They acknowledg that Some few Verses in several Chapters of the Four Evangelists and the Acts are matter of Faith or Religion but they do not cry the Bible the Bible the Bible they do not think that All and Every one of the Fundamental Truths in the Whole Scripture are the necessary matter of our Belief Thus I think this Reverend Scribe might have spared the quoting of Mr. Chillingworth unless he delights in confuting himself and his New Convert Afterwards he nibbles at some other passages in my Discourse but flies off into Impertinencies Only one thing I meet with that is very Remarkable and I request the Reader to attend to it There are saith he some that-of Deists have been reconciled to the Christian faith by the Vnitarian books and have profess'd much satisfaction therein p. 42. You may perceive that they are making of Proselytes as fast as they can and among the rest some Deists come in to them and so as the Apostle speaks of Seducers and those that are Seduced 2 Pet. 2. 20. the latter end is worse with them than the beginning for whereas before they owned a Natural Religion now they become guilty of perverting and prophaning a Revealed one They are so far from being reconciled to the Christian Faith that they oppose and contradict it and even defie the Main Articles of this Religion which is owing to Divine Revelation Such Converts as these have no reason to profess much satisfaction in the Vnitarian books unless Corrupting the Christian saith be to be chosen before plain Theism To speak the plain truth and it is the design of these Papers to do so and that which every Thinking and Considering Man cannot but discern the Socinians are but the Journey men of the Deists and they are set on work by them for these latter hope to compass their Design which is to impair the Credit of the Christian Religion and of those Inspired Writings which give us an account of it they hope I say effectually to compass this design by the help of such Good Instruments as they find the Socianiz'd Men to be You see then what ground this Gentleman hath to think that the Deists are Proselytes to the Vnitarians Then he proceeds to make a long harangue about the Obscurity of Systematical Fundamentals p. 44. c. but never was poor Creature so bewildred as he is Only he happily lights upon the Quakers p. 44 45. where it is worth observing that the man doth not know his Friends from his Foes nor these from them He rails against this sort of men who he saith would be counted the only People of God and yet it is certain that they are his brethren Socinians They utterly disown the Scripture as the Rule of Faith he saith and doth not our late Socinian Writer symbolize with them when he declares that the Divine Truths contained in the Epistles of the Holy Apostles which are a considerable part of Scripture are not the Necessary matter of Faith He complains that the Quakers turn the Gospel into an Allegory but the foremention'd Author doth much worse for he represents the greatest Part of the Gospel-discoveries as Superfluous and Needless In giving us the farther Character of the Quakers he in lively colours represents the Socinians for these are his words concerning them Retaining still the words wherein the Christian Faith is expressed though in an Equivocal Sense they have made a shift to be reputed generally Christians Certainly there could not be a better Pourtraiture of the Racovian Writers for it is known that they are crafty and sophistical and quote Scripture only to pervert it They acknowledg Christ to be God and an Expiatory Sacrifice but they mean it Equivocally they quit the true sense of Scripture though they retain the words and by reason of this latter have made a shift as this Author speaks to pass for Christians These men whatever some few English Writers of the Racovian way hold of late exactly side with the Quakers in crying down of Water-Baptism for so they both call it in derision In the Grand Point of the Trinity they both concur i. e. to reject it witness W. Pen's Sandy Foundation by which he means the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity In a quibbling manner wherein he shews both his Ignorance and Blasphemy he thus speaks If God as the Scriptures testifie hath never been declared or believed but as the HOLY ONE then it will follow that God is not an HOLY THREE Neither can this receive the least prejudice from that frequent but impertinent distinction that he is One in Substance but Three in Persons or Subsistencies To which all Socinus's followers say Amen The same Gentleman derides the doctrine of Satisfaction and scoffingly calls the Asserters of it Satisfactionists and who knows not that Transylvania agrees here with Pensylvania The Man that suffer'd at Ierusalem is the Socinian as well as the Quakers Stile And generally as to the main things that relate to our Saviour they perfectly accord viz. in making nothing of them If Quakerism then be no Christianity as this our Writer reports it in the same place then we may with much more reason conclude that Socinianism is none By this it appears that Socinus and Fox are well met and that they are very Loving Friends But they must seem to disagree as here in this Gentleman's Papers Lastly let us see the wonderful hand of God in