much greater is to be given to those Doctrines which are contain'd in the Writings of the Evangelists and Apostles who were Taught of God and spake as they were inspired by the Holy Ghost II. Secondly I urge the Authority of my Lord Bacon whose if any me thinks should be admitted by these Virtuosi in Religion The Divine Prerogative saith he extends it self to the Whole Man and requires not only Obedience from our Wills but Submission from our Understandings And therefore as we are bound to Obey the Divine Law though our Wills reluct never so much against it so are we obliged to believe whatsoever God hath Reveal'd though never so improbable to our understandings For if we believe no more than what we can demonstrate to be true we do not believe the Truth deliver'd for the Authors sake but the Author for the Truths sake and so we pay no more Respect to the Oracles of God than we do to the Writings of Men though never so much Suspected by us The Faith which Justified Abraham was conversant in a matter incredible to Reason And therefore the higher the Mysteries of Religion are above our Reason the greater is the exercise and tryumph of our Faith the Honour done unto God in Believing To conclude this Point Great is the use of Reason in Religion both as to the manner of interpreting the Scriptures the deducing true consequences and wholesome conclusions from thence and if it be wholly suppress'd our Religion will degenerate into Superstition we shall be so far from paying God a Reasonable Service that we shall offer Him the Sacrifice of Fools But then it must be kept to a due temper for if be not managed by prudent Guides 't is apt to grow Wild and Extravagant to hurry us on to a Belief of the Fowlest Impostures to a Practise of the Grossest Impieties which either the prevalency of the World the domineering enmity of the Flesh or the implacable malice of Satan can propound to be Believed or Practis'd II. The second Reason of Private Mens falling into Error is their Instability in not adhering to their Guides but forsaking them to go astray in the intricate paths of Error and Deceit Heresie being nothing else but an Excision from and Disobedience to the Church in points of Faith And therefore the Apostle pronounceth an Heretick Self-Condemned one who hath Wantonly chosen to himself those Opinions for an Obstinate Defence whereof after full and plain means of Conviction he justly falls under the Censures of the Church is Excommunicated the Assembly of the Saints so without Repentance Reconciliation continues in a very dangerous estate if that of Heathens and Publicans be acknowledg'd such Not in Vain then are those frequent Cautions against Falling Away those repeated Admonitions to Perseverance those earnest Exhortations to hold fast the Profession and contend for the Faith which was once Deliver'd those so much inculcated Commands of Obeying those who are set Over us in the Lord Heb. 13. v. 7. Remember them which have the Rule over you who have spoken unto you the Word of God whose Faith follow Ver. 17. Obey them that have the Rule over you and submit your selves for they Watch for your Souls For in Vain may those men commit themselves to the immediate Assistance of God who neglect to hear his Guides and violate His Commandments in hopes to procure His help favour For from that very moment of time they cease to be Members of the Holy Catholick Church they are become Out-lawries in a Gospel-sense they have lost the Protection of the Heavenly King and they lay under the Deprivation of the benefits belonging to the Subjects of that Jerusalem which is Above And what wonder if being in this forlorn condition the Tempter take his advantage lead them into the Wilderness and there present to their disturb'd fancies false schemes of Religion suggest unworthy apprehensions of God and whatsoever is by him thus suggested is by them mistaken for new light and holy inspirations And because this spirit of delusion dares put forth among Christians no Doctrines but such as pretend to be founded on the Scriptures to this purpose they are wrested and tortur'd their scope is mistaken their sense abused their Periods miserably mangled their whole design perverted to countenance every Wild Opinion which either a capricious fancy can imagine or a Malicious Wit invent And from hence it comes to pass that we have as many several sorts of Christians as there are different humours or Interests of men the Gospel with St. Paul though in a quite contrary sense is become all things unto all men And having made thus bold with the Scriptures it cannot be expected that they should deal more modestly with any authority inferior to that the most ancient Traditions must now give place to new discoveries The Consent of the Catholick Apostolick Church be borne down by the Dictates of a private I might say familiar spirit Whereas there is all the reason in the World to believe that the Apostles best knew the mind of their Master that they faithfully fully communicated their knowledge to their successors so by certain steps and degrees we may arrive at this fundamental truth That as the Church is