To believe is what the Gospel requires of us thus Christ said to Jairus believe only In Matters of Salvation is on our part required an Obedience of Faith for as the Apostle saith We walk not by sight 2 Cor. 5.7 Col. 2.2 4.3 or by senses but by faith So when Scripture saith We must acknowledge the mystery of God and of the Father and of Christ we ought to believe there is such a Mystery for so Paul calls it after the Revelation of Christ and of the Gospel and 't is a damnable Presumption to bring these Truths of God under the Scrutiny of human Reason and submit them to it and reject them when that poor blind corrupt and unsound Reason cannot understand them 't is a most false Inference to say I understand neither the Trinity nor the Incarnation therefore there is no such thing as if I should say I cannot understand what God is therefore there is no God my Reason cannot understand the Infiniteness and Eternity of God therefore God is neither Infinite nor Eternal I do not apprehend the design of God's Wisdom therefore no such thing in him He permits Evil and because I cannot comprehend his Reason for it must I blasphemously say he is wicked These are such impertinent Conclusions that any Novice in the Philosophy or Divinity Schools would hiss out I would hear by what Authority I may set up my Reason as Judge over that which is so much above it and which I do not well know All these Wanderings of Men I say can conclude nothing except they prove their Understanding to be infallible and infinite What to fathom these great Depths of God with the very short Line of humane Reason this is an intolerable Self-conceitedness If at first when Watches were made one who never saw one neither understood the Watch-Maker's design seeing the several Pieces asunder upon a Table would have said This is of no use and good for nothing had not such a one deserv'd to be laugh'd at as a shallow Pate void of good Sense and Reason Yet 't is transcendently more foolish for any one to say his Reason must judge whether what God hath revealed be true or not O the nonsensical silly shallow Brains of some Men As in another place of this Discourse 't is observed how God said that he would dwell in the thick darkness Ps 97.2 and that clouds and darkness are round about him so 't is to shew how Men must not attempt to pry into 't for they cannot see the great dark mysterious and incomprehensible things of God 1 Sam. 6.19 Let the dreadful Punishment inflicted upon the Bethshemites for looking into the Ark of the Lord serve for a Warning to all who make themselves guilty of the like Attempts 'T is also faid That God dwelleth in the light which no man can approach unto 1 Tim. 6.16 which tends to keep men from meddling too far and presumptuously attempting to look into the secret and glorious things of God beyond what he hath revealed But Socinians pretend to be clear-sighted enough to see through that thick darkness and to be strong-sighted enough with the Eye of their humane Reason stedfastly to look on the Infinite Glorious and Unaccessible Majesty of God and as it were to stare him in the face but they should know how in this sense no man shall see his face and live After this rate these all-knowing Men may happen to attempt giving a Description of Heaven which according to their Principles is a thing not above their Reason to do or beyond the reach of their Capacity so no Mystery to them Thus they shall go beyond Paul and know more than he who though he was caught up to the third heaven into Paradise yet saith 2 Cor. 12.2 3 4. whether in the body or out of the body I cannot tell and there he heard unspeakable words which it is not lawful for a man to utter We would desire Socinians whom as they say nothing in Religion is a Mystery unto and who think their Reason can and may know that which others say they neither can nor may know because they are Mysteries I say we would desire them to give the World an account of what that Paradise is and what are the unspeakable words which Paul hearâ— there and which it was not lawful for such a Man as St. Paul to utter But once for all to come to the Jugulum Causae to the very heart of the point in all Matters ' of Religion we must have a fixed Law and Rule to be guided and judg'd by which Rule must be backt by an infallible or Divine Authority to stand to which is our Case against Papists who would have the Authority or the Reason of the Church to be that same Rule as Socinians more unreasonably would have every private Man's Reason to be it which as occasion shall serve can by Fancy or Interest under the name of Reason be wrested and by assed so that Reason so apt to be blinded and imposed upon cannot be the Law for there is no reason why one Man should be guided and directed by the Opinion of another if he hath no Commission from God proved by Miracles for the wisest of Men may happen to be blinded by Ignorance as the best corrupted by Interest and Lust After this Men will never stand to any thing but will quickly run into thousands of Confusion Superstition and Idolatry both in respect of God and of his Worship Without a true Divine Rule and that 's only God's Word no certainty of the true Knowledge of God and of his Worship for all the Precepts of Nature are doubtful and uncertain for they must be drawn from long Observations of Nature it self great strength of Reasoning deep skill in Philosophy and so many other dependencies and circumstances that 't is almost impossible to find a Man endow'd with all such necessary Qualifications So then to depend upon one's natural Reason as a Guide to Salvation is to trust upon a bruised Reed on which if a Man lean it will go into his hand and pierce it but if we trust in God's Word which is the Word of Truth the Holy Ghost will thereby in order to Salvation make all safe and sure to us whilst he leaves those who abound in their own sense to do so still and those who will not understand what they will not believe to continue in their Ignorance Unbelief and Wilfulness as for us Scripture is our Rule Now Scripture speaks of the Son of God long before his Incarnation as of a Person Acting Punishing Delivering c. an unanswerable proof that he then Existed or else he would not have acted for Modum essendi sequitur modus operandi none can Act except he be which as observed could not be in his Humane Nature Now in the Word of God we read no such thing of the greatest and best Men as Moses Elias John
Blessed Trinity God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Ghost nor the known Articles of our Christian Faith upon pain to have his Tongue bored with a Red-Hot Iron and in the Humble Petition and Address of the Officers of the Army to the Parliament signed on Thursday May 12. 1659 and presented by Eighteen of the Chief of them though at that time they were grown High and Sawcy yet in their Petitioning for Liberty of Conscience they excluded those that were against the most Holy Trinity and the Divinity of the Son and of the Holy Ghost as 't is in the 6th Article thus That all Persons who Profess Faith in God the Father and in Jesus Christ his Eternal Son the true God and in the Holy Spirit God Co-equal with the Father and the Son one God Blessed for ever And do acknowledge the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the Revealed or Written Word or Will of God shall not be restrained from their Profession c. Which plainly imports that those who deny the Holy Trinity c. should be restrained in the same Article they also exclude from that Liberty Popery or any that held forth Licentiousness or Prophaness under the Profession of Religion These things not usual to come from an Army were very good Also the late Act of Toleration which in the latter part of this Discourse I shall have occasion to make use of excludes all Anti-Trinitarians from the benefit of it And Hobb's Leviathan was in October 1666. Condemned by the Parliament in their Bill against Atheism and Prophaneness And both that and his Book de Cive by the Convocation in July 21. 