I 
 
A 
 
 PRESENT 
 
 FOR 
 
 Protestants, Romanists, 
 and JEWS; 
 
 B E I N G A 
 
 FREE INQJJIRY 
 
 After the Church or Kingdom of the 
 MESSIAH: 
 
 IN A 
 
 LETTER 
 
 TO THE 
 
 Titular Popifli BiHiop oi London ^ 
 
 Author of a Tract, intituled, 
 
 ^he Unerring Authority of the Catholic 
 Church in Matters of Faith y Sec, 
 
 By a COSMOPOLITE. 
 
 Let fubtle Schoolmen teach thefe Friends tojighty 
 
 More Jiudious to di<vide than to unite. 
 
 And Grace and Virtue, Senfe and Reafon fplit 
 
 With all thi rajh Dexterity of Wit : 
 
 Wits, juji like Fools, at War about a Name, 
 
 Ha've full as oft no Meaning, or the fame. Pope. 
 
 Tea, and n^hy judge ye not of yourf elves ivhat is right P 
 
 Lukexii. 57, 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 imprinted for J. R o b i n s o n, in Ludgate-Jlre^t, 1 7 <? ?, 
 ( Price A/ Shilling, ; 
 
 f 
 
( I ) 
 
 Reverend SIR, 
 
 Iff ^ y ITHOUT any Intention to detfaft 
 
 % j^ / from the Merits of your prwate 
 
 %/^/ Charader, but only for the Sake 
 
 ▼ T of Truth, 1 acidrefs you in this 
 
 public Manner. The Subjed: of the following 
 
 Sheets being of thegreateft Importance, as you 
 
 yourfelf acknov/ledge, I may perhaps htfome- 
 
 times too warm, and, in confequence of thajc 
 
 Warmth, a" little too poOiive : Yet, upon the 
 
 whole, I hope it will appear, that I have not 
 
 deviated from Modefty, Candor and Charity, 
 
 eftner that thofe with v/hom I differ in Opinion. 
 
 Having a great deal of Matter before me, 
 which I want to bring into a nar ow Com- 
 pafs, my Preamble muil be fhort. Wlien the 
 Subjedl is material and the R-eafoning good, a 
 Book needs no Preface : If the one is trifling 
 and the other bad, a Preface cannot make them 
 better. 
 
 There is no Point clearer in the Bible, than 
 that t\\tje'ws fhallbe converted and dwell again 
 in the Land of Canaan in the lat er Lays : 
 And it is no lefs clear, in the Reafon and Narure 
 of Things, that the Iniquities, the fcandalous 
 Examples of Chriflian?, the many Se6ls into 
 which they are fplit, the end lefs Divifion^^ and 
 Qiiarrels between Chriflian Princes, are infur- 
 mountable Bars to the Converfion of that Feo- 
 
 B pie. 
 
( 2 ) 
 
 pie. When 2,Jew beholds the idolatrous Frac^ 
 ticcs of fome Nations that profefs themfelves 
 p'ollov/ers of the Mejfiah^ and the various, dif- 
 cordant Creeds, or Syflems of Faith, of Mens 
 making, eftablifhed in all as Terms of Com- 
 munion or Conditions of Salvation ; he mull 
 be a Man of great Penetration, or elfc have an 
 extraordinary Meafure of divine Grace, to fift 
 the Wheat from the Chaff, and fettle himfelf 
 in the Truth. Such I ivifions among Chriflians 
 flrengthen his Prejudices and confirm him in 
 his Incredulity : In vain do they tell him that 
 the MeJJiah came above 1 700 Years ago ; he 
 obftinately fhuts his Eyes to all the Proofs they 
 can bring of it, becaufe they cannot prove, to 
 his Satistadlion, that they are the Difciples of 
 Chrifi. If Chriflendom aded up to the Doc- 
 trine of the Prince of Feace^ the Jews would 
 foon be convinced that he rules in the World 
 by the Comforter^ the Sfirit o'i 'Truths whom 
 he promifed and did actually fend a few Days 
 after his Afcenlion, and does fliill fend, though 
 not in the fame miraculous Manner, to all that 
 fincerely defire to be direded by him. 
 
 But how can we expe6l Unity, Harmony 
 and Peace in the Chriftian World, while any 
 Part of it thinks itfelf abfolutely, not condi- 
 tionally, fecured from Errors in Matters of 
 Faith ? So long as any Set of Men believe 
 themfelves infallible^ the natural Confequence. 
 is, that whether they be in Error or not, they 
 will never have Charity for others : A firm 
 Perfuafion of being always in the Right, is 
 necefTarily attended with a domineering Spirit, 
 »nd keeps Men under a moral ImpofTibility 
 
 of 
 
( 3 ) 
 
 of Amendment. This flumbling. Block mufl 
 therefore be taken out of the Way, before any 
 good can be done for the Jews. To attempt 
 to put that Nation on a better Footing in tem- 
 poral Concerns, and to be at the fame Time 
 indifferent about their fpirituallnterefts, looks 
 too much like Beginning the Work at the 
 wrong End. 
 
 That the Difpute about Infallibility is a 
 Point worthy of the mod ferious Confideration, 
 is aiTerted by all the Divines of the Roman 
 Church. — ' There is no Controverfy in all 
 
 * polemical Divinity ('fay you) the right Deci- 
 
 * fion of vvhich is of more Importance, than of 
 
 * this concerning the unerring Authority^ or, 
 
 * as it is commonly term'd, the Infallibility of the 
 
 * Church of Chrift : Becaufe the Refolution of 
 
 * this Difficulty, is, in effed, the fhortefl: Way 
 
 * to put an End to all Difputes ; at leaft, if it 
 
 * may be fairly refolved on the Catholic Side : 
 
 * For v/ho will prefume to difpute againft the 
 
 * Sentence of a Judge, whom he is forced to 
 
 * acknov/iedge infallible in his Judgment ?' 
 
 To ux this Infallibility In the Ro mi fij Chinch^ 
 is the Defign of a Treatife you publillied fome 
 Years ago, entitled, ^'he unerring Authority 
 of the Catholic Church in Matters of Faith., which 
 to this Day is cry'd up by your Party as a 
 Mailer- piece \ in which I agree with them in 
 one Senfe : Nay, they boaft thar it has never 
 been anfwered; for which very Reafon I have at- 
 tempted a brief Confutation of it, which I fend 
 into the World only as a Specimen of the right 
 Way of dealing with Pretenders to Infallibility. 
 B 2 In 
 
( 4 ) 
 
 In examining this Claim to InfalUhiliiy^ I 
 .fnrpofe to follow you no farther than the Places 
 you quote from the Ohi-Tefiament to prove:, 
 that the Church of Rome is poflefied of it ; yet 
 1 fhall take the Liberty to expound Pafiages by 
 parallel ones, and take the Senfe from the 
 Context, where you lofe Sight of it, in order to 
 favour your Syftem. This Method I chufe for 
 brevity's Sake, becaufe the Texts you produce 
 from the Old 'Tefiament being once fet in a 
 true Light, any intelligent, well difpofed 
 ■Reader may eafily find out the right Application 
 of the PafTages you have quoted from the Ne'w 
 Teftament. And as in fetting out upon an 
 Inquiry where and what the true Church of 
 Chrijl is, all the Difputants or Inquirers neither 
 •can nor ought to have any other Guide but 
 their own Reafon, to judge of the Charadlers 
 and Marks given of that Church in Holy 
 "Writ i fo I humbly prefume you will not deny, 
 that x\\(^ firfi Steps we take muft be Acfts of meer 
 Reaf-JH, however we may pleafe to captivate 
 ourUnderftandings to her Authority, and ac- 
 quiefce implicitly in every thing fhe propounds 
 as Articles ci Faith, after we are fully fatisfied 
 that file is the undefiled Spoufe of Chrijl^ who 
 neither can nor will lead her Children into Er- 
 ror. Therefore, waving,, any Argumaents I 
 might borrow from much better Pens who have 
 already treated this Subje6t in a different Me- 
 thod, I fnall only make the be ft ufe I can of 
 my own Faculties, in fearching for the Senfe of 
 the Texts you have applied to the Roman 
 Church : And as for human Authorities on 
 dther Side of the Q^ieilion, it is to be obfcrved, 
 
 that 
 
(5) 
 
 that the -Fathers of the primitive Church, how 
 jnuch foever they may deferve our Veneratioa 
 as learned or pious Men, are not allowed by 
 any Sedl of Chriftians to be infallible ; fo that to 
 follow you in your Citations from their Wri- 
 .tings, or bring any other Pafiages of theirs 
 •agiinftyou, would be an unprofitable Labour, 
 fincc their Sentiments are not conclufive. My 
 .Bufmefs, then, being only with the Fountain 
 of divine Knowledge, I proceed on a Pre- 
 lumption, as all Writers do, that either the 
 Learned or the Unlearned rruy find in thi3 
 Jittle Trad fomething not unworthy of their 
 Notice. — Thus much by way of Introdudion : 
 Let us now open the Debate with the iirft 
 'Preliminary of your Work, which is. 
 
 ThatChrifi hath always a true Church upon 
 
 Earth, 
 
 This was never denied by any that believed 
 •in Chrift : But it does not follow, that his 
 Church has hitherto been confined to any par- 
 ticular City or Nation. The Bible does not af- 
 ford fo much as one fpecial Promife of this 
 .Kind made to any People a^nally or formerly 
 profefilng Chriftianity. The Gofpel has been 
 preached to many Nations, and many have not 
 yet heard tli€ Sound of it : And of thofe that 
 did receive it, fome have long fince corrupted 
 it, and others have entirely loft it. However, 
 we fbail quickly find a Fiace for this true 
 Church, w^here it will be forever fo vifibly and 
 glorioufly fixed, that no People will miftake it, 
 pr refufe to join in Communion with it. 
 
 The 
 
(6) 
 
 The firft PafTagc you produce, from the Old 
 Teftamenc, to argue us into a Belief that the 
 Romr.n Church is, and has been thefe feventeen 
 Centuries, the true Church of Chriji, is the 
 8th Verfe of the 48 th Pfalni : ' Js we have 
 
 * heard^ fo have we feen^ in the City of the Lord 
 
 * oj Hojls^ in the City of our God^ God will efia- 
 
 * blijh it for ever!' — This Ffalm does indeed re- 
 late to the Kingdom or Church of Chrifl \ but 
 how it may any Way ferve the Turn of Popery^ 
 is very far from being obvious, at leaft to me. 
 The City of the Lord of Holls muft either be 
 the whole Earth, or fome particular Place : If 
 the latter, it was incumbent on you to fhew, 
 that when the Prophets of the Old Teftament 
 fpeak of the City of God^ they have a fpecial 
 Refped: to Rome. For my part, I cannot apply 
 the above Verfe, nor the whole Scope of the 
 Pfalm, to any pad State of the Chriftian Church, 
 but think it is referrable to a future and more 
 ample, peaceable and perfecfl State of it; and 
 that Jerujakm^ not Rcme^ is to be the Head or 
 Mother Church ; becaufe Ch tfi forbidding Men 
 to fwear by Jerufalem^ gave this as a Reafon 
 for it, that it was the City, of the great King % 
 and it may be fairly prefumed he did not then 
 flri6lly fpeak of the rehdlious City that was to be 
 deilroyed in a few Years, but of that which 
 is to be built when the Fullnefs of the Gentiles 
 fhall be come in. This will be farther illuilrated 
 as we go on. 
 
 Your next Proof is Tfahn Ixxii. 5, 7. ' T'hey 
 
 * fhall fear thee as long as the Sun and Moon 
 ^ endure^ throughout all Generations. In his 
 
 Bays 
 
(7) . 
 
 * T)ays (that is after the Coming of Chrift)Jhalt 
 ' the Righteous flourijh^ and Abundance of Feact 
 
 • fo long as the Moon endureth.' — That this is 
 prophetically defcriptive of the Meffiah's King- 
 dom, is not to be denied : But, for the better 
 underftanding of it, fuffer me to help you out 
 with two more Verfes of the fame Pfahn ; a 
 Courfe which I Ihall frequently take with you, 
 for the Information of your * Flock, few of 
 whom have the Bible in their Hands. 
 