the most faithfull Keeper so the most authentick Expositor of Scripture Which fairly ushers in my third and last Consideration That for the preventing Mistakes from Rising and suppressing Errors when Risen 'T is the duty of Private Men to submit their Judgements in matters of Religion to the Determinations of those whom God hath Constituted to be their Spiritual Guides and Governours Vnless it manifestly Appear that such Determinations are contrary to Gods Word And this I shall assert very briefly both from the qualifications of the Persons who are appointed to Rule in the Church and the Reason of the thing I. And that which first entitles the Governors of the Church to a superiority over their Subjects is that special Ordination and Comission which they have receiv'd from Christ to instruct the World in all necessary Truths and that Charge which he hath laid upon others to obey them If any one listeth to see their Commission He may find it recorded in any of the four Evangelists I shall exhibit it as 't is exemplified 28 Mat. 18 19 20. Verses And Jesus came and spake unto them saying All power is given to me in Heaven and Earth Go ye therefore and Teach all Nations Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have Commanded you And lo I am with You alwayes unto to the end of the World In the which words there are these Three Things considerable 1. That Christ commission'd His Disciples immediately after He had proclaim'd Himself Omnipotent 2. That this Commission implies it to be Christs Will that all Nations of the World should Obey them 3. That He promised to be with Them and their Successors unto the end of the World And
there cannot be a fuller instance of the Perversness of some Men who to evacuate and overthrow the Authority of the present Church will needs confine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to some period of time short of the final dissolution of all things when time shall be swallow'd up of Eternity if not contrary to the Grammatical sense of the Word yet at least to the design of the Promise and the nature of the Thing Which of the Embassadors of earthly Potentates ever received so ample a commission the Person commissioning was Omnipotent The Commission was universal in respect of Persons time and place 't was directed to all the Nations and to continue throughout all the Ages of the World and for the Execution of it they were empowr'd from Above wheresoever they came they constituted a Spiritual Government and they had full power to Enact such Laws as they thought tended to the Advancement of their Masters Kingdom and they did with Authority and not by way of Counsel only as some would have determine such Controversies as arose It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to Vs All along their Spiritual progress if any City refus'd to receive Them or their Doctrine they shook off the Dust of their Feet against it as a dire Presage of some ensuing Judgment as the next words manifestly declare Verily I say unto you it shall be more tollerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of Judgement than for that City Wretched City how has thy Disobedience ascertain'd and aggrandiz'd thy Ruine The Lewd Inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah shall find more Favour in the day of Judgement than thy Citizens Most true it is their Power was purely Spiritual Christ the Prince of Peace did not Commission Generals to destroy but sent forth Apostles to Convert the Nations by declaring His Laws denouncing His Judgments But then they had no coercive power of the Sword which God hath given to Magistrates to inflict the Judgments which they denounc'd But as they because living under Heathen Powers left the Event of their Spiritual Censures solely to Divine Vengeance which they who escap'd in this world were sure to meet with in the next so is it still unless Kings are graciously pleased to shew themselves Nursing Fathers to the Church to enforce Spiritual Censures by Corporal Penalties and adjudge those Unworthy the Protection of the Laws of the Realm who are justly depriv'd of the Benefits of the Church By all which it appears that the Church is something else than a Christian Common-wealth since there was a Church before the Common-wealth became Christian and neither the Leviathan nor any of his Disciples hath yet been able to shew how or when the Church forfeited Her antecedent Right And that though the Governours thereof may challenge to themselves a Power distinct yet no wayes Opposite to the Civil The Shield of Faith doth not Clash with the Sword of Justice And maugre the designes of those who have Evil will at Sion this is not to erect Imperium in imperio much less to set the Mitre above the Crown Since whatsoever Power is here challeng'd as of Divine Right is purely Spiritual exercis'd to Spiritual ends and purposes so far from interfering with the Civil from Absolving men from that Obedience which is indispensably due thereunto that wheresoever it takes place it abates nothing of that natural Right which the Magistrate had in the Affairs of Religion Yet herein it will appear that