there have been and still are eminent Members of the Church of Rome who have accused each other of corrupt Doctrine and even of Heresie it self But Thirdly and Lastly There do appear to me to be much stronger Arguments to prove that the Church of Rome has actually erred and corrupted the Doctrine of Jesus Christ in the Case of Transubstantiation and some other her Tenents than any that can be brought to prove her to be infallible And until I can be otherwise convinced I cannot but conclude That to follow the Guidance of the Roman Church is not the way to embrace the true and pure Doctrine of Jesus XXII Some there are who tell me that to find out the true and genuine Doctrine of Jesus I must have recourse to the Tradition of the Church And thus they set forth the Matter First They suppose that the true and genuine Doctrine of Jesus was undoubtedly taught by his Apostles and first Disciples Secondly That if any one did or should have gone about to spread any false or spurious Doctrine whilst these Apostles and Disciples were yet alive They who were sent on purpose by Jesus to preach his Doctrine and were owned and submitted to accordingly by all Christian Churches both could and would immediately convince all Churches of the falseness and spuriousness of such pretended Doctrine Thirdly That the Doctrine of Jesus being in all Churches publickly and constantly taught and preached every succeeding Age and Generation must needs know and could not possibly be ignorant what their Fathers and immediate Predecessors owned and taught as such Fourthly That therefore if at any time whatsoever any new or spurious Doctrine was or should be vented by any Person or Persons as the Doctrine of Jesus all Christians must presently know that this was none of his Doctrine because it was not taught them as such by their immediate Predecessors Fifthly That therefore it is impossible that any new and spurious Doctrine could ever be broached in the World as a part of the Doctrine of Jesus but it must needs meet with great Opposition For all Christians do maintain That it is a Sin to teach or knowingly to own any thing as the Doctrine of Jesus which is not really so Sixthly That however some Men out of Pride or Interest may own and contend for any such novel Doctrines yet it is impossible that any such Doctrine should ever come to be universally received by the whole Church except we could suppose either that the whole Church should joyn together to involve themselves and their Posterity for ever in a Sin or else that a few Men who first should vent an Opinion could so impose upon the whole World as to make them believe that what they all must know to be a new and upstart thing because they received it not from their Fathers and Predecessors was a part of the ancient Doctrine of Jesus which was all along from Hand to Hand delivered down to them Both which things are absurd to conceive or imagine And Lastly That no part of the Doctrine of Jesus once delivered could ever be obliterated or wholly forgot in the World because every Age of Christians from the very first who undoubtedly received the whole and entire Doctrine of Jesus knew themselves to be indispensably obliged both by God's Command and also by that Love and Charity which they owed to their Posterity to teach the same full and entire Doctrine which they received unto their Children and those who were to come after them Go therefore to the Church that is to the Church of Rome say the Papists to the Universal Church i. e. to all Christians say some Protestants and see what are the Doctrines which are and have been universally maintained of whose Beginning no other Account can be given but that Jesus and his Apostles taught them to the World And there you have the entire and uncorrupted Doctrine of Jesus But to this I answer That indeed where there is an universal or a very large and general Tradition concerning any thing and where from the nature of the thing it self it appears to be highly rational and probable that there is not or could not be any Errour or Mistake in the matter in such a Case as this no Man I think but an obstinate Sceptick will offer to withstand the Evidence of such a Tradition But let a Tradition be ever so general or even universal yet if it can be shewn that there is not only a possibility but also a fair likelihood and probability that there may be a mistake in the business then I think no Man can justly be blamed if he refuses or suspends his Assent until the Testimony of such a Tradition be cleared and vindicated from those rational Prejudices and Exceptions which may lie against it Now if it were so that all Errours and Mistakes did ever immediately appear in their perfect Form and full Growth at their very Beginning then it were most rational to conclude that all Men must needs take notice of their first Appearance and consequently that in all likelihood any such Error must needs meet with many more Opponents than Abettors But on the contrary it may well be supposed that Errours may have sprung up in the World from such small beginnings and by such slow and unperceivable degrees that after some Ages it may be impossible for a Man to discover them to be Errours except he has some other Rule besides Tradition to try them by viz. either the Rule of common Reason or some ancient and unaltered Writing As for Example It is not rational to conceive that in the first Ages of Christianity they who preached and writ popular Discourses might very innocently and to good purpose make use of Rhetorical Flights and Figurative Expressions to strike the Fancies and move the Affections of the People to Vertue and Piety And is it not likely enough That those who came after them might not only strive to imitate but also to out-do them in bolder Flights and more strained Schemes of Expression And is it not also probable enough That in long process of Time Ignorance generally overspreading the Face of the World and being joyned with a profound Veneration for those ancient Preachers and Writers might begin to interpret some of these Rhetorical and Figurative Expressions in a Literal and Logical Sence and then conceive that such their Interpretations were really and truly the ancient Doctrines delivered down to them Especially if we consider that there may have been some Men of great Power and Repute in the World who might have taken a pride and delight or whose Interest it might have been to amuze the People with mysterious Notions and Fancies and to keep them ignorant of the Truth And thus it appears to be not only possible but also probable enough That Errours and Mistakes as to the ancient Doctrine of Jesus might come to be generally received without any considerable or notorious Opposition