suffering this Unthoughtful Writer to produce a Paper written by a Iesuite in the late Reign entituled an Address c. And in this Address he saith he goes about to shew that the Scriptures commonly alledg'd for the Trinity admit of another sense He goes the same way in the Article of the Incarnation What! had he not enough of the Quaker but he must bring in the Iesuite And must he tell the world that the Iesuitical Writers take the part of the Socinians must he publickly give notice that they both carry on the same work and joyntly conspire to pervert the Scriptures in order to it For the credit of the Cause it had been better to have placed this under a former head and to have told the Reader that some Iesuites as well as some Deists are Converts to Socinianism But he hath blurted it out that Ignatius Loyola and Faustus Socinus were of kin Surely this Author must not be employ'd any more to write in defence of the Cause He must be no longer a Double-Column'd Writer they must look out for a man that is not so Open-hearted one that can handle his Weapon with more Cunning for this man hath stabb'd his own Cause But because this Writer in the beginning and towards the end of his Papers is pleas'd to use some words of Deference and Respect I will not be backward to return his Civility in the same kind by letting him know that I suppose him to be a Person of Ingenuity and Learning only I wirh he had
upon us by the Messias are necessary matters of our Belief for we can't duly acknowledge him for our Benefactor and Saviour unless we believe that these Great Prerogatives are confer'd upon us Moreover it is of undoubted necessity in order to our being Christians that we know and believe what the Messias requires of us which is contained in such general Texts as these That ye being delivered out of the hands of your enemies may serve him Christ our Deliverer without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life Luke 1. 75. The grace of God which bringeth salvation teacheth us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts c. Tit. 2. 11 12. He gave himself for us that he might re-redeem us from all iniquity c. Tit. 2. 14. This is the will of God even your sanctification 1 Thess. 4. 3. Without Faith it is impossible to please God Heb. 11. 6. Without holiness no man shall see the Lord Heb. 12. 14. Which places yield us such Propositions as these that the Messias who vouchsafed to come into the world to redeem lost Man requires of him universal Holiness and Righteousness and the abandoning of all sin and ungodliness That it was one grand end and design of Christ's visiting the would to redeem men from their iniquities to sanctifie their Natures and to make them entirely godly sober and righteous in their Lives That without these there is no Salvation no Seeing of God in the regions of Glory no hopes of Everlasting Happiness The disbelieving of these Articles hath made so many Sorry Christians as we see every where such as lay claim to that Honourable Title but are regardless of that Holiness which should accompany it We must not only believe that Iesus is the Messias but we must believe this also that we can have no Benefit by this Messias unless we by Faith and Obedience adhere to him Neither is this enough it is further matter of our Belief as we are Christians that our Salvation springs from the mere Favour and Bounty of God through his Son Iesus Christ and that this is the only source of that Happiness which we expect By grace we are saved through faith and that not of our selves it is the gift of God Eph. 2. 8. Not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his Mercy he saveth us Tit. 3. 5. Where there is not this perswasion and belief the true notion of Christianity vanishes and the conceit of Merit comes in its room Wherefore there is a Necessity that we believe and be perswaded aright as to this matter We are Worthless Creatures of our selves but there is a Worthiness derived to us from the Unspotted and Meritorious Righteousness of him that is the Eternal Son of God He that knows not this he that believes not this deserves not the Name of a Christian I should have been glad to have found something of this nature in this Gentleman's Christianity But he endeavours to seduce his Readers by other apprehensions he tells them that the bare assenting to this that Iesus is the Messias is the Summ Total of the Christian Faith and the Gospel requires no more Lastly The doctrines of the Resurrection of the Final Iudgment and of Eternal Glory in heaven are contained in such passages of the New Testament as these Christ will raise up his at the last day Iohn 6. 44. The Lord Iesus Christ shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing 2 Tim. 4. 1. Father I will that they whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory Iohn 17. 24. And are not these Truths the proper Object of our Faith now under the Gospel they so peculiarly belonging to the doctrine and belief of the Messias Can we believe in him and yet not believe these Great things which are brought to light by his preaching the Gospel For though they were in some measure discovered and revealed before i. e. the General Doctrine concerning a Future State and the Endless Happiness accompanying it was not unknown yet Christ's Words and those of the Apostles do more abundantly assure us of the truth of them especially Christ's Rising from the dead and ascending into Glory have irrefragably confirmed the reality of them according to that of St. Peter We are begotten again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Iesus Christ from the dead to an Inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for us 1 Pet. 1. 