w*.- * ^?t ,*?:::*& jj^ -**: 4 ri 6» EWfei W5 •■«-^*j 'H» $BE Sfa LIBRARY ; TO&i * Printed in the Year 1690, ^ r THE PREFACE. THAT the Gofpel , which at its fir ft appearance in the World made fitch great and fpeedy Conquefls over its oppofite Powers, flmld in tbefe latter Ages be fo far from making fuch large Jhides, yea, or tbi leaji ftep of furth, r progrefs, that it hath been dri- ven out of many of the Provinces it had gained i this it by Some objeiled againft the Providence of God, and the Truth of the Gofpel, and by the Bejl lool^ upon with winder. Time was, when the Fathers and Apologifis of the Chrift ian Churches pleaded Thit for an Evi- dence of our Lord's being the true Meffiah, that in him the Promife was fulfilled, which gave him the Heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermoft parts of the earth for his pofieflion. And par- ticularly St. Augufline r/;wJ argued for the Truth of his Refurrellion, the Corner-ftone of the Chriftian Faith : The fame Spirit of God which foretold the Refurredion of Chrift, foretold alfo, that the Doftrine thereof fhould be publickly pro- feffed and believed in the World : and One was altogether as unlikely as the Other : but the Latter wc fee in all Ages fince Chrift's Death ac- cornplifhed, why then fhould we doubt of the Former ? And if we duly confider how incredible it was, that a poor, defpifed, perfecuted, and at laft crucified vagabond, ftmld by the preaching of a few Fi flier- men, fo prevail over the oppofite Powers of the World, tbat the greatefi Princes flmld place bk Crofs above their Crowns as their beft Ornament andprotetlion ; This ftngly confider ed, muft claim a belief, that as it is marvellous in our eyes, fo it ■was the Lord's doing. If from the Power of the Sword we pafs to that oj the Pen, and confider, that Twelve ignorant Fifiervien baffled the celebrated Learning of the Scribes among the Jews, and the Philosophers among the Greeks J Tbefe Triumphs of the Ignorant over the Learned, will appear no lefs admirable than thofe of the Poor over Princes: And when to this doubly wonderful Event, we add the no lefs wonderful Preditlion, which at the time of its publication muft appear no lefs Mad than nowMiracu- iotu j it mult fern equally incredible that this con- tour fe of fo many wonders, flmld be the effect of lefs than Divine Power and Wtfdom : and confe- qucntly Such t Prophecy <>ofulfilled,mu(t evidence the Author t9be what he declared himfelf, the Son of God. TET flmld one of MahometV Priefts now mount the fame chair, might he not with Cat leaftj the fame Force, prefs the fame Argument in behalf of that lewd Impoflor * Might he not argue, that the wonderful Progrefs of the Gofpel was indeed a. powerful Evidence of its Divine Athonty, but withal it muft bean equally powerful one for that of the Alcoran. For as the miraculous Vi lories of a fugitive people over the Canaanites, )oind with the Prophecies which foretold them, were a good Evi- dence of the Divine Authority of Mofes and hit Laws •, and the Victories of the Gofpel over that Law, were an Evidence of the greater Authority of the Gofpel •, fo the ViZlories of the Alcoran over that Gofpel, muft be an Evidence, that as the Religion of Mofes was better than that of the Canaanites, and the Religion of Chrift better than that of Mofes*, fo mufi the Religion of Mahomet be better than that of Chrift. Thus may a Mahometan either difarm m of St. AuguftinV Argument, or Retort it agmft us : For either it is of no force at all, or of fo much more force for Mahomet, by how much more he hath prevailed over the Churches of Chrift. AND that it is of no force at all, fome may in- fer from the contrary conducts of the planters of thofe Two Religions: For the Gofpel fifed no Blood but of its own Profeffors ; kindled no Fires but thofe that devoured its own Martyrs, dethroned no Prince but the Prince of the Power of tbe Air, mr Him neither by any other Weapons but Preaching and Suf- fering : Whereas Mahomet and bit Followers propa- gated hit Dotlrines, together with their Domonions t by Fire and Sword : And fince thit latter way it no lefs contrary to the Nature of Got , than to the Precepts, as well as the way of Planting of the Gof- pel ; fince its Author was no other than a lend brainficl^ Scoundrel, andhhDrfirines (as fr at they are His) no better than extravagant Whimfes, or lewd Panders to Luji i Such a progrefs of Such a Religion, is fo far from an Argument of its Di- vine Authority, that it it far lefs impiom to impute its Profpetity, either to meer Chance, or (as fome Ajbological 'Fancies do J to the motion of the Hea- vens, (carrying Religion and Learning from the Ea- ftcm to tbe Weftern Regions of th: World,) than to accufe God's Providence of In)ufiice to his Iruth, and the Souls of the Inhabitants of fo great a part of Chriftcndom. A i Br The ? RET A C E. By fucb Difcourfes do fome pkad, not only againft the Chriftian, but All Religion : And thofe mho dare not thus Arraign or Reneg God's Providente, cnnnot avoid admiring its Conduct at no leff contrary to that laving kjndnefs which the Gofpel proclaims, than to the means whereby it wasfirft planted. B VT if on the other fide the Modern Gofpel differ as much from the Primitive in its Dottrines, as it dith in its Succeffes ; If it befo changed, that were any Apoftle to return inty the world, he would be fo far from wning, that he would not be able to Vn- derjiandit; the Change of God's Providence in fuel) a Change of the Gofpel, will be fo far from Invalida- ting, that it will Double the force of St. Auguftin's Argument. For it proceeded not upon thefingleTopick. of Pro- fperity, but upon the cmcourfe of an admirable Event, with an admirable Prophecy ; and its ftrengtb it now doubled by the addition of another like concourfe of a contrary Event, with a contrary Pr edit! ion : So it is thus unhappily improved, The fame Spirit of God which foretold, that the Gofpel fhould be preached over the whole world, and performed it by the Miniftry of a few Fifhermen •, foretold alfo to one of the firft-born Churches, and there- by to all others, that if fhe repented not, he would remove her Candleftickout of its place ; and this" was at that time no lefs unlikely, than it had been that ever it fhould be placed there j yet this we fee done, and that by a quite cenrrary Miniftry : by the Sword of a bafe Slave and hti few Followers, and by Doclrines as wea\as that Sword ■when firji unfheathed, and lewd as thofe Rogues that managed it ; how then can we doubt, but the One as well as the Other were ordered by the fame Pro- vidence which foretold them ? If we yet doubt, let us confider particulars. Firft, the Spirit did not threaten to Extinguish the Light, but only to remove the Candleftick out of its place 5 and accordingly, the Light is not quite Ex- tinguifljed b 'it only Removed ; the Gofpel hath not Lift ground, but Exchanged ; for America amply re- paireth the Loffes fuft. lined in Europe, Afia and Africk. Again, it is obfervable, that the Candleftick^was thus removed by the light of its own Candle; For ■whereas the Weftern Churches were terribly over- run by a multitude of Heathen Nations, their Religi- on as certainly prevailed over the Minds of the Con- querors, as the Invader's Sword did over their Coun- try ; the Religion of Mahomet, on the contrary, ever kept pace with his and his Followers Swrds, and where it fubducd the Country, was fure to vanquifl) the Gofpel. If we examine the Reafon of this Diffe- rence, we foall find, that the Idolatry of the Heathen could not withftandthe Power of the Gofpel, becaufe it had nothing of its Light ; but Mahomet profejfed *ll the Articles of the Chriftian Faith, and declared himfdf not an Apoftate, but Reformer ; pretending topurifi it from the Corruptions wherewith it had been defiled, and perfett it with Additional, he framed fucb a Jargon as appeared moji ferviceable to his Ends, and moji fuitab'.e to his Lufts. So, fromtheprofperityof the Alcoran, we have an Argument for the Divinity of the Gofpel, as invin- cible againft all power but -what was derived from it felfj and for the Juftice of God's Providence, which as it found Corruptions in the Churches of Chrift, fufficient to provoke his Judgments ; fo did it truth enough in the Alcoran, to prefer That above all other Religions, to the Honour of his Sword. WHETHER Mahomet, or Chriftian Dollar* have more corrupted the Gofpel, is not fo plain by the light of Scripture, as it is by that of Experience, that the Latter gave Occafion, Encouragement, and Advantage to the Former. For when by nice and hot difputes (efpecially concerning the Second and Third Perfons of the Trinity J the minds of the whole people had been long confounded, and by the then late Jiablifhment of Image-worfl)ip, the fcandal was en- creafed ', fo that to Vulgar Vnderfiandings the Do- Urine of the Trinity appeared no lefs guilty of Poly- theifm, than that of Image-worflnp did of Idolatry, when by mutual uncharitableneft either party perfe* cuted the other, both with fpiritual and temporal Weapons ; when thus all mens minds were perplexed with doubts, and feared with threats, fothat they knew not What they were to Belhve ; and thereby fa diverted from true Piety, that they cared not How they Lived ; Then was there a tempting opportunity offer edto the Impoflor, and he laid hold on it, to fet uphimfelf for a Reformer of fucb Corruptions, as were both too Grafs to be juftified, and too Vifible to be denied. This well confider ed, will admonift) us to turn our complaints from God's Providence to thofe fecond cau- fes ; which as they pro voleedour Lord to divorce him- f elf from his Churches, fo did they Encourage and Impower the Falfe Prophet to feduce and mine them. LET itt therefore now proceed to compare the Primitive Gojpel with the Modern, not by Retail in Particular Doclrines , ( which were a work, too great for the Longeft andBufiefi Life,) but by the Great, in General, whence the Particulars proceed- ed : For if it appear that our Lord's and his Apo- Jlles teaching, were both for Matter and Manner, apt to Prevail ; but what hath fince been added, be apt only to perplex or worfe ; then ought we to im- pute the decay of the Chriftian Religion, rot to a- r,y defeel of God's Providence, becaufe it doth not change the Nature of things, but to thofe who have perverted . the Gofpel. Let us then will confider (what is moft worthy our confi deration J that the Gofpel which our Lord and his Apoftles preached, in the wiy wherein tbej Ths PREFACE. they preached it, was futable to the meaneft Capacities, and agreeable to the Light of Na- ture j Eajie to be underftood bi the WeakcSl, and worthy to be embraced by the Wifefl. When the Baptift fent two of his Difciples fay- ing, Art thou lie that fliould come or do we look for another ? Our Lord gave not his anfiver by one word, Pofitive or Negative, but bi fever al fgns, whereby the Baptiji might fpell out his mind ; and among them he put in preaching of the Go- fpel to the Poor, equal to his greateji miracles ; and we muji have very odd conceits of his wifdom, if he futed not his Teaching to the Capacities ofkis bearers, that the one might be as plain as the other. As he chofe the Poor for his Difciples , fj did he afterward for his ApojUes', and whereas, to prevent the fcandal that might thence arife, be added to their Society a chofen veflel, no lefs eminent in Learning, than They were in Simplicity ; This great man of Chrift profeffed it both his Duty and hit P lattice, to imitate That man of God, that frrunli his full grown limbs, to the little ones of the child, which he was to raife to life : That it was bis Duty he declareth i Cor. 1. 17. Chrift fent me to preach the Gofpel, not with wifdom of words : And thit it was his Practice Ch. 2.13. We fpeak not the words which mans wifdom teacheth, but which the holy Ghoft teacheth 'xvJLfxa.vyJ. Ti'dLfxetmcfiit avyKtivov nt y fuiting fpiritual words to fpiritual things, and both to fpiritual perfons. And upon this account he glorieth, 2 Cor. 4. 4. If our Gofpel be hid, it is hid to them that are loft, in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not, left the light of the glorious Gofpel of Chrift who is the image of God fhould fhine into them. The light of the Gofpel is lilee tbat of the Sun, mtii Powerful, as moft Beautiful, when moft Naked ; and he had not clouded it with any of hit human learning, but preached it with fuch plainncf-, that if it prevailed not, the fault muft /ye not in the Obfcurity of his Doflrines , but in the Ca'.iraih which had not only dimm'd, but blinded the eyes of unbelievers. But this ''lainnnefs which be Gloried in, fome Others Defpied; they dijdained this Naleednefs as Poverty, this Simplicity they derided as Ignorance. ThcGnftic\s bca'iedmore Knowledge, and riva- led the Ap'ftlcs under pretence of difcivcring greater Myjhries, fo to draw difciples from the plain preaching minifters of a fimple Gofpel. Of thefe Rivals did he no lefs complain, than of all other Perfecutors : and of the Corinthians he was the m^re jealous, becauje they were a people rich, idle, and learned : And this he declareth 2 Cor ! 1. 3. Their City, was fr ifs pleafures and pler.ty, like Paradifc : Ks Inhabitants, for liguriffjnefs after Icnowledg, Big Eve : the Gno- ftilfs, in their in ft nu at ions, lilee the Serpent : anjl be feared left the fuccefs ffoould continue the pa- rallel; by corrupting their minds from the fimp'Ii- city which is in Chrift : whether be meant Sim- plicity of Mind, requifite to a Bel'ever, or fim- plicityof DoUrine to be believed; Either of thefe were a mifchief worthy to be feared : Simplicity of mind is it's beauty, as was Eve's Naleednefs in her Innocency: and Simplicity of DoUrine is the Glory of the Gofpel, as is the naleednefs of the Sun in iff bright nefs : He feared left they fhould by the injtnuations of the Gnofticlej be afloamed of the Former, and thereby the Later ffnuld degenerate from a pleafant fruitful Garden, to a Bofcage of Fruitlefs Entangling DoZlrines. He goeth on, and declareth that the Gnoflick mode tf dreffing the Go- fpel in new doUrines, did not Adorn but Difguife it, fo as to make it appear quite another thing: If he that cometh preach another Jefus whom we have not preached, or ye receive another Spirit which ye have not received, or another Gofpel which ye have not accepted, (what then ?) you might well bear with Him, faith our Translation, without any warrant from the Apo- Jile y s Words, and in plain defiance to his Defign; for his difcourfe plainly dijfwadetb them from it*, and therefore whereas the Greel^ exprejfetb not the Perfon to be born with ; Reafon requireth we P>ould under ft and it, not of the Seducers, but of Him f elf, who impleadeth them : And could we read the words 'interrogator ly (could you well bear with him ?_) this would render them, both more pungent, and more confonant to what he writetb Gal. 1. 6. fee. It is Another Gofpel, yet it k Not Another : Not another, becaufe the firji truths are reteined; yet it is Amther, becaufe per- verted by Innovations. If there be fomething preached m'p 0, Befides or Beyond what bim- felf had preached, the additional make it An- other. And fee to what Height hearrieth the Suppof- tion ! and with what Heat he condemneth it / If we, or an Angel from heaven preach any other gofpel than what you have received (what then ? let him be Rejefled, or Defpifed * yea) let him be Accurfed : Nor thus fat is fed, he rcpeareth it again : What I have faid, that I fay again. If foe. From this -^ealof the Apoftle thm Denouncing, yea thus Inculcating, fo fevere a cen- fure, we are invited to tbferve. 1. It isp'ffible the Gofpel may be fo Difgiu- fed by innovations, that though it ftill retein it's genuine principles, yet it may appear An- other. 2. It ispcff«b!e fuch innovations may be fo obvious, that the People may difcover them- 3. Thok. ine r i\- a, r a L ' £. 3, Thofe who depart from fuch innovators, are not fchifmaticks, but faithful Believers. 4. Be the Innovators never fo high in Autho- rity, we mud be fo far from paying them Im- plicit Faith, that we mufl not pay them ordi- nary Chancy, but hold them Accurfed And left Bifbops might thinly their office called them to fuch ftudies, he cautioneth both Timothy W Titus again]} them, as no Lefs Fooliff) than Mifchievous. So careful was this great Apojile to arm both Pajlors and People againjl the Gno- ftickj infinuations. But with what fuccefs ? The Serpent's voice prevaileth again}} all Pre- cepts, the People run counter to jhe Apoftle's Warn- ings, and the Priefts to his Example : Thofe heap up to themfelves teachers, having itching ears ; and Thefe heap up Dotlrines to fcratch that itch : gently at fir(}, Graitfying their Curhfity ; but af- terward rudely Tormenting their Confcience : Toe peopks hunger in time turned to a Surfeit, and the Priefts ftill cram'd them with Dollrines which they could not fwallow or digejl ■-, fo Many in numbers that an ordinary memory cannot retein them; fo Perplexed in matter, that the be ft un- ■derftanding cannot comprehend them ; fo Imperti- nent to any good purpofe, that a good man need not regard them ; and fo Vnmentioned in Scripture, that, none but the great ej} fubtilty can therein dif- ■ cover the leaf} intimations of them. No fentence, hardly any word in the New Tefiament efcapeth the R- ac k.y that they may be forced to confefs what they never thought of: Toey are put to many Que- jtions, and every Qgeftion is \h etched by many Ar- ticles, and every Article vex'd with many Ob)eHi- on<, and all this in a New Rude Language un- known to any civil nation. And to what purpofe all this ? To at by the Dif- ficulties and Drynefs of fuchaftudy, free and ge- nerous minds may quit it, Motifs engrofs it, and an Infallible Chair be ef}ablifhed,,to deter min doubts, of no othei ufe but to mal^e worl^ fr the Oracle THAT we may therefore be jufl to our Lord's Providence and G of pel, we muft tal^e to our felves both the Warning, wbicb we have found the A- poftle gave to the Corinthians ; and the Encou- ragement which be gave to the Galacians : The Former will admonilh us to Retrieve the Simpli- city, from which mens minds have been fo Much ■and fo Long corrupted : The Later will embolden ms to Cenfure thofe (whoever they be} that have been the Seducers •, and that we may not be da^eled by any reverence toward their Characters, we mufl. remember that he mounteth them above any fuppoji- tion that can reach our caje. Had he only faid in General (however Compre- henfivej words, that we muji not be awed by the Greateft human authority ; this (however Ample and AbfoluteJ would have appeared a Cold encouragement, incomparifon of fuch an ex.- prefs naming, not only of the greateft that can be Suppofed, but greater than can be Imagined. No King is more independent in his own Domini' ons from any forrein jurifdiflion in matters Ci- vil, than every Chriftian is within his own Mind in matters of Faith : and none can be fo fecure of t any other's Faithfulnefs to his Soul, as every man may be of his cwn : the advice therefore which the heft of Kings gave to the Heir of his Crowns, doth no" lefs concern every one that hath a Soul to five. Above all (faid the incomparable King Charles /. in his Paper to the Prince J I would have you, as I hope you are already, well grounded and fettled in your Religion, the beft profeffion whereof I have ever eftcemed that of the Church of England, in which you have been educated : yet I would have your own Judg- ment and Reafon now feal to chat facred bond which education hath written, that it may be judicioufly your own Religion, and not other mens Cuftomsor Tradition which you profefs. 