Power and Assistance of God who is both the Framer and Controller of Nature or which is the same thing in effect by the Mediation and Ministry of good Spirits who always act obediently to his Will So that whether mediately or immediately it is God who is to be looked upon as the Original and Author of all those wonderful Things which were done by Jesus and his Disciples Now then Since God did interpose his Power to work such strange and stupenduous things for the Propagation and Confirmation of that Doctrine which was taught by Jesus and his Disciples This I think is a sufficient Demonstration that their Doctrine was certainly true For Who can imagine that God should make use of his extraordinary Power only to cheat and deceive the World into the Belief of a Lye I conclude therefore That the Primitive Christians had sufficient Reason to believe that it was revealed by God from Heaven that whosoever would believe on Jesus and receive and live according to his Religion should be made very happy in thenext Life this very thing being the grand Point of Doctrine which Jesus and his Disciples taught and preached to the World And if we are sure that the Primitive Christians had Reason sufficient to believe this from hence it follows That we have sufficient Reason to believe it also XX. But Jesus himself being long since ascended into Heaven and his Disciples who first preached the Gospel departed out of the World here I think it is necessary to enquire to whom or to what I must apply my self that amidst the several Parties in the World who all call themselves True and Orthodox Christians each condemning all others but themselves I may be truly and surely informed what is the true and genuine Religion or Doctrine of Jesus which I ought to receive and live according to in order to my future Happiness For if I do not this I must either reject the Doctrine of Jesus and so lose my future Happiness or else take it altogether upon Trust and by chance and then 't is odds but I light upon the wrong and must needs run a very great hazard And though he who is in a Mistake and cannot tell how to help it will doubtless find an easie Pardon from God yet he who falls into Errour for want of moderate Care and Diligence to find out the Truth has I think no pretence either to Pardon or so much as to Pity XXI The Roman Catholicks do tell me that I must apply my self to the Church This Church they define to be that Society of Persons who prosess Faith in Jesus Christ and live in Subjection to and Communion with the Pope or Bishop of Rome This Church they say is infallible and not only does not but cannot err in any Doctrine of Religion Go then say they to this Church and receive the Doctrine which she teaches and there you have certainly and infallibly the true and pure Doctrine of Jesus Christ But I cannot give my Assent to follow this their Direction because I find such great Difficulties in my way as I think are insuparable at least I am sure such as I am not able to overcome For First Although it may be a certain Truth that there shall always be a Church that is to say a Company of People some where or other professing the true Christian Religion as long as the World shall last yet what solid Proof can be brought that this particular Society of Men who live in Communion with the Pope or Bishop of Rome are alone the true Church and shall always keep and maintain amongst them the true and uncorrupt Doctrine of Jesus Christ This Matter being a Question of Revelation and positive Institution is uncapable of being proved by any Argument drawn from Natural Reason And as for the Texts of Scripture which they alledge it is even ridiculous to think that any sober and unprejudiced Person should be convinced by them as will evidently appear to any one who impartially reads what the Romish and Protestant Divines have written on this Controversie For there are none of those Texts but are fairly and naturally capable of another Interpretation and must be very much strained and wrested to make them countenance the Romish Doctrine Besides that the Divines of the Church of Rome do generally teach That no Man can be sure of the Authority or Sense of any Text of Scripture especially if it appear to be any way doubtful except he receives the Proposal and Interpretation thereof from this their Church which they say is infallible So that a Man must of necessity believe the Infallibility of their Church before he can any way be sure of the Credit or even of the Sense of those Texts of Scripture which they bring to prove it And then What need is there of Scripture-Arguments to prove a thing which must be acknowledged before the Arguments can have any force or even be as much as certainly understood And if they tell me that the Fathers and ancient Christian Writers do testifie thus much of the Church of Rome I can only say that the Protestant Divines who seem to me to be Men of as much Learning and Integrity as the Romish do declare that it is far otherwise Nor have I Skill enough in Language and Antiquity to take upon me to judge of this Dispute Neither do I understand by what Authority the Writings of those Persons who are acknowledged to have been subject to Errours should be obtruded on me as a Rule of my Faith or as a sufficient Argument to determine my Assent in so weighty a Matter Secondly Supposing but not granting that in the Church of Rome the true and pure Doctrine of Jesus Christ was preserved yet still it is granted that particular and private Men who live in the visible Communion of that Church may teach false and corrupt Doctrine Here then I demand How shall I certainly distinguish the Doctrine of the Church from the Opinions of private Men And how shall I certainly know what is the true Meaning of the Church's Doctrine They of the Church of Rome are not agreed who it is that has Authority to declare and expound the Doctrine of their Church whether it be the Pope or a General Council or neither alone but both together Or if they were unanimous in this Point yet how shall I know whether such a particular Person who possesses the Chair be a true and lawful Pope or such a particular Assembly a true and lawful General Council Or Suppose they could satisfie me in this Demand yet there is no Council now sitting nor if there were could I go to them or to the Pope to receive Instruction nor can the Pope or a Council be at leisure to satisfie the Demands of every private Enquirer How then can I be sure that this or that particular Person does both rightly understand and faithfully propose the Doctrine of the Church to me Especially since
the Bounds between Nature and Grace which are both the Gifts of God the one in an ordinary the other in an extraordinary way and to pretend to shew how far we may go by the bare strength of Nature and where it is that we just stand in need of supernatural Assistance I look upon to be a work of very little use or benefit but of extraordinary difficulty and perhaps impossible for any but God himself to perform Moreover how God will deal with those who have no other Guide to follow but the Light of Nature How far he will punish their Sins be merciful to their Ignorance or Infirmities or reward their endeavours to do good is a Secret of which we are no way able to give any particular account But it may suffice us to know that the Generation of Mankind by reason of the Corruption of their Nature being apparently in a worse condition in respect of eternal Salvation than what they otherwise would have been God was pleased to determine that he would not deal with them according to that absolute Sovereignty which he had over them nor according to the strict and rigorous Rules of Justice which might have justified the greatest Severities but according to the inclinations of his Mercy and Loving kindness Of which way of Gods proceeding with us I come now to give an account 34. That God might if he had pleased without the violation of any of his Attributes have freely forgiven all the Sins of Mankind and even restored our Nature again to its primitive Integrity and Uprightness seems naturally to follow both from the Absoluteness of his Authority and the Almightiness of his Power And even the strictest Justice tho it fully