1683. all this shews how from time to time and upon occasion here care hath been taken justly to punish Blasphemers that they might learn not to Blaspheme and be made an example to others for they are a publick raging Plague destructive wheresoever they be not to be suffered to profess and publish their Blasphemies in any Christian State or Society When God's time is come and he will be pleased to incline the Hearts and over-rule the Councils of Men to stand against Blasphemy Prophaneness and Immorality which all except Blasphemers Prophane and Immoral Livers will do then the nature of them that are guilty thereof and whom we do and shall complain against till there be a relief must well be considered to make the remedy effectual experience shews them to be proud willful obstinate and insolent strong mouthed therefore require strong curbs and to be hard bound in order to it 't is humbly conceived and with possible respect submitted to the judgment of Superiours how the words of a new Law when enacted ought to be full and plain that when it comes to be executed there be no ground left for difficulties and exceptions so that therein the end of the Law be sufficiently express'd and the things 't is intend against clearly set down 't is but to dally with and flatter the distemper not to lay strict and sensible penalties upon all that speak writ or otherwise directly or indirectly do oppose the Truth and appear for the Sin First the Authors Abettors Fomenters Printers or other Publishers ought to feel the severity of the Law not only in a privative way as to be made incapable of any publick charge or office whatsoever in Church or State but also to strike a terrour and come nearer home to inflict Money penalties and the like for the fear of a pecuniary mulct will work upon some Men whether Author's Printers or Publishers but as 't is not enough to punish the Persons but also the things must be suppress'd thereupon a Prohibition to Print any more New Pamphlets and Books tending to Propagate Heresy and Blasphemy is as necessary as the Burning or otherwise Destroying those which already are abroad no Bookseller under such a Penalty should be allowed to have any in his Shop not to distribute any either publickly or in private those that are abroad should be called in and Publickly Burnt and none few excepted be allowed to keep any no more than they are to have Treasonable Books and against the State This would make People have a care how they meddle with such things Lastly to make a Law more Effectual it requires great and severe penalties against those who are to execute the Law as Justices of the Peace Constables and others concern'd if they neglect it the executive part is the Life and Soul of the Law without which 't is insignificant we already have several Laws in force against Blasphemy Prophaneness and immorality whereof an abstract was publish'd not long ago 't is both pity and a shame they are not put in execution and no body punish'd for want of it a good new Act to revive them all would much tend to the Glory of God the Church's Good the Honour and Happiness of the Nation to encourage Piety and Vertue and to suppress all manner of Sin whether in Doctrine or Practice We read of the ten Plagues of Egypt and we complain of the like number of the Adversaries evil Practices which in matters controverted between them and us they plague the World with as since their beginning they ever did and now continue to do there is hardly any prospect to hope that in time to come they will alter for thorough a long custom they in their Hearts where the plague lyeth have turn'd it into an habit they want Sincerity and deal not fairly thus to make them appear in their own colours and shew how much they prevaricate we charge them with the ten following things First they wrest God's Word to confirm their Doctrines instead of examining their Doctrines by that word according to the Analogy of Faith and the general consent of the Christian Church Secondly they introduce strange perverse unheard of and condemn'd Senses and Interpretations contrary to the usual signification of the words and phrases of Scripture and to the Scope of the Texts Thirdly they take the liberty at their pleasure to alter and change the full stops Commas Colons Letters Syllables and whole words and this to set up their Doctrines and false Interpretations as also at sometimes they add at others they take away to serve their ends which in maters of Religion is what in civil ones we call to forge and falsify deeds a very infamous thing but worse in matters of Religion because to the falsehood are join'd Impiety and Sacrilege Fourthly to the light of Revelation they oppose that of Human Reason which is dark weak deceitful and fallible as by experience we find in Humane and Natural Things but the other is clear certain infallible and leading us to the knowledge of the Truth Points of Faith must not be examined by Humane Reason which is often contrary to it Fifthly they digg up out of their Graves ancient and condemn'd Heresies to revive them like a new Plague to be spread again over the
concernment to be known that in one and the same chapter 't is thrice mentioned and in every one of those Verses 't is applied to Christ who is directly pointed at in these words This was he of whom I spake and he it is who coming after me and this is he of whom I said ver 34 Now the Testimony or Record is this is the son of God by Nature not by Grace for if only in this last relation it had been unneccessary for therein had been no preference for John was such and this is the plain Result of the Circumlocution by him used before he cometh after me and he is preferred before me of which he giveth the reason for he was before me Here is a Comparison between John and Christ wherein Christ hath the preference not because he came after but because he was before John let the Dignity be contained in the words he is preferred still the reason of it is that though he came after yet he was before him do not to come after and to be before relate to time For here the words relate to their Birth now we must believe that in these two Phrases he comes after me and he was before me there is Truth Reason good Sense and no Contradiction in the same respect he cannot be said to come after and be before but it must be in a different one which is this and if they can let them assign another he comes after me into the World as ver 10. that is he was born after me which is the plain Truth for the Angel Gabriel Luk. 1.36 six Months after Elizabeth had Conceived foretold the Virgin Mary our Saviour's Birth so that according to the usual Course of Nature the Lord Jesus was born six Months after John and in that sense he came after him But how was he Born before him seeing in relation to his Temporal Generation he was after It must be in regard of a Generation of another kind for no Man hath or can have but one Natural Generation and can be born but once what else then may it be but an Eternal one by vertue of which Christ in his time was before John For saith John he was not is before me to shew how the question is about time And if in one sense Christ had been but six Months before John as he was born six Months after then in that sense we may well conclude for hundreds and thousands of Years and so to Eternity Our blessed Lord and Saviour to give an Example and to condescend to the frailty of our Nature thereby to draw Men to himself by degrees was lowly and humble yet without any prejudice to his Right which when questioned he maintained and upon several occasions asserted though sometimes to the danger of his Life He could tell the Jews Joh. 6.38 ch 8.14.23 I came down from heaven and though I bear record of my self yet my record is true for I know whence I came and whither I go 'T is a special Prerogative of God to bear Record of himself again Ye are from beneath I am from above ye are of this world I am not of this world And as he told them ch 10.38 that if they believed not his word yet they should believe his works which were so Glorious and Miraculous and clear Demonstrations of his Divine Nature and Power he said that Lazarus's Sickness was for the glory of