7o feal to any bond which education may have written, were to profefs other mens Tradition, which in the Blejfed Kings judgment is an unwor- thy bafenefs: that the Prince might in this Parti- cular worthily do it, was by confequence on the ex- cellency of the Church wherein he had been educa- ted ; which though Happy for Him, is Accidental as to the Generality of mankind. This very advice therefore requireth another ftep, to examin that very Church wherein we have been educated, that we may not put our Souls into a Lottery, wherein are many Bad draughts for one Good : forfo we can- not pojfibly be Judicious in a right choice *, and it h great odds, but we foall be Unhappy in an evil Lot. The Church of England as it Needs not, fo it Does not, forbid any of it's fons the ufe of their own eyes : if it did, this alone would be fufficient reafon, not only to Diftruft, but Condemn it. Our great care muft be, that we atl no left Sin- cerely than Couragioufly in thk great affair, which we cannot better manage than by thefe neceffary en- quiries. 1. What was That Gofpel, which our Lord and his Apoftles preached as neceflary to be believed ? 2. What Alterations or Additions have af- ter-ages made in it ? 3. What Advantage or Damage hath there- upon enfued ? CHAP- C 'J CHAP. I. them not, faith the Lord. Qu. I. What was that Cofpel which our Lord venant, &c and his Apples peached as mceffary for v. 1 7 Salvation. Tl S# tv mtf&ify •■, (i&vSxLvw 7«< $vayj.s TuMnKaf th ?i>V which they fo deface, as to juftifie : we profefs : for thus only (hall we gain a Teft whereby we may underftand what is true Gofpel. That we may be fecure in our fearch for fuch a Teft, we muft confult no other but the facred Oracles, which give us both Cha- racter and Account of the Gofpel : by the former we underftand the Nature > by the latter, the number of its Dodrines. The Charatter whereby we are to judge of the Nature of the Gofpel, is fometime that of a Covenant > oftner that of a Meffage. 1. Sometimes it is fet forth as a CO- VENANT, either to fecure us of the Performance on God's part i becaufe if he (hould violate it, he muft break not only a Promife given, but a Covenant ftabliihed ; or elfe in oppofition to a Former Covenant, which it is to fucceed •, and under this Cha- racter we find it prophecied of Jer. 31.33. which Prophecy is applied, Heb. 8. S. Be- bold, the days come (faith the Lord) when I will make a New Covenant with the houfe of Ifrael and the houfe of Judah v Not according to the Covenant which 1 made with tbeir fathers in the day when Itoo\them by the band y tolead them out of the land of Egypt \ becaufe they eon Building doth its Foundation, which it fo leaneth on, as to keep it firm in its place.. For whatever natural Religion could fpeak in behalf of Vertue, the Gofpel fo con- firmeth, as to build it higher, with nobler Precepts and richer Piomifes : As there- fore as it is a New Covenant, it is alfo a bet- ter one, and deferveth the other and better Character. For 2. More frequently 'tis fet forth as a, MES S AGE. This the word literal- ly importeth and under this Title we find it moft pompoufly proclaimed by S. Jobnjn his entry on his hrft gpiftkj wherein having, ftudioufly recommended it to our confidence, by its certainty, and to our appetites by its happinefs, he proceedeth to publift its de- iign to be no other than the advancement of Primitive, Natural Religion, to a high- er perfection : Tbefe things we write to you that you may have fetiowjhip, &c. The Pa- triarchs knew only the Father, but cur fel- lowship is with the Father and with his Son. As therefore in the face of Jefus Chrift we fee more of the Father's goodnefs, fo are. we thereby o'oliged to higher ilrains of love to him and one another, which is the fnm. not in my Covenant , and I regarded of Natural Religion, Th-„ The fame in a gayer drcfs we have in the next vcflc i Ihrfe things we write unto you that your '0 may be full. Natural Religion taught men to worihip God with Fea(ls: and by this Argument principally doth Plutarch prove the Joys of the Religious to be greater than thofe a the Epicurean > becdufe the one tafteth nothing but the Wine and Viands, but the other rejoiceth in God, then and there efpecially prefent and propitious,. And by this Argument mutt the Joy of a Chrittian be greater than that of a Pnilofophcr i becaufe the one can have no other afTura nee of God's propitioufnefs, but what he can borrow from his Reafon > whereas the other hath it by Revelation : For in the new Covenant above-recited, is a promife of mercy in forgivenefs of tins; and in the Cofpel this is more plainly expretfed, fo that our St. John maketh it a point of faithfuinefs in God to perform it : And whereas death is the wages of fin, eter- nal life mutt be the confequence of its par- don, which alfo in the Gofpel is exprefly promifed > fo what the Philofophers ttrongly wifhed and faintly hoped, the Chri- stian is fecure of, and thereby his joy is full in that part where theirs was thirtty. Having thus endeared and publiftied the gracious Defign of his meHage, he proceed- ed to deliver its joyful Matter : This is the mejfage which we have heard cf him, and de- clare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darknefs at all. A glorious, but a daz- ling Word! whereby yet we underttand this plain truth, that God is mott perfect, and Jt is the defign of the Gofpel to invite us to be fuch as he is i which alfo St. Peter veri- fyeth, faying, For this purpofe are given us ma- ny rich and precious Promifes, that by them we (houldbe partakers of the divine nature : than which words none can more clearly declare that the defign of the Gofpeljisfo to deliver us from the difcipline ot the Ceremonial La-*, as tocxaltus to the higheft Perfection in the Narur^l, by making us Perfect as our tatter which is in Heaven is perfect. O J And if this be the Tiefign, this thvMatitr of the Gofpel, then have we an Authentick General Ten 1 , whereby every Dcclrine mutt be tried, that c'aimeth our entcrtainmentas a Gofpel Truth. For every wife Agent va- lueth the Means by their fervkeablenefs to the end, . -c Particulars by their fuitable- nefs to th e Generals : If to thefe we find a- ny Dodtrmes ferviceable, we mutt embrace them i if impertinent, we mutt flight them i if pernicio!-: we rr.uft condemn them. With th; Tett then in our hands, as we fafely may, io we boldly (hall pur f ue our Enquiries. The Firtt is, What was the Gofpel which cur Saviour and his Apdlles preached ? This Enquiry phinly concern'eth matter of Facl, and therefore cannot employ any Logick, Metaphyficks, or any other Scho- lattick Arts, cannot need fubtiJty of judg- ment, or cunning in difpute, or any other qualification of mind, but care and honetty ; nor again doth it put us to tumble great or many Books, yea or fo much as one Syttem, faith no more than our Lord did to him that enquired, what hejhould do to hefaved ? Our Lord fent him to his Bible, what is written m the Law ? how readeji thou. We have a faithful record of whatever can pretend to be Gofpel, and fuflicient to anfwer the like quettion what Jhall I believe to befaved ? In its largett Edition the Gofpel, truly fo called, exceedeth not Two Doctrines : St. Mark faith, Our Saviour came into Galilee preaching the Gofpel of the Kingdom of God* faying, the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom cf God is at hand, REPENT and BE- LIEF E the Gofpel : By which if it be not fufficiently plain, that the Gofpel is comprifed in Repentance and Faith, Saint Paul putteth it beyond difpute : For in his farewel difcouife with the Elders of the Church of Ephefus he thus juflifi- cth himfelf, I have not \ept bocl^ any thing from you that was profit able for you but preached unto you REP 'EN'IANCE to- ward God, and FAITH toward mr Lord . , JtfiS _ V> 9 J Jefas Chip. No words can more exprefly declare that in theft two are contained, not only all things Necejfary, but all things Pro- fit abk : And thole who fo importunately call for another catalogue of fundamentals, mult impeach the Apoftle either of grofs Igno- rance or a grofler Lye. Yea, the Holy Ghoft feemeth fo to fhun multiplication of neceflaries, that in other places it thinketh Two too many, and therefore reduccth them to One-, and to either of the Two. For in our Lord's firft Sermon, as recited by St. Matthew, we find nomentioncf Repentance,but only of Faith: And fo his laft S-rmon agree th with his firft, for therein he profeflcth this to be the defign ot his death and refurrection, that repentance and remijfwn of fms Qwld be preached in his nams among all nations. Yet is Faith alfo in its turn honoured with the fame dignity, as the fole and ade- quate fubftance of the Gofpel: Our Lord himfelf told Nicodcmus, that God fent him into the world, that whatfoever believeth in him, fhonld not peri(h, but have everlafting life. And Sc. John clofeth his Gofpel with this faying, Thefe things are mitten that you may believe that Jefits is the Son of God, and that believing ye may have life in his name. So far is our Lord from thinking his Gofpel honoured by multiplication of Arti- cles, that rather than keep up that leaft of numbers, he is content to difmifs either of the two. That in this he may not appear to con- tradict himfelf, we muft confider, that they are both the fame under different afpe&s, and in their comprehenfive latitude either containeth the other : For to Believe includcth Repentance, as a condition of obtaining that Remiilion, which without Faith it could not pretend to, nor labour ' for : And Repentance includeth Faith, be- caufe it is performed in confidence of the promife, that God for drift's fake will : pardon the penitent. Becaufe therefore they have their feveral afpects and definitions, upon the diftinct views whereof, they may be both of them more clearly apprehended, therefore will we handle them as the two Tables of the new Covenant, fo joinedastobe feveral. . When difplay'd they appear Two, Faith, and Repentance -, when clofed, they ap- pear but One *, and That fide which is next the eye denominateth the whole, fometime Faith, fometime Repentance. Yes! the whole new Covenant is written by our Lord's own finger in thefe two Tables-, and the pcfitive Rites which he appointed, thereby to engage us to profefs our felves his Difcipks,are not Parts of his Covenant, but Badges of his Followers, and Acknow- ledgments of their homage to his Perfon; Thofe Rituals we fhsll not neglect, but firft muft do juitice to the Covenant in its Sub- ftance -, and we (hall endeavour to do it with ail pofllblc fimplicity, with fuchplain- nefs as may Inftruct every Honeft Reader; and Convince every Obftinate : Provided they have not fo utterly abandoned a!! their faculties, 2s to become cortiadictions to themfelves, which they muft be, if they want both Courage and Fear j Courage to denounce the Anathema which the Apoftle hath commiflionated them tc call againft the greateft human authority, if h bring another Gofpel ; and Fear to offend againff our Lord's command, not to call any ew£ Mafter upon earth. B CHAP, C to) CHAP. II. Of F A I T Hj In what fence it juftifeth ? WE begin with Faith upon two contra- ry accounts: i, Becaufe it is fo unhappy, as to be the occafion of the Gnofticifrn which fa much troubled S. Paul, by corrupting difciplcs minds from the fimplicttyiwhich is inChrifi ; and 2. Becaufe it is fo" happy, as to be honoured by our Lord and his Apoftles, as the fole condition for our Salvation. For as St. Paul deelareth, that we are juflified by Faith without works •, fo our Lord (who doubtlefs knew his own errand) telleth Nicodenms, God fo loved the world that he fent his only begotten Son into it* that who- mever bclieveth in him, jhould not perijh but have everlafltng life. What can be fuller or clearer ? The Be- nefit is proclaimed under a double character, to double its certainty, Negative, JhaU not ferfjh, andPofitive, ft all have ever lafUng life : The Promife is Univerfal, to whojo- tver believeth, and Free from a!) other con- dition but believing. If this feem incre- dible, the wonder is cured by another no lefs incredible, God fent his only begotten Son into the world on purpofe *, yet both the one and the other are made credible by the wonderful reafon afligned, God fo hved the world. And now, what need of the impertinent trouble of Repentance ? Why mould we run the fmarthg ganddope of Mortification, eroding our Appetites, and affiifting our Souls ? Thus dofome dafli the two Tables of the new Covenant againft each other, and make the Gofpel an enemy so its own great defign, which we have found to be the ad- vancement of Natural Religion. The fiift fervice therefore that we can reafonably do to Faith, muft be to refcue it from fo great a mifchkf, by reconcil- ing our Lord's abfolute Promife of eternal life to whofoever believeth, with his no lefs ab- folute Threat, that except we repent we fall all pcrijlj. And this will eafily be done by thefe two Propositions. 1 . All Promife.r y however abfolute in words, mufibe under ft cod with implication of all things neceffmry to be fuppofed. 2. In our Lord's abfolute Promife of eter- nal life to all Believer s y repentance is neceffary to be fuppofed. i . All Promife s include a tacit fuppofal of all things necejjliry to be fuppofed. It is im- pofiible, at leaft very Troublefome, and equally Needlefs, that whoever maketh a promife mould explicitly reckon up all fuch conditions, as by their own light are vifi- ble, and therefore Need not ; and by their Multitude Innumerable, and therefore can- not be particularly exprcfled : Reafon there- fore, and Neceflity, and the joy m: Practice of ail mankind, have concurred in the rule, that whatever is neeeflary in its own nature to be Suppofed, is to be taken as neceflarily Implied •, and accordingly in every Promife are tacitly implied fuch Plain, though un- nKntioned Reservations. 2. Repentance and Holme fs of life are neceffa- ry to be fuppofed. This appeareth borh from the nature of the thing, and the exprefs de- clarations of the Author of the Prorrife. From the Nature of the thing. The Law of Nature is written in the heart by the hand of God, as a tranfeript of his own nature, and muft be, like its Original, immortal : The Gofpel came not to de- face it, but to make it more legible ; to new write it upon our Understandings, with clearer gloflcs ; upon our Reafon, with brighter arguments \ upon our Af- fections, with nobler motives j upon our Hopes, I ll ) Hopes, wich higher encouragements ; and upon our Beliefs, with plainer Promifes. And fhouid our Lord, upon any account whatfoever , promife impunity to fin ; this would turn him from a Saviour to a Tempter : Ton Jhall not die, was the voice of the Serpent \ and while the Sons of Eve have the fame licorifhnefs after forbidden pieafures, the lame pro- mife ( if believed ) mult have the fame fuccefs. To promife impunity in a pleafant evil, is to invite to its en- joyment. Far be this from our Lord, who was fo careful to preferve us from fo great a danger, that he did not leave us to the gen gsal nature of all Promifes,but clearly and frequently warned us againft fuch a mi- stake. He openly declared, that forae would not only plead their Faith, bur its Fruits ; Preaching in his name, caJHng out De- vils, and doing many wonderful works, are plain evidences of true faith-, yet even to fuch, he will fay, depart from me, /know you not, when he knows them too wel! , to own them, becaufe workers of w-qiuty. And Chat Repentance nifty not com- plaia as lefs honoured, he preferreth it to the fame dignity •• for in his laft Ser- mon to his Ap. .(ties, he faith no lets for it than he had done for Faith, Thus it is rvriirn, and thus it beboveth Chrtft to fujfer and to *ife cigam, and that Repentance and remijfnn of fins (hould be preached in his name ; but to what purpofe (hould re- pentance be preached in his name, who had promiied everlaftmg life without it ? Tnat we may be the more fecure of a rule fo important, let us fee how it's con- firmed by an example fo oppofite, thai it looketh more like an illuftration framed on purpofe, than a true hiftory, Acl. 27. iS. We were in the fame danger of Eternal death, as St. P**l and his company were of Temporal, and our deliverance is no lefs like, than was the da ^er : Paul promi- feth, there flull not be lofs of any marts life ; yet when the Mariners would have ftolen away, he fatd to the Centurion, except theft abide in the Ship we cannot be Javed. What now can the Antimmian plead, which this example doth not anfwer ? Whati difficulty is there in the dodtrine of Jufti-i fication by Faith, which it doth not clear f Did Chrilt abfolutely and univerialiy pro- mife, that whofoever believtth in him [hall' not perijh? So did his Apolrle abfolute- ly and univerfally promife, that no man's life (I:onld be loft : Is J ufti fication freely promifed for ChrifPs fake ? fo was delive- rance freely promifed for PauTs fake. Did God fend his Son to publiffi this promife ? fo did he fend his Angel to St. Pad : Are our belt works iufuffirient to juftify us f fo was the beft skill of the Mariners to deliver the Voyagers. Yet uniefs the Mariners a- bide in the Ship, none of the Company 1 can efcape-, and uniefs Holinefs abide in : our lives, we muft perifh. If therefore any : under preteace of calling anchor upon Chrift's promife, fteal away from repen- I we mult have recourie to our rule, as St. Paul had to the Centurion -, and the ne- cefliiy of Holinefs will perform the fame office as the Souldiers did, cut afunder their pretences, and let truir hopes fall In this rule there is nothing doubtful but this whether it be more Obvious, or Neglected, or Important ? So Important, that it will clear all the dif- ficulties which fwell fo many Volumes with queftions concerning Juftifcation, and the Covenant of Grace. Papifts will not be able to quarrel with us,when we fay with S: Paul, By Faith we are jujlified ; nor will the Antt- nomians be able to accufe us as enemies of free Grace, when we fay with St. James, we are jufitfied by works. It is fo Obvious and fimple, that it w;ll eafily avoid the impertinent niceties of Dtf- puters, whether it be an Aflent, or Reli- ance, or Recumbency ? whether it juftihe as an Inftrument, or a Condition ? by the Aft, or the Habit? Before Sanftincation, B 2 or ( 1% ) We no fooner reconcile whofc fake he was engaged in the /tor m or after it ? &c. St. Paul with himfelf, his Abfolute Promife of deliverance with his Proteftation, that without the Mariners flay they muft perifh j but we thence learn how to reconcile him with St. James ; free Grace, with Condi- tions required •, the Inefficiency of good Works, with their Neceflity : Juftifica- tion by Works, upon account of Natural Religion y with Juftification by Faith, upon account of the Gofpel. Yet it is fo Neglctted, that among thofe many Trcaeifes chat have been publifhed, concerning the New Covenant and Juftificati- o,n, I know notofoneihat hath honoured it with fo much as a mention. Yea,, it is worthy our confederation up mould deliver him from it ; and the extent of the favour to all his companions, though in Juftice it were not due,raight very congru- oufly be granted in Kindnefs to fo great a Saint, and under fuch circumftances. But what are the great merits of faith which may any way entitle it to fo great a reward as e- verlafting life f Whatever can