allows yet does not compel any one to exact a Debt where he is the only Creditour or a Punishment where he is the only party injured or offended But if God has thought fit to deal after another manner with us and rather offers to help our Infirmities as occasion requires than wholly to repair our perverted Nature and chooses to have an Expiation made for our Sins rather than to remit them without any such consideration Altho his Will and Pleasure is enough to silence all our Exceptions and justifie his proceedings yet may there some probable Considerations be urged in order to make us clearly apprehend the Wisdom of God in the fitness and reasonableness of this his Dispensation As namely that hereby we are or ought to be made more continually sensible of our constant Dependence upon him of his great Mercy and Compassion for us of his perfect Hatred and Abhorrence of sin 35. It cannot I think be doubted but that at the very time of the Fall of man God who is infinitly wise and knowing and therefore stands in need of no time to deliberate had fully determined what he would do in order to the Expiation of our Sins and the helping of our corrupted Nature so as that we might be again in some capacity of recovering that Happiness to which we were at first designed § 29. And that this work of our Redemption was to be performed by the Means and Mediation of an extraordinary Person who was to be sent into the World under the Title of the Messiah or the Christ is abundantly evident both from the Old and New Testament especially if we compare them and expound them one by another But it is certain that Christ did not immediately come into the World nor was there any one for some Thousands of Years after the Fall who so much as pretended to that Title or Office Whether it were that God thought it fit by some previous Dispensations to prepare the Minds of Men for the reception of so extraordinary a Person or for what other reason I pretend not to determine but think my self obliged intirely to submit to the Wisdom of God who thought fit so to order it that the Messiah should not appear until that fulness of time which he had appointed for it In the mean while altho the great Light was not yet to come into the World yet God suffered it not to be wholy overspread with Darkness But besides the Light of the visible Creation which declares the Glory and eternal Power of God and besides the natural Light which arises in every Mans Understanding whereby they who have no other Law are a Law unto themselves unto which their own Conscience is a Witness beyond exception God was pleased in a supernatural way to reveal himself unto divers persons to the intent that they might teach the Knowledge of him to others as to Enoch Noah Melchizedek Job and probably to many more than we read of Amongst whom why Baalam should not be reckoned I can see no reason altho Covetousness and the hopes of worldly Advancement tempted him to make but an ill use of the good Gifts of God And also to chuse out unto himself a peculiar People namely that of Israel and to vouchsafe unto them a more than ordinary knowledge of Himself and his Laws by his Servants Moses and the Prophets And lastly by his Providence to order the matter so that the Writings of Moses and the Prophets should many years before Christs coming be translated into the Greek tongue which was then the most universal Language that by them all Nations might have the more Instruction and so be the better prepared to receive the Messiah whenever he should be made known unto them And for this reason also it seems to be that God so long before the Mosaick Law ordained and appointed the Sacrificing of Beasts whereby it became the common practice of the Gentiles as well as Jews Not that he had any esteem or value for the Blood of Bulls or of Goats but only that by this practice the Minds of Men might be the more easily and readily disposed to own and rely upon that great Sacrifice which Christ was one day to make of Himself for them 36. There are several Prophecies dispersed up and down through the Old Testament plainly designed to foretel the coming of the Christ or Messiah what sort of person he should be and what he should do and suffer As that he should be the Seed of the Woman of the Progeny of Abraham of the Family and Lineage of David born in Bethlehem and born of a Virgin That he should come into the World about the time that the Scepter and the Law-giver that is to say the force and power of civil Authority should cease from the Tribe of Judah and should finish his Work in the compass of the last seven Years of those Four hundred and ninety which are pointed out by the Prophet Daniel That by many he should be despised and rejected should be a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with Griefs be oppressed and afflicted yet bear it most patiently and at last be wounded and cut off not for himself but for our Transgressions And yet for all this he is foretold
in Scripture as Joyned together in one Society or Body which is called the Church of which Christ Jesus is the chief or Head and under an obligation to live in communion and fellowship one with another under those Laws and Constitutions which Christ has given them but not that I can find in Scripture obliged to joyn with or submit to any one person as the Vicar of Christ and the visible Head of the Church upon Earth For if Christ had appointed any such person as his Deputy upon Earth he must either have declared a matter of such consequence with great plainness and evidence or else it would be very hard to find fault with any man for being mistaken in it Whereas the Arguments which those of the Church of Rome bring to prove either that such a Vicar there must be or that St. Peter the Apostle was the Man or that the Pope or Bishop of Rome and not the Bishop of Antioch is the Successour of St. Peter both in his Bishoprick and Authority are all so weak and precarious so forced and perplexed and so fully confuted by the Protestant Divines that nothing in my Opinion but Blindness of Understanding or worldly Interest can prevail with the Members of that Church still to insist upon them Now that Christ instituted but one Church in which all true Believers and good livers are for ever to be comprised is very plain And altho through the Mistakes and Perverseness of Man this Church is rent and divided into opposite and contending parts and parties yet this does not hinder but that according to its true and primitive Constitution it is or ought to be one as a Kingdom or Common-wealth by its Laws and Constitutions is but one Society altho there may arise Factions and different Interests in it nor shall any Man be esteemed as a Member of the Church before God who is not ready and willing according to the best of his power and knowledge to maintain the Unity of it and that upon those very Terms and none other which Christ has appointed as near as possibly he can find and apprehend them Moreover that all the Laws and Constitutions on which Christ has founded the Church and by which he would have it regulated are exactly agreeable unto the Rules of sound Morality and the Will of God cannot be so much as doubted and therefore it is truly said that the Church is Holy altho every particular Member thereof has both his frailties and his sins which yet he must repent of and so become holy as the Church is holy or else he violates one of the main and fundamental Laws and so becomes as it were an Out-law of the