Will of God or rather Whether God has Discovered it to be his Will. For though the Will of God be the Fountain of all Duty and Obligation yet it cannot be a binding Law to any body till it be made known to him or sufficient means given for him to know it That God can make his Will known to any Man is too certain to be doubted but that his Will should be known before he has discovered it can never be pretended And because every Man considered as a Creature and more especially every Christian is bound to obey the Will of God therefore every Man is bound to inform himself of so much as God has made necessary to be known for his Salvation I have added this to shew that Implicit Faith is a dangerous bottom for any body to rest upon For to believe as another believes unless a Man knows what it is he believes and upon what account is very absurd as may be made out anon So much of the Will of God as may be discovered by the Light of Nature is besides my present Business because there is little difference among us about it But that part of the Will of God which we are bound to know and adhere to as we are Christians by Profession distinguished from the rest of Mankind as being in Covenant with God is the Subject of this ensuing Discourse Now this part of the Will of God is either revealed to the Mind of every individual Christian by particular and immediate Inspiration from God or it was made known to some particular select Persons who were to instruct the rest The first of these ways is not pretended or allowed either by Protestants or Papists but the second is viz. That God did Discover his Will to some that they might Publish it to the rest And thus far I take it to be agreed betwixt us Before we advance another step we will lay it down as a Ground That no Man knows the Mind of a Man save the Spirit of a Man that is in him No Man can know the Mind of another farther than it is Discovered to him And by Consequence no Man can know Revelations from God made to the Mind and Understanding of another but by one of these two ways in the first place either God by Inspiration must assure him that he has made such Revelations to the other As when God sent St. Paul at his Conversion to Damascus to be instructed by Ananias which was an extraordinary Case not fit to be drawn into Precedent and so neither pretended to nor to be expected since stances of it hitherto are so rare Or in the second place he to whom the Revelation is made must bring such Testimony and Evidence as may Convince Men that it is really Divine His bare word for it will not be a Competent Proof Nor will the Testimony of other Men satisfie the Minds of reasonable Enquirers in this Case for those others must have some to Witness for them too and so on without End. Which plainly evinces that this is not a Basis for Faith to rest upon Let us see then what will do for we cannot forget what our Saviour confesses of himself to the Jews viz. That if he bear Witness of himself his Witness is not true that is it is not of force to Convince But then he tells the Jews They ought to Believe him for his Works sake and accordingly he appealed to his Hearers That the Works which he did in his Fathers Name bore Witness of him the Miracles which he wrought among them were sufficient to prove his Authority to be Divine and his Doctrin to be from God. Nicodemus freely confessed as much when he owned him a Teacher come from God because no Man could do the Miracles which he did except God were with him And as our Saviour did demonstrate his Divinity by his Works so when he sent his Apostles to publish his Doctrin to the World he sealed their Commission by giving them a Power to work Miracles which might convince their Hearers of its Truth And they the Apostles went forth and preached every where the Lord working with them and confirming the Word with Signs following So that it is not to be doubted but that the Doctrine which the Apostles preached was Divine and the Miracles which they wrought are our assurance that it was so And hitherto all Christians proceed with little or no difference Having thus laid down Miracles as a foundation upon which we are in some manner to ensure our Faith it seems necessary before we proceed in few words to set down 1. What we mean by Miracles and 2. How far this Testimony of Miracles may extend so as to authorise our Belief First by Miracles we must understand such Works as are not only without the Lines of ordinary Course and measure of Nature for of this kind many things happen which may be called Wonders but not Miracles but such as are above the power of Nature to effect But because many such Works have in appearance been wrought for very different Purposes we must in the second place look what Judgment must be made of all such things And certainly some way there is to distinguish or else the Minds of Men would be involved in most perplexing and inextricable Difficulties by such Contradictions as have been abetted with Signs and Wonders Let us see then by what Rules we must examine and judge Miracles themselves or such Doctrines as are advanced upon them For to receive all without distinction would come to the same thing as to allow none Because that can never prove any one Point which may be alledged or colourably pretended in favour of another unless there be some way to appropriate it to one side as by the Rules following it may Whatsoever Doctrin is proposed that is contrary to right Reason or the fundamental Laws of Nature cannot be Divine or such as we ought to believe though never so many Signs should be shew'd to confirm it For right Reason is only a Judgment made according to that Law and Standard of Justice and Truth which God our Creator has stamped upon the Minds of Men. And the Fundamentals of Reason issuing from God as Light flows from its Fountain the Sun must always remain unchangeably the same because he himself from whom they Spring has no variation And if the Principles of Reason were not so fixed we should be exposed to all manner of illusion and should never be able to believe any thing because we could be certain of nothing Upon this ground God directs the Jews to try their Prophets who if they preached up other Gods were not to be hearkned to though they worked Miracles nothing being more absurd or inconsistent with right Reason than allowing many Gods. Yet further God when he created Man according to the exact Laws of eternal Justice implanted in our Natures the Seeds of it and the Sense
