YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

Bought with the income
of the
OLIVER WOLCOTT FUND

A
DISCOURSE O N
F R E E D O M
O F
THINKING I N-
Matters of R E L I G I O N ;
With it's juft Limits and Temper,
NEITHER
Indifferent nor Intolerant.

One is your Mafter, even Christ ; and all ye are Brethren.
Matt, xxiii. 8.
Who art thou, that judgeft another Man*s Servant ? To his own
Mailer he ftandeth or falleth. Rom. xiv. .4.

OXFORD,
Printed for J. Fletcher, in the Turl ; R. and J. Dodsley,
in Pali-Mall, and J. Fletcher, in St. Paul's Church-yard,
London ; and W. Thurlbourn, and J. Woodyer,
in Cambridge. ^____ 
M.DCCLXIII.

H^fpTAO

( iii )
PREFACE.
THE fum of the following difcourfes
is nothing, but the fenfe of thefe
words of fcripture ;
That fince * we know in part, and prophejy
in part, and that now we fee through a glafs
darkly, we fhould not defpife or contemn per-
fons not fo knowing as ourfelves, but -f- him
that is weak in the faith we fiould receive, but
not to doubtful difputations ; therefore certainly
to charity, and not to vexations, not to thofe
which are the idle effedts of impertinent
wranglings. And provided they keep clofe to
the foundation, which is faith and obedience^
kt them build upon this foundation matter more
or lefs precious, yet if the foundation be entire,
they fhall be faved with or without lofs. And
fince we profefs ourfelves fervants of fo meek
a matter, and difciples of fo charitable an in-
ftitute, X Let us walk worthy of the vocation
wherewith we are called with all lowlinefs and
frteeknefs, with long fuffering, forbearing one
another in love ; for this is the beft endeavouring
to keep the unity of the fpirit, when it is faft
tied in the bond of peace. And although it be
* 1 Cor. 13. f Rom. 14. % Ephef. 4. 2, 3.
a 2 a duty

IV

PREFACE.

a duty of chriftianify, that * we all fpeak the
fame thing, that there be no divifons among us,
but that we be perfectly joined together in the
fame mind, and in the fame judgment, yet this
unity is to be eftimated according to the unity
of faith, in things necefiary, in matters of
creed, and articles fundamental ; for as for
other things, it is more to be wifhed than to
be hoped for ; there are fome doubtful difputa
tions, and in fuch -j- the fcribe, the wife, the
difputer of this world, are moft commonly
very far from certainty, and many times from
truth : There are diverfity of perfuafions in
matters indifferent, as meats, and drinks, and
holy clays, &c. and both parties, the affirmative
and the negative, affirm and deny with inno
cence enough ; for the obferver and he that ob-
ferves not, intend both to God ; and God is
our common matter, we all fellow fervants,
and not the judge of each other, in matters of
confcience, or doubtful difputation : And every
man that hath faith muft have it to himfelf
before God, but no man muft either in fuch
matters judge his brother or fet him at nought ;
but let lis follow after the things which make
for peace, and things wherewith one may edify
another : And the way to do that is not by
knowledge, but by charity, % for knowledge
pujfeth up, but charity edifieth ; and fince there
is not in every man § the fame knowledge, but
the conferences of fome are weak ; as my liberty
* i Cor. i. 10. f Rom. 14. % 1. Cor. 8. 1. verf. y
§ 1 Cor. 10. .-.9. muft

PREFACE. v
mujl not be judged of another mans weak con
fcience, fo muft not I pleafe myfelf fo much
in my right opinion, but I muft alfo take
order that his * weak confcience be not offended
or defpifed, for no man muft feek his own but
every man another s wealth : And although we
muft contend earneftly for the faith ; yet above
all things we muft put on charity, which is the
bond of perfeBnefs : And therefore this conten
tion muft be with arms fit for -f- the chriftian
warfare, the [word of the fpirit, and the JJoield
of faith, and preparation of the gofpel of peace
injtead of foes, and a helmet of falvation,
but not with other arms, for a churchman
muft not be irArntliitos, a ftriker, for the wea
pons of our warfare are not carnal but fpiri-
tual, and the perfons that ufe them ought to
be gentle, and eafy to be intreated, and we muft
give an account of our jatth to them that afk us
with meeknefs and humility ; for fo is the will
of God, that with well doing ye may put to filence
the ignorance of foolijh men. Thefe and thou-
fands . more to the fame purpofe are the doc
trines of chriftianity, whofe fenfe and intend
ment I have profecuted in the following
difcourfe ; being very much difpleafed that fo
many opinions and new doctrines are com
menced among us, but more troubled that
every man who hath an opinion, thinks his
own and other men's falvation is concerned in
its maintenance j but moft of all that men
fhould be perfecuted and afflicted for difagree-
* Ibid. f Colof. 3. 14.
a 3 ing

vi PREFACE.
ing in fuch opinions, which they cannot with
fufhcient grounds obtrude upon others neceffa-
rily, becaufe they cannot propound them in
fallibly, and becaufe they have no warrant
from fcripture fo to do : For if I fhall tie
other men to believe my opinion, becaufe I
think I have a place of fcripture, which feems
to warrant it to my underftanding ; why may
he not exact the fame talk of me to believe
the contradictory ? And then, fince all the
hereticks in the world have offered to prove
their articles by the fame means by which true
believers propound theirs, it is neceffary that
fome feparation either of doctrine or of perfons
be clearly made, that all pretences may not be
admitted, nor any juft allegations be rejected ;
and yet that in fome other queftions whether
they be truly or falfely pretended, if not evi
dently or demonftratively, there may be con-
fiderations had to the perfons of men and to
the laws of charity, more than to the tri
umphing in any opinion or doctrine not limply
neceffary. Now becaufe fame doctrines are
clearly not neceffary, and fome are abfolutely
necefiary ; why may not the firft feparation be
made upon this difference, and articles necef
fary be only urged as neceffary, and the reft
left to men indifferently, as they were by the
fcripture indeterminately. And it were well
if men would as much confider themfelves as
the doctrines ; and think that they may as
well be deceived by their own weaknefs, as
perfuaded by the arguments of a doctrine
which other men, as wife, call inevident. For it

P R E FAC EV vi
it is a hard cafe that we fhall think all papifts
and anabaptifts and facramentaries to be fools
and wicked perfons ; certainly among all thcfe
fedf s there are very many wife and good men,
as well as erring ; and although fome zeals are
fo hot, and their eyes fo inflamed with their
ardors, that they do not think their adver
saries look like other men j yet certainly we
find by the refults of their difcourfes, and the
tranfaclions of their affairs of civil fociety, that
they are men that fpeak and make fyllogifms,
and ufe reafon, and read fcripture ; and al
though they no more underftand all of it, than
we do, yet they endeavour to underftand as
much as concerns them, even all that they
can, even all that concerns repentance from
dead works, and faith in our Lord Jefus
Chrift :' And therefore methinks this aifo
fhould be another confideration diftinguifhing
the perfons j for if the perfons be chriftians in
their lives, and chriftians in their profeffion,
if they acknowledge the eternal fon of God
fcr their matter and their lord, and live in all
relations as becomes perfons making fuch pro-
feffions ; why then fhould I hate fuch perfons
whom God loves, and who love God, who
are partakers of Chrift, and Chrift hath a title
to them, whs dwell in Chrift, and Chrift in
them, becaufe their underftandings have not
been hrought up like mine, have not had the
fame mafters, they have not met with the
fame books, nor the fame company, or have
not the fame intereft, or are not fo wife, or
elfe are wifer, (that is, for fome reafoa or
a 4 other

viii PREFACE.
other which I neither underftand, nor ought
to blame) have not the fame opinions that I
have, and do not determine their fchool quef-
tions to the fenfe of my feet or intereft.
But now I know before hand, that thofe
men who will endure none but their own
feet, will make all manner of attempts againft
thefe purpofes of charity and compliance ;
and fay I, or do I what I can, will tell all their
profelytes that I preach indifferency of reli
gion ; that I fay it is no matter how we be
lieve, nor what they profefs : But that they
may comply with all fects, and do violence to
their own confeiences j that they may be fa-
ved in all religions, and fo make way for a
coiluvies of herefies, and by confequence deftroy
all religion. Nay, they will fay worfe than
all this ; and but that I am not ufed to their
phrafes and forms of declamation, I am per-
fuaded I might reprefent fine tragedies before
hand. And this will be fuch an objection,
that although I am moft confident I fhall
make apparent to be as falfe and fcandalous, as
the objectors themfelves are zealous and impa
tient, yet befides that, I believe the objection
will come where my anfwers will not come, or
not be underftood : I am alfo confident that in
defiance and incurioufnefs of all that I fhall
fay, fome men will perfift pertinacioufly in
the accufation, and deny my conclufion in
defpite of me : well, but however I will try.
I. And firft I anfwer, that vvhatfoever is
againft the foundation of faith, or contrary to
good life and the laws of obedience, or deftruc- tive

PREFACE. ix
tive to human fociety, and the publick and juft
interefts of bodies politick, is out of the limits
of my queftion, and does not pretend to com
pliance or toleration : So that I allow no in-
differency, nor any countenance to thofe reli
gions whofe principles deftroy government;
nor to thole religions (if there be any fuch)
that teach ill life ; nor do I think that any
thing will now excufe from belief of a fun
damental article, except ftupidity or fottifhnefs
and natural inability. This alone is fufficient
anfwer to this vanity ; but I have much
more to fay.
II. The intent of my difcourfc is, that per-
miflions fhould be in queftions fpeculative, in
determinable, curious, and unneceffary, and
that men would not make more neceffities,
than God made, which indeed are not many.
The fault I find and feek to remedy is, that
men are fo dogmatical and refolute in their
opinions, and impatient of others difagreeing
in thofe things wherein is no fufficient means
of union and determination, but that men
fhould let opinions and problems keep their
own forms, and not be obtruded as axioms,
-nor queftions in the vaft collection of the
fyftem of divinity, be adopted into the family
of faith : And I think I have reafon to
defire this,
III. It is hard to fay, that he who would
not have men put to death, or punifhed cor
porally for fuch things, for which no human
authority is fufficient either for cognifance or
determination, or competent for infliction ;
that

x P R E F A C :E.
that he perfuades to an indifferency, when he
refers to another judicatory, which is compe
tent, fufficient, infallible, juft, and highly
fevere. No man or company of men can
judge or punifh our thoughts, or fecret pur-
pofes whilft they fo remain, and yet it will be
unequal to fay, that he who owns this docf rine
preaches it lawful to men, to think or purpofe
what they will-. And fo it is in matters of
doubtful difputation (fuch as are the diftin
guifhing articles of moft of the fects of Chrif-
tendom : ) So it is in matters intellectual
(which are not cognofcible by a fecular power)
in matters fpiritual (which are to be difcerned
by fpiritual authority, which cannot make
corporal inflictions) and in queftions indeter
minate, (which are doubtfully propounded or
obfcurely, and therefore may be in utramque
Partem difputed or believed ;) for God alone
muft be judge of thefe matters, who alone is
matter of our fouls, and hath a dominion
over human underftanding ; and he that fays
this, does not fay that indifferency is per-
fuaded, becaufe God alone is judge of erring
perfons. IV. No part of this difcourfe teaches or en
courages variety of fects, and contradiction in
opinions, but fuppofes them already in being ;
and therefore fince there are, and ever were,
and ever will be variety of opinions, becaufe
there is variety of human underftandings, and
uncertainty in things, no man fhould be too
forward in determining all queftions, nor fo
forward in prefcribing to others, nor invade that

PREFACE. xi
that liberty which God hath left to us entire
by propounding many things obfcurely, and
by exempting our fouls and underftandings
from all power externally compulibry ; So that
the reftraint is laid upon mens' tyranny, but
no licence given to mens' opinions, they are
not confidered in any of the eonclufions, but
in the premifes only as an argument to exhort
to charity. So that if I perfuade a licence of
difcrediting any tiling which God hath com
manded us to believe, and allow a liberty
where God hath, not allowed it, let it be
fhewn, and let the objection prefs as hard as
it can ; but to fay that men are too forward
in condemning where God hath declared no
fentence nor prefcribed any rule ; is to diffuade
from tyranny, not to encourage licentioufnefs ;
is to take away a licence of judging, not to
give a licence of dogmatizing what every one
pleafe, or as may beft ferve his turn. And
for the other part of the objection ;
V. This difcourfe is fo far from giving leave
to men to profefs any thing, though they be
lieve the contrary, that it takes order that no
man fhall be put to it ; for I earneftly contend
that another man's opinion fhall be no rule
to mine, and that my opinion fhall be no
fnare and prejudice to myfelf, that men ufe
one another fo charitably and fo gently, that
no error or violence tempt men to hypocrify ;
this very thing being one of the arguments I
ufe to perfuade permiffions, left compulfion in
troduce hypocrify, and make fincerity trouble-
fome and unfafe. VI.

xii PREFACE.
VI. If men would not call all Opinions by
the name of Religion, and fuper-ftructures
by the name of fundamental articles, and all
fancies by the glorious appellative of faith,
this objection would have no pretence or foot
ing ; fo that it is the difoafe of the men, not
any caufe that is miniftered' by fuch precepts
of charity, that makes them perpetually cla
morous : And it would be hard to fay that
fuch phyficians are incurious of their patients,
and neglectful of their health, who fpeak
againft the unreafonablenefs of fuch empericks,
that would cut off a man's head, if they fee
but a wart upon his cheek, or a dimple upon
his chin, or any lines in his face to diftinguifh
him from another man ; the cafe is altogether
the fame, and we may as well decree a wart
to be mortal, as a various opinion in re alio-
qui non neceffarid to be capital and damnable.
For I confider, that there are but few doc
trines of chriftianity, that were ordered to be
preached to all the world, to every fingle
perfon, and made a neceffary article of his
explicit belief: Other doctrines, which are all
of them not fimply neceffary, are either fuch
as are not clearly revealed, or fuch as are : If
they be clearly revealed, and that I know fo
too, or may but for my own fault, I am not
to be excufed, but for this I am to be left to
God's judgment ; unlefs my fault be externally
fuch as to be cognofcible and punifhable in
human judicatory : But then, if it be not fo
revealed, but ih.u wife men and good men
differ in their opinions, it is a clear cafe, it
is

PR E F A C E. xiii
is not inter dogmata neceffaria fmpliciter ; and
then it is certain I may therefore fafely difbe-
lieve it, becaufe I may be fafely ignorant of
it : For if I may with -innocence be ignorant,
then to know it or believe it, is not fimply
obligatory ; ignorance is abfolutely inconfiftent
with fuch an obligation, becaufe it is deftruc-
tive and a plain negative to its performance ;
and if I do my honeft endeavour tq underftand
it, and yet do not attain it, it is certain that is
not obligatory to me fo much as by accident ;
for no obligation can prefs the perfbn of a
man, if it be impoffible : no man is bound to
do more than his beft ; no man is bound to
have an excellent underftanding, or to be in
fallible, or to be wifer than he can 3, for thefe
are things that are not in his choice, and
therefore not a matter of a law, nor fubject to
reward and punifhment ; fo that where igno
rance of the article is not a fin, there dilbelie-
ving it in the right fenfe, or believing it in
the wrong, is not breach of any duty, effen-
tially or accidentally neceffary, neither in the
thing itfelf, nor to the perfon ; that is, he is
neither bound to the article, nor to any en
deavours or antecedent acts of volition and
choice ; and that man who may fafely be ig
norant of the propofition, is not tied at all to
fearch it out ; and if not at all to fearch it,
then certainly not to find it : All the obligation
we are capable of is, not to be malicious or
voluntarily criminal in any kind ; and then if
by accident we find out a truth, we are obli
ged to believe it ; and fo will every wife or
good

xiv PREFACE.
good man do ; indeed he cannot do otherwife :
But if he difbelieve an article without malice,
or defign, or involuntarily, or unknowingly, it
is contradiction to fay it is a fin to him, who
might totally have been ignorant of it ; for
that he believes it in the wrong fenfe, it is
his ignorance, and it is impoflible that where
he hath heartily endeavoured to find out a
truth, this endeavour fhould make him guilty
of a fin, which would never have been laid
to his charge, if he had taken no pains at all :
His ignorance in this cafe is not a fault at all y
poffibly it might, if there had been no endea
vour to have cured it.
So that there is wholly a miftake in this
propofition : For true it is, there are fome
propofitions, which if a man never hear of,
they will not be required of him j and they
who cannot read, might fafely be ignorant*
that Mekhizedeck was king of Salem ; but he
who reads it in the fcripture, may not fafely
contradict it -y although before that knowledge
did arrive to him, he might fafely have been
ignorant of it : But this although it be true, is
not pertinent to our queftion ; for in fenfu di-
vifo this is true, that which at one time a
man may be ignorant of, at fome other time
he may not difbelieve : But in fenfu conjunBo
it is falfe ; for at what time, and in what cir-
cumftance foever it is no fin to be ignorant,
at that time and in that conjuncture, it is no
fin to difbelieve ; and fuch is the nature of all
queftions difputable •, which are therefore not
required of us to be believed in any one parti cular

PREFACE. xv
cular fenfe, becaufe the nature of the thing
is fuch as not to be neceffary to be known at
all limply and abfolutely; and fuch is the am
biguity and cloud of its face and reprefentment,
as not to be neceffary fo much as by accident,
and therefore not to the particular fenfe of any
one perfbn.
And yet, foch is the iniquity of men, that
they fuck in opinions as wild affes do the wind,
without diftinguifhing the wholefome from the
corrupted air, and then live upon it at a ven
ture, and when all their confidence is built
upon zeal and miftake, yet therefore becaufe
they are zealous and mittaken, they are im
patient of contradiction.
But befides that againft this I have laid pre
judice enough from the dictates of holy fcrip
ture, it is obfervable that this with its appen
dant degrees, I mean reftraint of prophefying,
impofing upon other mens underftanding, being
matters of their confidences, and lording it
over their faith, came in with the retinue and
train of antichrift, this is, they came as other
abufes and corruptions of the church did, by
reafon of the iniquity of the times, and the
cooling of the firft heats of chriftianity, and the
encreafe of intereft, and the abatements of
chriftian fimplicity, when the church's fortune
grew better, and her fons grew worfe, and
fome of her fathers worft of all ; for in the
firft three hundred years there was no fign of
perfecuting any man for his opinion,, though
at that time there were very horrid opinions
commenced, and fuch which were exemplary and

xvi PREFACE
and parallel enough to determine this queftion;
for they then were affaulted by new fects,
which deftroyed the common principles of na
ture, of chriftianity, of innocence and publick
fociety ; and they who ufed all the means
chriftian and fpiritual for their dif-improve-
ment and conviction, thought not of ufing cor
poral force, otherwife than by blaming fuch
proceedings : And therefore I do not only urge
their not doing it as an argument of the un-
lawfulnefs of fuch proceeding, but their defy
ing it and fpeaking againft fuch practices, as
unreafonable and deftructive of chriftianity:
For fo * TertuUian is exprefs, Humani juris
& naturalis poteftatis, unicuique quod put aver it
colere, fed nee religionis eft cogere religionem,
quce fufcipi debet fponte non vi : The fame is
the doctrine of St. Cyprian, LaSlantius, St.
Hilary, Minutius Felix, Sulpitius Severus, St.
Chryfoftom, St. Hierom, St. Auflin, Damafcen,
TheophylaSi, Socrates Scholajlicus, and St. Ber
nard, as they are feverally referred to and ur
ged upon occafion in the following difcourfe.
To which I add, that all wife princes, till
they were overborn with faction or follicited
by peevifh perfons, gave toleration to differing
fects, whofe opinions did not difturb the pub
lick intereft : But at firft, there were fome he
retical perfons that were alfo impatient of an
adverfary, and they were the men who at firft
entreated the Emperors to perfecute the ca-
tholicks 3 but till four hundred years after
* Ad Scapulat. Chrift,

PREFACE. xvii
Chrift, no catholick perfons, or very few, did
provoke the fecular arm, or implore its aid
againft the hereticks, fave only that Arrius be
haved himfelf fo feditioufly and tumultuarily,
that the Nicene fathers procured a temporary
decree for his relegation, but it was foon taken
off and God left to be his judge, who indeed
did it to feme purpofe, when he was trufted
with it, and the matter wholly left to him.
But as the ages grew worfe, fo men grew
more cruel and unchriftian, and in the Greek
church Atticus, and Neftorius of Conftantino-
ple, Theodofius of Synadtf, and fome few others
who had forgotten the mercies of their great
mafter, and their own duty, grew implacable
and furious and impatient of contradiction. It
was a bold and an arrogant fpeech which
Neftorius made in his fermon before Theodoftus
the younger, Da mihi, O Imperator, terram
ab hareticis repurgatam, & ego tibi vicifjim
caelum dabo : Difperde mecum h&reticos, & ego
tecum difperda?n Perfas : It was as grpnndlefs
and unwarrantable, as it was bloody and
inhuman. And we fee the contrary events prove truer,
than this groundlefs and unlearned promife ;
for Theodofus and Valentinian were profperous
princes, and have to all ages a precious me
mory, and the reputation of a great piety ; but
they were fo far from doing what Neftorius
had fuggefted, that they reftrained him from
his violence and immanity, and Theodoftus did
highly commend the good biihop Proclus for
his fweetnefs of deportment towards erring
b perfons,

xviii PREFACE.
perfons, far above the cruelty of his predeceflbr
Atticus : And the experience which Chriften-
dom hath had in this laft age is argument
enough, that toleration of differing opinions is
fo far from difturbing the publick peace, or de-
ftroying the intereft of princes and common
wealths, that it does advantage to the publick,
it fecures peace, becaufe there is not fo much
as the pretence of religion left to fuch perfons
to contend for it, being already indulged to
therm When France fought againft the Hu-
guonots, the fpilling of her own blood was
argument enough of the imprudence of that
way of promoting religion ; but ever fince fhe
hath given permiffion to them, the world is
witnefs how profperous fhe hath been:
But the great inftance is in the differing tem
per, government and fuccefs which Margaret
of Parma, and the duke of Alva had : The
clemency of the firft had almoft extinguifhed
the flame ; but when fhe was removed D'A/va
fucceeded and managed the matter of religion
with fire and fword ; he made the flame fo
great, that his religion and his prince too have
both been almoft quite turned out of the
country. Petti e medio fapientiam, quoties vi
res agitur, fays Ennius , and therefore the beft
of men, and the moft glorious of princes were
always ready to give toleration, but never to
make executions for matters difputable : Eufe-
bius in his fecond book of the life of Conftantine
reports thefe words of the Emperor, Parem
cum fdelibus ii qui errant, pads & quietis
fruitionem gaudentes accipiant : Ipfa fquidem
communicationi

PREFACE. xix
communicationis &focietatis reftitutio ad reklam
etiam veritatis viam perducere poteft. Nemo
cuiquam molefiusfit; quifque quod animo deftinat,
hoc etiam faciat.
And indeed there is great reafon for princes
to give toleration to difagreeing perfons, whofe
opinions by fair means cannot be altered ; for
if the perfons be confident, they will ferve
God according to their perfuafions' ; and if
they be publickly prohibited, they will pri
vately convene ; and then all thofe inconve
niences and mifchiefs which are arguments
againft the permiffion of conventicles, are ar
guments for the publick permiffions of differing
religions, becaufe the denying of the publick
worfhip will certainly produce private conven
ticles, againft which all wife princes and
common-wealths have upon great reafons made
edicts and fevere fanctions, Quicquid ejiim
agitur abfente rege, in caput ejus plerunque re-
dundat, fay the politiques : for the face of a man
is as the face of a lion, and fcatters all bafe
machinations which breathe not but in the dark:
It is a proverbial faying, f^uod nimia familia~
ritas fervor urn eft conjpi ratio adverfus dominum ;
and they who for their fecurity run into grots
and cellars, and retirements, think that they
being upon the defenfive, thofe princes and thofe
laws that drive them to it are their enemies j
and therefore they cannot be fecure, unlefs the
power of the one, and the obligation of the
other be leffened and refcinded ; and then the
being reftrained and made miferable, endears
the difcontented perfons mutually, and makes
b 2 more

xx PREFACE.
more hearty and dangerous confederations.
King fames of bleffed memory, in his letters
to the ftates of the United Provinces, dated
6 March, 1 6 1 3 , thus wrote  Magis aut em
e re fore ffopiantur authoritate publicd, ita ut
prohibeatis minijlros vefros, ne eas difputationes
in fuggejlum aut ad plebem ferant ; ac difiritte
imperetis, ut pacem colant fe invicem Tolerando
in ifta opinionum ac fententiarum difcrepantia :
 Eoque juftius videmur vobis hoc ipfum
fuadere debere quod neutram comperimus adeo
deviam ut non pofftnt & cum f dei Chrijliana
*veritate, & cum animarum falute conjiftere, &c.
The like counfel in the divifions of Germany,
at the firft reformation was thought reafonable
by the Emperor Ferdinand, and his excellent
fon Maximilian ; for they had obferved that
violence did exafperate, was unbleffed, unfuc-
cefsful, and unreafonable, and therefore they
made decrees of toleration, and appointed
tempers and expedients to be drawn up by
difcreet perfons, and George Caffander was de-
ligned to this great work, and did fomething
towards it : And Emanuel Philibert, Duke of
Savoy repenting of his war undertaken for re
ligion againft the Pedemontans, promifed them
toleration, and was as good as his word : As
much is done by the nobility of Polonia. So
that the beft princes and the beft bifhops gave
toleration and impunities} but it is known
that the firft perfecutions of difagreeing per
fons were by the Arrians, by the Circumcelli^
am and Donatifts , and from them, they of
the church took example, who in fmall
numbers

PREFACE. xxi
numbers did fometime perfuade it, fometime
practice it. And among the Greeks it became
riot a publick and authorifed practice, till the
queftion of images grew hot and high ; for then
the worfhippers of images having taken their
example from the Emprefs Irene, who put her
fons eyes out for making an edict againft
images, began to be as cruel as they were de
ceived, efpecially being encouraged by fhe Popes
of Rome, who then blowed up the coals to
fome purpofe.
And that I may upon this occafion give ac
count of this affair in the church of Rome ;
it is remarkable, that till the time of fuftinian
the emperor, A.D. 525. the catholicks and
Novatians had churches indifferently permit
ted even in Rome itfelf j but the bifhops of
Rome whofe intereft was much concerned in it,
fpoke much againft it, and laboured the era
dication of the Novatians : and at laft when
they got power into their hands, they ferved
them accordingly, but it is oSferved by So
crates, that when the firft perfecution was made
againft them at Rome by Pope Imiocent I. at the
fame inftant the Goths invaded Italy, and be
came lords of all ; it being juft in God to bring
a perfecution upon them for true belief, who
with an incompetent authority and infufficient
grounds do perfecute an error lefs material, in
.perfons agreeing with them in the profeffion
of the fame common faith. And I have heard
it obferved as a bkffing upon St. Aujlin, (who
was fo merciful to erring perfons, as, the
greateft part of his life in all fenfes, even when
b 3 he

xxii PREFACE.
he had twice changed his mind, yet to tole
rate them, and never to endure they fhould be
given over to the fecular power to be killed)
that the very night the Vandals fet down be
fore his city of Hippo to befiege it, he died
and went to God, being (as a reward of his
merciful doctrine) taken from the miferies to
come ; and yet that very thing was alfo a par
ticular iffue of the divine providence upon
that city, who not long before had altered
their profeffion into truth by force, and now
were falling into their power, who afterward
by a greater force turned them to be Arrians.
But in the church of Rome, the Popes were
the firft preachers of force and violence in
matters of opinion ; and that fo zealoufly, that
Pope Vigilius fuffered himfelf to be imprifoned
and handled roughly by the Emperor fuftinian,
rather than he would confer, t to the reftituti-
on and peace of certain difagreeing perfons ;
but as yet it came not fo far as death. The
firft that preached that doctrine was Dominick,
the founder of the begging orders of Friers,
the friers preachers ; in memory of which the
inquifition is intrufted only to the friers of
his order: and if there be, any force in dreams,
or truth in legends (as there is not much in
either) this very thing might be fignified by
his mo'her's dream, who the night before Do
minick was born, dreamed fhe was brought to
bed of a huge dog with a fire-brand in his
mouth : Sure enough, however his difciples
expound the dream, it was a better fign that he
fhould prove a rabid, furious incendiary, than any"

PREFACE. xxiii
any thing elfe ? whatever he might be in the
other parts of his life, in this doctrine he was
not much better, as appears in his deportment
toward the Albigenfes, againft whom he fo
preached, adeo quidem ut centum hareticorum
millia ab 0B0 millibus Catholicorum fufa & in-
terfeSla fuijfe perhibeantur, faith one of him ;
and of thofe who were taken 1 80 were burnt
to death, becaufe they would, not abjure their
doctrine : This was the firft example of put
ting erring perfons to death, that I find in the
Roman church $ for about 170 years before,
Berengarius * fell into opinion concerning the
bleffed facrament, which they called herefy,and
recanted, and relapfed, and recanted again,
and fell again two or three times, fays Gerfon
writing againft Romant of the Rofe, and yet he
died fcca morte, his own natural death, and
with hope of heaven ; and yet Hildebrand was
once his judge, which fhews that at that
time Rome was not come to fo great heights of
bloodfhed. In England, although the Pope
had as great power here as any where, yet
there were no executions for matter of opi
nion known till the time of Henry the fourth,
who (becaufe he ufurped the crown) was
willing by all means to endear the clergy by
deftroying their enemies, that fo he might
be fure of them to all his purpofes. And in
deed, it may become them well enough, who
* B. Bruno Berengarianos e fua dioceii expulit, non morti
aut fuppliciis corporalibus tradidit.
b 4 are

xxiv PREFACE.
are wifer in their generation than the children
of light, it may poffibly ferve the policies of
evil perfons, but never the pure and chafte de-
figns of chriftianity, which admits no blood
but ChrirVs,. and the imitating blood of mar
tyrs, but knows nothing how to ferve her
endsy by perfecuting any of hef erring' children.
By this time I hope it will not be thought
fesfenable to fay, he that teaches mercy to
erring per fons, teaches indifferency in religion;
unlefe fo many fathers, and fo many churches,
and the beft of Emperors, and all the world
(till they were abufed by tyranny, popery, and
faction) did teach indifferency ; for I. have
fhewn that chriftianity does not punifh corpo
rally perfons erring fpiritually, but indeed po
pery does ; the Donatifts, and Circumcellians,
and Arrimis, and the Itaciani, they of old did :
In the middle ages, the patrons of images
did, and the papifts at this day do, and have
done, ever fince they were taught it by their
St. Dominick.
VII. And yet after all this, I have fome-
thing more to exempt myfelf from the clamour
of this objection : for let all errors be as much
and aS zeafoufly fupprefled as may be, (the
doctrine of the following difcourfe contradicts
not that) but let it be done by fuch means as
are proper inftruments of their fuppreffion, by
preaching and difputation (fo that neither of
them breed difturbance) by charity and fweet-
ni?fs, by holinefs of life, affiduity of exhorta
tion, by the word of God and prayer. For

PREFACE. v
For thefe ways are moft natural, moft pru
dent, moft peaceable, and effectual. Only let
not men be hafty in calling every diiliked opi
nion by the name of herefy ; and when they
have refoived, that they will call it fo, let
them ufe the erring perfon like a brother, not
beat him like a dog, or convince him with a
gibbet, or vex him out of his underftanding
and perfuafions.
And now if men will ftill fay, I perfuade to
indifferency, there is no help for me, for I
have given reafons againft it, I muft bear it
as well as I can, I am not yet without re
medy as they are, for patience will help me,
and reafon will not cure them, let them take
their courfe, and I will take mine.
Only I will take leave to confider this (and
they would do well to do fo too) that unlefs
faith be kept within its own latitude, and not
called out to patronize every lefs neceffary
opinion, and the intereft of every fecf , or pee-
vifh perfon ; and if damnation be pronounced
againft chriftians believing the creed, and li
ving good lives, becaufe they are deceived, or
are faid to be deceived, in fome opinions lefs
neceffary, there is no way in the world to
fatisfy unlearned perfons in the choice of their
religion} or to appeafe the unquietnefs of a
fcrupulous confcience : For fuppofe an honeft
citizen, whofe employment and parts will not
enable him to judge the difputes and arguings
of great clerks, fee factions commenced and
managed with much bitternefs by perfons who
might

xvi PREFACE.
might on either hand be fit enough to guide
him ; when if he follow either, he is difquieted
and pronounced damned by the other (who
alfo if he be the moft unreafonable in his opi
nion will perhaps be more furious in his fen-
tence) what fhall this man do ? where fhall
he reft the fole of his foot ? Upon the doctrine
of the church where he lives ? Well ; but
that he hears declaimed againft perpetually,
and other churches claim highly and pretend
fairly for truth,, and condemn his church: If
I tell him, that he muft live a good life, and
believe the creed, and not trouble himfelf
with their difputes, or intereft himfelf in fects
and factions, I fpeak reafon : becaufe no law
of God ties him to believe more than what is
of effential neceffity, and whatfoever he fhall
come to know to be revealed by God : Now if
he believe his creed, he believes all that is ne
ceffary to all, or of itfelf; and if he do his
moral endeavour befide, he can do no more to
ward finding out all the reft, and then he is
fecured; but then if this will fecure him, why
do men prefs further, and pretend every opi
nion as neceffary, and that in fo high degree,
that if they all faid true, or any two indeed of
them, in 500 fects which are in the world
(and for aught I know there may be 5000)
it is 500 to one but that every man is damned;
for every feet damns all but itfelf, and that is
damned of 499, , and it is excellent fortune
then if that efcape ; and there is the fame rea
fon in every one of them, that is, it is extreme un-

PREFACE. xxvii
unreafonablenefs in all of them to pronounce
damnation againft fuch perfons, againft whom
clearly and dogmatically holy fcripture hath
not ; In odiofs quod minimum eft fequimur, in
favoribus quod eft maximum, faith the law ;
and therefore we fhould fay any thing, or
make any excufe which is in any degree reafon-
able, rather than condemn all the world to
hell ; efpecially if we confider thefe two
things ; that we ourfelves are as apt to be
deceived as any are, and that they who are
deceived, when they ufed their moral in-
duftry that they might not be deceived, if
they perifh for this, they perifh for what
they could not help.
But however, if the beft fecurity in the
world be not in neglecting all fects, and fub-
divifions of men, and fixing ourfelves on points
neceffary and plain; and on honeft and- pious
endeavours, according to our feveral capaci
ties and opportunities for all the rett; if, I
fay, all this be not through the mercies of
God, the beft fecurity to all unlearned perfons,
and learned too, where fhall we fix, where
fhall we either have peace or fecurity ? If you
bid me follow your doctrine, you muft tell
me why, and perhaps when you have, I am
not able to judge ; or if I be as able as other
people are, yet when I have judged, I may
be deceived too, and fo may you, or any man
elfe you bid me follow, fo that I am no whit
the nearer truth' or peace. And

xxviii PREFACE.
And then if we look abroad, and confider
how there is fcarce any church, but is highly
charged by many adverfaries in many things,
poffibly we may fee a reafon to charge every
one of them in fome things ; and what fhall
we do then ? The church of Rome hath fpots
enow, and all the world is inquifitive enough
to find out more, and to reprefent thefe to her
greateft difadvantage. The Greek church de
nies the proceffion of the holy ghoft from the
fon ; if that be falfe doctrine, fhe is highly to
blame, if it be not, then all the weftern
churches are to blame, for faying the con
trary : And there is no church that is in pros
perity, but alters her doctrine every age, either
by bringing in new doctrines, or by contradict
ing her old ; which fhews that none are fatisfied
with themfelves, or with their own confefii-
ons : And fince all churches believe themfelves
fallible, that only excepted which all other
churches fay is moft of all deceived, it were
ftrange if, in fo many articles which make up
their feverai bodies of confeffions, they had
not miftaken every one of them in fomething
or other : The Lutheran churches maintain
confubftantiatiou^ the Zuinglians are facramen-
taries, the Calvinifts are fierce in the matters
of abfolute predetermination, and all thefe re
ject epifcopacy, which the primitive church
would have made no doubt to have called
herefy : The Socinian-s profefs a portentous
number of ftrange opinions ; they deny the
holy trinity, and the fatisfaction of our bleffed
faviour :

PREFACE. xxix
faviour : The Anabaptifts laugh at pa?do-bap-
tifm ; the Ethiopian churches are Neftorian :
where then fhall we fix our confidence, or join
communion ? to pitch upon any one of thefe
is to throw the dice, if falvation be to be had
only in one of them, and that every error
which by chance hath made a feet, and is dif-
tinguifhed by a name, be damnable.
If this confideration do not deceive me, we
have no other help in the midft of thefe dif-
tradtions, and dif-unions, but all of us to be
united in that common term, which as it con-
ftitutes the church, in its being fuch, fo it is
the medium of the communion of faints, and
that is the Creed of the Apoftles, and in all
other things an honeft endeavour to find out
what £ truths we can, and a charitable and
mutal permiffion to others that difagree from
us and our opinions. I am fure this may fa-
tisfy us, for it will fecure us, but I know not
any thing elfe that will :^and no man can be fo
reafonably perfuaded, or fatisfied in any thing
elfe, unlefs he throw himfelf upon chance, qr
abfolute predeftination, or his own confidence ;
in every one of which it is two to one at leaft
but he may mifcarry.
Thus far I thought I had reafon on my
fide ; and I fuppofe I have made it good upon
* Clem. Alex, ftromat. i. ait^Philofophiam liberam efle prx-
ftantiffimam, qui fcil. verfatur in perfpicaciter feligendis dog-
matis omnium Seftarum. Polemo Alexandrinus fie primus
, philofophatus eft, ut ait Laertius in Proemio, unde cognomi-
natus eft, lxAe|«f*£i'©", fell, to, m^ia-avia, If Ixari; rm »i^<rsun. its

xxx PREFACE.
its proper grounds, in the pages following.
But then if the refult be, that men muft be
permitted in their opinions, and that chriftians
muft not perfecute chriftians ; I have alfo as
much reafon to reprove all thofe oblique arts
which are not direct perfecutions of mens'
perfons, but are indirect proceedings, ungentle
and unchriftian, fervants of faction and intereft,
provocations to zeal and animofities, and de-
ftructive of learning and ingenuity. And thefe
are fuppreffing all the monuments of their ad-
verfaries, forcing them to recant, and burning
their books.
For it is a ftrange induftry, and an impor
tune diligence that was ufed by our fore
fathers ; and of all thofe berefies which gave
them battle and employment, we have abfo
lutely no record or monument, but what
themfelves who were adverfaries have tranf-
mitted to us ; and we know that adverfaries,
efpecially fuch who obferved all opportunities
to difcredit both the perfons and doctrines of
the enemy, are not always the beft records or
witneffes of fuch tranfactions. We fee it now
in this very age, in the prefent diftemperatures,
that parties are no good regifters of the actions
of the adverfe fide : And if we cannot be
confident of the truth of a ftory now, now I
fay that it is poffible for any man, and likely
that an interefted adverfary willdifcover the im-.
pofture, it is far more unlikely, that after ages
fhould know any other truth, but fuch as
ferves the ends of the reprefenters : I am fure
fuch

PREFACE. xxx
fuch things were never taught us by Chrift
and his apoftles ; and if we were fure that
ourfelves fpoke truth, or that truth were able
to juftify herfelf, it were better if to preferve
a doctrine we did not deftroy a commandment,
and out of zeal pretending tochriftian religion,
lofe the glories and rewards of ingenuity and
chriftian fimplicity.
Of the fame confideration is mending of
authors, not to their own mind but to ours,
that is to mend them fo as to fpoil them ;
forbidding the publication of books, in which
there is nothing impious, or againft the public
intereft, leaving out claufes in tranflations, dif-
gracing mens' perfons, charging difavowed
doctrines upon men, and the perfons of the
men with the confequents of their doctrine,
which they deny either to be true or to be
confequent, falfe reporting of difputations and
conferences, burning books by the hand of the
hangman, and all fueh arts, which fhew that
we either difturft God for the maintenance of
his truth, or that we diftruft the caufe, or dif-
truft ourfelves and our abilities : I will fay no
more of thefe, but only concerning the laft, I
fhall tranfcribe a paffage out of Tacitus in the
life of Julius Agricola, who gives this account
of it, Veniam non petiffem nifi incurfaturus tarn
fava et infefta virtutibus tempora. Legimus
cum Aruleno Ruftico Pcetus Thrafea, Herennio
Se?iecioni Prifcus Helvidius laudati efjent, capi
tate fuiffe, neque in iffos modo author es, Jed in
librvs

xxxii PREFACE.
libros quoque eorum favitum delegato $riu?nviris
minifterio ut monument a clarijjimorum 'mgenio-
rum in comitio ac foro urerentur, foil. Jllo }gne
vocem populi Rom. & libertatem Sinatiis &
confcientiam generis humam aboleri hfbitraban-
tur, expulfts infuper fapientia prefeff'orwus , at-
que omni bo7ia arte in exilium aBa, ne quid
ufquam honeftum occurreret. It is but an
illiterate policy to think that fuch indirect
and uningenuous proceedings can amongft
wife and free men difgrace the authors, and
difrepute their difcourfes ; and I have feen
that the price hath been trebled upon a for
bidden or a condemned book ; and fome men
in policy have got a prohibition, that their
impreffion might be the more certainly ven
dible, and the author himfelf thought con-
fiderable. The beft way is to leave tricks and devices,
and to fall upon that way which the beft
ages of the church ufed : with the ftrength
of argument, and allegations of fcripture, and
modefty of deportment, and meeknefs, and
charity to the perfons of men, they converted
mifbelievers, flopped the mouths of adverfa
ries, afferted truth, and difcountenanced er
ror ; and thofe other ftratagems and arts of
fupport and maintenance to doctrines, were
the iffues of heretical brains ; the old eatho-
licks had nothing to fecure themfelves but the
iv fjieyct of truth and plain dealing.