Church and forfeits his part in all the Privileges that belong unto that Society And whereas before the coming of Christ the People of Israel did enjoy more of the Favour of God and had greater privileges and advantages on the score of their being God's chosen and peculiar People than any or all other Nations of the World The Gospel of Christ on the contrary now looks upon all as equally entitled unto God's Favour and the advantages thereon depending who take care duly to qualifie themselves for it So that whereas formerly the Church that is the chosen People of God might have been said to be particular as being in a manner limited to one Nation or People now on the contrary it is Catholick that is to say universal as being no way confined to one place or Nation all People being equally chosen by God in Christ who will receive and love according to the Gospel 41. In those several Revelations which God was pleased to make of himself after the Fall of Man unto Adam to Abraham and to the People of Israel there was still a plain intimation given them that in the time to come there should an extraordinary Person arise in the World who should yet more clearly make known the Will of God to Mankind But when Christ who was That Person did accordingly come and send his Apostles to preach the Gospel over all the Earth he neither suggested to them nor they unto the World that any other Revelation was ever after to be expected But always gave them to understand that God had in the Gospel compleated and finished all that declaration which he intended to make of Himself or his Will unto Mankind until the general Judgment and Dissolution of the World If therefore the Holy Scripture had given me no manner of assurance of the perpetuity of the Church my own Reason would have been enough to make me conclude that God in his Providence will so order the matter as that the Christian Religion being the only known and ordinary means of eternal Salvation shall never be wholly extinguished while the World lasts so as to stand in need of any new Revelation to revive and restore it But that there shall always be a certain Company of Men evidently conspicuous to the World teaching and professing the true Christian Religion without any Errour or Corruption in Doctrine or Worship is what I can no where find promised or foretold either by Christ or any of his Apostles On the contrary there are several passages in the New Testament which do plainly seem to foretell that in process of time most pernicious Doctrines and practices should prevail and take place even amongst the generality of those who should profess themselves to be Disciples of Christ And whosoever shall but lightly compare the state of Christianity for several Centuries before the Reformation with that Draught of it which is left us by Christ and his Apostles in the Holy Scriptures must if he be impartial I think be fully convinced of the truth of those Predictions 42. Whether or no God has or does at any time communicate or bestow any extraordinary Grace or Assistance upon those who are no visible Members of the Church but altogether strangers unto that Revelation which he has made of himself is a question which the virtuous lives and heroick actions of some brave Heathens make it hard positively to determine in the negative But that he will give so much Grace and strength to every one who shall become a Member of Christ's Church as that thereby they may if the fault be not their own sufficiently qualifie themselves for eternal Happiness by the performance of those things which he requires on their part to be done is what I think no man can doubt of who does but in general consider the Mercy and Love which God designed even unto all men but more especially unto the Church in sending our Saviour Christ Jesus into the world altho there were not any particular Promises of this nature in the Gospel And that this Grace and ability to do good is in Scripture ascribed unto the Ministry and Influence of the Holy Ghost upon the hearts and minds of true Believers is plain and generally owned by all Christians But that this
Society have not certain Laws and Rules to proceed by in all such cases and some certain persons to put those Laws in execution every Man would take upon him to be his own Judge and what might feem fit and reasonable to one might appear otherwise to another of a contrary interest from whence perpetual Factions and Confusion must needs follow But there is no reason that any one or more of such a Society without the consent of the rest should take upon them to make Laws for or exercise Authority over the whole Community For if it were in every Mans power to make himself a Magistrate all might set up to be Rulers and few or none would be Subjects which would bring in Confusion and destroy the Society But when the whole Society do agree and consent that such certain persons shall have the exercising of such certain Powers which originally are in the Body of the Society it self it is then lawful for those persons to act accordingly and they who have consented to their Authority are by virtue of that Consent obliged to pay Obedience to them I conclude therefore that the Original of Magistrates is from the Consent of the People since there is no other solid ground that I can find upon which to establish them And when once a legislative and executive Power is thus setled and established by the consent of a People who acquiesce in it and upon all occasions take shelter under its Protection it is to be looked upon as ratified and confirmed by God's own appointment and Subjection and Obedience is accordingly to be paid to it by every particular person who abides within the precincts of its Juridiction For this was the very case of the Roman Government which was in St. Paul's time and there is exactly the same reason for it in all other Kingdoms and Common-wealths whatsoever 47. Since then Magistracy derives it self wholly from the Consent of the People from hence it will follow that the Original Rule of the Magistrates Power and the Subjects obedience is that Consent which the People has given or in other terms those Laws and Constitutions of the place in which the Body of the Nation have acquiesced Beyond which neither any Magistrate ought to command nor is any Subject bound to obey For where there is no Law there can be no Transgression nor any Obligation to Obedience nor consequently any Right to Command 48. But if the legislative Power of any Nation do enact any thing which is contrary to the express Law of God or the eternal Laws of good and evil No particular Man can be bound to obey such a Constitution For the Authority of God ought to weigh more with us than that of any Community whatsoever And it is expressly ruled in Scripture that we ought to obey God rather than Man 49. And the same Reason viz. Self-preservation which allows a Society thus setled into a Government to punish Malefactors within themselves must also justifie them it by force of Arms they defend themselves against any foreign Enemy which would wrong or oppress them or endeavour to recover their Right from those who have taken it from them and refuse to restore it For otherwise it were in vain for a Community to hope to subsist by maintaining good Order and Discipline at home if all the while they must without remedy lye continually exposed to the Wrongs and Insults of every Enemy which may assault them from abroad I conclude therefore that War whether defensive