God that the Son of God might be glorified thereby Son of God simply and absolutely is God in that case he spake of himself for by raising Lazarus as he did from the Dead he thereby was Glorified and he that was Glorified was God Son of God for as there was but one Glory so there was but one God Glorified This verse ought to be compared with the 40. where Christ said to Martha Said I not unto thee that if thou wouldest believe thou shouldst see the glory of God That is his own Glory by her Brother's Resurrection which he was just upon going to essect so in the other case of the Man that was Blind from his Birth he said to his Disciples that He was born blind chap. 9.3 that the work of God should be made manifest in him Which happened when he by his own Divine Power gave him his Sight and was thereby Glorified as God We must observe how the Son of God absolutely taken as 't is here is God as well as the Son of Man is Man And the Lord Jesus doth explain the first part for the glory of God by the last that the Son of God be glorified which shews it to be the same or equivalent Thus in another place our Saviour interprets the Phrase making himself God chap. 10.33.36 by saying I am the Son of God with calling himself Son of God in his and their Sense he certainly thereby made himself God which they called Blasphemy but he deny'd it to be so though he owned he had call'd himself God and in the very sense that they had taken it Because our Lord sometimes call'd himself Son of Man they would take advantage of it but when he did it was to point at the Promise made to our first Parents that the Woman's Seed should bruise the Serpent's Head and to teach Men how they ought to look upon him as being that same Seed who was come not to conquer Kingdoms as at that time the Jews fancied but to execute the Promise of bruising the Serpent's Head Joh. 10.36 when he called himself Son of Man he spoke the truth but he thereby denied not that he was the Son of God for sometimes he call'd himself by that Name and to confirm this great and fundamental Truth there stands upon record and shall to the Worlds end the famous Confession of Peter in his and of all the Apostles Name upon a solemn occasion Thou art the Son of the Living God a truth which came not out of his own Head or out of any humane Principle but was from Heaven immediately revealed unto him namely that Jesus Christ was by Office the Messiah and by Nature the true Son of the living God Now if he had been Son of God only by deputation there had been no need of Revelation but at that time 't was necessary to let Men know how he is such by Nature and to refute the wrong Notions which the Jews had of our Saviour God thought fit to inform them better with declaring his Divinity and this is one of those Mysteries of the Kingdom of God Luk. 8.10 which the Lord Jesus said to his Disciples It was given unto them to know wherein he plainly declared how in and after his teaching in Religion were Mysteries not to be known but by the Gift of God and Revelation And I think he was a competent Judge of such things and when he call'd himself Son of God he could also tell whether or not he was so which to
to be possible for a Man after the knowledge of the Truth never to Sin for saith he * Resp ad frantz disp 6. de bon oper thes 43. 1 Kings 8.46 Jam. 3.2 neither Scripture nor sound Reason nor any thing else hinders but that he who Sinn'd before may come to that degree of perfection as never to Sin hereafter This is to set up a Perfection in this life and freedom from Sin whilest Scripture doth abundantly affirm that there is no Man that Sinneth not that after the knowledge of the Truth and after Conversion in many things we offend all even the best all are under Sin Rom. 3.23 and all have Sinn'd and come short of the Glory of God One said well †Remigius in Cens Act. Synod Caris c. Go. tescal vivere absque peccato c. To live without Sin in the World belongs not to the state of the present Life but to the happiness of that which is eternal during our Life some Canaanites are still left to be Thorns in our Sides and the best Men have a Thorn in the Flesh So that freedom from Sin is certainly part of the Glory of God which in this World no Man whatsoever can attain unto and to pretend to 't is the Sin of the Devil and of our first Parents namely Pride and an Ambitious desire to be like God and equal with God their steps do Socinians follow who though they would seem to be great Enemies to Popery they in matters of Grace in every thing are a bad and in some worse than Papists By this principle of theirs they also make Salvation an easy thing though the Apostle saith 1 Pet. 4.18 Jerem. 13.23 the Righteous is scarcely saved and the Prophet 't is no more possible for them to do good that are used to do evil then 't is for the Ethiopian to change his Skin or for the Leopard his Spots There is a natural impossiblity by reason of Sin reigning in every Reprobate and dwelling in every Believer 1 John 1.8 wherefore we are commanded daily to pray to God to forgive us our Trespasses for indeed if we say we have no Sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us The Orthodox Doctrines about the Sacraments Faith Justification and in sew words every Article of our Holy Religion they more or less do depravate thus they set up a new one of their own making as it hath plainly been demonstrated by several Protestant Divines They set up two ways of Salvation one under the Old Testament the other under the New We own there are several ways to Hell yet there is but one and that strait too Heb. 10.20 leading to Heaven which is the new and living way which he Christ hath consecrated for us thorough the Vail that is to say his Flesh This in Substance though under different Circumstances was for his People under the Old as 't is under the New Testament The whole Church of God though consisting of Jews and Gentiles is but one Church so there is but one Head Lord and Saviour and so but one way to Salvation Now that Church God Christ hath purchased with his own Blood that is by the Merits of his Death Rom. 3.25 God hath set forth the Messiah Jesus Christ to be a propitiation thorough Faith in his Blood for his People under the Old as under the New Testament and we are justified by his Blood Chap. 5.9 Ephes 1.7 Col. 1.20 Heb. 10.19 Also we have Redemption thorough his Blood the Forgiveness of Sins Withal he hath made peace thorough the Blood of his Cross And the boldness we have to enter into the Holiest it is by the Blood of Jesus So then under both Testaments Men are justified and saved by Vertue of the Death of Christ Mediator and thorough Faith in him as 't is at large expressed Heb. 11. whether to come with the Jews Acts 4.12 or already come with Christians for the Apostle's words are full plain and general neither is there Salvation in any other for there is no other name under Heaven given among Men whereby we must be saved Yet this clear truth they will not yield to for saith * Smalc cont frantz disp 4. thes 8. one of them what Frantzius Writes that the Ancients believed in Jesus to come and thorough that Faith were justified ought to be reckon'd among the grossest errours Justification by Faith was never profered to Men before the coming of Christ neither was it promised that Man should be justified by Faith yet Abraham was justify'd by Faith Gal. 3.6 for Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness wherein did he believe God Not only in the promise that his Posterity should be very numerous but also chiefly at the promise that the Messiah should come out of his Seed Gen. 12.3 and in thee shall all the Families of the Earth be Blessed which was a renewing of the Promise made to our first Parents of the Woman's Seed which then God fixed in Abraham's Family now this Seed of his in whom all the Families of the Earth should be blessed is what Abraham believed and that Faith of his concerning it was to him accounted for Righteousness and there is no doubt to be made but that God who so familiarly conversed with him as with a Friend for so Scripture calls him Isai 41.8 in