Fidem

PREFACE.; xxxiii
"i * Fidem minu'tis diffecant ambagibus,
" Ut quifque lingua eft nequior.
" Solvunt ligantque quceftionum vincula
" Per fyllogifmos pleSliles.
" ; ^p captiofts Sycophantarum Jirophis,
" ^? verftpelli aftutice.
" \Nodos tenaces reel a rumpit regula,
" Infefta difcertantibus :
" Jdcirco mundi Jlulta deligit Deus,
" Ut concidant Sophiftica.
And to my underftanding, it is a plain art
and defign of the devil, to make us fo in love
with our own opinions, as to call them faith
and religion, that we-.may be proud in our un
derftanding ; and befides, that, by our zeal in
our opinions, we grow cool in our piety and
practical duties, he alfo by this earneft .con
tention does directly deftroy good life, by en
gagement of zealots , to do any thing rather
than be overcome, and lofe their beloved pro
portions : but I Would fain know why is not
any vicious habit as bad or worfe than a falfe
opinion ? Why are we fo zealous againft thofe
we call hereticks, and yet great friends with
drunkards, and fornicators, and fwearers, and
intemperate and idle perfons ? Is it becaufe we
are commanded by the apoftle to reject a here-
tick after two admonitions, and not to bid
fuch a one God fpeed ? It is a good reafon
why we fhould be zealous againft fuch perfons,
* Prudent, apotheof. hym. in infidel.
c- provided

xxxiv PREFACE.
provided we miftake them not. For
thofe of whom thefe apoftles fpeak, are fuch
as deny Chrift to be come in the flefh, fuch as
deny an article of Creed; and in fuch odious,
things, it is not fafe nor charitable to extend
the gravamen and piinifhment beyond the in-
ftances the apoftles make, of their exact pa
rallels. But then alfo, it would be remem
bered that the apoftles fpeak as fiercely againft
communion with fornicators, and all diforders
practical, as againft communion with here-
ticks, If any man that is called a brother be a
fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a
failer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, 'with
fuch a one no not to eat : I arri certain that a
drunkard is as contrary to God, and lives asL
contrary to the laws of" chriftianity, as a here-
tick j and I am alfo fure that I know what
elrunkenefs is, but I am not fure that foch an
opinion is herefy ; neither would othef men be
fo fure as they think for, if they confidered it
aright, and bbferve the infinite deceptions, and
caufes of deceptions in Wife men, and hi rfloff.
things, and in all doubtful queftions ; and that
they did not miftake confidence for certainty.
But indeed* I could not but fmile at thofe jolly
Friars, two Franeifcans, who offered themfelves
to the fire to prove Savonarola to be a here-
tick, but a certain * Jacobike offered himfelf
to the fire to prove that Savonarola had true
revelations, and was no heretick ; in the mean
* Commin. 1. 8. c. 19. time

PREFACE. xxxv
time Savonarola preached, but made no fuch
confident offer, nor durft he venture at that
new kind of fire ordeal ; and put the cafe all
four had paft through the fire, and died in the
flames, what would that have proved ? Had
he been a heretick or no heretick, the more or
the lefs, for the confidence of thefe zealous
ideots ? If we mark it, a great many argu
ments whereon many fects rely, are no better
probation than this comes to. Confidence is
the firft, and the fecond, and the third part
of a very great many of their propofitions.
But now, if men would a little turn the
tables/ and be as zealous for a good life, and
ail the ftridteft precepts of chriftianity (which
is a religion the moft holy, the moft reafon-
able, and the moft confummate that ever was
taught to man) as they are for fuch propofi
tions, in which neither the life, nor the orna
ment of chriftianity is concerned ; we fhould
find, that as a confequent of this piety, men
would be as careful as they could, to find out
all truths, and the fenfe of all revelations which
may concern their duty ; and where men were
miferable and could not, yet others that lived
good lives too would alfo be fo charitable, as
not to add affliction to this mifery ; and both
of them are parts of good life, to be com-
paffionate, and to help to bear one anothers
burdens ; not to deftroy the weak, but to en
tertain him meekly, that's a precept of cha
rity ; and to endeavour to find out the whole
will of God, that alfo is a part of the obedience,
c 2 the

xxxvi PREFACE.
the choice and the excellency of faith, and he
lives not a good life, that does not do both
thefe. But men think they have more reafon to be
zealous againft herefy than againft a vice in
manners, becaufe herefy is infectious and dan
gerous, and the principle of much evil : indeed
if by a herefy we mean that which is againft
an article of Creed, and breaks part of the
covenant made between God and man by the
mediation of Jefus Chrift ; I grant it to be a
very grievous crime, a calling God's veracity
into queftion, and a deftruction alfo of good
life ; becaufe upon the articles of Creed, obe
dience is built, and it lives or dies, as the
effect does by its proper caufe ; for faith is the
moral caufe of obedience : but then herefy,
that is, fuch as this, is alfo a vice, and the
perfon criminal, and fo the fin is to be efteem-
ed in its degrees of malignity ; and let men be
as zealous againft it as they can, and employ
the whole arfenal of the fpiritual armour a-
gainft it ; fuch as this, is worfe than adultery
or murder, in as much as the foul is more
noble than the body, and a falfe doctrine is of
greater diffemination and extent than a fingle
act of violence or impurity. Adultery or mur
der is a duel, but herefy (truly and indeed fuch)
is an unlawful war, it flays thoufands : the
lofing of faith is like digging down a founda
tion ; all the fuperftructures of hope, and pa
tience, and chanty fall with it : and befides
this, herefy of all crimes is the moft inex-
cufable

PREFACE. xxxvii
cufable and of leaft temptation ; for true faith
is moft commonly kept with the leaft trouble
of any grace in the world ; and herefy of itfelf
hath not only no pleafure in it, but is a very
punifhment ; becaufe faith as it oppofes here
tical or falfe opinions, and diftinguifh.es from
charity, confifts in mere acts of believing ;
which becaufe they are of true propofitions, are
natural and proportionable to the underftand
ing, and more honourable than falfe. But
then concerning thofe things which men now
adays call herefy, they cannot be fo formidable
as they are reprefented; and if we confider
that drunkennefs is certainly a damnable fin,
and that there are more drunkards than here-
icks, and that drunkennefs is parent of a
thoufand vices ; it may better be faid of this
vice than of moft of thofe opinions which we
call herefies, it is infectious and dangerous, and
the principle of much evil, and therefore as fit
an object for a pious zeal to conteft againft, as
is any of thofe opinions which trouble mens
eafe or reputation; for that is the greateft of
their malignity.
But if we confider that fects are made, and
opinions are called herefies, upon intereft, and
the grounds of emolument ; we fhall fee that a
good life would cure much of this mifchief.
For firft, the church of Rome, which is the
great dictatrix of dogmatical refolutions, and
the declarer of herefy, and calls heretick more
than all the world befides, hath made That the
rule of herefy, which is the confervatory of
c 3 intereft,

xxxviii PREFACE.
intereft, and the ends of men. For, to recede
from the doctrine of the church, with them
makes herefy, that is, to difrepute their au
thority and not to obey them, not to be their
fubjects, not to give them the empire of our
confcience, is the great xpilypiov of herefy.
So that with them, herefy is to be efteemed
clearly by human ends, not by divine rules ;
that is formal herefy which materially differves
them ; and it would make a fufpicioiis man a
little inquifitive into their particular doctrines;
and when he finds that indulgences, and ju-
bilies, and purgatories, and maffes, and offices
for the dead, are very profitable ; that the
doctrine of primacy, of infallibility, of fupe-
riority over councils, of indirect power in tem
porals, are great inftruments of fecular honour;
he would be apt to think, that if the church
of Rome would learn to lay her honour at the
feet of the crucifix, and defpife the world, and
prefer Jerufalem before Rome, and heaven
above the lateran ; that thefe opinions would
not have in them any native ftrength to fup-
port them, againft the perpetual affaults of
their adverfaries, who fpeak' fo much reafon
and fcripture againft them. I have inftanced
in the Roman religion ; but I wifh it may be
confidered alfo, how far mens' doctrines in
other fects ferve mens' temporal ends, fo far
that it would not be unreafonable or unne
ceffary to attempt to cure fome of their diftem-
peratures or mifperfuafions by the falutary pre
cepts of fandtity and holy life : fure enough, if

P R E F A C E; xxxix
if it did not more concern their reputation and
their lafting intereft to be counted true be
lievers rather than good livers, they would ra
ther endeavour to live well, than to be ac
counted of a right opinion in things befide the
Creed. For my own particular, I cannot but ex
pect, that God in his juftice fhould enlarge
the bounds of the Turkifh empire, or fome
other way punifh Chriftians, by reafon of their
pertinacious difputing about things unnecef
fary, undeterminable, and unprofitable; and
for their hating and perfecuting their brethren,
who fhould be as dear to them as their own
lives, for not confenting to one anothers'
follies, and fenfelefs vanities : how many vo
lumes have been writ about angels, about im
maculate conception, about original fin ; when
all that is fblid reafon or clear revelation, in all
thefe three articles, may be reafonabiy enough
comprized in forty lines ! And in thefe trifles
and impertinencies, men are curioufly bufy,
while they neglect thofe glorious precepts of
chriftianity and holy life, which are the glories
of our religion, and would enable us to a
happy eternity.
Thus far my thoughts have carried me; and
then I thought I had reafon to go further, and
to examine the proper grounds upon which
thefe perfuafions might rely and ftand firm, in
cafe any body fhould conteft againft them :
for poffibly men may be angry at me and my
defign; for I do them all great dilpleafure,
c 4 who

xl PREFACE.
who think no end is then well ferved, when
their intereft is differved ; and but that I have
writ fo untowardly and heavily, that I am
not worth a confutation, poffibly fome or other
might be writing againft me. But then I
muft tell them, I am prepared of an anfwer
before-hand : for I think I have fpoken reafon
in my book, and examined it with all the fe-
verity I have ; and if after all this I be de
ceived, this confirms me in my firft opinion,
and becomes a new argument to me, that I
have fpoken reafon : for it furnifhes me with
a new inftance, that it is neceffary, there
fhould be a mutual compliance and tolera
tion ; becaufe even then, when a man thinks
he hath moft reafon to be confident, he may
eafily be deceived.
For I am fure, I have no other defign but
the profecution and advantage of truth ; and
I may truly ufe the words of Gregory Nazi-
anzen, Non fludemus paci in detrimentum verm
doSirina,  ut facilitatis & manfuetudinis
famam colligamus : But I have writ this, be
caufe I thought it was neceffary and feafonable,
and charitable, and agreeable to the great
precepts and defign of chriftianity, confonant
to the practice of the apoftles, and of the beft
ages of the church, moft agreeable to fcrip
ture and reafon, to revelation and the nature
of the thing ; and it is fuch a doctrine, that if
there be variety in human affairs, if the event
of things be not fettled in a durable confift-
ence, but is changeable, every one of us all
may

PREFACE. xii
may have need of it : I fhall only therefore de-
fire that they who will read it may come to
the reading it with as much fimplicity of pur-
pofes and unmixed defires of truth, as I did to
the writing it ; and that no man trouble him
felf with me or my difcourfe, who thinks
before hand that his opinion cannot be reafon-
ably altered. If he think me to be miftaken
before he try, let him alfo think that he may
be miftaken too ; and that he who judges be
fore he hears, is miftaken though he give a
right fentence :

*

'Ou XtTrMaJ^Uv y.a.i @oa,v, -vrpiv au /-taS^s,

Was good counfel : But at a venture, I fhall
leave this fentence of Solomon to his confide
ration, A wife man feareth, and depart eth from
evil, but a fool rageth and is confident, flavlcc
ei^ivai 'oieoSai ¦acci S't'ia'^vpiQecrSra.i, is a trick of
boys and bold young fellows, fays Ariftotle ;
but they who either know themfelves, or
things, or perfons, ^po^i^-exa-iv aa. to iV<ws,
aai to ra^a. Peradventure yea, peradventure
no, is very often the wifeft determination of a
quettion : For there are jjivpoi xai diraiHvtQi
^yithosis (as the apoftle notes) foolifh and un
learned queftions ; and it were better to flop
the current of fuch fopperies by filence, than
by difputing them convey them to pofterity.
And many things there are of more profit,
* Ariftoph. in Pluto. f 2 Tim. 2. which

xlii PREFACE.
which yet are of no more certainty j and
therefore boldnefs of afTertion (except it be in
matters of faith and cleareft revelation) is an
argument of the vanity of the man, never of
the truth of the proportion ; for to fuch mat
ters the faying of Xenopkams in Varro, is
pertinent and applicable, Hominis eft h#c opi-
nari, Dd fire ; God onlv knows them, and
we conje&ure. M<XJ"T<S api$®9 Lq'n Uko^u xahwi*
And although I be as defirous to know what
I fhould, and what I fhould not, as any of
my brethren the fons of Adam ; yet I find
that the more I fearch, the further I am from
being fatisfied ; and make but few difcoveries,
fave of my own ignorance ; and therefore I
am defirous to follow the example of a very
wife perfonage, Julius Agricola, of whom Ta-
dtus gave tliis teftimony, Retinuitque (quod eji
difficiilimum) exfcientia modum : or that I may
take my precedent from within the pale of
the church, (it was the faying of St. Auflin,)
Mallem quident eorum qua a me quafivifti
habere fcientiam quam ignorantiam, fed quia
id nondum potui, magis eligo cautam igoran-
tiam confiteri, quam falfam fcientiam profiteri ;
and thefe words do very much exprefs my
fenfe. But if there be any man fo confident
as Luther fometimes was, who faid that he
could expound all fcripture ; or fo vain as Ec-
kius, who in his Chryfopaffus ventured upon the
higheft

PREFACE. xliii
higheft and moft myfterious queftion of pre-
deftin ation, ut in ea juveniles poffit calores exer-
cere j fuch perfons as thefe, or any who is fu
rious in his opinion, will fcorn me and my
difcourfe ; but I fhall not be much moved at
it, only I fhall wifh that I had as much
knowledge as they think me to want ; and
they as much as they believe themfelves to
have. In the mean time, modefty were better
for us both, and indeed for all men : For when
men indeed are knowing, amongft other things
they are able to feparate certainties from uncer
tainties ; if they be not knowing, it is pity
that their ignorance fhould be triumphant, or
difcompofe the publick peace, or private
confidence.

THE

( xliv )

THE
CONTENTS OF THE
SECTIONS. SECT. I.
OF the Nature of Faith, and that its duty
is compleated, in believing the Articles of
the Apoftles Creed.  pag. 6.
SECT. II.
Of Herefy and the nature of it, and that it is
to be accounted according to the friSi capacity
of Chriflian Faith, and not in opinions fpecu-
lative, nor ever to pious perfons. p. 23.
SECT. III.
Of the difficulty and uncertainty of Arguments
from jcripture, in queftions not fmply necef
fary, nor literally determined. — p. 75.
Sect.

CONTENTS. xlv
SECT. IV.
Of the difficulty of expounding Scripture, p. 94.
4
SECT. V.
Of the infufficiency and uncertainty of Tra
dition to expound Scripture, or determine
Queftions.  — — — • p. 106.
SECT. VI.
Of the uncertainty arid infufficiency of Councils
Eccleftiaftical to the fame purpofe. p. 131.
SECT. VII.
Of the fallibility of the Pope, and the uncer
tainty of his expounding Scripture, and refol-
ving queftions.  r — — — p. 162.
SECT. VIII.
Of the difability of Fathers, or Writers Eccle-
faftical, to determine our Queftions, with
certainty and truth. ¦ p. 107.
SECT. I5C.
Of the incompetency of the church in its diffu -
five capacity to be judge of Controverfes, mid

xlvi G O N T E-NT S.
and the impertinency of the pretence of the
fpirit. '   p. 211.
SECT. X.
Of the authority of Reafon, and that IT, pro
ceeding upon the beft grounds, is the beft
judge. — — — p. 216.
SECT. XI.
Of fome caufes of Error in the exercife of
Reafon, whkh are inculpate in themfelves,
SECT. XIL
Of the innocency of Error in opinion in a pious
perfon, ¦ — — — — p. 242.
SECT. XIII.
Of the deportment to be ufed towards perfons
difagreeing, and the reafons why they are not
to be punijhed with death, &c. p. 249'.
SECT. XIV.
Of the praBice of Chriftian Churches towards
perfons difagreeing, and when Perfecution firft
came in. — — — — p. 267.
Sect.

CONTENTS. xlvii
SECT, XV.
How far the Church or Governors may aB to the
refraining falfe or differing opinions, p. 277.
SECT. XVI.
Whether it be lawful for a Prince to give to-
lerdiion to fmtal Religions, p. 281.
SECT. XVII.
Of compliance with dif agreeing perfons, or weak
Confidences in general. — — p. 286.
SECT. XVIII.
A particular confideration of the Opinions of
the Anabaptifis.  — — — p. 292.
SECT. XIX.
That there may be no Toleration of DoBrines
inconfiftent with piety or the publick good.
SECT, XX.
How far the Religion of the Church of Rome
is tolerable. — 7— p- 326.
Sect.

xlviii CONTENTS. SECT. XXI.
Of the duty of particular Churches in allowing
Communion. — — — p. 343.
SECT. XXII.
That particular men may communicate with
Churches of different perfuafions, and how
far they may do it. — ¦ p. 346.

"•-. a, aa a. a a a. a. aa a a a.a a aa a a. a a ,'va,'v
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaA/\AAA/sA/s

7& READER,
T^/7 HEN hejhall have per ufed the following
* * treatife, excelled perhaps by no other in
found learning, folid fenfe and genuine candour,
will at leaf' pardon the editor for a well-intended
alteration in the title, to — Freedom of
thinking, &c.—from Liberty of Prophefying.
The Old Title feem s to have taufed a prejudice
againft even inquiry after the book, as the editor
owns was the cafe of himfelf and every one of
his acquaintance. It was written by DoBvr,
afterwards Bijhop, Taylor : and is now re
printed, feparate from his other works, with a
hope of promoting thofe Principles, with which,
in proportion as they are promoted or difcounte-
nanced, Chriftianity muft itfelf ftouriftj, or decay.
As to the Style, the editor's deference for tlx
author has generally preferved the Original ;
though fome particulars may now appear un
couth. The long confutation of Anabaptifm is o-
mitted. It was not in the firft edition ; but was
added afterwards, in order to obviate fome ex
ceptions

To the Reader.
ceptions taken againft the author at the time ;
and is, in his own words, " quite foreign to
" the argument of the Book, which is complete
" without it."
But the Dedication was too material to be.
parted with ; and is converted into a Preface,
by leaving out the complimentals.
The reader will perhaps wonder to find here
fo many things borrowed (and unacknowledged,
though not improved,) by fubfequent writers of
great name on the fame fubjeB; and will grieve,
as well as wonder, that Thofe writers, and This
(by whom the fubjeB was exhaufted) Jhould have
found no better fuccefs ; but that men will yet,
almoft every where, violate one of the cleareft
diBates of Common Senfe, enforced by Divine
Authority ; will not do to Others, what they
would have done to Themfelves ; will not al
low, what They affume ; and, what every One of
neceffity can not but affume — Freedom of
thinking in Matters of Religion.

VA A/\ / \AA A.. A. AAA. A . -\ A. AA. A A. A. A. A A A. A .•'
/v\ A./\ A*' v v v vv vVv vVvVVVVv W- -.A.
O N
FREEDOM of THINKING
In Matters of Religion.

1

IntroduBion to SeB. I.
"^ H E infinite variety of opinions in mat
ters of religion, as they have troubled
chriftendom, with interefts, factions, and
partialities; fo have they caufed great divifions
of the heart, and variety of thoughts and de-
figns among pious and prudent men. For they
all, feeing the inconveniences which the difunion
cf perfuafions and opinions have produced di
rectly or accidentally, have thought themfelves
obliged to flop this inundation of mifchiefs, and
have made attempts accordingly. But it hath
happened to moft of them, as to a miftaken phy-
fician, who gives excellent phyfic but mifapplies
it, and fo miffes of his cure; fo have thefe
men ; their attempts have therefore been ineffec
tual ; for they put their help to a wrong part,
or they have endeavoured to cure the fymptoms,
and have let the difeafe alone till it feemed incu
rable. Some have endeavoured to re-unite thefe
fractions by propounding fuch a Guide which they
were all bound to follow ; hoping that the unity
of a guide, would have perfuaded unity of minds ;
but who this guide fhould be at laft became fuch a.
B queftion,

2 On Freedom of Thinking
queftion, that it was made part of the fire that was
to be quenched; fo far was it from extinguifhing
any part of the flame. Others thought of a Rule,
and this muft be the means of union, or nothing
could do it. Eut fuppofing all the world had
been agreed of this rule, yet the Interpretation or
it was fo full of -variety, that this alfo became
part of the difeafe, for which the cure was pre
tended. All men refoived upon this, that tho*
they yet had not hit upon the right, yet fome
way muft be thought upon to reconcile differences
in opinion, thinking fo long as this variety fhould
laft, Chrift's kingdom was not advanced, and the
work of the gofpel went on but flowly : Few
men in the mean time confideredj that fo long as
men had fuch variety of principles, fuch feveral
conftitutions, educations, tempers, and diftem-
pers, hopes, interefts, and weaknefles, degrees
of light, and degrees of underftanding, it was
impoflible all fhould be of one mind. And what
is impoflible to be done, is not neceffary to
be done : and therefore, although variety of opi
nions was impoflible to be cured (and they who
attempted it, did like him who claps his fhoulder
to the ground to flop an earthquake) yet the in
conveniences arifing from it might poffibly be
cured, not- by uniting their Beliefs, that was to
be defpaired of, but by curing that which caufed
thefe mifchiefs, and accidental inconveniences of
their difagreeings. For although thefe inconve
niences, which every man fees and feels, were con-
fequent to this diverfity of perfuafions, yet it
was but accidentally and by chance, in as much
as we fee that in many things, and they of great
concernment, men allow to themfelves and to each
other a liberty of difagreeing, and no hurt nei
ther. And certainly if diverfity of opinions,.
were of itfelf the caufe of mifchiefs, it would bei fo

in Matters of Religion. 3
fo ever ; that is, regularly and univerfally (bul
that we fee' it is not : ) for there are difputes in
chriftendom concerning matters of greater con
cernment than moft of thofe opinions that diftin-
guifh feels, and make factions •, and yet, becaufe
men are permitted to differ in thofe great mat
ters, fuch evils are not confequent to fuch dif
ferences, as are to the uncharitable managing of
fmaller and more inconfiderable queftions. It is
of greater confequence to believe right in the que-
flion of the validity or invalidity of a death- bed
repentance, than to believe aright in the queftion
of purgatory ; and the coniequences of the doc
trine of predeftination, are of a deeper, and more
material confideration, than the products of the
belief of the lawfulnefs or unlawfulnefs of private
mafles •, and yet thefe great concernments, where
a liberty of prophefying in thefe queftions hath
been permitted, hath made no diflincr. commu
nion, no fedts of chriftians ; and the others have,
and fo have thefe too, in thofe places where they
have peremptorily been determined on either fide.
Since then, if men are quiet and charitable in
fome difagreeings', that then and there the incon
venience ceafes, if they were fo in all others where
lawfully they might, (and they may in moft,)
chriftendom would be no longer rent in pieces,
but would be redintegrated in a new pentecoft ;
and although the fpirit of God did reft upon us
in divided tongues, yet fo long as thofe tongues
were of fire not to kindle ftrife, but to warm
our affections, and inflame our charities, we fhould
find that this variety of opinions in feveral per
fons, would be looked upon as an argument only
of diverfity of operations, while the fpirit is the
fame ; and that another man believes not fo well
as I, is only an argument, that I have a better
and a clearer illumination than he, that I have a
B 2 better

4 On' Freedom cf Thinking
better gift than he, received a fpecial grace and
favour, and excell him in this, and am perhaps
excelled by him in many more. And if we all
impartially endeavour to find a truth, fince this
endeavour and fearch only is in our power, that
we fhall find it being ab extra, a gift and an
afliftance extrinfical, I can fee no reafon why this
pious endeavour to find out truth, fhall not be of
more force to unite us in the bonds of charity,
than his mifery in miffing it fhall be to difunite
us. So that fince a union of perfuafion is im
poflible to be attained, if we would attempt the
cure by fuch remedies as are apt to enkindle and
encreafe charity, I am confident we might fee a
blefled peace would be the reward and crown of
fuch endeavours.
But men are now a-days, and indeed always have
been, fince the expiration of the firft blefled ages
of Chriftianity, fo in love with their own fancies
and opinions, as to think faith and all chriften
dom is concerned in their fupport and maintenance,
and whoever is not fo fond, and does not dandle
them like themfelves, it grows up to a quarrel,
which becaufe it is in materia theologize, is made a
quarrel in religion, and God is intitled to it ; and
then if you are once thought an enemy to God,
it is our duty to perfecute you even to death, we
do God good fervice in it ; when if we fhould ex
amine the matter rightly, the queftion is either in
materia non revelata, or minus evidenti, or non necef
faria, either it is not revealed, or not fo clearly,
but that wife and honeft men may be of different
minds, or elfe it is not of the foundation of faith,
but a remote fuper -ftrucrure, or elfe of mere fpe-
culation, or perhaps when all comes to all, it is
a falfe opinion, or a matter of human intereft,
that we have fo zealoufly contended for ; for to
one of thefe heads moft of the difputes of chrif
tendom

in Matters of Religion, $
tendom may be reduced ; fo that I believe the
prefent fractions (or the moft) are from the fame
caufe which St. Paul obferved in the Corinthian
fchifm, when there are divifions among you, are ye
not carnal ? It is not the differing opinions that is
the caufe of the prefent ruptures, but want of
charity ; it is not the variety of underftandings,
but the difunion of wills and affections ; it is not
the feveral principles, but the feveral ends that
caufe our miferies: Our opinions commence, and
are upheld according as our turns are ferved, and
our interefts are preferved, and there is no cure for
us, but piety and charity. A holy life will make
our belief holy, if we confult not humanity and
its imperfections in the choice of our religion, but
fearch. for truth without defigns, fave only of
acquiring heaven, and then be as careful to pre-
ferve charity, as we were to get a point of faith ;
I am much perfuaded we fhould find out more
truths by this means ; or however (which is the
main of all) we fhall be fecured though we mifs
them •, and then we are well enough.
For if it be evinced that one heaven fhall hold
men of feveral opinions, if the unity of faith be
not deftroyed by that which men call differing
religions, and if an unity of charity be the duty
of us all, even towards perfons that are not per
fuaded of every proportion we believe, then I
would fain know to what purpofe are all thofe
ftirs, and great noifes in chriftendom •, thofe
names of faction, the feveral names of churches
not diftinguifhed by the divifion of kingdoms, ut
ecclefia fequatur imperium, which was the primitive
rule * and canon, but diftinguifhed by names of
fects and men ; thefe are all become inftruments
of hatred, thence come fchiftns and parting of
communions, and then perfecutions, and then
* Optat. lib. 3.
B 3 wars

6 Faith completed §. I.
wars and rebellion, and then, difTolutions of all
friendfhips and focieties. All thefe mifchiefs
proceed not from this, that all men are not of one
mind, for that is neither neceffary nor poffible,
but that every opinion is mide an article of
faith, every article is a ground of a quarrel,
every quarrel makes a faction, every faction is,
jealous, and all zeal pretends for God, and what-
foever is for God cannot be too much ; we by
this time are come to that pafs, we think we love
not God except we hate our Brother, and we have
not the virtue of religion, uruefs we perfecute all
religions but our own ; for luke-warmnefs is fo
odious to God and Man, that we proceeding fu-
rioufly upon thefe miftakes, by fuppofing we pre-
ferve the body, we deftroy the foul of religion,
or by being zealous for faith, or which is all one,
for that which we miftake for faith, we are cold
in charity, and fo lofe the reward of both.
All thefe errors and mifchiefs muft be difco-
vered and cured, and that is the purpofe of this
difcourfe.

SECTION I.
Of the nature of faith, and that its duty is compleated
in believing the articles of the Apoftles Creed.
I. ~Y^ I R S T then it is of great concernment
Jl to know the nature and integrity of faith :
For there begins our firft and great miftake ; for
faith although it be of great excellency, yet when
it is taken for a habit intellectual, it hath fo little
room and fo narrow a capacity, that it cannot
lodge thoufands of thofe opinions which pretend
to be of her family, For

§. I. in the Apoftles' Creed. 7
II. For although it be neceffary for us to believe
whatfoever we know to be revealed of God, and
fo every man does, that believes there is a God :
yet it is not neceffary, concerning many things,
to know that God hath revealed them ; that is,
we may be ignorant of, or doubt concerning the
propofitions, and indifferently maintain either
part, when the queftion is not concerning God's
veracity, but whether God hath faid fo or no :
That which is of the foundation of faith, that:
only is neceffary ; and the knowing or not know
ing of that, the believing or dif-believing it, is
that only which in genere credendorum, is in imme
diate and neceffary order to falvation or dam
nation. III. Now all the reafon and demonftration of
the world convinces us, that this foundation of
faith, or the great adequate object of the faith
that faves us, is that great myflerioufnefs of
chriftianity which Chrift taught us with fo much
diligence, for the credibility of which he wrought
fo many miracles •, for fhe teftimony of which the
Apoftles endured perfecutions ; that which was a
folly to the Gentiles, and a fcandal to the Jews,
this is that which is the object of a Christian's
faith : all other things are implicitly in the belief
of the articles of God's veracity, and are not ne
ceffary in refpect of the conftitution of faith to be
drawn out, but may there lie in the bowels of the
great articles without danger to any thing or any
perfon, unlefs fome other accident or circumftance
makes them neceffary : Now the great object which
I fpeak of, is Jefus Chrift crucified; conjlitui enim apud
vos nihil fcire prater Jefus Chrijtum et hunc crucifix-
urn ¦, fo faid St. Paul to the church of Corinth :
This is the article upon the confeflion of which
Chrift built his church, viz. only upon St. Peters
creed, which was no more but this fimple enun-
B 4 elation,

8 Faith completed §. I.
cition, * We believe and are fure that thou art Chrift,
thefon of the living God : And to this falvation par
ticularly is promifed, as in the cafe of Martha's
creed, John n. 27. To this the fcripture gives
the greateft teftimony, and to all them that confefs
it ; -f For every fpirit that confefteth that Jefus Chrift
is come in the fiefh is of God: And whoever cenfeffeth
that Jefus Chrift is the fan of God, God dwelleth in
fant, and he in God : The believing this article is
the end of writing the four gofpels : § For all
ihefe things are written, that ye might believe, that
Jefus is the Chrift the fon of God, and then that this
is fufficient follows, and that believing, viz. this
article (for this was only inftanced in) ye might
have life through his name : This is that great arti
cle which in gencre credendorum, is fufficient difpo-
fition to prepare a Catechumen to baptifm, as ap
pears in the cafe of the Ethiopian eunuch, whofe
creed was only this, / believe that Jefus Chrift is
the fon of God, and upon this confeffion (faith the
ftory) they both went into the water, and the
Ethiop was wafhed and became .as white as fnow.
IV. In thefe particular inftances, there is no
variety of articles, fave only that in the annexes
of the feveral expreffions, fuch things are ex-
prefled, as befides that Chrift is come, they tell
from whence, and to what purpofe : And what-
foever is expreffed, or is to thefe purpofes imply-
ed, is made articulate and explicate, in the fnort -
and admirable myfterious Creed of St. Paul, Rom.
10. 8. This is the word of faith which we preach,
that if thou ft alt • confefs with thy mouth the Lord
Jefus, and /halt believe in thine heart, that God hath
raifed him from the dead, thou fioalt be fiaved : This ¦
is the igreat and intire complexion of a chriftian's
faith, and fince falvation is promifed to the belief
of this, creed, either a fnare is laid for us, with a
* Mat. j6.. !<p, -j- 1 John 4. 2, 15. § John 20. 31.
purpofe

§. I. in the Apoftles' Creed. 9
purpofe to deceive us, or elfe nothing is of prime
and original nec?ffity to be believed, but this,
Jefus Chrift our redeemer ; and all that which is the
neceffary parts, means, or main action of work
ing this redemption for us, and the honour for
him, is in the bowels and fold of the great article,
and claims an explicit belief by the fame reafon
that binds us to the belief of its firft complexion,
without which neither the thing could" be acted,
nor the propofition underftood.
V. For the a£t of believing propositions, is
not for itfelf, but in order to certain ends ; as
fermons are to good life and obedience ; for (ex
cepting that it acknowledges God's veracity, and
fo is a direct act of religion) believing a revea
led propofition, hath no excellency in itfelf, but
in order to that end for which we are inftrufted
in fuch revelations. Now God's great purpofe
being to bring us to him by Jefus Chrift, Chrift
is our medium to God, obedience is the medium
to Chrift, and faith the medium to obedience,
and therefore is to have its eftimate in proportion
to its proper end? and thofe things are neceffary,
which neceffarily promote the end, without whici
obedience cannot be encouraged or prudently en
joined : fo that thofe articles are neceffary, that
is, thofe are fundamental points, upon which we
build our obedience •, and as the influence of the
article is to the perfuafion or engagement of obe
dience, f) they have their degrees of neceflity.
Now all that Chrift, when he preached, taught
us to believe, and all that the apoftles in their
fermons propound, all aim at this, that we fhould
acknowledge Chrift for our lawgiver and our
faviour ; fo that nothing can be neceffary by, a
prime neceflity to be believed explicitly, but fuch
things which are therefore parts of the great ar
ticle, becaufe they either encourage our fervices, or

10 Faith completed §. 1.
or oblige them, fuch as declare Chrift's greatnefs
in himfelf, or his goodnefs to us : So that al
though we muft neither deny nor doubt of any
thing, which we know our great matter hath
taught us : yet falvation is in fpecial and by name
annexed to the belief of thofe articles only,which
have in them the indearments of our fervices, or
the fupport of our confidence, or the fatisfactionf
of our hopes, fuch as are ; Jefus Chrift the Sohj
of the living God, the crucifixion and refurree|
tion of Jefus, forgivenefs of fins by his blood,
refurrection of the dead, and life eternal, becauft|
thefe, propofitions qualify Chrift for our faviour
and our law-giver, the one to engage our fervices,
the other to endear them ; for fo much is necef
fary as will make us to be his fervants, and his
difciples ; and what can be required more ? This
only. Salvation is promis'd to the explicit belief
of thofe articles, and therefore thofe only are ne-i3
ceflary, and thofe are fufficient ; but thus, to us
in the formality of chriftians, which is a forma
lity fuper- added to a former capacity, we before
we are chriftians are reafonable creatures, and ca
pable of a blefled eternity, and there is a creed
which is the gentiles creed which isfo fuppofed in
the chriftian creed, as it is fuppofed in a chriftian,
to be a man, and that is, oportet accedentem ad de-
um credere deum ejfe, C5" ejfe remuneratorem qu<eren~
tium eum.
VI. If any man will urge farther, that whatfo-
ever is deducible from thefe articles by neceffary
confequence, is neceffary to be believed explicitly :
I anfwcr. It is true, if he fees the deduction and
coherence of the parts ; but it is not certain that
every man fhall be able to deduce whatfoever is
either immediately, or certainly deducible from
thefe premifes ; and then fince falvation is promi
fed to the explicit belief of thefe, I fee not how any

§. I. in the Apoftles' Creed. ii
any man can juftify the making the way to heaven
narrower than Jefus Chrift hath made it, it being
already fo narrow, that there are few that find it.
VII. In the purfuance of this great truth, the
apoftles or the holy men, their cotemporaries and
Idifciples, compofed a creed, to be a rule of faith
to all chriftians, as appears in Trenaus, * Tertul-
lian, -f St. Cyprian, § St. Auftin, £ Ruffinus, and
divers :|] others ; which creed unlefs it had con
tained all the intire object of faith, and the
foundation of religion, it cannot be ilnagined to
Iwhat purpofe it fhould ferve : and that it was fo
efteemed by the whole church of God in all ages,
appears in this, that fince faith is a neceffary
pre-difpofition to baptifm in all perfons capable
of the ufe of reafon, all Catechumens in the latin
church coming to baptifm, were interrogated con
cerning their faith, and gave fatisfaction in the
recitation of this creed. And in the eaft they
profeffed exactly the fame faith, fomething dif-.
fering in words, but of 'the fame matter, reafdn,
¦defign,' and confequence ; and fo they did at
at Jerufalem, fo at Aquileia : This was that
QgSrri xai a/x&>/xw1®* 7n$-j;, nvirso xyputlei V ayia
ts Ges xaSrohiycn xxi x^o^oAlxh txxXwia x.aT
eS'eva tqotqv xaiviajjiov ^z^xjazvyi. Thefe arti
cles were, ta tccv ayiw XTro^-oXoiv xai tuv /jt.el*
ixavw S"iatpi-\avtwv iv tan ayiais ®en ejotAe-
crian £i£ayji.a}a. L. 5. cod. de & Trinit. & fid.
cath. cum recla. Now fin.ce the apoftles and apof-
tolical men and churches in thefe their fymbols,
* Apol. contr. gent. c. 47. de veland. virg. c. I.
f In expofit. fyrabol.
4 Serm. 5. de tempore, cap. z,
% In fymbol. apud Cyprian.
|| Omnes orthodoxi patres affirmant fymbolum ' ab ipfis
apoftolis conditiim, Sept. Senenjis, lib. 2. bib. 5. vide Genebr.
/•3. de 'trin, did