pretend ta worth, muft make its claim good, by fiewing how it partaketh the nature of Cod, who is the fir ft good: but to be Credulous, is fo far from the power of Divine life, that it is a plain con- fejfion of Weaknefs ; it is nothing elfe but- Leaning upon another, for want of knowledge of its own : The fimple believeth every word, but a wife man looketh well to his going, on another account*, it may fiknce, not faid the wife/l of all mere men. Andtxperience only the Antinomian, in his oppofition to telleth us, that Children and Dotards, Wo- good Works, but the G nofiick^ too, in his men and Fools, the Sick^and the Ignorant, are. humour of difputing. For pray confider ; tnoft eafte ; and by how much any man is wifer would it not have been wonderous wifely by fo much he is warier, that he be not impofed done, if in time of fuch danger, and upon fuch warning, the Souldiers, inftead of halting to fecure the Mariners, and their own lives, mould have trifled away their upon. Had it any worth, we fhuuld have heard of it in Mofes or the Prophets i and the Philofophert . would have allowed it a place amon* the Vir- tues : Whereas on the contrary, Philofophers p/ecious time in difputing to which of the reckon Credulity among the Vices, and the Old two they muft owe their lives . ? to the Tejtament mentioneth it but once or twice, and Apoftle, becaufe God had given them to that not by way of Precept, but occafordy. And him v. or to the Mariners, becaufe he had what reward can it pojfibly deferve? Jf I be- declared they could not efcape without Ueve, either I do it upon good reafon, or not a them ? For God's fake, let us haften to put Jf I fee good reafon for my belief, I cannot de- our Souls out of danger •, when that is Jerv* Reward, becaufe no man can chufe done, and we are fafe at land, if we can but muft Neccfjarily believe, as far as Rea* there find no better employment, nor great- fon requires: If I believe without reafon er pleafure, than to play at crofs purpofes, then 1 am a Fool, and fo far from deferv- we may think how to oppofe, and then to ing a Reward, that I deferve Blame. And reconcile St. Paul and St. James. if it feem hard to jufiiftt our Lord's Wif- The cafe (you may fay) is very unlike : dom, in promifmg fa great a Reward to a St. Paul was a chofen veflel, and a ftout performance that deferveth none at all- *> Champion for the Gofpel *, He was not be- will appear. no lefs fa, to jufttfie his Goodnefs hind the very chiefeft of the Apoftles, but la- in impopng fuch a tasJ^no lefs Difficult than floured and fufFered more than they all. This Worthlefs : For whereas no fmall part of the very voyage was but part of a danger,, which good tidings of the Gofpel, is our .manumifli- carried him to a greater for the Gofpel's on from the bondage of Molest Law j the And itwas but jaft that his Lord, for yoke of Chrift will feem the harder of the mo. Cm) two. It Is eafier for a rich man to facri- Reafon, fice whole Hecatombs, when he hath wealth enough to furchafe them % than to full out his eyes, yet can any man eafter full out the eye of his Body than his Reafon, which is not only the eye y but the heart ; for it is his very Definition, without which he eannot be a Man: It is God's Image, and the Apoftle exhorteth us to put on the new Man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. Now that God jhould Print his image in our hearts , re- quire us to Renew it •, yet fromife eternal life fo to aflert the honour of our 1 Lord and his Gofpel, as to give a fair ac- count both of his Wifdomand Goodnefs;,, proving his Gofpel to be no lefs Grateful . to our Reafon, than gracious to our Salva- tion^ which alfo will be a good healer of our breaches that are made in our minds by . Doubts, or in the Church of Chrift by Dif- fputes, concerning controverted Doctrines. For whereas it is acknowledged as a foun- dation in all Sciences, that we mull feek truth by application of Genet als to Par- ticulars ; and it is the General fcope of the for reward if we Deface it , is a faying harder Gofpel to advance Natural Religion •, this to be Believed, than all the Ceremonies of Mo- » the fling of the Objection, That Faith fes'j Law were to be Praclifed. hath no place among Virtues, but Credu- This and more is objected againfl Faith [jty hath one among Vices : That our de- in general ; and dill the mere we defcend to particulars, whether in the Do- ctrines, that are impofed as Articles of Faith; or in the difpute between That and Good works ; the more will the Objections rife in force and number. For every one employeth his care againfl: the Adverfary of his opinion, with neglect of the firft principles of the Gofpel ; and thofe who plead for juftification by Faith, have not the gratitude to juftifie Faith it lelf or its great Author; but leave him as an Arbi- trary, Unreafonable Lawgiver, impofe- ing Ufelefs, Worthlefs commands, with the weightieft obligations. We mail therefore endeavour by his grace to perform fo Neceflary and Ne- glected a work--, and by the Plaineft, Sim- pleft, General principles of Religion and fence therefore may both obviate the obje ftion, and build upon a good foundation, it fhall ftand upon thefe two pillars. l. Faith is a duty in Natural Religion^ as a cardinal virtue. 2.. Credulity is not Faith \ but as oppofitc to it, as vice is to virtue. Both thefe Propolitions are of Divine Authority, recommended by the Apoftle, Rom. i, 4. in thefe words, Let Vod be true+ % but every man a lyar •, fothat we can lay no- thing but by way of explication, difplay- ing what is wrapt up in thofc few divine fyllables : And when we have thence dif- covered what figure Faith made in Natu- ral Religion, we fhall have gone at leaft half way in difcovering what power is gi- ven it in the Gofpel. CHAP. II I. What figure F AlTH made in Natural Religion.. FAIT H is a duty in Natural Reli/ion, a Cardinal virtue, Juftice toward God, to whom it payeth what is due: To his Veracity, jet God be true ^ to his Faith- fulnefs, let God be juft ; to his Power, let God be able to perform his Promifes, &c. That this was tanght by Natural Religion- 1 before Mofis brought the Pofitive into the ■ World, andthnt the Gofpel buildeth upon That foundation ;if any one doubt, let him but read the *th chapter of S.PauPs E- piftie to the Romans, he will: there find Abraham** C*4 Jbrahamh Faith f ecommended to us for a Pattern, with an Explanation of the blef- fing he obtained by it, and who are to be heirs to iE : Not the Children of his loins, but of his faith, muft be heirs ; thofewho walk^in his (leps, (hall reft in his Bofom j and after a defcription of his heroical faith, the Panegyrick is clofed with a declara- tion, Thefe things are written* not for Abra- ham's fak§ alone, but for ours alfo. That we may walk in his fteps, itwill be requifite we trace them •, which if we do, we fhall find large fteps on either fide ; Great Confidence in God's Faithfulnefs on one fide, and great Obedience to his Com- mands on the other j by the one he facri- ficed his Reafon, by the other his Jfaac. i. His Confidence in God's faithfulnefs was fo firm, that he flaggered not, bat ftood firong in his Belief, and proceeded in his Obedience, notwithflanding all oppofite difcouragements from the laws of Nature, or dictates of Reafon. It was againft the courfe of Niture, that he mould have a child, when both his own and his Sara's bodies were no better than dead, as to power of generation -,and more againft the dictates of Reafon, that Jfaac fhould be a father after he were facrificed: yet did not either the One or the Other feem fo impoffible, ast|at God mould lye. He knew him infinite in Wifdom, Pow- er, and Truth •, that he could fome way or other, undifcovered to human eyes, per- form his promifes ; and finceno other ap- peared, the auhor of the Epiftle to the Htbrews fuppofeth he believed, that God was able to raife him from the dead. And in thefe fteps of our father Abraham, the Apoflie exhorteth us to walk after him ; but we muft doit — non fafiibusaqms. For railing of the dead was a thing unheard of to A- braham' whereas the fame Son of God, in whom we are to believe, gave us an ex- periment of it in his own refurrection ; fo that to Abraham's faith and ours may be ) applied our Lord's words to Thomas, we be- lieve after we had feen •, but bltfled A- braham had neither feen, nor heard, yet be- lieved. Yet if we have the faith but of Thomas, it {hall be imputed to us for righ- teoufnefs ; and the Apoftle fo fpeaketh, as if our Lord fhewed us his Refurrection up-, on That very account : for he faith, Chrift ■was delivered for our ojfences, and raifed again for our j unification-, in which words though the fame particle * be alike uied in both, yet muft it be as little the Apoftles Mean- ing as our Intereft, that it fhould import the fame in both ; for he fo dyed for our offences, as to dye in our ftead •, but we cannot defire, nor could the Apoftle mean, that he rofe in our ftead : We rejoice that our offences are taken away by his Death, but mould be forry to have our Juftincation taken away by his Refurrection : It is therefore plaiu that the Particle Z^ 0r l is fo far from the fame iignification in both, that the former is contrary to the la- ter : We are jufttfyed by his Blood, becaufe thereby our fins are blotted cut ; but we are juftifyed by his Refurrection, be- caufe thereon our Faith is built •• for there- by we are convinced of the truth which we are to believe', and by that belief to be jnfti- 7 fyed,as was AbraBtm. So plain it is that the Faith which the Gofp J required! had its foundation in natural Religion , and while Abraham is prcpoied as the father of the Faithful, Natural Faith is alfo propofed as the mother of the Evangelical. TThat in the Law it fhould never be Commanded, nor fo much as recommended more than once, and »hat with no higher Eulogy than this, Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteoufnefs % nor by any of the Prophets, but once, and that with thismort come-off, the jujl fljall live by his Faith ; this is no wonder at all : For whoever hath fo much Religion as to believe there is a God, muft bdieve him to ,be Abfo- lutely perfect-, which he could not be, if he want either Veracity or Power ; and if (*i ) if he be infinite in Both, it mufl be rmpoffible for him to lye, or fail of per- forming his Promifes. This therefore needeth neither Reve- lation for want of Evidence, nor Precept for want of a plain Obligation : and the Old Teftamcnt mull have done imperti- nently, if without any need it mould have offered the one or the other. Yet though the Old Teftament gives us no command, it doth give us Warnings by the punifhment of Unbelievers. Sarah, for her believing husbands fake, efcaped with a gentle reprimand, though her Un- belief of the truth of God's meflenger were aggravated with a double Untruth of her own: for though me laughed at the prorrrtfe of a Son in her old age, and then denied that fhe did fo laugh ; yet did the Angel reprove her with no other fharpnefs, but that of reafon, againft her double fault. Is any thing imfofjible with God} was an ar- gument drawn from Natural Religion, fo forceable as to triumph over all natural caufes, and ftop the mouth of all other infidelity, but that of the Atheift. But Loth wife, after fo manifeft expe- rience of the Power of her guefts, in deli- vering themfelves from the force of the whole City, by fmiting fmall and great with blindnefs, believed not their threats to de- stroy the fame- ity with fire ; but turning backfrom behind her believing, flying hus- band (who's hafte to fave himfelf, and obedience to the prohibition of the Angels {faying lock not behind thee) hindered him from perceiving it) returning into the cur- fed City, there pciifhed among her wick- ed neigh K oars, and became a filler of fait, that is, in the Hebrew idiom, an everlaft- ing Monument, of the punifhment due to Unbelievers. When to a ftarving City the Prophet of God promifed a greater plenty the next day, than ever had been known in any •, the incredulous Lord had This punifhment, that he jaw it with his eyes for the convidti- on of his Unbelief, but could not tafte it for the fatisfaction of his Hunger : The un-j believing Ifraelitcs, who lived upon daily experience of God's power, when they, diftrufted his promife of victory over the, tall and mighty Canaamtes, perifhed in, the Wildernefs ; and thofethat asked, can God prepare a table in the wildernefs ? fell under his wrath with the meat in their mouths. The fame light which fhewerh us the; Being of God, fneweth alfo his Perfecti- ons ; and to give an exprefs Law, or ufe| any other means to perfwade a Belief in him, had been the fame wifdom, as to perfwade me to believe the Sun fhineth d which were an affront both to theSun and me. And thus I hope I have proved that Faith in God is a duty of Natural Religion, a ( moral Virtue, and to be valued for its in- ; trmfick worth, as a participation of the Di- vine Nature, in one of God's Attributes, his! Juftice •, and we may well proceed to con- fider, that befides this intrinfick worth, r whereby it deferveth to be valued as : felf-good •, it hath another worth, as a Ser- viceable means to all other Graces and Du- ties. i. F AlTHh a great promoter of O- bedience ^and where as the Old Teftamenti feemeth filent herein, we have a whole and large Chapter in the New, afcribing all the heroical actions and fufFering of the Pa-: triarchs to This Grace ; and fo by a kind and poftliroinium aliening the right which; Natural Religion had, and God might (if he had pleafed) have by Law re-. quired. And that it may be proved as clearlyi as afleftedj an argument is offered in the entrance upon the difcourfe: by Faitb E- noch was tr an fated, having received this te-\ ftimony, that he f leafed God-, but without; Faith it is impoffibk to fleafe God, for he\ that comtth to God, mufl believe that he it, and tlxit he is a, re warder of them that diligently jeek him; which argument will receive a little light from the phrafe wherein the te- ftimony i ftimony was given, and where to the Ar- gument refers. It is faid Gen. 5.22. Enoch walked with God, and now the Sorites runs thus, He that doth not walk with God can- not pleafe God, he that doth not come to God cannot walk with God, he that doth not believe that God is, and is a rewarder of them that diligently feek him, cannot come to him, nor will he feek after him. After this Argument we have a mutter of many atchievements performed by Faith in the Patriarchs and others, among whom ftandeth Father Abraham like Saul among the people, taller by the head} not on- ly than all there prefent, buB than all that ever were or ihall be : For the high- lit Boaft; of St. John is, This is the vittory that overcometh the world, even our Faith: Jbut Abraham might boaft a Victory, not only over the worlds but over its Creator. For it is faid God tryed Abraham : he did indeed, for he try ed the mattery with him: he tryed which could exceed, himfelf in hard Commands, or Abraham in abfolute Obedience •, and upon tryal it appears, that the victory fell to Abraham's Faith, Which did not only Fulfil his duty, but Exceed it ; iperhaps in the Matter, certainly in the man- ner. The Matter was fuch, as he might have Difputed, and perhaps Difobeyed, with- out fin : He might poflibly have pleaded God's Promife in bar to his Command. God had given him this Son, 'tis true, but with a promife annexed , that this Son, this very Son Ifaac, fhould be Father of a nu- merous and blefled Pofterity : And fince $his depended upon his life \ whatever Right God might have to his Obedience, himfelf had a Right in God's Promife, which he could not be obliged to renounce. And granting that God's Prerogative might over-rule fuch a Plea \, This however, cannot be denied, that Obedience, however unwilling, was the utmoft which the Com- mand could exatt, and therefore x. The Manner of his Obedience certain- ly exceeded his Obligation) in the Chear- 16 ) fulncfs and Diligence of the performance: For though Ifaac were endeared to him by long defpair, and then by glorious promi- fes *, though he mutt perifh not by an Ordinary or Honourable death, but that, of a Beatt ; though the tender Father mutt not Hear of this by MefTengers, but mutt Torment his Eyes, yea Imbrue his Hands too in the cruel Butchery •, though in fo doing , he muft offer no lefs violence to his Reafon, than to his Ifaac , though all this might well have Staggered,'^ yea quite Overthrown both Faith and Obedience ; yet he is fo far from Staggering, that he doth not only Stand firm to his Duty, but Out-goeth it : doth not plead the fcandal of fo Cruel, fo Inhumane, and Unnatural an action, as mutt make his Perfon and his Religion ftink among his Neighbours \ doth not intercede for his only Son as for Sodom 9 faying, Shall not the God of all the world do right .