 8. He Jhall have Dominion alfo from Sea to 
 Sea, and from the River unto the Ends of th$ 
 Earth, 
 
 II. Tea, all Kings fiall fall down before him, 
 all Islations fhallferve him. 
 
 In your Opinion the Prophecy in this Pfalm 
 has long ago been fulfilled, and muft be applied 
 to theSee of Rome and the Churches in Commu- 
 nion with her : In my Judgment it has not yet 
 been fulfilled, and yet I acknowledge that Chrifl 
 has always had a true Church upon Earth \ but 
 it has hitherto been kept under a Cloud by the 
 Powers of Darknefs and their human Agents. 
 Every Man converfant with Hiilory knows, 
 that thofe Parts of the World, which we call 
 Chriftendom, have been thefe many Ages as 
 much, if not more divided and diftradled than 
 any other Parts of the Earth : Agreeably to the 
 Saying of our blefiTed Saviour, that he did not 
 come to bring Peace on Earth, but a Sword ; 
 which was only prophetically fpoken, in order 
 
 » Tlie Romanijis In the Diocefe oi London. 
 
 to 
 
( 8 ) 
 
 to tindecelve thofe who expeded that his peate- 
 able, iiourifhing Kingdom, would have taken 
 Piace at that Time. Nevertiielefs he is, in the 
 ftridleft Senfe, the Prince of Peace ; his Doc- 
 trine and Example breathe nothing but Peace 
 and Good will to Men : But the roaring Lion^ 
 who goes about fceking whom he may devour, 
 not being yet chained down in the bottomlefs 
 Pit, infpircs the Rulers of the World with 
 Pride, Ambition and Covetoufnefs, fets Nation 
 againft Nation and Kingdom againft Kingdomiy 
 fows the Seeds of Difcord and Strife in every 
 CHmate, and fpreads the Flames of War ail 
 over the Face of the Earth. Hence it is that 
 we have not yet feen the Righteous flour ijh^ if 
 thereby 'David meant that the World fliould 
 be governed righteoufly ; and nothing elfe, I 
 think, can be meant, unlefs you infift upon 
 applying the Prophecy to thofe ignor;jnt Ages 
 when the Bifhops o\^ Rome trampled on Kings 
 and Emperors, and the Thunder of the Vatican 
 kept the World in awe : But how righteous 
 th(^fe fovereign Pontiffs were, let the Hiilorians 
 of their Times bear Witnefs. Neither have 
 we ever feen or heard of any thing like peace- 
 able Days, ox Abundance of Peace ^ as the Royal 
 Propht-t emphatically exprefles it. Therefore, 
 as not one little of Goct's Word can fai!, v/e 
 ought to look for the Completion of this Pro- 
 phecy in its obvious, natural Senfe, and not 
 run away with a filly Notion that the Pfalmift 
 had an Eye to the See of Rorne^ or to any Nation 
 or Church that conforms to her Dodrine and 
 Pradlices. Shew w.t only one fingle Age, or 
 even but half a Century, fince Chriffs Afcen- 
 fion, wherein the World has enjoyed Red and 
 
 Peace, 
 
( 9 ) 
 
 Peace, and I will give up the Point. And al 
 to the great Extent of ChrijW Kingdom, pre- 
 di6led in this Pfalm, it cannot be laid that we 
 have yet f^en all Kings falling dcwn before him^ 
 and all Nations ferving him : Scarcely one Fourth 
 Part of the Earth owns the M^Jfiah \ and in 
 this fmall Part, what Ignorance, what Cor- 
 ruptions prevail ! How many RcHques of 
 Paganifm are retained ! How few do Honour 
 to their ProfefTion ! Now, to fuppofe thar 
 infpired Men ufe Hyperboles in Subjeds of this 
 Importance to Mankind, would be highly in- 
 jurious to God's Veracity •, and therefore we 
 muft take this Prophecy in the literal Senfe, 
 
 After this you give us a long String of Ver- 
 fcs out of the 89th Pfalm, viz. the-^dand 4th, 
 and then the . 27th to the 37th inciufive ; all 
 which, for Brevity's Sake, I Ihall not tranfcribe,, 
 but refer the Reader to them. ' The glorious 
 
 * Promife in this Pfalm, you fay, is under- 
 ' ftood of the Church of Chrift^ the fpiritual 
 
 * Seed of David^ by Calvin himfeif, 1. 4. InfL 
 
 * c. I. Sedt. 27. and inaeed cannot by any 
 
 * Chriftian be applied to the carnal Seed and 
 
 * Throne of David, which is long fince gone 
 ' to Ruin.' — Geneva 2ind Rome being thus agreed 
 in the Point, 1 likewiie grant it : But then, 
 that we may not bewilder ourfelves, we iliould 
 take this Obfervation along with us, which 
 will be found of great Ufe for coming at the 
 true Senfe of the Prophecies of the Old Tefta- 
 ment relative to the Church, viz. That the 
 Prophets, in their lofty and glorious Dcfcrip- 
 tions of the MeJ/iaFs Kingdom, generally have 
 an Eye to the happy Time of the Union of 
 
 C both 
 
( 10 ) 
 
 both Jews and Gentiles in one Faith and under 
 one Head, and but very fparingly touch uport 
 the intermediate Space, /. e. the Ages be- 
 tween this i^ra and the firil Promulgation of 
 the Gofpel, which include the Conflidls of the 
 Church with Hereticks and Idolaters •, the 
 bloody Perfecutions ihe fuffered under Heathen 
 Kings and Emperors •, the Afflidions (he has 
 endured under carnal, worldly minded Princes, 
 who, though profeffing Chriftianity in fome 
 Shape or other, have yet, through Remiflnefs 
 or Ignorance, fuffered the Spoufe ot Chrift ta 
 be driven into the Wildernejs^ nay, have been 
 fometimes diredlly inftrumental in oppreffing 
 and keeping her in Bondage ; utterly difre- 
 garding both Law and Gofpel, or making Re- 
 ligion a meer State Engine to ferve their Am- 
 bition and other diforaerly PafTions. Now, 
 Sir, if the FafTages you ha^^e produced from 
 the S9thPfalm mufl be underfloodof the^/^p-i^wx 
 Eilate of the Church of Chrift^ in what Senfe 
 are we to take the refb of this Pfalm, from v. 
 37 to the End ? It is manifeftly the Reverfe^ 
 and confequently may be taken for the low, 
 difconfolate Condition of the Faithful in divers 
 Ages and different Places. However, I re- 
 commend both Sides of the Pidure to your 
 farther Confideration, begging you would be 
 pleafed to folve the DiiiiGulty by an infallible 
 Sentence. 
 
 Having, as you imagine, fo firmly laid your 
 Foundation in the Pfalms, you proceed thus : 
 
 * In fine, to pafs over many other Texts, which 
 
 * we fliall quote hereafter, the prophet Daniel 
 
 * bears evident Teftimony to the Church's* 
 
 * Perpetuity, 
 
( II ) 
 
 * Perpetuity, when interpreting the Dream of 
 ^"Kehuchadnezxar^ Chap. ii. 44.' he tells" us, 
 
 * In the Bays of thefe Kings jhall the God of 
 
 * Heaven fet up a Kingdom [the Kingdom or 
 
 * Church o{ Chriji'] which jhall never he de- 
 
 * Jlroyed And it fhall Jiand for ever.'' It 
 
 is certain that this Paflage, taken fingly, does 
 pretty well for your Syflem, and may fatisfy 
 fuch as care not for nice Difquifitions that re- 
 quire long Application :^ Here we have a King- 
 dom fet up, which is to ftand for ever ; and 
 you would have us take the Roman Church for 
 that Kingdom. A brief Expofition of the 
 whole Chapter would have been very accep- 
 table to the Illiterate of your Communion, who 
 certainly cannot form any clear Notion of 
 Times and Circumflances from the fingle Verfe 
 you have been pleafed to give them ': But 
 lince you have declined the Taflc, I lliall at- 
 tempt it. 
 
 r 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar having utterly forgot a 
 Dream that had extremely difcompofed his 
 Mind, Daniel is brought before him, and not 
 only reveals, but alfo gives him the Interpre- 
 tation of it, as loUovvs : 
 
 V. 31. ^hou^ King, faweji^ and behold^ a 
 great Image : This great Image^ whoje Brighlnefs 
 was excellent^ food before thee^ and the lorm 
 thereof was terrible. 
 
 32. ms Imagers Head was of fine Cold., his 
 Breaft and his Arms of Silver^ his Belly and his 
 nighs of Brafs, - 
 
 C 2 33- 
 
( 12 ) 
 
 33- ^is Leg^ of Iron^ his Feet fart of Iren 
 and part of Clay. 
 
 34. Tbou fazvefi till that a Stone was cut out 
 fixnthoiit Hands ^ which fmote the Image ~ upon his 
 feet that were of Iron and Clay^ and brake them 
 to Pieces. 
 
 35. ncn was Jhe Iron^ the Clay^ the Brnfs^ 
 the Silver and the Gold broken to Pieces together^ 
 and became like the Chaff of the Sujmner-thr effing 
 floors^ and the Wind carried them aivay^ that no 
 place was found for them : And the Stcne that 
 fnote the Image heca/me a great Mountaviy and 
 filled the whole Earth, 
 
 Having thus related the Dream, after a re- 
 fpedtiul inrrockidory Compliment, thePro|.het 
 fays to Nebuchadnezzar^ v. 38. Ihou art this 
 Head of Gold, 
 
 39. And after thee fh all arife another Kingdom 
 inferior to thee^ and another third Kingdom of 
 Brafs^ which fhall bear F-ule o'ver all the Earth 9 
 
 40. And the fourth Kirgdcm fjoall be firong as 
 Jron : Fcrafmuch as Iron breaketh in Pieces^ and 
 fubdueth all 'Things : And as Iron that breaketf? 
 f,U ihefe^ fhall it break In Pieces^ and bruize. 
 
 41. And whereas thou fnvefl the Feet and 
 Toes^ Part of Potters Clay^ and Part of Iron : 
 The Kingdom fJjall be divided^ but there f jail be in 
 it of the Strength of the Ircn^ fgrafrnuch as thou 
 faweft the Iron miy.t with miry Oay, 
 
 42. 
 
< 13.) 
 
 42- ^^d as the Toes of the Feet were Part of 
 Iron^ and Part of Clay •, fo the Kingdom Jhall be 
 J>artly Jirong^ and partly broken, 
 
 43. And whereas thou f aw eft Iron mixt with 
 miry Clay^ they Jhall mingle themfehes with the 
 Seed of Men : But they (hall not cleave one to 
 another^ even as Iron is not mixed with Clay, 
 
 44. And in the Days of thefe Kings Jhall the 
 God of Heaven fet up a Kingdom,, which Jhall 
 never bs dejtrcyed : And the Kingacm Jhall not be 
 left to other People^ but it Jhall break in Pieces^ 
 and confume all thefe Kingdoms^ and it Jhall Jtand 
 for ever, 
 
 A.^. Forafmuch as thou fawefi that the Stone 
 was cut out of the Mountain without Hands,, and 
 that it brake in Pieces the Iron,, the Brafs^ the 
 Clay^ the Silver and the Gold ; the great God bath 
 wade known to the King what (hall come^ to pafs 
 hereafter : And the Dream is certain^ and the In^ 
 terpretation thereof fure. 
 
 This Image, I think, is allowed by ail Com- 
 mentators to fignify literally the four great Mo- 
 narchies : The Point is fo clear, that no Man 
 converfant with Hiflory does doubt it. In a 
 fpiritual Scnkl beg Leave, but with SubmilLon 
 to better Judges, to take the Image lor an Em- 
 blem of Idolatry, which runs thio' the Babylo- 
 nian^ Perfian^ Grecian and Roman Em.pires, gra- 
 dually grov/ing more bafe and abominable ; 
 otherwife, methinks, the Order of the Metals 
 ought to have been inverted, the Head made 
 
 of 
 
of Iron and Clay, and the Legs and Toes of 
 Gold. But, not to infifl: pofitively on this. Ict- 
 us come direftly to the Point that more imme- 
 diately concerns you. 
 
 Chriji^ the Stone mentioned above, was born 
 in the ' Keign of Auguftus^ when the Roman 
 Kingdom was in the Mtridian of its Strength 
 and Glory : But he did not then fmite the 
 Image upon the hegs nor the Feet \ tor that 
 Monarchy flill continued very powerful for 
 about four hundred Years after, tho' fometimes 
 terribly (haken by the Goths and other barba- 
 rous Nations. Towards tlie End of the fifth 
 Century it was quite broken in the Wefi^ and 
 out of its Ruins ten Kingdoms or Sovereign- 
 ties arofe ; fince which the Eajlern Part of this 
 Monarchy has been entirely fwallowed up by 
 the Turks, Thus the two Iron Legs are de- 
 flroyed ; the Strength, Grandeur and Dignity 
 of the Empire are gone : But this, I appre* 
 hend, was not properly the A61 of the Stone 
 cut out without Hands , for Cbrift's peculiar 
 part of the Work, in demoliftimg this Image, 
 is the fmiting it on the Toes ; which Blow is 
 not yet ftruck. 
 
 In the Reign of Tiberius, Chrift began to 
 preach the Gofpel : This was precifely the 
 Time of the fetting up the Kingdom of God, 
 poor and oppreffed in its Beginnings, the great 
 Image {landing then, and for a long lime 
 after, on its Iron Legs. Of this Kingdom it is 
 fafd, that /V Jhall never he deftroyed^ i. e. all the 
 Efforts o: the Roman Government to fubvert it 
 Ihould prove fruitlefs y the blooay Perfetuiions 
 
 of 
 
( 15 ) 
 of tlie heathen Emperors having only ferved t6 
 ibread it farther, and encreafe the Number of 
 Chriftians : Since which it has weathered out 
 many other Storms, refilling the joint Attacks 
 of Superftition and InfideUty, which have been 
 labouring, for above a thoufand Years pad, to 
 extinguifh the Light of the Gofpel. Then the 
 Prophet notes, thbit this Kingdom Jhall not be 
 left to other People -, i. e. no other Empire fhail 
 come after it, as the Babylonian Monarchy was 
 fucceeded by the Perjian^ and this by the Gre^ 
 dan, which in its Turn was fwallowed up by 
 the Roman : But it Jhall break in Pieces and con- 
 fume all thefe Kingdoms, i. e. put down Tyranny, 
 Superftition and Idolatry all over the Worlds 
 triumph over the Devices of the Father of 
 Lies, and confound the Machinations of all his 
 human Agents. Now, the Conclufion is, that 
 hitherto we have only feen the affli^ed and mili^ 
 iant Eft ate of the Mejfiah's Kingdom : Its peace- 
 able and triumphant Eftate does not commence 
 till the Stone fmites the Image upon the Toes of 
 Iron and Clay, i. e. the I aft, weak, divided^. 
 bafe, corrupt Eftate of the Roman Kingdom ; 
 becaufe 'tis not till then that all the four Metals 
 and the Clay are broken to pieces together, or all 
 falfe Worfdip and Reliques of Paganifm utterly 
 abolifhed : Nor does the Stone, till then, fwell 
 into a great Mountain, filling the whole Earth, 
 Its Duration, in this temporal, triumphant 
 Eftate, is a thoufand Years, as we may gather 
 from the 20th Chapter of St. John\ Revela- 
 tion: In its fpiritual Eftate it fs to endure eter- 
 nally in Heaven. But the eternal does not ex- 
 clude the temporal Duration ; becaufe Daniel is 
 defcribing a Scene on Earthy a. Succefllon of 
 
 idolatrous 
 
( i6) 
 
 idolatrous Kingdoms, whofe Power snd very 
 Names are ac laft annihilated by the Kingdom 
 of God •, and as the la' ter comes in the room 
 of them, fo that no Place is found for them, it 
 mufl confquenrly be likewife on Earth. All 
 this is confirmed and illuflrated. in the 7th 
 Chapter of the fame Prophet, where we. are 
 told in Conclufion, that the Kbigdorn and Domi^ 
 nion^ and the Greatnefs of the Kingdom under the 
 whole Heaven^ Jhall be given to the People of the 
 Saints of the moji High^ ivhofe Kingdom is an 
 everlafiing Kingdom^ and all Dominions Jloallferve 
 and obey him. 
 