12 Faith completed §. I.
did recite particular articles to a confiderablc
number, and were fo minute in their recitation,
as to defcend to circum fiances, it is more than
probable that they omitted nothing of neceflity •,
and that thefe articles are not general principles,
in the bofom of which many more articles equally
neceffary to be believed explicitly and more par
ticular, are infolded ; but that it is as minute an
explication of thofe prima credibilia I before reck-^
oned, as is neceffary to falvation.
VIII. And therefore TertuUian calls the creed
regulam fidei, qua falva £5? forma ejus manente in
fuo ordine, pojfit in fcriptura traclari £5? inquiri ft
quid videtur vel ambiguitate pendere vel obfcuritate
obumbrari. Cordis fignaculum C51 noftra militia Sa-
cr amentum, S. Ambrofe calls it, lib. 3. de velandis
virgin. Comprehenfto fidei noftra at que perfetlio, by
S. Aufiin, Serm. 115. Confeffio, expofttio,, regula
fidei, generally by the ancients : The profeffion of
this Creed was the expofition of that faying of St.
Peter, cwei^yaecix ayaQns S7rspctitnjj.x eis ©gar,
The anfwer of a good confcience towards God. For
of the recitation and profeffion of this creed in
baptifm, it is that TertuUian de re fur. carnis fays,
Anima non lotione, fed rfponfione fancitur. And of
this was the prayer of Hillary, lib. 12.de Trinit.
Conferva hanc confeientia mea vocem ut qucd in regine~
rationis mea fymbolo baptizatus in patre, filio, fpir.
S. prof ejus fum ftmper cbtineam. And according to
the rule and reafon of this difcourfe (that it may
appear that the creed hath in it all articles prima
et per fe, primely and univerfally neceffary) the
creed is juft fuch an explication of that faith
Which the apoftles preached, viz. the creed which
St. Paid recites, as contains in it all thofe things
which entitle Chrift to us in the capacities of
our law- giver and our faviour, fuch as enable
him to the great work of redemption, according to

§. I. in the Apoftles' Creed. 13
to the predictions concerning him, and fuch as
engage and encourage our fervices. For, taking
out the article of Chrift's defcent into hell (which
was not in the old creed, as appears in fome of
the copies I before referred to, mTertullian, Ruffi-
wis, and Irenaus; and indeed was omitted in all the
confeffions of the eaftern churches, in the church
of Rome, and in the Nicene creed, which by adop -
tion came to be the creed of the catholick church)
all other articles are fuch as directly conftkute
the parts and work of our redemption, fuch as
clearly derive the honour to chrift, and enable him
with the capacities of our faviour and lord.
The reft engage our fervices by propofition of
fuch articles which are rather promifes than pro-
pofitions ; and the whole creed, take it in any of
the old forms, is but an analyfis of that which
St. Paul calls the word of falvation, whereby we
fhall be faved, viz. that we confefs Jefus to be
Lord, and that God raifed him from the dead :
by the firft whereof he became our law-giver and
our guardian ; by the fecond he was our faviour :
the other things are but parts and main actions of
thofe two. Now what reafon there in is the world
that can inwrap any thing elfe within the foun
dation, that is, in the whole body of articles
limply and infeparably neceffary, or in the prime
original neceflity of faith, I cannot poffibly ima
gine. Thefe do the work, and therefore nothing
can upon the true grounds of reafon enlarge the
neceflity to the inclofure of other articles.
IX. Now if more were neceffary than the arti
cles of the creed, I demand why was it made
the * characteriftick note of a Chriftian from a
Heretick, or a Jew, or an Infidel ? or to what
* Vide Ifidor. de Ecclef. offic. lib. r. cap. 20. Suidan.
Turnebum. lib. 2. cap. 30. adverf. venatit. for. in exeg. fymb.
Feuardent. in Iren. lib. 1 . c, 2. purpofe

14 , Faith completed §. i.
purpofe was it compofed ? or if this was intended
as fufficient, did the apoftles or thofe churches
which they founded, know any thing elfe to be
neceffary ? If they did not, then either nothing
more is neceffary (I fpeak of matters of mere be
lief) or they did not know all the will of the
Lord, and fo were unfit difpenfers of the myfteries
of the kingdom ; or if they did know more was
neceffary, and yet would, not infert it, they did
an act of publick notice, and configned it to
all ages of the church to no purpofe, unlefs to
beguile credulous people by making them believe
their faith was fufficient, having tried it by that
touch-ftone apoftolical, when there was" no fuch
matter. X. But if this was fufficient to bring men to hea
ven then, why not now ? If the apoftles admitted
all to their communion that believed this creed,
w"hy fhall we exclude any that preferve the fame
intire ? why is not our faith in thefe articles of
as much efficacy for bringing us to heaven, as it
was in the churches apoftolical ? who had guides
more infallible that might without error have
taught them fuperftructures enough, if they had
been neceffary ; and fo they did : but that they
did not infert them into the creed, when they
might have done it with as much certainty, as
thefe articles, makes it clear to my underftanding,
that other things were not neceffary, but thefe
were ; that whatever profit and advantages might
come from other articles, yet thefe were fufficient,
and however certain perfons might accidentally be
obliged to believe much more, yet this was the
one and only foundation of faith upon which all
perfons were to build their hopes of heaven ; this
was therefore neceffary to be taught to all, be
caufe of neceflity to be believed by all : fo that
although other perfons might commit a delin
quency

§. i. in the Apoftles' Creed. 15
quency in genere morum, if they did not know or
did not believe much more, beeaufe they were
obliged to further difquifitions in order to other
ends, yet none of thefe who held the creed intire,
could perifh for want of neceffary faith, though
poffibly he might for fupine negligence or affected
ignorance, or fome other fault which had influ
ence upon his opinions, and his underftanding, he
having a new fupervening obligation ex accidente
to know and believe more.
Neither are we obliged to make thefe articles
more particular and minute than the creed. For
fince the apoftles and indeed our blefled Lord
himfelf promifed heaven to them who believed
him to be the Chrift that was to come into the
world, and that he who believes in him, fhould
be a partaker of the refurrection and life eternal,
he will be as good as his word : yet becaufe this
article was very general, and a complexion rather
than a fingle propofition ; the apoftles and others
our fathers in Chrift did make it more explicit,
and though they have faid no more than what
lay entire and ready form'd in the bofom of the
great article, yet they made their extracts, to
great purpofe, and abfolute fufficiency, and there
fore there needs no more deduction or remoter
confequences from the firft great article, than the
creed of the apoftles. For although whatfoever
is certainly deduced from any of thefe articles
made already fo explicit, is as certainly true, and
as much to be believed as the article itfelf, be
caufe ex veris pojunt nil nifi vera fequi, yet becaufe
it is not certain that our deductions from them are
certain, and what one calls evident, is fo obfcure
to another, that he believes it falfe ; it is the beft
and only fafe courfe to reft in that explication
the apoftles have made, becaufe if any of thefe
apoftolical deductions were not demonftrable evi
dently

16 Faith completed §• J«
dently to follow from that great article to which
falvation is promifed, yet the authority of them
who compiled the fymbpl, the plain defcription of
the articles from the words of fcriptures the evi
dence of reafon demonftrating thefe to be the
whole foundation, are fufficient upon great
grounds of reafon to afcertain us ; but if we go
farther, befides the eafinefs of being deceived, we
relying upon our own difcourfes, (which though
they may be true and then bind us to follow them,
but yet no more than when they only feem trued,)
yet they cannot make the thing certain to another,
much lefs neceffary in itfelf. And fince God
would not bind us upon pain of fin and punifh-
ment, to make deductions ourfelves, much lefs
would he bind us to follow another man's logick
as an article of our faith ; I fay much lefs ano
ther man's ; for on our own integrity (for we will
certainly be true to ourfelves, and do our own
bufinefs heartily) is as fit and proper to be em
ployed as another man's ability. He cannot fe-
cure me that his ability is abfolute and the great
eft, but I can be more certain that my own pur
pofe and fidelity to myfelf is fuch. And fince it is
neceffary to reft fomewhere, left we fhould run to
an infinity, it is beft to reft there where the
apoftles and the churches apoftolical relied -,
when not only they who are able to judge, but
others who are not, are equally afcertained of the
certainty and of the fufficiency of that explication.
XII. This I fay, not that I believe it unlawful
or nnfafe for the church or any of the antiftites reli-
' gionis, or any wife man to extend his own creed to
any thing which may certainly follow from any one
of the articles ; but I fay, that no fuch deduction
is fit to be preffed on others as an article of faith ;
and that every deduction which is fo made, unlefs
it be fuch a thing as is at firft evident to all, is
but

§. I. in the Apoftles' Creed. ly
but fufficient to make a human faith, nor can it
amount to a divine, much lefs can be obligatory
to bind a perfon of a differing perfualion to iub-
fcribe under pain of lofing his faith, or being a
heretick. For it is a demonftration that nothing
can be neceffary to be believed under pain of
damnation, but fuch propofit-ions, of which it is
certain that God hath fpoken and taught them
to. us, and of which it is certain that this is their
fenfe and purpofe : For if the fenfe be uncertain,
we can no more be obliged to, believe it in a certain
fenfe, than we are to believe it at all, if it were
not certain that God delivered it. But if it be
only certain that God-fpake it, and not certain to
what fenfe, our faith of it is to be as indetermi
nate as its fenfe, and it can be no other in the na •
tnre of the thing, nor is it confonant to God's
jullice to believe of him that he can or will re
quire more. And this is of the nature of thofe pro-
pofitions which Ariftotle calls Og<rg/s,'to which with
out any farther probation, all wife men will give
• affent at its firft publication. And therefore de
ductions inevident, from the evident and plain
letter of faith, are as great receffions from the
obligation, as they are from the fimplicity, and
certainty of the article. And this I alfo affirm,
although the church of any one denomination,
or reprefented in a council, fhall make the de
duction or declaration. For unlefs Chrift had
promifed his fpirit to protect every particular
church from all errors lefs material, unlefs he
had promifed an univerfal infallibility etiam in m-
nutioribus, unlefs fuper-flruetures be of the fame
neceflity with the foundation, and that God's
fpirit doth not only preferve his church in the be-
ing.of a church, but in a certainty of not faying
any thing that is lefs certain ; and that whether
they will or no too ; we may be bound to peace
" C and

18 Faith completed §. I
and obedience, to filenee and to charity, but have
not a new article of faith made ; and a new pro
pofition though confequent (as 'tis faid) from an
article of faith becomes not therefore a part of
the faith, nor of abfolute neceflity, * Quid un-
quam aliud ecclefia conciliorum decretis enifd eft, nift ut
quod antea fimpliciter credebatur, hoc idem poftea dili-
gentius crederetur, faid Vincentius Lirinenjis, whatfo-
ever was of neceffary belief before is fo ftill, and
hath a new degree added by reafon of a new light
or a clear explication ; but no propofitions can
be adopted into the foundation. The church
hath power to intend our faith, but not to extend
it 5 to make our belief more evident, but not
more large and comprehenfive. For Chrift and
his Apoftles concealed nothing that was neceflafy
to the integrity of chriftian faith, or falvation of
our fouls ; Chrift declared all the will of his fa
ther, and the Apoftles were ftewards and dif-
penfers of the fame myfteries, and were faithful
in all the houfe, and therefore concealed nothing,
but taught the whole doctrine of Chrift ; fo they
faid themfelves. And indeed if they did not
teach all the doctrine of faith, an angel or a
man might have taught us other things than
what they taught, without deferving an anathema,
but not without deferving a bleffing for making
up that faith intire which the Apoftles left im
perfect. Now if they taught all the whole body
of faith, either the church in the following ages
loft part of the faith (and then where was their
infallibility, and the effect, of thofe glorious pro-
mifes to which fhe pretends and hath certain
title ; for fhe may as well introduce a falfhood as
lofe a truth, it being as much promifed to her
that the Holy Ghoft fhall lead her into all truth,
as that fhe fhall be preferved from all errors ; as
* Contra hseref. cap. 32,
r 3 appears,

§. i. in the Apoftles' Creed. 19
appears, Job. 16, 13.) Or if fhe retained all the
faith which Chrift and his Apoftles configned and
taught, then no age can by declaring any point,
make that be an article of faith which was not fo
in all ages of chriftianity before fuch declaration.
And indeed if the * church by declaring an ar
ticle can make that to be neceffary, which before
was not neceffary, I do not fee how it can ftand
with the charity of the church fo to do (efpeci-
ally after fo long experience fhe hath had that all
men will not believe every fuch decifion or explir
cation) for by fo doing fhe makes the narrow way
to heaven narrower, and chalks out one path
more to the devil than, he had before, and yet
the way was broad enough when it was at the nar-
roweft. For before, differing perfons might be
faved in diverfity of perfuafions, and now after
this declaration if they cannot, there is no other
alteration made, but that fome fhall be damned,
who before even in the fame difpofitidns and be
lief fhould have been beatified perfons. For there
fore, it is well for the fathers of the primitive
church that their errors were not difcovered, for if
they had been contefted (for that would have been
called difcovery enough) -f vel errores emendajent,
vel ab ecclefta ejecli fuiffint. But it is better as it
was, they went to heaven by that good fortune,
whereas otherwife they might have gone to the
devil. And yet there were fome errors, particu
larly that of St. Cyprian that was difcovered, and
he went to heaven, 'tis thought •, poffibly they
might fo too for all this pretence. But fuppofe
it true, yet whether that declaration of an article,
* Vide Jacob Almain. in 3. Sent. d. 25. Q^Unic. Dub.
'3. Patet ergo, quod nulla Veritas eft Catholica ex approbatione,
Ecclelise vel papas, Gabr. Biel. in 3. Sent. Dift. 25. q. Unic.
Art. 3. Dub. 3. ad finem.
t Bellar de laicis 1. 3. c. 20. §. ad primam confirmationem.
C 2 Of

20 Faith completed §• *•
of which with fafety we either might have doubted
or been ignorant, does more good, than the
damning of thofe many fouls occafionally, but yet
certainly and fore-knowingly does hurt, I leave it
to all wife and good men to determine. And
yet befides this, it cannot enter into my thoughts
that it can poffibly confift with God's goodnefs,
to put it into the power of man, fo palpably and
openly to alter the paths and inlets to heaven,
and to ftreighten his mercies, unlefs he had fur-
nifhed thefe men with an infallible judgment and
an infallible prudence, and a never failing charity,
that they fhould never do it but with great necef-
fity, and with great truth, and without ends and
human defigns, of which I think no arguments
can make us certain : What the primitive church
hath done in this cafe, I fha'l afterwards confider
and give an account of it, but for the prefent,
there is no infecurity in ending there where the
•Apoftles ended, in building where they built,- in
refting where they left us, unlefs the fame infal
libility v/hich they had, had flill continued, which '
I think- 1 fhall hereafter make evident it did not :
And therefore thofe extenfions of creed whi ch were
made in the firft ages of the church, although for
the matter they were moft true ; yet becaufe it was
not certain that they fhould be fo, and they might
¦ have been otherwife, therefore they could not be
in the fame order of faith, nor in the fame de
grees of neceflity to be believed with the articles
apcftolical ; and therefore whether they did well
or no in laying the fame weight upon them, or
whether they did lay the fame weight or no, we
will afterwards confider.
XIII. But to return. I confider that a founda
tion of faith cannot alter, unlefs a new building
be to be made, the foundation is the fame flill ;
and this foundation is no other but that which
Chrift

§. I. in the Apoftles' Creed. 21
Chrift and his Apoftles laid, which doctrine is
like himfelf, yefterday and to day, and the fame
for ever : fo that the articles of neceffary belief to
all (which are the only foundation) cannot be
feveral in feveral ages, and to feveral perfons.
Nay the fentence and declaration of the church,
cannot lay this foundation, or make any thing of
the foundation, becaufe the church cannot lay her
own foundation ; we muft fuppofe her to be a
building, and that fhe relies upon the foundation,
which is therefore fuppofed to be laid bti:>re, be
caufe fhe is built upon it : or (to make it more
explicate) becaufe a cloud may arife from the alle
gory of building and foundation, it is plainly,
thus ; the church being a company of men obli
ged to the duties of faith and obeuience, the duty
¦and obligation being of the faculties of will and
¦underftanding to adhere to fuch an object, muft
pre-fuppofe the object made ready for them •, for
as the object is before the act in order of na
ture, and therefore not to be produced or encreafed
by the faculty (which is receptive, cannot be
active upon its proper object:) So che object of
the church's faith is in order of nature before the
church, or before the act and habit of faih, and
therefore cannot be enlarged by the church, any
more than the vifive faculty can add vifibihty to
the object. So that if we have found out- what
foundation Chrift and his Apoftles did lay, thst
is what body and.fyftem of articles fimpiy necef
fary they taught and required of us to b-iv,v-, w*
need not, we cannot go ar.y lurther for ic-unctauof,
we cannot enlarge that fyftern or coikct:^ j>:ow
then, although ail that the/ faid is tnu, ani no
thing of it to be doubted or -.'if-b-licv-.il, *-et as
ail that they faid, is neither wrkttn nor cieiiV'.-r'd
(becaufe all was not neceifary) fo v/e kr:uw mat
of thofe things which are written,- fome thir^;. -.e

22 Faith completed, &c. §. I.
as far off from the foundation as thofe things
which were omitted, and therefore although now
accidentally they muft be believed by all that
know them, yet it is not neceffary all fhould know
them ; and that all fhould know them in the
fame fenfe and interpretation, is neither probable
nor obligatory ; but therefore fince thefe things
are to be diftinguifhed by fome differences of ne
ceffary and not neceffary, whether or no is not
the declaration of Chrift's and his Apoftles affix
ing falvation to the belief of fome. great compre-
henfive articles, and the act of the Apoftles ren
dering them as explicit as they thought convenient,
and configning that creed made fo explicit, as a
tefferaof a chriftian, as a comprehenfion of the ar
ticles of his belief, as a fufficient difpofition and
an exprefs of the faith of a Catechumen in order to
baptifm '; whether or no I fay, all this be not fuf
ficient probation that thefe only are of abfolute
neceflity, that this is fufficient for meer belief in
order to heaven, and that therefore whofoever
believes thefe articles heartily and explicitly,
©go? jjitvu tv avtM. as St. John's expreffion is,
God dwelleth in him, I leave it to be confidered
and judged cf from the premifes : Only this, if
the old doctors had been made judges in thefe
queftions, they would have paffed their affirma
tive ; for to inftance in one for all, of this it was
faid by TertuUian, * Regida quidem fidei una omnino
eft fola immobilis & irreformabilis, &c. Hac lege
fidei manente cetera jam difciplina £5? converfationis
admittunt novitatem corretlionis, operante foil. &?
proficiente ufque in finem gratia dei. This fymbol is
the one fufficient immoveable unalterable and
unchangeable rule of faith, that admits no incre
ment or decrement ; but if tiie integrity and
* Lib. de veland. Virg. unity

§. 2. Of Herefy and the nature of it. 23
unity of this be preferved, in all other things men
may take a liberty of enlarging their knowledges
and prdphefyings, according as they are affifted
by the grace of God.

SECTION II.
Of Herefy and the Nature of it, and that it is to be
accounted according to theftricl capacity of chriftian
faith, and not in opinions Jpeculative, nor ever to
pious perfons.
LAND thus I have reprefented a fhort draught
JTx. of the object of faith, and its foundation j
the next confideration in order to our main de
fign, is to confider what was and what ought to
be the judgment of the Apoftles concerning He
refy : for although there are more kinds of vices,
than there are of virtues ; yet the number of them
is to be taken by accounting the tranfgreffions
of their virtues, and by the limits of faith ; we
may alfo reckon the analogy and proportions of
Herefy, that as we have feen who was called
faithful by the apoftolical men, we may alfo per
ceive who were lifted by them in the catalogue of
hereticks, that we in our judgments may proceed
accordingly. II. And firft the word Herefy is ufed in fcrip
ture indifferently, in a good fenfe for a feci or
divifion of opinion, and men following it, or
fometimes in a bad fenfe, for a falfe opinion fig-
nally condemned ; but thefe kind of people were
then called Anti-chrifts and falfe prophets more
frequently than hereticks, and then there were
many of them in the world. But it is obferveable
that no herefies are noted Jignanter in fcripture,
C 4 but

24 Of Herefy and the nature of it. §. 2
but fuch as are great errors practical in materia ¦
pietatis, fuch whofe doctrines taught impiety, or
fuch who denied the coming of Chrift directly or
by confequence, not remote or wiredrawn, but
prime and immediate : and therefore in the Code
de S. Trinitate & fide catholica, Herefy is called
aiifi-iK <^o^a, xxi ctGg/M.ZT®-' S'iS'ao-xaXiXy a
wicked opinion and an ungodly doctrine.
III. The firft falfe doctrine we find condemned
by the Apoftles was the opinion of Simon Magus,
who thought the Holy Ghoft was to be bought
with money ; he thought very difhonourably to
the blefled fpirit ; but yet his followers are rather
noted of a vice, neither refting in the underftand
ing, nor derived from it, but wholly practical ;
'tis fimony, not herefy, though in Simon it was a
falfe opinion proceeding from a low account of
God, and promoted by bis own ends of pride
and covetoufnefs : The great Herefy that trou
bled them was the doctrine of the neceflity of
keeping the lav/ of Mofes, the neceflity of circum-
cifloh ; againft which doctrine they, were therefore
zealous, becaufe it was a direct overthrow to the
very end and excellency of Chrift's coming. And
this was an opinion moft pertinacioufly and obfti-
nately maintained by the Jews, and had made a
feet among the Galatians, and was indeed wholly
in opinion ; and againft it the apoftles oppofed
two articles of the creed, which ferved at feveral
times according as the Jews changed their opinion,
and kit fome degrees of their, error, I believe in
Jfts Chrift, end I believe the holy catholick church -T
tor they therefore preffed the neceflity of Mcfes's
law, becaufe they were unwilling to forego the
glorious appellative of being God's own peculiar
people ; and that falvation was of the Jews, and
th-tt the reft of the world were capable of that
grace, no otherwife but by adoption into their
religion

§.2. Of Herefy and the nature of it. 25
religion, and becoming profelytes : But this was
fo ill a doctrine, as that it overthrew the great
benefits of Chrift's coming ; for if they were cir-
cumcifed, Chrift profited them nothing, meaning this,
that Chrift will not he a faviour to them who do
not acknowledge him for their law-giver; and
they neither confefs him their law-giver nor their
faviour, that look to be juftified by the law of
Mofes, and obfervation of legal rights ; fo that
this doctrine was a direct enemy to the founda
tion, and therefore the Apoftles were fo zealous
againft it. Now then that other opinion, which
the Apoftles met at Jerufalem to refolve, was but
a piece of that opinion ; for the Jews and profe
lytes were drawn off from their lees and fediment
by degrees, Hep by ftep. At firft, they would
not endure any fhould be faved but themfelves,
and their profelytes. Being wrought off from
this height by miracles, and preaching ©f the
Apoftles, they admitted the Gentiles to a poffi-
bility of falvation, but yet fo as to hope for it by
Mofes's law. From which foolery, when they
were with much ado difiuaded, and told that fal-
v.tion was by faith in Chrift, not by works of
the law, .yet they refoived to plow with an ox
and an afs flill, and join Mofes with Chrift ; not
as fhadow and fubftance, but in an equal confede
ration ; Chrift fhould fave the Gentiles if he was
helped by Mofes ; but alone Chriftianity could
not do it. Againft this the Apoftles affembled
at Jerufalem, and made a decifion of the queftion,
tying fome of the Gentiles (fuch only who were
blended by the Jews in communi p atria) to obfer
vation of fuch rites which the Jews had derived
by tradition from Noah, intending by this to fa-
tisfy the Jews as far as might be, with a reafon-
able compliance and condefcenfion ; the other
Gentiles who were unmixt, in the mean while,
remaining

26 Of Herefy and the nature of it. §.2.
remaining free, as appears in the liberty St. Paul
gave the Church of Corinth of eating idol facrU
fices (exprefsly againft the decree of Jerufalem) fo
it were without fcandal. And yet for all this
care and curious difcretion, a little of the leaven
flill remained : All this they thought did fo con
cern the Gentiles, that it was totally impertinent
to the Jews ; ftill they had a diftinetion to fatisfy
the letter of the Apoftles decree, and yet to per-
fift in their old opinion ; and this fo continued
that fifteen chriftian bifhops in fucceffion were
circumcifed, even until the deftruction of Jerufa
lem, under Adrian, as Eufebius reports. *
IV- Firft, by the way let me obferve, that
never any matter of queftion in the chriftian
church was determined with greater folemnity,
or more full authority of the church than this
queftion concerning circumcifion : No lefs than
the whole college of the Apoftles, and elders at
Jerufalem, and that with a decree of the higheft
fandlion, Vifum eft fpiritui fantlo & nobis. Se
condly, either the cafe of the Hebrews in parti
cular was omitted, and no determination concern
ing them, whether it were neceffary or lawful for
them to be circumcifed, or elfe it was involved in
the decree, and intended to oblige the Jews. If
it was omitted, fince the queftion was de re necef
faria (for dico vobis, I Paul fay unto you, if ye be
circumcifed, Chrift Jhall profit you nothing) it is very
remarkable how the Apoftles to gain the Jews,
and to comply with their violent prejudice in be
half of Mofes's law, did for a time tolerate their
diffent etiam in re alioquin neceffaria, which I doubt
not but was intended as a precedent for the
church to imitate for ever after : But if it was
not omitted, either all the multitude of the Jews
* Eufeb. 1. 4. EccleC Hift. c. ;. which

§.2. Of Herefy and the nature of it. 27
(which St. James J then their bifhop expreffed by
ts-oaai fjt-vpia^a ; Thou feeft how many myriads of
Jews that believe, and yet are zealots for the law ;
and Eufebius fpeaking of Juftus fays, -f he was one
ex infinita multitudine eorum qui ex circumcifione in Je-
fum credebant,) I fay all thefe did perifh, and their
believing in Chrift ferved them to no other ends,
but in the infinity of their torments to upbraid
them with hypocrify and herefy -, or if they were
faved, it is apparent how merciful God was and
pitiful to human infirmities, that in a point of fo
great concernment did pity their weaknefs, and
pardon their errors, and love their good mind,
fince their prejudice was little lefs than infuper-
able, and had fair probabilities, at leaft, it was
fuch as might abufe a wife and good man (and fo
it did many) they did bono animo errare. And if
I miftake not, this confideratiofo * St. Paul urged
as a reafon why God forgave him who was a per-
fecutor of the faints, becaufe he did it ignorantly in
unbelief, that is, he was not convinced in his
underftanding, of the truth of the way which he
perfecuted, he in the mean while remaining in that
incredulity not out of malice or ill ends, but the
miftakes of humanity and a pious zeal, therefore
God had mercy on him : And fo it was in this great
queftion of circumcifion, here only was the diffe
rence, the invincibility of St. Paul's error, and
the honefty of his heart caufed God fo to pardon
him as to bring him to the knowledge of Chrift,
which God therefore did becaufe it was neceffary,
necejitate medii ; no falvation was confiftent with
the actual remanency of that error ; but in the
queftion ofxircumcifion, although they by con-
quence did overthrow- the end of Chrift's coming :
yet becaufe it was fuch a confequence, which they
% Afls zi. 10. f L. 3. 32. Ecclef, Hifi. * i Tim. il.
being

2$ Of Herefy and the nature of it. §.2.
being hindered by a prejudice not impious did not
perceive, God tolerated them in their error till
time and a continual dropping of the leffons and
dictates apoftolical did wear it out, and then the
doctrine put on its apparel, and became clothed
with neceflity ; they in the mean time fo kept
to the foundation, that is Jefus Chrift crucified '
and rifen again, that although this did make a
violent concuffion of it, yet they held fall with
their heart, what they ignorantly deftroyed with
their tongue, (which Saul before his converfion
did not) that God upon other titles, than an ac
tual dereliction of their error, did bring them to
falvation. V. And in the defcent of fo many years, I find
not any one anathema paft by the apoftles or their
fucceffors upon any of the bifhops of Jerufalem,
or the believers/jof the circumcifion, and yet it
was a point as clearly determined, and of as great
neceflity as any of thofe queftions that at this day
vex and crucify Chriftendom.
VI. Befides this queftion, and that of the re-
furrection, commenced in the church of Corinth,
and promoted with fome variety of fenfe by Hy-
menaus and Philetus in Afia, who faid that the re-
furrection was paft already, I do not remember
any other Herefy named in fcripture, but fuch as
were errors of impiety, feducliones in materia prac
tice, fuch as was particularly, forbidding to
marry, and the Herefy of the Nicolaitans, a doc
trine that taught the neceflity of luft and frequent
fornication. VII. But in all the animadverfions againft er
rors made by the Apoftles in the New Teflament,
no pious perfon v/as condemned, no man that did
invincibly err, or bona, mente ; but fomething that
was amils in genere morum, was that which the
Apoftles did redargue. And it is very confide- derable

§.2. Of Herefy and the nature of it. 29
rable, that even they of the circumcifion, who in
'fo great numbers did heartily believe in Chrift,
and yet moft violently retain circumcifion, and
without queftion went to heaven in great num
bers ; yet of the number of thefe very men, they
came deeply under cenfure, when to their error
they added impiety : fo long as it flood with cha
rity and without human ends and fecular interefts,
fo long it was either innocent or connived at ; but
when they grew covetous, and for filthy lucre's
fake taught the fame doctrine which others did in
the fimplicity of their hearts, then they turned
Hereticks, then they were termed feducers ; and
Titus was commanded to look to them, and to
filence them ; for there are many that are intratlable
and vain babblers, feducers of minds, efpecially they of
the circumcifion, whofeduce whole houfes, teaching things
that they ought not, for filthy lucre's fake. Thefe
indeed were not to be endured, but to be filenced,
by the conviction of found doctrine, and to be re -
buked fharply, and avoided.
For Herefy is not an error of the underftand
ing, but an error of the will. And this is clearly
infinuated in fcripture in the ftile whereof faith
and a good life are made one duty, and vice is
called oppofite to faith, and Herefy oppofed to
holinefs and fanctity. So in * St. Paul, for (faith
he) the end of the commandment is charity out of a
pure heart, and a good confcience, and faith un
feigned; a quibus quod aberrarunt quidam, from
' which charity, and purity, and goodnefs, and
fincerity, becaufe fome have wandered, deflexerunt
ad vaniloquium. ' And immediately after he reck
ons the oppofition to faith and found doctrine,
and inftances only in vices that ftain the lives of
chriftians, the unjuft, the unclean, the uncharitable,
the lyar, the perjured perfon, & ft quis alius qui fana
* 1 Tim. 1. doElrtr.a

30 Of Herefy and the nature of it. §.2.
doftrina adverfatur •, thefe are the enemies of the
true doctrine. And therefore St. Peter having
given in charge, to add to our virtue, patience,
temperance, charity, and the like ; gives this for
a reafon, for if thefe things be in you and abound,
ye fhall be fruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Je-
fus Chrift. So that knowledge and faith is inter
pracepta morunt, is part of a good life * : And St.
Paul calls Faith or the form of found words, xaT
iuaifteixv ^ifraaxaXiav, the doctrine that is ac
cording to godlinefs, 1 Tim. 6. 3. -f And veri-
tati credere, ahd in injufiitia fibi complacere, are by
the fame Apoftle oppofed, and intimate, that
piety and faith is all one thing ; faith muft be
vytw xai aj«.&>jt/.<^ entire and holy too, or it is
not right. It was the Herefy of the Gnofticks,
that it was no matter how men lived, fo they did
but believe aright : which wicked doctrine Tatia-
nus a learned chriftian did fo deteft, that he fell
into a quite contrary, non eft curandum quid quifque
credat, id tantum curandum eft quod quifque facial ; and
thence came the feet Encratites : Both thefe he
refies fprang from the too nice diftinguifhing the
faith from the piety and good life of a chriftian :
they are both but one duty. However, they may be
diftinguifhed, if we fpeak like philofophers ; they
cannot be diftinguifhed, when we fpeak like
chriftians. For to believe what God hath com
manded, is in order to a good life ; and to live
well is the product of that believing, and as pro
per emanation from it, as from its proper prin
ciple, and as heat is from the fire. And therefore,
* Quid igitur credulitas vel fides ? opinor fideliter hominem
Ohrifto credere, id eft, fidelem Deo efle, hoc eft, fideliter Dei
mandata fervare. So Sal-view.
f 'E«o-f(3ti5 T»y xgwurtn S^or-Eia ; That's our religion or
faith, the whole manner of ferving God. C. de fumma Tri-
nit.iS fide Catbol. in

§.2. Of Herefy and the nature of it. 31
in fcripture they are ufed promifcuoufly in fenfe,
and in expreffion, as not only being fubjecled in
the fame perfon, but alfo in the fame faculty ;
faith is as truly feated in the will as in the under
ftanding, and a good life as merely derives from
the underftanding as the will. Both of them are
matters of choice and of election, neither of them
an effect natural and invincible or neceffary ante
cedently (necej/aria ut fiant, non neceffaria facia.)
And indeed if we remember that St. Paul reckons
herefy among the works of the flefh, and ranks
it with all manner of practical impieties, we fhall
eafily perceive that if a man mingled not a vice
with his opinion, if he be innocent in his life,
though deceived in his doctrine, his error is his
mifery, not his crime ; it makes him an argu
ment of weaknefs and an object of pity, but
not a perfon fealed up to ruin and reprobation.
IX. For as the nature of Faith is, fo is the nature
of Herefy, contraries having the fame proportion
and commenfuration. Now faith, if it be taken
for an act of the underftanding merely, is fo far
from being that excellent grace that juftifies us,
that it is not good at all, in any kind but in
genere natura, and makes the underftanding better
in itfelf, or pleafing to God, juft as flrength doth
the arm, or beauty the face, or health the body ;
thefe are natural perfections indeed, and fo know
ledge and a true belief is to the underftanding.
But this makes us not at all more acceptable to
God ; for then the unlearned were certainly in a
damnable condition, and all good Scholars fhould
be faved (whereas I am afraid too much of the
contrary is; true.) But unlefs faith be made mo
ral by the mixtures of choice, and charity, it is
nothing but a natural perfection, not a grace or a
virtue ; and this is demonftrably prov'd in this,
that by the confeffion of all men of all interefts and

32 Of H-refy and the nature of it. § 2.
an 1; p- fuafions, in matters of mere belief, in-
vircb/e j v orance is our excufe if we be deceived,
which could not be, but that neither to believe
aright is commendable, nor to believe amifs is
reproveable ; but where both one and, the other
is voluntary and chofen antecedently or confe-
quently, by prime election or ex poft faclo, and fo
comes to be confidered in morality, and is part
of a good life or a bad life refpectively. Juft
fo it is in Herefy, if it be a defign of ambition,
and making of a feet (fo Erafmus expounds St.
Paul aiptnxov avz-pwrzov^ feci arum * authorem) if
it be for filthy lucre's fake as it was in fome, that
were of the circumcifion, if it be of pride and
love of pre-eminence, as it was in Diotrephes
6 (piXohzrpuTlivteV) or out of pevifhnefs and indo-
cility of difpofitions, or of a contentious fpirit,
that is, that their feet are not fhod with the pre
paration of the gofpel of peace ; in all thefe cafes
the error is juft fo damnable, as is its principle,
but therefore damnable not of itfelf, but by rea
fon of its adherency. And if any fhall fay any
otherwife, it is to fay that fome men fhall be
damned when they cannot help it, perifh without
their own fault, and be miferable for ever, becaufe
of their unhappinefs to be deceived through their
own fimplicity and natural or accidental, but in
culpable infirmity.
X. For it cannot ftand with the goodnefs of
God, who does fo know our infirmities, that he
pardons many things in which our wills indeed
have the leaft fhare (but fome they have) but are
overborn with the violence of an impetuous
temptation ; I fay, it is inconfiftent with his good
nefs to condemn thofe who err where the error
hath nothing of the v/ill in it, who therefore
* Alieni funt a veritate qui fe obarmant multitudine. Qkryji.
cannot

§.2. Of Herefy and the nature of it. 33
cannot repent of their error, becaufe they believe
it true, who therefore cannot make compenfation
becaufe they know not that they are tied to dere
liction of it. And although all hereticks are in
this condition, that is, they believe their errors
to be true ; yet there is a vaft difference between
them who believe fo out of fimplicity, and them
who are given over to believe a lie, as a punifh-
ment or an effect of fome other wickednefs or
impiety. For all have a concomitant affent to the
truth of what they believe ; and no man can at
the fame time believe what he does not believe,
but this affent of the underftanding in hereticks
is caufed not by force of argument, but the ar
gument is made forcible by fomething that is
amifs in his will ; and although a heretick may
peradventure have a ftronger argument for his er
ror than fome true believer for his right per-
fuafion ; yet it is not confiderable how ftrong his
argument is (becaufe in a weak underftanding, a
fmall motive will produce a great perfuafion, like
gentle phyfick in a weak body) but that which
here is confiderable, is, what it is that made his
argument forcible. If his invincible and harmlefs
prejudice, if his weaknefs, if his education, if
his miftaken piety, if any thing that hath no
venom, nor a fling in it, :here the heartinefs of
his perfuafion is no fin, but his mifery* and his
excufe : but if any thing chat is evil in genere mo-
rum did incline his underftanding, if his opinion
did commence upon pride, or is nourifhed by co-
vetoufnefs, or continues through ftupid carelef-
nefs, or increafes by pertinacy, or is confirmed
by obflinacy, then the innocency of the error is
difbanded, his mifery is changed into a crime,
and begins its own punifhment. But by the way
I muft obferve, that when I reckoned obftinacy
amongft thofe things which make a falfe opinion
D criminal,

34 Of Herefy and the nature of it. § . 2 .
it is to be underftood with fome difcretion and
diftinclion. For there is an obftinacy of will
which is indeed highly guilty of mifdemeanor,
and when the fchool makes pertinacy or obfti
nacy to be the formality of herefy, they fay not
true at all, unlefs it be meant the obftinacy of
the will and choice •, and if they do, they fpeak
imperfectly and inartificially, this being but one
of the caufes that makes error become herefy ;
the adequate and perfect formality of herefy is
whatfoever makes the error voluntary and vicious,
as is clear in fcripture, reckoning covetoufnefs,
and pride, and lull, and whatfoever is vicious to
be its caufes ; (and in habits, or moral changes
and productions, whatever alters the effence of a
habit, or gives it a new formality, is not to be
reckoned the efficient but the form) but there is
alfo an obftinacy (you may call it) but indeed, is
nothing but a refolution and confirmation of un
derftanding which is not in a man's power ho*
neftly to alter, and it is not all the commands of
humanity, that can be argument fufficient to make
a man leave believing that for which he thinks he
hath reafon, and for which he hath fuch arguments
as heartily convince him. Now the perfifting in
an opinion finally, and againft all the confidence
and imperioufnefs of human commands, that
makes not this criminal obftinacy, if the erring
perfon have fo much humility of will as to fub-
mit to whatever God fays, and that no vice in
his will hinders him from believing it. So that
we muft carefully diftinguifh continuance in opi
nion from obftinacy, confidence of underftanding
from pevifhnefs of affection, a not being convin
ced from a refolution never to be convinced,
upon human ends and vicious principles : * Scimus
quofdam quod femel imbiberint nolle deponere, nee pro-
* Lib. 2. Epift. i. pofttum