a special manner revealed to him the Mystery of his coming in the Flesh for it was the Son of God the second Person of the most holy Trinity who at several times under the name of an Angel and in the shape of a Man appeared to Abraham who as our Lord saith rejoyced to see his day with the Eye of Faith that day or time when he appeared in the Flesh which Abraham who lived so long before did see not as actually present but as to come and that Faith whereby Abraham believed in a Saviour to come he was justify'd by and as he is called the Father of all them that believe so all believers must have the same Faith which he had Ephes 4.5 for there is but one Faith and one Lord which imports one and the same object of that Faith only with this difference upon the account of time that Abraham believed in him that was to come and we in him who is already come Now to the later part of what Smalcius saith that there is no promise that Man should be justified by Faith I say if it be not by Faith it must be by Works for there is no middle but seeing St. Paul in several places of his Epistle to the Romans doth so positively exclude Works not only those of the Law but also those call'd Evangelical with the same Apostle we must conclude Man to be justified by Faith without Works but they are thorough paced Rom. 3.28 for regeneration and other good works Love Invocation Obedience Hope Charity
them This calling and Ordination was from hand to hand to pass to after Ages for the things that thou hast heard of me Acts 6.6 2 Tim. 2.2 1 Tim. 5.22 saith the same Apostle among many witnesses the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also and upon this account he gives him a Caution to lay hands suddenly on no man till after a due examination about the Doctrine whether sound and a competent knowledge to teach and a strict inquiry about Morals a Good Life and Conversation Moreover doth not the word positively affirm 1 Cor. 12.28 Ephes 4.11 that God hath set some in the Church First Apostles Prophets Teachers c. again he gave some Apostles and some Prophets and some Evangelists and some Pastors and Teachers So in the Church there is a Ministry by way of Office which no Man may take upon himself but he who is lawfully call'd to 't The Church is God's House who is the God of order therefore to prevent confusion and usurpation therein he hath appointed not only the spiritual bread and food for his Children but also the Stewards and Ministers who are to distribute it And verily verily I say unto you he that enterreth not by that Door into the Sheepfold but climbeth up some other way the same is a Thief and a Robber Thus 't is visible enough how dangerous to the Church are Socinian Principles seeing they tend to ruin her Doctrine and allow every one a liberty to give God's Word what Interpretations they think fit also to set up any one for Ministers of the Gospel and thus to destroy the Order and Oeconomy which God hath setled in it whence Confusion will necessarily follow About these things and in all Disputes concerning Religion we ought to have a rule to go by and that is Scripture well explained and understood that is according to the true signification of the Words and Sense in the Original the scope of the Place and the analogy of Faith this rule must be true and certain which cannot be as long as every one is allowed to turn it to his own Sense and private Interpretation * Jonah Schlich ting in Symb. Epist ad loct p. 3. One of their Authors in his Exposition of the Creed saith that 't is most ancient and most simple and from the beginning no Man doubted but that it contained the Apostolical Doctrines But he saith not enough for that Creed must be received not only as to the words but also in the sense wherein the primitive Church took it It is very unreasonable in them to go about setting up their own private Opinions over and above and to the prejudice of the publick and universal ones 't is too much to abound in their own sense and to despise the general consent of the primitive Church as if excepting a number of Hereticks all the World had been blind and in darkness till Socinus came so before there was not nor is there now any true Church but of their own Sect they refuse to joyn with those who went before because say they they were fallible yet they would have us to joyn with them so 't is but reasonable for us to ask them to prove their infallibility it argues a great pride in them that in matters of Religion even as to the Fact which cannot be proved meerly by the light of Reason they will not in the least submit to the judgment of others who are witnesses of the times yet take upon themselves to frame a new Religion make new Articles of Faith and set up for Judges whether or not at their pleasure to receive or reject matters of Faith and the Doctrines hitherto received by the Universal Church 't is true they have been cunning enough to enlarge much the pales of their Society therein to receive more Men and of all sorts to that effect Socinus's System is compiled of a Rapsody of complicated Heresies therefore to avoid the name of Innovator he saith nullum c. †Apolog. Epist ad Martin Vadovit In my publick writings I asserted no doctrine which before my coming hither into Poland had not been owned by others in this Kingdom or elsewhere Yet his Uncle Laelius who had been his Teacher and whose Opinions he defended in the Preface of his Explication of the 1st Chap. of John's Gospel declares his Interpretation to be new the true sense whereof saith he had been mistaken by all Expositors that were before 'T is true that generally most of his Heresies were broach'd before him whereunto his Uncle and he after added some few things and thereunto gave a new form which to give a greater Authority unto he saith how * Epist ad Squarcilupum Tom. 1. p. 382. in what he had written in answer ad palaeo-logum de Magistratu he owned no other Master or Teacher but God and Scripture besides his Vncle Laelius dead long before or rather some few Writings or Annotations of his this in the same place he also extends to the universal knowledge of Divine Things And tho he owns there be still some things which he might learn yet hitherto he met with none therein able to teach him And this Man who seems to scorn to learn any thing of others hath forged and fram'd a new Body of Divinity and squeezed what he could out of his Brains that very same he publish'd and would have us to believe as Divine Truths as if to the exclusion of the whole Church he had been constituted the only true Interpreter of God's Word however this must be said that to gain more Men to himself he allowed others the same liberty he took to Interpret Scriptures as they pleased yet he insinuates how in his Interpretations are the fitter rules for them to go by and to please many Men about this they give leave to bring in commodam Interpretationem as they call it that is not the truest but most to their purpose the easiest most commodious or convenient under which cloak they wrest it to a contrary sense and in matters of Salvation Socinus is so complacent as to say that though one believeth things contrary to Scripture Tom. 1. p. 502. as to believe some things therein to be forbidden or commanded which are not he is thereby in no danger of being deprived of Salvation or excluded from Heaven Yet Men should know how the Gospel and Christian Religion is a Depositum a thing given in trust whereof the Ministers are the keepers for saith the Apostle to his Disciple 1 Tim. 6.20 O Timothy keep that which is committed to thy trust 't is then a thing delivered to not invented by thee not thine own but Christ's 't is not of thy contrivance but like a Steward thou hast received it and must dispose of it not according to thine own fancy but according to the rule prescribed thee without any alteration But as their Principles