 Thus far it appears that Chrift has always a 
 true Church upon Earth, but that the Texts 
 you have made ufe of to prove it, are not ap- 
 plicable to Rome, Proceed we now to your 
 fecond Preliminary, which is. 
 
 ^hat Chriji^s Church upon Earth is always 
 njifihle. 
 
 This cannot be denied. In whatlbever State 
 the Church may be, it mull: needs be vifibje, 
 tho' not to every Man. When Jezahel had flaia 
 the Lord's Prophets, Elijah thought himfelf 
 the only remaining true Believer ; and yet we 
 rcai of many thoufands flill left mifrael that had 
 not bowed the Knee to Baal ; but though they 
 WTre unknown to that great Prophet, they muft 
 needs have been vifible to many other Perfons, 
 vinlefs we fuppofe that each of them lived fepa- 
 rately in Caves, Mountains and Woods. The 
 Light of the Gofpei may be fometimes eclipfedy 
 
 but 
 
( 17 ) 
 
 put f}ev^XjotalIy extinguifhed : The Church of 
 Chriji^ even while in the Wildernefs^ miiLl have 
 been cdnrpicuous enough to every one that 
 loved the Truth, and held it in Righteoufnefs ; 
 for a Man may be a true BeHever and a right 
 Worlliipper ot God, tho' his' Biiliop teac.es 
 Herefy andcornniits Idolatry.— But as this Way 
 of Reafunihg rnay not be fatisfaflory to you, 
 let us fee how you prove -this perpetual Vifibi- 
 bility. 
 
 For the firft Proof you give us Ifai^h li. 
 2, ^. ' And it Jh all come to pafs in the lajl Days^ 
 
 * fhat the Mountain of the fiord's Houfe foall he 
 
 * eftahlifhed in the Top of the Mountairis^ and 
 *" Jfball be exalted aho^^e the Bills \ . and all Nations 
 
 * Jhall flow unto it. And many People fiall go 
 
 * and fay ^ Come ye^ and let us go up to the Mcun- 
 
 * tain of the Lord^ to the Houfe of the God of 
 
 * Jacob, 'and he will teach us of his JVays^ and we 
 
 * will walk in his Paths \ for out of Zion Jhall 
 
 * go forth the Law^ and the Word cf the Lord 
 
 * from Jerufalem.' 
 
 Here we have incleed a vlUble and glorious 
 Church i but the Queflion is, .Whetlicr it has 
 been fo thefe 1700 Years pafl ? I anfwer in the 
 Negative. The Difttrence, then, between us 
 lying in Point of ^Imv: and Piace, let us en- 
 deavour to fet the Matter in a clear Light. 
 
 Though fome Divines, befides thofe of 
 your Communion, may pleafe to take the 
 Mountain of the hordes Hcu/e \ox Chrift^s Church 
 in general, it U plain by the Context, that f -me 
 P^rticulfr Place h mieant thereby ; fo plain in- 
 ■ ' D deed, 
 
( i8 ) 
 
 deed, that It fcarcely requires any Comment. 
 We fee all Nations flowing to it, and exhort- 
 ing each other to go up to that Place, which 
 the Prophet calls Zion and Jerufakm : But in 
 what Senfe we muft take this Jerufakm^ is the 
 grand Queftion. 
 
 We know that out of Zion the Law did go 
 forth, and the Word of the Lord from Jeru- 
 fakm, by the preaching of the Mejfiah and his 
 Apoftles ; but this does not fully anfwer the 
 Senfe of Ifaiaby who means, that the Law and 
 the Word of the Lord not only go forth from 
 Zion, but alfo abide there ; in Confequence of 
 which all Nations flock to it. Now, though 
 the Gofpel was firfl: promulgated from Jeru- 
 falem, who gave Ear to the Preachers ? Very 
 few indeed, when compared to the vaft Num- 
 bers that rejeded the good Tydings. Did all 
 Nations then flow to the Church, or to Jerufa- 
 km f No ; the Jews were thtfirfi Perfecutors of 
 Chriflianity, and brought Deftrudion on them- 
 fel vcs for that and other Crimes : And after- 
 wards the Rulers of the Vvorld fet themfeives 
 againft the Church, and with all the cruel De- 
 vices that infernal Malice could invent, drove 
 to extirpate theFollower=^ of Chriji. Therefore, 
 we cannot take that 1 ime for the lajl Bays, 
 
 But if you v/ill infift, that Jerufakm ought 
 to be taken in a figurative Senfe, as fignifying 
 the whole Church of Chriji, wherefoever fpread ; 
 I anfwer, that though this Senfe may Ibme- 
 tiiiits be adopted, yet it cannot be admitted in 
 this Place ; becaufe we need not be told that 
 the Word of tlie Lord fliall go forth from his 
 
 Church, 
 
( 19 ) 
 Church, fince no Man of common Scnfe ever 
 cxpeifled it ihould proceed from another Quar- 
 ter, or be found among any other Congrega- 
 tion. If this be all that we are to underftand 
 by Jerufaleniy the World may remain divided 
 and diftraded about Religion till the general 
 Conflagration ; fince every Sed of Chriftians 
 may confidently cry up their own Communion 
 for the fpiritual Zion^ and allegorize all the 
 Prophecies in direcSt Contradiction to common 
 Senfe and undeniable Fadls. 
 
 It may, perhaps, be no Breach of Charity 
 to fuppofe you were fenfibie that the 4th Verfe 
 of Ifaiah\ fecond Chapter might produce fome 
 Ideas very prejudicial to your Syftem •, and 
 therefore you omitted it, though it has fo ma- 
 nifeft a Connexion with the foregoing ; for 
 which very Reafon I muft not pafs it over. 
 And hejball judge among the Nations^ and Jhall 
 rebuke many People : And they Jhall beat their 
 Swords into plow -Shares^ and their Shears into 
 Pruning- Hooks : Nation Jhall not lift up a Sword 
 againft Nation^ neither Jhall they learn War any 
 more. The fame we read in the 4th Chapter of 
 Micah^ who fubjoins. But they jhall fit every 
 Man under his Vine and under his Fig-tree^ and 
 none Jhall make them afraid. 
 
 Now I fhould be glad to be informed in 
 what Age this Prediction has been fulfilled. 
 Has there been any Thing like peaceable Times 
 in this World, fince the Mountain of the 
 Lord's Houfe was eflablifhed at Rome^ where 
 I prefume you would have us look for it ? No 
 fuch Thing can be aflerted •, all Hiftorians, all 
 D 2 Records 
 
( 20 ; 
 
 Records bear Witnefs of the contrary : There^ 
 fore the Prophecy is yet to be fulfilled, and 
 Jerufcilemis, the Place from whence all Nation's 
 (hall receive Inftrudions ; which 1 Ihall endea- 
 vour to elucidate by the following PalTages of 
 Zecbariah. 
 
 Chap. ii. iiy 12. And many Nations fhallhe 
 joined to the Lord in thai Day^ and Jhall he my 
 People : And 1 will dwell in the Midft of thee^ 
 a72d tbotc/halt know that the Lord of Hojls hath 
 fent me unto thee. And the Lord Jhall inherit 
 Judah his Portion in the Holy Land^ and Jhall 
 thiije Jerufalem again. — This cannot be the 
 City they were rebuilding in ZechariaFs Time, 
 becaufe none of the Gentile Nations were thei% 
 joined to the Lord. The Perfon mentioned 
 to be fent, is Chrijly whom the JewSy as well 
 as the reft of the infidel World, will ac- 
 knowledge : By his Spirit (for I do not adopt 
 the Notion of his peribnal Refidence) he wilt 
 dwell in his Church wherefoever extended, but 
 Jn a more fpecial Manner at Jerufalem \ tVi^ 
 what can be meant by the Lord's chufingthat 
 City again ? 
 
 Chap. viii. 3. Thus Jaiih the Lcrd^ T am 
 returned unto Zion^ and will dwell in the Midji 
 cf Jerufalem : And Jerufalem Jhall he called a 
 City of "Truths and the Mountain of the Lord of 
 Hoftsy the holy Mountain. — This can't be the 
 City that was re-edified under the Perfian 
 Monarchy and deftroyed by the Romans, 
 
 V. 4. "There fh all yet Old Men and Old TVomen 
 ^well in the Streets of Jerufalemy and every Ma>i 
 
 with 
 
( 21 ) 
 
 with bis Staff in his Hand for very Age* g. 
 And the Streets of the Cityfhall be full of boys and 
 Girls y playing in the Streets thereof.— T\\(^ Jews 
 were not blefied with Longevity after theif 
 Return from the Bahylonifh Captivity \ there- 
 fore this Promife refpeds the new Jerufalem 
 which we (hould yet exped. It may alfa ferve 
 to invalidate the Notion of thofe who contend 
 for Chrifi's reigning vifibly, or corporally pre* 
 fent, in this future Jerufalem, with the Pa- 
 triarchs, Prophets, Apofties and other Saints. 
 This new City is to be inhabited by mortal 
 Men, elfe the Circumftance of walking with 
 Staves, to fupport old Age, would not be 
 mentioned ; and that fuch Men are to . be the 
 Inhabitants thereof, is made flill plainer by 
 the Boys and Girls playing in the Streets. 
 Procreation, ti-en, dill goes on as ufual ; but 
 after the Refurredion, as our blefied Saviour 
 tells us, Men do not marry : Confequently, 
 the new Jerufalem is not to be the Refidence of 
 the raifed Saints during the Millenium. Some 
 learned Commentators are indetd willing to 
 admit of the perfonal Appearance of Chriji 
 only for tifhort Time at the Beginning of the 
 Millenium^ as feveral Pafiages of Scripture 
 feem to make for it : But as the Point is not 
 clear to me, 1 will neither affirm nor deny it. ' 
 
 V. 20, 21, 22, It fhall yet come topafs, that 
 there fh all come People, and the Inhabitants of 
 many Cities, And the Inhabitants of one City 
 fhall go to another, faying. Let us go fpeedih to 
 pray before the Lord, and to feek the Lord of 
 Hofts : I will go alfo. Tea, many People and 
 flrong Nations fhall come to feek the Lord of 
 
 Hojlj 
 
( 22 ) 
 
 Hofis in Jerufalem^ and to pray before the Lord, 
 This tallies fo exadly with the 2d and 3d Verfes 
 of Ifaiah^s fecond Chapter, that it is impofliblc 
 to fall into a Miflake concerning the Meaning 
 oi t\it Mountain QH\it Lord's Houfe, 
 
 Ze char tab alfo faith, Chap. xii. 6. Jerufakm 
 Jhall be inhabited again^ in her own Place ^ even 
 in Jerufakm. — The moil nefarious Caviller can't 
 diftort this Paflage from its obvious and natural 
 Senfe ; for if Jerufakm is not to be taken lite- 
 rally, it follows that Zechariah has put a Ban- 
 ter on the common Senfe of Mankind, and 
 laid a ftumbling Block for the Jews in par- 
 ticular. 
 
 The fame Prophet going on with the Scene 
 that Ihall happen in the lafi Days, tells' us, 
 Chap. xiii. 2. And it fhall come to pafs in that 
 Day^ faith the Lord of Hofis^ that I will cut off 
 the Names of the Idols out of the Land ; and they 
 fhall no more be remembered. — The fame thing 
 Jfaiah tells us in the Chapter above mentioned : 
 AH Pictures are to bedeftroyed, and the Idols 
 utterly abolifhed. The Jews indeed have long 
 fince caft off thofe Works of Vanity and Delu- 
 fion ; and 'tis to be prefum.ed Chrijlians will 
 do the fame in the latter Days, 
 
 Again, Zechariah faith. Chap. xiv. 8. And 
 it fhall be in that Day^ that liz-ing Waters fhall 
 go out from Jerufakm ; half of them towards the 
 former Sea^ and half of them toward the hinder . 
 Sea: In Summer and in Winter fl^all it be.- — *. 
 Thefe living Waters are the Law and the Word 
 •f the Lord, which go forth from Zion and 
 
 Jerufakm^ 
 
K ^3 ) 
 Jerufalem^ as Ifaiab faith : By Summer and 
 Winter we may underftand all Seafons and all 
 Occafions. See this further iliuftrated in 
 £2^^/^/ xlvii. 8. 7^^/ iii. 18. 
 
 In fine, Zechariah^ faith, v. 9. of the Chapter 
 laft mentioned, And the Lord jhdl he King over 
 aU the Earth t In that Day Jhall there ^^ one 
 Lord^ and his Name one. — This agrees with 
 Ifaiah's fecond Chapter, where we are told, 
 that the lofty Looks of Man Jhall he humhled^ and 
 the Haughtinefs of Men Jhall be howed down^ and 
 the Lord alone Jhall be exalted in that Day. i. e. 
 worfhippedin Spirit and in Truth by all Nations, 
 in confequence of his arifing to fhake terribly 
 the Earth, and deilroying Idolatry both Root 
 and Branch. 
 
 I have dwelt the longer on your firft Quo- 
 tation from IJaiah to prove the Church's per- 
 petual Vifibility, that I may be more concife 
 on the other Texts, whereby you would induce^ 
 us to look for that Vifibility at Rome^ and in 
 the Nations joined in Communion with her. 
 