* Doth not petition for him as Mofes did for the people, that God would reverfe his Sentence, or as fephta's Daughter did for a little time of reprieve j but without the leaft tergiverfation , is equally Diligent and Cautious in the exe- cution ; rifeth early in the morning, hideth his purpofe from his Wife, left fhe mould hinder it, taketh with him but two Ser- vants, and them he leaveth at fuch di- ftance, as to prevent the refcue which their officioufnefs might make of their young Matter from the feeming madnefs of their old, drilleth Ifaac himfeif along with pre- tence that God would provide a Lamb : what could the moft Tender father do more to Save the life of an only Son ? H&c eft fides, faid Nero, when his Servant to fatisfie his humour killed himfelf} this is fuch aFaith as might well be imputed to Abraham for righ.eonfnefs, and propofed to us for a pat- tern ; and ftop the mouth of all objections which ftiall not think Faith worthy of God's acceptance, or of a place among Moral Virtues which are the Graces in Natural Religion. And C 17 ) And as it hath the Worth, fo it hath the Credulity is the Excefs of Faith ; and as i Unhappinefs of a Virtue, befet on either ufual with all Virtues, we find it reproach fide wich a Vice, Defect on one fide, and ed under the name of the Excefs, whcreo Excefs on the other : on the One fide Infi- it is no wife guilty, as we come to confide delity is the Defect, and on the Other fide in our fecond Propofition. -*■ - CHAP. IV. Credulity is not F A IT H, but an oppofite Vice\ II. f> R E D U L I T Y is not Faith, but V/ as oppofite to it as Vice is to Vir- tue : as Fool-hardinefs is to Valour, Pro- digality to Bounty, and all Excefs to Pru- dence , which is the Soul of all Virtue whatever. We have reduced Faith to Juflice ; be- caufe its proper work is to pay God the confidence due to his Veracity. And herein we feem to be out of all danger of Excefs, feeeing God's faithfulnefs is infinite : and fo indeed we are, while we make our pay- ment to the Right Object. For to God is due not only Actual belief of every word which we know him to have fpoken, but an Habitual readinefs to believe any other, when ever it lhall appear to come from him, and all without referve for any contra- dicting fence or reafon. Our only danger of excefs therefore lieth in our miltake, not of the Degree buc the Object i and this we incur if we pay That confidence to any creaiuie which is due to God only. Our excellent Chilling-north fpake no left Modeftly than Rationally, when he faid, that he had often demanded of the Roma- nics i why implicit Faith in our Lord , might not as well avail for Juftification, as implicit Faith in the ChUrch ; but could never receive an anfwer to fo plain and important a queftion : It is indeed too much to be Anfwered, but too little to be De- manded-, for it ought to be raifed to a demand, how any Church dare Challenge, or any Perfon dare Pay, that faith t Any, yea to all the creatures in heaven an ' earth, which is due to God only ? This . Injuftice to God, for two plain Reafons. i. It is a kind of fpiritual Polytheifm fuch a falling down and worfhipping th creature, as mult provoke Him who d< clareth himfelf a jealous God, that will nc give his honour to another: Let God I true, and every man a liar, is a double wor of God's own mouth ; and he that doth no believe the Latter as well as the Former maketh God a Liar, and man a God. 2. Thofe who fo require implicit fait in any other authority, as to contradid Reafon ; give God the lie, by making hit contradict himfelf. For Reafon is no lei the word of God, than is the Scripture Yea Therefore , and therefore only, ar we to believe whatever we find in Scriprur< becaufe we are by plain Reafon convince that it is the word of God , whom w mult believe in defiance to all oppofitio whatfoever. The [pint of a man is the candi of the Lord, fearching the inmrmcjl^ parts c the belly, faith Solomon. The fpirit is tha part of our frame, wherein rve are create^ in knowledge after the image of God •• and l the ftfiUy tables of our hearts are his word written with the fame finger, as were hi laws in the tables of Stone ; and therefore t< fay that fysCandkqxntrati&zd the Sun q righteoufnefs, is no kfs injurious to God than to his image and workmanlhip. There is indeed in the One as in the O C ***' (is; her lights great difference of degrees of >rightnefs : Some truths appear fo plain, .hac the Weakeft, yea the Scrcft eye can- iot avoid feeing and acknowledging them \ )oc fome are fo fmall or Co remote, than ;hey may deceive or efcape the Belt. Ytt ■null; not This prejudice our belief of fuch »reat truths, as appear plain both by fun- jnine and candlelight, whereof the later aever contraditteth the former. Abraham's faith is our constantly fer- yiceable pattern : It feemed utterly repug- nant to plain reafon, that Ifaac mould be a father of nations if he were facrificed ; out it feetned much more fo, that God hould be Unfaithful ; and therefore, when Abraham believed, he did no lefs juftice to his own Reafon, than to God's Faithful- nefs. To make this (if poffible) yet plainer, we muft diftinguifh between matter of Faith, and matter of Fact : Matter of Faith, is thi$ only Propofition, that it is impoffible God fhould lie-, and to This, Abraham ftood firm , without ftaggaring at the Teeming oppofition between the Promife and the Command : But that God firft made fuch a Promife, and then impofed fuch a Command, this was matter of Fact^ wherein though the Scripture be filent, Reafon is chmarous j (hewing us, that Abra- ham was by Sufficient (though to us Unre- pealed) evidences, no lcfs Secure This way,, than Confident the Other way. Elfe might he more juftly be Blamed for disho- nouring God with a thought, that he could be author of fuch a cruel command ; than juftified for his confidence in a faithfulnefs, which had been unconcerned. So there muft be two Meafures for our belief : of the one kind is the faithfulnefs «f the Perlbn, in whom we believe : if God be the perfon, our Belief muft be Infinite, becaufe his Veracity is fo ; if Man be the perfon, our Belief muft be Wary, becaufe Man is a Liar, or at leaft may be fufpected to be fb. Of the other kind, is the evi- dence which we have, that what is offered us for the word of God, is really fuch : and to this we muft pay neither More nor Lefs belief, than Reafon will prove due - pro- vided we be ftill ready to pay more, as our evidence lhall increafe, becaufe our Rea- fon for belief will increafe equally with fuch evidence. This is all that Juftice can demand ; and whoever payeth more, doth it in his Own wrong, and perhaps in Gcd'i too. A fad example hereof we have in the Prophet, that' by the word of the Lord came from Juda to Bethel, and to the King's face prophefied the deftruction of his Altar : he obeyed a Troubiefom and Hazardous Command, refufed a Royal Invitation, returned homeward another way than that by which he came, and in every thing con- formed to his Commiflion. But when an old Prophet faid to him, I am a Prophet as well as thou art> and an Angel /pake unto me by the word of the Lord, faying, Bring him back^ with thee into thine koufe" that he may eat bread, and drink water ; the eafie good man, believing the malicious lying one, was pu- nched, not fo properly for his Difobedi- ence, as his Credulity. This being the rule ( fay the Rabbins and Reafon ) that when a Prophet hath received a word immediately from God, he muft not be- lieve any other than an equally immedi- ate word of God in contradiction to it. The example jointeth clofe with the cafe before us. Whatever we hear from clear Reafon , we hear from a word of God : whoever would perfwade us to disbelieve it, muft produce fuch Credentials, as may convince us to the contrary ^ If he do this Reafon immediately tacketh about in con- formity to the Evidence, as to another word of the fame God : but if no other Credentials be offered than his own, or fome other Humane (that is, Fallible or Fal- lacious ) authority : we are no more to comply with it, than the true Prophet ought to have done with the lying one. The The end perhaps ^of fuch Credulous per* tie hath been fpokeft of it by Mafes and tf* Prophets, and fo Much by Chrift and hi Apoftles. The fame Natural Religioi which claimed it as due to God, forbad t< pay it to any Creature •, upon the Formei account there was No need of an expref precept, and upon the Latter there wa the Greateft need ^ not only of an ex prefs Command, but fuch repeated Im portunities, as might outvoice both Rea fon, when it (hould decry fuch a demand fons may be lefs difmal, they may not be come the Lions prey ; but truy have al ready made themfelves the Ajjes compa- nions, by fubmitting their Underftandings to the Bridle and Saddle, impofed on them by a dull miftake of Credulity toward man for Faith toward God*, more obvious than that of the Fool-hardy Prodigal, or any other overdoer, that by Excefs vitiateth a Virtue. and Intereft, when it fhould rebel againfl By thefe Plain and Vulgar Principles of convinced Reafon ; both whereof concur Morality, we underftand in Believing as red againft the belief which our Lord re we do in all other actions, what is Virtuous quired. or Vicious , and fo do we alfo, why fo Lit- C H A P. V. Why FAITH maketh a greater figure under the Go/pel, than it did under the Law? FOR our clearer view of the Reafon why Faith mould rhake fo much a grea- ter figure in the Gofpel, than it did under the Law, let us parrallel Faith toward Chrift, with Loyalty towards the King. Loy- alty is a Handing duty, which at all times muft be paid to the King. In peaceable times, as there is no occsfion for any proclamation to require it, fo there is none to Promife it 8ny Reward, but what the laws of 'Go- vernment promife at all times to good Sub- jects, protection in their juft rights : But if a Prince be dethroned and banifhed, dis- abled to defend his own power and his fub- jefts lives •, if Loyalty now fhali expofe a good Subject to as great puni foments, as in good times are the reward of rebellion ; In this cafe, Policy for his own interefts, con- curred with Juflice to a good fubjects me- rits, to perTwade the Prince, by publick proclamations aad private u»e(lages, and all other pofhble merms, to encourage his Subjects with liberal promiles, that they may find it their Intereft as well as their Duty, to imploy their endeavours in their injured Prince's behalf. Juft thus it is in the prefent cafe : Faith is a Handing duty to Chrift, and muft be paid at all times to the end of the World. But at that time when our Lord firft claim- ed it, and St. Paul fpoke fuch great things of it, there were extraordinary reafons for the importunities and promifes, wherewith it was then honoured, and the world fclici- ted •, fome whereof in thefe days, whe,n the Chriftian Religion hath been long e.tablim- ed, have loft their influence. Thofe extraordinary reafons may be re- duced to three, i. The Difficulties of believ- ing. 2. The Danger of profefling it. 3. The Necejfiry of both. 1. The Difficulties at firft were many and great ^ the Command wasfhort,bu: Hard : Ton believe in Cod, believe alfo in me. Ten be- lieve in God, you cannot avoid fo doing, and the very notion of a God exacts ic from you: You cannot belkve there is a God without believing him to be infinite, D 2 as C 20 ) 5 in all other perfections, fo in Faithful- efs ; and this will require on your part uitable, l e. Infinite Confidence. The _me Infinite, Abfolute, Implicit belief, /hich you thus acknowledge due to God, » alfo due to Me ; I am come from heaven to >e the light of this lower world in Spiritu- 1 things, as the Sun is in Corporal •, and vhatever I fpeak, I require you to believe vith the fame confidence, as you would a mticular word from heaven, or a mani- fended and propagated, nor perhaps have they had fewer Martyrs or Confeffors, than the holy Doctrines of the blefled Jefus. The Worfhippers of ('God's mirror) the Sun, yea of the works of mens hands in wood and ftone, are no lefs tenacious of their Folly, than we are of the Truth: Thofc who worfhip what they eat, believe all thofe damned, who will not pull out their eyes and do the fame. Since therefore none could believe In Chrift, without re- eft object of fight enlightened by the Sun. nouncing the Religion whereby he was pof- This at That time ( ft ill I fay at That feffed j this alone made it very difficult. ime) when our Lord put in fuch a claim, Hid his Apoftles pleaded for it, appeared rery Hard, becaufe very Unreaibnable command, both to Jews and Greeks^ it was \o the Jews a ftutrMng blocks, and to the Gretks foolifinefs ; for the Jews required a Sign, and -he Gretki fought after Wijdom, and he that would believe, mult run counter to the Whole world : for fo did the Jews object to St. Paul, We know that this feci is every sphere fpcken again ft. And the very meannefsof the Perfon was a mighty prejudice againft fo great a claim. This had no part in the trial of Abraham's faith : He was no lefs fure that he had Gods Command for facrificing Ifaac, than that he had his Promife for a blefled po- sterity from his loins : but^ here the great difficulty, is the credibility of the Perfon commanding and promifing fuch great things : That he could £ive his followers Eternal Life, who could not fave himfelf . The Gmk& fouM after Wifdom, and to from the molt Shamefull and Painful Death •- fthem fuch a belief feemed Foolifhnefs. Their Wifdom, was Prudence; their Religion, Virtue : The fame Religion which taught to pay God infinite belief, taught them 'alfo to meafure their belief toward Man by the credibility of the Speaker, or the Word by him fpoken •, and whatever ex- ceeded this meafure, was foolifhnefs. 5 But if Religion were no lefs concerned than Reafon, then mult Impiety joyn with Foolifhnefs, and as it doubled the Vice, io did it the Caveat: for as all change iof opinion is difficult, fo is that of Re- ligion moft (b. The World was never pcf- fed by any Religion fo abfurd, but that e- Wucation and growth gave it fuch roots, as 'would not be pluckt up with eafe or a lit- tle labour •, yea, moft men have no other teafon for their Religion but this, which e- Iqually prevails for the Worlt as the Belt, pie, who for the fpacc of forty years lived J The Whimfies of Mahomet are no lefs upon miracles under his conduct j they fa w Confidently embraced, and zealoufly de- and heard the dreadful thunders and light- nings. that he could give the inheritance of a Kingdom, who had not where to lay his head', that the Son of a Carpenter was the Son, of God , that a man of Sorrows was the Lord of Glory ; thefe appeared fuch ab- furdities to their reafon, that thofe who fought after wifdom, muft needs find it ex- treamly difficult to fwallow them. 2. The Jews required a fign, and fuch a fign, as might be no lefs too mighty for all thofe which had been wrought by MoJes y s rod, than was his Serpent for thofe of the Egyptian Magicians. The Founders of all other religions wheedled the Credulous crowd into a belief of their familiarity with fome God: Thus did Nnma impofe upon his Romans, and Mahomet upon his Arabiens : But Mofes was publickly own- ed by God in the eyes of the whole peo- c nings which promulgated their laws, which they therefore believed mull be Immortal, becaufe they knew them to be divine .• And can they believe him to come from the fame God, who prophaned the Sab- bath which that law had made- the cog- nifance of his peculiar people ? To this prejudice derived from Religi- on, add another from Intereft. They cal- led the law their Inheritance, and as fuch they valued ic ^ they look't upon the DMJ the profane refidue of Mankind, as no lefs Inferiour to their holy felves, than Supe- rior to the Beafts : and that they fhould be levelled into an equality, how incre- dible it appeared, we may meafure from the aftonifhment of the great Apoftle, who fpeaks of ir, as if he were again ftruck down by a light and voice from heaven. Eph. j. ii. By revelation he made known to me the myfiery, &c, and verfe the gth. To make all ?nm fee what is the fellowflnp of the myflery which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jefus Chrifi^ to the intent that novo unto principali- ties and powers in heavenly places might be known by the Church the manifold wifdom of Cod according to the eternal purpofe which he pro- pofed in Chrifi Jefns our Lord. What is This fo wonderful Myftery ? even this, which cannot bz comprehended in oneclaufe, that the Gentiles flmild be fellow-heirs, and of the fame body, and partakers of God?s pro- mt fes in Chrifi by the Gofpel. By fuch amaz- nientof this great Apoftle, we may judge of his whole Nation, and by the aftonifh- ment of him, who would not have believ- ed upon any lefs evidence than a revela- tion, we may fafely meafure the difficul- ty which lay upon all thofe that were trained up in the fame Religion. Another (tumbling- block lay quite crofs their way, becaufe crofs to their expecta- tions : They lookt for a Meffia, that by his Victories fhould no lefs advance them in Prosperity above all other Nations, than Mofes by his Law had advanced them in M ) Holinefs : a Meffia, whofe Perfon fhould be Uluftrious, his Sword Victorious, his Reign Glorious, and of vfhofe Kingdom there Jhonld be no end, either in point of Extent or Duration ; Such a Meffia did their Pro- phets promife, and the time appointed was now fulfilled ^ their expectations therefore were big, and their longings ardent : And mult this triumphant Meffia now dwindle into a vagabond Galilean ? Mull their ex- pected Triumphs fink into this difmal Pro- mife, He that will be my difciple t mufi tak§ up his crofs and follow me ! This was there- fore a great ftumbling-block to the Under- ftandings, becaufe it lay crofs to their In- terefts •, they were the more Unable, be- caufe Unwilling, to believe it j which there- fore required a weight of importunities and promifes, fufficient to counterbalance the double weight of reluctancies. Nor was this the word, for 2. The Danger was at That time no lefs than the Difficulty. I fay at That time, be- caufe That circumftance is highly confide- rable : As it was extraordinary in point of Danger to the Difciples, fo did it require fuch extraordinary promifes and importu- nities from our Lord, as might induce them both to combat all Difficulties, and outface all Danger. In good and peaceable Times, when a Prince exercifeth his Power without oppo- fition, as there is no Merit in Loyalty, fo is there no Proclamation of Reward to it. But if he be driven from his Throne, and difabled not only to Govern his Subjects, but to Defend Himfelf : if Loyalty be treat- ed as Rebellion, and to aflerc the oppref- fed Prince's Right be a forfeiture of Life and Eftate ^ in fuch a cafe , the Prince's Intereft concurreth with Juftice, to per- fwade him to encourage his good Subjects with Promifes Extraordinary as his Own Needs, and Their Danger. Juft thus it was in thofe Times when Faith made fo great figure in the Gofpel, that it ieemed to engroft the whole Duty of (") of a Chriftian, and all the promifes of Sal- vation. Had it been fufficient to have be- lieved with a Convinced, yet Silent mind; whatever the Difficulty might have been, the Safety might have equalled it : But this could not be accepted •, the mouth muft join with the heart, Rom 4 10. 10. For with the Heart man believeth nnto righteouf- nefij and with the Mouth confeffion it made unto falvation. Nicodemus came to our Lord with the Former without the Later *, for coming by night, and Privatelv owning what he was either Alhamed or Afraid Openly to profefs, he is told in the Rab- binical ftile, that unlefs by Baptifm he make Open Profeflion of his Faith, he can- not be a Chriftian, Joh.$. To the fame Ifenfe alfo did our Lord tell his Apoftles, when he commiflioned them to preach the fore $ That time given, becaule at that time they were neceflary toward planting the new Gofpel, ceafed with the need which required them, and for the fame reafon did the Method, of belief preced- ing baptifm. At prefent we are rot considering the Method, but the Defign of Baptifm : it was an open Profeflion of Faith, and there- with an open Defiance to the World and all its Powers' The Rulers had no lefs malice in their hearts, than Power in their hands, againft all that mould profefs a Faith, which mull abolifh the law of Mo- fes, which they gloried in, as advancing them to a lingular holinefs above all other Nati- ons, who yet were no lefs Enemies to the fame new Religion, which muft deftroy their Idols, Our Saviour therefore dealeth plain- Gofpel , He that believeth and is baptized, ly and faithfully, He that will be my difciple, fhall be faved: not limply he that believeth, muft take up his crofs and follow me: He that but he that believeth and is baptized ; fo mak ing a Publick Profeflion of his Belief, and himfelf a Vifible Member of Chrift's Church. And here thofe, who upon this account deny Infants to be capable of Baptifm, be- caufe they are uncapable of Belief, may do well to confider the change of Times, and of the reafon thereon depending. At That time, whoever did not openly pro- fefs the New and Perfecuted religion, muft befuppofedto joyn.with the rulers in that religion, which was publiekly profefled and ftablifhed by the laws of the Land : but now the wind bloweth from the oppofit quarter, and fince the Gofpel is the ftablifhed reli- gion, and the profeflion of the very parents maketh great odds againft any danger of the contrary, the Church may, upon fmall fecurity from other fuiecies, admit any in- fant for a member. To which alfo we may add, that our Lord to his promife oUverlafling life annexed another : Thefe fings foall follow them that belie ve, in my name theyfiall caft out Bevils &c The miraculous powers which were There- hateth not Father and Mother, yea and his own life alfo, cannot be my difciple : I fend yon forth as lambs among wolves ; yejljallbe brought before Governours and Kings for my names fak&, &C. Such harpfhips were not more contrary to the Appitites of flelh and blood, than to the Notions they had been educated in, of great Profperity under the Mefliah : They had dreamed of another kind of Vittory t>- ver the World, than what St. John boafted, faying, this is the ViHory which overcometh the World, evenyour Faith ; your faith which overcometh the world by fufrering all kind of Perfections in this life, in af- furance of glorious Rewards in ano- ther. And in this, the Faith of the Chriftian outvyeth That of Abraham himfelf. There was indeed a danger that he might lofe his Jfaac, if God could not reftore him to life when facrificed j but he had an expe- riment of God's power to give him another Son, notwichftanding his old age if he could not reftore the San.e, But to the faithful difciples of Chrift there was apparent, not C*3) not Danger only, but Certainty, of lofs of their All, Children, Parents, Lands, Li- berty, yea, Life it ft If . BlefTed be the gracious Providence of God, that now and for many Ages the wind is turned to the contrary point. Our Education maketh \i now as difficult, and our Laws as dangerous, to deny Chriit, as at firft it was to tonfefs hiin : and confe- qucntly whatever Extraordinary merit it might derive from thofe topicks, muft now be lowerd, and when it fnall thus be reduced to its Ordinary, and permanent worth, it will app.ar (like Loyalty in peaceable times) a common grace, worthy of no greater than common rewards, For now its whole flock of merit is owing to its fruits, wherein alfo it falleth fhort of what it bore in the times of its plant- ing i for at that time 3. The Neceffity of Faith was equal to the Difficulty and Danger •• And in- deed without This, the other two or ei- ther of them would have made the Com- mand unreafonable. That Prince would not deferve to be owned in the Bell of times, much lefsto be fought for in the Worft, that mould Needlefly impofe Hard and Dangerous fer- vices upon his good Subjects. To expofe them to hardfhips and dan- gers of a neceflary War, hath alway been juftified in the bell Kings ^ and to encourage their valour with promife of fuitable re- wards is equally Juft and Wife : But to expofe them to fight with Beafts, only for pleafure of the Spectacle, was abhorred by faithful Chriftians when praftifed by wanton heathen. Let us therefore diftin- guifh the Times. 