
of Arguing it were best to throw off that One Article and with it all the other Fundamental and Necessary doctrines of our Christan Faith and then it is certain we shall have no Point of Faith to fall out about and Charity will ride in triumph and yours and Mr. L's Christianity shall bear it company in the same Triumphal Seat This is the force and strength of our Author 's Reasoning whatever he may pretend Surely Steeple is well taught when such a one is their instructer Who would have thought that there is such a Pious Contriver for Religion in any part of the Kings dominions Who could have thought that All the Fundamental Principles of our Faith except one were to be cashier'd to make way for Charity And who can think that the One Article so much talk'd of will remain long without the rest And in a word what man of â—ense and sobriety can think that these wild Notions are not spread abroad on purpose to subvert the Foundations of Christianity and to bring in Infidelity and to turn us out to the herd of Deists and next to Atheists Let not Mr. Bold say that these are Guesses as in one place I remember he saith I am a Guesser because I am a Critick which is as much sense according to his applying of it as if one should say he is a Conjurer because he is Rector of Steeple No Sir here is no Conjecture for the thing that I say is plain and obvious and depends upon natural and rational consequences and we every day see more and more the truth of it As Dull and Phlegmatick as he is his Invention is ripe witness that horrid Fiction and False Imputation p. 25. line 3 c. But I must not stand upon these things Then he would argue from the use of the term Christian p 25. that there is but One Article which is so poor and mean that he deserves to be what he is Mr. Locks Second in the present Combate Yet he hath so good an opinion of this which he suggests that he saith It may afford some light to this matter No Sir there is no such thing as Light here only a Wooden Candle-stick I am loth to suppose any Brass about it though one would wonder how he could have that face to offer any such thing as this to prove that there is but One Article to be believ'd to constitute a Christian man which was the maâ—ter he undertook Our Mushrom-Scribe is drawn to the dreggs and in his next Paragraphs doth nothing but Cant and Hover in Obscure and Ambiguous terms but hath not a dram of Reason left as the Reader cannot but own if he had nothing else to do but to consult the pages Then he Catechises his Friends p. 29 30 31. and makes sorry work of it but at last it is observable how this Wild Reasoner who had been all along in his Reply as well as in his former Papers endeavouring to assert the necessity of but One Article in Christianity and opposing what I had said in behalf of More Articles it is observable I say that at last he gives up the Cause and meekly prostrates himself to what I had offered Let a man believe saith he never so many particular doctrines taught by Christ and his Apostles that belief will prove no more but that he believes Iesus is the Messias p. 32. If the believing of many doctrines taught by Christ and his Apostles be the same with believing that One doctrine why then hath he made all this stir for if many will prove no more than one then vice versa one will prove to be many and if his One Article be thus multiplied than why doth he quarrel with me for asserting Many Articles But still there must be whatever comes of it but One Article and he undertakes to prove it p. 36. from St. Iohn's words Whosoever believeth that Iesus is the Christ is born of God 1 John 5. 1. Which every one saith he I suppose will acknowledg to be as much as to say â— Christian. And thence infers If the belief of more Articles was absolutely necessary to make a person a Christian it could not with truth be said Whosoever believeth that Iesus is the Christ is born of God Which is a farther proof of the Shallowness or which is worse of the willful Obstinacy of this blind Worshiper of the Idol that Mr. Hobbs and Mr. Lock have set up for any one that is moderately vers'd in this Epistle of St. Iohn knows that it is a Collection of several Marks and Evidences whereby persons may examine and know whether they be True Believers and Christians indeed and among several others which he assigns this is one that they believe Iesus to be the Christ. Now can any one that is not very Weak or perverse infer hence that the belief of no other Article but this is absolutely necessary to make a man a Christian Is it not plain from other places in this Epistle that Love to God and the brethren keeping the Commandments c. are Signs and Evidences of Regeneration as well as believing Iesus to be the Messias And why then upon the mentioning of this latter in the place forecited must we conclude that none of those are absolutely necessary to make one a Christian or a Regenerate person If we should follow Mr. Bold's way of Interpreting then when it is said in this Epistle Every one that doth righteousness is born of God ch 2. v. 29. we must infer that doing of righteousness without any believing gives us a title to Regeneration And when it is said Every one that loveth which refers to loving one an other in the same verse is born of God ch 4. v. 7. we must thence gather that Brotherly Love of it self abstract from all Believing and consequently from believing that Iesus is the Messias is the only thing necessarily required of us to make us Christians and so our Learned and Profound Arguer baffles himself and ruines his own One Article Our Rambling Disputer tells us in the same place that St. John the Divine was a more Reverend Rector than the Rector of Steeple where besides the Whimsical Conceitedness of the Stile he humbly intimates that he himself is a Reverend Rector for else he could not say the other is more Reverend What he demands p. 40 about those terms the Son of God and the Messias I have answer'd in the foregoing Discourse I urged from Acts 8. 37. that the Son of God and the Messias are not terms of the same signification because else the Eunuch could not say that he believ'd Iesus Christ to be the Son of God To which he returns this fantastick Reply I think saith he they amount to somewhat more viz. that Iesus Christ is The Christ. Which hath not the least foundation in the Original from whence only he can pretend to borrow it and therefore we must look upon it as a mere Shuffle