§ . 1 . Of Herefy and the nature of it. 3 5
pofitum fuum facile mutare, fedfalvo inter collegas pa
ds et concordia vinculo quadam propria qua apud fe
femel Jint ufurpata retinere ; qua in re nee nos vim
cuiquam facimus, aut legem damus, faith St. Cyprian.
And he himfelf was fuch a one ; for he perfifted
in his opinion of rebaptization until death, and
yet his obftinacy was not called criminal, or his
error turned to herefy. But to return.
XI. In this fenfe it is, that a heretick is avloxx-
taxpil®^^ felf condemned, not by an immediate
exprefs fentence of underftanding, but by his
own act or fault brought into condemnation. As
it is in the canon law, Notorius percujor clerici is
ipfo jure excommunicate, not per fiententiam latum
ab homine, but a jure. No man hath paffed fen
tence pro tribunali, but law hath decreed it pro
editlo : So it is in the cafe of a heretick. The
underftanding which is judge, condemns him not
by an exprefs fentence ; for he errs with as much
fimplicity in the refult, as he had malice in the
principle : But there is ftntentia lata a jure, his
will which is his law, that hath condemned him.
And this is gathered from that faying of St.
Paul, * But evil men and feducers fhall wax worfe
and worfe, deceiving and being deceived : Firft, they
are evil men ; malice and peevifhnefs is in their
wills •, then they turn hereticks and feduce others,
and while they grow worfe and worfe, the error is
matter of their underftanding, they are deceived
themfelves, given over to believe a lie, faith the
apoftle : They firft play the knave, and then play
the fool ; they firft' fell themfelves to the purchale
of vain glory or ill ends, and then they become
poffeffed with a lying fpirit, and believe thofe
things heartily, which if they were honeft, they
fhould with God's grace difcover and difclaim.
* 2 Tim. 3, 13.
D 2 So

36 Of Herefy and the nature of it. §.2.
So that now we fee that bona fides in falfo articulo,
a hearty perfuafion in a falfe article does not al
ways make the error to be efteemed involuntary ;
but then only when it is as innocent in the prin
ciple,, as it is confident in the prefent perfuafion.
And fuch perfons who by their ill lives and vici
ous -actions, or manifeft defigns (for by their
fruits ye Jhall know, them) give teftimony of fuch
criminal indifpofitions, fo as competent judges
by human and prudent eflimate may fo judge
them, then they are to be declared hereticks, and
avoided. And if this were not true, it were
vain that the Apoftle commands us to avoid an
heretick : for no external act can pafs upon a
man for a crime that is hot cognofcible.
XII. Now every man that errs, though in a
matter of confequence, fo long as the foundation
is intire, cannot be fufpected juftly guilty of a
crime to give his error a formality of herefy : fdr
we fee many a good man miferably deceived (as
we fhall make it appear afterwards) and he that
is the beft amongft men, certainly hath fo milch
humility to think he may be eafily deceived, and
twenty to one but he is in fame thing or othefi' ;
yet if his error be not voluntary, and part of an
ill life, then becaufe he lives a good life, he is a
good man, and therefore no heretick : no man
is a heretick againft his will. And if it be pre
tended that every man that is deceived, is there
fore proud, becaufe he does not fubmit his under
ftanding to the authority of God or Man tefpec-
tively, and fo his error becomes a herefy : to this
I anfwer, that there is no chriftian man but will
fubmit his underftanding to God, and believes
whatfoever he hath faid ; but always provided, he
knows that God hath faid fo, elfe he muft do his
duty by a readinefs to obey when he fhall know
it. But for obedience or humility of the under
ftanding

§.2. Of Herefy and the nature of it, 37
(landing towards men, that is a thing of another
confideration, and it muft firft be made evident
that his underftanding muft be fubmitted to men ;
and who thofe men are, muft alfo be certain, be
fore it will be adjudged a fin not to fubmit. But
if I miftake not, Chrift's faying [call no man mafter
upon earth] is fo great a prejudice againft this pre
tence, as I doubt it will go near wholly to make
it invalid. So that as the worfhipping of angels
is a humility indeed, but it is voluntary and a
will-worfhip to an ill fenfe, not to be excufed by
the excellency of humility, nor the virtue of re
ligion : fo is the relying upon the judgment of
man, an humility too, but fuch as comes not
under that viraxon im^tus, that obedience of
faith which is the duty of every chriftian j but
intrenches upon that duty which we owe to Chrift,
as an acknowledgment that he is our great maf
ter, and the prince of the catholick church. But
whether it be or be not, if that be the queftion
whether the difagreeing perfon be to be determi
ned by the dictates of men, I am fure the dictates
of men muft not determine him in that queftion,
but it muft be fettled by fome higher principle :
So that if of that queftion the difagreeing perfon
does opine, or believe, or err bona fide, he is not
therefore to be judged a heretick, becaufe he fub-
mits not his underftanding, becaufe till it be fiif-
ficiently made certain to him that he be bound to
fubmit, he may innocently and pioufly difagree,
and this not fubmitting is therefore not a crime,
(and fo cannot make a herefy) becaufe without a
crime he my laawfully doubt whether he is bound
to fubmit or no, for that's the queftion. And if
in fuch queftions which have influence upon a
whole fyftem of theology, a man may doubt
lawfully if he doubts heartily, becaufe the autho
rity of men being the thing in queftion, cannot
D 3 be

38 Of Herefy' >and the nature of it. §.2,
be the judge of this queftion, and therefore being
rejected, or (which is all one) being queftioned,
that is-, not believed, cannot render the doubting
perfon guilty of pride, and by confequence not
of Herefy, much more may particular queftions
be doubted of, and the authority of men exa
mined, and yet the doubting perfon be humble
enough, and therefore no heretick for all this pre
tence. And it fhould be confidered that humility
is a duty in great ones as well as in ideots. And
as inferiors muft not difagree without reafon, fo
neither muft fuperiors prefcribe to others without
fufficient authority, evidence, and neceflity too :
And if rebellion be pride, fo is tyranny ; and it
being in materia intelletluali, both may be guilty
of pride of underftanding, fometimes the one in
impofing, fometimes the other in a caufelefs dif
agreeing ; but in the inferiors it is then only the
want of humility, when the guides impofe or
prefcribe what God hath alfo taught, and then it
is the difobeying God's dictates, not man's that
makes the fin. But then this confideration will
alfo intervene, that as no dictate of God obliges
me to believe it, unlefs I know it to be fuch ¦:
So neither will any of the dictates of my fuperi
ors, engage my faith, unlefs I alfo know, or have
no reafon to difbelieve, but that they are war
ranted, to teach them to me, therefore, becaufe
God hath taught the fame to them, which if I
once know, or have no reafon to chink the con
trary, .if I difagree, my fin is not in refuting hu
man authority, but divine. And therefore the
whole bufinefs of fubmitting our underftanding
to human authority, comes to nothing ; for
either it refolves into the direct duty of fubmit
ting to God, or if it be fpoken of abftractedly,
it is no duty at all. XIII.

§ . 2 . Of Herefy and the nature of it. 3 9
XIII. But this pretence of a neceflity of humbling
the underftanding, is none of the meaneft arts
whereby fome perfons have invaded, and iifurped
a power over men's faith and confciences, and
therefore we fhall examine the pretence after
wards, and try if God hath inyefted any man or
company of men with fuch a power. In the mean
time, he that fubmits his underftanding to all
that he knows God hath faid, and is ready to
fubmit to all that he hath faid if he but know it,
denying his own affections and ends, and inte-
refts and human perfuafions, laying them all
down at the foot of his great mailer Jefus
Chrift, that man hath brought his underftanding
into fubjection, and every proud thought unto
obedience of Chrift, and this is wraxow 'wiq'iaos,
the obedience of Faith, which is the duty of a
chriftian. XIV. But to proceed : Befides thefe herefies
noted in fcripture, the age of the apoftles, and
that which followed, was infefted with other he
refies } but fuch as had the fame formality and
malignity with the precedent, all of them either
fuch as taught practical impieties, or denied an
article of the creed. Egeftppus in Eufebius reck
ons feven only prime herefies that fought to de-.
flower the purity of the church : That of Simon,
that of Thebutes, of Cleobius, of Dofttheus, of Gor-
theus, of Ma/botbeus -, I fuppofe Cerinthus to have
been the feventh man, though he exprefs him not :
but of thefe, except the laft, we know no parti
culars 5 but that Egeftppus fays, they were falfe
Chrifts, and that their doctrine was directly againft
God and his blefled Son. Menander alfo was the
firft of a feet, but he bewitched the people with
his forceries. Cerinthus his doctrine pretended en-
thufiafm or a new revelation, and ended in luft
and impious theorems in matter of uncleannefs.
D 4 The

40 Of Herefy and the nature of it. §.2.'
The ¦* Ebionites denied Chrift to be the fon of
God, and affirmed him -\iKov 'AvSrpunrov, begot
by natural generation, (by occafion of which and
the importunity of the Afian bifhops, St. John
writ his gofpel) and taught the observation of
Mofes' s law. Eafilides taught it lawful to renounce
thetk.;th, and take falfe oaths in time of perfe
cution." Carpocrates was a very bedlam, half-
witch, and quite mad-man, and practifed luft,
which he called the fecret operations to overcome
the potentates of the world. Some more there
were, but of the fame nature and peft, not of a
nicety in difpute, not a queftion of fecret philo-
fophy, not of atoms, and undifcernable propofi-
tions, but open defiances of all faith, of all fo-
briety, and of all fanctity, excepting only the
doctrine of the Millenaries, which in the beft
'ages was efteemed no Herefy, but true catholick
doctrine, though fince it hath juftice done to it,
and hath fuffered a juft condemnation.
XV. Hitherto, and in thefe inftances, the
church did efteem and judge of Herefies, in pro
portion to the rules and characters of faith. For
faith being a doctrine of piety as well as truth,
that which was either deftructive of fundamental
verity, or of chriftian fanctity was againft faith,
and if it made a feet, was herefy : if not, it ended
it perfonal impiety and went no farther. But
thofe, who as St. Paul fays, not only did fuch
things, but had pleafure in them that do them,
and therefore taught others to do what they impi-
oufly did dogmatize, they were hereticks both in
matter and form, in doctrine and deportment,
towards God, and towards man, and judicable
in both tribunals.
XVI. But the Scripture and Apoftolical fermons,
having expreffed moft high indignation againft
* Vid. Hilar, lib. i. deTrin. , .
thefe

§. 2. Of Herefy and the nature of it: $i
thefe matters of impious fects, leaving them un
der prodigious characters, and horrid reprefent-
ments, as calling them men of corrupt minds, re
probates concerning the faith, given over to ftrong
deluftons to the belief of a lye, falfe Apoftles, falfe Pro
phets, men already condemned, and that by themfelves,
Anti-chrifts, enemies of God; and Herefy itfelf, a
work of the fiefh, excluding from the kingdom of hea
ven ; left fuch impreffions in the minds of all
their fucceffors, and fo much zeal againft fuch
fects, that if any opinion commenced in the
church, not heard of before; it oftentimes had
this ill luck to run the fame fortune with an old
Herefy. For becaufe the Hereticks did bring in
new opinions in matters of great concernment,
every opinion de novo brought in was liable to the
fame exception ; and becaufe the degree of ma
lignity in every error was oftentimes undifcern-
able, and moft commonly indemonftrable, their
zeal was alike againft all ; and thofe ages being
full of piety, were fitted to be abufed with an
overactive zeal, as wife perfons and learned are
with a too much indifferency.
XVII. But it came to pafs, that the further the
fucceffion .went from the Apoftles, the more for
ward men were in numbering Herefies, and that
upon flighter and more uncertain grounds. Some
footfteps of this we fhall find, if we confider the
fects that are faid to have fprung in the firft
three hundred years, and they were pretty quick
in their fprings and falls ; fourfcore and feven of
them are recokned. They were indeed reckoned
afterward, and though when they were alive,
they were not condemned with as much forward-
jiefs, as after they were dead ; yet even then, con
fidence began to mingle with opinions lefs necef
fary, and miftakes in judgement were oftner and
more publick than they fhould have been. But if
they

42 Of Herefy and the nature of it. §.2.
they were forward in their cenfures (as fome times
fome of them were) it is no great wonder they
were deceived. For what principle or xpiimpiov
had they then to judge of Herefies, or condemn
them, befides the fingle dictates or decretals of
private bifhops ? for fcripture was indifferently
pretended by all •, and concerning the meaning
of it, was the queftion : now there was no gene
ral council all that while, no opportunity for the
church to convene ; and if we fearch the com
municatory letters of the bifhops and martyrs in
thofe days, we fhall find but few fentences decre
tory concerning any queftion of faith, or new
fprung opinion. And in thofe that did, for
aught appears, the perfons were mif-reported, or
their opinions miftaken, or at moft, the fentence
of condemnation was no more but this ; Such a
bifhop who hath had the good fortune by pofteri-
ty to be reputed a catholick, did condemn fuch a
man or fuch an opinion, and yet himfelf err'd in
as confiderable matters, but meeting with better
neighbours in his life time, and a more charitable
pofterity, hath his memory preferved in ho
nour. It appears plain enough in the cafe of
Nicholas the deacon of Antioch, upon a miftake
of his words whereby he taught -irapa<%pw$ra.i tn
cxpxi to abufe the fiefh, viz. by acts of aufterity
and felf denial, and mortification ; fome wicked
people that were glad to be miftaken and abufed
into a pleafing crime, pretended that he taught
them to abufe the flefh by filthy commixtures and
pollutions : this miftake was tranfmitted to pofte
rity with a full cry, and acts afterwards found
out to juftify an ill opinion of him. For by St.
Hierome's time it grew out of queftion, but that
he was the vileft of men, and the worft of here
ticks ; * Nicolausi Antiochenus, omnium immunditi-
* Ad Crefiph. r arum

§. 2. Of Herefy and the nature of it. 43
arum conditer choros duxit famineos. And again, f
Ifte Nicolaus Diaconus itaimmundus extitit ut etiam
in prafepi Domini nefas perpetrarit : Accufations
that while the good man lived were never thought
of; for his daughters were virgins, and his fons
lived in holy coelibate all their lives, and himfelf
lived in cbafte wedlock ; and yet his memory had
rotted in perpetual infamy, had not God (in whofe
fight, the memory of the faints is precious) pre-
ferved it by the teftimony of * Clemens Alexandrinus,
and from him of § Eufebius and Nicephorus. But
in the catalogue of hereticks made by Philaftrius
he flands marked with a black character as guilty
of many Herefies : By which one teftimony we
may guefs what truft is to be given to thofe cata-r
logues : well, this good man had ill luck to fall
into unfkilful hands at firft; but Irenaus, Jufiin
Martyr, Laclantius, (to name no more) had better
fortune ; for it being flill extant in their writings
that they were of the Millenary opinion, Papias
before, and Nepos after were cenfured hardly, and
the opinion put into the catalogue of Herefies,
and yet thefe men never fufpected as guilty, but
like the children of captivity walked in the midft
of the flame, and not fo much as the fmell of fire
paffed on them. But the uncertainty of thefe
things is very memorable, in the Story of Eufta-
thius bifhop of Antioch contefling with Eufebius
Pamphilus : Euftathius accufed Eufebius for going
about to corrupt the Nicene creed, of which flan-
der he then acquitted himfelf (faith Socrates \ ) and
yet he is not cleared by pofterity, for flill he is
fufpected, and his fame not clear : However
Eufebius then fcap'd well, but to be quit with
his adverfary, he recriminates and accufes him
to be a favourer of Sabellius, rather than of the
f Epift. de Fabiano lapfo. * L. 3. Stromat. § L. 3.
c. 26. Hift. % L. 1. c. 23. Nicene

44 Of Herefy and the nature of it . §.2.
Nicene Canons ; an imperfect accufation, God
knows, when the crime was a fufpicion, proveable
only by actions capable of divers conftructions,
and at the moft, made but fome degrees of proba
bility, and the fact it felf did not confift in indivi-
fibility, and therefore was to ftand or fall, to be
improved or leffened according' to the will of the
judges, whom in this caufe Euftathius by his ill
fortune and potent adverfary found harfh towards
him, in fo much that he was for Herefy depofed
in the fynod, of Antioch ; and though this was laid
open in the eye of the world as being moft ready
at hand, with the greateft eafe chargd upon every
man, and with greateft difficulty acquitted by
any man ; yet there were other fufpicions raifed
upon him privately, or at leaft talked of expoftfatlo,
and pretended as caufes of his deprivation, leaft
the fentence fhould feem too hard for the firft of
fence. And yet what they were no man could
tell, faith the ftory. But it is obfervable what
Socrates faith, as in excufe of fuch proceedings,
Thto cTg etri ¦wxvtaiv ucaSracri toov xataipaf/.t-
vm> thoiHv oi iiricxoirm, Kxltiyopavles [/.iv xxi aat-
(2n Xsyovlis, Tas /'s ailia? tm avifiaas a Xtyao~i.
" It is the manner among the bifhops, when
" they a'ccufe them that are depofed, they call
" them wicked, but they publifh not the actions
" of their impiety." It might poffibly be that
the bifhops did it in tendernefs of their reputa
tion, but yet hardly ; for to punifh a perfon
publicity and highly, is a certain declaring the
perfon punifhed guilty of a high crime ; and then
to conceal the fault upon pretence to preferve his
reputation, leaves every man at liberty to con
jecture what he pleafeth, who poffibly will be
lieve it worfe than it is, in as much as they think
* L. i . c. 24. his

§.2. Of Herefy. and the nature of it. 45
his judges fo charitable as therefore to conceal
the fault, leaft the publifhing of it fhould be his
greateft punifhment, and the fcandal greater than
his deprivation. ' * However this courfe, if it
were juft in any, was unfafe in all ; for it might
undo more than it could preferve, and therefore
is of more danger, than it can be of charity. It
is therefore too probable that the matter was not
very fair; for in publick fentence the acts ought
to be publick'; but that they rather pretend He
refy to bring their ends about, fhews how eafy it
is to impute that crime, and how forward they
were to do it. And that they might and did then
as eafily call Heretick as afterward, when Vigilius
was condemned of Herefy for faying there were
Antipodes ; or as the friars of late did, who fuf
pected Greek and Hebrew of Herefy, and called
their profeffors Hereticks, and had like to have
put Terence and Demofthenes into the Index Expur-
gatorius ; fure enough they railed at them pro
condone, therefore becaufe they underftood them
not, and had reafon to believe they would acci
dentally be enemies to their reputation among
the people.
XVIII. By this inftance which was a while after
the Nicene council, where the acts of the church
were regular, judicial and orderly, we may guefs
at the fentences pafled upon herefy, at fuch times
and in fuch cafes, when their procefs was more
private, and their acts more tumultuary, their in
formation lefs certain, and therefore their miftakes
more eafy and frequent.. And it is remarkable in
the cafe, of the Herefy of Montanus, the fcene of
whofe,Herefy lay within the firft three hundred
years,, rhpugh it was reprefented in the catalogues
* Simpliciter pateat vitium fortaffe pufillum, Quod tegitur
majus creditur efle malum. Martial. afterwards,

46 Of Herefy and the fiaiure of it. §. 2.
afterwards, and poffibly the miftake concerning
it, is to be put upon the fcore of Epiphanius, by
whom Montanus and his followers were put into
the catalogue of Hereticks for commanding abfti-
nence from meats, as if they were unclean, and
of themfelves unlawful. Now the truth was,
Montanus faid no fuch thing, but commanded
frequent abftinence, enjoined dry diet, and an
afcetick table, not for confcience fake, but for
difcipline ; and yet becaufe he did this with too
much rigour and ftrictnefs of mandate, the pri
mitive church mifliked it in him, as being too
near their error, who by a judicial fuperftition
abftained from meats as from uncleannefs. This
by the way will much concern them who place
too much fanctity in fuch rites and acts of difci
pline ; for it is an eternal rule and of never fail
ing truth, that fuch abftinences if they be ob
truded as acts of original immediate duty and
fanctity, are unlawful and fuperftitious ; if they
be for difcipline they may be good, but of no
very great profit ; it is that etipafix, ta aaf/.a'i®^
which St. Paul fays profiteth but little ; and juft
in the fame degree the primitive church efteemed
them ; for they therefore reprehended Montanus,
for urging fuch abftinences with too much ear-
neftnefs, though but in the way of difcipline, for
that it was no more, TertuUian, who was himfelf
a Montanift, and knew beft the opinions of his
own feet, teftifies ; and yet Epiphanius reporting
the errors of Montanus, commends that which
Montanus truly and really taught, and which the
primitive church condemned in him, and there
fore reprefents that Herefy to another fenfe, and
affixes that to Montanus, which Epiphanius be
lieved a Herefy, and yet which Montanus did not
teach. And this alfo among many other thkgs
leffens my opinion very much of the integrity or
difcretion

§.2. Of Herefy and the nature of it. 47
difcretion of the old catalogues of Hereticks, and
much abates my confidence towards them.
XIX. And rtow rhat I have mentioned them
cafually in paffing by, I fhall give a fhort ac
count of them ; for men are much miftaken ;
fome in their opinions concerning the truth of
them, as believing them to be all true, fome con
cerning their purpofe as thinking them fufficient
not only to condemn all thofe opinions, there
called heretical ; but to be a precedent to all ages
of the church to be free and forward in calling
Heretick. But he that confiders the catalogues
themfelves, as they are collected by Epiphanius,
Philaftrius, and St. Auftin, will find that many are
reckoned Hereticks for opinions in matters dif-
putable, and undetermined, and of no confequence ;
and that in thefe catalogues of Hereticks there are
men numbered for Hereticks, who by every
fide refpectively are acquitted ; fo that there is no
company of men in the world that admit thefe
catalogues as good records, or fufficient fentences
of condemnation. For the churches of the refor
mation, I am certain they acquit Aerius for deny
ing prayer for the dead, and the Euftathians for
denying invocation of faints. And I am partly
of opinion that the church of Rome is not willing
to call the Collyridians Hereticks for offering a
cake to the virgin Mary, unlefs fhe alfo will run
the hazard of the fame fentence for offering can
dles to her : And that they will be glad with St.
Auftin (/. 6. de haref. c. 86.) to excufe the * Ter-
tullianifts for picturing God in a vifible corporeal
reprefentment. And yet thefe fects are put in the
black book by Epiphanius and St.' Auftin, and Ifi-
dore refpectively. I remember alfo that the Ojeni
are called Hereticks, becaufe they refufed to wor-
fhip toward the eaft ; and yet in that diffentj I
* D. Thorn. 1. contr. gent. c. 21. c j

48 Of Herefy and the nature of it. §.2,
find not the malignity of a Herefy, nor any thing
againft an article of faith or good manners ; and
it being only in circumftance, it were hard, if
they were otherwife pious men and true believers,
to fend them to hell for fuch a trifle. The Parer-
meneuta refufed to follow other mens dictates like
fheep, but would expound fcripture according to
the, beft evidence themfelves could find, and yet
were called Hereticks whether they expounded
true or no. The * Pauliciani for being offended
at croffes, theProclians for faying in a regenerate
man all his fins were not quite dead, but only
curbed and affuaged, were called Flereticks, and
fo condemned ; for ought I know for affirming
that which all pious men feel in themfelves to be
too true. And he that will confider how nume
rous the catalogues are, and to what a volume
they are come in their laft collections, to no lefs
than five hundred an'd twenty (for fo many He
refies and Hereticks are reckoned by Prateolus)
may think that if a re-trenchment were juftly
made of truths, and all impertinencies, and all
opinions, either flill difputable, or lefs confider-
able, the number would much decreafe ; and
therefore that the catalogues are much amifs,
and the name Heretick is made a terriculamentum
to affright people from their belief, or to difcoun-
tenance the perfons of men, and difrepute them,
that their fchools may be empty and their dif-
ciples few.
XX. So that I fhall not need to inftance how
that fome men were called Hereticks by Philaf-
trius for rejecting the tranflation of the Lxx. and
following the bible of Aquila, wherein the great
faults mentioned by Philqftrius, are that he tranf-
lates 'K^i^ov ®ea, not Chriftum, but unclum Dei,
* Euthym. part i. tit. 21. Epiphan. hseref. 64. and

§.2. Of Herefy and the nature of it. 49
and inftead of Emanuel writes Deus nobifcum. But
this moft concerns them of the primitive church
with whom the tranflation of Aquila was in great
reputation, is enim veluti plus a quibufdam 
intellexijs laudatur. It was fuppofed he was a
greater clerk and underftood more than orciiary,
it may be, fo he did. But whether yea or no, yet
fince the other tranftators by the confeffion of
Philaftrius, quadam pratermift/fe necejitate urge ite
cogerentur, if fome wife men or unwife did follow a
tranflator who underftood the original well (for fo
Aquila had learnt amongft the jews) it was hard to
call men Hereticks for following his tranflation, ef-
pecially fince the other bibles (which were thought
to have in them contradictories ; and it was con-
feffed, had omitted fome things) were excufed by
neceflity, and the other neceflity of following
Aquila, when they had no better, was not at all
confidered, nor a lefs crime than Herefy laid
upon their fcore *. Such another was the Herefy
of the Quartodecimani ; for the Eafterlings were
all proclaimed Hereticks for keeping Eafter after
the manner of the eaft ; and as Socrates and Nice-
phorus report, the bifhop of Rome was very for
ward to excommunicate all the bifhops of the
leffer Afia for obferving the feaft according to the
tradition of their anceftors, though they did it
modeftly, quietly, and without faction ; and al
though they pretended, and were as well able, to
prove their tradition from St. John, of fo ob
ferving it, as the weftern church could prove their
tradition derivative from St. Peter and St. Paul.
If fuch things as thefe make up the catalogues of
Hereticks (as we fee they did) their accounts dif
fer from the precedents they ought to have fol-
* Philaftr. 99. eos inter hsreticos numerat qui fpiraculum
vitse in libro Genef. interpretantur animam rationalem, & non
potius gratiam {piritus fancli.
E lowed,

50 Of Herefy and the nature of it. §. 2.
lowed, that is, the cenfures apoftolical, and there
fore are unfafe precedents for us ; and unlefs they
took the liberty of ufing the word Herefy, in a
lower fenfe, than the world now doth, fince the
councils have been forward in pronouncing ana-(
thema, and took it only for a diftinct fenfe, and
a differing perfuafion in matters of opinion and
minute articles, we cannot excufe the perfons of
the men : but if they intended the crime of He
refy againft thofe opinions as they laid them
down in their catalogues, that crime (I fay)
which is a work of the flefh, which excludes from
the kingdom of heaven ; all that I fhall fay againft
them, is, that the caufelefs curfe fhall return
empty, and no man is damned the fooner, be
caufe his enemy cries a xalagate, and they that
were the judges and accufers, might err as well
as the perfons accufed, and might need as chari
table conftru&ion of their opinions and practices,
as the other. And of this we are fure they had
no warrant from any rule of fcripture or practice
apoftolical, for driving fo furioufly and haftily
in fuch decretory fentences. But I am willing
rather to believe their fenfe of the word Herefy
was more gentle than with us it is, and for that
they might have warrant from fcripture.
XXI. But by the way, I obferve that although
thefe catalogues are a great inftance to fhew that
they whofe age and fpirits were far diftant from
the apoftles, had alfo other judgments concerning
faith and Herefy, than the apoftles had, and the
ages apoftolical ; yet thefe catalogues, although
they are reports of Herefies in the fecond and
third ages, are not to be put upon the account of
thofe ages, nor to be reckoned as an inftance of
their judgment, which although it was in fome
degrees more culpable than that of their predecef-
fors, yet in refpect of the following ages it was
innocent

§.2. Of Herefy and the nature of if. 51
innocent and rnodeft. But thefe catalogues I
fpeak of, were fet down according to the fenfe of
the then prefent ages, in which as they in all pro
bability did differ from the apprehenfions of the
former centuries, fo it is certain, there were dif
fering learnings, other fancies, divers reprefent-
ments and judgments of men depending upon
circumftances which the firft ages knew, and the
following ages did not ; and therefore the cata
logues were drawn with fome truth, but lefs cer
tainty, as appears in their differing about the au
thors of fome Herefies ; feveral opinions imputed
to the fame, and fome put in the roll of Here
ticks by one,- which the other left out ; which to
me is an argument that the Collectors were de
termined, not by the fenfe and fentences of the
three firft ages, but by themfelves, and fome cir
cumftances about them, which to reckon for He
reticks, which not. And that they themfelves
were the prime judges, or perhaps fome in their
own age together with them ; but there was not
any fufficient external judicatory competent to
declare Herefy, that by any publick or fufficient
fentence or acts of court had furnifhed them with
warrant for their catalogues. And therefore they
are no argument fufficient that the firft ages of
the church, which certainly were the beft, did
much recede from that which I fhewed to be the
fenfe of the fcripture, and the practice of the
apoftles ; they all contented themfelves with the
apoftles creed as the rule of the faith ; and therefore
were not forward to judge of Herefy, but by ana
logy to their rule of faith : And thofe catalogues
made after thefe ages are not fufficient arguments
that they did otherwife ; but rather of the weak
nefs of fome perfons, or of the fpirit and genius
of the -age in which the compilers lived, in which
the device, of calling all differing opinions by the
E 2 name

52 Of Herefy and the nature of it. §.2.
name of Herefies, might grow to be a defign to
ferve ends, and to promote interefts, as often as
an act of zeal and juft indignation againft evil
perfons, deftroyers of the faith, and corrupters
of manners.
XXII. For whatever private mens opinions
were, yet till the Nicene council, the rule of faith
was entire in the apoftles creed, -and provided
they retained that, eafily they broke not the unity
of faith, however differing opinions might pof
fibly commence in fuch things, in which a liberty
were better fuffered, than prohibited with a breach
of charity. And this appears exactly in the quef
tion between St. Cyprian of Carthage, and Stephen
bifhop of Rome, in which one inftance it is eafy
to fee what was lawful and fafe for a wife and
good man, and yet how others began even then
to be abided by that temptation, which fince hath
invaded all Chriftendom. St. Cyprian re- baptized
Hereticks, and thought he was bound fo to do ;
calls a fynod in Africk, as being metropolitan,
and confirms his opinion by the confent of his
fuffragans 'and brethren, but flill with fo much
modefty, that if any man was of another opinion,
he judged him not, but gave him that liberty
that he defired himfelf ; Stephen bifhop of Rome
grows angry, excommunicates the bifhops of Afia
and Africa, that in divers fynods had confented
to re-baptization, and without peace, and with
out charity condemns them for Hereticks. ¦ In
deed here was the rareft mixture and conjunction
of unlikelihoods that I have obferved. Here was
error of opinion with much modefty, and fweet-
nefs of temper on one fide ; and on the other, an
over-active and impetuous zeal to atteft a truth :
it ufes not to be fo, for error ufually is fupported
with confidence, and truth fupprefled and dif-
countenanced by indifferency. But that it might
appear

§. 2. Of Herefy and the nature of it. 53
appear that the error was not the fin, but the un-
charitablenefs, Stephen was accounted a zealous
and furious perfon, and * St. Cyprian though de
ceived, yet a very good man, and of great fanc
tity. For although every error is to be oppofed,
yet according to the variety of errors, fo is there
variety of proceedings. If it be againft faith,
that is, a deftruction of any part of the founda
tion, it is with zeal to be refifted, and we have
for it an apoftolical warrant, contend earneftly for
the faith ; but then as thefe things recede farther
from the foundation, our certainty is the lefs, and
their neceflity not fo much, and therefore it were
very fit, that our confidence fhould be according
to our evidence, and our zeal according to our
confidence, and our confidence fhould then be
the rule of our communion ; and the lightnefs of
an article fhould be confidered with the weight of
a precept of charity. And therefore, there are
fome errors to be reproved, rather by a private
friend than a publick cenfure, and the perfons of
the men not avoided but admonifhed, and their
doctrine rejected, not their communion ; few opi
nions are of that malignity which are to be re
jected with the fame exterminating fpirit, and
confidence of averfation, with which the firft
teachers of chriftianity condemned Ebion, Manes,
and Cerinthus ; and in the condemnation of here
ticks, the perfonal iniquity is more confiderable
than the obliquity of the doctrine, not for the re
jection of the article, but for cenfuring the per
fons ; and therefore it is the piety of the man that
excufed St. Cyprian, which is a certain argument
that it is not the opinion, but the impiety that
condemns and makes the heretick. And this was
it which Vincentius Lirinenfts faid in this very cafe
* Vid. S. Aug 1. 2. c. 6. debaptif. contra Donat.
£ 3 of

54 Of Herefy and the nature of it. *§. 2.
of * St. Cyprian, Unius £5? ejufdem opinionis (mirum
videri pet eft) judicamus author es catholicos, & fequaces
hareticos. x Excufamus magiftros, £5? condemnamus
fcbrfafticos. £?ui fcripferunt libros funt haredes cceli,
quorum librorum defenfores detruduntur ad infernum.
Which faying, if we confront againft the faying
of Salvian condemning the firft authors of the
Arrian feet, and acquitting the followers, we are
taught by thefe two wife men, that an error is
not it that fends a man to hell, but he that begins
the Herefy, and is the author of the feet, he is
the man marked out to ruin •, and his followers
efcap'd, when the Hereftarch commenced the error
upon pride and ambition, and his followers went
after him in fimplicity of their heart ; and fo it
was moft commonly : but on the contrary, when
the firft man in the opinion was honeftly and in
vincibly deceived, as St. Cyprian was, and that
his fcholars to maintain their credit, or their
ends, maintained the opinion, not for the excel
lency of the reafon perfuading, but for the bene
fit and accruments, or peevifhnefs, as did the
Donatifis, qui de Cypriani authoritate ftbi carnaliter
blandiuntur, as St. Auftin faid of them ; then the
fcholars are the hereticks, and the mafter is a ca
tholick. For his error is not the herefy for
mally, and an erring perfon may be a catholick.
A wicked perfon in his error becomes heretick,
when the good man in the fame error fhall have
all the rewards of faith. For whatever an ill man
believes, if he therefore believe it becaufe it ferves
his own ends, be his belief true or falfe, the man
hath an heretical mind, for to ferve his own ends,
his mind is prepared to believe a lie. But a
good man that believes what according to his
light, and upon the ufe of his moral induftry he
* Adv. hseref. c. 2. thinks

§.2. Of Herefy and the nature of it. 55
thinks true, whether he hits upon the right or no,
becaufe he hath a mind defirous of truth, and
prepared to believe every truth, is therefore ac
ceptable to God, becaufe nothing hindered him
from it, but what he could not help, his mifery
and his weaknefs, which being imperfections
merely natural, which God never punifhes, he
ftands fair for a bleffing of his morality, which
God always accepts. So that now if Stephen had
followed the example of God Almighty, or re
tained but the fame peaceable fpirit which his bro
ther of Carthage did, he might with more advan
tage to truth, and reputation both of wifdom and
piety have done his duty in attefting what he be
lieved to be true ; for we are as much bound to
be zealous purfuers of peace, as earneft contenders
for the faith. I am fure more earneft we ought
to be for the peace of the church, than ibr an
article which is not of the faith, as this queftion
of re-baptization was not ; for St. Cyprian died
in belief againft it, and yet was a catholick, and
a martyr for the chriftian faith.
XXIII. The fum is this : St. Cyprian did right in
a wrong caufe (as it hath been fince judged) and
Stephen did ill in a good caufe •, as far then as
piety and charity is to be preferred before a true
opinion, fo far is St. Cyprian's practice a better
precedent for us, and an example of primitive
fanctity, than the zeal and indifcretion of Stephen:
St. Cyprian had not learned to forbid to any one
a liberty of prophefying or interpretation, if he
tranfgreffed not the foundation of faith and the
creed of the apoftles.
XXIV. Well thus it was, and thus it ought
to be in the firft ages, the faith of Chriftendom
retted flill upon the fame foundation", and the
judgments of Herefies were accordingly, or were
amifs ; but the firft great violation of this truth
E 4 was,

56 Of Herefy and the nature of it. §. 2.
was, when general councils came in, and the fym-
bols were enlarged, and new articles were made as
much of neceffity to be believed as the creed of the
Apoftles, and damnation threatened to them that
did diffent, and at lad the creeds multiplied in
number, and in articles, and the liberty of pro-
phefying began to be fomething reftrained.
XXV. And this was of fo much the more force
and efficacy becaufe it began upon great reafon,
and in the firft inftance, with fuccefs good enough.
For I am much pleafed with the enlarging of the
creed, which the council of Nice made, becaufe
they enlarged it to my fenfe ; but I am npt fure
that others are fatisfied with it ; while we look
upon the article they did determine, we fee all
things well enough ; but there are fome wife per-
fonages confider it in all circumftances, and think
the church had been more happy if fhe had not
been in fome fenfe conftrained to alter the fimpli-
city of her faith, and make it more curious and
articulate, fo much that he had need be a fubtle
man to underftand the very words of the new
determinations. XXVI. For the firft Alexander, bifhop of Alex
andria, in the prefence of his clergy, treats '
fomewhat more curioufly of the fecret of the
myfterious trinity, and unity, >* fo curioufly, that
Arius (who was a fophifter too fubtle as it after
wards appeared) mifunderftood him, and thought
he intended to bring in the Herefy of Sabellius.
For while he taught the unity of the trinity,
either he did it fo inartificially, or fo intricately,
that Arius thought he did not diftinguifh the per
sons, when the bifhop intended only the unity of
nature. Againft this Arius furioufly drives, and
to confute Sabellius, and in him (as he thought)
* Socrat. 1. 1. c. 8. the

§.2. Of Herefy and the nature of it. 57
the bifhop, diflinguifhes the natures too, and fo
to fecure the article of the trinity, deftroys the
unity. It was the firft time the queftion was dif
puted in the world, and in fuch myfterious nice
ties, poflibly every wife man may underftand
fomething, but few can underftand all, and there
fore fufpect what they underftand not, and are
furioufly zealous for that part of it which they
do perceive. Well, it happened in thefe, as always
in fuch cafes, in things men underftand not they
are moft impetuous ; and becaufe fufpicion is a
thing infinite in degrees, for it hath nothing to
determine it, a fufpicious perfon is ever moft
violent ; for his fears are worfe than the thing
feared, becaufe the thing is limited, but his
fears are not ; -f- fo that upon this, grew conten
tions on both fides, and tumults, railing and re
viling each other ; and then the laity were drawn
into parts, and the Meletians abetted the wrong
part, and the right part fearing to be overborn,
did any thing that was next at hand to fecure it
felf. Now then they that lived in that age, that
underftood the men, that faw how quiet the
church was before this ftir, how miferably rent
now, what little benefit from the queftion, what
fchifm about it, gave other cenfures of the bufi-
hefs than we fince have done, who only look
upon the article determined with truth and appro
bation of the church generally, fince that time.
But the epiftle of Conjtantine to Alexander and
Arius, * tells the truth, and chides them both for
commencing the queftion, Alexander for broaching
it, Arius for taking it up ; and although this be
true, that it had been better for the church it ne
ver had begun, yet being begun, what is to be
done in it ? of this alfo in that admirable epiftle,
* Lib 1 . c. 6. f Cap. 7. we

58 Of Herefy and the nature of it. §.2.
we have the emperors judgment (I fuppofe' not
without the advice and privity of Hoftus bifhop
of Corduba, whom the emperor loved and trufted
much, and employed in the delivery of the let
ters.) " For firft he calls it a certain vain piece
of a queftion, ill begun and more unadvifedly
publifhed, a queftion which no law or ecclefiaf-
tical canon defineth, a fruitlefs contention, the
product of idle brains, a matter fo nice, fo ob-
fcure, fo intricate, that it was neither to be ex
plicated by the clergy, nor underftood by the
people, a difpute of words, a doctrine inex
plicable, but moft dangerous when taught, left
it introduce difcord or blafphemy ; and there
fore, the objector was rafh, and the anfwerer
unadvifed ; for it concerned not the fubftance
of faith, or the worfhip of God, nor any chief
commandment of fcripture, and therefore, why
fhould it be the matter of difcord ? For though
the matter, be grave ; yet becaufe neither ne
ceffary, nor explicable, the contention is trifling
and toyifh. And therefore, as the philofophers
of the fame feet, though differing in explica
tion of an opinion, yet more love for the
unity of their profeffion, than difagree for the
difference of opinion ; fo fhould chriftians be
lieving in the fame God, retaining the fame
faith, having the fame hopes, oppofed by the
fame enemies, not fall at variance upon fuch
difputes, confidering our underftandings are
not all alike ; and therefore, neither can our
opinions in fuch myfterious articles : fo that
the matter, being of no great importance, but
vain, and a toy in refpect of the excellent
bleffings of peace and charity, it were good
that Alexander and Arius fhould leave contending,
keep their opinions to themfelves, afk each
other forgivenefs, and give mutual toleration." This