1. This Neceffity of Faith had fome- thing lingular at that time when it was firft exaLed to fuch Honour. A great, and Dangerous but Neceflary, and otherwife Uuaccoir'p!imable work muft be perform- ed. The Kingdom of Heaven muft fub- due all the refilling world : God's wor- ship muft be ftript of all thofe Ceremonies wherewith his own hand had dreft it, and reduced to fimple nakednefs of fpirit and truth ; the partition wall muft be broken down which appropriated God's holy peo- ple, &c. Toward fo great a work he came furnifhed with no other power, but that of working miracles for mens convi&i- 00 : and mould thofe who were thereby con- vinced, hide their belief within their own breafts, this might bring fome particular Perfons, not whole Nations to fubjcclion. It was therefore Neceflary to call aloud not only for Belief, but for Profeflion of it : and fince fuch a Profeflion at fuch a Time, muft run fuch a gandelope, be- tween Difficulties and Dangers, it was but reafonable, that the importunities of the Calls and the price of the Promifes, mould joyn with the Neceffity of the Performance to outweigh fo great Difcouragements. 2. Though in fuch Extraordinary re> fpefts the Neceffity be now abated, fo that every Profeflbr need not be a Preacher or Confcflbr in the hardeft fence 5 yet there ftiil remains a Permanent neceffity, from the influence which Faith Alway (becaufe Naturally) hath upon the believers Acti- ons ; and Cnce Thefe muft alway be Holy, That muft alffa) be indifpenfible. Loyalty is loyalty at All times. In the worft times it will Fight, in the beft it will Obey : and when it ha;h no Occafion, will be ready upon All oc canons to approve itfelf faithful. And Faith is Fairh at all times. When the world fighteth againft its Lord, it will fight againft the world in his caufe : it hath the fame Valour when it hath not the fame occafion to exercife it by fullering, as had the primitive Chrifti- ans \ and it hath ever the faithfuinefs to fight againft all kinds of Enemies to his kingdom, Flefh and Blood, and fpiritual wickednefs, and whatever will not have the Lord rule over it. The Chriftian in the moft peaceable times is a Souldier lifted under his Lord's Banner Cm) Banner in Baptifm t he muft follow (when called; the Captain of his Salvation that was made per fed by fufferings •, and when tempted, he muft walk in the fteps of his father Abraham, facrifice his Lulls, though no lefs dear than was his I fane. Our Lord therefore is not like fome weak Princes, that upon meer unaccounta- ble Caprice, load their good Subjects with heavy burthens, and advance worthlefs favourites to undeflrved honors •, but mea- fureth his Laws by his Subjects Needs. What Natural Religion taught, the Go- fpel verifieth, Our Lord himielf declared, that the reafon of his coming into the world was his father's love to it, And it muft be a greater miftery than any he hath required us to believe, if he mould fo Unkindly treat the world which he fo Dearly loved, as to require them upon pain of eternal death, to believe more than is neceflary for their falvation : for lhould he require more than is Neceflary, he muft do it either for fome other reafon, or without any reafon at all. If wc be- lieve him to require faith for any Other reafon, than becaufe it is neceflary for our incouragement to Holinefs in order to Hap- pinefs *, we difhonour him , becaufe no other reafon can be worthy of his Good- iiefs or Majefty : If upon no other reafon at all, we difhonour him > becaufe this would contradict his Wifdom, which ne- ver acteth without good reafon. And now I hope we fufficiently difcover why Faith is fo much exalted in the Go- fpel : The reafons are partly Extraordina- ry and expired, partly Ordinary and per- manent : The Extraordinary, derived from the circurrftances wherein the Gofpel was firft preached : The Ordinary , from its ferviceablenefs to the divine life which Na- tural Religion aimed at, but the Gofpel by means of believing, exalteth with no- bler arguments, as will more clearly appear, if we examine the Subject matter which Faith is to believe. CHAP. *gpTC— g» And here our former Remarks meet us again. Our Lord avoideth Multiplying Articles of Faith, no lefs than Commands: Thofe were but Two at mod, Faith and Repentance; and fometimes thofe Two were reduced to One, and Either one .• In the fame manner doth he treat Faith : Some- times it's Object is but One, and fometimes Two, and fometimes Either o( the two ; be- caufe they are Two in Notion, but infepa- rablc in Action. There are Two Kinds of Objects of Be- lief. I. The PERSOS in whom we believe. II. The WOR D which we believe u Pon Cre- dit of the PERSON And thcPromife of Eternal Life is given fometimes to the One, fometimes to the Other, fometimes to Both joyntly. 1. Sometimes it is given to believe in the Verfon of Chrift ; and this is more frequent- ly, becaufe ic is the Ground whereon the other is built. Thus we find in our Lord's Difcourfe with Nicodemus and Martha, and the Clofe of St. Johns Gofpl 2. Sometimes it is given to belief of the Promife. Th us St. Paul in his Entrance up- on that accurate Diatribe concerning the Refurreftion, telleth the Corinthians, This it the Gofpl by which they wuti be faved. And when he pleaded, that for the Hop of the Refurrcttion he was called into que- flisn, he fpakc no lefs Truly than Wife- ly : becaufe that is the Subftance of our Belief. 3. Sometimes it is given to Both pyntly. As we found, Rem. 10. o. If thou Jhalt con- fers with thy Mouth the Lord 7 ejus, and fait believe in thy Heart that God hath raifed him from the Dead^ thou fait be faved. And the Athenians thought St. Paul a Setter- fort h of flrange Gods, becaufe hefpak^fo much of Jefus and the Re\urreUion ^ fuppofingite- ftafis to be the GoddcCs of Jefus. Thcfc two are fo nearly allied, that they cannot be feparated : For whoever believes in Ch rift,, as the Son of God, muft upon his Credit author ifed by his RtfurreStion, believe his Promife, that they fhall have a Rcfurrc&i- on Themfelves. Yec nearly as they arc allied, they arc not the Same, and there- fore require to be created fcverally. Firft therefore we fhall fpeak of what E is is fir ft fn order of nature, Belief in the Per- /i».» and this that we may do the more diTtffi&ty, we (hall coriider. 1. What kind of Perfon our Lord requir- eth us to belie? e him to be ? 2. What is me snt by believing in him ? ; I. Concerning the Former, z'/'s, What kjnd of P erf on cur Lord requireth us to he- hyehm* We muft conlider, that »x That rime the World was big with Expectation, and earneft in jobgfng &. r fuch a Puion, has never bkflrd it fitice its fi ft Creation ; a. Pcrfon of whom dich glorious t'uVgs were promifed asdazlcd their U iderftand- ings ; a Pcrfon that muft excel Mojes in Miracles, "jofkuih in Victories, Solomon in Riches and Wifdom j Ail Projhm in Knowledge, and all Kings in Power : the Son, and yet toe Lord of David, who ihould not only free them from the then galling Yoke of the Romany but fubdue thofe Romans, and with rhem all their Province;; ; the rime of the promifed com- ing of this great Pet ion was now fulfilled, and their Longings fljarpned to fo much the create r KcenneCs. This fulnefs of time- our Lord made the Subject of his firft Sermon, faying, The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand : This was fo notoriouily known, that it made the Jews obftinate even to madnefs in defence of their City and Tem- ple againft the Romans ; yea, it made fo much, and fo loud talk in all the Eaft, that the Noife reached to Rome, and con- tributed not a little to Vefpafiaris Advance- ment to the Empire: becaufe (iairh the Hiftorian) ferctebuit fermo, there was com - v!^on Talk that at That time there would a rife in the Lad a Perfon that fliould go- vern the World. Such an one had Daniel promifed, Dan. 7- H- There rr&s given him Dominion and Ghry, and a Kingdom that AU Nations and Languages Jhould [ewe him : The Title there given. hi.n, is. no other, than the 1&) Son of Man, which our Saviour ofc times allumes to himfelf ; which that we may under ftand how much it may import, we muft confiJer, that the jews had fomc peculiar Idioms, whereof two principally did import the eminence of the fubject; fpo« ken of. . , . . I- They left that indefinite, which they would imply to exceed any Definition : Goddofo tome, and more alfo, was a (Jurfe which liquified more than any ExprciTio.i could defne : 'Therefore J mil do This unto thee, and beeaufe 1 will do This unto thee,.. therefore prepare to meet thy God, Ijraei, faid rhe Prophet 5 whereby he threa tried a Judgment, and required an Attornment Extraordinary and Vnexfrejfible. if our Title [Son of Man] feem not fut- ficientl'y accounted for by this Idiom, and the Prophet Daniel's Prophecy ; fome o- ther of his Charadters will, Job, & 14, He faith of himfelf, If you believe not that I am He, yot fkall die in your fins. The word HE is fufficiently indefinite, but the Origi- nal not having fo much as that, is much more C >. The Baptift fent two of his Dif- ciples to enquire i( he were \p%(im;. The Corner, or He ih.it [kill come, and the Mul- titude bicilcd him in the Name o[ the Lord, under that Chara&er.The Meffia is a Great, but Indefinite Title. Anointing was a Com- plement of the greatcft Kindnefs and Honor that could be bellowed onaGueft; and . from that Office in feftival Receptions, it was preferred to a Ceremony toward the higheft Dignities. Prophets, Priejls, and Kim were enfeated by it ; and our Lord is thereby cbara5tercd, but indefinitely, whether Prophet, or Prieft, or King, or Ail 1. Another Idiom of advancing any Thing or Perfon, was by entitling it ro God-,thusRivers of God, Mountains of God, Sec. were the moft eminent in their Kind : Man. of God, fignified the moft excellent Prophet; Kingdom of Go J* die moft ex- cellent Govenment ; and the Son of God, was. by Vaniel made a Chara&er of ^ne sreateft greatelY Beauty and Majefty. For whereas by thac Phrafe he defcribed che tyh- in Ne- buchadnez.z.ar's Furnace, we are not to ima- gine that he pretended to have ken the Son of God, and thereby to know who were like him in Garments or Countenance ; but that he ufed that Phrafe as the higheft Expreflion of extraordinary Beauty. Thcte high Characters, the Meffia, or its Fountain , plainly (hewcth us every thing that ft fhincth on ; fo our Lord, whole Divinity nukech the Dignity of his Perfon unintelligible, is for that ve- ry reafon to be believed in with our ut- raoft Confidence. And thus himfelf ex* prefleth, II. What is meant by believing in bis Per- Chrifl, and the Soft of Go I, and the Comer, fon> For John 12. 35. J ef is f aid unto thcrn, are given our Lord, fometicnes (cveraliy, yet a little while is the Light with you, wa\\ fbmctimes joyntlv. St. Paul teftiricth CO while you have the Light. ■ — IV bile you the Jews, that This J ejus that I Preach have' the Light, believe in the Light, that unto you, is the Chrifl-, St. Jo^profeflech, ye may be the Children of Light. In which theft things are written tbv you may be- Words he plainly dedareth, that all Men lieve, that Jejus is the Chrifl, the Son of God : and Martha declareth, / believe th.it thou art the Chrifl, the Son of Go J, that Jhould come into the Word. And ltd it might fee n poifible that fome other Perfon might be capable of all thele, however extraordinary Eulogies ; to exalt him above every name that may be named, he flileth hi in elf, not only the Sun, but the Only begotten Son of God. The other Characters fpeak an un meafurable Excellency, and this laft a lingular and ircommunicable one : and upon this Singularity of his being the only begotten Sin of God, exprefTed by h s b are Travelers j what the Light is to Tra- vellers, That himfelf is to the World ; and therefore what Confidence the Travel- ler hat!) in the Light, the fame muft we have in Him. Should the Wifeft, the Greareft, yea, All the Men in the World, or an Angel from Heaven, contradict the Light, the Traveller would not abate his Belief in it: ffnuld any Authouty whatever tell him, that is a Tree, which the Li-.«ht tellcth him is a Stone ; fhould they tell him that is a Path, which the Light tclleth him is a River; fhould they perfwadc him to go where the Light (hewseth a Precipice, ing anointed before he came into the World, or that there is no Path where the Light \ve fhall anon find him prefer himfclt a- fheweth a plain one ; he would with a bove all that were upon lefs accounts called little Variation apply to them all the Au- Goh. i thentick Rule, Let the Light be true, but Tficfc and the like high Chambers (peak him a Perfon of Supcrcmiucnt and unmeafurabie Grcatnefs ; a Perfon like (his emblem) the' light, fo glorious, that by onr laft intent view we cannot plain- ly difcover any thing of it but this That we cannot di (cover. And diis is fo far from hindering the Belief which he reonireth, that it is the very reafon why' we arc ooligcd to pay it. For as we therclorc believe in the Light, be- cause the lame BrTghtncfs which dazleth our Ej cs ii we fix them dircJUy upon every man a Liar. Thus is it, that we are to believe in Chrifl . for thus Abraham believed in God, maugre all Difficulties which hisAfieclion to Ly.xac, and ali the Contradictions which his Reafon could opnofc, the one againft his Obedience, the other araniit his Confi- dence. And this is our Saviour's Claim, _K believe in God, believe alfo Me^ i. c. wilfi the fame Confidence. Where r!ie Imrornrcc is unvaluable, no Care can be too grear.- we lhall there- fore mod carefully and dii -nelly conii- F- * '. ikL r *8/ der, that the Light of the Sun may be lookt upon two ways, cither with a wary Eye, diligently but obliquely, obfeiving what it (hewed by its Beam $ or with a direft Eye, curioufly viewing and endea- vouring 'to difcover its Features. So our Belief in Chrift may look upon him under two Refpe&s : with rcfpeft to tie World, as its Saviour -, or with refpccl to his Perfm, as the Son of God. I. mtlxrefreSl to the Word: Every one fceth the Sun to be its gieateft Benefa&or, bountifully communicarinf all the Com- forts, yea, the very Beings, which every of its Inhabitants enjoycth. And at this Bounty is the Reafon of the Suns (hining, fo it is no Ufa > ea i IZ is ^ ore under- ftood by the Traveller on his Road, than by the Philofopber in his Cell. Thus it is with the Sun of Rigbteoufnefa his Title is the Saviour of the World., and his Bufincfs is to make good his Title. This made him rife with healing in his Wings, and for This Reafon he requireth fo to be believed in, as the Sun is by the Traveller, who direcleth every ftep by its Light. Whatever the Capacity or Opinion of the Traveller be; whether he be ?.n illite- rate Clown, that thinketh tlse Sun no bigger than the Earth ; whether he believe the Light to be an Accident, or Subftance ; whatever his Thoughts be of the Nature, Magnitude, Difiance, he. ftiil the Sun is his faithful Guide, whenever he walks by its Light. And that this Practical Faith Is all that our Saviour requireth, feemeth plain, as by other Evidences, fo by his own Words: For when the Jews came about him, and faid unto him, How long dofl thou maty us to dodt> If thou be theChrifi, tellusflain- ly ; and he in anfwer thereto, called God his Father, they wK u t Stones toflonehim^ lecauje (they faid) thou being a Man, mab^ eft thy [elf God'* he did not, upon fo preffing an Occafion, aflert his Right, J but abating fo much as exceeded their Comprehension , fatisfied Kimfclf fthac he might fatisfie Them) with what might be fuflicient for their Convi&ion to Sal- vation .