propagated as it was it could not have been made out that it was true and if so what must have been the strong Arguments used for it before it was so propagated Either these were convincing or not if they were not convincing then it being propagated by weak and unconcluding Arguments we cannot be bound to submit to it or believe it if these Arguments were convincing we either know them or we know them not if we know them not how can we judge they were convincing if we know them then we may be as well convinced by them as those were to whom they were at first proposed The great Argument the Apostles offered was that our Blessed Saviour wrought many Miracles in the sight of the Iews and that he being dead and laid in the grave was raised from the dead and after a long stay with them on earth they saw him ascend with great glory to Heaven of all which they were witnesses Now these being matters of Fact so positively attested by so many eye-witnesses who were men of great probity that could not be cast on the pretence of their being hired or bribed there being no interest could lead them to give that testimony but only truth all other considerations deterring them from it there was good reason then and remains so still to believe this true whether the world had embraced it or not And I will ask I. K. what if the Gentiles had rejected their testimony as well as the Iews did yet if these sacred writings had been with a most Religious care conveyed down to us had we not been bound to believe the Gospel certainly we had for the Apostles were men who upon the strictest tryal of Law must be admitted as competent witnesses they were well informed of what they heard and saw for a tract of three or four years they were plain simple men who could not in reason be suspect of deep designs or contrivances they in the testimonies they gave do not only vouch private stories that were transacted in corners but publick matters seen and known of many hundreds they all agreed in their testimony so that the fumes of melancholy could not lead so many into such an agreement of mistakes Their testimonies if false might have been easily disproved the chief power being in the hands of their enemies who neither wanted power cunning nor malice And in fine the truth of their testimony appears in their constant adhering to it from which neither imprisonments whippings tortures no not death it self could divert them From all which it is as evident as is possible any matter of Fact can be that their testimony was true and this discourse must hold good whether the world had received and believed their report or not Which was the more fully confirmed by the miraculous operations of the Apostles in the name of Christ by which they did cast out Devils and cure all manner of diseases and to this they appeal in their Epistles and Acts which were published at that time wherein had the matter of Fact not been true they had been branded as bold and impudent Impostors We have also a Series of Books in all Ages citing the Writings wherein these Testimonies are contained by which we know they were written at that very time And the Apologists for the Christian Faith in their Apologies appeal to the wonders that were still wrought for confirmation of the Faith nor can we imagine that men of common sense not to say Modesty and Ingenuity would have appealed to proofs that were slender and false in matter of Fact Thus we see that great confirmation of our Saviour from his Miracles is made good by another way of proof than by the propagation of it which I do not deny doth very strongly make out the truth of all yet is rather a consequent confirmation of what hath been said than an antecedent argument for proving it So though it be far from my thoughts to weaken this way of confirming Christian Religion yet it is plain that an extraordinary propagation will not infer the truth of the Doctrine though it be allowed it was done by Miracles since we cannot be assured these Miracles are wrought by a good Spirit till we first consider the Doctrines they confirm whether they be good or not It doth also appear that the truth of these Miracles is made out abundantly to us abstracting from the way of propagating them But in end we must a little examine what this way of propagating them was and we shall find that notwithstanding all the calumnies and lesser persecutions of the Iews of the derision of the Philosophers of the prejudice carnal lusts and appetites laid in the way and above all of the violent oppositions given it by the Roman Emperors who spared no cruelty for a Succession of three Ages and ten Persecutions that hell or hellish men could devise for destroying it yet it prevailed and in a few years did spread to the astonishment of the world and all other Religions were not only overthrown by the many Converts were daily flocking in to the Christian Church but by the ruine of these very Religions Judaism fell to the ground by the subversion of their Temple and the total ruine and dispersion of their State begun by Vespasian and Titus and compleated by Trajan and Hadrian nor could their attempts though cherished by an apostate Emperour succeed for the rebuilding their Temple Heaven and Earth combining to break off the work Heathenism did also receive a mortal blow by the silencing the Oracles upon the beginnings of Christianity which were the great supports of that Religion with the vulgar And the exemplary lives the heavenly Doctrines the mutual Charity and the noble Constancy of the first Witnesses and Martyrs of the Christian Faith wrought not a little on all that beheld thâ—m even on such as were very partial and byassed against them And the Christian Religion being thus