the Wisdom of the despised King of the Jews did far surmount all the Policies of the world in that he hath so interwoven the concerns of His Church with the interest of the State that at the same time any man shall dare to become an Enemy to his Kingdom he must cease to be a Friend to Caesars II. The reasonableness of this Submission will appear from those promises of Assistance which Christ hath made to them but not to others without them much less to others against them And those are Illumination Direction and Power Illumination in things Obscure Direction in things Difficult Power to Encounter and overcome all Opposition And this may be one Reason why Christ did not Arm his Disciples with a Temporal Sword for certainly He who had all Power given Him in Heaven and on Earth might have done it if He had pleas'd because He furnish'd them with such Extraordinary Virtues as did abundantly supply the Defect of that Thus they who could Raise the Dead from the Grave needed no other Argument to gain the Living They who could convince the Consciences captivate the Understandings beat down the Imaginations and conquer the Affections of their Adversaries needed no Sword nor Spear nor any of the Bloody Engines of War to make themselves Masters of the Field Now the same Spirit though not in the same Measure doth still reside in the Governors of the Church though they do not equalize the Apostles in Working of Miracles diversities of Languages extent of Jurisdiction though they have not as they had the whole World for their Diocess yet are they still Bishops of Souls Pastors and Doctors for the Consummation of the Saints for the Edifying of the Body of Christ till we all come in the Vnity of the Faith unto a perfect man in Christ Jesus Either then let Private men submit to their Spiritual Governours exercising their Commission according to Gods Word or else let them warrant their Dissent with greater at least equal Attestations of the Divine Favour and then there will be no great fear of any danger arising from Dissenting Brethren III. The reasonableness of this Submission will appear from their study and learning in Divine Matters and from the far less knowledge and ordinary capacity in others The Apostles they had their Knowledge of Divine things either from a constant and familiar converse with their Master or else from that plentiful effusion of the Holy Ghost which He vouchsav'd them immediately upon His Restauration to His Heavenly Kingdom That which was thus Wonderfully bestowed upon them their Successors are forc'd to acquire by hard Study great Industry frequent and fervent Address to the Fountain of Wisdom For not only the Knowledge of Languages a calmness of Mind neither ruffled with the storms of Passion nor distracted with the Cares of the World but likewise a peircing Judgment to distinguish between the Literal and Figurative sense to weigh the scope and coherence of things to compare one place with another to Illustrate obscure Texts by those which are more plain to consult and find out the sense of Antiquity is required to a right understanding of the Scriptures For they do not only contain things of themselves hard to be understood but moreover those very things are rendred more difficult by the Malice of Satan the Cunning of his Agents The Enemy hath sown such a prodigious quantity of Tares that 't is very hard sometimes to find out the Wheat What wonder then if
clear in themselves yet Private men abandoning their Guides and following their own corrupt Fancies may deprave and distort them to their own destruction Who those Wresters were or what those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are wherewith St. Peter chargeth the Epistles of His beloved Brother Paul I shall not strictly enquire the Apostle having pass'd them over in a profound silence it will be difficult at this distance of time exactly to define yet 't is not improbable that either the Gnostick or Cerinthian Hereticks were here chiefly aim'd at who upon a mistake of some Predictions became the Founders of a Temporal Dominion of Christ after His Resurrection wherein His Followers in their New Jerusalem should wallow in sensual Lusts and Pleasures spend the space of a Thousand Years as in a Nuptial Festivity and enjoy the all that is in the World the Lusts of the Flesh the Lusts of the Eye and the Pride of Life in as ample and exquisite a manner as the most Epicurean soul could effect or covet A fancy in its first original meerly Jewish afterwards entertain'd by some Judaizing Christians and finally rather rectified than abandon'd by some of the Fathers in the Primitive times And if those sublime Wits who had all the Learning which either Jerusalem Athens or Rome could Boast were never less Mistaken in their Expositions of some abstruse Texts of Scripture whilst they deliver'd their Opinions but as private Doctors what wonder if the unlearned and unstable Wrest them to their own Destruction That they have de facto done this is manifest since 't will be hard to instance in any one Century which is not either chargeable with new Heresies or the reviving and improving of Old