 Your next Proof is from the fame Prophet, 
 Chap. Ixii. 6. ' / have Jet Watchmen upon thy 
 
 * JVallSy Jerufalem^ which Jhall never hold 
 
 * their peace Day nor Night."* — According to 
 your Conilrudion of this PafTage, the Church 
 of Chriji^ by which we mull always underftand 
 your Church, has never wanted, nor ever will 
 want, a perpetual Succcflion of Orthodox 
 Pallors and Teachers. For my part, I cannot 
 find fo much as one fingle Verfe in this Chapter 
 ©f IJaiah^ that may with the leaft Colour of 
 
 Reafon 
 
( 24 ) 
 
 ^cafon, be applied in favour of the Bifhop of 
 Rome and the Nations in Communion with him ; 
 but the whole, in my humble Opinion, muft 
 be underftood of fome future State of the 
 MeffiaFs Kingdom, of which, 'tis plain, J^ru- 
 falem is to be the Head : Otherwife it will be 
 impoflible to reconcile this Prophecy with the 
 Rules of Gonmion Senfe and Propriety of 
 Speech, which I prefume the infpired Penmen 
 never intended to deviate from, as their Writ- 
 ings were defigned for the Inftrudtion of the 
 Unlearned, as v/ell as the Learned, in all Ages 
 and Nations ; though I allow that, for wife 
 Ends of Providence, the Holy Ghoft has di- 
 redled them to wrap up certain Predictions in 
 Metaphors and Embkms ; as may be inftanced 
 in the Apocalypfe^ which abounds with them 
 more than any other Book, ior a Reafon which 
 your Divipes readily enough perceive, when 
 they fet themfelves to comment upon it. 
 
 The Queftion is, what are we to underftand 
 by Jerufalem in the Pafiage juft quoted ? Upon 
 a careful Examination of the Context, we can- 
 not but declare for the literal Senfe -, becaufe we 
 find a Promife made to a forjaken^ defolatc 
 Land, or City, to receive her into Favour again^ 
 to marry her^ to make her a Praifein the Earthy 
 and a Crown of Glory in the Hands of the Lord. 
 Now, Sir, I prefume you will hardly allow 
 that ^^w<?, or your Church, has ever been call 
 off and left defolate, and needs to be retrored ; 
 for this wouV' be a Conrra-Jiftion to your own 
 Principles : Therefore, 1 muft take Leave to 
 apply this Promife to the Jewifh People and the 
 Land of Judea^ where the Gofpel will be re- 
 
 ftored 
 
( 25 ) 
 
 liored in the latter Days, and from thence dif- 
 fufed all over the Earth, as hath been already 
 fliewn. And, for your farther Satisfadion, 
 pleafe to take this Obfcrvation, which you will 
 find of great life, whenever you think fit to 
 exercife your Talents again in expounding and 
 applying Prophecies, viz. That where the lite- 
 ral Senfe preients us with no Ahfurdity^ or is 
 not impqffible in the Nature of Things, nor re- 
 pugnant to any other exprefs, plain Declaration 
 in Holy Writ, we ought to adopt that Senfe, 
 and not run the Rifque of bewildering ourfelves 
 with fuch forced Conflrudions and allegorical 
 Interpretations, as Men of a fertile Invention 
 may put upon the plained PafTages in Scrip- 
 ture, when Intereft or Prejudice engages them 
 to maintain any favourite Syftem. 
 
 After urging Mz/Zi'. v. 14. which I pafs by 
 without Notice, for the Reaibn given in the 
 Beginning of my Work, you bring us again to 
 Ifaiah^ Chap. Ix. 1 1. * ny Gates Jhall be open 
 
 * continually., they Jhall not he Jhiit Bay nor Nighty 
 
 * that Men may bring unto thee the Forces of the 
 ' Gentiles .^ and that their Kings may he hr ought* 
 But here, I think, you fpeed no better than you 
 have already done by meddling with this Pro- 
 phet, as any unprejudiced Man may perceive 
 by the following Verfes of the fame Chapter, 
 which I fliall briefly expound. 
 
 10. And the Sons of Strangers Jhall build up thy 
 JVallSy and their Kings Jhall minijier unto thee : 
 For in my Wrath I fmote thee^ hut in my Favour 
 have I had Mercy on thee. — What Place can this 
 be, but J^rufakmy which God dtftroyej:;! in his 
 E Wi:ath ? 
 
( 25 ) 
 
 Wrath ? This ruined City is to be rebuilt, not 
 by the Seed of Jacobs but by fome Chrijlian Po- 
 tentates : Whence it feems that the Jews^ after 
 their Reftoration, may not be fok Proprietors 
 
 ©f Jerufakm and the Land of Caiman. 
 
 14. 1'he Sons alfo of them that affli5fed thee^ 
 Jhall come bending unto thee •, and all they that de- 
 fpifed thee Jhall bow themfelves down at the Soles 
 cf thy Feet ; and they Jhall call thee the City of 
 the Lord, the Zion of the holy one of Ifrael. — 
 Thefe I take to be the Roman and Mahometan 
 Powers, who have in their Turns fucceflively 
 deftroyed and kept defolate the Land of Ca- 
 naan ; and thefe Ihall repent and pay Homage 
 to Jerufakm in her future glorious State. 
 
 15. Whereas thou haji been forfaken and hated, 
 fo that no Man went through thee^ I will make 
 thee an eternal Excellency^ a Joy of many Genera- 
 tions, — Plainly importing the Deflrudion of 
 Jerufakm, the Rejedion of the Jews^ and their 
 future Adoption. 
 
 1 8. Violence fh all no more be heard in thy Land, 
 
 Wajling nor Beftrucfion within thy Borders •, but 
 
 thou fioalt call thy Walls Salvation, and thy Gates 
 
 'Praife. — If this Verfe and all the reft of the 
 
 Chapter is to be underftood, in a large Senfe, 
 
 of the Chrijiian Church in general, I would fain 
 
 know in what Age and in what Countries we 
 
 muft look for this peaceable, equitable, holy 
 
 State which Ifaiah is defcribing. Shall we go 
 
 as high up as the Reign o^ Conjlantine^ the fir ft 
 
 Chriftian Emperor ? Alas ! 'tis not to be found 
 
 ^then," nor in the Reigns of his Children and 
 
 their Succe (Tors. Shall' we feek it in the hair 
 
 2 Chriftian^ 
 
( 27 ) 
 
 Chriftian, half barbarian Gothic States? No; 
 there is nothing to be ^ttn amongft them but 
 Monkery, Superftition, grofs Idolatry, Vio- 
 lence and Bloodfhed. Is it then to be found in 
 our Days ? Chriftendom is indeed lefs barbarous 
 and ignorant than formerly •, but God alone 
 knows how much Ground the Devil may have 
 loft or gained by the Change : To me it feems 
 immaterial whether Men work out their Perdi- 
 tion rudely or politely. However, an Increafe 
 of Knowledge is a great Step towards intro- 
 ducing the glorious Scene exhibited in this 
 Chapter of Ifaiah^ which I apprehend is coin- 
 cident with the binding of Sat an ^ Revd. xx. in 
 ■whatever Senfe we may take it; for till the 
 Temptor is reftrained and confined, the World 
 cannot be freed from Violence, Wafting and 
 Deftrudlion, which Jerufalem has felt more 
 feverely than any other Place, and from which, 
 *tis plain, ftie in particular is to be delivered in 
 the latter Days^ and made the Head of the 
 Mejfiah's Kingdom on Earth. And now, Sir, 
 do you think there is any thing abfurd or feem- 
 ingly impoflible in dl this ? You cannot but 
 know that the Scripture abounds with Promifes 
 of Favours and Bleflings to Jerufalem^ moft of 
 which we are certain, from paft Events, and 
 the prefent Condition of that City and circum- 
 jacent Territory, have not yet been performed : 
 But I believe you would be hard put to it to 
 produce from all the Sacred Writings lb much 
 as one plain, exprefs Promife of good Things 
 to Rome, I will not affirm that, on the con- 
 trary, there are dreadful Judgments denounced 
 againft her ; becaufe you would readily reply, 
 that I take that for granted which is contro- 
 E 2 verted 5 
 
( 28 ) 
 
 verted ; Babylon, in St. John's Revelation, not 
 fignifying Rome in her Ciiriftian State, but 
 fomething eJfe, which, however, your infalli- 
 ble Expofitors can make neither Head nor 
 Tail of. 
 
 After having thus unadvifedly ftumbled upon 
 Jfaiah's 6oth Chapter, you urge, tor the per- 
 petual Vifibiiity of the Rcmijh Church, Genefts 
 xxii. 1 8. 'In thy Seed (fays God Almighty to 
 ' AhvAizm) Jlall all the Nations of the Earth be 
 
 * blejfsd.' — Very rightly brought in for the glo- 
 rious Vifibiiity of Chrift's Church j but, un- 
 luckily for your Caufe, it proves too much. 
 The Word all^ in its common Ufe and Accep- 
 tation, implies at leaft a Majority : But hardly 
 zff'th Part of the Globe has yet enjoy 'd the Be- 
 nefit of the Prcmife made to Abraham. There- 
 fore, as God's Word does not go forth in vain, 
 the full Performance of this Promife is yet to 
 come. 
 
 Neither are you more lucky in producing 
 the 8 th Verfe of the fecond Pfalm to prop up 
 your decaying Church : ' JJk of me-, and IJloall 
 
 * give thee the Heathen for thine Inheritance, and 
 ' the uttermoft Parts of the Earth for thy Pof- 
 
 * fejfion^ — -When David wrote this, the People 
 of God were one little Nation, diftindl and fe- 
 parated from all the rcil of the World, who 
 are called the Heathen in the Scripture Stile : 
 Now, left it fhould be thought, that a few 
 Kingdoms fubmitting to the Mejfiah was all that 
 is meant by giving him the Heathen for his Inhe- 
 ritance, the Royal Prophet emphatically adds, 
 ^he utferrnojl Parts of the Earth : Which agrees 
 
 with 
 
( -29 ) 
 
 with the Idea Daniel gives us of Chrijl's King- 
 dom in his fecond and feventh Chapters. Why 
 this Prophecy has not yet been fulfilled, we may 
 partly gather from the fecond and third Verfes 
 of this Pfiilm ', The Kings of the Earth fet them- 
 felves^ and the Rulers take Counfel together^ 
 againft the Lord, and againft his Anointed, fay- 
 ing. Let us break their Bands a f under, and cafl 
 away their Cords from us. This feems to tally 
 pretty well with what is faid in the A-poca- 
 lypfe, of the Kings of the Earth giving their 
 Power and Authority to the Beaft, and com- 
 mitting Fornication with the myfiical Babylon^ 
 the Mother of Harlots ; which, whether you 
 will allow her to h^Rome or not, muft certainly 
 be fome Place or Country that profelfes Chriili- 
 anity in fome Shape or other ; ior where there 
 is no Idolatry mixed with the Worfhip of God, 
 there cannot be faid to be any fpiritual Fornica- 
 tion ; this Crime implying the Breach of a Co- 
 venant entered into with God to worfhip him 
 alone. 
 
 The next Authority you produce is the 27th 
 Verfe of the 2 2d Pfalm : ' All the Ends of the 
 
 * World fhall remember and turn unto the Lord^ 
 
 * and all the Kindreds of the Nations fhall wor- 
 ' fhip before thee' — Will they all acknowledge 
 Rome to be the Seat o^Chrifi's Vicar, and join in 
 Communion with her; or have they all done it 
 already ? The latter Part of the Queftiou even 
 you yourfelf muft refolve in the Negative, and 
 the former I take Leave flatly to deny ; becaufe 
 that in the Prophecies of the Church's great 
 Splendor and Amplitude, there is generally 
 fgmcthing dropt about the Extirpation of Ido- 
 latry : 
 
( so ) 
 iatry : The Former cannot take place till the 
 total Abolition of the latter. But you'll fay 
 this does not concern your Church, which is 
 quite free from Idolatry ; and fo I muft let it 
 pafs, as this is not a proper Place to enter into 
 a Controverfy about it. 
 
 Then you refer us again to Ifaiah^ Chap, 
 xlix. 6. ^ It is a light ^hing that thou Jhouldfi be 
 
 * my Servant to raife up the Tribes of Jacob — 
 
 * — — / will alfo give thee for a Light to the 
 
 * Gentiles^ that thou mayefl be my Salvation unt6 
 
 * the End of the Earth.'' Why you left out 
 
 thefe Words in the Middle of the Verfe, and to 
 rejlcre the preferued of Ifrael, I can no other 
 Way account for, than by fuppofmg it pro- 
 ceeded from a Shynefs to mention any thing 
 that fquints at the Reftauration or Converfion of 
 the Jews^ left it Ihould make your Readers 
 conclude, that thefe glorious Promifes to the 
 Church of Chrifl are to have their full Accom- 
 plifhment at or about the Time of the Calling 
 of the Jews ; and confequently, that the Roman 
 Church is too hafty or too prefumptuous in ar- 
 rogating them to herfelf. 
 
 To fhew what bungling Work the greateft 
 Do6lors are capable of making, when they don't 
 regard the Context, I fubjoin a few more Verfes 
 of Jfaiah's 49th Chapter. 
 