§. 2. Of Herefy and the nature of it. 59
This is the fubfUi.ce of Conftantine's letter, and it
contains in it much reafon, if he did not under
value the queftion ; but it feems it was not then
thought a queftion of faith, but of nicety of dif-
pute ; they both did believe one God, and the
holy Trinity. Now then that he afterward called
the Nicene council, it was upon occafion of the
vilenefs of the men of the Arian part, their eter
nal difcord and pertinacious wrangling, and to
bring peace into the church ; that was the necef
fity ; and in order to it was the determination of
the article. But for the article itfelf, the letter
declares what opinion he had of that, and this
grave letter was by Socrates called a wonderful exhor
tation, full of grace and fober council : and fuch as
Hoftus himfelf, who was the meflenger, preffed
with all earneftnefs, with all the fkill and autho,-
rity he had.
XXVII. I know the opinion the world had of
the article afterward is quite differing from this
cenfure given of it before ; and therefore they
have put it into the creed (I fuppofe) to bring the
world to unity, and to prevent fedition in this
queftion, and the accidental blafphemies, which
were occafioned by their curious talkings of fuch
fecret myfteries, and by their illiterate refolutions.
But although the article was determined with an
excellent fpirit, and we all with much reafon pro
fefs to believe it; yet it is another confideration,
whether or no it might not have been better de
termined, if with more fimplicity ; and another
yet, whether or no fince many of the bifhops who
did believe this thing, yet did not like the nicety
and curiofity of expreffing it, it had not been
more agreeable to the practife of the Apoftles,
to have made a determination of the article by
way of expofition of the Apoftles creed, and to
have left this in a refcript, for record to all pof-
terity,

60 Of Herefy and the nature of it. §.2.
terity, and not to have enlarged the creed with it »
for fince it was an explication of an article of the
creed of the Apoftles, as fermons are of places of
fcripture, it was thought by fome, that fcripture
might with good profit, and great truth be ex -
pounded, and yet the expofitions not put into the
canon, or go for fcripture, but that left flill in
the naked original fimplicity, ~and fo much the
rather fince that explication was farther from the
foundation, and though moft certainly true, yet
not penned by fo infallible a fpirit, as was that of
the Apoftles ; and therefore not with fo much
evidence, as certainty. And if they had pleafed,
they might have made ufe of an admirable pre
cedent to this and many other great and good
purpofe*, no lefs than of the blefled Apoftles,
whofe fymbol they might have imitated, with
as much fimplicity as they did the expreffions of
fcripture, when they firft compofed it. For it is
moft considerable, that although in reafon every
claufe in the creed fhould be clear, and fo inop
portune and unapt to variety of interpretation,
that there might be no place left for feveral fenfes
or variety of expofitions : yet when they thought
fit to infert fome myfteries into the creed, which
in fcripture were exprefled in fo myfterious words, -
that the lafl and moft explicit fenfe would flill
be latent, yet they who (if ever any did) under
ftood all the fenfes and fecrets of it, thought it
not fit to ufe any words but the words of fcrip
ture, particularly in the articles of [Chrift's de
fending into hell, and fitting at the right hand
of God] to fhew us that thofe creeds are beft
which keep the very words of fcripture ; and that
faith is beft which hath greateft fimplicity, and
that it is better in all cafes humbly to fubmit,
than curioufly to enquire and pry into the myf-
tery under the cloud, and to hazard our faith by
improving

§.2. Of Herefy and the nature of it. tl
improving our knowledge : If the Nicene fathers
had done fo too, poffibly the church would never
have repented it.
XXVlII. And indeed the experience, the
church had afterwards, fhewed that the bifhops
and priefls were not fatisfied in all circumftances,
nor the fchifm appeafed, nor the perfons agreed,
nor the canons accepted, nor the article under
ftood, nor any thing right, but when they were
overborn with authority, which authority when
the fcales turned, did the fame fervice and pro
motion to the contrary.
XXIX. But it is confiderable, that it was not
the article or the thing itfelf that troubled the
difagreeing perfons, but the manner of reprefent-
ing it. For the five diflenters, Eufebius of Nico-
media, Theognis, Maris, Theonas, and Secundus, be
lieved Chrift to be very God of very God, but
the claufe of QfJLovari@~ they derided, as being per-
fuaded by their Iogick, that he was neither of the
fubftance of the. Father, by divifion as a piece of
a lump, nor derivation as children from their
parents, nor by production as buds from trees,
and no body could tell them any other way at
that time, and that made the fire to burn flill.
And that was it I faid ; if the article had been
with more fimplicity, and lefs nicety determined ;
charity would have gained more, and faith would
have loft nothing. And we fhall find the wifeft
of them all, for fo Eufebius Pamphilus was ef-
teemed, publifhed a creed or confeffion in the
fynod *, and though he and all the reft believed
that great myftery of godlinefs, God manifejled in
in the flejh, yet he was not fully fatisfied, nor
fo foon of the claufe of one fubftance, till he had
done a little violence to his own underftanding ;
* Vide Sozomen. lib. z. cap. 18. for

62 Of Herefy and the nature of it. §.2.
for even when he had fubfcribed to the claufe of
one fubftance, he does it with a proteftation, that
heretofore he never had been acquainted, nor accuftomed
himfelf to fuch fpeeches. And the fenfe of the
word was either fo ambiguous, or their meaning
fo uncertain, that * Andreas Fricius does with fome
probability difpute that the Nicene fathers by
c/moao-i®", did mean Patris fimilitudinem, non ejen-
tia unitatem, Sylva. 4. c . 1 . And it was fo well
underftood by perfonages difinterefted, that when
Arius and Euzoius had confeffed Chrift to, be Deus
verbum, without inferting the claufe of one fubftance,
the emperor by his letter approved of his faith,
and reftored him to his country and office, and
the communion of the church. And a long time
after, although the article was believed with * ni
cety enough, yet when they added more words
flill to the myftery, and brought in the word
tVo^ao-jj, faying there were three hypoftafes in
the holy trinity, it was fo long before it could
be underftood, that it was believed therefore, be
caufe they would not oppofe their fuperiors, or
difturb the peace of the church, in things which
they thought could not be underftood : infomuch
that St. Hierom writ to Damafcus, in thefe words :
Difcerne ft placet obfecro, non timebo tres hypoftafes di
cer e, ft jubetis -, and again, Obteftor beatitudinem
tuam per cru.cifixum, mundi falutem, per o^obq-iov
Trinitatem, ut mihi epiftolis tuis, Jive tacendarum five
dicendarum hypoftafeon detur authoritas.
XXX. But without all queftion, the fathers de
termined the queftion with much truth, though
" Socrat. lib. i . cap. 26.
t Non impiudenter dixit, qui, curiofae explicationi hujus
myfterii diclum. Ariftoni* Philofophi applkuit. Helleborus ni-
ger fi craffiu3 fumatur purgat & fanat. Quum autem teritur &
comminuitur, fuffacat. I cannot

§.2. Of Herefy and the nature of it. 63
I cannot fay, the arguments upon which they
built their decrees, were fo good as the conclufion
itfelf was certain 5 but that which in this cafe is
confiderable, is whether or no they did well in
putting a curfe to the foot of their decree, and
the decree itfelf into the fymbol, as if it had been
of the fame neceflity ? for the curfe Eufebius Pam ¦
philus could hardly find in his heart to fubfcribe,
at laft he did; but with this claufe that he fub
fcribed it becaufe the form of curfe did only for
bid men to acquaint themfelves with foreign fpeeches
and unwritten languages, whereby confufion and
difcord is brought into the church. So that it
was not fo much a magiflerial high afTertion of
the article, as an endeavour to fecure the peace of
the church. And to the fame purpofe for ought
I know, the fathers compofed a form of confef
fion, not as a prefcript rule of faith to build
the hopes of our falvation on, but as a teffera of
that communion which by publick authority was
therefore eftablilhed upon thofe articles becaufe
the articles were true, though not of prime ne
ceffity, and becaufe that unity of confeffion was
judged, as things then flood, the beft preferver of
the unity of minds.
XXXI. But I fhall obferve this, that although
the Nicene fathers in that cafe at that time, and
in that conjucture of circumftances did well (and
yet their approbation is made by after ages ex poft
fatlo) yet if this precedent had been followed by
all councils (and certainly they had equal power,
if they had thought it equally reafonable) and
that they had put all their decrees into the creed,
as fome have done fince, to what a volume had
the creed by this time fwelled ? ,and all the houfe
had run into foundation, nothing left for fuper-
flructures. But that they did not, it appears ift
that fince they thought all their decrees true, yet
they

64 Of Herefy and the nature of it. §.2.
they did not think them all neceffary, at leaft not
in that degree, and that they publifhed fuch de
crees, they did it declarando, not imperando, as
doctors in their chairs, not mailers of other men's
faith and confidences. 2 And yet there is fome
more modefty, or warinefs.or neceffity (what fhall
I call it ?) than this comes to : for why are not
all controverfies determined ? but even when ge
neral affemblies of prelates have been, fome con
troverfies that have been very vexatious, have
been pretermitted, and others of lefs confequence
have been determined : Why did never any ge
neral council condemn in exprefs fentence the
Pelagian Herefy, that great peft, that fubtle in
fection of Chriftendom ? and yet divers general
councils did affemble while the Herefy was in the
world. Both thefe cafes in feveral degrees leave
men in their liberty of believing and prophefying.
The latter proclaims that all controverfies cannot
be determined to fufficient purpofes, and the firft
declares that thofe that are, are not all of them
matters of faith, and themfelves are not fo fecure,
but they may be deceived ; and therefore poflibly
it were better it were let alone ; for if the latter
leaves them divided in their opinions, yet their
communions, and therefore probably their chari
ties, are not divided ; but the former divides their
communions, and hinders their intereft ; and yet
for ought is certain, the accufed perfon is the
better catholick. And yet after all this, it is
not fafety enough to fay, let the council or pre
lates, determine articles warily, feldom, with great
caution, and with much fweetnefs and modefty.
For though this be better than to do it rafhly,
frequently and furioufly ; yet if we once tranfgrefs
the bounds fee us by the Apoftles in their. creed,
and not only preach other truths, but determine
them^'0 tribunali as well as, pro cathedra, although

D'
there

§.2. Of Herefy and the nature of it. 65
there be no error in the fubject matter (as in Nice
there was none) yet if the next ages fay they will
determine another article with as much care and
caution, and pretend as great a neceffity, there is
no hindering them, but by giving reafons againft
it ; and fo like enough they might have done
againft the decreeing the article of Nice ; yet that
is not fufficient ; for fince the authority of the
Nicene council hath grown to the heigh th of a
mountainous prejudice againft him that fhould fay
it was ill done, the fame reafon and -the fame ne
ceffity may be pretended by any age and in any
council, and they think themfelves warranted by
the great precedent at Nice, to proceed as pe
remptorily as they did ; but then if any other
affembly of learned men may poffibly be decei
ved, were it not better they fhould fpare the la
bour, than that thy fhould with fo great pomp
and folemnities engage men's perfuafions ; ;,nd
determine an article which after ages muft refund ;
for therefore moft certainly in their o ,/n age, the
point with fafety of faith and falvation, miglit
have been difputed and difbelieved : And that
many mens faiths have been tied up by acts and
decrees of councils for thofe ai deles in which the
next age did fee a liberty had better btsp. pr-fer-
ved, becaufe an error was determined, we fhall
afterward receive a, more certain accou.t.
XXXII. And therefore the council of Nice did
well, and Conftantinople did well, fo did Ephejus
and Chalcedon-, but it is becaufe the artides were
truly determined (for that is part of my belief ;)
but who is fure it fhould be f© beforehand, and
whether the points there determined were necef
fary or no to be believed or to be determined, if
peace had been concerned in it through the faction
and.diviflon of the parties, I fuppofe the judgment
of Corftantine the emperor and the famous Hoftus
F of

66 Of Herefy and the nature of it. §. 2.
of Corduba is fufficient to ihftrUct us, whofe au
thority I rather urge than reafons, becaufe it is
a prejudice and not a reafon I am to contend
againft. XXXIII. So that flich determinations and pub-
Hlhing of confeffions with' authority of prince and
bifhop, are' fometimes of very good ufe for the
peace of the church, and they are good alfo to
determine the judgment of indifferent perfons,
whofe reafons of either fide, are not too great to
weigh down the probability of that authority : But
for perfons of confident and imperious underftand
ings, they on whofe fide the determination is, are
armed with a prejudice againft the other, and
with a weapon to affront them, but with no more
to convince them ; and they againft whom the de-
cifion is, do the more readily betake themfelves
to the defenfive, and are engaged upon contefta-
tion and publick enmities, for fuch articles which
feither might fafely have been unknown, or with
much charity difputed. Therefore the Nicene
council, although it have the advantage of an ac
quired and prefcribing authority, yet it muft not
become a precedent to others, left the inconve
niences of multiplying more articles upon as great
pretence of reafon as then, make the act of the
Nicene fathers in ftraightening prophefy, and en
larging the creed, become accidentally an incon^-
Venience. The firft reftraint, although if it had
been complained of, might poffibly have been bet
ter confidered of; yet the inconvenience is not vi-
fible, till it comes by way of precedent to ufher
in more. It is like an arbitrary power, which al^-
thoughby the fame reafon it take fixpence from
the fubject, it may take a hundred pounds, and
then a thoufand, and then all, yet fo long as it
is within the firft bounds, the inconvenience is
not fo great ; but when it comes to be a precedent or

§.2. Of Herefy and the nature of it: 67
or argument for more, then the firft may juftly
be complained of, as having in it that reafon in
the principle, which brought the inconvenience in
the lequel ; and we have feen very ill confequents
from innocent beginnings.
XXXIV. And the inconveniences which might
poffibly arife from this precedent, thofe wife per-
fonages alfo did fore-fee, and therefore although
they took liberty in Nice, to add fome articles, or
at leaft more explicitly to declare the firft creed, ~
yet they then would have all the world to reft
upon that and go no farther, as believing that to
be fufficient. St. Athanaftus declares their opinion-,
7\ yxp iv auli] rarapa tcov 'wxlipoov xxtt txi Sraxs
ypxfxi, o/jLoXoynSrsicrx iri^n^.xvtapxTK g<p Trp®-
avxto'UTnv \Kiv -macm aae^nxi, av^aaiv S*i t»$
sucrefieixs iv X/ozTw ¦ro-jtr-ews. * That faith which
thofe fathers there confeffed, was fufficient for the
refutation of all impiety, and the eftabliffiment of
all faith in Chrift and true religion. And there- -
fore there was a famous epiftle -f- written by Zeno
the emperor, called the 'EvccIlxov or the epiftle of
reconciliation, in which all difagreeing interefts
are entreated to agree in the Nicene fymbol, and a
promife made upon that condition to communicate
with all other fects, adding withall, that the
church fhould never receive any other fymbol than
that which was compofed by the Nicene fathers.
And however Honorius was condemned for a M.o-
nothelite ; yet in one of the epiftles which the fixth
fynod alledged againft him, (viz. the fecond) he
gave them council that would have done the
church as much fervice as the determination of
the article did •, for he advifed them not to be cu
rious in their difputings, nor dogmatical in their
* Epift. ad Epicl. + Euagr. 1. 3. c. 14.
F 2 determinations

68 Of Herefy and the nature of it. §.2.
determinations about that queftion *, and becaufe
the church was not ufed to difpute in that quef
tion, it were better to preferve the fimplicity of
faith, than to enfnare men's confciences by a new
article. And when the emperor Conftantius was by
his faction engaged in a contrary practice, the in
convenience and unreafonablenefs was fo great,
that a prudent heathen obferved and noted it in
this character of Conftantius, Chriftianam religionem
abfolutam 13 Jimplicem [N. B.] anili fuperftitione con-
fudit. In qua fcrutanda perplexius quam in compo-
nenda gratius, excitavit dijidia; qua progreja fufius
aluit concertatione verb or um dum ritum omnem ad fuum
trahere conatur arbitrium.
XXXV. And yet men are more led by exam
ple than either by reafon or by precept ; for in the
council of Conftantinople one article de novo £5? inte-
gro was added, viz. I believe one baptifm for the re-
mij/ion of fins ; and then again they were fo confi
dent, that that confeffion of faith was fo abfolutely
intire, and that no man ever after fhould need to
add any thing to the integrity of faith, that the
fathers of the council of Ephefus pronounced ana
thema to all thofe that fhould add any thing to
the creed of Conftantinople. And yet for all this
the church of Rome in a fynod at Gentilly added
the claufe of Filioque, to the article of the procef
fion of the holy ghoft, and what they have done
fince all the world knows, Exempla non conjiftunt,
fed quamvis in tenuem recepta tramitem, latijime eva-
gandi fib't faciunt poteftatem. All men were perfua-
ded that it was moft reafonable the limits of faith
fhould be no more enlarged ; but yet they enlar
ged it themfelves, and bound others from doing
it, like an intemperate father, who becaufe he
knows he does ill himfelf, enjoins temperance
to his fon, but continues to be intemperate
himfelf.
XXXVI.

§.2. Of Herefy and the nature of it. 69
XXXVI. But now if I fhould be. queftioned
concerning the fymbol of Athanafius (for we fee
the Nicene fymbol was the father of many more,
fome twelve or thirteen fymbols in the fpace of a
hundred years) I confefs I cannot fee that mode
rate fentence and gentlenefs of charity in his pre
face and conclufion as there was in the Nicene
creed. Nothing there but damnation and perifh -
ing everlaftingly, unlefs the article of the trinity
be believed, as it is there with curiofity and mi
nute particularities explained. Indeed Athanafius
had been foundly vexed on one fide, and much
cryed up on the other ; and therefore it is not fo
much wonder for him to be fo decretory and fe-
vere in his cenfure ; for nothing could more afcer-
tain his friends to him, and dif-repute his ene
mies, than the belief of that damnatory appendix ;
but that does not juftify the thing. For the arti
cles themfelves, I am moft heartily perfuaded of
the truth of them, and yet I dare not fay all that
are not fo, are iirevocably damned, becaufe citra
hoc fymbolum, the faith of the apoftles creed is in-
tire, and he that believeth and is baptifed fhall
be faved, that is, he that believeth fuch a belief
as is fufficient difpofition to be baptized, that
faith with the facrament is fufficient for heaven.
Now the apoftles creed does one ; why therefore
do not both intitle us to the promife ? Befides, if
it were confidered concerning Athanafius creed,
how many people underftand it not, how contrary
to natural reafon it feems, how little the * fcrip
ture fays of thofe curiofities of explication, and
how tradition was not clear on his fide for the
article itfelf, much lefs for thofe forms and mi
nutes (how himfelf is put to make an anfwer, and
* Vide Hofium de author. S. Script. 1. ;. p. 53. & Gordon.
Huntlaeum, Tom. 1. controv. 1. de verbo Dei, cap. 19.
F 3 excufe

jo Of Herefy and the nature of it. §.2.
excufe for the * fathers fpeaking in favour of the
Arrians, at leaft fo feemingly, that the Arrians
appealed to them for tryal, and the offer was de
clined) and after all this that the Nicene creed it
felf went not fo far, neither in article, nor ana
thema nor explication, it had not been amifs if the
¦final judgement had been left to Jefus Chrift ; for
he is appointed judge of all the world, and he
fhall judge the people righteoufly, for he knows
every truth, the degree of every neceffity, and all
excufes that do leffen, or take away the nature or
malice of a crime ; all which I think Athanafius
though a very good man, did not know fo well
as to warrant fuch a fentence. And put cafe the
herefy there condemned be damnable, (as it is
damnable enough) yet a man may maintain an
opinion that is in itfelf damnable, and yet he not
knowing it fo, and being invincibly led inco it
may go to heaven ; his opinion fhall burn, and
himfelf be faved. But however, I find no opini
ons in fcripure called damnable, but what are im
pious in materia praclica, or directly deftructive of
the faith or body of chriftianity, fuch of which
St. t Peter fpeaks, bringing in damnable herefies, even
denying the Lord that bought them, thefe are the falfe
prophets who out of covetoufnefs make merchandife of
you through cozening words. Such as thefe are truly
herefies, and fuch as thefe are certainly damnable.
But becaufe there are no degrees either of truth
or falfhood, every true propofition being alike
* Vide Gretfer. & Tanner, in coloq. Ratifbon. Eufebium
fiiilTe Arrianum ait. Perron, lib. 3. cap. 2. contre le Roy Jaques.
Idem ait Originem negafle Divinitatem filii & Spir. S. 1. 2. c.
7. de Euchar. contra. Dupleffif. idem cap. 5. obferv. 4. ait.
Irertsemn talia dixi.Te quse qui hodie diceret, pro Arriano repu-
taretur. vide etiam Fifher. in refp. ad 9. Qax& Jacobi Reg.
& Epiphan. in hseref. 69,
f z Peter, 2. 1. true j

§ . » 2 , Of Herefy and the nature of if. J %
true ; that an error is mpre or lefs damnable, is
not told us jn fcripture, but is determined by the
man and his manners, by circumftance and acci
dents j and therefore the eenfure in the preface
and end, are arguments of his zeal and ftrength
of his perfuafion ; but they are extrinfecal and ac
cidental to the articles, and might as well have
been fpared* And indeed to me it feems very
hard to put uncharitablenefs, into the creed, and
fo to make it become an article of faith, though
perhaps this very thing was no faith of Athana
fius, who if we may believe Aquinas, made this
manifeftaiion of faith, non per modum fymboli, fed,
per modum dotlrina,* that is, if I underftood him
right, not with a purpofe to impofe it upon others,
but with confidence to declare his own belief; and
that it was prefcribed to others as a creed, was the
act of the bifhops of Rome ; fo he faid, nay, pof
fibly it was none of his : fo faid the patriarch of
of C. P. Meletius about one hundred and thirty
years fince, in his epiftle to John Douza, Athanafia
falfo gdjcripfiw fymbolum cum Pontificum Rom. appen-
dice ilia adulteratum, luce lucidius conteftamur. And
it is more than probable that he faid true, becaufe
this creed was written originally in latin, which
in all reafon Athanafius did not, and it was tranf-
lated into greek, it being apparent that the latin
copy is but one, but the greek is various, there
bfing. three editions or tranflations rather, expref-
fed by Geygbrard, lib. 3. de Trinit. But in this
particular, who lift, may better fatisfy himfelf in
a difputation de fymbolo Athanqfii, printed atWertz-
frurg 159P, fuppofed to be written by Serr arius or
Ckncherus. XXXVII. And yet I muft obferve that this
fyrnbol of Athanafius, and that other of Nice,
* D. Tho. 22 je. q- 1. artic. i. ad. 3 um.
F 4 offer

72 Of Herefy and the nature of it. §.2.
offer not at any new articles ; they only pretend
to a further explication of the articles apoftolical,
which is a certain confirmation that they did not
believe more articles to be of belief neceffary to
falvation : if they intended thefe further explica
tions to be as neceffary as the dogmatical articles
of the apoftles creed, I know not how to anfwer
all that may be objected againft that ; but the ad
vantage that I fhall gather from their not proceed
ing to new matters, is laid out ready for me in
the words of Athanafius, faying of this creed [this
is the catholick faith] and if his authority be good,
or his faying true, or he the author, then no man
can fay of any other article, that it is a part' of
the catholick faith, or that the catholick faith
can be enlarged beyond the contents of that fym
bol •, and therefore it is a ftrange boldnefs in the
church of Rome, firft to add twelve new articles,
and then to add the appendix of * Athanafius to
the end of them, This is the catholick faith, without
which no man can be faved.
XXXVIII. But fo great an example of fo ex
cellent a man, hath been either miftaken or fol
lowed with too much greedinefs, all the world in
factions,, all damning one another, each party
damned by all the reft, and there is no difagree
ing in opinion from any man that is in love with
his own opinion, but damnation prefently to all
that difagree. A ceremony and a rite hath caufed
feveral churches to excommunicate each other, as
in the matter of the faturday faft, and keeping
Eafter, But what the fpirits of men are when
they are exafperated in a queftion and difference
of religion, as they call it, though the thing it
felf may be moft inconfiderable, is very evident
in that requeft of Pope Innocent the Third, -defi-
Bulla Pii quarti fupra forma juramenti profeffionis fidei,
in fin. Cone. Trident, ring

§. 2. Of Herefy and the nature of it. 73
firing of the Greeks (but reafonably a man would
think) that they would not fo much hate the Ro
man manner of confecrating in unleavened bread,
as to wafh, and fcrape, and pare the altars after
a Roman prieft had confecrated. Nothing more
furious than a miftaken zeal, and the actions of a
fcrupulous and abufed confcience. When men
think every thing to be their faith and their
religion, commonly they are fo bufy in trifles
and fuch impertinences in which the fcene of
their miftake lies, that they neglect the greater
things of the law, charity, and compliances,
and the gentlenefs of Chriftian communion ; for
this is the great principle of mifchief, and yet is
not more pernicious than unreafonable.
XXX. For I demand : Can any man fay and
juftify that the Apoftles did deny communion to
any man that believed the Apoftles creed, and
lived a good life ? And dare any man tax that
proceeding of remiffhefs, and indifferency in reli
gion ? And- fince our blefled Saviour promifed
falvation to him that believeth (and the Apoftles
when they gave this word the greateft extent, en
larged it not beyond the borders of the creed)
how can any man warrant the condemning of any
man to the flames of hell that is ready to die in at-
teftation of this faith, fo expounded and made ex
plicit by the Apoftles, and lives accordingly ? And
to this purpofe it was excellently faid by a wife
and pious prelate, St. Hilary, Non per difficiles nos
Deus ad b'eatam vitam quaftiones vocat, 13 c. In ab-
foluto nobis 13 facili eft at emit as ; Jefum fufcitatum a
mortuis, per Deum credere, & ipfum ejfe Dominum
confiteri, &c. Thefe are are the articles which we
"muft believe, which are the fufficient and ade
quate object of that faith which is required of us
* L. 10. de Trin. ad finem. in

74 Of Herefy and the nature of it. §.2.
in order to falvation. And therefore it was that
when the bifhops of Iftria deferted the commu
nion of pope Pelagius, in caufa trium capitularum,
he gives them an account of his faith by recitation
of the creed, and by attefting the four general
councils, and is confident upon this that de fidei
firmitate nulla poterit efje quaftio vel fufpicio gemrari ;
let the. Apoftles creed, efpecially fo explicated,
be but fecured, and all faith is fecured ; and yet
that explication too was lefs neceffary than the
articles themfelves ; for the explication was but
accidental, but the articles even before the expli
cation were accounted a fufficient inlet to the
kingdom of heaven.
XL. And that there was fecurity enough, in
the fimple believing the -firft articles, is very cer
tain amongft them, and by their principles, who
allow of an implicit faith to ferve moft perfons to
the greateft purppfes-, for if the creed did contain
in it the whole faith, and that other articles were
in it implicitly, (for fuch is the doctrine of the
fchool, and particularly of Aquinas %) then he
that explicitly believes all the creed, does impli
citly believe all the articles contained it, and
then it is better the implication fhould flill conti*
nue, than that by any explication (which is fimply
unneceffary) the church fhould be troubled with
queftions, and uncertain determinations, and fac
tions enkindled, and animofities fet on foot, and
mens foul endangered, who before were fecured
by the explicit belief of all that the Apoftles! re
quired as neceffary, which belief alfo did fecure
them for all the reft, becaufe it implied the belief
of whatfoever was virtually in the firft articles, if
fuch belief fhould by chance be neceffary.

* Concil. torn. 4. Edit. Paris, p. 473.
J 22 x. q. 1. a. 10. cap.

XLI. The

§. 2. Of Herefy and the nature of it. y$
XLI. The fum of this difcourfe is this, if we
take an eftimate of the nature of faith from the
dictates and promifes evangelical, and from the
practice apoftolical, the nature of faith and its
integrity confifts in fuch propofitions which make
the foundation of hope and charity, that which is
fufficient to make us to do honour to Chrift, and to
obey him, and to encourage us in both ; and this is
compleated in the Apoftles creed. And fince con
traries are of the fame extent, Herefy is to be
judged by its proportion and analogy to faith,
and that is Herefy only which is againft faith.
Now becaufe faith is not only a precept of doc
trines, but of manners and holy life, whatfoever
is either oppofite to an article of creed, or reaches
ill life, that's Herefy ; but all thofe propofitions
which are extrinfecal to thefe two conflderations,
be they true or be they falfe, make not Herefy,
nor the man an Heretick ; and therefore, however
he may be an erring perfon, yet he is to be ufed
accordingly, pitied and interacted, not condemned
or excommunicated ; and this is the refult of the
firft ground, the confideration of the nature of
faith and Herefy.

SECTION III.
Of the difficulty and uncertainty of arguments from
fcripture, in queftions not fimply neceffary, nor lite
rally determined.
I. #^1 O D who difpofes of all things fweetly
\J and according to the nature and capa
city of things and perfons, had made thofe only
neceffary, which he had taken cure fhould be fuf-
ficiently propounded to all perfons of whom he
required

j 6 Uncertainty of SS. Arguments §.3.
required the explicit belief. And therefore all
the articles of faith are clearly and plainly fet
down in fcripture, and the gofpel is not hid nifi
pereuntibus faith St. Paul ; iraum yap apilns tzx-
paxXncrii>, xxi xaxias x-njaam tpoTarnv ev taulais
eupiaxojxsvj faith Damafcus, and that fo manifeftly
that no man can be ignorant of the foundation of
faith without his own apparent fault. And this
is acknowledged by all wife and good men, and
is evident, befides the reafonablenefs of the thing,
in the teftimonies of faints b Auftin, c Hierome,
*¦ Chryfoftome, e Fulgentius, f Hugo de Sanclo Viclore,
% Theodoret, KLaclaniius, '^Theophilus Antiochenus, kA-
quinas, and the latter fchoolmen. And God hath
done more. ; for many things which are only pro
fitable, are alfo fet down fo plainly, that (as St. Auftin
fays) nemo inde haurire non pojfit, ft modo ad haurien-
dum devote ac pis acceddt (ubi fupra de util. cred. c. 6.)
but of fuch things there is no queftion commenced
in Chriftendom, and if there were, it cannot but
be a crime and human intereft, that are the au
thors of fuch difputes, and therefore thefe cannot
be fimple errors, but always herefies, becaufe the
principle of them is a perfonaliin.
If. But befides thefe things which are fo plainly
fet down, fome for doctrine as St. Paul fays, that
is, for articles and foundation of faith, fome for
inftruction, fome for reproof, fome for comfort,
that is, in matters practical and fpeculative of
feveral tempers and conflitutions, there are innu
merable places containing in them great myfleries,
but yet either fo enwrapped with a cloud, or fo
darkened with umbrages, or heightened with ex-
» Orthod. fidei. lib. 4. c. iS. * Super Pfal. 88. & de util.
cred. c. 6. c Super Ifa. c. 19. & in Pfal. 86. J Homil. 3.
in ThelT. Ep. 2. c Serm. de confefl". f Mifcel. 2.1. 1.
t't. 46. s In Gen. ap. Struch. p. 87. h C. 6. c. 21. * Ad
Antioch. 1. 2. p. 918. k Par. 1. q. i. art. 9. prefiions

§•3- in Things not neceffary. J J
preffions, or fo covered with allegories and gar
ments of rhetorick, fo profound in the matter,
or fo altered or made intricate in the man
ner, in the clothing' and in the dreffing, that
God may feem to have left them as trials of our
induftry, and arguments of our imperfections,
and incentives to the longings after heaven, and
the cleareft revelations of eternity, and as occa-
fions and opportunities of our mutual charity
and toleration to each other, and humility in
ourfelves, rather than the repofitories of faith,
and furniture of creeds, and articles of belief.
III. For wherever the word of God is kept,
whether in fcripture alone, or alfo in tradition,
he that confiders that the meaning of the one,
and the truth or certainty of the other are things
of great queftion, will fee a neceflity in thefe
things (which are the fubject matter of moft of
the queftions of Chriftendom) that men fhould
hope to be excufed by an implicit faith in God
Almighty. For when there are in the explica
tions of fcripture fo many commentaries, fo many
fenfes and interpretations, fo many volumes in
all ages, and all, like mens faces, exactly none
fike another, either this difference and inconve
nience is abfolutely no fault at all, or if it be, it
is excufable, by a mind prepared to cenfent in
that truth which God intended. And this I call
an implicit faith in God, which is certainly of as
great excellency as an implicit faith in any man
or company of men. Becaufe they who do re
quire an implicit faith in the church for articles
lefs neceffary, and excufe the want of explicit
faith by the implicit, do require an implicit faith
in ¦ the church, becaufe they believe that God
hath required of them to have a mind prepared
to believe whatever the church fays ; which be
caufe it is a propofition of no abfolute certainty,
whofoever

78 Uncertainty of SS. Arguments §.3.
whofoever does in readinefs of mind believe all
that God fpake, does alfo believe that fufficiently,
if it be fitting to be believed, that is, if it be
true, and if God hath faid fo ; for he hath the
fame obedience of underftanding in this as in the
other. But becaufe it is not fo certain God hath
tyed him in all things to believe that which is
called the church, and that it is certain that we
muft believe God in all things, and yet nei
ther know all that either God hath revealed or
the church taught, it is better to take the certain
than the uncertain, to believe God rather than
man, efpecially fince if God hath bound us to
believe men, our abfolute fubmiffion to God does
involve that, and there is no inconvenience in the
world this way, but that we implicitly believe one
article more, viz, the churches authority or infal-
libity, which may well be pardoned, becaufe it
fecures our believe of all the reft, and we are
fure if we believe all that God faid explicitly or
implicitly, we alfo believe the church implicitly
in cafe we are bound to it ; but we are not cer
tain, that if we believe any company of men
whom we call the church, that we therefore
obey God and believe what he hath faid. But
however, if this will not help us, there is no help
for us, but good fortune or abfolute predeftina-
tion ; for by choice and induftry, no man can fe
cure himfelf that in all the myfteries of religion
taught in fcripture he fhall certainly underftand
and explicidy believe* that fenfe, that God in
tended. For to this purpofe there are many
confiderations. IV. 1 . There are fo many thoufands of copies
that were writ by perfons of feveral interefts and
perfuafions, fuch different underftandings and
tempers, fuch diftinct abilities and weaknefles,
that it is r-.o wonder there is fo great a variety of
readings

§. 2. in Things not neceffary. jt)
readings both in the Old Teftament and in the
New. In the Old Teftament," the Jews pretend
that the Chriftians have corrupted many places,
on purpofe to make fymphony between both the
Teftaments. On the other fide, the Chriftians
have had fo much reafon to fufpect the Jews, that
when Aquila had tranflated the bible in their
fchools, and had been taught by them, they
rejected the edition many of them, and fome of
them called it herefy to follow it. And Juftin
Martyr juftified it to Ttyphon, that the Jews had
defalked many fayings from the books of the old
prophets, and amongft the reft, he inftances in
that of the pfalm, dicite in nationibus quia Dominus
regnavit a ligno *. The laft words they have cut
off, and prevailed fo far in it, that to this day
none of our bibles have it ; but if they ought not
to have it, then Juftin Martyr's bible had more in
it than it fhould have, for there it was ; fo that a
fault there was either under or over. But how
ever, there are infinite readings in the New Tefta
ment (for in that I will inftance) fome whole
verfes in one that are not in another, and there
was in fome copies of St. Mark's gofpel in the
laft chapter a whole verfe, a chapter it was an-
tiently called, that is not found in our bibles, as
St. Hierom. ad Hedibiam, q. 3. notes. The words
he repeats, lib. 2. contra Polygamos. Et illi fatis
fadebant dicentes, fatulum iftud iniquitatis & incredu-
litatis fubftantia eft, qua non fenit per immundos fpiri-
tus veram Dei apprehendi virtutem, idcirco jam nunc
revela fuftitiam tuam. Thefe words are thought
by fome, to favour of Manicheifme, and for
ought I can find were therefore rejected out of
many Greek copies, and at laft out of the Latin.
Now fuppofe that a Manichee in difputation fhould
urge this place, having found it in his bible, if
* Pfal. xcvi. 10. q

80 Uncertainty of SS. Arguments §. 3.
a Catholick fhould anfwer him by faying it is
apochrycal, and not found in divers Greek co
pies, might not the Manichee afk how it came in,
if it was not the word of God, and if it was, how
came it out ; and at laft take the fame liberty
of rejecting any other authority which fhall be al-
ledged againft him ; if he can find any copy that
may favour him, however that favour be pro
cured; and did not the Ebionites reject all the
epiftles of St. Paul upon pretence he was an
enemy to the law of Mofes ? indeed it was boldly
and moft unreafonably done ; but if one title or
one chapter of St. Mark be called apocryphal,
for being fufpected of Manicheifme, it is a plea
that will too much juftify others in their taking
and chufing^what they lift. But I will not urge
it fo far ; but is not there as much reafon -for
the fierce Lutherans to reject the epiftle of St.
James for favouring juftification by works, or the
epiftle to the Hebrews, upon pretence that the
fixth and tenth chapters do favour Novatianifme ;
efpecially fince it was by fome famous churches
at firft not accepted, even by the church of
Rome herfelf ? The parable of the woman taken
in adultery, which is now in John 8. Eufebius fays
was not in any gofpel, but tne gofpel fecundum
Hebraos, and St. Hierom makes it doubtful, and fo
does St. Chryfoftom and Euthimius, the firft not
vouchfafing to explicate it in his homilies upon
St. John, the other affirming it not to be found in
the exacter copies. I fhall not need to urge that
there are fome words fo near in found, that the
fcribes might eafily miftake : There is one famous
one of Kupiw frsXivoviis, which yet fome copies
read xaipw S^aXivovlis-) the fenfe is very unlike
though the words be near, and there needs fome
little luxation to ftrain this latter reading to a
good fenfe : That famous precept of St. Paul, that the

§. 3« in Things not neceffary. 81
the women muft pray with a covering on their head
£ix tm ayyehus, becaufe of the angels, hath
brought into the church an opinion that angels
are prefent in churches, and are fpectators of our
devotion and deportment. Such an opinion if
it fhould meet with peevifh oppolites on one fide,
and confident hyperafpifts on the other, might
poffibly make a feet, and here were a clear ground
for the affirmative, and yet who knows but that
it might have been a miftake of the tranferibers
to double the y ? for if it were read d\a tm
ayeAw, that the fenfe be, women in publick af-
femblies muft wear a veil, by reafon of the com
panies of the young men there prefent, it would
be no ill exchange for the lofs of a letter, to
make fo probable fo clear a fenfe of the place.
But the inftances in this kind, are too many, as
appears in the variety of readings in feveral co
pies proceeding from the negligence or ignorance
of the tranferibers, or the malicious * endeavour
of hereticks, of the inferting marginal notes into
the text, or the nearnefs of feveral words. In
deed there is fo much evidence of this particular,
that it hath encouraged the fervants of the vulgar
tranflation (for fo fome are now adays) to prefer
that tranflation before the original ; for although
they have attempted that propofition with very
ill fuccefs yet that they could think it poflible to
be proved, is an argument there is much variety
and alterations in divers texts ; for if there were
not, it were impudence to pretend a tranflation,
and that none of the beft, fhould be better than
the original. But fo it is that this variety of read-
* Grasci corruperunt novum teftamentum ut teftanturTertul.
1. ;. adv. Marcion. Eufeb. 1. 5. Hift. c. ult. Irenx. 1. i.e. 29.
adver. ha:ref. Bafil. 1. 2». contr. Eunomium.
G ing

2z Uncertainty of SS. Arguments §. 3.
ing is not of flight confideration ; for although
it be demonftrably true, that all things neceffary
to faith and good manners are preferved from al
teration and corruption, becaufe they are of things
neceffary, and they could not be neceffary, unlefs
they were delivered to us, God in his goodnefs
and his juftice having obliged himfelf to preferve
that which he hath bound us to obferve and keep ;
yet in other things which God hath not obliged
himfelf fo punctually to preferve ; in thefe things
fince variety of reading is crept in, every reading
takes away a degree of certainty from any propo
fition derivative from thofe places fo read : And if
fome copies (efpecially if they be publick and no
table) omit a verfe or title, every argument from
fuch a title or verfe lofes much of its ftrength and
reputation ; and we find it in a great inftance. For
when in probation of the myflery of the glorious
unity in trinity, we alledge that faying of St.
*fiohn [there are three which bear witnefs in heaven^
the father, the word, and the fpirit, and thefe three
are one :] the Antitrinitarians think they have an-
fwered the argument by faying the Syrian tranfla
tion, and divers Greek copies have not that verfe
in them, and therefore being of doubtful autho
rity, it cannot conclude with certainty in a queftion
of faith. And there is an inftance on the catho
lick part. For when the Arrians urge the faying
of our faviour, [No man knows that day and hour,
(viz. of judgment) no not the fon, but the father
cnly,~] to prove that the fon knows not all things,
and therefore cannot be God in the proper fenfe ;
St. Ambrofe thinks he hath anfwered the argument
by faying, thofe words [no not the fon] were thruft
into the text by the fraud of the Arrians. So that
here we have one objection, which muft firft be
cleared and made infallible, before we can be af-
certained in any fuch queftion as to call them he
reticks that diffent. . V.