universally received as it is a very full demonstration that these Miracles were no forgeries but known and approved truths So also it confirms in us a belief that there was an extraordinary presence of God in these beginnings of Christianity assisting and animating those Converts of all Ages Sexes and Qualities to adhere to it under all the discouragements and sufferings they were to pass through whether occasioned by the irregular appetites of their own carnal lusts or by the outward oppositions they met with And thus far I have considered how the truth of Christian Religion can be made out against the opposition of Atheists Infidels or Deists Hitherto I have waited on I. K. in the survey of these Truths about which we are agreed and I hope upon a review of what we have both performed he will not deny but I have strengthened his Positions with the accession of many more and better Arguments than any he brought So that if he be in earnest zealous for these four great Truths he will rejoyce to
deceiving Perspective cast on the falsest Propositions and the close Contextures of Reason derived from the common Notices of Truth which dwell on the minds of all men The subtleties of the Schoolmen did well enouâ—h in an Age that questioned nothing but nâ—w that men are throughly awake and having thrown off the prejudices of Custome and Education call for a fuller Evidence they are not the proper men to deal with this Age their ignorance of mankind makes them offer many things as demonstrations which some even of the most trifling pretenders to Wit can undo and blâ—w away and their being accustomed to their own Topicks not knowing how much they are rejected by men of severer and more searching Understandings makes them often beg the one half of the question to prove the other Therefore whoever would deal with our Hectors in matters of Religion must know men as well as Notiâ—nâ— and Books And as of 〈◊〉 Plato thought the Study of Geometry a necessary preparation to the understanding the higher Mysteries of his Philosophy So I have often judged an acquaintance with Mathematical Arts and Sciences a fit and almost necessary preparation for a right understanding and managing Theological debates since these teach us to distinguish Critically betwixt truth and falshood and practise a man into an exact considering of every thing that is proposed to him The want of this or at least a great overliness in it appears in J. K's late Book wherein he thinks he leads his Reader in a Mathematical method through a great many Propositions every one of which he imagines he has proved beginning from a very plain unquestioned one That something is True and ending it in a very fruitful one That every thing the Roman Church teaches as an Article of Faith must certainly be True Undoubtedly if his method be good that Church is infinitely beholding to him for its support having offered an easier and clearer method for bringing the world under her Authority than any yet thought on This he concludes as firm and sure of all sides and by a clear way of Analyticks offers a Resolution of any Theorem or Problem in Divinity even to the giving the Quadrature of that Circle their Church is forc'd to run round in proving her own Authority from the Scriptures and the Authority of the Scriptures from her own Testimony I shall without any further Introduction enter into a survey of the Six Points proposed by J. K. to be proved without examining the unwariness of his expressions in any of them in which though he lies often open yet it is of so little importance to quarrel about Words or forms of Speech that I shall not stand upon them being also careful to avoid the engaging in any debate that may be personal betwixt him and me and therefore shall confine my discourse to the Six Points he has gone through CHAP. I. It is considered if J. K. does prove convincingly that there is a God J K. thinks he hath proved the being of a God by this progression of Reason If something be true then this is true That there is something better than another which if any man deny he denies himself better than an Ass or a Block and so is either a mad man or a fool Now if something be better than other then there is a best of all things and every thing is better as it comes nearer that which is best and this best of all things is God Des Cartes is blamed by many for having left out all other Arguments for the proof of a Deity setting up only One which how strong soever it may be it is a great injury to the Cause he maintains to seem to slight all other proofs may be brought for so sacred and fundamental a truth Yet his establishing that upon a good and solid Foundation doth very much qualifie any guilt which is rather to be imputed to the over-valuing his own Notions than a designed betraying the Cause he undertook But upon this occasion the Reader may be tempted to severâ—r Câ—â—sure when the Foundations of so great a Suâ—â—â—structure are so ill laid and both the Antecedent and Consequent of this Argument prove equally weak And in the first place how is it proved that some things are better than other things or does any imagine the Atheists will admit that On the contrary they deny there is any thing morally good or evil and ascribe all the Notions of good and evil to Education Custom the several tempers and interests of men And indeed did they acknowledge the Morality of Actions they should yield the full half of the Debate that men ought to be good which would clearly make way for proving all the rest And these men will without any hesitation acknowledge themselves no better than Beasts or Blocks as to any moral goodness They will not deny but Matter is more refined in a man the Contexture better and