 14. But Zion faid, ne Lord hath forfaken 
 we^ and my Lord hath forgotten me, 
 
 1 5. Can a Woman forget her fucking Child^ 
 that Jhe fhould not have Compaffwn on the Son of 
 
 her 
 
( gt ) 
 
 her Womb ? Tea, they may forget ^ yet will I not 
 forget thee, 
 
 1 6. Behold, I have graven thee on the Palms 
 of my Hands, thy fValls are continually before 
 me, 
 
 1 9. For thy wafle and thy de folate Places, and 
 the Land of thy Deflru5fion fhall even now be too 
 narrow by Reafon of the Inhabitants, and they 
 that fwallowed thee up fhall be far away. — By 
 which PafTages, as well as by the whole Scope 
 of the Chapter, we plainly perceive a fpecial 
 Promife of great Bleffings to fome particular 
 Land or People •, and if this be not the carnal 
 Seed of Jfrael and the Land of Judea, it is 
 impofTible to make Senfe of the Prophecy. 
 Does not this laft Verfe in particular confirm 
 what the fame Prophet fays, in his fecond Chap- 
 ter, of all Nations reforting to Jerufalem ? If 
 nothing more was meant here, than that the 
 Gentiles Ihould embrace the Gofpel, with what 
 Propriety could the Prophet fay, that their 
 wafie and defolate Places, the Land of their 
 I)eflru5iion, Ihould be too narrow for the In- 
 habitants ? Not that we are to fuppofe all Na- 
 tions will take up their Reft in the Land of 
 Ifrael, after the Reftoration of the Gofpel there, 
 but that there will be a great Concourfe of 
 People from all Parts, and that the Holy Land 
 and neighbouring Countries will be more popu- 
 lous than other Parts of the Globe. I need lay 
 no more on this Head. Let every one read the 
 whole Chapter attentively, and judge whether 
 it agrees with the paft or prefent State of the 
 World in general, or is applicable to the 
 
 Roma'/t 
 
( 32 ) 
 Roman Church in particular. The Harlot may 
 indeed ufurp the Prerogatives and deck herfelf 
 with the Ornaments of the Bride : But let her 
 think of the dreadful Sentence pronounced 
 againft: her that faith in her Heart, I^t a ^een, 
 and am no Widow ^ andjhall fee no Sorrow. ReveL 
 xviii. 7. 
 
 The next Thing I am to confider is the iflr, 
 2d and 3d Verfes of Ifaiah^s 54th Chapter, 
 which is another of your Proofs of the Church's 
 perpetual Vifibility. ' Sing, Barren^ thou 
 ' that dift not hear^ break forth into finging^ and 
 
 * cry aloud, thou that didji not travail with 
 
 * Child ; for more are the Children of the defolate 
 ' than the Children of the jnarried Wife, Enlarge 
 
 * the Place of thy ^ents, and let them firetch 
 
 * forth the Curtains of thine Habitations : Spare 
 
 * noty lengthen thy Cords and ftrengthen thy 
 
 * Stakes, For thou fhalt break forth en the Right 
 
 * Hand and on the Left, and thy Seed Jhall inherit 
 
 * the Gentiles, Sec' You Ihould have added, 
 and make the defolate Cities to be inhabited. The 
 Defign of this OmifTion, I think, is too glaring 
 to be concealed or denied. Being fenfible it 
 might occur to fome of your Readers, that the 
 Land of Judea and Jerufalem have lain in a de- 
 folate Condition thefe many Ages, you flily 
 fkip over what plainly imports a Refhauration of 
 the Jews to that Land, and a glorious and 
 more extenfive Eftate of Chrif's Church at, 
 and for a long Time after, their Converlion. 
 
 But (hould we even allow this whole Chapter 
 of Jfaiah to be only a Dcfcription of the Glory 
 of ;he Chriflian Church, abftrading from the 
 
 Converfion 
 
(33 ) 
 Converfion and Reftoration of the yews, you 
 would ftill lofeyour Point ; it being impolTible, 
 without offering manifefl Violence to the Text, 
 to reconcile the Prophet's Expreflions with 
 the Hiftory of that Church whereof Rome has 
 been the Head upwards of a thoufand Years, 
 or 1 700 as her Advocates maintain. 
 
 I/aiah fays v. 13, 14. And all thy Children 
 fhall he taught of the Lord^ and great Jhall he the 
 Peace of thy Children. In Righteoufnefs fhalt 
 thou he ejlahlifhed : "Thou fhalt he far from Op- 
 prejfton, for thou fhalt not fear ; and from Ter^ 
 ror, for it fhall not come near thee. Now, Sir, 
 pleafe to tell us in what Century this comfor- 
 table Predidion has been fulfilled ; or elfe Ihew 
 that it is not inconfiftent with the Veracity of 
 an infpired Writer to exceed in romantick 
 Flights and Hyperboles the mod licentious 
 Poets. If you fix your Foot in the three or 
 four firft Centuries, which are allowed to be the 
 pureft Ages of the Church, we may indeed find 
 Righteoufnefs enough 5 but, at the fame Time, 
 we fee Opprejfion abounding and her Children ia 
 perpetual Fear and Terror, If we come down 
 lower, and confine ourfelves within the Pale of 
 that Church which is in Communion with and 
 dependant on Rome, then fhall we be at a Lofs 
 to know how all her Children are taught of the 
 Lord, fince fo few of them ever read or hear 
 his Word. — But I alk your Pardon for this 
 hafty Refledion : I did not confider that the 
 Paftors of your Church are infallible, and what- 
 ever they teach muft confequently be as true 
 and as edifying as the Scriptures. 
 
 F Another 
 
( 34 ) 
 Another Text which you think will ferve to 
 prove the conilant Vifibihty of your Church, 
 is Maldchi i. 1 1 . ' From the Rifing of the Sun 
 
 * even to the going down of the fame ^ my Name 
 
 * fhdl he great among the Gentiles,^ — I ani fen- 
 fible you'll have Caufe to grow very angry, if 
 I never grant you any thing : Therefore, to 
 put you in good Humour for half a Minute, 
 1 let this Text pafs (leaving the Reader to in- 
 terpret it with the Help of what has been faid 
 already) becaufe you might fiience me with the 
 planting of Popery in fome of the remoteft Parts 
 of the Eafl and fVefl within thefe two or three 
 laft Centuries. 
 
 Having gone thus far, you feem to think 
 yourfelf invulnerable, and with an Air of 
 Triumph proceed as follows : 
 
 * But nothing can be more decifive for the 
 
 * perpetual Vifibility of the Church of Chrift^ 
 
 * than two illuftrious Teftimonies of the Pro- 
 
 * phet Jeremiah^ the one in the 31ft Chapter, 
 
 * the other in the 33d.' — TV. B. 1 don't difpute 
 that Vifibility, in fome Degree, in every Agefince 
 Chrifi was upon Earth : My chief Bufmefs is 
 to fhew that you do not underiland the Pro- 
 phecies of the Old Teftament ; and that if all 
 the Do6lors of your Church under (land them 
 no better, their Pretenfions to Modefty and 
 Candor nuitl (land on the fame Foundation as 
 their Infallibility. 
 
 *■ In the 31ft Chapter (fay you) v. 31, &c. 
 
 * He gives us the following Account of the 
 
 * ellablifhing of the new Law.' [Here I mud 
 
 again 
 
( 35 ) 
 again remind you, that the JewiJIo Prophets, 
 when they fpeak of this Eilablifhment, gene- 
 rally have an Eye to that Period of Time when 
 their own Nation is to partake of the BlefTings 
 of the new Covenant, and fo defcribe the Church 
 in her mod flourifhing and glorious State.] 
 ' Behold the Bays come^ faith the Lord^ that I 
 ' will make a new Covenant with the Houfe of 
 
 * Ifrael and with the Houfe of Judah ;' — If the 
 Prophet does not mean all the twelve Tribes, 
 wherefocver they may be difperfed, I am at a 
 Lofs to tell why he fpeaks thus diftindly of the 
 Houfe of Ifrael and the Houfe of Judah : Or, 
 if it feem better to you, you may thereby un- 
 derfland the Union of the Jews with the Gen- 
 tileSy though it will be but a lame Expofition, 
 But let us follov/ you a Step farther, and we 
 fhall find you flumbiing again. 
 
 * Not according to the Covenant that I made 
 
 * with their Fathers^ &c.' Here you break off 
 the Verfe, but, with your Leave, I muft go 
 through with it, becaufe it is very effential to 
 the Point in Difpute ) In the Day that I took 
 them hy the Hand^ to hring them out of the Land 
 of Egypt ^ which my Covenant they brake ^ although 
 I was an Hujband unto them^ faith the Lord. A 
 ^an mufl: be very ignorant or extremely dull, 
 not to perceive your drift in curtailing this 
 Pafiage : It too plainly fignifies the Jewifh Peo- 
 ple ; and fo you were under a Neceffity to fkip 
 over the moft material Part of it, even the 
 Circumftance of being brought out of Egypt. 
 But fuppofing we muft take it in the Senfe which 
 makes for your Purpofe, i. e. t\\Q fpiritual Seed 
 of Ifrael^ exclufively of the carnal j it will then 
 
 F 2 follow. 
 
( 36 ) 
 follow, that the Chriftians have broken the Co- 
 venant which was made for them with the Chil- 
 of Ifrael when God led the latter out of the 
 Land of Egypt ; for I hope you cannot be fo ex- 
 travagant as to maintain, that the Heathen could 
 break a Covenant that was not made with them : 
 And how far the Romijh Church in particular 
 may be afFeded by fuch a Conclufion, I leave 
 to be determined by every Man that under- 
 ftands the full Force and Meaning of the firjl 
 'and fecond Commandments. 
 
 The 33d Verfe you give entire, viz. ' But 
 
 * thisjhall he the Covenant that I will make with 
 
 * the Hcufe of Ifrael^ After thofeBaySy faith the 
 
 * Lordy I will pit my Law in their inward Parts^ 
 
 * and write it in their Hearts^ and will he their 
 
 * God^ and they [ball he wy People.^ — But, for 
 the Reafons juft afilgned, you might as well 
 have curtailed this Paflage alfo, or rather 
 omitted it entirely \ the Judlce of which Re- 
 mark is farther evinced by the 34th Verfe, 
 which you likewife quote, except thefe Words 
 at the End of it, for I will for give their Iniquity y 
 end I will remember their Sin no more. The 
 Defign of this OmifTion is fo apparent, that I 
 need not fpend much Time in expofing it. 
 God fays here by the Mouth oH Jeremiah ^ they 
 Jhall all know me, from the leaji of them unto the 
 greateft of them ; which, I think, implies no- 
 thing lefs than a general Converfion of all the 
 Tribes of Ifrael^ taking the Words in the 
 narrowefl: Senfe, which is the literal and natu- 
 ral Conftru^flion, as is evident by the Context : 
 But in a larger Senfe, which, however, is a 
 Forced Conftrudion, they may imply a ge- 
 neral 
 
( 37 ) 
 
 neral Refonnathn of Chriftendom, and the 
 Convcrfion of all thofe Nations that are in- 
 volved in Mahometan Delufionsor immerfed ia 
 Pagan Darknefs. Now, if in Contempt of 
 common Senfe and Propriety of Speech, this 
 Promife muft be reftrained, for its full Per- 
 formance, to the fpiritual Seed of Ifrael only, 
 i. e, fuch of the Gentile Nations as have from 
 Time to Time embraced the Gofpel, it will 
 be impolTible to fix upon any Epoch in which 
 it can be faid to have been in any tolerable 
 Degree fulfilled ; unlefs, to folve the Difficulty, 
 we run into this childiili Way of arguing, viz^ 
 That all thofe who in any Age or Nation did 
 receive the Gofpel and live up to it, did all 
 know the Lord from the leaft to the greatefl of 
 them ; or, in other Words, that every indi- 
 vidual good Chriftian was a good Chriftian. It 
 would ^e very ftrange if the Houfe of Ifrael 
 and the Houfe of Judah^ in the Prophecies of 
 the Old ^eftament^ fhould be taken for the Ita- 
 lians^ Germans^ French^ Spaniards^ &c. At 
 this Rate of interpreting, every Commentator, 
 may make the Jews Gentiles^ and the Gentiles 
 Jews, according as it ferves his Turn. But 
 being brimful of Confidence in your Infal- 
 libility, you could not be aware of any fuch 
 Objedtions, and fo you lead on your Readers 
 through the 35th, 36th and 37th Verfes of the 
 fame Chapter ^ for which I am very much 
 obliged to you, as you have thereby given me 
 a farther Advantage over you. In the 36th 
 Verfe we perceive, that the Seed of Ifrael fhould 
 eeafe from being a Nation, (that is, if I take it 
 right, a colledive independant Body, as they 
 were of qjd) but not for ever: In Confirmation 
 
 of 
 
( 38 ) 
 of which it follows in the next Verfe, that God 
 will not caft them all off^ for all that they have 
 done. Being perhaps fenfible that the reft of 
 the Chapter would quite undo all your Work, 
 you wind up your Bottom with the 37th Verfe, 
 and are pofitive, * that by the Seed of Ifrael in 
 
 * this Place, can be meant no other than the 
 
 * fpiritual Seed of IfraeU the Church of Chrifi.^ 
 But what fays Jeremiah in the very next Verfe ? 
 He plainly tells us, that the City (Jerufalem) 
 Ihall be rebuilt, and concludes the Chapter with 
 a Promife, that it Jhall not he pluckt up^ nor 
 thrown down any more for ever. Now it is evi- 
 dent that this Prophecy cannot be referred to 
 the fecond City and Temple which the Jeivs 
 built after their Return from the Balylonifh 
 Captivity ; becaufe they have fince ceafed from 
 being a Nation, being fcattered all over the 
 Earth •, and that fame City and Temple have 
 been utterly deftroyed : Confequently the Pro- 
 phet muft mean a third City, which is to be 
 built, on the fame Spot, under the new Cove- 
 nant. 
 
 It is farther obfervable, that the 30th Chap- 
 ter of Jeremiah is the fame in Subftance as the 
 31ft, being a Kind of Prelude to it, and having 
 a manifeft Connexion with it. The former 
 ends thus : Behold^ the Whirlwind of the Lord 
 gceth forth with Fury^ a continuing Whirlwind^ 
 it fhall fall with Pain on the Head of the Wicked, 
 The fierce Anger of the Lord fhall not return^ un- 
 til he have done it^ and until he hava performed 
 the Intents of his Heart : In the latter Days ye 
 Jhall confider it. And as the 31ft Chapter be- 
 gins v/ith thefe Words, At the fame Time^ faith 
 
 thi 
 
(39) 
 
 the Lord, will I be the God of all the Families of 
 Ifrael, a7td they fhalL be my People ; we mull 
 conclude, that the Prophecies in thefe two 
 Chapters, in their obvious, natural Senfe, are 
 to be fulfilled in the latter Days ; and that a 
 Time of dreadful Confufion, Defolation and 
 Woe in divers Nations, is to precede the Re- 
 ftoration and Converfion of the Jews^ as may 
 be gathered from the 7th Verfe of the 30th 
 Chapter •, Alas^ for that Bay is great, fo that 
 none is like it : It is even the I'ime of Jacob'5 
 Trouble^ but he Jhall be faved out of it. See 
 Ban. xii. i . for a Confirmation of the fame. 
 