A SHORT DISCOURSE Concerning the Churches Authority IN MATTERS of FAITH Shewing that the PRETENSES OF THE Church of Rome ARE WEAK and PRECARIOUS In the Resolution of it LICENSED March 8. 1686. LONDON Printed for Randal Taylor near Stationers-hall 1687. THE PREFACE FInding that in our Modern Controversies with the Church of Rome which are Printed and in Discourses with those of that Communion they make their Retreat almost upon all Accounts to the Churches Authority either as a Point that may be most Colourably defended or which lazy and weak Heads most readily take up with I was induced to examin it Safety and Certainty are things very valuable not only because they carry a delightfull correspondency to our Minds but also for the respect they have to the Time before us which in Prudence we must provide for no Condition being so uneasy and disgracefull as when a Man comes to proclaim his own Folly by saying Who thought of this Such as our Interest at stake is such ought our Care to be that we may not be imposed upon by Pretences It argues a degenerous Mind that rests it self upon that which comes next hand But not to inlarge this Preface I will only say a very few Things concerning Faith for which Church-Authority is pretended as a Ground Faith is often in Scripture put to signify Religion and in that Sense it implies not only those Things which a Christian must know and believe but also the applying the Mind to them in all Obedience and Humility not excluding the assistance of Grace which subdues the perversness of our Wills and thus with a particular Propriety it may be styled the Gift of God. But in this following Discourse as sometimes in Scripture Faith more especially means that Act or Operation of the Mind whereby it imbraces those Things which are sufficiently Proposed to it And as Truth is more or less apparent so the Mind is more or less firmly united to it Not that the Object of our Faith has in it any Vncertainty but that our Prejudices and Passions our Interests and Pleasures by which our Wills are warped and made stubborn hinder the Mind from apprehenâ—ing Truth These false Biasses too often â—â—nfound our Reasonâ—ngs and misguide our Minds And heâ—ce it comes to pass as the Scripture observes that Faith in some is Weak in all capable of Increase 'T is manifest the Mind may discern Truth so as to be certain of it but still a Corrupt Will may as it were unhinge the Judgment and make its adherence less firm This was well enough observed by him that lately wrote the History of the Life of Christ That Faith which springs from the Evidence of Sense or from clear Demonstration must needs be of small Esteem and Reward with God. St. Thomas was Checked for not believing without it and the Parable tells us if Moses and the Prophets could not Convince neither would they be perswaded though one rose from the Dead Now if the Churches Authority be that which our Faith may resolve into the Assent of the Mind would in all Points be equally Firm and Clear and so Faith would be Equal in all annd capable of Improvement in none Plain it is that the design of Religion is to bring Men to a right apprehension and belief of God and to ingage them to a holy and vertuous Life in conformity to such an Idea of that pure and perfect Being He that has not a Mind so disposed will never be influenced by an Infallible Guide and he that has an humble Mind and teachable Spirit will need none However I am sure he that will not be satisfied without one must go farther than Rome to find him But this grows too fast for a Preface therefore I will only tell you that I have purposely avoided a multitude of Citations because they have more or less Authority as People please but I have proceeded by the weights and moments of Reason which are equally valuable to all A SHORT DISCOURSE Concerning the Churches Authority IN MATTERS of FAITH IT is a fundamental Maxim and of unquestionable Authority in Nature That Truth is always and every where one and the same So that among the various Opinions in the World but one of them can be right Upon which account Schism with its ill Consequences is on all sides much lamented whilest every body thinks he has the Truth and Peace and Unity in pretence at least much desired But the misery is all would have them upon their own terms and that frustrates their desires Controversies therefore still depending and the Points under debate being of such importance that the Party which affirms them makes the believing them to be a necessary Condition of Catholick-Communion and damns them that refuse them while the Party that denies says they run a manifest hazard that imbrace them It cannot be thought unfit for any Man to inquire after a method which may bring these Disputes to an issue or that may keep in Peace and Quietness the Minds and Consciences of Christians while Pride Interest or Prejudice shall keep open the Breach or maintain the Quarrel Nothing is more Natural and Congenial to Mankind than Truth and the desire of it is implanted in the hearts of all Men an impartial search after it therefore is what all Men are bound to And as Salvation is the End in Common aimed at by all so it highly concerns-every Christian to examin the way by which he goes toward that End and he ought to inquire the more Cautiously and Diligently for that the ways proposed for attaining Salvation are Many and Different And those that go one Way will hardly allow Safety to them that take another And this at present is the Case between the Papists and the Protestants which invite Men to each others Communion as safer and better for attaining Eternal Happiness Every Man has a Soul to be saved and what must be done to inherit Eternal Life is an Enquiry every one in the World ought and I hope most Christians do make for themselves For since our first Parents by their Disobedience incurred Death to themselves and their Posterity Salvation is what by Nature we could neither Claim nor Expect But that the Devil might not triumph in an absolute Conquest over so glorious a part of the Creation as Mankind God of his infinite Mercy was pleased to enter into a Second Covenant with Men in order to their Salvation but this upon Condition of Faith and Repentance on our parts to answer the Salvation proposed and offered on his Now this Covenant being an Act of meer Grace issuing purely from the good Pleasure of God it is very plain Mankind can know no more of this Covenant nor of the Conditions of it than God himself has been pleased to Reveal and Discover So that all Questions and Disputes about our Common Salvation must be brought to this one as the Standard of all viz. Whether it be the