the Usefulness greater than in other Animals but as to any moral goodness they plainly disclaim it As though Wood be never so neatly wrought in a fiâ—e and useful Cabinet yet is no better so than when it was an undressed Plank as to any moral goodness Thus it appears that I. K's ignorance of men makes him stumble in his first attempt nor is his next more successful for though some things be better it will not follow there is a best for of every sort of Beings there are some Individuals better than other but from that it does not follow there must be a best of that rank or order of Creatures because one Horse is swifter one Dog better scented one Lyon stronger therefore must there be a Horse swifter than all others a Dog the best scented of any and a Lyon stronger than any other Lyon This may be applied to all the Species of Creatures for all the goodness these people admit being only a better temper of more nimbly agitated Matter though one thing excel another it is not because it comes nearer the best of all Beings nor because it recedes further from the worst of all Beings but because it is more wieldy more apt to serve the several uses and interests of men without rising higher to consider any Orâ—ginal and Standart goodness Nor wâ—ll this any more prove the being of one that is 〈◊〉 all than because some men are sharper sighted others stronger limbâ—d others of a better digestion and others of a better tempered health that therefore there must be one that hâ—â— the sharpest sight of all men the strongest limbs the best dâ—gestion and the most constant health Besides though an Atheist did admit there were some beings Morally better and worse this does not prove there must be a best of all Beings for he may say that as naturally as Colours fit the eye and Sounds the ear so some Notions of good are suitable to the minds of men and their being better and worse is nothing but their keeping more close
to these Notions discerning them more truly and following them more constantly so that as a man sees well when his eye does present objects to him in their due Colours and distances yet this proves no Deity in like manner a man is better or worse as he discerns and follows these common Notices more or less exactly Thus far I have considered this Argument and have found it so weak on all sides that no weight is to be laid on it at all But all this while I have been put to act a very unpleasant part when I did but seem to defend Atheism from any objection is brought against it but I know nothing that does more prejudice a good cause than when it is maintained by arguments palpably weak and unconcluding for it makes many overly considerers and more particularly those that are already byassed and partial imagine it has no more strength in it than what it receives from the Arguments by which it was proved since no conclusion as such can have more truth in it than was in the premises from which it was deduced If therefore the proving of a Deity be made good by an Argument so fallacious that it must needs appear such at first view one that is wickedly partial may from that be sortified in his accursed hopes that there is none because he finds that so much feared truth is so weakly asserted But that I do not leave the Atheists in a vain triumph or seem to weaken so good a Cause by blowing away any reasons brought for it without substituting other and better ones in their room I shall here say a little for the conviction of an Atheist First then all men are desired to consider there is no Argument that can so much as pretend to prove there is no God or that a supreme being infinitely perfect is impossible for all the Atheists offer at is only to weaken those Reasons from which the belief of a Deity is inferred so that still it is possible there may be a God And from this every man will see cause to retire his thoughts inwards to consider what danger he is in if there be a God and he continue to deny and despise him and if it be possible there be a God for ought he knows there may be one since he has no reason to be assured of the contrary If upon this he yield so far as seriously and with even ballances to weigh what shall be offered to him he is next desired to consider if he find not within himself the secret apprehensions of a Supreme invisible being if the fears of offending him the desire of his assistance the joy in the opinion of being acceptable to him do not often spring up in his mind and this even after all attempts to stifle and repress them Nor can this be only the effect of Education for every man finds by experience that all other things which he sucked from his breeding can by a little care and attention be so quite forsaken that no visage of the first impression shall remain Since therefore these thoughts stick closer there must be somewhat more than Education in the case But this will appear stronger if a man compare the thoughts and common sentiments of all Nations and Ages as far as either History or writings can lead us up with these stirring within his own breast where finding that all mankind have agreed in the belief of a Deity he must needs be convinced there is some proportion betwixt his Soul and these thoughts from which he is not to be shaken though he meet with some few in this or former Ages who have denied or doubted this truth for these can never be set up against such vast numbers as have agreed in this belief who have been always the most sober most serious and considering persons who have cultivated all Arts and Sciences and advanced the good of Mankind more than the whole Tribe of Libertines and Ruffians who having abandoned themselves to their sensual appetites and pleasures and neglected the improving