And the most extravagant Opinions which ever yet saw the light have still shrouded themselves under the Patronage of Holy Writ What shall we say then shall we condemn the Scriptures of Sin Shall we say That the Scriptures are of themselves either productive of Error or not a sufficient store-house of Truth God forbid The Scriptures are Holy Just and Good but private men Wrest them to their own Destruction And this they do first By their Ignorance Secondly By their Instability I. First by their Ignorance where it will be presently Objected that Ignorance is so far from being a cause of Error or impiety that in a sober sence 't is truly the Mother of Devotion The Wisdom of this World is given in by Tertullian as the prime Cause of Heresie None were greater Tormentors of the Scriptures than the Phylosophers for which Reason they are Branded by the same Author with the Title of Arch-Hereticks Particularly the Valentinian Heresie concerning the portentous production of the Gods comes from the Platonists Marcious Vnconcern'd and Lazy God was first set up by the Stoicks the mortality of the Soul was the Doctrine of the Epicureans the Impossibility of the Resurrection of the Flesh of the whole stream of Phylosophers The Apostles tells us Not many Mighty not many Wise not many Noble were Chosen Cautions his Proselytes against Philosophy and vain Deceit and concludes the Wisdom of this World Foolishness with God Wherefore by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vnlearned in this place we are not to understand Ideots and those who never knew Letters but we must understand those who will not be Instructed by the Masters of Divine Wisdom the Nolentes discere those who refuse to hear the Church of the Living God which alone is the Pillar and Foundation of Truth And so their Learning like Julians only qualifies them to deride the Doctrines of a Crucified God and by their Wisdom they become the more formidable Enemies of Christ's Kingdom Thus if Lucifer the Son of the Morning fall from his Allegiance whole Legions of the Heavenly Host are involv'd in the Rebellion That Heresie spreads like the Contagion of a Leprosy which hath an Arrius for its Founder and a Constantius for its Promoter And the Mahumetan Religion owes as well its monstrous Birth as its fatal Encrease to the Malice and Munning of an Apostate Jew and a Renegado Christian And to give but one instance more but of a far more Modern Daâ—â— and therefore of more Dangerous consequence That unhappy man Socinus a person otherwise of singular Wit and Learning but being in this sense unlearned i. e. Having entertain'd so slender a Notion of the Church as to date a general Defection from the very Deaths of the Apostles upon this Perswasion thought it not Robbery to make himself equal to the most Oecumenical Councils to contradict the most receiv'd Doctrines of the Church and from this Contempt of his Mother to proceed to that daring pitch of Impiety as to deny even the Lord that Bought him so dangerous is it for private men to rely solely upon the perspicuity of Scripture or to measure the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Incarnation of the Godhead his Consubstantiality with the Father by the scantling of Humane Reason Cedat curiosit as fidei gloria saluti was the Advice of as great a Wit as any Age hath bred Our Curiosity must give place to our Faith the thirst of Temporal Glory to the benefits of Eternal Salvation 'T is true by our Reason we are first dispos'd to be Christians for no Creature beneath the Rational is capable of Divine Revelation but when once we have given up our Names to Christ 't is by our Faith we are Saved but if we Assent to no Doctrines but such as our Reason fully Comprehends this is no longer Faith but Science and so we may continue Infidells whilst we go under the Notion of Christians And since We live in such a Knowing Age wherein all captivating the Vnderstanding though it be to the Obedience of Faith is made the subject of Grievance and Complaint And that we have to deal with men of such a sceptical Genius as that they do not only enquire into the Grounds and Reasons of our Faith but moreover deny our very Creed with whom a Treatise of Humane Reason is of more Force than the Revelation of St. John the Divine To the Consideration of these Men I offer Two Things which I judge most proper I. First the Answer which Origen made to Celsus when 't was objected by that Calumniator against the Christians that their Religion was built on a very sandy Foundation which durst not undergo the Test of Reason but commanded its Converts not to Examine but Believe and their Faith should Save them In part he owns the Objection but wisely Retorts it upon his Adversary by telling him that the Philosophers were the greatest Dictators in the World Witness the Ipse dixit of Phythagoras that their Systems contain'd some such secret Dogmata which their Disciples swallowed solely upon the Credit of their Masters And if the Masters of the Wisdom of this World which is either Foolishness or at best but Science fasly so called required so great submission from their Scholars how