or offensive may in many cases be very just and lawful Nor is there the least word throughout the Holy Scriptures which may represent the Profession of a Soldier who fights under a lawful Authority as any way contrary to Religion and a good Conscience Tho such a Man certainly ought not only to exercise his calling with as much Mildness and Humanity as can be consistent with the service of his Country but also ever to satisfie himself first of the lawfulness of the Cause in which he engages before he draws his Sword in the Quarrel For as we are obliged to do no hurt to any Man whatsoever if we can avoid it so for the very same reason ought we not to become instrumental in any Wrong or Injustice which another Man let him be who he will intends to do 50. That an humble Demeanour together with a reasonable Diligence and an honest Fidelity to his Master is the Duty of every Servant is most apparent because if a Servant be either haughty negligent or unfaithful he ceases in effect to be a Servant And on the other side that Justice and Humanity are no less the Duty of a Master towards his Servant is altogether as clear because where these are not observed the Condition of a Servant must be intolerable and contrary to that comfortable state which we suppose God to design for all Men and therefore for Servants who are as much Men and as much valued by God and for whom Christ died as well as for their Masters 51. That all Christians are or according to Christs Institution ought to be combined together into one Society which is called the Church I have already said Part 2. § 40. Now in all such incorporated Societies these three things are ever to be considered 1. What is the Design of the person or persons who first gather and institute them 2. What Advantage accrues to those who become Members of them And 3dly what are the Laws and Rules to be observed by the whole Body and every Member of it The Design of our Saviour Jesus Christ who at the Will of his heavenly Father instituted and embodied the Christian Church was to purifie unto himself a peculiar People zealous of good works or in other terms by this Incorporation so made more effectually to promote the practice of Virtue and Godliness in the World The benefit and advantage which every true Member of this Church may propose to himself is the participation of God's Grace and assistance here for the better performance of his Duty and the enjoyment of everlasting Happiness hereafter both which are promised to us by God in and through Christ Jesus our Saviour And lastly the Laws of the Christian Church are either 1. The general Laws of Piety and Morality of which I have hitherto been giving an account or 2. Such particular Constitutions as are proper to it considered as a congregated and incorporated Body of Men which I have reserved to be treated of in the last place of all 52. The first thing which is incumbent on every Man as or rather in order to become a Member of the Christian Church is to be baptized in the Name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost Which Ceremony is intended to put us in mind of that Purity and Cleanness from sin to which we ought to bring our Souls by a virtuous and holy life And altho to wet or wash the Body with Water may
seem but a slight and inconsiderable thing yet since our Saviour Christ has expressly appointed and commanded it and since his Apostles were always most careful to perform it insomuch that even they who had received the extraordinary Gift of the Holy Ghost from Heaven were yet required to be Baptized in order to become visible Members of the Church This Ceremony I think ought not to be left off or discontinued Altho whether it be performed by dipping the Body under the Water or by sprinkling the Water upon it to me seems to be altogether indifferent and to be regulated only by Prudence or the Custom of particular places For neither does the word Baptize signifie any more than to Wash which may be done either way nor does it appear that the Apostles dipped all those whom they baptized Moreover since sprinkling as well as dipping may sufficiently denote the washing and cleansing of the Soul from sin and since Baptism is not expressly in the Holy Scripture determined to either of these ways to the exclusion of the other I conclude that God has left the matter so far indifferent to us and to be ordered according to Prudence as the Circumstances of things and persons shall at any time direct And as long as the Substance and Design of his Command is carefully retained I see no necessity of being so very solicitous about a Circumstance of it except it could evidently be made appear that he had appointed and determined it 53. Since then Baptism is as the Entrance or Door of Admittance into the Church of Christ it will follow that all they and they only who are duly qualified to be Members of his Church are fit to have Baptism administred to them If any person has been brought up out of the Chucrh until he comes to years of understanding and knowledge he is then and only then qualified to be a Member of the Church when having repented of all his former sins he believes and owns that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and consequently receives and professes that Faith and Doctrine which he has taught and authorized and obliges himself to live according to all those Laws and Rules which he has prescribed to us this being the very Condition which our Saviour indespensably requires from his Church and every Member of it according as they are capable of performing it But if a Child be born of Christian Parents or is so in the hands of Christian Guardians as that it is in their power to bring him up in the true Religion and they do promise and engage so to educate him such a Child as this even before he comes to any knowledge of things is yet qualified to be a Member of the Church of Christ upon the presumption that he will perform what God requires from him when he comes to be capable of it and so to continue if by Apostacy or wickedness he does not in process of time separate himself again from it For this beyond dispute was the case of In sants before the coming of Christ who at eight days old if Males were to be Circumcised and thereby admitted into the Church of God and within his Covenant if they were either the Sons or Servants born in the House of believing persons and who as well as their Parents are expressly said to enter into Covenant with God which is but another expression for becoming of his Church And no one surely will offer to say that the Case of Infants is made worse than it was by our Saviours coming into the World especially since he has expressly commanded that little Children should come unto him and not be forbidden for that of such is the Kingdom that is the Church of God I conclude therefore that not only adult persons who make a due profession of their Faith and Repentance but also such Infants as are in a way of being brought up in the Christian Religion are without any Obstacle to be admitted to Baptism 54. There are some passages in the New Testament which seem plainly to suggest to us that it was a constant Custom with the Apostles of Christ to lay their Hands upon all such as had been Baptized which laying on of Hands was undoubtedly accompanied with Prayer to God in order to their receiving the Gifts and Graces of the Holy Spirit of God But that this was a thing positively prescribed and commanded I do not find clearly proved