their minds in any thing that is either Great or Good are not to be put in the ballance with the Religious What have they ever done to better Mankind On the contrary their Maxims dissolve all the Nerves of Government and all the duties we owe one another and they being buried in their brutal lusts have lost that clearness of discerning which men of more sober tempers have nor do they ever converse with their own minds but study to guard against serious Thoughts as effects of the Spleen and Melancholy and the dissoluteness of their Lives as it depraves their Understandings so it makes them partial to those Notions that may give them ease and sleep in their licentious practises And thus he that consults his own thoughts and the common verdict of all Mankind will be made acknowledge a Deity And if he open his eyes to look on the visible world this will furnish him with many Reasons to believe an invisible power that made it If we consider the Revolutions of the heavens the interchanges of day and night summer and winter the figure of the earth its division into Sea and Land by which all Nations communicate what they abound in to others the inequalities of Hills and Valleys the Lakes and Rivers that moisten the earth and give drink to Animâ—â—â— the many productâ—oâ—s of the Earth the great variety of Plants and Vegetables with their several uses besides the more inward riches of the Earth Mines and Minerals what man of common sense can ascribe all this to Fate or Chance But the Structure of Animals the Organs of Sense the Vessels of Concoctions the various Ferments and the skilfully disposed Channels for conveying nourishment to all the parts of the Body raises our wonder higher which is at its full height when we examine the parts of mans Body which amazed Galen and made him sing a Hymn to his Maker upon so astonishing a Meditation If the Brain and seat of Memory and Imagination be considered what a surprizing thing is it to find such a substance the Receptacle of so many various Impressions as make up all the words of every Language we speak the figures of all persons places and things we have seen or considered and that all these be so well disposed that we can draw them out when we please in so ready and natural an order and also that all words flow so easily through our Mouths Now this must either be the effect of Fate or Chance or of an intelligent wise Being Not of Fate for beside that they cannot explain what that Fate should be every thing that flows from a Natural Cause must always operate the 〈◊〉 way but the great diversities of mens Temâ—ers Apprehensions and Judgments the difference of their Faces Eyes way of Speaking Writing and Walking shew that they are not the effects of Fate Nor can so much Regularity and parts so useful and well
or other Since therefore it is not in this Life it must be in another therefore we must believe our Souls shall outlive this state When likewise we consider that Matter in all its subtilest refinings and nimblest motions gives no discoveries of Sense or Cogitation and yet we feel a Thinking being within us which we plainly perceive to be a Being different from Matter both in its actings and nature we conclude there is a principle in us that must not necessarily die at the dissolution of this life Which is confirmed from innumerable stories of the Apparitions of some Rational beings separated from Bodies which in all Ages and places of the world have abounded and are as certainly attested as ever any matter of Fact hath been Which shews that there are Beings distinct from Matter and that our Souls are such their subtle reasonings both Metaphysical and Mathematical do demonstrate Their surviving this Body is also gathered from their frequent ascent above material Figures and Phantasms in their Conceptions and Inferences which shews they do not so much depend on matter as not to outlive their union with it In fine The common apprehensions which all Thinking men in all Ages have owned and which appears in the greatest part of all both good and bad at their death shews the belief of this is among those common Notices of truth which are born with the Soul From all which I may fairly assume That there is another state in which our Souls surviving their union with our Bodies shall be rewarded or punished as they have deserved well or ill at the hands of the great Creator and Judge of all men And therefore if our own interests touch us or prevail upon us and the apprehensions of future rewards or punishments work on our fears or hopes we must carefully avoid all dishonouring disobeying or offending this God and with the same care we must study to acknowledge our beings are of him and for him and that all the blessings of this Life are the effects of his Bounty for which we must thank him and adoring his blessed Attributes and Perfections we must dedicate our whole Lives to his service that so we may still enjoy his favour here and in the next life receive the rewards of good and faithful servants And thus upon good and solid foundations I have built up this proposition That there must be some true Religion CHAP III. It is considered if J. K. proves convincingly that there must be some true Revealed Religion J. K. goes on to prove this Religion must be Revealed which he performs thus How can we know Gods will unless he Reveal it to us either immediately or mediately For natural Religion teaches only in general that we ought to Worship and Obey God but does not teach the particular manner or matters of this Worship and Obedience therefore there is a necessity of this Revelation Yea if God had left this to the Choice of every one yet at least that must be revealed In this Reasoning I. K. hath