§•3- in Things not neceffary. 83
V. 2. I confider that there are very many fenfes
and defigns of expounding fcripture, and when
the grammatical fenfe is found out, we are many
times never the nearer; it is not that which
was intended ; for there is in very many fcrip-
tures a double fenfe, a literal and a fpiritual
'(for the fcripture is a book written within and
without (Apoc. 5.) And both thefe fenfes are fub-
divided. For the literal fenfe is either natural
or figurative : And the fpiritual is fometimes alle
gorical, fometimes analogical, nay, fometimes
there are divers literal fenfes in the fame fentence,
as St. Auftin excellently proves in divers * places,
and it appears in divers quotations in the new
teftament, where the apoftles and divine writers
bring the fame teftimony to divers purpofes ; and
particularly, St. Paul's making that faying of the
Pfalm, Thou art my fon, this day have I begotten
thee, to be an argument of Chrift's refurrection,
and a defignation or ordination to his pontificate is
an inftance very famous in his firft and fifth
chapter to the Hebrews. But now there being
fuch variety of fenfes in fcripture, and but few
places fo marked out, as not to be capable of di
vers fenfes, if men will write commentaries, as
Herod made orations \uitx tsoXXm (pxvlxaixs,
what infallible xpihptov will be left whereby to
judge of the certain dogmatical refolute fenfe of
fuch places which have been the matter of quefti
on ? For put cafe a queftion were commenced
concerning the degrees of glory in heaven, as there
is in the fchools a noted one, to fhew an inequa
lity of reward, Chrift's parable is brought of the
reward of ten cities, and of five according to the
divers improvement of the talents ; this fenfe is
* Lib. 12. confefT. cap. 26. Lib. 11. de Civit. Dei. c. 19.
Lib. 3. de dodtrina Chrift. cap. 27.
G 2 myitical,

84 Uncertainty of SS. Arguments §.3.
myftical, and yet very probable, and underftood
by men for ought I know, to this very fenfe.
And the refult of the argument is made good by
St. Paul, as one ftar dijereth from another in glory -,
fo fhall it be in the refurrection of the dead. Now
fuppofe another fhould take the fame liberty of
expounding another parable to a myftical fenfe
and interpretation, as all parables muft be ex
pounded ; then the parable of the labourers in
the vineyard, and though differing in labour, yet
having an equal reward, to any man's under
ftanding may feem very ftrongly to prove the con
trary, and as if it were of purpofe, and that it
were primum intentum of the parable, the lord of
the vineyard determined the point refolutely upon
the mutiny and repining of them that had born
the burden and heat of the day, / will give unto
this laft even as to thee ; which to my fenfe feems
to determine the queftion of degrees ; they that
work but little, and they that work long, fhall
not be diftinguifhed in the reward, though acci
dentally they were in the work : and if this opi
nion could but anfwer St. Paul's words, it ftands
as fair, and perhaps fairer than the other. Now
if we look well upon the words of St. Paul, we
fhall find he fpeaks nothing at all of diverfity of
degrees of glory in beatified bodies, but the diffe
rences of glory in bodies heavenly and earthly.
There are (fays he) bodies earthly, and there are
heavenly bodies : and one is the glory of the earthly,
another the glory of the heavenly ; one glory of the fun,
another of the moon, (3c. So fhall it be in the refur-
reclion ; for it is fown in corruption, it is raifed in
incorruption. Plainly thus, our bodies in the re
furrection fhall differ as much from our bodies
here in the ftate of corruption, as one ftar does
from another. And now fuppofe a feet fhould be
commenced upon this queftion (upon lighter and
vainer

§. %. in Things not neceffary. 85
vainer many have been) either fide muft refolve
to anfwer the others arguments, whether they can
or no, and to deny to each other a liberty of ex
pounding the parable to fuch a fenfe •, and yet
themfelves muft ufe it, or want an argument.
But men ufe to be unjuft in their own cafes ; and
were it not better to leave each other to their li
berty and feek to preferve their own charity ? for
when the words are capable of a myftical or a di
vers fenfe, I know not why men's fancies or un
derftandings fhould be more bound to be like one
another than their faces : And either in all fuch
places of fcripture, a liberty muft be indulged to
every honeft and peaceable wife man, or elfe all
argument from fuch places muft be wholly decli
ned. Now although I inftanced in a queftion,
which by good fortune never came to open defi
ance, yet there have been fects framed, upon
lighter grounds, more inconfiderable queftions,
which have been difputed on either fide with ar
guments lefs material and lefs pertinent St.
Auftin laught at the Donatifts, for bringing that
faying of the fpoufe in the Canticles to prove
their fchifm, Indica mihi ubi pafcas, ubi cubes in me •
ridie. For from thence they concluded the refi-
dence of the church was only in the fouth part of
the world, only in Africa. It was but a weak
way of argument ; yet the fathers were free
enough to ufe fuch mediums, to prove myfteries
of great concernment ;* but yet again, when
they fpeak either againft an adverfary, or with
confideration, they deny that fuch myftical fenfes
can fufficiently confirm a queftion of faith. But
I fhall inftance in the great queftion of rebapti-
zation of hereticks, which many faints, and mar
tyrs, and confeflbrs, and divers councils, and
almoft all Afia and Africa did once believe and
* Hieron. in Matth. 13,
G 3 practice.

86 Uncertainty of SS. Arguments §.3.
practice. Their grounds for the invalidity of the
baptifm by a heretick, were fuch myftical words
as thefe, Oleum pec cat oris non impinguet caput meum,
Pf. 140. And Qui baptizatur a mortuo,. quid pro-
ficit lavatio ejus? Eccluf. 34. And Ab aqua aliena
abftinete, Prov. 5. And Deus peccatores non exau-
dit, John 9. And he that is not with me is againft
me, Luke 11. I am not fure the other part had
Arguments fo good. For the great one of una
fides unum baptifma, did not conclude it to their
underftandings who were of the other opinion, and
men famous in their generations ; for it was
no argument that they who had been baptifed by
John's baptifm fhould not be baptifed in the name
of Jefus, becaufe unus Deus, unum baptifma ; and as
it is flill one faith which a man confeffeth feveral
times, and one facrament of the eucharift, though
a man often communicates ; fo it might be one bap
tifm tho' often miniftered. And the unity of bap
tifm might not be derived from the unity of the
miniftration, but from the unity of the religion into
which they are baptifed ; though baptized a chou-
' fand times, yet becaufe it was flill in the name
of the holy trinity, flill into the death of Chrift,
it might be unum baptifma. Whether St. Cyprian,
Firmilian, and their colleagues had this difcourfe
or no (I know not) I am fure they might have
had much better to have evacuated the force of
that argument, although I believe they had the
wrong caufe in hand. But this is it, that I fay,
that when a queftion is fo undetermined in fcrip
ture, that the arguments rely only upon fuch
myftical places, whence the beft fancies can draw
the greateft variety, and fuch which perhaps were
never intended by the Holy Ghoft, it were good
the rivers did not fwell higher than the fountain,
and the confidence higher than the argument and
, evidence ; for in this cafe there could not be any
thing fo certainly proved, as that the difagreeing party

§. 3* in Things not neceffary. 87
party fhould deferve to be condemned by a fen
tence of excommunication for difbelieving it, and
yet they were ; which I wonder at fo much the
more, becaufe they (who as it was fince judged)
had the right caufe, had not any fufficient argu
ment from fcripture, not fo much as fuch myfti
cal arguments, but did fly to the tradition of the
church, in which alfo I fhall afterward fhew,
they had nothing that was abfolutely certain.
VI. 3. I confider that there are divers places in
fcripture containing in them myfteries and quef
tions of great concernment, and yet the fabrick
and conftitution is fuch, that there is no certain
mark to determine whether the fenfe of them
fhould be literal or figurative •, I fpeak not here
concerning extrinfecal means of determination, as
traditive interpretation, councils, fathers, popes,
and the like -, I fhall confider them afterward in
their feveral places ; but here the fubject matter
being concerning fcripture in its own capacity, I
fay there is nothing in the nature of the thing to
determine the fenfe and meaning, but it muft be
gotten but as it can ; and that therefore it is un
reafonable, that what of itfelf is ambiguous fhould
be underftood in its own prime fenfe and inten
tion, under the pain of either a fin or an ana
thema; I inftance in that famous place from
whence hath fprung that queftion of tranfubftan-
tiation, Hoc eft corpus meum. The words are plain
and clear, apt to be underftood in the literal
fenfe and yet this fenfe is fo hard as it does vio
lence to reafon, and therefore it is the queftion
whether or no it be not a figurative fpeech. But
here what fhall we have to determine it ? What
means foever we take, and to what fenfe foever
you will expound it, you fhall be put to give an
account why you expound other places of fcrip
ture in the fame cafe to quite contrary fenfes. For
if you expound it literally, then befides that it
G 4 feems

88 Uncertainty of SS. Arguments §.3.
feems to intrench upon the words of our bleffed
faviour, The words that I fpeak they are fpirit, and
they are life, that is, to be fpiritually underftood,
(and it is a miferable thing to fee what wretched
fhifts are ufed to reconcile the literal fenfe to
thefe words, and yet to diftinguifh it from the Ca-
pernaitical fancy) but befides this, why are not
other thofe fayings of Chrift expounded literally,
I am a vine, lam the door, lam a rock ? why do we
fly to a figure in thofe parrallel words ? This is
the covenant which 1 make between me and you ; and
yet that covenant was but the fign of the cove
nant ; and why do we fly to a figure in a precept,
as well as in myftery and a propofition? If thy
right hand ojend thee cut it oJ; and yet we have
figures enough to fave a limb. If it be faid be-
becaufe reafon tells us thefe are not to be ex
pounded according to the letter •, this will be no
plea for them who retain the literal expofition of
the other inftance againft all reafon, againft all
philofophy, againft all fenfe, and againft two or
three fciences. But if you expound thefe words
figuratively, befides that you are to conceit againft
a world of prejudices, you give yourfelf the li
berty, which if others will ufe when either they
have a reafon or a neceffity fo to do, they may
perhaps turn all into allegory, and fo may evacu
ate any precept, and elude any argument. Well,
fo it is that very wife men have expounded things
ailegorically*, when they fhould have expounded
them literally. So did the famous Origen, who as"
St. Hierom reports of him, turned paradife fo into
an allegory, that he took away quite the truth of
the ftory, and not only Adam was turned out of
1
* Sic. S. Hieron. In adolefcentia provocatus ardore & ftudio
Scripturarum allegorice interpretatus" fum Abdiam Prophetam,
cujus hiftoriam nefciebam. De fenfu AUegorico St. Script.
dixit Jiafilius, uq v.iy.oyAff.vy.iim fi.tii fan Xoyav atc-oJsj^o^eSa a^Su
^1 tita.1 v >&a-vj ooi(ruij.st, the

§. 3* in Things not neceffary. 89
the garden, but the garden itfelf out of paradife.
Others expound things literally when they fhould
underftand them in allegory ; fo did the antient
Papias underftand (Apocal. 20.) Chrift's millenary
reign upon earth, and fo, depreffed the hopes of
chriftianity and their defires to the longing and
expectation of temporal pleafures and fatisfactions,
and he was followed by Juftin Martyr, Irenaus,
TertuUian, Laclantius *, and indeed the whole
church generally till St. Auftin's and St. Hierom's
time who firft of any whofe' works are extant, did
reprove the error. If fuch great fpirits be de
ceived in finding out what kind of fenfes are to be
given to fcriptures, it may well be endured that
we who fit at their feet, may alfo tread in the
fteps of them whofe feet could not always
tread aright.
VII. 4. I confider that there are fome places
of fcripture that have the felf fame expreffions,
the fame preceptive words, the fame reafon and
account in all appearance, and yet either muft be
expounded to quite different fenfes, or elfe we
muft renounce the communion, and the charities
of a great part of Chriftendom. And yet there
is abfolutely nothing in the thing or in its circum-
ftances, or in its adjuncts that can determine it to
different purpofes. I inftance in thofe great ex-
clufive negatives for the neceffity of both facra-
ments. Nifi quis renatus fuerit ex aqua, 13 c. Nifi
manducaveritis carnemfilii hominis, 13 c. a non intro-
ibit in regnum ccelorum for both thefe. Now then
the firft is urged for the abfolute indifpenfable
neceffity of baptifm even in infants, infomuch
that infants go to part of hell, if (inculpably
both on their own and their parents part) they
mifs of baptifm, for that is the doctrine of the
* L. 20. de Civitit. Dei, c. 7. prsefat. L. 19. in Ifa. & in
cap. 36. Ezek. church

90 Uncertainty of SS. Arguments. §.3.
church of Rome, which they learnt from St. Auf
tin, and others alfo do from hence baptize in
fants, though with a lefs opinion of its abfolute
neceflity. And yet the fame manner of precept
in the fame form of words, in the fame manner
of threatning, by an exclufive negative, fhall not
enjoin us to communicate infants, though dam
nation (at leaft in form of words) be exactly and
per omnia alike appendant fo the neglect of holy
baptifm and the venerable Eucharift. If [nifi
quisrenatus] fhall conclude againft the anabaptift,
for neceffity of baptizing infants (as fure enough
we fay, it does) why fhall not an equal [nifi come-
deritis] bring infants to the holy communion ?
The primitive church for fome two whole ages
did follow their own principles, wherever they
led them ; and feeing that upon the fame ground
equal refults muft follow, they did communicate
infants as foon as they had baptized them. And
why the church of Rome fhould not do fo too,
being fhe expounds [nifi comederitis] of oral man-
ducation, I cannot yet learn a reafon. And for
others that expound it of a fpiritual manducation,
why they fhall not allow the difagreeing part the
fame liberty of expounding [nifi quis renatus] too,
I by no means can underftand. And in , thefe
cafes no external determiner can be pretended in
anfwer. For whatfoever is extrinfecal to the
words, as councils, tradition, church authority,
and fathers, either have faid nothing at all, or
have concluded by their practice contrary to the
prefent opinion, as is plain in their communica
ting infants by virtue of [nifi comederitis.]
VIII. 5. I fhall not need to urge the myfte-
rioufnefs of fome points in fcripture, which ex
natura rex art hard to be underftood though very
plainly reprefented. For there are fome fecreta
theologia, which are only to be underftood by per fons

§. 3» in Things not neceffary. 91
fons very holy and fpiritual, which are rather to
be felt than difcourfed of, and therefore, if per
adventure they be offered to publick confidera
tion, they will therefore be oppofed becaufe they
run the fame fortune with many other queftions,
that is, not to be underftood, and fo much the
rather becaufe their underftanding, that is, the
feeling fuch fecrets of the kingdom, are not the
refults of logick and philofophy, nor yet of pub
lick revelation, but of the publick fpirit pri
vately working, and in no man is a duty, but in
all that have it, is a reward; and is not neceffary
for all, but given to fome ; producing its opera
tions, not regularly, but upon occafions, perfo-
nal neceffities and new emergencies. Of this na
ture are the fpirit of obfignation, belief of parti
cular falvation, fpecial influences and comforts
coming from a fenfe of the fpirit of adoption,
actual fervours and great complacencies in de
votion, fpiritual joys, which are little drawings
afide of the curtains of peace and eternity, and
antepafls of immortality. But the not under
ftanding the perfect conftitution and temper of
thefe myfteries (and it is hard for any man fo to
underftand, as to make others do fo too that feel
them not) is caufe that in many queftions of fe
cret theology, by being very apt and eafy to be
miftaken, there is a neceffity in forbearing one
another ; and this confideration would have been
of good ufe in the queftion between Soto and Ca-
tharinus, both for the prefervation of their cha
rity and explication of the myftery.
IX. 6. But here it will not be unfeafonable to
confider, that all fyftems and principles of fcience
are expreffed fo that either by reafon of the
Univerfality of the terms and fubject matter of the
infinite variety of human underftandings, and
thefe peradventure fwayed by intereft, or deter
mined

92, Uncertainty of SS. Arguments §.3:
mined by things accidental and extrinfecal, they
, feem to divers men, nay to the fame men upon
divers occafions, to fpeak things extremely difpa-
rate and fometimes contrary, ' but very often of
great variety. And this very thing happens alfo
in fcripture, that if it were not in re facra (3 feria,
it were excellent fport to obferve how the fame
place of fcripture ferves feveral turns upon occa
fion, and they at that time believe the words
found nothing elfe, whereas in the liberty of
their judgments and abftracting from that occa
fion, their commentaries underftand them wholly to
a differing fenfe. It is a wonder of what excellent
ufe to the church of Rome, is [tibi dabo claves :]
It was fpoken to Peter and none elfe (fometimes)
and therefore it concerns him and his fucceffors
only ; the reft are to derive from him. And yet
if you queftion them for their facrament of pe
nance, and prieftly abfolution, then tibi dabo cla
ves comes in, and that was fpoken to St. Peter,
and in him to the whole college of the apoftles,
and in them to the whole hierarchy. If you
queftion why the pope pretends to free fouls from
purgatory, tibi dabo claves is his warrant ; but if
ypu tell him the keys are only for binding and
loofing on earth directly, and in heaven confequent-
ly ; and that purgatory is a part of hell, or rather
neither earth nor heaven nor hell, and fo the keys
feem to have nothing to do with it, then his com-
miffion is to be enlarged by a fuppletory of rea
fon and confequences, and his keys fhall unlock
this difficulty ; for it is clavis fcientia as well as
authoritatis. And thefe keys fhall enable him to
expound fcriptures infallibly, to determine quef
tions, to prefide in councils, to dictate to all the
world magifterially, to rule the church, to dif-
penfe with oaths, to abrogate laws : And if his
key of knowledge will not, the key of authority fhall,

§. 3- in Things not neceftary. , 93
fhall, and tibi dabo claves fhall anfwer for all.
We have an inftance in the fingle fancy of one
man, what rare variety of matter is afforded
from thofe plain words of [Oravi pro te Petre]
Luke 22. for that place fays Bellarmine, is other-
wife to be underftood of Peter, otherwife of the
popes, and otherwife of the church of Rome. And
[pro te] fignifies that Chrift prayed that Peter
might neither err perfonally nor judicially, and
that Peter's fucceffors if they did err perfonally
might not err judicially, and that the Roman
church might not err perfonally. All this va
riety of fenfe is pretended by the fancy of one
man, to be in a few words which are as plain and
and fimple as are any words in fcripture. And
what then in 'thofe thoufands that are intricate ?
So is done with pafce oves, which a man would
think were a commiffion as innocent and guiltlefs
of defigns, as the fheep in the folds are. But if
it be afked why the bifhop of Rome calls himfelf
univerfal bifhop, pafce oves is his warrant ? Why
he pretends to a power of depofing princes, pafce
oves, faid Chrift to Peter the fecond time. If it be
demanded why alfo he pretends to a power of au
thorizing his fubjects to kill him, pafce agnos faid
Chrift the third time : and' pafe is doce, and pafce is
impera, and pafce is occide. Now if others fhould
take the fame (unreafonablenefs I will not fay, but
the fame) liberty in expounding fcripture, or if it
be not licence taken, but that the fcripture itfelf
is fo full and redundant in fenfes quite contrary,
what man foever, or what company of men fo
ever fhall ufe this principle will certainly find
fuch rare productions from feveral places, that
either the unreafonablenefs of the thing will dif-
cover the error of the proceeding, or elfe there
** Bellar. lib, 4. de Pontif. c. 3, §. refpondeo primo. will

94 Of the Biffiulty §. 4.
will be a neceffity of permitting a great liberty of
judgment, where is fo infinite variety without li
mit or mark of neceffary determination. If the
firft, then becaufe an error is fo obvious and
ready to ourfelves, it will be great imprudence or
tyranny to be hafty in judging others ; but if the
latter, it is it that I contend for ; for it is moft
unreafonable, when either the thing itfelf minif-
ters variety, or that we take licence to ourfelves
in variety of interpretations, or proclaim to all
the world our great weaknefs, by our actually
being deceived, that we fhould either prefcribe to
others magifterially when we are in an error, or
limit their underftandings when the thing itfelf
affords liberty and variety.

SECT. IV.
Of the Difficulty of Expounding Scripture.
I. rr^HESE confiderations are taken from
J. the nature of fcripture itfelf; but then
if we confider that we have no certain ways of de
termining places of difficulty and queftion, infal
libly and certainly, but that we muft hope to be
faved in the belief of things plain, neceffary and .
fundamental, and our pious endeavour to find
out God's meaning in fuch places, which he hath
left under a cloud, for other great ends, referved
to his own knowledge ; we fhall fee a very great
neceffity in allowing a liberty in prophefying,
without prefcribing authoritatively to other mens
confciences, and becoming lords and matters of
their faith. Now the means of expounding fcrip- ,
ture are either external, or internal. For the
external, as church authority, tradition, fathers,
councils,

§. 4- °f Expounding Scripture. 95
councils and decrees of bifhops, they are of a
diftinct confideration, and follow after in their
order. But here we will firft confider the inva
lidity and uncertainty of all thofe means of ex
pounding fcripture which are more proper and
internal to the nature of the thing. The great
matters of commentaries, fome whereof have un
dertaken to know all myfteries, have propounded
many ways to expound fcripture, which indeed
are excellent helps, but not infallible affiftances,
both becaufe themfelves are but moral inftru-
ments which force not truth ex abfconditb, as alfo
becaufe they are not infallibly ufed and applied.
1. Sometimes the fenfe is drawn forth by the
context and connexion of parts : It is well when
it can be fo. But when there are two or three an
tecedents, and fubjects fpoken of, what man or
what rule fhall afcertain me that I may make my
reference true by drawing the relation to fuch an
antecedent ; to which I have a mind to apply it ;
another hath not. For in a contexture where one
part does not always depend upon another ; where
things of differing natures intervene and interrupt
the firft intentions, there it is not always very
probable to expound fcripture, and take its-
meaning by its proportion to the neighbouring
words. But who defires fatisfaction in this, may
read the obfervation verified in St. Gregory's mo
ral upon Job, lib. 5. c. 29. and the inftances he
there brings are excellent proof, that this way
of interpretation does not warrant any man to
impofe his expofitions upon the belief and un
derftanding of other men top confidently and
magifterially. II. 2. Another great pretence of medium is the
conference of places, which Blyricus calls ingens re-
medium £f? falicijimam expofitionem fantl a fcriptura ;
and indeed fo it is if well and temperately ufed ;
but

96 Of the Difficulty §. 4.
but then we are beholden to them that do fo ; for
there is no rule that can conftrain them to it ; for
comparing of places is of fo indefinite capacity,
that if there be ambiguity of words, variety of
fenfe, alteration of circumftances, or difference
of ftyle amongft divine writers, then there is no
thing that may be more abufed by willful people,
or may more eafily deceive the unwary, or that
may amufe the moft intelligent obferver. The
anabaptifts take advantage enough in this pro
ceeding, (and indeed fo may any one that lift)
and when we pretend againft them the neceffity of
baptizing all, by authority of nifi quis rmatus
fuerit ex aqua (3 /piritu, they have a parallel for
it, and tell us that Chrift will baptize us with the
Holy Ghoft and with fire, and that one place ex
pounds the other ; and becaufe by fire is not
meant an element or any thing that is natural,
but an allegory and' figurative expreffion of the
fame thing •, fo alfo by water may be meant the
figure fignifying the effect or manner of operation
of the holy fpirit, fire in one place, and water in
the other, do but reprefent to us that Chrift's
baptifm is nothing elfe but the cleanfing and
purifying us by the Holy Ghoft ; but that
which I here note as of greateft concernment,
and which in all reafon ought to be an utter over
throw to this topick, is an univerfal abufe of it
among thofe that ufe it moft, and when two places
feem to have the fame expreffion, or if a word-
have a double fignification, becaufe in this place
it may have fuch a fenfe, therefore it muft, be
caufe in one of the places the fenfe is to their
purpofe, they conclude that therefore it muft
be fo in the other too. An inftance I give in
the great queftion between the Socinians and the
catholicks. If any place be urged in which our
blefled Saviour is called God, they fhew you two or

§. 4* °f Expounding Scripture. gy
or three where the word God is taken in a de
preffed fenfe, for a quafi Deus, as when God faid
to Mofes, ConftUui te Deum Pharaonis % and hence
they argue, becaufe I can fhew the word is ufed
for a Deus fatlus, therefore no argument is fuffi
cient to prove Chrift to be Deus -verus, from
the appellative of Deus. And might not ano
ther argue to the exact contrary, and as well
urge that Mofes is Deus verus, becaufe in fome
places the word Deus is ufed pro Deo aterno : Both
ways the argument concludes impioufly and un-
reafonably. It is a fallacy a pcfje ad eje affirma
tive ; becaufe breaking of bread is fometimes ufed
for an Euchariftical manducation in fcripture ;
therefore I fhall not from any teftimony of fcrip
ture, affirming the firft Chriftians to have broken
bread together, conclude that they lived hofpita-
bly and in common fociety. Becaufe it may pof
fibly be eluded, therefore it does not fignify any
thing. And this is the great way of anfwering
all the arguments that can be brought againft any
thing that, any man hath a mind to defend ; and
any man that reads any controverfies of any fide,
•fhall find as many inftances of this vanity almoft
as he finds arguments from fcripture ; this fault
was of old noted bySt. Aitjlin, for then they had
got the trick, and he is angry at it, neque enim
putare debemus efje prafcriptum, ut quod in aliquo loco
res aliqua per fimilitudinem fignificaverit, hoc etiam
femper fignijuare credamus.
III. 3. Oftentimes fcriptures are pretended to
be expounded by a proportion and analogy of
reafon. And this is as the other, if it be well,
its well. But unlefs there were fome intelleclus
univerfalis furnifhed with infallible propofitions,
by referring to which every man might argue in
fallibly, this logick may deceive as well as any of
the reft. For it is with reafon as with mens
* De Doctri. Chriftian. lib. 3.
H taftes •,

9 8 Of the Difficulty §.4.
taftes ; although there are are fome general prin
ciples which are reafonable to all men, yet every
man is not able to draw out all its confequences,
nor to underftand them when they are drawn
forth, nor to believe when he does underftand
them. There is a precept of St. Paul directed to
the Thejalonians before they were gathered into a
body of a church, 2 TheJ. 3. 6. To withdraw
from every brother that walketh diforderly. But if
this precept were now obferved, I would fain
know whether we fhould not fall into that incon
venience which St. Paul fought to avoid in giving
the fame commandment to the church of Corinth,
1 Cor. 5.9./ wrote to you that ye fhould not com
pany with fornicators ; and yet not altogether with the
fornicators of this world, for then ye muft go out of the
world : And therefore he reftrains it to a quitting
the fociety of Chriftians living ill lives. But now
that all the world hath been Chriftians, if we
fhould fin in keeping company with vicious
Chriftians, muft we not alfo go out of this world?
Is not the precept made null, becaufe the reafon
is altered, and things are come about, and that
the 01 -etoAAoj are the brethren cc^sXfoi ovqjax-
^ofJLivoi called brethren, as St. Paul's phrafe is ?
And yet either this never was confidered, or not
yet believed ; for it is generally taken to be obli
gatory, though (I think) feldom practifed. But
when we come to expound fcriptures to a certain
fenfe by arguments drawn from prudential mo
tives, then we are in a vaft plain without any
fufficient guide, and we fhall have fo many fenfes,
as there are human prudences. But that which
goes further than this, is a parity of reafon from
a plain place of fcripture to an obfcure, from that
which is plainly fet down in a text to another that
is more remote from it. And thus is that place
in St. Matthew forced, If thy brother refufe to be
umended, Die ecclefia. Here fome of the Roman doctors

§.4- Of Expounding Scripture. 99
doctors argue. If Chrift commands to tell the
church in cafe of adultery or private injury, then
much more in cafe of herefy. Well, fuppofe this
to be a good interpretation ; why muft I flay
here ? Why may not I alfo add by parity of
reafon, If the church muft be told of herefy
much more of treafon : And why may not I re
duce all finners to the cognizance of a church
tribunal, as fome men do indirectly, and Seneca-
anus does heartily and plainly ? If a man's prin
ciples be good, and his deductions certain, he
need not care whither they carry him. But when
an authority is intrufted to a perfon, and the ex ¦
tent of his power expreffed in his commiffion, it
will not be fafety to meddle beyond his commif
fion upon confidence of a parity of reafon. To
inftance once more ; when Chrift in pafce oves £5?
tu es Petrus, gave power to the pope to govern
the church (for to that fenfe the church of Rome
expounds thofe authorities) by a certain confe
quence of reafon, fay they, he gave all things
neceffary for exercife of this jurifdiction, and there
fore in pafce oves he gave him an indirect power
over temporals, for that is neceffary that he may
do his duty : Well, having gone thus far, we will
go further upon the parity of reafon, therefore he
hath given the pope the gift of tongues, and he
hath given him power to give it ; for how elfe
fhall Xavier convert the Indians ? He hath given
him alfo power to command the feas and the
winds, that they fhould obey him, for this alfo is
very neceffary in fome cafes. And fo pafce oves is
accipe donum linguarum, and impera ventis, & dif-
pone regum diademata, (3 laicorum pradia, and in-
fiuentias cali too, and whatfoever the parity of
reafon will judge equally neceffary in order to
pafce oves 5 when a man does fpeak reafon, it is
but reafon he fhould be heard ; but though he
H 2 may

ioo .- Of the ¦ Difficulty §.4
may have the good fortune, or the great abilities
to do it, yet he hath not a certainty, no regular
infallible affiftance, no infpiration of arguments
and deductions ; and if he had, yet becaufe it
muft be reafon that muft judge of reafon, unlefs
other mens underftandings were of the fame air,
the fame conftitution and ability, they cannot be
prefcribed unto by another man's reafon ; efpe-
cially becaufe fuch reafonings as ufually are in
explication of particular places of fcripture, de
pend upon minute circumftances and particu
larities, in which it is fo eafy to be deceived,
and fo hard to fpeak reafon regularly and al
ways, that it is the greater wonder if we be not
deceived. IV. 4. Others pretend to expound fcripture by
the analogy of faith, and that is the moft fure
and infallible way (as it is thought:) But upon
ftricter furvey it is but a chimera, a thing in .«»-
bibus which varies like the right hand and left
hand of a pillar, and at the beft is but like the
coaft of a country to a traveller out of his way ;
it may bring him to his journey's end though
twenty miles about ; it may keep him from run
ning into the fea, and from miftaking a river for
dry land ; but whether this little path or the
other be the right way it tells not. So is the ana
logy of faith, that is, if 1 underftand it right,
the rule of faith, that is the creed. Now were it
not a fine device to go to expound all the fcrip
ture by the creed, there being in it fo many thou-
fand places which have no more relation to any
article in the creed, than they have to Tytyre tu
patula ? Indeed if a man refolves to keep the
analogy of faith, that is to expound fcripture,
fo as not to do any violence to any fundamental
article, he fhall be fure however he errs, yet not
to deftroy faith, he fhall not perifh in his expofi- tion.

§•4* of Expounding Scripture. 101
tion. And that was the preeept given by St.
Paul, that all prophefyings fhould be eftimated
h.o.1 dvaXoytav -nn<rg&>s, Rom. 6. 12. and to this
very purpofe, St. Auftin in his expofition of Gene-
fis, by way of preface fets down the articles of
faith, with this defign and proteftation of it, that
if he fays nothing againft thofe articles, though
he mifs the particular fenfe of the place, there is
no danger, or fin in his expofition ; but how that
analogy of faith fhould have any other influence
in expounding fuch places in which thofe articles
of faith are neither expreffed nor involved, I un
derftand not. But then if you extend the analogy
of faith further than that which is proper to the
rule or fymbol of faith, then every man expounds'
fcripture according to the analogy of faith ; but
what ? His own faith : which faith if it be quef-
tioned, I am no more bound to expound accord-
ing to the analogy of another man's faith, than
he to expound according to the analogy of mine.
And this is it that is complained of on all fides
that overvalue their own opinions. Scripture
feems fo clearly to fpeak what they believe, that
they wonder all the world does not fee it as clear
as they do ; but they fatisfy themfelves with fay
ing that it is becaufe they come with prejudice,
whereas if they had the true belief, that is, theirs,
they would eafily fee what they fee. And this is
very true : For if they did believe as others be
lieve, they would expound fcripture to their fenfe,
but if this be expounding according to the ana
logy of faith, it fignifies no more than this, Be
yoii of my mind, and then my arguments will
feem concluding, and my authorities and allegar
tions preffing and pertinent : And this will
ferve on all fides, and therefore will do but little
fervice to the determination of queftions, or pre-
fcribing to other mens confciences on any fide.
H 3 V. Laftly,

102 Of the Difficulty §. 4.
V. Laftly, Confuting the originals is thought
a great matter to interpretation of fcriptures. But
this is to fmall purpofe : For indeed it will ex
pound the Hebrev/ and the Greek, and rectify
tranflations. But I know no man that fays that
the fcriptures in Hebrew and Greek are eafy and
certain to be underftood, and that they are hard
in Latin and Englifh : The difficulty is in the
thing however it be exprefied, the leaft is in the
language. If the original languages were our
mother tongue, fcripture is not much the eafier
to us ; and a natural Greek or a Jew, can with
no more reafon or authority obtrude his interpre
tations upon other mens confciences, than a man
of another nation. Add to this that the inflec
tion of the original, is no more certain way of in
terpretation of fcripture now than it was to the
fathers and primitive ages of the church ; and yet
he that obferves what infinite variety of tranfla
tions of the bible were in the firft ages of the
church (as St. Hierom obferves) and never a one
like another ; will think that we fhall differ as
much in our interpretations as they did, and that
the medium is as uncertain to us as it was to them ;
and fo it is ; witnefs the great number of late
tranflations, and the infinite number of commen
taries, which are too pregnant an argument that
we neither agree in the underftanding «f the
words nor of the fenfe.
VI. The truth is, all thefe ways of interpreting
of fcripture which of themfelves are good helps,
are made either by defign, or by our infirmities,
ways of intricating and involving fcriptures in
greater difficulty, becaufe men do not learn their'
doctrines from fcripture, but come to the under
ftanding of fcripture with preconceptions and
ideas. of doctrines of their own, and then no won
der tl-ut fcriptures look like pictures, wherein- every

§•4* tf Expounding Scripture. 103
every man in the room believes they look on him
only, and that wherefocver he ftands, or how
often foever he changes his, ftation. So that
now what was intended for a remedy, becomes
the promoter of our difeafe, and our meat be
comes the matter of fickneffes : And the mifchief
is, the wit of man cannot find a remedy for it ;
for there is no rule, no limit, no certain princi
ple, by which all men may be guided to a certain
and fo infallible an interpretation, that he can
with any equity prefcribe to others to believe his
interpretations in places of controverfy and ambi
guity. A man would think that the memorable
prophefy of Jacob, that the fcepter fhould not de
part from Judah till Shiloh come, fhould have been
fo clear a determination of the time of a Mejias,
that a Jew fhould never have doubted it to have
been verified in Jefus of Nazareth ; and yet for
this fo clear vaticination, they have no lefs than
twenty fix anfwers. St. Paul and St. James feem
to fpeak a little diverfly concerning juftification
by faith and works, and yet to my underftanding
it is very eafy to reconcile them : but all men are
not of my mind ; for Ofiander in his confutation
of the book which Melanchton wrote againft him,
obferves, that there are twenty feveral opinions
concerning juftification, all drawn from the fcrip
tures, by the men only of the Auguftan confeffion.
There are fixteen feveral opinions concerning ori
ginal fin -, and as many definitions of the facra-
ments as there are fects of men that difagree
about them.
VII. And now what help is there for us in the
midft of thefe uncertainties ? If we follow any one
tranflation, or any one man's commentary, what
rule fhall we have to chufe the right by ? or is
there any one man, that hath' tranflated perfectly,
or expounded infallibly ? No tranflation challenges
H 4 foch

104' " Of the Difficulty §. 4.
fuch a prerogative as to be *authentick, but the
vulgar latin ;-r and yet fee with what good fuccefs:
For when it was declared authentick by the coun
cil of Trent, Sixtus put forth a copy much mended
of whatT-it was, and tied all men to follow that ;
but that did not fatisfy ; for pope Clememt reviews
and corrects it in many places, and flill the de
cree remains in a changed fubject. And fecondly,
that tranflation will be very unapt to fatisfy, in
which one of their own rften Iftdore Clarius a monk
of Brefcia, -found and mended eight, thoufand
faults, befides innumerable others which he fays
he pretermitted. And then thirdly, to fhew how
little themfelves were- fatisfied with: it, divers
learned men amongft them did new tranflate the
bible, and thought they did God and the church
good fervice in it. So that if you take this for
your precedent, you are fure to be miftaken infi
nitely : If you take any other, the authors them
felves do not promife you any fecurity. If you
refolve to follow any one as far only as you fee
caufe, then you only do wrong or right by
chance ; for you have certainty juft proportionable
to your own fkill, to your own infallibility. If
you refolve to follow any one whitherfoever he
leads, we fhall oftentimes come hither, where we
fhall fee ourfelves become ridiculous, as it hap
pened in the cafe of Spiridion bifhop of Cyprus,
who fo refoived to follow his old book, that
when an eloquent bifhop who was defired to
preach, read his text, tu autem tolle cubile tuum et
p.mbula -, Spiridion was very angry with him, be
caufe in his book it was tolle leclum tuum, and
thought it arrogance in the preacher to fpeak
better latin than his tranflator had done : And if
it be thus in tranflations, it is far worfe in expo
fitions : ( Quia fcil : fcripturam facrampro ipfafui al-
titudine non una codemque fenfu omnes accipiunt, ut
pane

§•4- of Expounding Scripture. 105
pane quot homines tot illic fent entire erui poje <oi-
deantur, faid Vincent Lirinenfts * ) in which every
man knows what innumerable ways there are
of being miftaken, God having in things not
fimply neceffary left fuch a difficulty upon thofe
parts of fcripture which are. the fiibject. matters
of controverfy- ad edomandam labore fuperhiam, &
intelleclum a faftidio revocandum (as St. Auftin gives
a reafon) that all who err honeftly, are therefore
to be pitied, and tolerated, becaufe it is or may
be the condition of every man at one time or
other. VIII. The fum is this : Since holy fcripture is
the repofitory of divine truth, and the great rule
of faith, to which all fects of chriftians do appeal
for probation of their feveral opinions, and fince
all agree in the articles of the" creed as things
clearly and plainly fet down, and as containing all
that which is of fimple and prime neceffity ; and
fince on the other fide there are in fcripture many-
other myfteries, and matters of queftion upon
' which there is a veil ; fince there are fo many
copies with infinite varieties of reading -, fince a
various interpunction, a parenthefis, a letter, an
accent may much alter the fenfe ; fince fome places
have divers literal fenfes, many have fpiritual,
myftical and allegorical meanings ; fince there are
fo many tropes, metonymies, ironies, hyperboles,
proprieties and improprieties of language, whofe
underftanding depends upon fuch circumftances
that it is almoft impoflible to know its proper in
terpretation ; now that the knowledge of' fuch
circumftances and particular flories is irrevocably
loft : fince there are fome myfteries which at the
beft advantage of expreffion, are not eafy to be
* In Commonit.
•}- Lib. 2. de doftrin, Chriftian. cap. 6. apprehended,

io 6 - Of the infufficiency §. 5.
apprehended, and whofe explication, by reafon of
our imperfections, muft needs be1 dark, fometimes
weak, fometimes unintelligible : and laftly, fince
thofe ordinany means of expounding fcripture, as
fearching the originals, conference of places, pa
rity of reafon, and analogy of faith, are all du
bious, uncertain, and very fallible, he that is the
wifeft and by confequence the likelieft to expound
trueft in all probability of reafon, will be very
far from confidence, becaufe every one of thefe
and many more are like fo many degrees of im-'
probability and uncertainty, all depreffing our
certainty of finding out truth in fuch myfteries
and amidft fo many difficulties. And therefore a
wife man that confiders this, would not willingly
be prefcribed to by others ; and therefore if he
alfo be a juft man, he will not impofe upon
others ; for it is beft every man fhould be left in
that liberty from which no man can juftly take
him, unlefs he could fecure him from error : So
that here alfo there is a neceffity to conferve the
liberty of prophefying, and interpreting fcripture ;
a neceffity derived from the confideration of the
difficulty of fcripture in queftions controverted,
and the uncertainty of any internal medium of
interpretation.