And therefore altho I dare not hastily condemn those particular Churches where this same Custom is disused or intermitted yet since the Grace and Assistance of the Holy Ghost in order to the leading of a good life and obtaining eternal Happiness is for ever continued unto the Church as I have said Part 2. § 42. and therefore ought ever to be sought for altho the working of Miracles and speaking of all Languages without learning them be ceased from amongst us I cannot but conclude that the laying on of Hands upon persons that have been baptized together with Prayer to God for their growth and continuance in Grace which is commonly called Confirmation is a prudent and godly Custom and ever fit to be continued in the Church 55. As every particular Man whatsoever is obliged in his own private person to honour and worship God so the Church being a Society incorporated for the better serving of God is under an Obligation to do the same in her associated capacity that is to say to assemble together for his worship And because the whole Number of Christians which are dispersed over the Face of the Earth are not capable of meeting together in one place the Universal Church therefore lies under a necessity of subdividing it self into particular Churches and those again into particular Congregations according as they find to be most convenient for the pursuing that same end for which they are so incorporated Moreover since all these particular Churches and Congregations are still or ought to be but Parts and Members of that One Catholick Church which our Saviour Christ has appointed and founded it follows that none of them ought to constitute or act any thing amongst themselves which may give a just occasiou for the breaking of that Union and Concord which he designed and has commanded always to be maintained amongst them But on the contrary Matters ought every where so to be ordered as that if a Member of any one particular Church should travel into any other part of the World he may meet with nothing in any Christian Congregation where he comes which justly should be a hinderance to him from assembling or communicating with it 56. The particular acts to be performed in these Christian Assemblies are all such as tend to the Edification of the People in Virtue and Godliness which is the design of their Incorporation and consequently to the promoting of each mans eternal Salvation which is the end that every Christian is supposed to pursue All which are
of necessity be outwardly expressed in Words because there is no other way of keeping their Thoughts wherein their Worship does consist united and joyned together And since Words not understood are in effect the same with no Words at all I conclude that the Language wherein the Worship of any Church or Congregation is offered up to God must always be such as is well understood by the Assembly of the People who meet together Nor does even the Doctrine of Transubstantiation amaze me more than that the Church of Rome should own the 14th Chapter of St. Paul's first Epistle to the Corinthians to be the Word of God and yet have all their publick Services every where performed in the Latine Tongue only which is not now understood by the generality of any Nation in the World 61. As Peace and Vnity mutual Love and good Agreement amongst the Members of every Society together with Order and Decency in all that is transacted amongst them absolutely necessary to the being and continuance or at least to the well-being of the Society it self so are they carefully prescribed and inculcated by Christ and his Apostles as things to be always preserved and maintained in the Christian Church And as he who first occasions the violation of any of them is plainly guilty of a very great sin so in all Matters that are not particularly and clearly determined by God's Law we cannot propose a better and safer Rule to our selves than always to do that which tends most to the advancement and preservation of them 62. If some certain time be not determined for Christians to meet together for God's Worship which every Man may know of before it comes and accordingly prepare himself for it by laying aside for that time his worldly Business Disorder and Confusion which is the natural Consequence of Uncertainty must needs follow That one Day at least in seven was expressly required by God under the Mosaick Law to be sanctified and set a part for his Service is beyond dispute That the Observation of the Jewish Sabbath or the last Day of the Week is not required from the Christian Church to me seems very evident from St. Paul's reckoning it amongst the transitory Shadows of the old Law Col. 2. 17. But that we Christians ought not to be behind-hand with the Jews in setting apart a proportion of our time for God's Service I think will follow as well from the great Mercies which we have received from him for which we no less than they ought to shew and express our Thankfulness as also from that general Rule which our Saviour has given us that our Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees And that accordingly one Day in seven namely the First Day of the Week which in Scripture is therefore called the Lord's Day Rev. 1. 10. has ever been so set apart for the Service of God in all Christian Churches I presume will be denied by none As also that the Reason of the Apostles making choice of this particular Day was in remembrance of our Saviour's glorious Resurrection which on that Day was performed and whereby their Faith in him which began to waver was confirmed and raised above all doubt or diffidence Now since no Reason can be given or so much as imagined why this Day should be changed for any other Day of the Week I do from what has been said conclude that the Lord's Day or First Day of the Week ought for ever to be kept holy in the Christian Church and particularly dedicated to the Service of God And where either the Church universal or any particular Church has set aside any other days to be kept holy in remembrance either of any of God's Mercies to us or of the Martyrdom of any of his chosen Saints who sealed the Truth of the Gospel with their Lives and transmitted it so confirmed down unto us or as Days of Fasting or Abstinence in order to humble our selves before God for our Sins since in all this there is nothing contrary to God's Law nor any thing but what may be well consistent with and serviceable to true Piety It will follow from what I have said § 61. That every Member of such a Church is obliged to keep and observe these same other Holy Days so far as no way to give Scandal disturb the Order or break the Peace of the Church which has established them 63. Order and Decency necessarily require that all the outward circumstances of Worship which God himself has not determined by his own Law should be so setled by the Church as that all Confusion and Unseemliness therein may as much as is possible be avoided But care on the other side ought ever to be taken that Modes and Ceremonies be not so multiplied as to become uneasy and burdensome or distract the Devotion of the People Now there being no such fixed and demonstrable Rules of Decency and Order but what will have a different relish with different Men according to their several Educations and Customs to which they may have been used it will be very difficult if not impossible for any Church so to regulate these external matters as to please every Mans Fancy and give disgust to none For what some may