means he in Poland where that cunning and craftiness are more strangers than in Italy which is I may say the chief center of it endeared himself to the friendship of some great Men in that Kingdom who by their example and authority spread and propagated his Errours also by the help of whether natural or counterfeit Patience Meekness and other affected Vertues which all are dangerous qualifications when made use of for bad ends Satan is never so dangerous as when transform'd into an Angel of Light so his Ministers ought carefully to be avoided when in Sheep's Clothing and when they have a shew of Innocency and Candour for then occasions are offered them to execute their woolvish ravenousness to tear and devour the Sheep but though God suffered this impious blasphemer to do a great deal of mischief as to admiration in his just judgment he did Mahomet with his absurd nonsensical and extravagant impostures yet by raising oppositions against him he would not permit him to do all the evil he intended for several pull'd off his Vizard and made him appear in his own Colours In some of his Writings disputes and discourses tho' naturally hot enough yet he seem'd mild patient and moderate knowing how our nature can more easily be enticed and gently drawn then forced by which crafty means the Poison of his Errours more easily crept in and was by him insinuated into the Minds of Men as formerly the Pelagians and other cunning Hereticks had done before him such Men as the Apostle saith by good Words and fair Speeches deceive the Hearts of the simple and as said in the same place Rom. 16.18 do not serve the Lord Jesus but their Belly now such as cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which we have learned we ought diligently to mark and avoid them Hereupon we must take God's warning to the Prophet Jerem. 12.6 believe them not though they speak fair words unto thee which we ought the more to mind because Socinians by means of deceitful words were first admitted and received here when all Europe as Switzerland Geneva Germany c. proved too hot for them and being turned out of Poland then they sent hither to supplicate in the name of poor persecuted Prostants upon which account they were pityed and coming over some of them thorough Holland where they met with too many Friends they unhappily were here received for such as they had represented themselves to be though when in time they came to be known they cunningly held their pace because they were watched But of late upon what encouragement God knows they are broken loose upon us both at home and from abroad whence some of that outlandish cursed stock are come in and now live here till God be pleased to disperse and suppress them in the mean while they are like so many Vipers in the bosom of the Nation upon this account we may observe two things which usually happen and are the effects of a Corrupt nature the first that men in a wrong way are more diligent careful and industrious to promote those hurtful ends of theirs than others who are for a good cause and which may do good are to forward it commonly one in a evil way will go farther than another in a good one the Truth is he must go fast whom the Devil drives The second thing is the general disposition in men to fall into those snares and contrary to the dictates of Truth and sound Reason to entertain false Notions because they seem left to their choice to the prejudice of those Truths which have along with them a Command over our consent and belief thorough such pretences and outward appearances of Modesty Humility desire of rhe Truth and the like dephts and devices of Satan which the Apostle saith we are not ignorant of and by these shares of the Devil Rev. 2.24 Cor. 2.11.2 Tim. 2. Men are by him taken captive at his will A thing which very much help'd Socinus to set up his errours is this when he came into Poland he found that Country rent in pieces by several Factions and Sects of Antitrinitarians who were more intent to destroy the Opinions of their Antagonists than to confirm their own so he being a subtle and Crafty Italian newly come among them acted his part so Cunningly as to get himself to be the head wherein he was favoured by the State and Constitution of that Kingdom where great Men have much Power and great Influences that Nation being stiled Martialis ferox upon the account of the fierce and Arbitrary Spirit of Men of Quality and the ordinary people very much kept under by them not daring to oppose he being there to strenghten himself made a Rapsody of most Heresies before him and of others then on Foot in those parts which he would never have attempted in Italy for fear of Fire and Fagot nor in Switzerland whence he was forced to fly away and to please Heterodox Men of all sorts he therewith compiled that unhappy System of his wholly or in part to engage greater Numbers of Men to defend it At that time Poland abounded in Monstrous Opinions which he cemented and join'd together and notwithstanding some divisions did set up for head of all this Man from his Youth began to be fitted to produce Monstrous things for besides his Uncles Directions he being born within the State of Toscany which generally brings forth the most refin'd Wits of all Italy and so I may say of Europe had working brains of his own which prompted him to new things and as Italians are very apt to indulge their natural Genius which by experience I know in these late times commonly to lead them to mischief as we have a late instance in the person of Borri who among other Extravagant alterations which he made in some Articles of the Popish Religion for which he was in the Inquisition and is now if not lately dead under confinement during Life in the Castle San Angelo in Rome he made the Virgin a Goddess of the same Nature with God so Socinus had several Contemporaries and Compatriots whom I named elsewhere who with him acted their parts upon the same Stage Now I say Socinus being a busy Man of an active and stirring Spirit and in his time matters of Religion being the general discourse of the World he apply'd his Wits that way and though may be at first he was not altogether so bad as he proved at last he began by degrees so publish'd with a disguised name Castellio's Pelagian Dialogues afterwards his Book de Christo Servatore as when an Enemy goes about to besiege a place he begins with the outworks and so by degrees comes to the Body thus Christ's Enemies begin with acting against his Grace and at last do attack his Person He and his followers use to slight and unconcernedly to speak of Holy things and of Religion thus it seems to me I see
the old ones After what I hitherto observed of them and of their Principles these following things I offer to the Serious consideration of the Reader but more especially to that of the Government and Magistracy which are more immediatly concern'd First That our Controversies against Socinians are not about indifferent things or few Ceremonies but concerning the most Fundamental Truths of our Holy Religion for the Doctrines of the Trinity of two Natures in Christ of his Satisfaction of the Grace and Providence of God are not Problematical nor meerly School disputes but of the necessity of Christian Faith I also affirm that Socinians are Christians only in Name not really and in Truth for they own not Christ for what he is and if the * Athan. orat 3.4 cont Arian Ancient Doctors of the Church reckoned the Arians among the Gentiles so we now may account Socinians to be Constantine the Great made an Edict forbidding the Porphyrians to be call'd Christians and that all their Books should be Burnt so this were the proper Course to suppress those of Socinians but instead of that they are suffered not only daily to Print new ones but also to Reprint old ones and thus not only here at home but also to have them from abroad Socinians do not truly confess Christ seeing they deny he hath Divine Nature and make of him but a secondary God an Idol and a Creature God then which nothing more absurd I farther say they ought not to be suffered to have Communion with the Church because they do not together with us know own and Worship the true God who is Father Son and Holy Ghost but they pretend to Worship one first God the Father and another inferiour God made such that is the Son moreover they lay another foundation than