 Due Attention being given to my Remarks 
 on the 30th and 31ft of Jeremiah^ you'll allow" 
 it needlefs to follow you in the Authorities you 
 produce from the 33d Chapter of the fame 
 Prophet in Behalf ot your Church. What you 
 quote from Dr. Stillingfleet and Mr. Lefley does 
 not overthrow the main Point I am contending 
 for, which is. That the glorious Defcriptions of 
 the Meffiah\ Kingdom, in the Prophets of the 
 Old Teflament, muft be referred to that Period 
 of Time when both Jews and Gentiles fhall be 
 all united in one Faith, and under one Head, 
 Chrijl ; and cannot, without offering manifefl 
 Violence to the whole Stream of Prophecy, be 
 applied to the pafl nor the prefent State of the 
 World, either in Spirituals or Temporals: Which 
 I could farther illuftrate by a Cloud of other 
 Scripture PalTages ; but wanting both Leifure 
 and Inclination to write a folio Volume, I chufe 
 to keep as clofe to the Chapters, from which 
 you extrad your Proofs, as the Natqr^ of the 
 Controvcrfy will admit. 
 
 Your 
 
( 40 ) 
 
 Your third Preliminary being out of the La- 
 titude! chufe to fail in, I pafs it by; as I like- 
 wife do the 4th and 5th Preliminaries, the 
 Proofs of which are drawn from human Autho- 
 rities. Neither fhall I trouble my Head about 
 your 6th Preliminary, feeing you have brought 
 no Scripture Texts to fupport it, but fuch as 
 may be urged by any Chriftian Societies or Con- 
 gregations that firmly believe themfelves to be 
 the true Church of Chrijl : And as for the 
 Writings of the Fathers^ or any other human 
 Compofitions, antient or modern, I cannot 
 make ufe of them in this Difpute, for the Rea- 
 fons afiigned at my fetting out. The Circum- 
 ftances and Talents of the Bulk of Mankind do 
 not admit of being burthened with fuch a Heap 
 of Authorities. If an Artifan wants to make a 
 careful and diligent Inquiry after the true 
 Church, mult he fell his Tools to buy Fathers^ 
 Schoolmen^ &c. and fo ftarve himfelf and Fa- 
 mily before he can find her out ? The Bible 
 alone is fufficient to guide any Man in this In^ 
 quiry ; and if I can fiiew that you have blun- 
 dered, or wilfully prevaricated, in the Ufe you 
 make of the Old ^^ament to prove the Infalli- 
 bility of the Roman Church, his own Senfe will 
 tell him how much Credit he may give to fuch 
 Parts of your Book as I take no Notice of. 
 
 Your feventh Preliminary being alfo foreign 
 to my Defign, which is not to fet up for judg- 
 ing who fhall be faved, and who (hall be damned, 
 I difmifs it with recommending to your ferious 
 Confideration thefe Words of our blefled Sa- 
 viour j If any Irian hear my PFords^ and Mi eve 
 
 2 notj 
 
( 41 ) 
 
 not^ I judge him not : For T came not to judgs 
 the l^Forld, but tofave the World. He that re- 
 je5feth me^ and receiveth not my Words ^ hath 
 one that judgeth him : The Word that I have 
 fpoken^ the fame /hall judge him in the lajl Day, 
 John xii. ^7, 48. By which we may perceive, 
 that every one is to be judged according to the 
 Meafure of Knowledge he has Opportunities of 
 receiving, and the Ufe he makes of it ; and 
 that if the Word of Life does not reach his 
 Ears, he is not to be judged by the fame. 
 
 I come now to your Eighth Preliminary, 
 which runs thus. 
 
 * All the Marks or Characters of the true 
 
 * Church of Chrijl^ fet down in Scripture and 
 
 * Fathers, agree to the Church in Communion 
 
 * v/ith Rome^ and none of them all to Pro- 
 
 * tefiants: 
 
 In order to prove this, you ply us again 
 with Texts from Ifaiah^ viz. Chap. xlix. 2:2, 
 23, liv. g. Ix. 3, II, 12. which Places having 
 been already taken Notice of, I have nothing 
 farther to add here. Then, being puffed up 
 with the lofty Defcriptions of that fublime 
 Prophet, which you imagine to be all appli- 
 cable to your Church, you run on in this Strain. 
 — ' It was the Church of CJmJi which, Ifaiah 
 
 * ii. and Micah iv. is called the Mountain of 
 
 * the Houfe of the Lord. It was this Church 
 
 * that was fignif ed by the Stcne hew^d cut the 
 
 * Mountain without Hands., Daniel ii. 34, 't^c^. 
 
 * which grew up into a great Mountain and filed 
 
 G * the 
 
(42 
 
 • the whole Earth -, ^vhich the Prophet Inter- 
 ' prets, V. 44, 45. of a Kifjgdom that fhould 
 ' fubdue all other Kingdoms^ av.d ft and for ever.'' 
 — Now, permit me to think, that that Society, 
 of which the Bifhop of Rome is the vifiblc 
 Head, and the Prince of Delufion the invi- 
 fib e one, (parelon the Expreffion j if it be too 
 coarfe in thefe pohte Times, it was not deemed 
 fo formerly) cannot be that Church vjhich. Ifaiab 
 and Micah fay fhall be exalted above the Hills, 
 and give Laws and Inftrudions to all Nations ; 
 but, on the contrary, feems rather to be the 
 People ihdiXjhall c aft their Idols to the Moles and 
 to the Bats^ to go iyito the Clefts of the Rocks ^ aiid 
 into the 'Tops of the ragged Rocks^ for fear of the 
 Lordj and for the Glcry of his Majefty^ when h^ 
 arifeth to /hake terribly the Earth. As for the 
 Application you make in this Place of Daniel's 
 fecond Chapter, though I have fufficicntiy ob- 
 viated it already, I may further obferve, that 
 there is not the lead Shadov/ of Reafon for it, 
 unlefs you infiil upon the bold Puflies made by 
 the Roman Pontiiis to bring Kings and Empe- 
 rors under their Yoke as well in temporal as 
 fpiritual Mattters ; and their vigorous Efforts 
 to recover the Holy Land out ot the Elands of 
 the Mahoynetons •, thus arrogantly attempting 
 a V/ork referved for the ProftiTors of true 
 Chriftianity in the latter Days. But the ill 
 Succefs of thofe Encroachments upon the Civil 
 Powers, the horrible Scenes of Confufion and 
 Bloodflied they were produdlive of in Chriften- 
 dom, and the difmal Catafcrophe of all the 
 Expeditions made to the Holy Land at the 
 Iniligation of the Rcpes^ plainly demonftratc 
 
 • by what Spirit they were a&uated : The Eruit 
 
 was 
 
( 43 ) 
 was anfwerable to the Tree : They llrovc 
 againft the Decrees of Heaven, ran counter to 
 the Order of God and Nature, broke through 
 all Principles of Equity and Hun-i^nity, and 
 did profper accordingly. 
 
 However, being refolved to make thofe 
 Pafiages o'^ I fat ah and other Prophets fit your 
 Church at any Rate, you proceed to enumerate 
 the feveral Nations converged to Popery from 
 the 5th to the 15th Century, and then give us 
 a fhort, puffy Account of the Succefs of your 
 Preachers, in thefe latter Ages, ' in reducing 
 
 * an infinite Multitude of Unbelievers to the 
 
 * Fold of Cbrift, the Catholic Church, in all 
 ' Parts of the infidel World •,* v>'hich, after all, 
 we need not much wonder at, even though we 
 fiiould allow that you don't exaggerate on this 
 Head. The Bulk of Mankind being very 
 prone to Idolatry (the Sin which, I believe, the 
 Old Serpent diiefiy fets himfelf to propagate, 
 as it is an Inlet to all other Corruptions) what- 
 ever Chriftian Society will ftoop to hilmour 
 Pagans in this Article, by retaining Images^ 
 and allowing a Plurality of Gods^ or Objedls 
 of religious Wordiip, cannot fail of making 
 many Prolelytes : And this, in my Judgment, 
 is the mod natural Way of accounting for 
 what Succefs your Church may have had in 
 thofe Millions •, fince it is notorious that your 
 itinerant Preachers neither can nor do pretend 
 to the fame Gifts as the Apoftles and fome of 
 their Fellow- Labourers had : Yet you mightily 
 boafl of the Miracles v/rought by fome of your 
 modern Apoftles, which, I fuppofe, pafs among 
 your Flock for as authentic as any recorded in 
 
 G 2 Holy 
 
( 44 ) 
 Holy Writ. But as for thofe modern Miracles, 
 I hope one may call them in queflion without 
 being an Infidel. 
 
 The next Charafteriflick whereby you think 
 we may difcover the Romijh Church to be the 
 true Church of Chftfi^ is Antiquity : And here, 
 among other Texts produced to no Purpofe, 
 you give us Jeretniah vi. 16. *' "Thus faith the 
 ^ Lord^fiand ye in the IVaySy and fee ^ and afk for 
 ' the Old Paths, where is the good V/ay, and 
 
 * walk therein^ and ye fhall find Refi for your 
 
 * Souh.^ — Were it not for the Specimens you 
 have already given of your excellent Knack at 
 mifapplying the Scripture, one could almoft 
 fwear you only meant to banter us in quoting 
 this PalTage \ Jeremiah being a very improper 
 Authority to be produced in behalf of your 
 Chuivh. The conftant Employment of this 
 Prop' er, the Burthen of his Song, as I may 
 o^piesit, was to dehoit the Jsws from the 
 new r'aths. Idolatry, v/hich I perceive they 
 were then as obftinately and flupidiy determined 
 to walk in, as the moft ignorant and fliff-neck'd 
 of your Comnninion can poffibiy be. How- 
 ever foolifh or entliufiailical it may feem to 
 you and others, I cannot help obferving, that 
 Jereraiah and all the Prophiets mAift have been 
 (if your Church is in the Right) meer Bung- 
 lers in Divinity, perfedl Dunces in Logic, that 
 did not undcrfiand the pretty Art of reconciling 
 the Ccmmandrnents of God with the Inventions of 
 Men : For, without mincing the Matter, or 
 making uft- of any thing like School-Diftinctions 
 and Qtiibblts, thofe infpired Writers tell us, 
 that to fet up any Images^ or to pay any re- 
 ligious 
 
( 45 ) 
 Ugious Worjhip to the Creature^ Is a forfaking of 
 the Creator^ and cajling him behind our Back, 
 Alas ! what Pity it is that they were Strangers 
 to thefe fo ferviceable Terms, Latria^ Doulia^ 
 relative Honour^ &c. — Here, Sir, I muft be- 
 fpeak your Patience, while I tranfcribe a few 
 Paflages of Jeremiah to fupport thefe Reflec- 
 tions. 
 
 Chap. ii. 26. As the 1' hie f is ajhamedwhen he 
 is foundj fo is the Houfe of Ifrael afhamed ; they\ 
 their Kings^ their Princes^ and their Priefts^ and 
 their Profhets^ 
 
 27. Saying to a Stocky Thou art my Father^ 
 and to a Stone y Thou haft brought me forth : For 
 they have turned their Back unto mey and not their 
 Face : But in the Time of their Trouble they will 
 fayy Arife^ and fave its, 
 
 28. But where are thy Gods that thou baft 
 made thee ? Let them arifcy if ihey can fave thee 
 in the Time of thy Trouble : For according to the 
 Number of thy Cities are thy Gods^ O Judah. 
 
 Chap. viii. 8. How do you fay^ We are wife^ 
 and the Law of the Lord is with us ? Lo^ cer- 
 tainly in vain made he it, the Pen of the Scribes is 
 in vain. 
 
 If, according to your arbitrary Way of in- 
 terpreting Scripture, the Houfe of Ifrael \s to be 
 taken for the Nations that conftitute your 
 Church, and Mount Zion and Jerufalem muft 
 ftand for RomCy when the Text may convey any 
 Ideas advantageous to your Caule, how are wq 
 
 to 
 
( 46 ) 
 
 to apply thefe Paflages ? You fee how the Pro- 
 phet charges his Nation with the moil ilupid 
 Ad: of Idolatry Men can be capable of, and 
 how wife thofe Idolaters were m their own Con^ 
 ceit ! From whence I conjecture, that the Jewijh 
 Dodlors in thofe Days were not at a Lofs for 
 fophiflical Arguments to fling in the Teeth of 
 the Lord's Prophets, inVindication of their ido- 
 latrous Pradbices ; it being otherwife impofTible, 
 at leaft for me, to conceive, how the Kings, 
 the Princes, the Priefts, the Scribes or Ex- 
 pounders of the Law, and the whole Nation, 
 could perfiil in fuch Errors and Abominations 
 as the Prophets fo vehemently declaimed againft, 
 (and this too after they had partly {ttn and felt 
 the Judgments denounced againft Idolaters) 
 uniefs they had had fome Sort of Excufes, fome- 
 thing like a Shadow of Reafoning, to alledge 
 for the Lawfulnefs^ or at leaft the Inoffenfivenefs^ 
 of thofe Praflices : Nor do I doubt but that if 
 their Reafons had been recorded and handed 
 down to us, there v/ould have appeared no ma- 
 terial Difference between them and the Argu- 
 ments urged by modern Dodlors in Defence of 
 Image-worjhip and Invocation of Saints and An- 
 gels. — The Rant or Flourifn with which you 
 clofe your Section of Antiquity., is not much 
 amifs, coniideriiig it drops from the Pen of a 
 Pallor of an infallible Church. ' Our Reli- 
 
 * gion, you fay, is the old Religion. 'Tis the 
 ^ old Religion of England \ the very Walls can 
 
 * witnefs it. 'Tis the old Religion of all 
 ^ Chriftendcm ; all Kind of Monuments atteft 
 '' it ; our very Enemies cannot deny it. Fro- 
 *■ iejlancy came into the World 1 500 Years after 
 
 * Cbrijl ; therefore it came into the World 1 500 
 
 ' Years 
 
(A7) 
 
 * Years too late to be the Religion of Chrijh' 
 — But pray, Dodlor, what is to be proved, 
 by this puffy Stuff? Truly, nothing at all 
 for your Furpofe. You may indeed prove by 
 the Walls and Monuments of Rome and other 
 Places, that Paganifm was the old Religion of 
 thofe Countries : But would any well-informed 
 Chriflian infer from thence (tho' it would be a 
 conclufive Argument with an Idolater) that 
 Paganifm is the true Rehgion ? Upon the fame 
 Grounds the Jewijh Dodors in Jeremiah^ Time 
 might have argued, that their Way of wor- 
 fhipping God being older than that which 
 Mofes taught their Fathers, it muft therefore 
 be right : And fo, at this Rate, Men of cor- 
 rupt Hearts may explain away the cleareft Pre- 
 cepts in Holy Writ. 
 