4. Who but the Vindicator could imagine that these Evangelical Doctrines are not Necessary Matter of Faith to Christian Men Who but he could fancy and which is more publickly assert that the belief of the Messias's being sent from God without being acquainted with his gracious appointment as to our Future Rewards is all that is required as necessary to constitute a Christian Believer Especially when it is said He that comes unto God must believe that he is a Rewarder Heb. 11. 6. Observe it he must believe then it is not indifferent but a Necessary Article of faith CHAP. II. The foresaid Articles and Doctrines are proved to be Necessary matter of Christian Faith Not that a man is supposed Actually to exert his Assent and Belief every moment That we may be True Christians All these Fundamental Truths must be imbraced and none excluded The late Writer's forgetfulness It is prov'd that he grounds his notion of One Article upon the Weakness of Vnderstanding and Capacity in the Generality of people Herein he follows the Steps of the Racovians who submit the greatest Mysteries to the judgment of the Vulgar and if they will not bear that Test reject them The Doctrine of the Trinity how said to have no Difficulty in it It contains in it no Contradiction This Proposition Jesus is the Messias is not more intelligible than any of the Articles before mentioned THUS I have briefly set before the Reader those Evangelical Truths those Christian Principles which belong to the very Essence of Christianity I have proved them to be such and I have reduced most of them to certain Propositions which is a thing the Vindicator call'd for p. 16. If what I have said will not content him I am sure I can do nothing that will And therefore if he should capriciously require any thing more it would be as great Folly in me to comply with it as it is in him to move it From what I have said it is evident that he is grosly mistaken when he saith Whatever doctrines the Apostles required to be believed to make a man a Christian are to be found in those places of Scripture which he hath quoted in his book p. 11. The places which he quotes are made use of by him to shew that there is but One Article of Belief viz. that Christ is the Messiah but I think I have sufficiently proved that there are Other Doctrines besides That
time it is no doubt use the same discipline towards the latter i. e. lop off some of the Precepts of the Decalogue and diminish that Form and Pattern of Prayer which our Saviour hath left us Thus this Writer sees how sitly his book of the Reasonableness of Christianity c. was brought into my Discourse about the Causes and Occasions of Atheism which he seems to wonder at p. 2. It appears also that if I gave his book an Ill Name as he complains it doth deserve it and that it hath not only a Socinian but an Atheistick Tang. I have proved and shall yet further do it in this present Undertaking that he hath corrupted mens minds depraved the Gospel and abused Christianity And is there no Atheism in this To conclude if after all he will stand to his Proposition and assert there is but One Article of Faith just one and no more and it is sure there can be no less necessarily to be assented to he may enjoy his Confident Humour but it is to be hoped that there is not any considerable number of men in the world that will admit of such an Unaccountable Paradox and forfeit their Reasons merely to please their Fancy But because I design'd these Papers for the satisfying of the Readers Doubts about any thing occurring concerning the matter before us and for the establishing of his wavering mind I will here before I pass to the Second General Head of my Discourse answer a Query or Objection which some and not without some shew of Ground may be apt to start How comes it to pass they will say that this Article of Faith viz. that Iesus is the Messias or Christ is so often repeated in the New Testament Why is this sometimes urged without the mentioning of any other Article of Belief Doth not this plainly shew that this is All that is requir'd to be believ'd as Necessary to make a man a Christian May we not infer from the frequent and sole repetition of this Article in several places of the Evangelist and the Acts that there is no other Point of Faith of absolute necessity but that this alone is sufficient to constitute a man a True Member of Christ To clear this Objection and to give a full and satisfactory Answer to all doubts in this affair I offer these ensuing Particulars which will lead the Reader to the right understanding of the whole case 1. It must be consider'd that the believing of Iesus to be the promised Messias was the first step to Christianity and therefore This rather than any other Article was propounded to be believ'd by all those whom either our Saviour or the Apostles invited to imbrace