SECTION V.
Of the infufficiency and uncertainty of Tradition, to
expound fcripture, or determine queftions.
I. T N the next place, we muft confider thofe
a extrinfecal means of interpreting fcripture,
and determining queftions, which they moft of all
confide in, that reftrain prophefying with the
greateft

§. 5. and uncertainty of Tradition. 107
greateft tyranny. The firft and principal is Tra
dition, which is pretended not only to expound
fcripture, ( * Neceffe enim eft propter tantos tarn varii
err oris anfratlus, ut prophetic* & apoftolica biterpre-
tationis linea fecundum eeclefiaflici (3 catbolici fenfus
normam dirigatur :) but alfo to propound articles
upon a diftincf, flock, fuch articles whereof there
is no mention and propofition in fcripture. And
in this topick, not only the diftincf articles are
clear' and plain, like as the fundamentals of faith
expreffed in fcripture, but alfo it pretends to ex
pound fcripture, and to determine queftions with
fo much clarity and certainty, as there fhall nei
ther be error nor doubt remaining, and therefore
no difagreeing is here to be endured. And indeed
it is moft true if tradition can perform thefe pre-
tenfions, and teach us plainly, and allure us infal
libly of all truths, which they require us to be
lieve, we can in this cafe have no reafon to dif
believe them, and therefore are certainly hereticks
if we do, becaufe without a crime, without fome
human intereft or collateral defign, we cannot
difbelieve traditive doctrine or traditive interpreta
tion, if it be infallibly proved to us that Tradition
is an infallible guide.
II, But here I firft confider that Tradition is no
repofitory of articles of faith, and therefore the
not following it is no argument of herefy ; for
befides that I have fhewed fcripture in its plain
expreffes to be an abundant rule of faith and
manners, tradition is a topick as fallible as any
other ; fo fallible that it cannot be fufficient evi
dence to any man in a matter of faith or queftion
of herefy.
III. For iff, I find that the fathers were infi
nitely deceived in their account and enumeration
* Vincent. Lirinenf. in Ccmmonitor. of

108 Of the infufficiency %. $".
of craditions, fometimes they did call fome tradi
tions fuch, not which they -knew to be fo, but by
arguments and prefumptiohs they concluded them
fo. Such was that, of * St. Auftin, ea qua univer-
falis tenet ecclefia nee a conciliis- inftituta reperiuntur,
credibile eft ab apoftolorum traditione defcendiffe. " Now
fuppofe this rule probable, that's the moft, yet it
is net certain ; it might comfc by cuftom, whofe
original was not known, but yet could not derive
from an apoftolical principle. Now when they
conclude of particular traditions by a general
rule, and that general rule not certain, but at the
moft probable in any thing, and certainly falfe in
fome things, it is no wonder if the productions,
that is, their judgments, and pretence fail fo
often. And if I fhould but inftance in all the
particulars, in which tradition was pretended
falfely or uncertainly in the firft ages, I fhould
multiply them to a troublefome variety ; for it
was then accounted fo glorious a thing to have
fpoken with the perfons of the apoftles, that if
any man could with any colour pretend to it, he
might abufe the whole church, and obtrude what
he lifted under the fpecious title of apoftolical
tradition, and it is very notorious to every man
that will but read and obferve the recognitions or
ftromata of Clemens Alexandrinus, where there is
enough of fuch falfe wares fhewed in every book,
and pretended to be no lefs than from the apoftles.
In the firft age after the apoftles, Papias pretended
he received a tradition from the apoftles, that
Chrift before the day of judgment fhould reign a
thoufand years upon earth, and his faints with
him in temporal felicities ; and this thing proceed
ing from fo great an authority as the teftimony of
* Epift. 1 18. ad lanuar. De bapt. contr. Doriat. lib. 4. c. 24.
Papias,

§•5- and Uncertainty of Tradition. 109
Papias, drew after it all or moft of the chriftians
in the firft three hundred years. For befides, that
the millenary opinion is exprefsly taught by Pa
pias, Juftin Martyr, Irenaus, Origen, Laclantius,
Severus, Viclorinus, Apollinaris, Nepos, and divers
others famous in their time, Juftin Martyr in his
dialogue againft Tryphon fays^ it was the belief
of all chriftians exactly orthodox, xai ei tiva
elcri xalx 'wavta opSroyv amoves 'X.pi<?ixvot) and
yet there was no fuch tradition, but a miftake in
Papias -, but I find it no where fpoke againft, till
Dionyftus of Alexandria confuted Afa^f's book, and
converted Coracion the Egyptian from the opinion.
Now if a tradition whofe beginning of being cal
led fo began with a fcholar of the apoftles (for fo
was Papias) and then continued for fome ages
upon the mere authority of fo famous a man,
did yet deceive the church : much more fallible
is the pretence, when two or three hundred years
after, it but commences, and then by fome
learned man is firft called a tradition apoftolical.
Andfo it happened in the cafe of the Arrian he
refy, which the Nicene fathers did confute by ob
jecting a contrary tradition apoftolical, as * Theo
doret reports ; and yet if they had not had better
arguments' from fcripture than from tradition,
they would have failed much in fo good a caufe ;
for this very pretence the Arrians themfelves
made, and defired to be tried by the fathers of
the firft three hundred years, which was a con
futation fufficient to them who pretended a clear
tradition -f, becaufe it was unimaginable that the
tradition fhould leap fo as not to come from the
firft to the laft by the middle. But that this trial
was fometimes declined by that excellent man St,
Athanafius, although at other times confidently
* Lib. 1 . Hift. c, 8. f Vide Petav. in Epiph. her. 69. and

no Of the infufficiency §. 5.
and truly pretended, it was an argument the tra
dition was not fo + clear, but both fides might
with fome fairnefs pretend to it. And therefore
one of the prime founders of their herefy, the he
retick % Artemon having obferved the advantage
might be taken by any feet that would pretend
tradition, becaufe the medium was plaufible and
confuting of fo many particulars, that it was hard
to be redargued, pretended a tradition from the
Apoftles, that Chrift was -XjA©- dv'Srpozir®*,
and that the tradition did delcend by a conftant
fucceffion in the church of Rome to Pope Viclor's
time inclufively, and till Zepherinus had interrupt
ed the feries and corrupted the doctrine ; which
pretence if it had not had fome appearance of
truth, fo as poffibly to abufe the church, had
not been worthy of confutation, which yet was
with care undertaken by an old writer, out of
whom Eufebius tranferibes a large paffage to re
prove the vanity of the pretender. But I obferve
from hence, that it was ufual to pretend tradition,
and that it was eafier pretended than confuted,
and I doubt not but oftener done than difcovered.
A' great queftion arofe in Africa concerning the
baptifm of hereticks, whether it were valid or no.
St. Cyprian and his party appealed to fcripture ;
Stephen bifhop of Rome and his party, would be
judged by cuftom and tradition ecclefiaftical. See
how much the nearer the queftion was to a deter
mination, either that probation was not accounted
by St. Cyprian, and the bifhops both of Afia and
Africk, to be a good argument, and fufficient to
determine them, or there was no certain tradition
¦f Kai yug sicri ti»s? u ipiAoi Iteyov ama th y/jUlegy yeiSi;
oudhoyytlir at/loj. X^irof Ei«ti, tti&g&woi' ^e e| a^ura-aw yivi>\i.ii<tv
a<mo^»mej/.mi, oic & mutAc/ach, sh ai> >sjv\£tj-oi ravra jj,oi So^acrav
"i.-j sti-oie*, Juftin Mart. dial, ad Tryph. Iud.
J Eufeb. J. c- c. ult. againft

§. 5« and uncertainty vf Tradition, i 1 1
againft them ; for unlefs one of thefe two do it,
nothing could excufe them from oppofing a known
truth, unlefs peradventure St. Cyprian, Firmilian,
the bifhops of Galatia, Cappadocia, and almoft two
parts of the world were ignorant of fuch a tradition,
for they knew of none fuch, and fome of them
exprefsly denied it. And the fixth general fynod
approves of the canon made in the council of
Carthage under Cyprian upon this very ground,
becaufe in prad'iclorum prafulum locis (3 folum fe
cundum traditam eis confuetudinem fervatus eft ; they
had a particular tradition for rebaptization, and
therefore there could be no tradition univerfal
againft it, or if there were they knew not of it,
but much for the contrary ; and then it would be
remembered that a concealed tradition was like a
filent thunder, or a law not promulgated ; it nei
ther was known, nor was obligatory. And I fhall
obferve this too, that this very tradition was fo
obfcure, and was fo obfcurely delivered, filently
proclaimed, that St. -f Auftin who difputed againft
the Donatifts upon this very queftion was not able
to prove it, but by a confequence which he
thought probable and credible, as appears in his
difcourfe againft the Donatifts. The Apoftles, faith
St. Auftin, prefcribed nothing in this particular : But
this cuftom which is contrary to Cyprian ought to be
believed to have come from their tradition, as ma,ny
other things which the catholick church obferves.
That's all the ground and all the reafon ; nay the
church did waver concerning that queftion, and
before the decifion of a council, £ Cyprian and
others might diffent without breach of charity.
It was plain then there was no clear tradition in
the queftion, poffibly there might be a cuftom in
* Can. 2. f L. 5. de baptifm. contr. Donat. c. 23.
% Lib. 1. de baptifm. c. 18. fome

U2 Of the infufficiency §.5.
fome churches poftnate to the times of the apoftles,
but nothing that was obligatory, no tradition
apoftolical. But this was a fuppletory device
ready at hand whenever they needed it ; and * St.
Auftin confuted the Pelagians, in the queftion of
original fin, by the cuftom of exorcifm and infuf-
flation, which St. Auftin faid came from the
apoftles by tradition, which yet was then, and is
now fo impoflible to be proved, that he who fhall
affirm it, fhall gain only the reputation of a bold
man and a confident.
IV. 2. I confider if the report of traditions in
the primitive times fo near the ages apoftolical
was fo uncertain, that they were fain to aim at
them by conjectures, and grope as in the dark,
the uncertainty is much encreafed fince, becaufe
there are many famous writers whofe works are
loft, which yet if they had continued, they might
have been good records to us, as Clemens Roma-
nus, Egeftppus, Nepos, Coracion, Dionyfius Areopagite,
oi Alexandria, oi Corinth, Firmilian and many more:
And fince we fee pretences have been made with
out reafon in thofe ages where they might better
have been confuted, than now they can, it is
greater prudence to fufpect any later pretences,
fince fo many fects have been, fo many wars, fo
many corruptions in authors, fo many authors
loft, fo much ignorance hath intervened, and fo
many interefts have been ferved, that now the
rule is to be altered ; and whereas it was of old
time credible, that that was apoftolical whofe be
ginning they knew not, now quite contrary we
cannot fafely believe them to be apoftolical unlefs
we do know their beginning to have been from
the apoftles. For this confifting of probabilities
and particulars, which put together make up a
* Depeccat. original. I. 2. c. 40. contra. Pelagi & Casleft.
moral

§•5* and uncertainty of Tradition. 113,
moral demonftraticn, the argument which I now
urge hath been growing thefe fifteen hundred
years ; and if anciently there was fo much as to
evacuate the authority of tradition, much more is
there now abfolutely to deftroy it, when all the
particulars which time and infinite variety of hu
man accidents have been amafling together, are
now concentered, and are united by way of con-
flipation. Becaufe every age and every great
change, and every herefy, and every intereft
hath increafed the difficulty of finding out true
traditions. V. 3. There are very many traditions which
art loft, 'and yet they are concerning matters of
as great confequence as nioft of thofe queftions
for the determination whereof traditions are pre
tended : It is more than probable, that as in bap
tifm and the eucharift the very forms of miniftra-
tion are tranfmitted to us, fo alfo in confirmation
and ordination, and that there were efpecial di
rections for vifitation of the ,fick, and explicit
interpretations of thofe difficult places of St. Paul
which St. Peter affirmed to be f© difficult that
the ignorant do wreft them to their own damna
tion, and yet no church hath conferved thefe, or
thofe many more which * St. Bafil affirms to be
fo many that \iriKii\n fipapx ta dypatpa tni
IxxXnaias fjt,vq*npia S'L-flysfJt.ivov^ the day would
fail him in the very fimple enumeration of all
traditions ecclefiaftical. And if the church hath
1 failed in keeping the great variety of traditions,
it will hardly be thought a fault in a private per
fon to neglect tradition, which either the whole
church hath very much neglected inculpably, or
elfe, the whole church is very much to blame.
And who can afcertain us that fhe hath not enter-
* Cap 29, de fpir. Sanclo.
I tained

114 Of the infufficiency- %. $.
tained fome which are no traditions as well as loft
thoufands that are ? That fhe did entertain fome
fome falfe traditions, I have already proved ; but
it is alfo as probable that fome of thofe which
thefe ages did propound for traditions, are not fo,
as it is certain that, fome which the firft ages
called traditions, were nothing lefs.
VI. 4. There are fome opinions which when
they began to be publiekly received, began to be
accounted prime traditions, and fo' became fuch
not by a native title, but by adoption ; and no
thing is more ufual than for the fathers- to colour
their popular opinion with fo great an appellative.
St. Auftin called the communicating of infants an
apoftolical tradition, and yet we do not pfaetife
it, becaufe we difbelieve the allegation. And that
every cuftom, which at firft introduction was but
a private fancy or fingular practice, grew after
wards into a publick rite, and went for a tradi
tion after a while continuance, appears by * Ter
tuUian who feems to juftify it, Non enim exiftttaas
tu licitum ejfe cuicunquc fideli conftituere, quod Deo
placere illi vifum fuerit, ad difciplinam £5? falutem.
And again, -f- A qttocunque tradiiore eenfetur, nee
author em refpicias fed authoritatem. And St. Hie-
rome moft plainly, £ Pracepta majsrum Apoftolicas
Tradiones quifque exiftimat. And when Irenaus had
obferved that great variety in the keeping of lent,
which yet to be a forty days fail is pretended to
defcend from tradition apoftolical, fome faftingbut
one day before Eafter, fome two, fome forty, and
this even long before Irenaus's time, he gives this
reafon, Varietasilla jejunii cospit apud majores noftros,
qui non accurate confuetudinem eorum qui vel fimplici-
tate quadam vel privata authoritate in pofterum aliquid
* Contra Marcion. f De coron. milit. c. 3. & 4. J Apud
Eufeb, 1. 5, c. 24. ftatuijent,

§, 5* Gnd uncertainty of Tradition. ' 115
ftatuijent, obfervarant [ex tranftatione Chriftopborfoni : J
And there are yet fome points of good concern
ment, which if any man fhould queftion in a high
manner, they would prove indeterminable by
fcripture, or fufficient reafon, and yet I doubt not
their confident defenders would fay they are opi
nions of the church, and quickly pretend a tradi
tion from the very apoftles, and believe themfelves
fo fecure, that they could not be difcovered, be
caufe the queftion never having been difputed,
gives them occafion to fay that which had no be
ginning known, was certainly from the apoftles.
For why fhould not divines do in the queftion of
reconfirmation, as in that of rebaptization ? Are
not the grounds equal from an indelible character
in one as in the other ? and if it happen fuch a
queftion as this after conteftation fhould be deter
mined not by any pofitive decree, but by the cef-
fion of one part, and the authority and reputation •
of the other, does not the next age ftand fair to
be abufed with a pretence of tradition, in the
matter of reconfirmation, which never yet came
to a ferious queftion ? for fo it was in the queftion
of rebaptization, for which there was then no more
evident tradition, than there is now in the queftion
of reconfirmation, (as I proved formerly) but yet
it was carried upon that title.
VII. 5. There is great variety in the probation
of tradition, fo that whatever is proved to be tra- ,
dition, is not equally and alike credible ; for no
thing but univerfai tradition is of itfelf credible ;
other traditions in their juft proportion, as they
partake of the degrees of univerfality. Now that
a tradition be univerfai, or which is all one that
it be a credible teftimony, St. Iraneus requires,
that tradition fhould derive from all the churches
I
* Lib. 3. c. 4.
I 2 apoftolical.

n6 Of the infufficiency §.5.
apoftolical. And therefore according to this rule,
there was no fufficient medium to determine the
queftion about Eafter, becaufe the eaftern and
weftern churches had feveral traditions refpect
ively, and both pretended from the apoftles.*
Clemens Alexandrinus f fays, it was a fecret Tradi
tion from the apoftles that Chrift preached but
one year : But \Iraneus fays it did derive from
hereticks, and fays that he by Tradition firft from
St. John, and then from hisdifciples received ano
ther Tradition, that Chrift was almoft fifty years
old when he died, and fo by confequence preached
almoft twenty years ; both of them were deceived,
and fo had all that had believed the report of
either pretending Tradition apoftolical. Thus
the cuftom in the Latin church of faffing on fatur-
day was againft that Tradition which the Greeks
had from the apoftles ; and therefore by this di
vifion and want of confent, which was the true
Tradition was fo abfolutely indeterminable, that
both muft needs lofe much of their reputation.
But how then when not only particular churches
but fingle perfons are all the proof we have for a
Tradition ? and this often happened ; I think St.
Auftin § is the chief argument and authority we
have for the afiumption of the Virgin Mary, the
baptifm of infants is called a tradition by Origen
alone at firft, and from him by others. The pro
ceffion of the holy ghoft from the fon, which is
an article the greek church difavows, derives from
the tradition apoftolical, as it is pretended ; and yet
before St. Auftin we hear nothing of it very clearly
* Lib. 1. Stromat.
t Lib. 2. cap. 39.
J Omnes feniores teftantur qui in Alia apud Johannem Dif-
cipulum Domini convenerunt id ipfum tradidiffe eis Johannem,
Sc. & qui alios apoftolos viderunt haec eadem ab ipfis audie-
r-.'nt, & teftantur de ejufmodi relatione. ,
i) Salmeron difput. 5 1. in Rom. .or

§. 5- and uncertainty of Tradition. 117
or certainly, for as much as that whole myftery
concerning the bleffed fpirit was fo little explica
ted in fcripture, and fo little derived to them by
Tradition, that till the council of Nice, you fhall
hardly find any form of worfhip, or perfonal ad-
drefs of devotion to the holy fpirit, as Erafmus
obferves, and I think the contrary will very hardly
be verified. And for this particular in which I
inftance, whatfoever is in fcripture concerning it,
is againft that which the church of Rome calls
Tradition, which makes the Greeks fo confident
as they are of the point, and is an argument of
the vanity of fome things which for no greater
reafon are called Traditions, but becaufe one man
hath faid fo, and that rhey can be proved by no
better argument to be true. Now in this cafe
wherein Tradition defcends upon us with unequal
certainty, it would be very unequal to require of
us an abfolute belief of every thing not written,
for fear we be accounted to flight Tradition apof
tolical. And fince nothing can require our fu •
preme affent, but that which is truly catholick
and apoftolick, and to fuch a Tradition is requi
red as Irenaus fays, the confent of all thofe
churches which the apoftles planted, and where
they did prefide, this topick will be of fo -little
ufe in judging herefies that (befides what is depo-
fited in fcripture) it. cannot be proved in any
thing but in the canon of fcripture itfelf, and as it
is now received, even in that there is fome variety.
VIII. And therefore there is wholly a miftake
in this bufinefs ; for when the fathers appeal to
Tradition, and with much earneftnefs, and fome
clamour they call upon hereticks to conform to. or
to be tried by Tradition, it is fuch a Tradition as
delivers the fundamental, points of Chriftianity,
which were alfo recorded in fcripture. But be
caufe the Canon was not yet perfectly configned,
I 3 thsy

118 Of the infufficiency §.5.
they called to that teftimony they had, which was
the teftimony of the churches apoftolical, whofe
bifhops and priefls being the Antifiites religionis,
did believe and preach chriftian religion, and con-
ferve all its great myfteries, according as they had
been taught. Irenaus calls this a Tradition apof
tolical, Chriftum accepiffe calicem, (3 dixije fanguinem
fuum eje, i3 docuiffe novam oblationem noviTeftamenti,
quam Ecclefia per Apoflolos accipiens offert per totum
mundum. And the fathers in thefe ages confute
hereticks by ecclefiaftical Tradition, that is, they
confront againft their impious and blafphemous
doctrines that religion, which the apoftles having
taught to the churches where they did prefide,
their fucceffors. did flill preach, and for a long
while together fuffered not the enemy to fow tares
amongft their wheat. And yet thefe doctrines
which they called Traditions,were nothing but fuch
fundamental truths which were in fcripture, iravta
cvfjL^uiva tan ygaqats, as Irenaus in * Eufebius
obferves, in the inftance of Polycarpus, and it is
manifeft by confidering what herefies they fought
againft, the herefies of -f Ebion, Cerinthus, Nicolai
tans, Valentinians, Carpocratians, perfons that denied
the fon of God, the unity of the God-head, that
preached impurity, that practifed forcery and
witch-craft. And now that they did rather urge
Tradition againft them than fcripture, was, br-
caufe the publick doctrine of all the apoftolical
churches was at firft more known and famous
than many parts of the fcripture, and becaufe
fome hereticks denied St. Luke's gofpel, fome re
ceived none but St. Matthew's, fome rejected all
St. Paul's epiftles, and it was a long time before
the whole canon was configned by univerfai tefti
mony, fome churches having one part fome ano-
* Lib. 5;. cap; 20. -J- Vide Irens. 1. 3. & 4. cont. haeref. ther,

§. £• and uncertainty of Tradition. 119
ther, Rome herfelf had not all, fo that in this cafe
the argument from tradition was the moft famous,
the moft certain, and the moft prudent. And
now according to this rule they had more Tradi
tions than we have, and Traditions did by degrees
leffen as chey came to be written, and their necef
fity was lefs, as the knowledge of them was afcer-
tained to us by a better keeper of divine truths.
All that great myfterioufnefs of Chrift's prieft-
hood, the unity of his facrifice, Chrift's advoca
tion and interceffion for us in heaven, and many
other excellent doctrines might very well be ac
counted Traditions before St. Paul's epiftle to the
Hebrews was publifhed to all the world ; but now
they are written truths ; and if they had not, pof*
fibly we might either have loft them quite, of
doubted of them, as we do of many other Tradi
tions, by reafon of the infufficiency of the pro-
pounder. And therefore it was that St. * Peter
took order that the gofpel fhould be writ, for he
had promifed that he would do fometbing which
after his deceafe fhould have thefe things in re
membrance. He knew it was not fafe trufting
the report of men where the fountain might
quickly run dry, or be corrupted fo infenfibly,
that no cure could be found for it, nor any juft
notice taken of, it till it were incurable. And in
deed there is fcarce any thing but what is written
in fcripture, that can with any confidence of ar
gument pretend to derive from the apoftles, ex*
cept rituals, and manners of miniftration ; but
no doctrines or fpeculative myfteries are fo tranf-
mitted to us by fo clear a current, that we may
fee a vifible channel, and trace it to the primitive
fountains. It is faid to be a Tradition apoftolical,
that no prieft fhould baptife without chrifm and
* z Peter I. 13.
I 4 the

120 Of the infufficiency §.5.
the command of the bifhop : fuppofe it were, yet
we cannot be obliged to believe it with much con
fidence, becaufe we have but little proof for it,
fcarce any thing but the fingle teftimony of * St.
Hierom. Add yet if it were, this is but a ritual,
of which in pafling by, 1 fhall give that account :
That, fuppofe this and many more rituals did de
rive clearly from tradition apoftolical (which yet
but very few do) yet it is hard that any church
fhould be charged with crime for not obferving
fuch rituals, becaufe we-fee fome of them which
certainly did derive from the apoftles, are expired
and gone out in a defuetude ; fuch as are abfti-
nence from blood, and from things, ftrangled, the
ccenobitick life of fecular perfons, the college of
widows, to worfhip Handing upon the Lord's day,
to give milk and honey to the newly baptifed,
and many more of the like nature ; now there
having been no mark to diftinguifh the neceffity
of one from the indifferency of the other, they are
all alike neceffary, or alike indifferent ; if the for
mer, why does no church obferve them ? if the
latter, why does the church of Rome charge upon
others the fhame of novelty, for leaving off fome
rites and ceremonies which, by her own practice
we are taught to have no obligation in them, but
to be adiaphorous ? St. Paul gave order, that a
bifhop fhould be the hufband of one wife ; the
church of Rome will not allow fo much ; other
churches allow more : The apoftles commanded
chriftians to fafl on Wednefday and Friday, as
appears in their canons ; the church of Rome falls
Friday and Saturday, and not on Wednefday :
The apoftles had their agapas or love feafts, we
fhould believe them fcandalous : They ufed a
kifs of charity in ordinary addreffes, the church

* Dialog, ady* Lucifer,.

oi

§•5- and uncertainty of Tradition. 121
of Rome keeps it only in their mafs, other churches
quite omit it : The apoftles permitted priefts and
deacons to live in conjugal fociety, as appears in
the 5 can. of the apoftles (which to them is an
argument who believe them fuch) and yet the
church of Rome, by no means will endure it -,
nay more, Michael Medina gives teftimony that of
84 canos apoftolical which * Clement collected,
feirce fix or eight are obferved by the latin
church, and Perefius gives this account of it j In
illis contineri multa qua temporum corruptione non phni
obfervantur, aliis pro temporis £s? materia qualitate
aut obliteratis, nut totius Ecclefia magifterio abrogatis.
Now it were good that they who take a liberty
to themfelves, fhould alfo allow the fame to others.
So that for one thing or other, all Traditions, ex
cepting thofe very few that are abfolutely univer
fai, will lofe all their obligation, and become no
competent medium to confine men's practices, or
limit theii- faiths, or determine their perfuafions.
Either for the difficulty of their being proved,
the incompetency of the teftimony that tranfmits
them, or the indifferency of the thing tranfmitted,
all Traditions both ritual and doctrinal are difa-
bled from determining our confciences either to a
neceffary believing or obeying.
IX. 6. To which I add by way of confirma
tion, that there are fome things called Traditions,
and are offered to be proved to us by a teftimony
which is either falfe or not extant. Clemens of
Alexandria pretended it a Tradition that the apof
tles preached to them that died in infidelity,
even after their death, and then raifed them to
life, but he proved it only by the teftimony of
the book of Hermes ; he affirmed it to be a Tra-
* De facr. hom. continent, lib. 5, cap. 105.
f De Tradit. part. 3 . c. de Author. Can. Apoft, dition

122 Of the infufficiency §.5.
dition apoftolical, that the Greeks were faved by
their philofophy, but he had no other authority
for it but the apocryphal books of Peter and Paul.
TertuUian and St. Bafil pretend it an apoftolical
Tradition, to fign in the air with the fign of the
crofs, but this was only configned to them in the
gofpel of Nicodemus. But to inftance once for all
in the epiftle of Marcellus to the bifhop of Antioch,
where he affirms that it is the canon of the apof
tles, prater fententiam Romani Pontifids, non poje
Concilia celebrari. And yet there is no fiich canon
extant, nor ever was for aught appears in any
record we have ; and yet the collection of the ca
nons is fo intire, that though it hath fomething
more than what was apoftolical, yet it hath no
thing lefs. And now that I am cafually fallen
upon an inftance from the canons of the apoftles,
I confider that there cannot in the world a greater
inftance be given how eafy it is to be abufed in
the believing of Traditions. For 1. to the firft
50. which many did admit for apoftolical, %$
more were added, which moft men now count
fpurious, all men call dubious, and fome of them
univerfally condemned by peremptory fentence,
even by them who are greateft admirers of that col
lection, as 65. 6y. and 8 4 5ths canons. For the
firft 50, it is evident that there are fome things
fo mixt with them, and no mark of difference
left, that the credit of all is much impaired, info-
much that * Ifidor of Seville fays; they were apocry
phal, made by hereticks, and publijhed under the title
apoftolical, hut neither the fathers nor the church of
Rome did give ajent to them. And yet they have
prevailed fo far amongft fome, that f Damafcen is
of opinion they fhould be received equally with
* ApudGratian. dift. 16. c. Canones.
t Lib. 4, c. 1 8 , de Orthod. .fide. the

§¦5- and uncertainty of Tradition. 123
the canonical writings of the apoftles. One thing
only I obferve (and we fhall find it true in moft
writings, whofe authority is urged in queftions
oi Theology) that the authority of the tradition is-
not it which moves the affent, but the nature of
the thing; and becaufe fuch a canon is delivered,
they do not therefore believe the fanction or pro
pofition fo delivered, but difbelieve the Tradi
tion, if they do not like the matter, and fo do
not judge of the matter by the Tradition, but
of the Tradition by the matter. And thus the
church oi Rome rejects the 84 or 85 canon of the
apoftles, not becaufe it is delivered with lefs au
thority, than the laft 35 are, but becaufe it reck
ons the canon of fcripture otherwife than it is at
Rome. Thus alfo the fifth canon amongft the firft
fifty, becaufe it approves the marriage of priefts
and deacons does not perfuade them to approve
of it too, but itfelf becomes fufpected for appro
ving it : So that either they accufe themfelves of
palpable contempt of the apoftolical authority, or
elfe that the reputation of fuch Traditions is kept
up to ferve their own ends, and therefore when
they encounter them, they are more to be upheld -,
which what elfe is it but to teach all the world to
contemn fuch pretences and undervalue Tradi
tions, and to fupply to others a reafon why they
fhould do that, which to them that give the occa
fion is moft unreafonable ?
X. 7. The teftimony of the antient church
being the only means of proving Tradition, and
fometimes their dictates and doctrine being the
Tradition pretended of neceffity to be imitated,
it is confiderable that men in their eftimate of it,
take their rife from feveral ages and differing
teftimonies, and are not agreed about the compe
tency of their teftimony ; and the reafons that on
each fide make them differ, are fuch as make the
authority

124 Of the infufficiency §. 5.
authority itfelf the lefs authentick and more re
pudiable. Some will allow only of the three firft
ages, as being moft pure, moft perfecuted, and
therefore moft holy, leaft interefted, ferving fewer
defigns, having feweft factions, and therefore
more likely to fpeak the truth for God's fake and
its own, as beft complying with their great end
of acquiring heaven in recompence of lofing their
lives : Others * fay, that thofe ages being perfe
cuted minded the prefent doctrines proportionable
to their purpofes and conftitution of the ages,
and make little or nothing of thofe queftions
which at this day vex Chriftendom : And both
fpeak true : The firft ages fpeak greateft truth,
but leaft pertinently. The next ages, the ages
of the four general councils fpake fomething, not
much more pertinently to the prefent queftions,
but were not fo likely to fpeak true, by reafon of
their difpofitions, contrary to the capacity and
circumftances of the firft ages ; and if they fpeak
wifely as doctors, yet not certainly as witneffes of
fuch propofitions which the firft ages noted not ;
and yet unlefs they had noted, could not poflibly
be Traditions. And therefore either of them will
be lefs ufelefs as to our prefent affairs. For indeed
the queftions which now are the publick trouble,
were not confidered or thought upon for many
hundred years, and therefore prime Tradition
there is none as to our purpofe, and it v/ill be an
infufficient medium to be ufed or pretended in the
determination -, and to difpute concerning the
truth or neceffity of Traditions, in the queftions
of our times, is as if hiftorians difputing about a
queftion in the Englifh flory, fhould fall on
wrangling whether Livie or Plutarch were the
beft writers : And the earneft difputes about Tra-
* Vid. Card. Perron. Icttre au Sieur Cafaubon. ditions

§•5- and uncertainty of tradition. 125
ditions are to no better purpofe. For no church
at this day admits the one half of thofe things,
which certainly by the fathers were called Tradi
tions apoftolical, and no teftimony of ancient
writers does confign the one half of the prefent
queftions to be or not to be Traditions. So that
they, who admit only the doctrine and teftimony
of the firft ages, cannot be determined in moft of
their doubts which now trouble us, becaufe their
writings are of matters wholly differing from the
prefent difputes, and they who would bring in
after ages to the authority of a competent judge
or witnefs, fay the fame thing ; for they plainly
confefs that the> firft ages fpake little or nothing
to the prefent queftion, or at leaft nothing to their
fenfe of them ; for therefore they call in aid from
the following ages, and make them fuppletory
and auxiliary to their defigns, and therefore there
are no Traditions to our purpofes. And they
who would willingly have it otherwife, yet have
taken no courfe it fhould be otherwife ; for they
when they had opportunity in the councils of the
laft ages to determine what they had a mind to,
yet they never named the number, nor expreffed
the particular Traditions which they would fain
have the world believe to be apoftolical : But they
have kept the bridle in their own hands, and
made a referve of their own power, that if need
be, they may make new pretenfion's, or not be
put to it to juftify the old by the engagement of
a conciliary declaration.
XI. La-ftly, We are acquitted by the Tefti
mony of the primitive fathers from any other ne
ceffity of believing, than of fuch articles as are
recorded in fcripture : And this is done by them,
whofe authority is pretended the greateft argu
ment for Tradition, as appears largely in Ire
naus, who difputes profeffedly for the fufficiency ot

126 Of tfe infufficiency §. 5.
of fcripture againft certain hereticks, who affirm
fome neceffary truths not to be written*. It was
an excellent faying of St. Bafil and will never be
wiped out with all the eloquence of Perron [in his
Serm. de fide. Manifeftus eft fidei lapfus, 13 liquidum
fuperbia vitium vel refpuere aliquid eorum qua fcrip
tura habet, vel inducer e quicquam quod fcriptum non
eft.] And it is but a poor device to fay that every
particular Tradition is configned in fcripture by
thofe places which give authority to Tradition ;
and fo the introducing of Tradition is not a fuper-
inducing any thing over, or befides fcripture, be
caufe Tradition is like a meffenger, and the fcrip
ture is like his letters of credence, and therefore
authorizes whatfoever Tradition fpeaketh. For
fuppofing fcripture does confign the authority of
Tradition (which it might do before all the whole
inftrument of fcripture itfelf was configned, and
then afterwards there might be no need of Tradi
tion) yet fuppofing it, it will follow that all thofe
Traditions which are truly prime and apoftoHcal,,
are to be entertained according to the intention of
the deliverers, which indeed is fo reafonable of it
felf, that we need not fcripture to perfuade us to it ;
itfelf is authentick as fcripture is, if it derives
from the fame fountain -, and a word is never the
more the word of God for being written, nor the
lefs for not being written ; but it will not follow
that whatfoever is pretended to be Tradition, is
fo, neither is the credit of the particular inftances
configned in fcripture ; & dolofus verfatur in gene-
ralibus, but that this cr.aft is too palpable. And
if a general and indefinite confignation of Tradi
tion be fufficient to warrant every particular that
pretends to be Tradition, then St. Bafil had fpoken
to no purpofe by faying it is pride and apoftacy
* L. 3. c. 2. contr. hxref. from

§¦5- and uncertainty of Tradition. 127
from the faith, to bring in what is not written :
For if either any man brings in what is writteri,
or what he fays is delivered, then the firft being
exprefs fcripture, and the fecond being configned
in fcripture, no man can be charged with fuperin-
ducing what is not written, he hath his anfwer
ready : And then thefe are zealous words abfo
lutely to no purpofe ; but if fuch general config-
nation does not warrant every thing that pretends
to Tradition, but only fuch as are truly proved
to be apoftolical ; then fcripture is ufelefs as to
this particular -, for fuch Tradition gives teftimony
to fcripture, and therefore is of itfelf firft, and
more credible, for it is credible of itfelf; and
therefore unlefs St. Bafil thought that all the will
of God in matters of faith and doctrine were
written, I fee not what end nor what fenfe he
could have in thefe words : For no man in the
world except Enthuftafts and mad-men ever ob
truded a doctrine upon the church, but he pre
tended fcripture for it or Tradition, and therefore
no man could be preffed by thefe words, no man
confuted, no man inftructed, no not Enthuftafts
or Montanifts. For fuppofe either of them fhould
fay, that fince in fcripture the Holy Ghoft is pro
mifed to abide with the church for ever, to -teach,
whatever they pretend the fpirit in any age hath
taught them, is not to fuper-induce any thing
beyond what is written, becaufe the truth of the
fpirit, his veracity, and his perpetual teaching
being promifed and attefted in fcripture, fcrip
ture hath juft fo configned all fuch Revelations
as Perron faith it hath all fuch Traditions. But
I will trouble myfelf no more with arguments
from any human authorities ; but he that is fur-
prifed with the belief of fuch authorities, and
will but confider the very many teftimonies of
antiquity

12 8 ¦ Of the infufficiency §. 5.
antiquity to this purpofe, as of * Conftantine, b St.
Hierom, - St. Auftin, d St. Athanafius, e St. Hz^rj',
f St. Epiphanius, and divers others, all fpeaking
words to the fame fenfe, with that faying of % St.
Paul, Nemo fentiat fuper quod fcriptum eft, will fee
that there is reafon, that fince no man is mate
rially a heretick, but he that errs in a point of
faith, and all faith is fufficiently recorded in
fcripture, the judgment of faith and herefy is to
be derived from thence, and no man is to be con
demned for diffenting in an article for whofe pro
bation Tradition only is pretended; only ac
cording to the degree of its evidence, let every one
determine himfelf, but of this evidence we muft
not judge for others ; for unlefs it be in things of
faith, and abfolute certainties, evidence is a word
of relation, and fo fuppofes two terms, the object
and the faculty ; and it is art imperfect fpeech to
fay a thing is evident in itfelf (unlefs we fpeak of
firft principles or cleareft revelations) for that may
be evident to one that is not fo to another, by
reafon of the pregnancy of fome apprehenfions,
and the immaturity of others.
This difcourfe hath its intention in Traditions
doctrinal and ritual, that is fuch Traditions which
propofe articles new in materia ; but now if fcrip
ture be the repofitory of all divine truths fufficient
for us, Tradition muft be confidered as its inftru-
ment, to convey its great myfterioufnefs to our
underftandings ; it is faid there are traditive in
terpretations as well as traditive propofitions, but
thefe have not much diftinct confideration in
them, both becaufe their uncertainty is as great
as the other upon the former confiderations ; as
» Orat. ad Nicen. PP. apud. Theodor. 1. i.e. 7. b In
Matth. 1. 4. c. 23. & in Agasum. c De bono vi. duil. c. 1.
i Orat. contr. gent. e In Pfal. J32. f L. 2. c. co.ntra. he-
ref. torn. 1. hxr. 61. s 1 Cor. 4. alfo

§.5. and uncertainty of Tradition. llty
alfo becaufe in very deed, there are no fuch
things as traditive interpretations univerfai : For
as for particulars, they fignify no more but that
they are not fufficient determinations of queftions
theological, therefore becaufe they are particular,
contingent, and of infinite variety, and they are
no more argument than the particular authority
of thefe men v/hofe commentaries they are, and
therefore muft be confidered with them.
XII. The fum is this : Since the Fathers who
are the beft witneffes of Traditions, yet were infi
nitely deceived in their account, fince fometimes
they gueffed at them, and conjectured by way of
rule and difcourfe, and not of their knowledge,
not by evidence of the thing ; fince many are
called Traditions which were, not fo, many are
uncertain whether they were or no, yet confidently
pretended ; and this uncertainty which at firft was
great enough, is increafed by infinite caufes and
accidents in the fuccefiion of 1 600 years ; fince
the church hath been either fo carelefs or fo abufed,
that fhe could not, or would not preferve Tradi
tions with carefulnefs and truth ; fince it was or
dinary for the old writers to fet out their own
fancies, and the rites of their church, which had
been ancient under the fpecious title of apoftoli
cal Traditions ; fince fome Traditions rely but
upon fingle teftimony at firft, and yet defcending
upon others, come to be attefted by many, whofe
teftimony though conjunct, yet in value is but
fingle, becaufe it relies upon the firft fingle rela
tor, and fo can have no greater authority, or cer
tainty, than they derive from the fingle perfon ;
fince the firft ages who were moft competent to
confign Tradition, yet did confign fuch Tradi
tions, as be of a nature wholly difcrepant from the
prefent queftions, and fpeak nothing at all, or
very imperfectly, to ourpurpofes j and the follow-
K ing

130 Of the infufficiency §. £.
ing ages are no fit witneffes of that which was not
tranfinitted to them, becaufe they could not know it
at all, but by fuch tranfmiffion and prior config-
nation ; fince what at firft was a Tradition, came
afterwards to be written, and fo ceafed its being
a Tradition ; yet the credit of Traditions com
menced upon the certainty and reputation of thofe
truths firft delivered by word, afterward configned
by writing ; fince what was certainly Tradition
apoftolical, as many rituals were, are rejected by
the church in feveral ages, and are gone out into
a defuetude ; and laftly, fince, befide the no ne
ceffity of Traditions, there being abundantly
enough in fcripture, there are many things called
Traditions by the fathers, which they themfelves
either proved by no authors, or by apocryphal and
fpurious and heretical, the matter of Tradition
will in very much be fo uncertain, fo falfe, fo
fufpicious, fo contradictory, fo improbable, fo un
proved, that if a queftion be conceited and be of
fered to be proved only by a Tradition, it will be
very hard to impofe fuch a propofition to the be
lief of all men with any imperioufnefs or refoived
determination, but it will be neceffary men fhould
preferve the liberty of believing and prophefying,
and not part with it, upon a worfe merchandife
and exchange than Efau made for his birth-right.