 The fourth Scdlion of the eighth Prelimi- 
 nary, treating of Apofiolical Sneceffioiu which is 
 the fourth Mark whereby you difcover the 
 Church of Rome to be the Church of Chrift^ I 
 fhall fay but little to. According to my Con- 
 ceptions, the. Succcjfo-rs of the Apoilles are thofe 
 that teach the fame Dodrines which the Apo- 
 ■ (lies taught, and do Honour to their ProfefTion 
 by their Morals ; and whether their Numbers 
 be great or fmali, fpread all over the World, or 
 confined to the narrow Limits of one Nation ; 
 whether they bear Rule in the Earth, or fit 
 mourning in the Wildernefs, waiting for a De- 
 liverance, they alone conftitute the true Church 
 of Chrift, In this Inquiry let every Man that 
 has but little Leifure take the Bible for his 
 Guide : This will tell him that worfhipping 
 Images i and fetting up more than one Mediator 
 
 between 
 
(48) 
 
 between God and Man, is Idolatry ; that an ar- 
 bitrary, perfecuting Spirit, is of the Devil, who 
 is ftiled a Murderer from the Beginning. But 
 if this does not fatisfy him, let him, if he has 
 Time and Money to fpare, dip into Hiftory, 
 and read the Lives of the Popes in particular ; 
 and then fee, in a long Lift of about two hun- 
 dred and fifty Bifhops of Rome, how many Sue- 
 cejfors of the Apofilei he can pick out of it. 
 
 The remaining Seflions of this your eighth 
 and laft Preliminary, I ficip over, my chief 
 Bufinefs being only with fuch of your Scrip- 
 ture Proofs aslapprehend are leaft underftood; 
 and fo I take in Hand the fecond Sedllon in the 
 Body of your Work, the Title of which is, 
 
 * That the Church of Chrijl^ in her Councils 
 
 * and Paftors, is the Judge of all Controverfies 
 < of Religion, and that all Chriftians are obliged 
 
 • to acquiefce to her Decifions.' 
 
 This I may partly grant, and yet without 
 giving you any Advantage over me : For, upon 
 the Principles of your Divines, it is requifite, 
 in order to render a general Council infallible, 
 that the Members ot it meet together duly qua- 
 lified, and rightly prepared, for interpreting the 
 Scripture in any controverted Point •, and then 
 there is no Doubt but that the Holy Gi*^/ aiTifts 
 diofe who diligently and fincerely feek him ia 
 Purity of Heart : As, on the other Hand, the 
 Spirit of Error, the Father of Lies, never fails 
 to lead Men aftray that are aduated on thofc 
 iblemn and weighty Occaficns, by worldly, car* 
 Hal Motives, as Pride, Ambition, Covetouf- 
 
 nefs, 
 
C 49 ) 
 iiefs, t^c. To mention no other than your laft 
 general Council^ can any Man of Common Senfc 
 believe that the Holy Ghofi had any Direflion or 
 Influence at Trent ? If he had, the Members of 
 that Council muft have been very dull or obdu- 
 rate, to fpend fo many Years in deciding Mat- 
 ters which an Aflembly of wife, honeft Men 
 might have determined in as few Weeks.' * 
 However, to make good your Propofition, you 
 diredl us, in the firft Place, to the fecond Epi- 
 llle of Feter^ Chap, iih i6. which I thus ex- 
 pound for you, tho', purfuant to my Plan, I 
 ought to pafs it by, as it belongs to the NcjD 
 Teftament : Seeing then that the Scriptures arc 
 ib hard to be underftood, and that St. Peter^, 
 whofe Succeflbr the Bifnop of Rome is, could 
 fpy out dark PafTages in St. Patd's Epiflles ; 
 we muft therefore rely entirely on tlie Pope and 
 the Bifhops in Communion with him, for the 
 Interpretation of the Bible. The other Texts 
 offered in Support of this Section I may alio 
 pafs over unnoticed^ as they are not more to 
 your Purpofe than that from St. Peter., and 
 may be urged by any Society refolved to exer- 
 cife Dominion over People's Faith : And fo I 
 haften to your third Sedion, the Head or Title 
 'of which runs thus : 
 
 *' That the Church of Chrifi, which, as we 
 
 * have jfeen in the foregoing Sedion, is by di- 
 
 * vine Appointment the Judge of all our Con- 
 
 * troverfies of Religion, is by divine Promife 
 
 * infallibk in the Exercife of this Judgment.' 
 
 The Church of Chrijl., as I take ir, mufl be 
 
 the whole Body of the Faithful, no matter 
 
 H where 
 
( so) 
 where fituated, and not the Cler^ only-, and, 
 as fuch, is undoubtedly direded by the Spirit 
 of God ; yet all the Faithful cannot be Judges 
 of Controverfies, tho' they are fufficiently qua- 
 lified to judge of what is neceflary for Salva- 
 tion ; nor do we find by Experience, that the 
 mod learned and pious Men are more exempt 
 froin Errors in religious Speculations than in 
 other Things. However, if the Divines of 
 your Church could but forbear dipping into the 
 prophetical Writings for Proofs of her Infalli- 
 bility, one might be more apt to think her in- 
 fallible, as a Fool, by holding his Tongue, may 
 fometimes be taken for a wife Man. But let 
 us fee how you make out the Roman Churches 
 Claim to this unerring Judgment in Contro- 
 verfies of Religion. 
 
 Your firft Proof is taken from IfaiaFs 59th 
 Chapter, V. 20, 21. * "The Redeemer Jhall come 
 
 * to Zion, and to them that turn from '^ranf- 
 ^ grejfion in Jacob, faith the Lord: As for me^ 
 
 * this is my Covenant with them^ faith the Lord \ 
 
 * my Spirit that is upon thee^ and my Words 
 
 * which I have put in thy Mouth ^fh all not depart 
 
 * out of thy Mouthy nor out of the Mouth of thy 
 
 * Seed^ nor out of the Mouth of thy Seed's Seed^ 
 
 * faith the Lor d^ from henceforth and for ever,^ — 
 Well enough urged, in one Senfe, for the per- 
 petual abiding of the Holy Ghofi with the Faith- 
 ful or the Church of Chrifly yet no Proof that 
 Rome ha.s all along had, and lliil has the Spirit 
 of Truth. But in order to come at the true 
 Senfe of thefe two Verfes, we fhould carefully 
 perufe the whole Chapter, without the leaft 
 Prejudice for or againft any Church now ex- 
 tant j 
 
( 50 
 
 tant; and then we may perceive the Prophet 
 complains of an univerfal Depravity and De- 
 parture from Truth and Righteoufnefs : At 
 V. 1 6, 17, 18. there being no Man left to fet 
 Things to Rights, we fee God arifing to take 
 Vengeance on all his Enemies •, the Confe- 
 quencc of which, as appears by the next Verfe, 
 is, that the Lord (hall be feared from one End 
 of the Earth unto the other j which has never 
 yet been the Cafe with this World, or elfe all 
 Hiftories muft be falfe. Then, upon the over- 
 throw of the Enemy that Jhall come in like a Floods 
 follows the Converfion of the Jews^ who are 
 cnlighten'd by the Spirit of God, and have a 
 Promife of his continuing with them from 
 thenceforth for ever. This is farther illuftrated 
 by the next Chapter of Ifaiah, which fets forth 
 •the Glory and great Extent of the Mejfiah'% 
 Kingdom, upon the Calling in of the Jews^ 
 and Jerufalem^s becoming the Head of his 
 Church. What that Enetny^ mentioned in the 
 19th Verfe of Chap. 59, may be, I will not 
 take upon me to determine •, but I fuppofe that 
 the Gofpel cannot be reftored at Jenifalem^ nor 
 the Jews fettled again in the Land of CanaaUy 
 'till the Ottoman Power be broken : Nor is it 
 likely that the Race of Ifrael will embrace 
 Chriftianity, 'till they fee Chriftendom purged 
 from Idolatry^ and Chriftians at Unity among 
 themfelves. And how Idolatry may be totally 
 eradicated, 'till that particular Place, which 
 has been the chief Promoter and main Support 
 of it, is deftroyed, I cannot well comprehend ; 
 becaufe St. John is very clear in regard to the 
 Deftrudlion of a great Whore that Jitteth upon 
 many Waters^ a great City that reigneth over the 
 H z tbt 
 
( 50 
 fhe ^ings of the Earth. See Revel xvli. and 
 
 As for the Notion op which you lay fq niuch 
 Strefs, Page 83, and are pleafed to call the 
 ^ommon Notion of Chrjftians, viz- ^ that the 
 ^ Converfion of the Jews fliall not be till near 
 * the End of the World,* I prove the Fallacy 
 pf ic as follows. 
 
 , In the firfl Place I refer you to the three laft 
 Verfes of Jeremiah^ gift Chapter, where the 
 Prophet, after fpeaking of the Eftablifhment 
 of the new Covenant with the Jewijh Nation in 
 particular, foretells the rebuilding of J^n^ty^/^w?, 
 and concludes with this fpecial Promife, // 
 Jh^Jl 7J0t hs pluckt up nor thrcwn down any more 
 for ever. Hence it is evident there muil be a 
 long Space of Time between this Event anci 
 the End of the World. 
 
 For a feccnd Pi-oof that your common Notion 
 above mentioned is falfe and ridiculous, pleafe 
 to confult the 65th Chapter of Ifaiah^ from v. 
 j6 to the End, which, I think, puts it quite 
 out of Difpute that the Jews fhaii be grafted 
 into the Chriftian Church long before the End 
 of the World. For the Benefit of your Flock,, 
 who labour under a Famine of the Word of 
 God, I tranfcribe a few PafTages of that Chap- 
 ter, annexing a brief Expofition, in the Light 
 the Matter appears to me, being ever ready toi 
 correal my Notions upon Conviftion of their 
 beine; erroneous. 
 
 ^7- 
 
. ( 53 ) . 
 
 17- For behold^ I create new Heavens^ and a 
 new Earth : And the former Jh all not be remenj' 
 f?er'd^ nor come into Miyid. — The State of thi$ 
 World rtiall be fo altered, that, figuratively 
 fpeaking, it may be called a new Creation. 
 By Heaven and Earth the Jewijh Prophets 
 i;:ommonly mean only the World in which we 
 Jive •, at leafl the Context urges us to take it 
 here in this Senfe : In confirmation of. which 
 I may produce the Pfalmift^ who faith,, that 
 God- fhall fend forth his Spirit to renew th^ 
 Face of the Earth, 
 
 1 8 . But be you glad and rejoice for ever in that 
 which I create : For behold, I create Jerufalem a 
 Rejoicings and her People a Joy. — Whether you 
 t^e this Jerufalem for the \vhole Chriftiaa 
 Church, or only for a new City built on the 
 fame Spot where the Old «ie ftood, is not ma- 
 teriaf^o the main Point, which is, that there 
 fhall be a glorious and comfortable Change. 
 This cannot be difputed ; though whatever 
 Bleflings the World in general may receive, 
 does not exclude a particular Pre-eminence re- 
 ferved for Jerufalem, 
 
 19. And I will rejoice in Jerufalem, and joy 
 in my People \ and the Voice of weeping foall -be 710 
 more heard in her, nor the Voice of cryi7ig.—^T\i^ 
 old City, having been remarkably diftinguiihed 
 for God's heavy Jtldgments and Plagues, the 
 Prophet therefore notes, for the Comfort of the 
 inhabitants of the new City, that it fhall be 
 free from ail Afflidions : The Days of her 
 Mourning are then endcd^ as he fays. Chap. 
 
 6o» V. 20, 
 
 20, 
 
( 54 ) ' 
 
 2G. There Jh all he no more thence an Infant of 
 DaySy nor an old Man that hath not filled his 
 Days : For the Child Jhall die an hundred Tears 
 cldy but the Sinner being an hundred Tears old^ 
 Jhall be accurfed. — This may be beft explained 
 by the 4th and 5th Verfes of Z^chariah's 8th 
 Chapter. 
 