- Is it not written in your Lam (faid hej / have faid you are Gods ? If he called them Gods to whom the Word of God came, and the Script res cannot be broken, jay ye of him whom the Father janliified and fent into the World, thou blafphemel, becaufe I faid I am the Son of Cod ? That he fpake this in compliance with their Capacity, not their Rage, ap- peareth, becaufe when they would not be appeafed, he efcaped with pleafure out of their Hands, fince it was fufficient to their Salvation, to know how and why he came into the Word, and that fas his Work, fo alfo) his Perfon was greater than ever had been in it imce its Creation $ he fpeak- eth nothing of what he had been from Eternity in Himfelf, but what he was in Relation to the World, and in Com- pai ifon with all other Mcflengcrs of God to it. To Them ( faith he) God fent his Word by their Betters, but it h not fent To Me by my Betters, but By me to my Inferiors ; They were fent into the World the common Way/ and were af- terward fandtified by receiving Gods Word ; but I was firft fanctifled, and afterward fent; and if they who were Lefs extraordi- nary, were honoured with a higher Title, being called Gods ; can it be Blafphemy in me, who am their Superior, if I take to my felf a meaner Title ? Thus did he (like Elijah) contract himfelf to their Dimenlions, requiring only fuch a Meafure of Faith as was fuitable to their Underflanding, and his, own Defigns. Where he not greater/ than Mofes and all the Prophets , he could not have competent Power to ad- vance fuch a Kingom of God, as muft abrogate Thofe Laws which were writ- ten. ten by God's own Hand. It was therefore into fubjeftion to his Scepter r Lefs than this neceilary he fhould require fuch a Belief cannot fcrve his Ends, and More than this in hisPerfon, as might bring the World he doth not require. CHAP. VII. Of Belief with meer Refpetf to the Terfon of Chrift. In^ quifitivenefs concerning his Incarnation cenfured : Ftrft, becaufe Impertinent. Tl T i\ Tlth men refpeR to his Perfon, it of its Light from a Jewel, or the praife of VV i s no more neceilary that we aPhilofopher, or any lefs reafon, but only fhould underftand what he is, than it is for to benefit the World ; io neither did the day a Traveller to underftand the Features of fpring from on high vijit us tor any other rhr Sun When the great Queflion con- reafon, but to bring healing in his jKfog* ening the Eternity o? his Godhead firft Whoever thinks otherwife, muft ditto- pmbroiled the World, the Emperor Con- nour him more, and more effeaually deny 2 by^he moft efteemed of his Bi- his Divinity than ever any Heretick did : tos fenVothe Heads of the contending for he muft fuppofe at leaft fome Propom- & an 'every way gracious * Letter, on, between the Breath of Man and the oerfwadin-cachofrhemtor-lence: wherein Blood of the Lord. fc< -i. , fiSm^nv Swires for quietins the Dif- The Clown may think the Sun no bigger «wdlX Le hath than his Bufhel; but whoever hath the leaft G n S 'or deciding ir. . We (hall take , TinOure of Aftronomy, isaftonifoed at the been *riu <. i uc b vaft Difproportion, wherein the whole Earth notice of Three. ^^ jjj^ ^ mc fixcd $£ar . and i He coni^cmnctii it as a filly Queftion, when he further confidereth what innumc frrerfor Fools or Children, thanPricftsor rable Multitudes more arc di [covered by £ l °Cft« he prdfeth no lefs theTelefcope tohisEye, and beyond thai than eUt or nine times.. How juftly, we to his Reafon , upon conflagration o. mav K in three particulars. fuch a ftupendious Difproportion i betweer ma/ aiicuv.i r ^ Ear[h and fo many W orlds, bott I h iumprtinem to aur Lcrf, Deftgn. for Greatnefs and Brightncfs • he can , h L FruM to the Contcmflatm own -not think fo highly of its poor Inhabi I' L This Various tants, as to conceive their great Create turp[c. 3- ll « w>Z (rQUS - ihould be fo greedy of a little of their cot T It is impertinent to ow Lord's Dffign. rupt Breath, as to purchafc it : with , fud For a he Sun dcth not tone upon the a Fall from Heaven Himfe f obferve Wn3VrnMhw its felf a fmall Reflexion tons, that thofe who txerctfe Authori World tojg uu its luia u ^^ ^ ^ ^ M Bm ^ mi coul ■~*Eufeb.^4Conftant.a2 lf .^. we hajbor fuch bafe Thoughts of oi Lt#& as to degrade him from the Dignity of a Benefactor, to the Meanneft of a Tradefman, and that in the vileft Ware too, we muft implicitly deny his Divinity; but to fuppofc. him fo unskilful to his poor Trade, as to pay for his bale Ware, in- finitely more than its worth j this muft cajt no lefs Diftionour upon his Wifcjom th^a his Majefty. Yet this we muft do 3 it ue think he will grant Salvation upon no o- cher Terms, than a Belief of the whole- Truth concerning the Dignity of his Per fop. For this will imply, either tha: he Came and Suffered on purpofe to purchafe to himfelf the Honour of fuch a Belief, that_ he denieth to his faithful Ser I 3° J or vants That Benefit which he came into the World on purpofe to purchale for them. IVe maydo well a little, farther to com iidcr, that That part b£ Mankind whfch our Lord moft favoureth, are moft unable to pay him fuch a* Belief. He made ir matter of Thanks that his Father had bid the Gaffe! from the Wife and Prudent, and revealed tt to Babes $ and afterward St James' Served, that God had chofencthe Poor of this World Rich in Faith •• Yea when the Baptift fent two of his'Difciples to our Lord, asking, art thou he that fbould come, or do we looh^for another > our Lord anfwered him not in one Sylla- ble, Negative, or Affirmat've, but put him to fpell out the Truth by Signs, among which- this was the Laft, to the Poor the Gojf el WM f reached : which as it was a 3 Completion of Prophecies , fo was it a Sign of the Mefia, equal to his- mighty Work?. And muft the Poor, who were the Firft-Born of theGofpel, whofe Con- dition our Lord honoured witfr' his Birth as he did' their Perfons tfith^iV Con- verfation, who in all Parts of km World Full embraced the Faith,- and in all A- ges m?ke the much grcatcft Numbers- muft they be excluded from the Benefit- 3! Ctitilfs Redemption,, only becaufe by • : ggggggg gs tileft Suhool-raen in Obedience to our Lords Commas, i. e . they may w°h * tk an?' T^ Ce "^ to. oi inch a Belief, as is morally imooffible for them to acquire, though K fie and endeavor no left t0 conform |eS Be- he { to the Doftrines, than their Prafffui to the Commands of their Saviour. 1 Hat iuch a Conceit is no lefs contrarv rn the Behe of tbeFhfi P rcadle s ™ Rgg veisoftheGofpeJ, than iris to the fi ft Dilates of Reafon and Religion no En Dduples a Ephejm that had mtfo iZh J beam rrhewer there be any Holy a hot C had only b.en bapcr.d ,„i AWm tolu them no more p? Chrifi but this, M John am -iaftized mth the Baptfm*f /&•«« fc//r» Bnhik that fhould \ me >§SL tb« tbeyverc iMiek tnthe Name of the ProPhetd w? % £# T ^« ** prophejud When the Ethiopian i Eunuch b neved that*/* C^« the Son of God of whom //.,„/, propheficd, Philip LZ' dtately admitted him ro Ba'ptiiin ^ Atone iermon, Three Thouland became |I pies: Can any Man imagine that t ley undetfiood the whole Myfiery of thelnca? nation ? : -■ 7 ' U1C * Ilcai > fiJl'wT? f, , ,cceed; »8 Ages, as the Go- fpel fpread farther over the World • (o Ad the Cunofity of Doflors im pro ve m cxp.a,n,ng its ' JVlyCrery, and their Z^ jn PKffing . th„fc E^l.catfons nponThc Be- m of Difcip les : Yet in 7„fi;„ Martyr's T,me, though thev themfelvcs believed he Godncad of' Chrifi, they did m,f! unpofe this Beifcf u P on a/d^ £ to to deny Them .to be Chilians, who did be to every Quefltod wherein it is concern'-' not come up to it. This is plain by the ed ; and then it will follow, that weannot it. Words of "chat father to * Trypbon the Jew : Thaagb (faith he) I JJjall m. prove tbatCbrijt is God otberrrifa tfcm by fro:" irg tb.it I'm is the Qtoim und tftkt a im foretold thai be jhJdhfuch; yet it will be jujl that tboifhoidaefi believe we to U de- ceive A in that one Put at, an i not deny tbtt llight this Great one, without fome Neg- lect or Contempt of ou i Lord himfelf. Hue on the contrary, the Worth of a Prtfotition lieth not in its Mutter, but its ¥&rm\ not in its Terms, but their Connexi- on \ and \\ this be unworthy of Thofe,the Proportion is fo far from being the more this is the thrift, tbo^hhe feem to U a Mm to be valued for the Dignity of its Terms, born of Men, and J aid to be chofen to it that itis to be defpifed, and perhaps, con- Cbrifl: For I 'here are [me (my Friends) a- demned for debating them, by a Pofition unworthy of them. Though it be not rea- dable, yet its poffible to make a Pin o f Gold-} in fuch a cafe, it willnoc be an Un- deivalument to the Metal, to fay, that fuch a Pins Point is nothing worth, becaufe ic hath very little of the Metal, and no- thing of Serviceublenefs in it; but we muft jiiftly cenfure him that fhould put that foft noble Metal, to an Office fit only for a ba- fer and harder one. It is not the Matter, but the Point of this Qucftion which is now under Confidcration, and we do not difre- gard, but honour our Lords Perfon, when we cenfure a Difpute which cmployeth in ic Boys play. Such was the Judgment (we fee) of the great Qonftantine, when the Game was firft (ei on foot ; and fuch afterwards was that of mong us, rvbo frofejs bim to be the Cirri 8, and affirm bim to- be Man born of Men, with whom indeed I do not agree \ nor mll'm.iny fpeal^jo, wh are if the fame Opinion with me. By which Words it is plain, that however the Belief of Chr if Is Godhead was then mod generally received, yet were not the otherwifc minded excluded from the be- nefit of his Redemption as Unbelievers. Such was the Faith, and iixhthe Chari- ty of the belt Chriftians, b:fore Profperity had made them wanton, and Difputacity fierce. But now that the Qucftion hath coft fo much Paitr, Concciv.ion and Blood, it hath gotten a new Value, not from any new intrinfick Worth, but from the Price which it hath coft. This is the only Rea- fon of the Value of Diamonds, and This Qucfticn is like them, Coftly, Hard, and Leonas, fent by Conftanti-us, to moderate in U'fclefs •, and to mofl Eyes, as bright too. For it feemeth that the Honour due to our Lord's Peribn, mult impart a fuicable Va- * Ad Tryph. fud. the Council of Seleucia^ who finding the Bi- fhops fierce and endlefs at this Vufbpin, dif- milled them 'with chisjuft Reprimand,* G0, and play the Foo's at Home. *Socrat.Lib.i.-Cap.2l. CHAP. VIII. It is Fruit lefs towards the Inquirers own Satisfaction. H. \ Second Evidence of the Folly of Satisfaction; This is prefTed by the good 4% fuch an Enquiry, is this, That ic Emperor, in thefe. Words, How few are is Fruitless toward the Qi^eftionifts cwn there that can exactly enough difcern, or worthily. r 3* ) mnhilyenough exprefs the force of Matters it, wc had left wondered: but that they Iwedhty and abfirufe ? Or if there be any fhouid proofs to , inftruft us, yet doubly that believeth he can fo do, how few are difappomt us \ firft, by deriving ;it from a there amom the Multitude, whom he can wrong Father, and then by drafting us enable to SuUrftand it> And this is lively between two Ways ; wiiat is this, but to reorefented in out Lord's Emblem; The rerihe the Prophets Defcription of the- Briehmefs of the Sun, which to the Meffia, Who (hall declare his Generation! Traveller plainly Ihewcth his Way ; but And # what doth this fo careful Concealment if looked upon with a fixed and fteddy of his Generation, according to his Human View endeavoring to difcover the Fea- Nature, Jignifie more plainly, than a warn- cures 'of his Face, will fiiew nothing but ing againft iearcning alter the Eternal the Weaknefs of the Gazers Eyes; Generation ^of his Divinity Mf ,c were which now it will not inftru£t, but Da- neediefs /and therefore left impoffible) to zle* and the Light of the Gofpel to prove him derived from David, which a faithful Believer, fheweth fo much was one of his molt revealed Characters ; of our Lord's Perfon, as mult make how can it be otherwife, to underftand lis truft in his Words concerning the That Generation of his, which muft needs \Vav to Salvation; but if we will needs be fo much the more above our Under- enquire into the Myjlmes of his Divi- Handing, as the Nature of God is above My and Incarnation, we (hall find our our own? . Understandings no lefs confounded by m But Licouriihne/s after forbidden Fruit, the Brichtnels of the Myftery, than our is the Original Sin, whereof all the Sons Eves are by that of the Sun. And of of Eve are guilty, and the Chriftian this the Holy Ghoft feemeth to warn us, World hath been a greater Example, not only by a careful Silence concerning both of the Sin and the Pumfhment. our Lords Genealogy, but by exprefs Types For as loon as the Emperor became a and Prophecies concerning its Infcrutabi- tfurfwg Father, Teaching Fathers grew j^. v wanton. And the Bifhop of Alexandria This was fo known a Charafter of boldly anfwered the Prophets Queftion, the Meflia, that the Jews, thence, o^ri- J will declare his Generation ; but he did ved an Objeaion, We know this Man it in fuch nice manner, that Arias a ■wfrnce he is : but when Chrijl comet h, no Presbyter, cavelicd at it as contradicli- ' Man knoweth whence he is .- He is a Prieft ous 3 and while either of them was re- fer ever, after the Order of Melchifedec, of nacious of his own Afction, all the whom it is induftrioufly obferved, that Eaftcrn Churches were embroiled with lie was without Father, with-it Mother ^ fierce Contentions. To .quence this Fire and without Defcent. Two Evangelifts the good Emperor fent to the Heads of trace his, (our Lords) Genealogy : but the contending Parties, his abovementioned as they derive it not from his real, but Letter, which not availing, he convened luppofed Father ; io do they take two a General Council at Nice, of all the fevery ways, not to fatisfie, but amufe Bifhops of the Empire, who juflificd us. What is this but to admoniih us the Biihop, and excommunicated the ag'ainft Curiofity > The Pedigree of his Presbyter, who afterwards exhibited a Flefh might eafily have been , either Confeffion of his Faith to the Emperor, •Cleared, or Unmeiitioned. Had the E- who glad to find it confonant to the vanpelifls been wholly filent concerning hlicme^ fent ic -to a Council then aflem- bled C 5? 1 bled at Hierufalem, .That Council approved of ir, and lent their approbatory letters, both to the Emperor and the Bifhop ot Alexandria, whom thereupon the Emperor required to ad- mit Anus to Communion. But the Bifliop anfwered, that Anus was excommunicated by a General Council , and may not be re- ftored by any lejfi Authority. And that the D'fobedience might appear NrCcflTary, an im- portant word is found wanting in Amiss confelfion. And that word is now made mat- ter both of Condemnation againff /?riw who omitted it in his confeflion, and of D fpures among the Bifhops , who fubferibsd the Ni- cene. For thus fpeak* one of the mod partial Hi- ftorians. Socr. I i. c. 18. As wt plainly find by fever at Epiftles which after the Council Bi fliops -wrote to one another , the word [Ccn- fubifantial] grievoufly troubled jome '.f their minds : in fijtmg whereof while they (pent much time and pains . and too nicely endea- vouring to defcribe its force, they rai/ed among themjelves an inteftme war. and what they did, differed nothing from fighting in the dark; For they /earned not at all to under ft and why they railed at each other. A hundred and fifty years had this blind difpute raged,and at laft Was Determined as Blindly as it had been managed. For the Emperor Theodo/ius, find- ing Confiantine\ way unfuccJsful , becaufe the ztal of neither parry would admit of Si- lenre or Toleration ; took another courfe, by Silencing the One , and Authcriiing the Other : So he forbad all pen to contradrt what was t ught by the B ; (hops of Rome and Alexandria. Thus w.is the Kn }t cut which would not be untyed : Yet art' we not evm thus D (entan- gled. For later Ag'S, d'fputing the qu'ffon in the Scnools with lei H<.a<, but more S b- tility 5 hare determined the cjueftion quite o»herwi(e than Athanafius had done. For thus faith Athanafius in his Dialogue of this Subject : The divine nature is common to Fa" ther y Son, and Hly Gkofi, as the human na- ture is common to Peter, James , and John. And when the Adverfary objects, that then Father, Son , and Holy Gh.fi mufi be Three Gods, as Peter, James, and John are Three men; He dei.itrh that Peter , fames and John are Three men if they be of one M ind, becaufe then tbty are one in the Lord : But a Ht at hen, a Jew. and a Chrtfiian , are three mm becauje of three minds. And with a nearer rckmblance he addeth, the Father, Son, and H.G. a>e as Bifiop, Priefi, and Deacon ; but BiJJjop, Prttft , and Deacon are ouoacioi, therefore Jo are Father , Son, and Holy Ghofi. Athan. dial, de trinit. And might not a Heathen at this rate ju- ftifie Po'yrheifm, provided his Gods dif- agreed nor among themfelves ? The School-men therefore will not ifand to this ftate of the queftion, but difHnguifh between Per/on and fuppofitum rationale; which (yet) they cannot io do as ro fatisfie themfelves, and therefore fruiter themfelves in their impregnable fort , Myficry , and thence thunder upon the adversaries both of This and of another no k(s beloved My fiery : For rhev make this .:heir cock-urgu- ment for Tranfubfiantiatt.n ; T;.ar fmce the Scripture is no Ids expitfs for the One than tht Otbtr , and the Contrauicl < furprizing a queftion, he lent it to the Patriarch of C. P. who anfwered it nega- tively : but the Bifhop of Hierufalem conve- ned his Suffragans , and demonstrated , that thofe who believe but One Will, muft believe but One Nature ; and then the Emperor pub- lished an Edicl, that men muft not affert either that there is One or Two Wills and Aftions in Chrift. But his Grandfon called a Council which aflferted Two Wills, and anathematized them who averted but One. Yet after this again , the great Emperor Jufiinian began to compel the Bifhops to con- fefi, that the body of Chrtfi was not capable of any fuffermg or change^ and had not death prevented the accompliftiment of his defign, he had not only Reftored the Eutychian He- refy, but Outdone it. Thus have we pointed ('and only poin- ted ) at fome of the Many intangling Que- ftions, which puzzeled and divided the fubti- left wits of feveral Age?, and were at laft de- cided by no other Evidence, bur of Imperial and Papal Authority j fufficient to Silence difputes, but not to Srablifti truth. And who is he that is not dilcouraged from giving a Confident alien t to what is this way obtruded upon his belief; or fearching into thofe My- fteries, that have fo confounded the greateft Clerks ? Who can penetrate into fuch Hy per- metaphyfical Niceties, or reconcile fuch oppo- fit Aflertions ? W ho can moderate between the Patrons and Adverfaries of Confubftantia- lity,then between its Patrons The mftlves,and then again between its Firft Patrons and the E i School- c 36 : Schoolmen ? Between the Orthodox and the Neftorians, on one fide, and Eutychians on the other ? ^ We have before proved fuch a work Need- Ief s to faving Faith, becaufe the Poor, I e. the Greateff and , (perhaps the J Beft part of the world truy be faved without it , and now we find it ImpoiTible to be accomplifhed by the greateft Clerks becaufe the more they Search into it, the more they are Confounded : And if Authority mull at laft determine it, what better than that of the Great Conftantine, into Error : we fay nothing of the Danger of lofirg Charity by contention, Thai being too fenlibly proved by Experience. 