Christianity If they would not if they did not give credit to This in the first place viz. That Iesus of Nazareth was that Eminent and Extraordinary Person prophesied of long before and that he was Sent and Commission'd by God there could be no hope that they would attend unto any other Proposal relating to the Christian Religion This is the true reason why that Article was constantly propounded to be believ'd by all that look'd towards Christianity and why it is mention'd so often in the Evangelical Writings It was that which made way for the embracing of all the other Articles it was the passage to all the rest But our Anonymous Author not thinking of this but observing that this One Article was usually required to be assented to in the Gospel-Writings he thence inconsiderately concludes that this is the Whole of the Christian Belief and that there is nothing else to be necessarily assented to to make a man a Christian. I am sorry to see that a person of some Sense can have so little a feeling of the True Nature and Import of Christianity that he can harbour such a thought as this that all the necessary part of our Belief is summ'd up in a bare giving assent to this Proposition Iesus is the Messias He mistakes a part of Christian Faith for All and the Entrance and Beginning of it for the full Consummation of it 2. It is to be remembred that though this One Proposition or Article be mention'd alone in some places yet there is reason to think and be perswaded that at the same time other Matters of Faith were proposed For it is confess'd by all Intelligent and Observing men that the History of the Scripture is concise and that in relating of matter of Fact many passages are omitted by the Sacred Pen-men Wherefore though but this One Article of belief because it is a Leading one and makes way for the rest be expresly mention'd in some of the Gospels yet we must not conclude thence that no other matter of Faith was requir'd to be admitted of For things are briefly set down in the Evangelical Records and we must suppose many things which are not in direct terms related The not attending to this hath been one occasion of the present mistake Hence it was that this Narrow-minded Writer shuts up all in belief of Iesus's being the Christ. 3. This also must be thought of that though there are Several parts and members of the Christian Faith yet they do not all occur in any One place of Scripture This is well known to those that are conversant in the Writings of the New Testament and therefore when in some places only One single part of the Christian Faith is made mention of as necessarily to be imbrac'd in order to Salvation we must be careful not to take it alone but to supply it from several other places which make mention of other Necessary and Indispensable Points of Belief I will give the Reader a plain Instance of this Rom. 10. 9. If thou shalt believe in thy heart that God hath rais'd him i. e. the Lord Jesus from the dead thou shalt be saved Here One Article of Faith viz. the belief of Christ's Resurrection because it is of so great importance in Christianity is only mention'd but all the rest must be supposed because they are mention'd in other places And consequently if we would give an impartial account of our Belief we must consult those places and they are not all together but dispers'd here and there wherefore we must look them out and acquaint our selves with the Several Particulars which make up our Belief and render it entire and consummate But our hasty Author took another course and thereby deceiv'd himself and unhappily deceives others 4. This which is the Main Answer to the Objection must be born in our minds that Christianity was erected by degrees according to that prediction and promise of our Saviour that the Spirit should teach them all things John 14. 26. and that he should guide them into all truth John 16. 13. viz. after his Departure and Ascension when the Holy Ghost was to be sent in a special manner to enlighten mens minds and to discover to them the great Mysteries of Christianity This is to be
of the Imputation and Enditement that they Aggravate it I leave the Reader to give the Sentence They deserve a Severe one at his hands but I desire him to be Merciful for the sake of our Lord JESUS CHRIST who forgave and pray'd for his greatest Opposers May the All-Merciful God forgive them and enlighten their minds that they may be convinc'd of their Errors and heartily renounce them The Lord give them Repentance to the acknowledging of the truth that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil Then he runs to their Common Place which hath help'd to fill up their papers many a time and he thinks he doth great feats But he only epitomizes Crellius de Vno Deo Patre and offers a great many Texts which have been answered a hundred times as he but untruly saith on another occasion p. 8. This takes up 18 or 19 whole Pages and why Because this costs him nothing he borrows it all and he might have borrow'd a great deal more from the same Author Here he can afford to be very long and large but when he undertakes the Examination of what I had particularly objected against the Socinians he is like the dog at Nilus he is presently gone he is not furnish'd with any Answer that he