 21,22. And they Jhall build Houfes and inhabit 
 them •, and they Jhall plant Vineyards, and eat the 
 Fruit of them, They Jhall not build, and another 
 inhabit ; they Jhall not plant, and another eat : 
 For as the Days of a Tree are the Days of my 
 People, and mine Ele£l Jhall long enjoy the Work 
 cf their Hands. "Signifying, if not a longer Life, 
 at lead that every body fhall quietly enjoy the 
 Fruits of their Labour : There is then no more 
 Violence, Wafting, nor Deftrudion, {Ifaiah 
 Ix. 18.) but all fit down fecurely under their 
 Vine and their Fig-tree, {Ifaiah ii. and Mcah iv.) 
 the Swords being beaten into Plough- fhares, 
 and the Spears into Pruning- hooks, the Na- 
 tions learning War no more. All the Weapons 
 of War are burnt, as Ezekiel expreflfes it, Chap. 
 39, and Peace is eftablifhed in the Earth ; 
 which coincides with the Reftoration of the 
 Jews and the Fullnefs of the Gentiles, and in- 
 vincibly proves the Weaknefs and Ignorance 
 of thofe who imagine that the Race of Ifrael 
 will not be converted till near the End of the 
 World, if by the End they mean the general 
 Conflagration, 
 
 Let us now examine the fecond Proof of your 
 third Section, which you take from Ifaiah ix, 
 
 'For 
 
* For unto us a Child is horn^ unto us a Son is 
 
 * given^ and the Government Jhall be upon his 
 
 * Shoulder : And his Name Jhall be called Won- 
 
 * derfuly Counfellor^ the mighty Gody the ever-^ 
 
 * lajling Father^ the Prince of Peace. Of the 
 
 * Encreafe of his Government and Peace there Jhall 
 
 * be no End^ upon the Throne of David and upon 
 
 * his Kingdom^ to order it^ and to ejlablijh it with 
 
 * Judgment and with Jujlice^ from henceforth 
 
 * even for ever. The Zeal of the Lord of Hojis 
 ^ will perform this. 
 
 Here we have indeed a comfortable and fub- 
 lime Idea of what the MeJfiaFs Kingdom (halt 
 be ; but I cannot allow this Prophecy to have 
 been yet fulfilled in all Points. When infpired 
 Men fpeak of the Throne of David^ mull we 
 underftand the capital City of the Fourth Mo- 
 narchy ? If fuch arbitrary Interpretations were 
 allowable, the facred Volumes, which were 
 defigned to bring Mankind to Peace, Unity 
 and Concord in this World, and to eternal 
 Happinefs hereafter, would be produdive of a 
 worfe than Babel Confufwn : At this Rate we 
 might allegorize the whole Bible into rank 
 Nonfenfe or Blafphemy. 
 
 Your third Proof is from Ifaiah xxxv. 4, 5, 
 l^c, ' Behold your God will come — he 
 
 * will come and fave you.'' [The Prophet fay^,. 
 that God will come with Vengeance ; but why 
 you declined mentioning that Circumftance of 
 his coming, is beH: known to yourfelf.] ' Then 
 
 * the Eyes of the Blind fhall be opened^ &c. And 
 ^ a Highway Jhall be there^ and it J}jall be called 
 
 ' the 
 
C 5^ ) 
 
 • the Way of Holinefs -, the Unclean Jhall not paji 
 
 • over it^ the Wayfaring Men^ tho' Fools^ Jhalt 
 
 • not err therein,^ — -Therefore, according ta 
 your Method of expounding the Scriptures, be- 
 lieve and pradife whatever the Roman Church 
 didlates, and ye cannot mifs the Way to Hea- 
 ven. 
 
 But, in ordet to underftand the 35th of 
 IJaiah^ we muft give a little Attention to the 
 preceding. Chapter. In thefe two Chapters I 
 think we have, not the Planting of the Church 
 oiChrifty but its Reft oration^ the Way to which 
 is paved by God's fignal Vengeance on all who 
 would not have him to reign over them : And 
 this, you know, was not done in the primitive 
 Times of Chriftianity, nor in any Age finccw 
 The following Paffages from the 34th Chapter 
 make it plainer than any thing. I can fay. 
 
 i; Come near ^ ye Natioyjs^ to hear^ and hearken 
 ye People : Let the Earth hear^ and all that is 
 therein \ the Worlds and all things that come 
 forth of it* 
 
 2. For the Indignation of the Lord is upon at! 
 Nations^ and his Fury upon all their Armies : He 
 hath utterly deftroyed them^ he hath delivered 
 them to the Slaughter. 
 
 8. For it is the Bay of the Lord^s Vengeance, 
 and the Tear of Recompences for the Controverfy 
 cf Zion. 
 
 The Scripture being bell expounded by Scrip- 
 ture, fuch as want farther Light into thofe Paf- 
 fages 
 
'( 51 ) 
 fages may confult Ifaiah ii. Jer, xxv. Ezek. 
 xxxviii and xxxix. Micah iv. RevcL xix. As 
 for the Remainder ot ffaiah'^ 34th Chapter^ .it 
 may be partly explained by the i8th of the 
 Apocalypje^ where St. John borrows fome of 
 that Prophet's Expreffions in denouncing God's 
 Judgments againft modern Babylon. Hiis 
 figpal Vengeance being executed, then we fee, 
 in Ifaiah xxxv. the peaceable and glorious 
 Eftate of the Church, with a particular re- 
 fpe(5i: to Jerufakm^ as the following Verfcs 
 evince. 
 
 9. No Lion JJjall he found there ^ nor any ra- 
 'venous Beafi fhall go up thereon ; // floall not be 
 found there : But the redeemed of the Lord fhall 
 ivalk there.- — Alluding perhaps, by Way of 
 Contrafl, (if fuch an Interpretation be war- 
 rantable) to that See which pretends to be the 
 Seat of Chrifl's Vicar, where many a Lion and 
 ravenous Bead has been found, fuch as Gregory 
 vii. Boniface viii. &c. &c. 
 
 10. And the ranfom^d of the Lord fJo all return 
 and come to Zion with Songs and everlafting foy 
 upon their Heads : They Jhall obtain Joy and 
 Gladnefs^ and Sorrow and Sighing fhall fly away. 
 
 Your 4th and 5th Proofs being taken out of 
 IfaiaFs . 54th and 60th Chapters, they require 
 no Notice from me in this Place, as I have al- 
 ready difpatched you on the Subjed of chofe 
 two Chapters. Proceed we then to your fixth 
 Proof, which is from Ezek. xxxvii. 24, 26. 
 
 I ' David 
 
( ^8 ) 
 
 ^ David my Servant (that is Chriji^ who is of 
 
 * the Houfe of David) ftmll be King over them-, 
 
 * and they Jloall all have one Shepherd : They Jh all 
 ' alfo walk in my Judgments^ and ohferve my 
 
 * Statutes^ and do them Moreover^ I 
 
 ' will make a Covenant of Peace with them *, it 
 ' Jhall be an everlafting Covenant with them : 
 
 * Aid I will place them^ and multiply them^ 
 ' and will fet my Sanctuary in the Midft of them 
 
 * for evermore.' This, you fay, not only im- 
 plies the perpetual Vifibility of the Church, but 
 alfo her Infallibility : But, in my Judgment, 
 your Way of reafoning feems to imply, that 
 Men mull be great Fools, or fomething worfe, 
 before they can fet up for Infallibility. Any 
 honefl, fenfible Man may fee, in this Chapter 
 of Ezekiel^ a plain, exprefs Promife to bring 
 the whole Houfe of Ifrael to the Knowledge of 
 Chrijl ; and that from the Accomplifhment of 
 this Promife we rriuil date the glorious and 
 triumphant Eflate of the Church on Earth. 
 Nay, the very Verfe between the two which 
 you thought would anfwef your End, puts it 
 quite out of Difpute, that the Prophet means 
 a general Return of the Tribes of Ifrael to 
 their own Land, upon their embracing the 
 Gofpel : And their being united with the Gen- 
 tilesy under one Head, Chrfl, may be gathered 
 from the whole Scope of the Chapter. You 
 yourfelf. Sir, feem to have been fenfible that 
 the 25th Verfe is fufficient to overthrov/ your 
 Inferences, otherwife you had not fkipt over it : 
 But fuffer me to tell you, that its obvious 
 Connexion with thofe between which it lies, 
 intitled it to a Place in your Work. How- 
 ever, I am willing to excufe the OmifTion ; the 
 
 Badnefs 
 
(59) 
 Badnefs of the Caufe might not admit of a more 
 candid Way of proceeding : And befides, when 
 Men have once attained to Infallibihty, they 
 need not take much Care how they reafon, nor 
 how they apply the Scripture. Hence it is that 
 we are to take Mount Zion and Jerufalem ^'or 
 Rome^ and the Land of Canaan for St. Peter's 
 Patrimony or the Pope's Territories. If you 
 think my Reflections too harfh, pleafe to accept 
 of the following Verfes in the fame Chapter of 
 EzekieU as an Excufe for it. 
 
 1 1 . ^hus faith the Lord God^ Behold^ I mil 
 take the Childnn of Ifrael from among the Heathen 
 whither they he gone, and will gather them on 
 every Side^ and bring them into their own Land. 
 r— So evidently applicable to the Jews alone, 
 that the moil fubtil Sophiftcr cannot warp it 
 to any other Senfe. 
 
 22. And I will make them one Nation in the 
 Land upon the Mountains of Ifrael^ and one King 
 fhall be King to them all : And they fhall be no more 
 tw'o Nations^ neither fhall they be divided into 
 two Kingdoms any more at all. — Before the Baby^ 
 lonifh Captivity they formed two diftind: Sove- 
 reignties, the Kingdom of Judah and that of 
 Ifrael : But after their lafl Reftoration (the Re^ 
 turn from Babylon being out of the Queftion 
 here) there will be no fuch Diviiion •, neither 
 will the chief Caufe of it. Idolatry^ be ever 
 found amongft them, as we fee in the next Verfe, 
 
 Z 3 . Neither fhall they defile themf elves any more 
 
 with their Idols ^ nor with their det eft able nings^ 
 
 por with any of their I'rangreffons : But I will 
 
 : I 2 fave 
 
( 6o ) 
 fave them out of all their dwelling Places^ wherein 
 they have fm^d^ and will cleanfe them: So Jhall 
 ihey be my People^ and I will be their God, 
 
 25. And they Jhall dwell in the Land that I 
 have given unto Jacob my Servant^ wherein your 
 Fathers have dwelt ^ and they jhall dwell therein^ 
 even they and their Children^ and their Children's 
 Children for ever^ and my Servant David Jhall 
 be their Prince for ever. — This David being un- 
 der flood, both hy Chriftians and Jews^ to be the 
 Mejfah^ I need only remind you here of the 
 ridiculous Notion, that the Reftoration of the 
 latter will not be till near the End i)f the World : 
 Whereas any Man may fee that they and their 
 Fofterity, for many Generations, are to dwell 
 in that vefy Land which Mofes led them to, 
 and Jojhua put them in PolTefTion of. 
 
 28. And the Heathen Jhall know that I the 
 Lor a do janElify IfraeU when nrf Sanctuary Jhall 
 be in the Midjl^ of, them for evermore* 
 
 Such as may want to be better fatisfied that 
 you have grofsly mifapplied the 24th and 26th 
 Verfes of Ezekiers 37th Chapter, need but ftudy 
 the 36th Chapter, trcm which I extrad only 
 two railages here, to excite them to it. 
 
 10. And I Will multiply Men upon you, all 
 thr Hrt'.fe of Ifrael^ even all of it^ and the Cities 
 Jhall be inhabited^ and theWaJies Jhall be built: 
 
 1 1 . And I will multiply upon you Man and 
 BeaJi, and they Jhall encreaje and bring Fruity and 
 I will fettle you after your old EJiates^ and- will 
 
 - - 2 do 
 
( 6i ) 
 
 do better unto you than at your Beginnings^ and 
 yejhall know that lam the Lord^ 
 
 Having thus turned againfl you all the Paf- 
 fages of the Old Teftament which you bring as 
 Proofs that your Communion muft needs be the 
 true Church of Chrtfl, 1 leave your Proofs from 
 the Nezv Teftament^ as premifed at my fetting 
 out, to be taken into Confideration by fuch as 
 have more Leifure, and are better qualified than 
 I am for a fuller and more accurate Refutation 
 of your Work ; which they will find an eafy 
 Taik, provided they don't flight the Founda- 
 tion I have built upon : And this I would re- 
 commend to the Englijh Clergy in particular, 
 who, if I conjecture right, are in more Danger 
 of a Reftoration of Popery^ than of the Eftab- 
 lilhment of Judaifm^ which fome People appre- 
 hend will be the Fruits of a late A61 of Parlia- 
 ment, if not fpeedily repealed. 
 
 I mufl not take my Leave of you without 
 making fome Apology for the Tartnefs with 
 which I have treated you. Be pleafed, then, 
 to underfland, that tho' I have made Choice of 
 the Epiftolary Stile on this Occafion, you need 
 not take in Dudgeon any of my Refledions, 
 even where I dete(5l you in blundering or pre- 
 varicating. I acknowledge that no Dodor of 
 your Party could have better maintained the 
 pretended Infallibility of the Roman Church \ 
 confequently, your Miftakes, whether wilful or 
 not, are chargeable upon the whole Body that 
 lays claim to an unerring Authority in Matters of 
 Faith; and you may ft and acquitted of Ignorance 
 or Difiiigenuity, as you have only colle6led and 
 
 delivere4 
 
[ ^z ) 
 
 delivered the Sentiments and Arguments of ^ 
 Society whom you believe infallible. 
 
 As for this Performance of mine, I have not 
 Vanity enough to think it faultlefs. I am ien- 
 fible fome Criticks will fay that the Subject is 
 treated too fuperficially : In anfwer to which I 
 fhall only obferve, that the mod voluminous 
 Work, were it as well connefted, and as plain 
 as mathematical Demonftrations, would make 
 no ImprefTion on the Slothful, the Proud, the 
 Covetous, ^c. Brevity is what I have endea- 
 voured at, being perfuaded that if what I have 
 done is right in the main, others will be ex- 
 cited to improve upon it ; but if wrong, then 
 the fhorter the better : It will hurt no Man's 
 Pocket, nor rob him of above an Hour, if he 
 thinks it not worth a fecond Reading. Of 
 buman Cpmpofitions %q C2in only fay, that they 
 are the bejl which have the fewefl Faults; and 
 whether mine htgoodorl?ad^ that you may make 
 ^ proper Ufe of it, is the unfeigned Wifh of 
 
 Tour himhk Servants 
 
 A COSMOPQLITE, 
 
^ 
 
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