forgot a very necessary distinction of Revelation into that which is communicated naturally to the Soul and that which is superadded by some extraordinary manifestation or inspiration In the former sence it cannot be denyed but it is necessary there be a Revelation of Religion but that is not what I. K. drives at Now he must be very ignorant if he does not know that the greatest part of the Philosophers believed there were on the Souls of all men such inscriptions of Truth that if all should purifie their minds from the defilements Lust superinduced upon them they should then clearly discern every thing that the Deity enjoyned them and therefore they looked upon Inspiration as a degree of madness which was only incident to weaker minds whose imaginative powers were too hard for their reasons And indeed they knew so much of the juglings of their Oracles that no wonder they studied to detract from their Authority all they could Now I desire I. K. will review his discourse and see what strong or good reasons it offers for the conviction of those of this perswasion So that his Argument proving only that God must reveal how he will be Worshipped and Obeyed if it be replyed that it is done to all men by those common Notices of Truth that are born with their Souls he hath furnished us with nothing to prove a further Revelation necessary To make good this therefore against the Philosophers it is not to be denied but if mankind had continued in the purity wherein God did create our Natures their Reasons were strong but they themselves complained of a great depravation of their Natures which they found were much prevailed on by Senses and sensible objects by Education Custome Corporeal pleasure and the power of Fancy And for clearing of this they apprehended another Prior state wherein our Souls for some trespass had lost their wings and plumes and so were degraded into Bodies This shews they found some corruption on their Nature from which they studied to emerge and did indeed attempt most gloriously the recovering themselves to their first original This being then confessed that our minds are much darkned and that our bodies appetites and fancies are too strong for them it will thence very naturally follow that as our reasons cannot discover all things to us so that our way of apprehending of divine things may carry along with it much of a body and gross phantasms This was evidently demonstrated in that numberless variety of Opinions into which all Nations were divided about Religion a great mixture of bodily phantasms and gross pleasures appearing both in their opinions and practises about Religion Nor was this only the fate of the Rabble but both Tully and Varro have given us an account of the great diversity was among Philosophers about the very Notion and Nature of a Deity And if they differed so much in their thoughts of that primitive and first Truth into how many divisions may we imagine they must have run about the other Truths to be deduced from that Since therefore men did so grope after all the disputes and speculations of Philosophers in which there was no certainty nor had any of them such plenary Authority as to oblige others to submit to their decision thence I infer the necessity of some clear and certain way for satisfying all mankind in things of so great and universal concern The Speculations of Philosophers were neither certain nor such as they were evident to men of weaker understandings the only way therefore to avoid this was either to make such plain and glorious Manifestations of God's presence and pleasure as the Iews had on mount Sinai and in their most holy place or to authorize some men by divine Inspirations to reveal God's will to mankind Now there is no impossibility in the notion of an Inspiration For if we make known our thoughts to one another either by forming such a â—ound
and endless wranglings of the Schools in matters of Philosophy in which men being accustomed to that game of disputing and subtilising about nothing and going from those studies to Divinity and carrying that same temper and fiery edge along with them they made all that work about it which hath now so long divided the world They being also by a long practice habituated to many Maxims and Axioms which were laid down for rules not to be enquired into or denyed came really to believe those were true and to carry them along with them to all their Theological debates All which will appear very evident to any that compares their Philosophical and Theological works from which many of their strange inferences and positions did take their rise and I am afraid do still receive their nourishment Thus far I have discoursed of the several prejudices the powers of the natural man do lay in the way of our apprehending and judging aright of Divine truths and the common notions of the moral Philosophy will concur to teach all men that before their minds can be rightly qualified for the understanding any intellectual truth but most chiefly Divine truth we must abstract from all those figures of things which our senses present to us and rise above all grosser phantasms It is no less necessary that our thoughts be serene and free of passion that we may freely and at leisure consider what lies before us without the Byass of preconceived opinions or interests And it is equally rational with these that we have modest minds not vainly puffed up with an opinion of our own knowledge but tractable and docile such as will not stick after clear conviction to confess and retract an error and that we proceed in our reasonings closely and on sure grounds not on vain conjectures and maxims taken up meerly on trust but by a clear progress advance from one truth to