that is laid 1 Cor. 3.11 for instead of Christ who is a Divine Person with two Natures they set up another Person who is a meer Man seeing than they lay another Foundation deny Christ Son of God to be come in the Flesh and do not adore him with us for such as he is than we may have no Brotherly Communication with them than they have not with us the same washing of the Blood of Christ and do not believe therewith to be Purged and Sanctify'd for they deny his Satisfaction that he hath laid down a Price to Redeem us they farther deny or depravate the causes and means of our Salvation and are guilty of Idolatry for paying a Religious Worship to him who is not God by Nature and though they would be thought to be Disciples of Jesus Christ yet they deny his Person and betray his Truth I add they Love not Christ and against such 1 Cor. 16.22 the Apostle pronounces Anathema for they Blaspheme against him they pretend to love him only as a Creature when he should be loved as Creator then they are not Pious for such cannot be said to live piously who deprive the true God Father Son and Holy Ghost of the Honour due to him and they are highly mistaken when they would make civil honesty to be Christian Piety and the true knowledge of God and a constant profession thereof not to be a necessary part of Piety They ought not to be suffered in a Christian State so as to have liberty of Conscience with free exercise of and teaching or publishing their Blasphemous and Impious Opinions because they overthrow the foundation of Christian Religion to the dishonour of God's Holy Name seduction of Souls and disturbance of the Church and as 't is a Collection of fundamental Heresies so to tolerate Socinians is thereby to tolerate all those Heresies whereby God's Judgments are drawn upon Nations wherefore Pious Christian Emperours and Kings to promote the Glory of God ever took care to suppress Heresies and Blasphemies as the Ecclesiastical Histories do fully prove it and thereupon let Justinian's Code be consulted against the Heresies of Photinus and of Paulus Samosatenus which Socinians do openly profess Now the Churches in Poland according to the three several Protestant Confessions there will have no Communion with Socinians who at several times were thence banished by their Kings In Holland * In 1598. the States-General having about Socinus asked the Opinion of Junius Trecaltius and Gomarus three Eminent Divines at Leyden the answer was He is no Christian but half Turk for Christians do believe one God with a distinction of Persons but the Mehometan Religion is for one God without distinction of Persons so are Socinians the Judgment of these three Divines agrees †Voidov Ostorod in Apol. in 1600. not only with the truth but also with the general consent of Christians against the Order of the States-General by vertue of which their Blasphemous Books were burnt at the Hague and they Banish'd out of their Dominions they unjustly complain'd and that act they compared with the Spanish Inquisition which here is their usual Discourse and Question will ye bring an Inquisition upon us and as then so now they would plead it to be the interest of the State to tolerate them whereof the contrary I sufficiently proved besides that Religion is against it whose Voice is to be heard sooner than that of false Reason neither ought God's cause to be made a Sacrifice of to any wordly interest among the Burnt Books in Holland was Ostorodus's Manuscript against Tradelius wherein he called Christ's Satisfaction an invention of the Trinitarians according to the place of his where he calls it a false childish ridiculous and blasphemous errour like an old Womens Superstitious and Popish Fable Certainly Men who have so obstinate an hatred of the Truth such mean Thoughts of and Contempt for him who is the way the Truth and the Life Joh. 14.6 are a shame to a Nation a Reproach to a People and a Scandal to Religion also Dangerous because they lose no Opportunity of Publishing their erroneous Opinions and their being supported makes them the bolder therefore 't is wish'd as indeed there is a necessity for it to see our Springs cleared as from Idolatry so from Blasphemy Papists who are great Idolaters are I thank God by Law excluded from having any hand in the Legislative or Executive Powers and 't is but fit that Blasphemers Socinians who confidently brag of their Errours should be so too The Receiver is as bad as the Thief I remember a Blasphemer here James Naylor to stand at the Pilory have his Tongue bored thorough in the Forehead Branded with the Letter B and Condemned during Life to be in Prison without Pen Ink or Paper and though about those times unhappily sprung up several Sects yet general care was ever taken of the main and Fundamentals of Religion even in the Army where was the greatest Latitude allowed for in their Laws and Ordinances of War the first Article was against Blasphemy in these very Words First let no Man presume to Blaspheme the Holy and
Greek nor Hebrew so could make no such Quotations and Observations as we read therein There he questions the Text of 1 John 4.3 Every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the Flesh is not of God where he adds a Parenthesis when there is none thereby to exclude the words Jesus Christ is come in the flesh from being in the Original farther he saith in Jude 4. where are these words denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ The word God is not in the Alexandrine Manuscript this tends as they think fit to make Scripture subservient to their ends and to make things therein doubtful by adding taking away Rev. 22.18.19 1 John 5.7 or altering whereupon I give him warning to mind what is said in the word But because the Text of John about the three in Heaven is what he most insists upon though I elsewhere have spoken of it here I shall again say something about it although many Learned Men before have so examined the place See my Book again Socin p. 273. and my answer to the I. letter p. 36. that hardly any thing can be added to what hath been said They argue the Verse is not in some Antient Greek Manuscripts nor in the Syriac but this is not Argumentative for though it be not in some it is in others and if we should go only upon that bottom the reason is equally as good for us as for them * De Vnitate Eccles Cyprian who lived about the middle of the third Century made use of the Text and Jerome or the Vulgata hath it Erasmus upon better Thoughts and after a more mature Deliberation had it in his new Edition of the New Testament and at this day the Greeks have it in their book call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which must needs be in Conformity to some Antient Greek Copies If it be not in some of the Antient Copies we may well suspect some Anti-Trinitarians of those times according to the usual way of Hereticks who went about corrupting by Additions Diminutions or Alterations those Texts which hit them to the quick to have expunged and taken it out it might also happen through the mistake of the Copist for whom as at this time 't is found by experience 't was not impossible through carelessness or unfaithfulness to leave out a whole Verse and there is a particular Reason why it may be so in this for there are two Verses one after another 7 and 8. which begin with the same words There are three which bear record in c. which might easily cause a mistake in the Copist and take the last Verse for the first and so omitting one to go on in the other besides that the Sense leads us to see there must be such a Verse to make three in Heaven answer three upon Earth without which there would be a breach left in the place and something defective to answer the Apostles design who already in Verse 5 and 6. hath mention'd the three for he saith Who is he that overcometh the world but he that believes that Jesus is the son of God That is of God the Father so here are two of the three Persons and in the next Verse the third Person namely the Holy Ghost is named It is the Spirit that beareth witness because the Spirit is truth So that this Verse 7. is a