and Good Temper as any Man yet I will never be bribed to a faint-hearted Relinquishing of the Truth No I will by the Divine Aid vindicate the Religion of the New Testament and the Faith of the Christian Church in all ages and that with open face And particularly as to what I last writ and publish'd I will make it stand the shock of the most daring Socinian in Christendom But to let these Gentlemen see that I am no Man of Contention I declare to them that I am not averse from complying with their Offers if they be Sincere and in Good Earnest and if they resolve not to violate their own Articles of Peace I will forgive their Colts teeth as this pleasant Gentleman words it if for the future they use not as they have done in most of their Writings those of the Bear And why indeed should I contend with these Catholick and Orthodox Men for that is the Stile now in their last Print Who will fall out with those that profess Agreement with the Catholick Church But especially the Title of Orthodox which they so abhorr'd is much courted by this Author as the Reader cannot but observe Which may be an occasion to us to think that these Persons are inclined to do something to deserve that Name It is my hearty Prayer and Wish that they may shew themselves to be of this number And I promise them thus far to yield to the Terms of Peace that if they renew not the Quarrel and assault me not afresh this shall be our Last Campagne and so here is an End to our Debates and Rencounters ERRATA PAge 8. Line 29. read and if those p. 11. l. 14. r. Vnreasoâ—ably p. 12. l. penult r. which p. 13. l. 6. r. numbers l. 11. r. nor the p. 19. l. 15. r him for p. 33. l. 22. r. assented p. 34. l. 27. r. task l. 31. for they r. you p. 38. l. 21. r. declare p. 39. l. 15. dele the p 42. l. 20. r. more to p. 46. l. r. peruse p. 56. l. 17. r. owns p. 5â— l. 31. r. bandied p. 64. l. 4. dele and p. 75. l. 13 for give r. go p. 94. l. 22. before to insert it BOOKS written by the Reverend Mr. John Edwards AN Enquiry into several Remarkable Texts of the Old and New Testament which contain some Difficulty in them with a Probale Resolution of them in two Vol. 8â— A Discourse concerning the Authority Stile and Perfection of the Books of the Old and New Testament with a Continued Illustration of several Difficult Texts throughout the whole Work In three Vol 8â— Some Thoughts concerning the several Causes and Occasions of Atheism especially in the Present Age with some brief Reflections on Socinianism and on a Late Book entituled The Reasonableness of Christianity as deliver'd in the Scriptures 8â— price 1 s. 6 d. 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A Brief Vindication of the Fundamental Articles of the Christian Faith as also of the Clergy Universities and Publick Schools from Mr. Lock 's Reflections upon them With some Animadversions on two other late Pamphlets viz. of Mr. Bold and a Nameless Socinian Writer 8â— price 1 s. 6 d. Brief Remarks upon Mr. Whiston's New Theory of the Earth and upon another Gentleman's Objections against some Passages in a Discourse of the Existence and Providence of God relating to the Copernican Hypothesis 8â— price 6 d. BOOKS Printed for Jonathan Robinson and John Wyat. A Practical Exposition on the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer in two Volumes in Quarto The Vanity of the World with other Sermons in 8 vo Sermons or Discourses on several Scriptures in Four Volumes in Octavo The Almost Christian discovered in some Sermons on Acts 26. 28. All these written by the Right Reverend Father in God Ezekiel Hopkins late Lord Bishop of London-derry Bishop Usher's Life and Letters By Dr Parr in Folio 's Body of Divinity or the Sum and Substance of the Christian Religion Folio 's 22 Sermons on several Subjects Fol. Iosephus's History of the Jews Folio Dr. Bates's Harmony of the Divine Attributes Octavo 4th Edition 1697. Charron of Wisdom in three Books All Dr. Antony Walker ' s Works viz. The Sinfulness and Danger of delaying Repentance The Vertuous Woman or the Life of the Countess of Warwick The Vertuous Wife or the Life of Mrs. Eliz. Walker His Sermons of Water-drinking Preached at Tunbridge wells c. The worthy Communicant a Treatise shewing the due Order of Receiving the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper The 17th Edition By Ieremiah Dyke Newly reprinted 1697. The Poor Doubting Christian drawn unto Christ. By Thomas Hooker Ovid's Metamorphosis in English Verse By George Sandys Aesop's Fables in Prose with Cuts Solitude improved by divine Meditation By Nathaniel Ranew late Rector of Felsted in Essex Practical Discourses concerning Death and Heaven By Nathaniel Ranew Correction Instruction or a Treatise of Afflictions By Tho. Case The Principles of Christian Religion with a brief Method of the Doctrine thereof By Bishop Usher The sinfulness of Sin and the fulness of Christ In two Sermons By W. Bridge Brinsley's Posing of the parts reprinted 1697. Sir Simon D'ews Journal of all Queen Elizabeths Parliaments Folio Bacons Historical and Political account of the Government of England FINIS * Occasional Paper Numb 5. p 38. * Answer to the Archbishop's Sermon p. 44. * Bâ— of Worcester in his Vind. of the Trinity ch 10. * Letter to the Bishop of Worcester p. 69. * Smalc cont Frantz Disput. 4 †Homil 4. in 1 Iohan Catechism de morte Christi Qu. 12. ‖ The Antitâ—luâ—tarian Scheme of Religion p. 18. * Mr. Norrâ—'s Accoâ—nt oâ— Reason and Faith p. 13. * Bishop of Worcester's Pref. to his Vind. of the Doctrine of the Trinity †Pref. to the Account of Reason and Faith