another as the Series of them shall lead A man who is thus prepared must next consider all was said in the first four Sections with a great deal more to the same purpose That he be on good grounds perswaded there is a God that there is a true revealed Religion that the Christian Religion is the true Religion These things being laid down he is in the first place by earnest Prayers to beg God's direction to go along with him in all his enquiries which certainly will not be wanting if he bring with him a sincere well prepared mind not byassed nor prepossessed and of this we may be well assured both from the Divine goodness and veracity For as he hath promised that whoso seek shall find so it is a necessary consequent of infinite goodness to assist all that sincerely seek after life and happiness but if any come to this study without he be duly prepared he has himself to thank if he fall into errors and mistakes The next thing an exact searcher into Religion must labour in is once to observe the nature of Christianity and the great designs of it and in this he is not to follow the small game of some particular and obscure passages but to observe through the whole New Testament what was the great end of all our Saviour spoke and did and his disciples testified and wrote If once we comprehend this a right it will be a thread to carry us through particular disquisitions For as there be many natural truths of which we are well assured though Philosophy offers us some Arguments against them in the answering which we are not able to satisfie our Reasons so there may be some divine truths very certainly made out to us and yet there may be places of Scripture which seem so to contradict those truths that they cannot be well answered Again a serious Enquirer will see good reason to believe the Scriptures must be plain evident and clear since they were at first directed to men of very ordinary parts and of no profound understandings and learning therefore he may well conclude those strange Superstructures some have reared up for amusing the world can be none of the Articles of Faith necessary to be believed And as the first Converts were honest simple men so our Saviour and the Apostles spoke in a plain easie stile therefore all these forced Criticisms and Inferences by which some more ingenious than candid Writers would expound them in a sence favourable to their Opinions aâ—e not to be received since these do often represent the divine discourses rather like the little tricks of double-dealing and Sophistry for which an honest Tutor would severely chide his Pupil words are to be understood in their plain meaning and not as Logick or a nicety of Criticism may distort and throw them If then a man will in this method which no honest man can except against go to the search of the Scriptures with a mind prepared as hath been already said he cannot fail of finding out all that is necessary for his Salvation Nor is he to be doubtfully anxious concerning the true Books for none denies but the Churches care in all Ages hath been the great conveyance of this the many various Translations of all Ages and Languages nay and different Religions agreeing in all material points and the Citations out of those Books which we find in a Series of Authors who have lived in the several Ages since they were written agreeing likewise with the Books themselves together with many ancient Manuscripts which do yet remain of a great many Languages may abundantly satisfie even the most severe Inquirer that these be the very Books which the Apostles delivered and were universally received by all Christians The matter of Fact being thus cleared without any necessity of running to the authority of the Church all those scruples which I. K. with the rest of his Brethren would needs raise do vanish since they never distinguish exactly between a Witness and a Judge For the former nothing is required but honesty and good information and we have the agreeing suffrages of many witnesses that do all agree in their Testimony of these Books who though they differed very much in their Expositions of them yet concurred in their verdict about the Books and were checks on one another in the faithful preserving and transcribing them In this sence we do receive the Churches Testimony as the necessary means of conveying these Books to us But an Authority Sacred and Solemnly declared is required in a Judge and this no Church can so much as pretend to but from the Scriptures Therefore the Scriptures being received as Divine cannot depend on the sentence of the Church as a Judge since all its Jurisdiction is derived from Scripture which therefore must be acknowledged before it can be believed But because there be persons of a meaner Condition and not Educated so as to make all the inquiry which is necessary in so important a Business there is therefore a shorter method for such