deduction of what hath been said in the foregoing and the expression beareth witness used in the Verse in question confirms it as the Spirit is one of the Witnesses so are the Father and the Son besides that as the beginning of Verse 7. contains a Reason of what is said in Verse 6. how the Spirit beareth witness which is expressed thus For there are three c. so the Copulative Particle and which is the first word in Verse 8. joyns and makes it answer the foregoing But because I find the Man makes use of Simon Crit. v. t. c. 2. the Oratorian's Critick a Man who of his own Head in several things speaks over-boldly and who seems to be of his Opinion he should know that his Writings are by Protestants to be read with Caution for in all those kinds of things especially in this case he goes upon his Popish bottom how the Authority of Scripture depends upon the Testimony of the Church so that nothing is Canonical and to be believed as such but what the Church saith to be so therefore upon that account they believe the Apocrypha and their Traditions to be of an equal Authority with the Canonical Books thus all such Papists according to their Principles will say ye must believe that Verse to be in because the Church saith it But to come to * Simon 's Critick upon 1. John 5.7 p. 8. Simon he mentions some Manuscripts he hath seen in the French King's and Colbert's Librarys which saith he have not the Verse in question not in the body of the Book but in the Margin they have Yet mark what he writes The writing of the Addition appears to be no less Antient than that of the Text the like he saith there of some Manuscripts in the Benedictines Library of St. Germain's Abby and the Addition therein is as old therein as the Text it self since the Additions in the Margin are as old as the Text it self there is ground left to believe that they were at or about the same time when the body of the Copy was and that the Copist saw he had forgotten it and having no room left to insert it in he did it in the Margin but Father Simon hath omitted a very material thing for he ought to have said whether the Copy and the Addition in the Margin appeared to be written by the same Hand for if so then the Copist intended thereby to mend his Omission In matter of Manuscripts some things must be observed like as we do in the case of Medals for both relate to Antiquity we go by some certain Rules to find whether or not the Medal be true or false stampt or cast and the time when it was so we have Coins of Roman Emperours of Kings of Macedonia Syria c. which though of a good Workmanship yet we value them not because posteriour to the time when such an Emperour and such a King lived and this we know by the nature of the Metal the edges of the Piece the form and disposition of the Letter how round how long and how close one with another for all those differences we find in Medals which to learn requires indeed much Experience for want whereof some Men who have a great Erudition about those things and are excellent in the Theorical part of that noble curiosity yet when it comes to the Practical they easily are imposed upon and cannot discern the Genuine from the Counterfeit Nay about these things there is sometimes such a Dexterity used by those who make a Trade of it
call'd will help to strike the Nail farther into the Head of those proud and unchristian Sisera's Unbelievers I may also call them seeing they refuse to believe the true God of Israel when he speaks of his Son who under the Name of this Angel he promised should go before them Ex. 32.34 Mine Angel shall go before thee And in the next Chapter God calls him his Presence ch 33.14 or his Face God hath many Angels but in a most special manner that he calls his but God hath not many Faces 2 Cor. 4.6 only one and that is the Face of Jesus Christ in whom only is the knowledge of the glory of God for God giveth the knowledge of his glory only in him Because he is the express Image of his Heb. 1.3 the Father's Person Those two Texts in the Old Testament compared with and explained by these two in the New shew that the Lord Jesus the proper Son of God went before and guided his People in the Wilderness so pre-existed the time of his Birth of the Virgin and that it may not be said of any Creature that the glory of God is in his Face or that he is the express Image of the Person of the Father and the brightness of his glory as the Beam is the brightness of the glory of the Sun In my way towards a Conclusion I shall by the grace of God briefly bring in some few Texts which do explain and confirm the great Truths now in question some I elsewhere have taken notice of however I now shall add something to what I then said but others I shall mention which I did not before but this I shall premise In the Apostle John's Days who lived to a very Old Age sprang up some Heresiarks as Simon the first of all Cerinthus Ebion and Menander who deny'd the Divinity of Christ as now Socinians do This moved the Apostle to assert and vindicate it as in his Gospel Epistles and Revelation he hath done so fully that if there were no other Books left of the New Testament there is in them abundantly enough to certifie and confirm that Heavenly Truth as out of several places in his Writings I sufficiently demonstrated in my Book against the Blasphemies of Socinianism which he doth so plainly and so often that we must take notice how the Holy Ghost by his Pen intended chiefly and strongly to suggest to and convince Men of the Fundamental Truth of Christian Religion namely that the Lord Jesus is the proper Son of God 1 Joh. 5.5.9 10 11 12 13 20. and to the end that great Truth may make a deep impression upon the Souls of Men in one Chapter in no less than seven Verses he emphatically calls him the Son of God and v. 10 he is twice so called so twice in the 13th and that in such a manner so sensibly and with such Circumstances as denote a true proper and natural kind of Son-ship and he is so earnest upon 't may be all that time having in his Eye the Blasphemy of those Hereticks as to charge those who deny Christ to be the Son of God and believe not in him to make God a Lyar who is the God of Truth the highest Blasphemy that the Devil can infuse into Men For saith he he that believeth on the Son of God hath the Witness in himself he that believeth not God hath made him a Lyar He saith wherein Because he believeth not the Record that God gave of his Son And what is that Record Besides his Commission in sending him into the World and the Works attended with so many Miracles and Wonders which the Father gave him to finish and to the evidence of which our Saviour did appeal we have it in his Baptism in a most eminent and special manner for the Father bare record of him when he said from Heaven This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased Certainly God spoke absolutely truly and properly and not Metaphorically improperly and by a Figure not my Son according to the Flesh spiritually or only in some respect but simply my Son that is begotten of my substance and of the same Nature with me as a Son ought to be and is of the same Nature with the Father Volkel l. 5. c. 12. whose only begotten he is which is the proper signification of the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which a Socinian would corrupt and render by that of Most beloved to enervate the strength of it The Priests Philosophers and Poets among the Heathen either out of Noah's or Abraham's Schools or by some other way had a kind of dark knowledge of this Truth which for want of Revelation they understood not therefore did hide it under Fables and Lies as may be that of Mercury Jupiter's Son and Messenger of Pallas born out of his Head but for Socinians who have God's Word so positively affirming this Truth 't is for them the unpardonable sin of Unbelief which sinks them into Atheism for whosoever knoweth not and worshipeth not the true God he is without God and all who deny Father Son and Holy Ghost to be the true God know not the true God poor Wretches who presume with the Line of their shallow Brain and weak Reason to fathom the deep things of God which prompts them to put several impertinent rash and blasphemous Questions how short do they fall of the Modesty Sobriety and Wisdom of an Heathen Sextus the Pythagorean who said Concerning God inquire of nothing but what thou mayst lawfully say nothing of God but what thou hast learned of God 't is better for one to lose his Life than to speak an idle word of God it is better to say nothing of God than rashly to speak of him Such Men shall at the last Day rise in Judgment against Socinians Among the Greeks Pythagoras himself made all perfection to consist in the number of three or in Trinity and Plato constituted three Principles of all things Good Understanding and the Soul or Life whereby we Christians may understand Father Son and Holy Ghost who created the World But I must go on The Centurion's Words are remarkable when he said to our Saviour Matth. 