1. There is danger of Blafphemy : for tho the Queftion appear Silly upon the two ac- counts now mentioned , yet is the Decifioa Formidable,bicaufe of the concern which our Lord's perfon hath in it. Soon after the Coun- cil of Nice had determined it , the Bigots be- gan to difzgree among themfelves •while they too curioufly examined the w>rd °y-^' : ^ '• for one fide thought that thofe who u fed that word which doth not give Approbation to Either fpake Blafphemy, as thinking the Son to have of the Sides , but cenfureth Both , not of Error, but of Folly. Chap. IX. It is Dangerous. III. A Third evidence of the folly of fuch jfV an Enquiry is this, that it is Dan- gerous- He that looketh upon the face of the Sun with a fixt eye , lofeth more than his Labour : for he hurteth his Eye ; and Story fpeaks of fome , that quite loft their fight by lU He that pryeth into the My fiery , will be opprejfedwith theglry, is a known Aphorifm ; he that boldly afferteth any thing concerning it, runneth himfelf upon Danger , fq much Greater, by how nwicp Higher the Matter of the queftion is , and J,-y" how much Grea- ter the Difficulty is or keeping right, without making a wrong ftep. The good Emperor in his abovementioned Better,, gave good warning of this double danger, We ought to reftrain cur (elves from talking , left when We cannot fujficiently ex* plain the Queftion. or our Hearers cannot fff- aently under ft and our- Meaning : eitfar > way the people be driven upon a meceffity of Blafphe- my or. Contention. The Danger is double. Fir ft., Left the Heigh: of the- Queftion run us into Blafphe- JS-y I. and thg% , left the. Difficulty- of it run us no fub fiance of his own -, and the other fide ac- cufed thofe who thought otherwife, and hated them as Heathens, becaufe they brought in the worjhip of Many Gods. O.i either tide , the fall is dreadful, and if we be fo fool-hardy as to adventure our (elves upon fo Dangerous a Precipice, what Commiflion have we to ex- pofe our Lord's Honour,or our Brother's Soql to the hazard ? If the bold enquirer Efcape the danger of Error at Laft , he is already fallen into a great one . by (b mean an opi- nion of our Lord's Perfon, as to, think it Com- prehenfible, . We fometimes fee Children in meer Sport and Bravery walk on the top of high and nar- row Walls, and This we allow as pardonable to their green underftandings ; but in a full grown man y we ftiould cenfure the Folly equal to the Danger 5 and both the one and the other fo much greater, by how much the Wall were both Higher and Narrower : What then muft we judge of thofe , that adventure upon the double danger , of Er- ror from the Abilrufenefs of the qucftior>,and Blafphemy from the Height of if? E'ther party chargeth the other with no lefs than _ Blafphemy ; and he that will adventure him- felf in fuch a Gontroverfy , had need of a fteddy head, and firm footing. But, %y This [ J7 2. This is a fecond danger, that we have n-> firm ground to go upon. How Unfound all Tnpicks are,we need no other evidence but this,that all are chalieng'd by either party with equal aflurance.Sw/>/«r« iheAnans^pt With thtO.thodox. Antiquity, they ever claimed with the fame conridence,0««<://^determined fometimes on one fide, and fometimes on the other, as the Emperors chanced to influence them. The only advantage of thcCathohcks, is long Pofleflion,and that,after Sentence.This may fuffice to filcnce the adverfe fide, but hardly to fatlsfie either the one or the other, if thofe Hiftorians may be trufted,whofe pro- ftffed partiality to the prevailing fide, hath preferved their works from Time and the Em- peror's Edia. They have indeed Co handled raauers,as to hide much, and vamifh all ; yet evenfo, we may pick out enough to j lftifie an appeal, by obferving how that Poifeflion wasfirft obtained, then continued, and at laft fettled. I. The Controverfie wa< fifi decided by the great Council of N^whofe Decree there- in hath ever been eftcemed equal to Scnp- ture,even by thofe who in other things reneg its Authority. Yet in this, rather than any o- ther fubje# may we wave it,upon a fufhcient reafonoffired us by another Council, which confirmed bath that Council of Nice and A. r/VsConftffion.Forthatof^w^ in their Letters to every City juftifie themfelves in thefc word-, # We do not follow Arius, but re- ceive him when be cometb to m \for how can it be [aid that we who are Btfrops, follow i\- rmswhoisbut aPretbyttrt It this have any fence, it muft be ot as good force at Nice mtAnttoch; and thereby, we may jaHge of the Sentence, which firft du '.rui- ned the ccntroverfie, not by the Merit ] of the caufe, but Intereft of the parties 1. The Vrogrefs of the Controverfie was of the fame piece. For when Arius, after his Condemnation, exhibited fuch a confeflion of his Faith, as fatkfied both the Emporor and the Council, then fitting at Hterufalem j and came with Letters from both, to his Bifhop to be reftored ; his B fhop re'ufed it, faying, that it was not lawful to refiore one that was excommunicated by the whole Church ; the Emperor angry at the affront, fendeth his mandatory Letter, threatning to deprive him ifhe difobeyed : And now the Controverfie 1 was tranfplanted, from Bifiop againft Vreiby ter^ to Ecclefiaflick Authority againft Secular) For though a pretence was found, to cavil at! the want of an important word in ArtusJ confeffion, yet that this was no better than i mere pretence,appeai?,becaufe many who hac fubferibed the Decree of the Council of Nice feconded the Emperor againft Athanafius whom a Council at Tyre condemned, and th( Emperor Banifhed to Treves, where he re mained during the Emperor's Life. After vvhofe death the Emperor Conjian tine fent him back to his Bifhoprick, alledg ing that his Father intended it, had not deatl prevented him. After the death of thisEmpe ror, Confantius again banifhed him, and h< fled to the Biihop of Rome, who recommend ed him to Confians Emperor of the Weft,wh< foefpoufedhirft and his caufe, and wrote I tffe&ually in his behalf to hi? Brother Cct flantim, as to require him upon pain of War to reftoie him. Conflantius for peace's fake complied, an after the death of both of h'.gPrethren.Patror of Athansfim, upon finance of a Council a Antioch, deprived him; he fir-erf- tgain^i Rome, whofe BiHop again embracetb 'in. Socrat* li> a« f« 1* nc [ 5« ] not only as a Champion otEcckfiaftical Pow- rer againil Secular, but as an opportune occa- Hfion of advancing the Roman See above all ,'bther Chriftian Churches.For by his Pontifical ,Letters he commanded the Bilbops of the Eaft, at a day by himfelf named, to (end their (Deputies to give him account of their pro- ceedings againft Athanafim and his party, ithreatning to deprive them, if they acled any ■ more in fuch manner. The Eaftern B'fhops jfcoffed at fuch his Letters, and in a Council it Sarin excommunicated him for commu- nicating with thofe whom themfelves had I excommunicated , and the Weftern Biflbops • n requital excommunicated the Eaftern, fo ; Torn a controverfie between Ecclefiaflicaland \ Secular Authority, rofe an immortal Schifm I set ween the Weftern and Eaftern Churches j : :he latter whereof,though they agreed in op- pofition to the Ufurpations of the See of | Rome^ yet grievcufly contended among them- j elves in That queftion which was the Mo- ! :her of all Contentions. I After one hundred and fifty years ftrug- | »ling, the Emperor had this account given I lim {a) 3 That the Weftern Churches were ! cept quiet, but the Eaftern were full of tu- i nult. If we examine the Reafbn of the For- i ner part of the aflertion, and the Truth/ of I he Latter, we find, that the Weftern Bifhops ' vere eafier to be led by the great Bifhop of I lome 9 not only by reafon of the Greatnefs ! f his City, but by reafbn of the Smalnefs of i heir own Understandings ; which were fuch, I hat at the Council of Ariminum, the great- : ft of all for number, they were circumvented i >y the Subtiler Greeks, and that fo grofly | faith the (b) Hiftorian, ) that when it was >ropofed,whether they would worfhip Chrift >r liioimv^ they cried they believed not in ho- mooti/ium, but Chrift. As for the Later part of the aflertion, the fame Hiftorian, ca, i. fay? 4 that the Arianshzd all the Eaftern Churches except that of Hierufakm. 3. The long and mifchievous controver- fie was at laft Settled by Theodofias , who ha- ving received his Inftru6tions and Baptifm from a Confubft antialift 3 required all his Sub' jeers to conform to Xbat Religion, which Pe- ter the Prince of the Apoflles from the begin- ning had delivered to the Romans, and which at That time Damalus Bifhop of Rome and Pe- ter Bifhop of Alexandria held: and That Church only foould be eftcemed Catholtck t which worshipped, the Divine Trinity with equal Ho- nour, and thofe who held the other, fhculd be called Hereticks, made infamous and punijh- ed. This we may therefore call Setling the controverfie, becaufe thenceforth all fucceed- ing Emperors and Bifhops wrote after this Copy ; and both the parties have ever worn thole Titles, which the Emperor by his Im- perial Power ( as the unqueftionable Foun- tain 6f Honour ) was pleafed to beftow up- on them. Behold now the ground, on which one of w our Fundamental Articles of Faith is Built i ^ Behold the juftice of That plea, which from fuch a pofTeflion would prefcribs to our Be- lief • We have traced it from its fpring,with no worfe intent than to appeal from the great Theodofius, who put it Above difpute, to the greater Confiantine,who put it Below difpute , and to filence the clamour of Herefie againft One party, by filencing the whole Contro- verfie in Both. And certainly, whoever (hall carefully ob- ferve, how the now ftablimed Do&rine was from firft to laft advanced by grofs partiality (;Q Socmen, li. 7. ca.4. (b) Ruffin.li. i.e. 21. [ ?9 ] of the moft guilty kind, and at laft impofed by a Novice Emperor, upon implicit Faith an two Bfh >ps , of whofe Sees the One brought it into the World, and the Other maintained it, and a new coin-d Trudirk i lately obtruded by the guiltier of thole £ but Un pleaded, becaufe Unheard of, in tb-le former Long and Miferable times, which it Might and Ought to have delivered from the convulfions they fuffercd ; Whoever I fay flball carefully obferve this, and withal, what foul tricks the Church of Rome ufed in the Weft, and with what ill fuccefs in the Eaft, whofe Churches did at laft more uni- vcrfally embrace Anus's opinion than at firfr, they condemned it ; may be tempted to num- ber the Athanafian among the Roman Do- ctrines, and cannot but think it fairly dealt with, if ( its boafted pofleffion pardoned J it be left upon the fame level with the Arian equally unworthy, not only of our Faith, but of our Study; If further we confider ( what the Hiftori- an exprcfly declarcth ) that at the rife of this controverlie, mod of the'Bifhops underftood not its meaning ; we cannot think it necefla- ry to Salvation, that every private Chriftian fhould believe That as an Article of Faith, which the beft Ages of the Church thought not worth knowing. AndifBifhop Alexander himfelf, the firft Author of the Nicety, and Head of the party, only ?± a v/a^nin^ to Herd with the Primitive Chiifti-.rs and Martyfsj who departed this i Win-!'', be' ore thi q utftion came] into . v V ii Difputr. Tin. Afkanafiam at hor Pl lytheifm nokfs j than do the sir ums : I em 1*0 infer it, ', y den] C quericej if this contradict the rules of keafoi ng, they avow ' it, for they allow Reafon no hearing in Myfi ( teries of Paitb. If this make them Hereticks, ' it is not in Religion, but in Logick. On the other fide, the Brians profefs to '; believe of Chrifl; whatever himfeli or his A- poftles have fpoken 5 and where one expreffi- on in Scripture feemeth to contradict ano™ I thcr, they take fuch a courfe to reconcile ! them, as the Laws and Cuftoms of all the ', World direct. It is very frequent for Rhc- torick to Exceed, but never to Diminifh the ' Grammatical character of a perfbn, whofe ho- nour the writer profefTeth to advance ; and upon this account they think it more reafon- able, that thofe expreffions which exalt our Saviours Perfon to an Equality with the Fa- ther, fhouldftoop to thofe which fpeak him Inferior j than, that thofe which fpeak him Inferior,fhould be Strained up to thofe which , fpeak him Equal : And however, this is the » Safer way, fmce it will lead us to fuch a be- 1 lief as will Suffice for That end, for whofe ■ fake alone Belief it felfis required. He that fo believethin Chrift, as the Tra thought fit to tolerate the oppofite Ariant (as veller doth in the Light, that with confidence the fame Hiftorians aver,) we can ill pretend to Charity, if we allow them no Title to Gods Pardon, or his Churches Communion. And more or Iefs than this v/c pretend not : we retort not Tfoodo/iuSsfenience of Herefie, Infamy, 01 Pumfhment • we accufe none but the Uncharitable of either fide; nor mention Blafphemy, but only to perfwade Silence, as in his Promifes ordereth every ftep by the di« rection of his Precepts, knowing that no Or- dinary, much more no Wife and Good man, will condemn thofe Means as infufficient s which effect the End for whofe fake they are Prtfcribed ; will not doubt, but his diligence in his gracious Lord's Service will obtain his Pardon for any fmcere error, though it fall the fecureft way to efcape it ; or Herefie, but Abort of full payment of Due honour to his Peifon [ 49 1 Perfon; yea, he will believe, that to think O! her wife, were an error more Unpardonable, becaufe more D {honourable, to That Jultice and Goodnef^, which make his chief cha- racter. - "\- Yea, if from his Clemency in Pardoning, we turn to his Juftice in Punifhing ; either party may in That Court plead for Juftifica- tion. This is the fum of the Promifes given by our Lord to fuch as believe in him. He that fobelieveth in Him as the Traveller dorh in the Light, ftull in the end as certainly attain Eternal Life, as the Traveller doth his Jour- neys end j though concerning our Lord'* Per- fon he may be as much miftaken, as the Ig- norant, but Induftrious Traveller,who know- eth nothing of the Greatnefs of the Sun's Bj- dy, or the Nature of its Light. For as the End when Accompli(hed,jufti(ieth the Means to be Sufficient ; fo a Divine v Life juftifieth the Faith that Worketh it, and the Perfon that Hath it. But Faith cannot produce This Effec1:,fur- ther than it proceedeth from the Perfon to his Words j which therefore only are believed to he True, becaufe the Speaker is believed to be Faithful. We rruft therefore proceed to enquire, What are thofe Sayings of our Lord, which upon the credit of hisVerfon, Saving Faith is to believe in order to Eternal Life ? Chap. X. 0/;^WORD or Matter which is the Objett of Faith. T Hus far we have considered thePERSON" in whom we are to believe : Come we now to the other obj c"t, of Faith, the WORD or Matter, which we muft take up- on credit of that Perfon. This makethmore trouble in th-; World than its difficulty re- quired. The disagreements of the Reformed among r.h^mfelves is a Scandal to the Roma- nia, who thence infer, That there is no reft but in the Bofomof their Church, which will embr ce none who do not fubmit their un- demanding? to her Dictates. The Reformed, befide Recrimination, ( which is perhaps a Sufficient, but not Honourable pka,) anfwer, that their difagreements concern nor Fur.da- mmtaly but only Indifferent truths. H.r^up .n the Romanifts call for a Cata'ogue of Funda- mentals : and did they doit Sincerely, Chari- ty .would require a compliar-.ee with the de- mand j but as long as they profefs themfelves obiiged to believe all rhe determinations of their Council of Trewr, it is plain, that fuch a Lift would do them no other fervice, but to be caff as a bone of contention amonj? thofe, who according to the LargeneSs or S reight- nefs of their minds, judge more or Fewer Articles neceSTiry. Our excellent Dr. Hammond, to fjlence the clamorous with a jutt character of a Fun- datnemal) hath written an exprefs Treatife, discovering that the word importethRelation to a Buildrng^Wich muft be thereupoii Stiper- ftru&cL «and Since holineSs or life is the Build- ing, every Article of Fairh muft be juft fo far Fundamental, as it fupporreth That Building. This is a Great Truth ; but how Insufficient for our Satisfaction, needeth no ^ 41 ; no other evidence than the admirable Do&or's own Enumeration, which every one will not receive for adequate : It is like an Advertifement in a Gazette, which however Exatt, cannot fecure me from Miftake, if I meet the Man defer ibed. We ftiall therefore fliew, not only the Marks, but the Perfon ; not only fuch Qualifications as are neceftary to make a Truth worthy to be matter of Faith •, but thofe individual Truths, which our Lord hath exprcfly advanced above all their Fellows to that Dignity. I. The Qualifications for Matter of Faith muft be principally thefe, 1 It muft be Eafe to be undtr flood by the meaneft C apacity. To the Poor the Gofptlwas preached, and 'by fuch it muft be un a- frood, that it may be Believed. Betide plain Jufticc, which will not Reap where it hath not Sown; beiide what we have heard of the Apoftle's Boaft, that the light of the Gcj'pcl cannot be hid, but to thofe whofe txes are not only Dimnfd,but quite Blinded, and cf his Jcaloulic, left the Corinthians minds ikifdd be corrupted from the Simplicity which & ra drift : Beiide thefe and other Evidences, it is worth Observation, that the fame Apoftle in his Epiftle to the lumavs, wherein he difputeth againftthe jews, in behalf of the Right coufnefs which is by Favh, as oppofed to that vrhtch is by the Law, is careful to prevent any Conceit, that the Matter of Faith was more Ob- fcurc than that of the Law • and there- fore ch. 10. v 6. &c. he recitcth the Boaft of Mofes, Deut. 30. 12. applying them to Faith in Chrift : No Height , nor Depth, nor Diftancc of any kind, puttcth it out of reach-, it is not only in our Eve, but in our Mouth ; and to put the Truth beyond fufpicion, in the 9th Pcrf he giveth us a plain account both of Perfon and Matter : ff tmn fralt conffs with thy month the Lord Jcfm, and ftalc believe in thine heart that God hath raifed him from the dcad t thon ftmlt be faved ; and this (faith he) is the word of Faith which we preach. By which and the following words it is plain, that Apoftle was fo far from thinking it an Honour, that he judged it a great De- fed, if there were any Difficulty in Matter of Faith. It is true, he fpcaketh with much amazednefsin his Epiftle to the Ephefians, of a great Myftery, which (yet) though it feemed hard to him to be believed, is eafie enough to be underftood} for il fignified only this, That the Gentiles wen Fellow heirs of the Promifes with th( Jews : And when he inftruclcth Timothy row to behave himfelf in the Houfe 0! God, he tellcth him of the great Myttcr) of Godlinefs, which concerneth only tin Perfon to be believed in, but not the Mat- ter to be believed. And in no other wore of Scriptuie do we meet the leaft Intima tion of any Boaft or Confefiion, that Faitl hath any hard Task for the the Underftan ing to perform. 2 • 1 1 m u ft be an exprefs Word of God ; C< faith the Apoftle in the 17th Vtrfc, Faiu comcth by hearir.g, and hes.rr/g by the word God. And fo faith the very Nature Faith : It is Jnftice to God^s Veracity,an< therefore can have nothing to do, wher there is no Word to believe. It muft not be denied, but plain Reafo is another Word of God •, and therefor wrrnt that inferrcth by inconteftable Con fequencc from a written word,muft be r< caved with a Belief equal to the Evidenc of that Confcquence : But if the Relaiio between the written Word and ration; Confcquence be fo remote , that nor but a skilful Herald can derive its P( digrecj then is a good Chriftian no moi obliged to believe fuch an Inference, tha is every good Subject to be a good Hi raid. F T&i That our Lord trebled his Command npon St. Peter, to fed his Lambs, viz believe with utmoft afl'urance, becaufe we find it in the written Word, and thence infer that he gave him Authority and Power :o preach the Gofpel, inftead of his for- mer employment in Fifhing, becaufe plain reafon infer ret h, that he could not other- wife perform the O'ficeof a good hep- ierd; but that he thereby commiflioned, |ot only St. Pterin Perfon, but all his iucceflbrs in the See of Rome, to rule all Jcrfons and Nations, that in all Ages fliall >e of ChrifTs Flock, with as abfolute 3 ower as a Shepherd doth his Sheep, and :hat all the Flock muft obey him with he fame tamenefs as the Sheep do their |>hepherd : This can therefore be no | natter, either of Faith or Reafon, becaufe he Confequence is beyond the ken of any Eye or Telefcope. 3. Matter of Faith, properly fo called, jnuftnot only be exprefly revealed, but I Exprefly honoured with the Promife of eternal I life to the Believer : For though a 11 G od's |Words be Equ^ly ( becaufe Infinitely ) True ; yet are not all equally Gofptl. That l>>. Paul left his Cloak behind him,-and wrote I o a Bifliop to bring it after him, we be- lieve with as much Confidence, but not |vith as much Deference, as that Christ l tied and rofe again. Our Saviour preached ,nany Moral Truths, which (yet) were ! lot properly Matters of Chriftian Faith, i»ecaufethe World was acquainted with 1 hem before Chrift appeared in it. We nuft therefore carefully diftmguilh be- ween what is written, and what isGofpel.