think to be but decent others may take to be too formal or pompous and what these may apprehend to be suitable to the Simplicity of Christianity another sort may look on as mean and jejune As therefore the Church in this case can do no more but act according to the best of her Prudence so since every Man cannot expect to have his particular Fancy in these things pleased and gratified It will evidently appear to be the Duty of each private Christian so far to comply with every such constitution of the Church where he dwells provided there be nothing in it which is sinful as not to break the Peace and Unity or disturb the Order of the Church on that account But if any Church shall offer to impose any Ceremonies or practices whatsoever which God has not prescribed and which therefore are in themselves indifferent not for Decency and Order but as things in themselves Holy or absolutely necessary to Salvation as some of old would have done by the Jewish Ceremonies with such Impositions as these no Christian ought at all to comply nor suffer his Religion or Conscience to be thus burthened But every Man must stand fast in that Liberty wherewith Christ has made us free tho at the same time he must be very careful not to pretend or use this Liberty as a Cloke of Maliciousness 64. Since different Opinions in matters of Religion are generally apt to beget Dissensions and Animosities between those who entertain them as our dayly Experience does abundantly testifie It ought to be the Church's and every private Christian's endeavour that all Men may become of one and the same Judgment or at least that there may be as few Differences amongst them as
is possible When therefore any religious Dispute arises whereby the Church's Peace and Unity is like to be endangered It is free and proper for Nor is there any thing which should hinder either the Church universal or any particular Church or even any prudent Men whatsoever to declare and publish their sense of the matter in debate But as no Man can be obliged to believe the Determination of any Church or party whatsoever any farther than he is convinced and satisfied of its agreement with Reason and the Holy Scriptures Part 2. § 1 and 2. so is not any Man bound to oppose or dispute even against an Error it self except there be something in it which is injurious to Christian Faith or practice and consequently which may prove pernicious to Men's Salvation And therefore if such a Mistake which may have prevailed in any Church cannot well be rectified without endangering the breach of Peace and Charity because they who hold it it may be are obstinately wedded to it I think it is the Duty of us all to be very tender in such a case and to permit every Man freely to abound in his own Sense until such time as God shall think fit to bring them to a clearer sight of the Truth And by no means to renounce the Communion of any Church on the account of any Error that is not damnable and much less on account only of such Terms or Expressions as are but abstruse or of doubtful signification For otherwise since the Apprehensions of Men are so very different especially in such things as being remote from our Senses are matter only of rational Speculation if Difference of Opinion upon such theological Questions as do not immediately concern our Salvation were a sufficient ground for Separation in point of Communion there would soon be probably almost as many Churches as Men in the World But if any Church shall require from a Man either to comply with or practise any thing which is not only against his Fancy in point of Decency or Convenience but also against his Conscience in point of Lawfulness or that he should not only be silent and not oppose but also explicitly profess the Belief of any such Doctrines as he judges to be false however innocent the Belief of them may be to them who think them true and if such a Church shall refuse and deny her Communion to all those who will not joyn with her upon these Terms We must rather be contented to be excluded from such a Church's Communion than to purchase it by solemnly telling a down right Lye before God and the World or by the violation of any other of God's Commands For if we offer to do Evil that Good may come of it St. Paul has declared us to be in a state of Damnation 65. For the due regulation of every Society it is necessary that it have a Power somewhere or other vested in it over its own Members either to compel them to live orderly according to its Laws and Constitutions or if any of them are disobedient and refractory and will not upon due admonition be reclaimed wholly to exclude them from the Body of the Community For otherwise if the Members of any Society may at their pleasure break its Constitutions and violate its Laws without control this would be wholly to pull down the Enclosure and lay all open and common as before and consequently in effect to dissolve the Society it self And accordingly our Saviour has given the Church a Power to admonish and rebuke those who give any scandal by their ungodly and unruly Behaviour and if upon this they do not repent and reform of rejecting and cutting them off from her Communion Which Authority must ever be exercised with due mildness and caution for the edification and not with heat and fury which in the end would more probably tend to the destruction of the Church But if any Church shall go beyond this to punish or persecute Men with Fire and Sword or with Fines and Imprisonment only for being of a different persuasion from and refusing to communicate with her In my Opinion she herein acts contrary to that Mildness and Gentleness which the Gospel upon all occasions prescribes and particularly in the case of dealing with those who oppose themselves to it 2 Tim. 2. 24. Altho at the same time it cannot be deâ—yed but that if any Man under the pretence of Conscience or Religion shall advance such Doctrines or do such acts as are destructive to the peace or safety of the civil State or Common-wealth the civil Magistrate may and ought to punish such a person according to the Laws of the Land notwithstanding all his pretences For if the Plea of Conscience the truth of which can only be known to Almighty God be sufficient to save any Malefactour from Punishment no civil Society can ever be safe and all humane Laws and Magistrates would be wholly useless See Part 1. § 35. 66 And as Almighty God in his Mercy is pleased not to cut the greatest sinners off from all hopes of pardon but is ready at any time upon their true and sincere Repentance to receive them again into his Favour so has he committed unto the Church the ministry of Reconciliation which Church therefore accordingly ought not only to endeavour to bring sinners to Repentance by Preaching Admonition and Exhortation but also wherever she sees evident Marks and Tokens of it in any person of which yet there ought to be good assurance for his greater comfort and ease of Conscience to remit or absolve him from his sins and restore him again to the benefit and privilege of Christian Communion of which I suppose that he has or ought to have been deprived And whatever Sentence of thus binding or loosing remitting or retaining of Men's sins is duly and regularly pronounced by the Church upon Earth our Saviour assures us it shall be ratified and confirmed by God in Heaven But that a Man is obliged to make a particular Confession of all his sins unto any other person except God in order to obtain the Pardon of or Absolution from them as I no where find it asserted in the Holy Scripture so the reason which the Roman Divines do allege for it is very weak and unconcluding For it is not the particular Confession of a Man's sins which may be performed by the most hardened impenitent but his Contrition and the visible reformation of his life which may sufficiently appear without a particular Confession that only can enable the Church or her Ministers to judge whether he truly repents of his sins or not and consequently whether he be a proper Object of God's Mercy and the Church's Favour Altho I deny not but that in some cases it may be very proper for a Man to make known the diseases of his Soul to a prudent Spiritual Physician that he may have his advice for the cure of them And his Duty also