8.8 Lord speak the Word only and my Servant shall be healed just as Scripture speaks in the matter of Creation Psal 33.9 He spake and it was done he commanded and it stood Such a Word of Command we read of in Jonah And the Lord spake unto the Fish Jonah 2.10 and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry Land which last words imply a special Providence and ordering of things for the Fish might have vomited him in the middle or the bottom of the Sea but because God would save him 't was upon dry Land But to return to the Centurion whose great Faith the Lord commended he believed and was not mistaken that our Saviour might as absolutely command Distempers and Health Death and Life as he
his Sister Constantia upon her Death-bed had commended to his favour how Arrius had to his Imperial Majesty been mis-represented for his Opinion about those Matters was the same with the Judgment of the Council of Nice and that if he were pleased to admit him into his presence he with his own Mouth would assure him of it the Emperour who would not in the least recede from the Resolutions of the Council was upon those terms content to see him so he comes and in sound words gave him a short Confession of what he said he believed concerning those Matters afterwards Constine ask'd him whether he would subscribe to the Council's Determinations which he readily did yet the Emperour to make sure of him required him to swear to the truth of what he had subscribed which he also did thus he imposed upon the Emperour but could not upon God who as I said before found out and Punished him I am perswaded that many Socinians after the Example of this their great Ring-leader to get leave to set up Anti-Christian Conventicles will if they can impose upon the Law subscribe and swear unto any thing for they have the face to declare if we will believe them that the Vnitarians the Catholick Church the Translatour as they call one and I are at perfect Agreement but the contrary I sufficiently shewed in my Answer to their two Letters Still I am of Opinion that for their ends they will do say sign and transform themselves into any thing therefore let those who are concerned look to them when they offer to swear and subscribe Thus having taken notice of the Law I must not omit to do so of the Gospel and Address my self to the Ministers of Christ and Shepherds of his Flock whose Duty it is not only to feed but also defend it from the Wolves else in Scripture Phrase they are Idol Shepherds Zec. 11.17 and dumb Dogs Not Shepherds but Hirelings for saith the great Shepherd of all He that is an hireling Isai 56.10 11. Joh. 10.11.12 13 14. Ezeck 33. and not the Shepherd seeth the wolf coming and leaveth the sheep and fleeth and the wolf catcheth them and scattereth the sheep Therein is Rule and Example for good Shepherds a terrible doom will attend those who herein neglect their Duty as we read in the Case of the Watchman 't is not enough for one to know but he also must do his Duty or else he shall fall into a greater Condemnation but 't will be a great Aggravation when he knows the Wolf to be within the Sheepfold and drives it not out when he can and if he wants strength let him sue for help where it may be had Certainly these are Evil Days when more than ever as 't is now out of the Heart proceed all the wicked things by our Saviour mentioned among which Blasphemy Mark 7.22 none of the least is named We hope our worthy Prelates with their Pious Care and Christian Prudence will drive out of the Precinct of their respective Jurisdictions and as far as they are able every thing else contrary to Piety and sound Doctrine this with humble Respect and Submission I bring to their Door and there leave it not doubting but that some who are sincere and zealous for the cause of God will approve themselves to be among those whom God speaks of Jer. 3.15 I will give you Pastours according to mine Heart which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding May God in this great Concern of his make every one in his station careful diligent and faithful to Discourse Preach Write and every other way according to their Abilities promote the Interest of Christ that we may see whatsoever is contrary to 't thereby exploded out of the Land if not out of the World or at least compelled to lurk and hide in dark places proper Holes for Works of Darkness that we may no longer hear see or be troubled therewith we may hope God will bless Joint-endeavours if every one in his way and as far as he is enabled fets his Hand to the Work among us let there be none like the Trumpets who encourage Men to Battle yet fight not themselves or as the Bells which call People to Church but they go not In my Judgment I am not against but for using first such charitable means 2 Tim. 2.25 as thereby to try if God peradventure will give them Repentance to the acknowledging the Truth specially to those who have been seduced and are misled who indeed are pity worthy but in relation to hardned Hereticks our Charity must be kept within bounds and attended with Considerations becoming Christian Zeal and Prudence 1 Cor. 13. 't is true Charity thinketh no evil without cause but she is not blind and can see when there is She beareth all things but doth not approve of or tolerate Heresie it ought not to be void of Prudence or of sincere love to Truth or of zeal for God's House so as under the Notion of Charity to bring or suffer in God's House Men infected with damnable Heresie Snakes into the Mother's Bosom or ravenous Wolves into the Sheep-fold In such things we must not mind so much what Men will say as what God will To loyal Subjects their Princes Enemies are theirs so true Christians ought to account Christ's Enemies to be theirs God forbid we should under the wrong Notion of Charity betray our Allegiance to him our Conscience or the Truth As to Socinians I wish the gentleness of the Parliament towards them may lead them to the knowledge of their detestable Errors and prove an Inducement to repent and leave them off lest their Charity being exhausted and Patience tired out in their Christian Prudence and Zeal for God seeing mild Courses cannot prevail they make use of harder ones May be some Wretches whom for being in no wise qualified for any publick Places the Penalties cannot reach shall take the liberty as Emissaries to disperse their venom and to blaspheme which Time will shew In the mean while 't is a just cause of much Grief and Sorrow for all that are for God's Glory and who love their Religion to see so many Lots and Hindrances to the sound Doctrines of the Gospel and to the Work of Piety and Reformation None here can be so blind but may perceive it if some do not I am sure others afar off to the Shame and Scandal of Religion and of the Nation do with a Witness What a stain is it to England's Honour and to the purity of our Holy Profession to find that our Enemies to both Religion and Nation throw Dirt upon 't not in private but as publickly as can be It hath been told in Gath and published in the Streets of Askelon 2 Sam. 1.20 The French Gazette and by * Flying Post of Saturday 9th of April 1698. our printed Papers here 't is mentioned in the Article from Paris saith The Bill