- nd that to the Gofpel only, and not to ny other Truth, was given the Fromife, Marl \6 15. Co ye into all the world, and reach the Cofpd to evtry Creature. He that dievethand is baptized, pall be faved; but >e that believeth not, pall be dammd. It is to he Gofpel, and to the Gofpel alone, that pis Saving and Damning Power is given V f* / by our Saviour •, and therefore whoever afcribeth it to any ether Doctrin, how- ever true, yea, however revealed, maketh himfelf Equal to Chrift in Authority, and Superior in Faithfulnefs .• Equal in Power by Granting or Denying Salvation ; and Superior in Faithfulnefs, by difcoverine fome way to Salvation, and fome Danger of Damnation, which our Lord left undis- covered ; and confequently, leaving every fincere Believer in danger to perifh with- out Fault. For then, whoever doubeth or Disbelievcth the Additional, though he believe all that our Lord hath required (which are no fmall nor mean part of Chrifthns,) muft perifh, not for Graying from the Faith, but for want of a Faith- ful Shepherd. And here I cannot but repeat my for- mer complaint, That in the midft of fuch hot Difputes concerning the very Princi- ples of our Religion, the moft obvious and moft important Remarks are neg- leded. In the Difputes concerning >/?;- ficaijon by Faith, we found St. Paul might be reconciled with St. James in that que- ftion ; in the fame manner as with Him- felf, in the Promife he had made of every Man's efcape, with the Warning he after- ward gave of their Danger, if'the Mari- ners went off; the one and the other equally accounted for, by a plain Rule, that AH Promifes imply whatever is neceffa- rily fuppofed. And in the Matter now be- fore us, we have another, and (if poflible ) a greater Blunder of the fame kind. No- ting can be more Obvious, Important, or NegleEted, than this (not Remark for our Reafon, but) plain Matter of Fall:; that there are Some Truths offered to our Belief by our Lord and his Apoftles, With a Pro- rmfe annexed, and others without any fuch Promife-, and from this undeniable and unavoidable Truth, thefe Corollaries will 101 ce themfelves upon us. 1. Then I . There can he no need of an Interpreter of Scripture, or Determiner of Donbts concerning matters of Faith. For if thofe words of Scripture, which inform us of what is Ne- seffary to be bcltevcd,be fo plain and fo often repeated, that no Man can mifs their true meaning; then every Man's own Faculties are fo far Infallible, as to put him out of danger ; and if any other Word of Scrip- ture be doubtful, there is no harm if it re- main fo ftill ; but if any, out of meer love to truth, fincerely labour to find it out in all its corners ; his Endeavours will be ac- cepted, and his Miftakes (if he fall into any) will be pardoned. 2. The Scriptures carmot be denied to be Suffi- cient, though they may have fuffered the common Fate of all long-lived Books, by Carelefhefs of Copiers, Fraud of Here- ticks, or Dufl of Time. Many ofthe Apoftles Writings (doubt- lefs) are loft •, but that hindereth not the Sufficiency of thofe which we enjoy: yea, if all the reft ofthe Scripture were loft, but only thofe Texts which proclaim thofe Truths,to the Belief Whereof eternal Life is promifed ; thofe few Texts would be fufficient. Nor doth this flacken our Obligation to Thankful nefs for the reft j for as it is in Temporals, fo it is in Spiri- tuals •, God's Bounty is not meafured by our bare Neceflkies ; he is Rich towards hs, fupplying us not only withNeceflaries,but Conveniences; not only Bread of Life to keep us from Perifhing, but many other Truths to fealt our Curiofities, wherein (yet) as in corporal repafts, he requireth Sobriety. 3 . We 'Med not, ought not to be uncharitable to any who difftr from us in other Doltrins, to the Belief whereof the Vromift is not appro- priate, efpecially if they agree with us in thofe, to which it is fo. We are fure that they are Heirs with us of the fame Promife ; and if we hate them who love God, and are by him beloved, foch Uncharitable- nefs is both a greater Error and a greater i Crime, than their Miftakes in doubtful things can be. 4. And which is now in our Eye, There can be no need of a Catalogue of Fundamen- tals, becaufe the Scripture hath particular- ly enumerated what Truths are neceffa- rily to be believed. Did not our Eyes compel us to it, we fliould hardly think it poifible, that any\ who had the leaft acquaintance with the> N.T. could efcape the difcovery of fo plain a Truth. When we therein find a Doctrin- treated like Mordccai, with a Proclamation before \t,Bow the knee, Thus it fiall be done to the truth which the Lord ddightcth to htr.our , and others left in the Street, among the vulgar Truths efore of thefe men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jefus went in and out among us, -muft one be ordained to be a wit- r.efs with us of his Refurretlion. And accord- ingly throughout the reft of that Book, do we always:- find them infill, upon this,' afc the main of their bufinefs. In the former half of thefe words doth our Lord argue it nece(Tary,that his Death and Refurrection ihould be foretold and performed, that Repentance and Remitfl- on of Sins might be preached in his name, *'. e, as by him promifed, a*nd by his own Refurrediori fecured ; for the Remiffion which the Prophets had pvomifed, reached no further than Temporal Punifommt j but that: which Chriit promifed reached after Death to everlaftrng Life. This is plain by the Apoftle^s Difcourfe abovementioned, which as he clofeth with a Triumph over Death, the fling of death is fin, and the flrength of fin is the Law, but thanks be to God who giveth us the vitlory, through our Lord Jcfus Chrifl, fo he build- eth the aflitrance of our own victory upon that of Chriit \ If the dead rife not, then is Chrift mtraifed, and if Chrift be raifed, year . ' Faith Faith is Ktibt, you are yet in your fins. be good one way, it is fo the If the Confequenee other : If the Being in our Sins follow from the denial of ChriiTs Refurredtion, "then mult Remifinn of Sins import Re- furrection from Death. Both of them de- pend upon the Relation between Sin and Death. Thellirgof death is fin ; and again, the wages of fin- is Death; and therefore a full and perfect Remiflion of Sin, cannot but import a full and perfeft Deliverance from Death. So the Sum total of the Gofpel, which our Saviour himfclf preached in his Life- time, and commiifioned his Apoftles to preach after his Refurredtion, is this,That thofe who believe in him, fhall upon Re- pentance have fuch a full Pardon of Sin, as to be delivered from Death \ and that Chriir. who hath promifed this, hath given us an Earned of it, by riling hirafelf "from the, Dead. There is indeed an under- truth or lb, which is prefied upon 1 our Belief as Ne- ceflary. For the Apoftle teJleth the Gata- t tans ^ If you he circumcifed Chriftprofittthyott nothings you are fallen from Grace, yon are debtors to the whole Law. This I call an Under-truth, becaufe it implieth a Belief of Benefits promifed by Chrifl,part where- of was a New Covenant, better than that of Mofes : This we heard promifed by the Prophet, and infilled on by the Writer to the /Hebrews, as the Character of the Gofpel ; but was fo far from being by our Lord honoured with a Promife of Eternal Life, that the Apoftles tKemfelves doubted of it, till the Holy Gholt had decided it in Council. Nor is this an Exception to our Rule, that it is beyond the Power of all the Men in the World, yea, or of all the Angels in Heaven, to make any thing an Article of Faith, which the Holy Scriptures have: not made fo, by annexing to them the Promife of Eternal Life, which therefore we now find to be it felf no lefs thzMaiter than the Reward of Faith. n HAP. XI. Of t he mxrineroftheRefurre8hn>n>hether in thefameBody or another; THat a Refurredtion from the Dead is the proper Matter of the-Chrifti- an Faith, we have (I hope) fufficiently proved : but concerning the Manner thereof, it doth not fo plainly appear what we are to believe. The Apoftle, in that folemn Diatribe, that he might leave no- thing untonch'd, advanceth either a Que- ition or an Objection in the 35th Verfe; But fome man will fay, how are the tlead raif- ed up, and with what body do they come ? If an Objection, it may be thus urg'd ; the Dead are fo buried, that it feems ut- their : Se3, Limbs, fome whole Nations burn dead , many are drownM in the where they are devoured by Fifties, thofe Fifties again by others , which perhaps come to the Market and feed other Men ■> and by many other ways are the Particles fo difpersM, that it fecms utterly impoffi- ble to retrieve them. If this be objected againft the Truth of Refurredtion, the roughnefs of tho Apo- ftle's Anfwcr will be juft ; they are Fools in doubting God**s Omni potency : all thelc or whatever other (ShangftS any man's Be- terly impoifible their Bodies fnould be re- dy may undergo, are not greater than the ftored': Princes many times have their Chymift makes in his Mercury, which Bowels buried at great diftance from their yet again he eafily recalls to his form. He that that made all things of nothing, can by the fame powerful Word command every Particle to its proper Body ; nor is he lefs a Fool who doubts whether God will do this if he have promifed it •, becaufe it is poffible for God to perform fuch a Pro- mife, but it is not poflible he fhould break it. ButiftheQueftion be, Whether God has promis*d this, fo that we do not doubt either his Power or his Veracity, but only our own apprehenfion of the meaning of his Word ; this doth not impeach any of God^s perfections, but only our ownun- derftanding : it cannot be Injufticc againfl; God, whom in the midft of fuch doubts we undoubtingly believe to be infinitely true: but it is juflice to our own under- ftandings, which we do not only believe, but know to be fallible. If therefore we find the fame Words vulgarly ufed in ano- ther Scnfe, more agreeable to plain Rea- fon and GodV Perfections ; then may we cafily enquire, firft, Whether any promife of God does ntceffarily import a reftitmiun of the fame numerical matter? if not, then may we proceed to enquire, fecondly, Whe- ther it be honourable to God, and moie ftr~ viceable to the Defigns of the Gofpelj that we believe the contrary ? ¥irft,Whcthcr the Word of Promife necejfa-, rity imports a Reftitution of the fame numcri- tal matter? This is fully and clearly an- swered, as foon as in common fpeaking we find the fime Words iifed in a lefs rigid fenfe • but if we obferve how the Apoflle himfelf hath anfwered this very Queftion, the leail that we thence learn is this,That fuch a meaning is not matter of Faith, iince he hath left it doubtful, and the con- trary more probable : for thus he anfwers, Thou Fool, thou [owe ft not the body that fiiall be, but Godgiveth it a body as it fleafeth him, And to every feed its own body. Does not this * plainly deny a Refurrection of the fame numerical Particles ? Thou fowefl a little fingle Grain, which when it is corrupted* rifeth in Root, Stalk, Blade, Ears, and Grains, thoufands of times more in mat- ter than was fowen •, God giving the body, and yet to every Seed its own. What confequence can thence be clearer than this, That every one may at the Refur- rection receive his own Body, tho' it be not the fame that was buried? And we may yet farther confider, that, this is the conftant way of Nature in all- living Bodies, which we reckon the fame while they keep the fame Forms, tho" 1 they change every Particle of xMatter : Grant therefore, that thofe Words of Job, Th£ worms confume this ftejh, yet with the fe eyes jlhtll I fee God, exprefs his confidence pf a. Refurrection ; yet will they figniffe, no more than this,. That tho' perfpi'ration confume every atom of my Flefh, yet fljiall my Eyes be as much the fame, andVfee as well,as if there were no change in themjand if there be no more required; from other Topicks than from the Letter of the Pro- mife, we are at liberty to believe what fhall feem moil probable. The ufual Ar- guments are two ; firft, from God's Ju- flice, and fecondly, from the Servicea* blenefs of the Belief. Firll, it. is argued, That it is juft< that, the fame Body which was ftjarer in the Sin or the Service, flwuid alfo be Jliarer in the Punijliment or Reward. But if we will fpeak properly, the Body hath no fhare either in the one or the other ; for Matter neither aeteth nor perceiveth,but the Soul by the matter. 2 Cor. 5. the Apoflle likens our Body to- an Houfe, and to Cloaths j. ' the, Man dwells in the one/and moves in the other , yet neither the one nor the other fhares Life with him ; and therefore to argue, that it mufl be the fame Body that fhall, receive Punifhment at the Refurrection, is the fame as to fay, the Malefactor muft be Executed in the fame Cloaths wherein* ZWJ wherein he committed the Crime, i So many years paft between the Inju- ries which Jofeph received from his Bre- thren, and the Honors which he received fvoiw Pharaoh, ard .hereby his whole body was fo changed, that his Brethren knew him not} and there were yet greater Changes boch -in His and Their Bodies, before their Father's Death ", yet were not their Conferences changed, but in their Old Age they feared his Revenge for the Cruelties of their Yr uth : and it humane Juflice punifh an old Crime, tho* 1 between the Act and the Difcovcry every Particie of i he Body be c! "ang'd, becaufe the fame Soul makes him the fame Pcrfon ; how can we doubt but Divine Juftice may at the Refurie&ion do the fame? Secondly, IVhrther it be more honourable to God to believe the one or the other, is the fame as to ask, Whether it be more hono- rable to falve all his Perfections, or to rob one that we may cloath the other? If we. fo believe, as to magnifie God's Veracity in performance of his Promife, and his Ju- ftice in distributing Rewards and Punifh ments -, will it not more juftifre his Wif- dom, to believe that he will act fuitably to that order of Things, which himfelf hath efhblifned, than that he will unaccount- ably exercife his Oranipotency ? It is not (weeonfefs ) it is not for lilly Men to prefcribe Rules for God's VVifdom in its particular acts : but we mull have a clear and diftinct Definition of the Nature of Wifdom in general, otherwife we pay him but an empty Word when we afcribethat Perfection to him, and ue might as. much honor him by faying he is linwife. Now, that Definition whereby we undent and Wifdom, importeth a choice firftof a good End, and then of fuitablc Means : if there- fore the means be unfuitable, either in Kind or Proportion, that will make a de- fect in Wifdom. Should we fee a Man yoke a whole Plough of Oxen, to draw a weight which a Child could carry in one of his hands, we fiiould certainly think him better furnifhed with Cattel than Un- derftanding: and to believe that God will by his Omnipotency work as many Mira- cles as he fhall raife Bodies, when all his Promifes may be as well verified, and all his good Ends as well promoted in a way lefs miraculous, mult be no lefs a Dimi- nution of his Wifdom than Exaltation of his Power, fince all that exercife of Pow- er which tends to no good purpofe, is vain and impertinent. Let us then consider to what purpofe is the Refurrection promis'd, and our Belief of it requir'd? The Apoftle hath pro* claim'd twoefpecially , firit, That our joy might be full •> and fecondly, that we may partake God's Nature. I. The Refurrection is therefore pro- mifed that our joy may be f nil: and If we coniider the Strength of Wifhes, and the Faintnefs of Hopes, which Mankind with- out Chrift laboured, under :, we may thence compute how great a joy the Pro- mife may bring to a longing mind. The Words pK&efc&la in his 1 02 Epif}. g^ives us a good Hypoty polls of it: J took flea jure to debate upon, the Eternity of Souls, nay more-, I was fully rtfolved therein; for I eafdy belie- ved the. Opinions of great A/en rather promi- sing than proving jo gnat a matter. J gave my ftlf over to this fo great hope, and now grow hate jul to my ftlf ; and now contemn the Rdi<\ues of my broken Iiars^ being ready to he transferred uto that immeafurablt time and pojjclfwn of that infinite Eternity, when as [ucl- aeniy I was awakened by the Lttter, which made me difmifs fo fiveet a Dream, fpfoeff herc.it 1 er I will revive and redeem again as fgqq as I j'.\tti have jatpfied thy expUkition. Such were the feeble t-'lu. terings p(% „.- b. in- humane Wiftom, wanting the C ■V4J8J The ftrength of their Willies raifed them a little towards Hope-, but wanting fup- port, quickly fell back again to fear ; fo their joy was no better than Sufpence, none of the eaileft pbftures. revealed that we ihall be i*»'xw» eqnalto the Angels, that his Apoitle hath no lefs plainly declared, that our Lord will change Our vile Bodies, that they may, be like his own Glorious Body, that the Refurre&ion fhall In t wo refpe&s- especially was their Joy make great and glorious variety of Chan ges, from Natural, to Spiritual, from defective ; {.Want of Confidence to the Per fons from whom they received the PmmifeS ; and 2. Scantnefsofithe Hapfimfs prornifed. i. They had no confident Belief in the Terfons , whom the Philofopher calleth indeed Great Men, but complaineth that they proved not what they promt fid They were Great, not by Nature or Comraiili- on, but by Study ; had no better War- rant for their promifes, than what were dictated by partiality to their own Wilhes, not the leaft pretence of Power to make them good. But the Author of the Gofpel is a Perfon not only Great, but Infiniie -, and no lefs fo in Power,than Faith fulnefs \ fo that there is no place for the kail di- ftruft. " 2. Another, (and to the prefent purpefe more confiderabje , ) defeat of human hopes was in the Scantnefs of expected happi- nefs ; it was Immortality indeed,huta Car- nal one. They pretend to anfwer Job's complaint,by equalling a dead manVhopes to thofe of a Tree, which fprings again when it is cut down •, but they had no thoughts of fuch a Harveft as the Apoftle promifeth. And that the hopes of the Pharifees were no better than thole of the Philofophers , feemePh plain from that objection, wherewith the Sadduces pretended to gravel our Saviour : For it cannot be reafonably imagined, butamidft: fo long Converfation, and fo many Dif- putes,as hadfawed that queftion between them ; the Pharifees mult needs have bet- ter informed them,- if themfclves had wi- der ftood the difference between the Pre- fent Life and the Future. And now that our Lord hath fo plainly Weak* to Powdrfulj from Corruptible, to Incorruptible, &c That we fhould ft ill be fo fond of cur load of Carrion, as to think it a diminution of our happinefs, if we be not: "again yoaked to the fame dead mat- ter v feemeth' no lefs a contradiction to the defires of Nature, than to the Promi- fes of Scripture. This (fayfome) will be the >joy of the Rcfirrredtion, that the two^ aid Friends meet arid embrace each other. But a little confideration will anfwer,. that fuch a meeting would not be of oldFriends but of eld Enemies. How can we read the 'ith Chapter to the -Romans, and find there defenbed the War I between the Flc(h and the Spirit? How can we hear that fad crv, Oh wretched \\ 'man that J am, who will deliver me from this Body of JjfaM yet think it matter of joy to be remanded to it again ? Do we not find him often exhort- in?; to mortifie our members which are upon the earth, and dothhenotpropofehimielf for example, beating down his body and keep- in