to make an open Confession of his sins whenever it is necessary for God's Glory or to repair any publick scandal which has been given by him 67. That Almighty God even where he has pardoned a Man's sins upon his true Repentance may yet on the score of those very sins which he has so pardoned lay some sharp and severe temporal Afflictions upon the penitent either to keep him more effectually from sinning for the time to come or that it may be a Terror to others or for many other reasons best known to himself is a thing that cannot be disputed But from hence to infer that these temporal Afflictions if not laid on us in this World are to be undergone in Purgatory and that therefore for the preventing them it is fit and necessary that Penance should be imposed by way of satisfaction or Indulgences granted by way of Remission and all this without any Warrant from the Holy Scripture save only a faint and forced Consequence from some few perverted Texts is a thing so groundless and precarious that it amazes me to think how Men can suffer themselves to be so grossly imposed upon And whosoever shall duly consider upon what weak grounds the Pope and his Prelates do pretend to a Power of dispensing and distributing the Merits of Christ unto the People by way of Indulgence as if they alone had the keeping of that Treasure under Lock and Key and to which tho infinite they have yet added the Merits of the Saints to make their Treasure more abundant will I think very much wonder that their People should be so free to part with their earthly Treasure in purchasing these Indulgences upon no better security 68. That the Apostles of Christ when they were first sent abroad to preach the glad Tidings of the Gospel did anoint many sick persons with Oyl and thereby miraculously heal them we are plainly told by St. Mark c. 6. v 13. And that in this they did no more than what Christ himself had expressly commanded them is most reasonable and probable to suppose Moreover that the anointing with Oyl which is mentioned by St. James c. 5. v. 14. was intended for the very same purpose viz. the raising up the sick person and restoring him to Health is as apparent as any thing can be form the very Context But as we do not find that this anointing of the sick was appointed either by Christ or his Apostles as a standing and perpetual Ordinance for ever to be used in the Church so since Experience shews that the miraculous effect of healing thereby is now wholly ceased I can see no reason why the practice it self should be any longer continued But what just ground the Church of Rome can have from either of these or any other place of Scripture for the divine Institution of their Extreme Unction which they make use of for a far different end namely the preparing thereby of persons who are past hopes of recovery for their passage into the next life is more than I am able to find out 69. As the Body natural would be but a confused and useless Lump if it were not distinguished into the several Members which are necessary for its own Service and preservation And as the Body-politick would be but a disorderly Rabble if there were not Magistrates setled to rule and govern and ministerial Officers appointed to perform all necessary Functions in and about it so the Holy Scripture as well as Reason assures us and the practice of the apostolical Church which is there recorded confirms it that the like Appointment and distinction of Offices are no less necessary in the Church in order to the regular and orderly government of it and the due execution of all its Laws and Constitutions But how far these Offices are limited and appointed by the Law of God or how far left to be setled and determined by the Prudence of the Church according as Circumstances may render it convenient is what I shall not take upon me to pronounce my Sentence in But whatever Polity or ecclesiastical Constitution is setled and acquiesced in either by the whole Church in general or by that of any Nation or Country in particular I think ought quietly to be submitted to by every one who would be a Member of such respective Church except there appears to him to be either something therein which is not only uncommanded but even contrary to the Law of God or else something wanting which God requires and therefore is absolutely necessary to be maintained and kept up in all Churches Nor can I apprehend that any less Warrant can be sufficient for breaking or endangering the Peace or Unity of the Church the preservation of which is so often and so earnestly recommended to us in the Holy Scripture besides the absolute necessity of obeying the Positive Command of God himself And therefore since the Government of the Church by Bishops that is to say by certain persons having in their several Districts a Priority among and in some respects a Superiority over the Presbyters has for so many Ages been universally setled amongst and acquiesced in by all Christians in all parts of the World I cannot find how they can be excused who without any necessity for so doing have so earnestly set themselves not only to retrench the Exceffes and rectifie the Abuses of the episcopal Power but also to pull down and wholly abolish the very Order it self to the no small scandal of those who think that so universal a Constitution every where taking place even in the primitive Church could be grounded on no less than an Apostolick Ordinance of which there seems to be some not obscure Foot-steps in the Scriptures of the New Testament and that most probably in conformity to that Imparity which Christ himself established between the Apostles and the seventy Disciples who were yet both commissioned by him to preach the Gospel 70. How far a case of necessity may upon some occasions excuse or justifie a Man for taking on him an Office which regularly does not belong to him especially if his design therein be truly honest and sincere I know not But no Man certainly ought to intrude into any ecclesi astical Function or exercise any such Office who is not called and admitted thereunto by the lawful Authority and according to the established Constitutions of the Society For if this be not carefully observed the distinction of Offices and Functions in the Church is in effect wholly taken away and a wide Door opened for Confusion and Anarchy But then on the other side good care ought ever to be taken by the Church that no persons be entrusted with any sacred Office but such as are duly qualified for it And that such a Maintainance be provided and setled for every such person as that he may not be necessitated to neglect the publick Service of God and the due exercise of his Function by being constrained to bestow