which yet is as morally certain as any thing can be Let then the simplest man in England provide himself of two New Testaments one published by the Church of England another by the Church of Rome as was that of Rheims Now he knows well what animosities be betwixt the Divines of these Churches and that they are engaged so hotly one against another that they agree in nothing but where the Evidence of truth especially in matters of Fact does bind them And yet he comparing these New Testaments will find that though the phrase the position of words and in some few places perhaps the sence varies but upon a survey of the whole he finds that they do plainly agree in all matters of moment So that from this he is perswaded that both have the same true Book which the Apostles did deliver to the Church and the Iews agreeing with us as to the Old Testament is the same Evidence to him that we have those very Books which were held Sacred by the Iews in our Saviour's time And thus by I. K's leave a man may be satisfied what be the true Books without being assured which is the true Church or the true Religion Being then assured about the Books and studying them in the method already set down he shall be certainly directed by God to find out every thing necessary to Salvation and this is far from setting up a private Spirit to lead us Enthusiastically but is an appeal to the Reason and ingenuity that is common to all men For let me ask I. K. how the Decrees and Canons of the Council of Trent are to be understood He himself says the meaning of those is plainly and certainly to be known yet every Reader must expound them to himself in that easie and clear sence which best agrees with the words Is this therefore to set up a private spirit to enterpret these Canons I know he will say and with good reason too that it is far from it and with the same warrant do I assert that the considering of Scripture according to the method proposed is not to interpret it by a private Spirit but by the clear conduct of our understandings directed by the divine Grace which is freely given to all that ask it If after all this it be replyed How is it then that there are such different Expositors and Expositions of Scripture the Answer is plain by sending back the Reader to what hath been said of the corruption of mens minds and as long as men live so ill as they do it is to no purpose to expect they shall think or understand aright Besides there be a great many things in the Scriptures which are not Articles of Faith which every man is not bound to know and conceive aright under the hazard of Damnation and about which there may be disputings and different Opinions without any hazard If any set up particular Opinions in matters justly controvertible and of less moment and impose these on all with severe Sanctions and if he have Authority to cast all out of the Church Society that do not agree with him or if he have not that Authority if he do separate from the Communion of the Church because they will not receive or hearken to his conceits he is a Schismatick for a dogmatizing and dictating spirit if strengthned with power doth always lead to persecution and if it want it to separation And thus I think enough is said for proving that the way to Salvation is not at all uncertain in our Church since it is no other but that new and living way which our Saviour did Consecrate through his flesh But in this we are strongly confirmed when we find the ancient Martyrs Fathers and Doctors of the Church going in the same Method and by it Converting the Nations enduring Martyrdome and giving glory to their most holy Faith and to its most holy Author whose Decrees when met in Councils and Doctrines delivered in their writings do so agree with Ours in all matters of Faith that we decline not to put the whole debates between us and them to this Tryal I. K. thinks we cannot know what Fathers or what Councils to receive but by first acknowledging a true Church which must tell what Fathers and Councils to receive But this being a matter of Fact we are to judge of it as of all matters of Fact that were transacted some Ages ago and by the evidence of Testimonies are to find out the truth concerning the Fathers and Councils and their Writings and Decrees We have good reason to decline the writers of the latter Ages since we plainly see that upon the overthrow of the Western Empire by the Goths and Vandals and other Northern Nations and of the Eastern Empire by the Saracens and other Mahometans Religion and Learning were quickly brought under sad and lasting decays which is confest by writers on all sides And what I. K. says That we may as well expect the whole Gospel in the first Chapter of S. Matthew as all Faith of the Church in the first four General Councils is very impertinently alledged Did we ask for all the definitions of the Church in the first Canon of Nice his comparison might well take place but it cannot be fitly used in our case who say we are the true Catholick Apostolick Christians because we in all things agree with the Churches of God as they were during their greatest purity both in the persecutions and after those for two Ages Certainly if we hold all that Faith they then held and if they were saved we may be so too and you cannot pass a severe sentence on us which will not likewise take hold of them I. K. cannot deny but they stated the Christian Faith in very formal Creeds and one of them expresly decreed That no new addition should be made to the Creed and so we who receive that Creed though at all this distance from them are really in Communion with them from which those have departed who have made such vast additions to the Creed And thus it appears we are in the same way which our Saviour first opened and in which that glorious cloud of witnesses followed him and are still in Communion with Rome as she was when her Faith was spoken of through the whole world and therefore we are in a safe way to Salvation But because Christians must live together in Unity and Charity and in order to that end must associate together in the Worship of God in mutual Councils and other necessary parts of Government and some External rites for maintaining the visible acknowledgment of the Faith therefore we have rules given in Scripture no less express for obeying the Civil powers in all their Commands that are not plainly contrary either to Natural or revealed Religion which is a clear and constant rule by which we may be satisfied if our minds be right prepared and qualified as was before set down And if by