dares insist upon or trust to Next I will observe to the Reader that this Author meddles not with my Argument which I drew from their own Professed Principle viz. that nothing is to be believed but what is exactly adjusted to Reason and thence prov'd that upon the same account that they reject the doctrine of the Holy Trinity they may likewise quit the belief of a Deity This I enlarg'd upon in seven pages together it being as I then conceiv'd and am more confirm'd in it since an Unanswerable Proof of what I laid to their Charge He only grazes on it a little p. 19. but wheels off presently and fixes upon that subject before mentioned God's Vnity because he knew where to have enough of it but did not know how to take off the force of that Argument which I propounded and insisted upon In the next place he will turn Critick and see whether he can thrive in this employment seeing he hath so ill success in his former attempts His nice palate disgusts the word birth as applyed to Adam p. 38. but thereby he only shews his want of skill in the Denotation of words He is so poor a Dabbler in Grammer and Criticism that he knows not that by the Hebrew jalad and the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Latin nasci and accordingly our English to be born are signified in a general way the Origin Rise or Beginning of things or persons and consequently Birth or Nativity is not to be taken always in the Vulgar Sense He might have read in Genethliack Writers that the word is applied even to Cities and Houses But I need not go so far to defend the Expression The use of it and that in the very way that I have applied it is to be found in Scripture Art thou the first man that was born Iob 15. 7. Or we may read it if we please more exactly according to the Original Art thou born as the first man or Adam i. e. as the Context will shew it art thou as understanding as the man that was first born viz. as our First Parent Adam By reason of this birth Adam is call'd the son of God Luk. 3. 38. Whence the Socinians would gather that Christ hath that name upon the like account because of his Extraordinary Original because of his Miraculous Birth Thus we have found that this Gentleman is ignorant of the true meaning of words in Common Authors that he doth not know the acception of them in Holy Scripture nay that he doth not know what his own Authors say which evinces him to be triply a Blunderer and that he deserves no more to be call'd an Examinator Then he thinks he doth mighty things p. 39. by quoting Limborch a very Learned Foreigner a System-maker for he hath compiled a Large System of Divinity though he gives it another Name and why then doth this Gentleman talk so reproachfully of Systems p. 44. c. but this his Author is a Second Episcopius and therefore it was wisely done to bring him in to tell us what are the Fundamentals of Religion But it was more cunningly done in the next Paragraph to fetch in the Sixth Article of the Church of England in favour of the Vindicator's Conceit Surely this his Patron at whose feet he lays his Papers will give him little thanks for this for he jeers him rather than defends his Cause Thus though they are agreed and understand one another so far as to Impose upon the world yet they cannot and never will agree to speak Truth And indeed this Worthy Writer foresignified something of this nature He is a boding sort of man you may perceive for thus he speaks in his Humble Dedicatory to the Vindicator If I have mistaken your sense or used weak reasonings in your defence and behold here he doth both I crave your pardon And so you may and I will tell you for your comfort he will soon forgive you for he knows that your heart is right i. e. for the Good Cause and therefore a little Mistaking of him out of weakness is pardonable Then he hales in Mr. Chillingworth by head and shoulders p. 40. pronouncing him very definitively the ablest defender of the Religion of Protestants that the Church ever had which is too high a Character for him though he was a person of Great Parts and Learning Why must he be said to be the Ablest Defender when we can name so many Eminent Writers in other Countreys that have perform'd this task Or if he means the Church of England why must he have the absolute Preference to Others that we can name here especially that Great Ornament and Glory of our Church whom I had occasion to mention before who hath so Learnedly defended the Religion of Protestants I but he writ against Crellius and therefore he must not be the Ablest Defender Again there is a reason well known to the world why Mr. Chillingworth hath the Preheminence in the opinion of this Writer and his Confederates but of that at some other time perhaps Let us now go on and see what this Gentleman gets by his producing of Mr. Chillingworth and it is no other than this a plain confutation of the Vindicator's Project concerning the reducing of Religion to a Point and no more For these are that Worthy Man's words The Bible the Bible I say the Bible only is the Religion of Protestants And I say so too but this Gentleman and the Author of the Reasonableness of Christianity are of another opinion for according to them it is not the Bible but a very Small Portion of it that is the Religion of Protestants