let it alone Though to say the Truth if I had been told the contrary the Errors which some Popes have fallen into would have hindred me in despite of any good will from owning him so Is this Infallibility shared among them so that every one has some For Infallibility they must have or their Authority is lost No this cannot be neither for Infallibility is a Quality that cannot be divided or enjoyed to the halfs And if it could it would not do the business for then they would be Fallible in part as well as Infallible in part And so we should be as hard put to it to find which part their Infallibility reaches to as we are to find that they have any at all Here peradventure it may be thought because it has been said heretofore That though the Pope and his Council may be Fallible in their Arguments and Discourses yet in the Result of them viz. their Definitions which only concern the Church they are Infallible This indeed is to the purpose if it could be as easily proved as said But since neither Art nor Nature does allow an Infallible Conclusion to issue from Fallible Means it must be wholly Supernatural and Divine And so we are come in the third place to ask How they came by a Power to make the Conclusion Divine the Means being Humane or How they will make it appear to me or any Man else that they are endued with such a Power Certainly a Claim so bold as this ought to be very well made out But here alass we are turn'd over to Motives of Credibility which are sometimes called the marks of the Church however we will see what can be made of them By Motives of Credibility must be meant such as may work upon my Reason and so incline my Mind to believe or assent to any thing for a Truth and so I can be induced to believe no farther than the point is made Credible to me Well but whatever is Supernatural can never work upon my Reason as being quite above it without some Divine Evidence and Testimony and that must either be Miracles or Scripture For Miracles they have of late been little pretended to But from Scripture they tell us Christ has promised to his Church a perpetual Assistance of his Grace yea such a measure of the Spirit as made Caiaphas prophesy Truth almost whether he would or no. But how can they pretend Scripture in this Case who have told us we must receive the Sense and Interpretation of Scripture from the Infallible Authority of the Church And that not in a few Points but in every Doubt and never presume upon our own private Sentiments howsoever seemingly grounded on Reason and Scripture If we must thus absolutely depend upon the Authority of the Church for the Interpretation of Scripture then the Authority of the Church must be better known to us than the Sense of the Scripture And if it be better known it cannot be proved by Scripture for every thing that proves another must it self be more evident And if the Churches Authority cannot be proved by Scripture it can never be proved without Miracles and by consequence can never be believed But if Christians must read and judg of Scripture and believe it in this Point I can see no reason why they may not in every one else that concerns Religion since there are few Points in it that are not much more cleary expressed Here Traditions would put in to help out But to spoil all we are told we must receive them too upon the Authority of the Church for it would be as dangerous to trust the World with a liberty of judging Traditions as of judging Scripture and more contests there are and would be about them And yet which is an insuperable Difficulty Tradition is silent in many Points of the Romish Faith nay in all whereabout any Difference is I mean as to the Primitive Church and sure Tradition cannot be produced where there is none If Tradition could be produced still the Difficulty returns That Tradition would be more manifest and therefore above the Churches Authority And how acceptable a Point that is at Rome Mr. White and Mr. Serjeant could have told at their own Cost But though Scripture and Tradition are insufficient perhaps Succession may make out this Matter or else why are we so often told of it and truly I must needs say I do not know why we are For if they mean a Succession of Bishops that can prove nothing to Rome because it is common to other Churches who have as undoubted a Succession as they If they mean a Succession of Doctrin from the Apostles to us 't is what we allow and for want of it refuse those other Doctrins they would impose There is behind a very forcible Argument to prove That the Pope and his Council together are not Infallible or that the Papists themselves do not think them so I Instance in the Lateran Council under Pope Innocent the III. where it was decreed that Princes may be Deposed He that Represents a Papist answers That this is no Article of Faith and that they are not bound to believe it But if this be not to be believed it is because the Truth of it is not evident enough and if it be not evident enough it must be because the Churches proposing or decreeing is not sufficient to make it evident which is the Point I aim at If he will as some have acknowledge the deposing Doctrin to be true let the World consider what kind of Subjects those must be that are in such a Communion and if he disavows it he makes it appear that he does not think their Church Infallible Nor can I think that Church has sufficiently cleared it self from the Charge of this Doctrin which some of them call a Calumny till it be as Publickly and Authoritatively Repealed as it was Decreed Nor can I imagine how that Author could tell us in the fourteenth Chapter of his Book that he thought himself obliged not to rely on his own private Judgment but upon the Authority of the Church in any Doubt and yet in the twentieth Chapter of the same Book tells us in Consequence what the Church has peremptorily Decreed is not to be believed I am sorry when that Decree passed such a powerfull Measure of the Spirit which made Caiaphas Prophesie was absent And since it was so then I do not see how they can reasonably presume he was not absent in other Points too Damnation being so particularly denounced against Rebellion we cannot think that a Point so inconsiderable as to be passed by in advertency It now plainly appears that this Challenge of Infallibility is very unaccountable and to shew its absurdity yet more you shall see that though we should grant as we do not that they have Infallibility some where yet in the resolution of Faith it would be useless The Church at this day is vexed