the disorder of our understandings through the corruptions of the natural man we be brought under Errors we have our selves to blame Next to this we are to associate our selves with all who Worship God as long as there is not some great corruption in it so that we can no longer continue in it without sin If others be formal or guilty in it that is none of our fault and can never warrant our departure from that Communion of Saints in worship Therefore the particular Forms of Worship are to be agreed on by the Guides and Pastors of the Church which must still be received by all till they put us to act or assist in somewhat that is evil or be defective in some necessary part of Divine worship And the great rule by which the Guides of the Church ought to compose these Forms is the constant and universal practice of the Churches of God in their best times Calculating these as near as may be to the present Constitutions and tempers of men so as to avoid all unnecessary scandal and to edifie the people by them Therefore we dare appeal to all just and impartial Judges if our Church have not observed this rule in all the parts of our Worship to bring things as near as could be to the Primitive Forms and if in some particulars we have departed from them such as the not Commemorating expresly the dead or receiving gifts in their Names in the holy Communion the not using the Chrism in Confirmation nor the sign of the Cross on all occasions or if we kneel in Churches on Sundays and betwixt Easter and Pentecost which are the most considerable things that now occurr to me in which we are not exactly conform to the Primitive Church these are both things of less importance and by the following Superstition and other abuses were very much corrupted And it is certain that all things not Necessary when much abused how innocent nay how useful soever they may be yet may very reasonably be left out and laid aside as the Pastors of the Church see cause If after all this Evidence there be great divisions among us we owe these next to the corruption or manners to the daily practises of such as I. K. who as is offered to be made out by many have under all disguises laboured the renting us to pieces and our sins are such that these wicked designs prove daily but too successful But after all the mist and dust any may study to raise I doubt not but to serious considerers it will appear that we of this Church are in a clear and safe way and that our doctrine is no other than what our Saviour and his Apostles delivered and what the first Christians and their Successors for many Ages believed and that we are in the same Method of finding out the true Faith which they followed all which I shall conclude with these excellent and divinely Charitable Versicles of our Litany That it may please thee to give to all thy people increase of Grace to hear meekly thy Word and to receive it with pure affection and to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit That it may please thee to bring into the way of truth all such as have erred and are deceived and that it may please thee to have mercy upon all men We beseech thee to hear us good Lord. THE END A Brief Catalogue of Books newly Printed and Reprinted for R. Royston Bookseller to his Most Sacred Majesty THE Works of the Reverend and Learned Henry Hammond D. D. containing a Collection of Discourses chiefly Practical with many Additions and Corrections from the Author 's own hand together with the Life of the Author enlarged by the Reverend Dr. Fell Dean of Christ-Church in Oxford In large Folio A Paraphrase and Annotations upon all the Books of the New Testament Briefly explaining all the difficult Places thereof The Fourth Edition corrected By H. Hammond D. D. In Folio 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Or a Collection of Polemical Discourses addressed against the Enemies of the Church of England both Papists and Fanaticks in large Folio by Ier. Taylor Chaplain in Ordinary to K. Charles the First of Blessed Memory and late Lord Bishop of Down and Conner Antiquitates Christianae or The History of the Life and Death of the Holy Jesus as also The Lives Acts and Martyrdoms of his Apostles In two parts The first part containing the Life of Christ Written by Ieremy Taylor late Lord Bishop of Down and Conner The second containing the Lives of the Apostles by William Cave D. D. Chaplain in ordinary to his Majesty The Second Part of the Practical Christian consisting of Meditations and Psalms illustrated with Notes or Paraphrased relating to the Hours of Prayer the ordinary Actions of Day and Night and several Dispositions of Men. By R. Sherlock D. D. Rector of Winwick The Royal Martyr and the Dutiful Subject in two Sermons By Gilbert Burnet New The Christian Sacrifice a Treatise shewing the Necessity End and Manner of Receiving the Holy Communion c. The Devout Christian instructed how to Pray and give Thanks to God or a Book of Devotions c. Both written by the Reverend S. Patrick D. D. in 12. A Serious and Compassionate Enquiry into the Causes of the present Neglect and Contempt of the Protestant Religion and Church of England c. Considerations concerning Comprehension Toleration and the Renouncing the Covenant In Octavo New Animadversions upon a Book Entituled Fanaticism Fanatically imputed to the Catholick Church by Dr. Stillingfleet and the Imputation Refuted and Retorted by S. C. The Second Edition By a Person of Honour In Octavo Reflections upon the Devotions of the Roman Church With the Prayers Hymns and Lessons themselves taken out of their Authentick Authors In Three Parts In Octavo Deut. 13 1. Gal. 1. 8 9. S. Mat. 12. 24 to 31. 1 Thess. 2. 11. 2 Thess. 3. 10. 1 Cor. 7. 4 5.