SECT.

( i3i )

SECT. VI.
Of the uncertainty and infufficiency of Councils
Ecclefiaftical.
BUT fince we are all this while in uncertainty,
it is neceffary that we fhoxild addrefs our
felves fomewhere, where we may reft the foal of
our foot : And nature, fcripture, and experience
teach the world in matters of queftion to fubmit
to fome final fentence. For it is not reafon that
controverfies fhould continue, till the erring per
fon fhall be willing to condemn himfelf; and the
fpirit of God hath directed us by that great pre
cedent at Jerufalem, to addrefs ourfelves to the
church, that in a plenary council and affembly,
fhe may fynodically determine controverfies. So
that if a general council have determined a quef
tion, or expounded fcripture, we may no more
difbelieve the decree, than the fpirit of God him
felf who fpeaks in them. And indeed, if all af-
femblies of bifhops were like that firft, and all
bifhops were of the fame fpirit of which the apof
tles were, I fhould obey their decree with the
fame religion as I do them whofe preface was Vi-
fum eft fpiritui fantlo S3 nobis : And I doubt not but
our bleffed Saviour intended that the Affemblies
of the church fhould be judges of controverfies,
and guides of our perfuafions in matters of diffi
culty. But he alfo intended they fhould proceed
according to his will which he had revealed, and
thofe precedents which he had made authentick
by the immediate affiftance of his holy fpirit : he
hath done his part, but we do not ours. And
if any private perfon in the fimplicity and purity
of his foul defires to find out a truth of which he
K ?. is

132 Of the uncertainty §-6.
is in fearch and inquifition, if he prays for wif-
dom, we have a promife he fhall be heard and
anfwered liberally, and therefore much more,
when the reprefentatives of the catholick church
do meet, becaufe every perfon there hath in indi-
viduo a title to the promife, and another title as
he is a governor and guide of fouls, and all of
them together have another title in their united
capacity, efpecially, if in that union they pray,
and proceed with fimplicity and purity ; fo that
there is no difputing againft the pretence and pro-
mifes, and authority of general councils. For if
any one man can hope to be guided by God's fpi
rit in the fearch, the pious and impartial and un-
prejudicate fearch of truth, then much more may
a general council. If no private man can hope
for it, then truth is not neceffary to be found,
nor are we obliged to fearch for it, or elfe we-
are faved by chance : but if private men can by vir
tue of a promife, upon certain conditions be af-
fured of finding out fufficient truth, much more
fhall a general council. So that I confider thus :
There are many promifes pretended to belong to
general affemblies in the church ; but I know not
any ground, nor any pretence, that they fhall be
abfolutely aflifted, without any condition on their
own parts, and whether they will or no : faith is
a virtue as well as charity, and therefore confifts
in liberty and choice, and hath nothing in it of
neceffity : There is no queftion but. that they are
obliged to proceed according to fome rule ; for
they expect no affiftance by way of Enthufiafm ; if
they fhould, I know no warrant for, that, neither
did any general council, ever offer a decree which
they did not think fufficiently proved by fcripture,
reafon, or tradition, as appears in the acts of the
councils ; now then, if they be tyed to conditions
it is their duty to, obferve them ; but whether it
be

§.6. cf Councils ecclefiaftical. 133
be certain that they >will obferve them, that they
will do all their duty, that they will not fin even
in this particular in the neglect of their duty,
that's the confideration. So that if any man
queftions the title and authority of general coun-
cels, and whether or no great promifes appertain
to them, I fuppofe him to be much miftaken ;
but he alfo that thinks all of them have proceeded
according to rule and reafon, and that none of
them were deceived, becaufe poffibly they might
have been truly directed, is a flranger to the hif-
tory of the church, and to the perpetual inftances
and experiments of the faults and failings of hu
manity. It is a famous faying of St. Gregory that
he had the four firft councils in efteem and vene
ration next to the four Evangelifts ; I fuppofe it
was becaufe he did believe them to have pro
ceeded according to rule, and to have judged
righteous judgment; but why had not he the
fame opinion of other councils too, which were
celebrated before his death, for he lived after the
fifth general ? not becaufe they had not the fame
authority; for that which is warrant for one is
warrant for all ; but becaufe he was not fo confi
dent that they did their duty, nor proceeded fo
without intereft, as the firft four had done, and
the following councils did never get that reputa
tion which all the catholick church acknowledged
due to the firft four. And in the next order were
the three following generals ; for the Greeks and
Latins did never jointly acknowledge but feven
generals to have been authentick in any fenfe, be
caufe they, were in no fenfe agreed that any more
than feven had proceeded regularly and done their
duty : fo that new the queftion is not whether
general councels have a promife that the Holy
Ghoft will aflift them- ; for every private man
hath that promife, that if he does his duty, he
K 3 fhall

134 Of the uncertainty §-6.
fhall be affifted fufficiently in order to that end, to ,
which he needs affiftance ; and therefore much
more fhall general councils in order to that end
for which they convene, and to which they need
affiftance, that is, in order to the confervation of
the faith, for the doctrinal rules of good life, and
all that concerns the effential'duty of a chriftian,
but not in deciding queftions to fatisfy contentious
or curious or prefumptuous fpirits. But now can
the bifhops fo convened be factious, can they be
abufed with prejudice, or tranfported with inte
refts, can they refift the Holy Ghoft, can they
extinguifh the fpirit, can they flop their cares,
and ferve themfelves upon the holy fpirit and the
pretence of his affiftances, and ceafe to ferve him
upon themfelves, by captivating their underftand
ings to his dictates, and theip wills to his pre
cepts ? Is it neceffary they fhould perform any
condition ? is there any one duty for them to
perform in thefe affemblies, a duty which they
have power to do or not do ? If fo, then they may
fail of it, and not do- their duty : And if the af
fiftance of the holy fpirit be conditional, then we
have no more affurance that they are affifted, than
that they do their duty and do not fin.
II. Now let us fuppofe what this duty is :
Certainly, if the gofpel be hid, it is hid to them
that are loft ; and all that come to the knowledge
of the truth, muft come to it by fuch means
which are fpiritual and holy difpofitions, in order
to a holy and fpiritual end. They muft be fhod
with the preparation of the gofpel of peace, that
is, they muft have peaceable and docible difpofi
tions, nothing with them that is violent, and re
folute to encounter thofe gentle and fweet affift
ances : and the rule they are to follow, is the rule
which the holy fpirit hath configned to the ca-
th click church, that is the holy fcripture, either
entirely

§.6. of Councils ecclefiaftical. 135
entirely or at leaft for the greater part of the
rule * : So that now if the bifhops be factious and
prepoffeffed with perfuafions depending upon inte
reft, it is certain they may judge amifs ; and if
they recede from the rule, it is certain they do
judge amifs : and this I fay upon their grounds
who moft advance the authority of general coun
cils : for if a general council may err, if a Pope
confirm it not, then moft certainly if in any thing
it recede from fcripture, it does alfo err ; becaufe,
that they are to expect the pope's confirmation,
they offer to prove from fcripture : now if the
pope's confirmation be required by authority of
fcripture, and that therefore the defailance of it
does evacuate the authority of the council, then
alfo are the councils decrees invalid, if they re
cede from any other part of fcripture : fo that-
fcripture is the rule they are to follow, and a
man would have thought it had been needlefs to
have proved it, but that we are fallen into ages
in which no truth is certain, no reafon concluding,
nor is there any thing that can convince fome
men. For Stapleton with extreme boldnefs againft
the piety of Chriftendom, againft the publick
fenfe of the ancient church, and the practife of all
pious affemblies of bifhops, affirms the decrees of
a council to be binding, etiamfi non confirnletur ne
probabili tefiimonio fcripturarum ; nay, though it be
quite extra fcripturam : but all wife and good men
have ever faid that fenfe which St. Hilary expreffed
in thefe words, Qua extra Evangelium funt non de-
fendam ; this was it which the good emperor Con-
ftantine\ propounded to the fathers met at Nice,
libri Evangelici, oracula Apoftolorum, (3 veterum Pro-
* Vid. Optat. Milev. 1. 5. adv. Parm. Baldvin. in eundem.
& St. Auguft. in Pfa. 21. Expof. 2.
•{- Releft. controv. 4. q. 1. a. 3. % I. 2. ad Conftant.
K 4 phetarum

136 Of the uncertainty §.6,
phetarum dare nos inftruunt quid fentiendum in divi-
rds*, and this is confeffed by a fober man of the
Roman church itfelf, the cardinal of Cafa, Opor-
tet quod omnia talia qua legere debent, contineantur in
authoritatibus facrarwm fcripturarum-\ : Now then
all the advantage I fhall take from hence, is this,
That if the apoftles commended them who exa
mined their fermons by their conformity to the law
and the prophets, and the men of Btrea were ac
counted noble for fearching the fcriptures whether
thofe things which they taught were fo or no ; I
fuppofe it will not be denied, but the councils de
crees,, may alfo be tried whether they be conform
to fcripture yea or no ; and although no man can
take cognizance and judge the decrees of a coun
cil pro authoritate publica, yet pro informatione fri-
vitd they may ; the authority of a council is not
greater than the authority of the apoftles, nor
their dictates more facred or authentick. Now
then put cafe a council fhould recede from fcrip
ture ; whether or no were we bound to believe its
decrees ? I only afk the queftion : For it were
hard to be bound to believe what to our under
ftanding feems contrary to that which we know
to be the word of God : But if we may lawfully
recede from the councils decrees,' in cafe they be
contrariant to fcripture, it is all that I require in
this queftion. For if the.y be tied to a rule, then
they are to be examined and underftood according
to the rule, and then we are to give ourfelves
that liberty of judgment which is requifite to dif-
tinguifh us from beafts, and to put us into a ca
pacity of reafonable people, following reafonable
guides. But however, if it be certain that the
councils are to follow fcripture^ then if it be no-
* Apud Theodor. 1. i. c. 7.
^ Concord. CathoL I. ?.. c. io. iorious

§. J. of Councils ecclefiaftical. 137
torious that they do recede from fcripture, we are
fure we muft obey God rather than men, and
'.jthgn we are well enough. For unlefs we are
'bound to fhut our eyes, and not to look upon
the fun, if we may give ourfelves liberty to be
lieve what feems moft plain, and unlefs the au
thority of a council be fo great a prejudice as to
make us to do violence to our underftanding, fo-
as not to difbelieve the decree, becaufe it feems
contrary to fcripture, but to believe it agrees
with fcripture, though we know not how, there
fore becaufe the council hath decreed it, unlefs I
fay we be bound in duty to be fo obediently
blind, and fottifh, we are fure that there are fome
councils which are pretended general, that have
retired from the publick notorious words and
fenfe of fcripture. For what wit of man can re
concile the decree of the thirteenth feffion of the
council of Conftance with fcripture, in which fef
fion the half communion was decreed, in defiance
of fcripture, and with a non obftante to Chrift's
inftitution. For in the preface of the decree,
Chrift's inftitution and the practice of the primi
tive church is exprefled, and then with a non ob
ftante, communion in one kind is eftabiifhed.
Now then fuppofe the non obftante in the form of
words relates to the primitive practice -, yet fince
Chrift's inftitution was taken notice of in the firft
words of the decree, and the decree made quite
contrary to it, let the non obftante relate whither it
will, the decree (not to call it a defiance) is a
plain receffion from the inftitution of Chrift, and
therefore the non obftante will refer to that without
any fenfible error; and indeed for all the excufes
to the contrary, the decree was not fo difcreetly
framed but that in the very form of words, the
defiance and the non obftante is too plainly relative
to the firft words. For what fenfe can there be in

138 Of the uncertainty %. 6.
in the firft licet elfe ? licet Chriftus in utraque fpecie,
and licet ecclefia primitiva, (3c. tamen hoc non ob
ftante, 13 c. the firft licet being a relative term, as
well as the fecond licet, muft be bounded with
fome correfpondent. But it matters not much ;
let them whom it concerns enjoy the benefit of all
excufes they can imagine, it is certain Chrift's
inftitution and the councils fanction are as con
trary as light and darknefs. Is it poffible for any
man to contrive a way to make the decree of the
council of Trent, commanding the publick offi
ces of the church to be in Latin, friends with
the fourteenth chapter of the Corinthians? It is
not amifs to obferve how the hyperafpifts of that
council fweat to anfwer the allegations of St.
Paul, and the wifeft of them do it fo extremely
poor, that it proclaims to all the world that the
ftrongeft man that is, cannot eat iron, or fwallow
a rock. Now then, would it not be an unfpeak-
able tyranny to all wife perfons, (who as much
hate to have their fouls enflaved as their bodies
imprifoned) to command them to believe that
thefe decrees are agreeable to the word of God ?
Upon whofe underftanding foever thefe are im-
pofed, they may at the next feffion reconcile them
to a crime, and make any fin facred, or perfuade
him to believe propofitions contradictory to a
mathematical demonftratkm. All the arguments
in the world that can be brought to prove the in
fallibility of councils, cannot make it fo certain
that they are infallible, as thefe two inftances do
prove infallibly that thefe were deceived, and if
ever we may fafely make ufe of our reafon and
confider whether councils have erred or no, we
cannot by any reafon be more affured, that they
have or have not, than we have in thefe particu
lars : fo that either our reafon is of no manner of
ufe, in the difcuffion of this queftion, and the
" thing

§.6. of Councils ecclefiaftical. 139
thing itfelf is not at all to be difputed, or jf it
be, we are certain that thefe actually were decei
ved, and we muft never hope for a clearer evi
dence in any difpute. And if thefe be, others
might have been, if they did as thefe did, that is,
depart from their rule. And it was wifely faid of
Cufanus : -f Notandum eft experimento rerum univerfale
c'omilium poje deficere : The experience of it is no
torious, that councils have erred : And all the
arguments againft experience are but plain
fophiftry. III. And therefore I make no fcruple to flight
the decrees of fuch councils, wherein the pro
ceedings were as prejudkate and unreafonable, as
in the council wherein Abailardus was condemned,
where the prefidents having pronounced Damna-
mus, they at the lower end being awaked at the
noife, heard the latter part of it, and concurred
as far as Mnamus went, and that was as good as
Damnamus, for if they had been awake at the
pronouncing the whole word, they would have
given fentence accordingly. But by this means
St. * Bernard numbered the major part of voices
againft his adverfary Abailardus : And as far as
thefe men did do their duty, the duty of priefts
and judges, and wife men ; fo we may prefume
them to be affifted -, but no further. But I am
content this (becaufe but a private affembly) fhall
pafs for no inftance : But what fhall we fay of all
the Arrian councils celebrated with fo great fancy,
and fuch numerous affemblies ? we all fay that
they erred. And it will not be fufficient to fay
they were not lawful councils : For they were
convened by that authoriry which all the world
knows did at that time convocate councils,

•f- Lib, 2. cap. 14. Concord Cathol.
* Epift. Abaifardi. ad Heliff. conjugem. and

140 Of the uncertainty §-6.
and by' which (as it is f confeffed and is notori
ous; the firft eight generals did meet, that is by
the authority of the emperor all were called, and
as many and more did come to them, than came
to the moft famous council of Nice : So that the
councils were lawful, and if they did not proceed
lawfully, and therefore did err, this is to fay that
councils are then not deceived, when they do their
duty, when they judge impartially, when they
decline intereft, when they follow their rule ; but
this fays alfo that it is not infallibly certain that
they will do fo ; for thefe did not, and therefore
the others may be deceived as well as they were.
But another thing is in the wind ; for councils not
confirmed by the Pope, have no warrant that they
fhall not err, and they not being confirmed, there
fore failed. But whether is the Pope's confirma
tion after the decree or before ? It cannot be fup
pofed before ; for there is nothing to be confirmed
till the decree be made, and the article compofed.
But if it be after, then poffibly the Pope's decree
may be requifite in folemnity of law, and to make
the authority popular, publick and human ; but
the decree is true or falfe before the Pope's con
firmation, and is not at alb altered by the fuper-
vening decree, which being poftnate to the decree,
alters not what went before, Nunquam enim crefcit
ex poft fatlo pratcriti aftimatio, is the voice both of
law and reafon. So that it cannot make it divine,
and neceffary to be heartily believed. It may
make it lawful, npt make it true, that is, it may
poffibly by fuch means become a law but not a
truth. I fpeak now upon fuppofition the Pope's
confirmation were neceffary, and required to the
making of conciliary and neceffary fanctions. But
if it were, the cafe were very hard : For fuppofe
f Cu/anus, 1. 2. cap. 25. Concord. a herefy

§.6. of Councils ecclefiaftical. 141
a herefy fhould invade, and poffefs the chair of
Rome, what remedy can the church have in that
cafe, if a general council be of no authority
without the Pope confirm it ? will the Pope con
firm a counfel againft himfelf ; will he condemn
his own herefy ? That the Pope may be a Here
tick appears in the * canon law, which fays he
may for herefy be depofed, and therefore by a
counfel which in this cafe hath plenary authority
without the Pope. And therefore in the fynod at
Rome held under Pope Adrian the fecond, the
cenfure of the fixth fynod againft Honorius who
was convict of herefy, is approved with this
appendix, that in this cafe, the cafe of herefy,
minores pojmt de majoribus judicare : And therefore
if a Pope were above a council, yet when the
queftion is concerning herefy, the cafe is altered ;
the Pope may be judged by his inferiors, who
in this cafe, which is the main cafe of all, become
his fuperiors„ And it is little better than impu
dence to pretend that all councils were confirmed
by the Pope, or that there is a neceffity in refpect
of divine obligation, that any fhould be con
firmed by him, more than by another of the pa
triarchs. For the council of Chalcedon itfelf one
of thofe four which St. Gregory did revere next to
the four evangelifts, is rejected by Pope Leo, who
in his 53d epiftle to Anatolius, and in his 54th to
Martian, and in his 55th to Pulcheria, accufes it
of ambition and inconliderate temerity, and there
fore no fit affembly for the habitation of the holy
fpirit, and Gclafius in his tome de vinculo Anathe*
matis, affirms that the council is in part to be re
ceived, in part to be rejected, and compares it to
heretical books of a mixt matter, and proves his
* Dift. 40. Can. f: Papa. ' aflertion

142 Of the uncertainty §. 6.
afTertion by the place of St. Paul, * Omnia probate,
¦quod bonum eft retinete. And Bellarmine fays the
fame ; In Concilio Chalcedonenfi, quadam funt bona,
quadam mala, quadam recipienda, quadam rejicienda ;
ita £5? in libris hareticorum, and if any thing be
falfe, then all is queftionable, and judicable and
difcernable, and not infallible antecedently. And
however, that council hath ex poft fatto, and by
the voluntary contenting of after ages obtained
great reputation ; yet they that lived immediately
after it, that obferved all the circumftances of the
thing, and the difabilities of the perfons, and the
uncertainty of the truth of its decrees, by reafon
of the unconcludingnefs of the arguments brought
to atteft it, were of another mind, -f- Quod autem
ad Concilium Chalcedonenfe attinet, illud id temporis
(viz. Anaftafii Imp.) neque palam in Ectlefiis fanbliffi-
mis pradicatum fuit, neque ab omnibus rejeclum, nam
finguli Ecclefiarum prafides pro fuo arbitratu in ea re
egerunt. And fo did all men in the world that
were not mattered with prejudices and undone in
their underftanding with accidental impertinen-
cies ; they judged upon thofe grounds which they
had and law, and fuffered not themfelves to be
bound to the imperious dictates of other men,
who are as uncertain in their determinations as
others in their queftions. And it is an evidence
that there is fome deception, and notable error
either in the thing or in the manner of their pro
ceeding, when the decrees of a council fhall
have no authority from the compilers, nor
ftrength from the reafonablenefs of the decifion,
but from the accidental approbation of pofterity.
And if pofterity had pleafed, Origen had believed
well and been an orthodox perfon. And it was
* De laicis, 1. 3. c. 20. §. ad hoc. ulc.
f Evagr. lib. 3. cap. 30. pretty

§.6. cf Councils ecclefiaftical. 143
pretty fport to fee that Papias was right for two
ages together, and wrong ever fince ; and juft fo
it was in councils, particularly in this of Chalce-
don, that had a fate alterable according to the
age, and according to the climate, which to my
underftanding is nothing elfe but an argument
that the bufinefs of infallibility is a later device,
and commenced to ferve fuch ends as cannot be
juftified by true and fubftantial grounds, and that
the Pope fhould confirm it as of neceflity, is a
fit cover for the fame difh.
IV. In the fixth general council, Honorius Pope
of Rome was condemned ; did that council flay
for the Pope's confirmation before they fent forth
their decree ? cercainly they did not think it fo
needful, as that they would have fufpended or caf-
fated the decree, in cafe the Pope had then difa-
vowed it : For befides the condemnation of Pope
Honorius for herefy, the 13th and 55th canons
of that council are exprefsly againft the cuftom
of the church of Rome. But this particular is in
volved in that new queftion, whether the Pope be
above a council. Now fince the conteftation of
this queftion, there was never any free or lawful
council that determined for the Pope, it is not
likely any fhould, and is it likely that any Pope
will confirm 3 council that does not ? For the
council of * Bafil is therefore condemned by the
laft lateran, which was an affembly in the Pope's
own palace, and the council of Conftance is of no
value in this queftion, and flighted in a juft pro
portion, as that article is difbelieved. But I will
not much trouble the queftion with a long confi
deration of this particular ; the pretence is fenfe -
lefs and illiterate, againft reafon and experience,
and already determined by St. Auftin fufficiently
f Vide poftea de Concil. SinvefTano. §. 6. N. 9. as

144 'Of the uncertainty §.6.
as to this particular, f Ecce putemus illos Epifcopos
qui Roma judicaverunt non bonosjudicesfuije. Refta-
bat adhuc plenarium Ecclefia univerfa Concilium ubi
etiam cum ipfts judicibus cau/a poffit agitari, ut ft male
judicafte convitli ejent, eorum fententia folverentur.
For fince Popes may be parties, may be fimoni-
acks, fchifmaticks, hereticks, it is againft reafon
that in their own caufes, they fhould be judges,
or that in any caufes they fhould be fuperior to
their judges. And as it againft reafon, fo is it
againft all experience too ; for the council Sinuef-
fanum (as it faid) was convened to take cognifance
of Pope Marcellinus ; and divers councils were
held at Rome to give judgment in the caufes of
Damafus, Sixtus the Hid. Symmachus, and Leo III.
and IV. as is to be feen in Platina, and the Tomes
of the councils. And it is no anfwer to this and
the like allegations to fay in matters of fact and
human conftitution, the Pope may be judged by
a council, but in matters of faith all the world
muft ftand to the Pope's determination and au
thoritative decifion : For if the Pope can by any
colour pretend to any thing, it is to a fupreme
judicature in matters ecclefiaftical, pofitive and of
fact ; and if he fails in this pretence, he will
hardly hold up his head for any thing elfe ; for
the ancient bifhops derived their faith from the
fountain, and held that in the higheft tenure,
even from Chrift their head ; but by reafon of
the imperial * city it became the principal feat,
and he furprized the higheft judicature, partly by
the conceffion of others, partly by his own acciden
tal advantages, and yet even in thefe things altho'
he was major fingulis, yet he was minor univerfis. t

t Epift. 162. ad Gloiium.
* Vide Concil. Chalced aft. 1 5.
I Aft. ult. can. 21.

And

§.6. of Councils ecclefiaftical. 145
And this is no more than what was decreed of the
eighth general fynod ; which if it be fenfe, is per
tinent to this queftion ; for general councils are
appointed to take cognizance of queftions and
differences • about the bifhop of Rome, non tamen
audacler in ev.m ferre fententiam : By audacler, as is
fuppofed, is meant pracipitanter haltily and nnrea-
fonably ; but if to give fentence againft him be
wholly forbidden, it is nonfenfe, for to what pur
pofe is an authority of taking cognizance, if they
have no power of giving fentence, unlefs it were
to defer it to a fuperior judge, which in this cafe
cannot be fuppofed ? for either the Pope himfelf
is to judge his own caufe after their examination
of him, or the general council is to judge hirn :
So that although the council is by that decree en
joined to proceed modeftly and warily, yet they
may proceed to fentence, or elfe the decree is ridi
culous and impertinent.
V. But to clear all, I will inftance in matters
of queftion and opinion : For not only fome coun
cils have made their decrees without or againft
the Pope, but fome councils have had the Pope's
confirmation, and yet have not been the more le
gitimate or obligatory, but are known to be he
retical. For the canons of the fixth fynod, altho'
fome of them were made againft the Popes, and
the cuftom of the church of Rome, a Pope a
while after did confirm the council, and yet the
canons are impious and heretical, andfoefieemed
by the church of Rome herfelf. I inftance in the
fecond canon, which approves of that fynod of
Carthage under Cyprian for rebaptization of here
ticks, and the 72d canon that diffolves marriage
between perfons of differing perfuafion in matters
of chriftian religion •, and yet thefe canons were
approved by Pope Adrian I. who in his epiftle to
Tharaftus, which is in the fecond action of the
L feventh

146 Of the uncertainty §-6.
feventh fynod calls them Canones divine £5? legaliter
pradicatos. And thefe canons were ufed by Pope
Nicholas I. in his epiftle ad Michaelem, and by
Innocent III. c. a multis. extra, de atat. ordinandorum.
So that now (that we may apply this) there are
feven general councils which by the church of
Rome are condemned of error. The * council of
Antioch, A. D. 345. in which St. Athanafius was
condemned: The council of Millaine, A. D. 354.
of above 300 bifhops : The council of Ariminum,
conflfting of 600 bifhops : The fecond -h council
of Ephefus, A. D. 449. in which the Eutychian he
refy was confirmed, and the patriarch Flavianus
killed by the faction of Diofcorus : The council of
Conftantinople under Leo Ifaurus, A. D. 730 : And
another at Conftantinople 35 years after : and laftly,
the council of Pifa 134 years fince. Now that
thefe general councils are condemned, is a fuffi
cient argument that councils may err ; and it is
no anfwer to fay they were not confirmed by the
Pope ; for the Pope's confirmation I have fhewn
not to be neceffary, or if it were, yet even that
alfo is an argument that general councils may be
come invalid, either by their own fault, or by
fome extrinfecal fupervening accident, either of
which evacuates their authority ; and whether all
that is required to the legitimation of a council,
was actually obferved in any council, is fo hard
to determine, that no man can be infallibly fure
that fuch a council is authentick and fufficient
probation. VI. 2. And that is the fecond thing I fhall ob
ferve, there are fo many queftions concerning the
* Vide Socrat. 1. 2. c. 5. & Sozom. I. 3. c. 5.
_t Gregor. in Regift. lib. 3. cauf. 7. ait. concilium Numi-
diae erraffe. Concilium Aquifgrani erravit. De raptore & rapta
dift. 20. can de iibellis. ingloffa. efficient,

§.6. of Councils ecclefiaftical. 147
efficient, the form, the matter of general councils,
and their manner of proceeding, and their final
fanction, that after a queftion is determin'd by aeon -
ciliary affembly, there are perhaps 20 more quef
tions to be difputed before we can with confidence
either believe the council upon its mere authority,
or obtrude it upon others. And upon this ground,
how eafy it is to elude the preffure of an argument
drawn from the authority of a general council, is
very remarkable in the queftion about the Pope's
or the council's fuperiority, which queftion al
though it be defined for the council againft the
Pope by five general councils, the council of
Florence, of Conftance, oi Bafil, of Pifa, and one of
the Lateran's, yet the jefuits to this day, account
this queftion pro non definita, and have rare pre^
tences for their efcape ; as firft, It is true, a coun
cil is above a Pope, in cafe there be no Pope, or
he uncertain ; which is Bellarmine's anfwer, never
confidering whether he fpake fenfe or no, nor yet
remembering that the council of Bafil depofed Eu-
genius who was a true Pope and fo acknowledged.
Secondly, fometimes the Pope did not confirm thefe
councils, that's their anfwer : (and although it was
an exception that the fathers never thought of, when
they were preffed with the authority of the council
of Ariminum or Syrmium, or any other Arrian con
vention ;) yet the council of Bafil was convened by
Pope Martin V. then, in its fixteenth feffion, de
clared by Eugenius the IVth, to be lawfully conti
nued and confirmed exprefsly in fome of its de
crees by Pope Nicholas, and fo flood till it was at
laft rejected by Leo X. very many years after ;
but that came too late, and with too vifible an
intereft ; and this council did decree fide Catholica
tenendum Concilium eje fupra Papam : but if one
Pope confirms it, and another rejects it, as it hap
pened in this cafe and in many more, does it not
L 2 deftroy

148 Of the uncertainty §. 6.
deftroy the competency of the authority ? and
we fee it by this inftance, that it fo ferve.s the
turns of men, that it is good in fome cafes, that
is, when it makes for them, and invalid when it
makes againft them. Thirdly, but it is a little
more ridiculous in the cafe of the council of
Conftance, whofe decrees were confirmed by Martin
V. But that this may be no argument againft
them, Bellarmine tells you he only confirm'd thofe
things qua facia fuerant conciliariter, re diligent er
examinata, of which there being no mark, nor any
certain rule to judge it, it is a device that may
evacuate any thing we have a mind to, it was not
done Conciliariter, that is, not according to our
mind ; for Conciliariter is a fine new nothing, that
may fignify what you pleafe. Fourthly, but other
devices yet more pretty they have : As, whether
the council of Lateran was a general council or
no, they know not, nor will know) which is a
wife and plain refervation of their own advan
tages, to make it general or not general, as fhall
ferve their turns. Fifthly, as for the council of
Florence, they are not fure, whether it hath defi
ned the queftion fatis aperte ; aperte they will
grant, if you will allow them not fatis aperte.
Sixthly and daftly, the council of Pifa is neque
approbatum neque reprobatum, which is the greateft
folly of all and moft prodigious vanity ; fo that
by fomething or other, either they were not con
vened lawfully, or they did not proceed Conci
liariter, or it is not certain that the council was
general or no, or whether the council were appro
batum, or reprobatum, or elfe it is partim confirma-
tum partim reprobatum, or elfe it is, neque approba
tum neque reprobatum ; by one of thefe ways or a
device like to thefe, all councils and all decrees
* Bellar. de cone. I. i. c. 8. fhall

§.6. of Councils ecclefiaftical. 149
fhall be made to fignify nothing, and to have no
authority. ,
VII. 3. There is no general council that deter
mined that a general council is infallible : no
fcripture hath recorded it, no tradition univerfai
hath tranfmitted to us any fuch propofition ; fo
that we muft receive the authority at a lower rate,
and upon a lefs probability than the things con
figned by that authority. And it is ftrange that
the decrees of councils fhould be efteemed au-
thentick and infallible, and yet it is not infallibly
certain, that the councils themfelves are infallible,
becaufe the belief of the council's infallibility is
not proved to us by any medium, but fuch as
may deceive us.
VIII. 4. But the beft inftance that councils are
fome and may all be deceived, is the contradic
tion of one council to another ; for in that cafe
both cannot be true, and which of them is true,
muft belong to another judgment, which is lefs
than the folemnity of a general council ; and the
determination of this matter can be of no greater
certainty after it is concluded, than when it was
propounded as a queftion, being it is to be de
termined by the fame authority or by a 'ds than
itfelf. But for this allegation, we cannot want
inftances ; the council of Trent' allows picturing of
God the father -, the council of * Nice altogether
difallows it; the fame -f Nicene council, which was
the feventh general, allows of picturing Chrift in
the form of a lamb ; but the fixth fynod by no
means will endure it, as Caranza affirms-: the
council of Neocafarea confirmed by t Leo IV.
dift. 20. de libellis, and approved by the firft Ni
cene council as it is. faid in the feventh feffica of
the council of Florence, forbids fecbncl marriares
* Self. 25. f Aft. 2. t Can. 82.
L 3 ..<- -•

r5° Of the uncertainty §. 6.
and impofes penances on them that are married
the fecond time, forbidding priefts to be prefent
at fuch marriage feafts : befides, that this is ex-
prefsly againft the doctrine of St. Paul, it is alfo
againft the doctrine of the council of * Laodicea,
which took off fuch penances, and pronounced
fecond marriages to be free and lawful : nothing
is more difcrepant than the third council oi Car
thage and the council of Laodicea, about affigna-
tion of the canon of fcripture, and yet the fixth
general fynod approves both : and I would fain
know if all general councils are of the fame mind
with the fathers of the council of Carthage, who
reckon into the canon five books oi Solomon. I
am fure St. -f- Auftin reckoned but three, and I
think all Chriftendom befides are of the fame opi
nion. And if we look into the title of the law
de Conciliis, called Concordantia difcordantiarum, we
fhall find inftances enough to confirm that the
decrees of fome councils are contradictory to,
others, and that no wit can reconcile them : And
whether they did or no, that they might difagree,
and former councils be corrected by later, was the
belief of the doctors in thofe ages in which the beft
and moft famous councils were convened, as ap
pears in that famous faying of St. Auftin fpeaking
concerning the rebaptizing of hereticks ; and
how much the Africans were deceived in that
queftion, he anfwers the allegation of the bifhops
letters, and thofe national councils which con
firmed St., % Cyprian's opinion, by faying that they
were no final determination. For Epifcoporum li
ter a emendari pofjunt a conciliis nationalibus, Concilia
nationalia a plenariis, ipfaque plenaria prior a a pofte-
rioribus emendari. Not only the occafion of the
Cap. i. f Lib. 17. de cul. Dei. cap. 20. J Lib. 2. de
bapt. Doaat. c. 3. queftion

§.6. of Councils ecclefiafiical. 151
queftion being a matter not of fact, but of faith,
as being inftanced in the queftion of rebaptiza-
t on : but alfo the very fabrick and ceconomy of
the words, put by all the anfwers of thofe men who
think themfelves prefled with the authority of St.
Auftin. For as national councils may correct the
bifhops letters, and general councils may correct
national, fo the later general may correct the for
mer, that is, have contrary and better decrees of
manners, and better determinations in matters of
faith. And from hence hath arifen a queftion,
whether is to be received the former or the later
councils, in cafe they contradict each other. The
former are nearer the fountains apoftolical, the
later are of greater confideration ; the firft, have
more authority, the later more reafon ; the firft
are more venerable, the later more inquifitive
and feeing. And now what rule fhall we have to
determine our beliefs, whether to authority, or
reafon, the reafon and the authority both of them
not being the higheft in their kind, both of them
being repudiable, and at moft but probable ?
And here it is that this great uncertainty is fuch
as not to determine any body, but fit to ferve
every body ; and it is fport to fee that Bellarmine
will by all means have the council of * Carthage
preferred before the council of Laodicea, becaufe
it is later, and yet he prefers the fecond Nicene
council -f- before the council of Frankfort, becaufe
it is elder : St. Auftin would have the former ge
nerals to be mended by the latter ; but \ Ifidore
in Gratian fays when councils do differ ftandum eje
antiquioribus^ the elder muft carry it : And indeed
thefe probables are bufkins to ferve every foot,
and they are like magnum £5? parvum, they have
* Lib. 2. de Concil. cap. 8. §. relpondeo in primis.
+ Ibid. fccL de Concilio autem. % Dift. 20. can. domino
Sanifto. 1 4 4 nothing

152 Of the uncertainty §-6.
nothing of their own, all that they have is in com-
parifon of others ; fo thefe topicks have nothing
of refolute and dogmatical truth, but in relation
to fuch ends as an interefted perfon hath a mind
to ferve upon them.
IX. 5. There are many councils corrupted,
and many pretended and alledged, when there
were no fuch things, both which make the topick
of the authority of councils to be little and incon-
fiderable : There is a council brought to light in
the edition of councils by Binius, viz. Sinuejanum,
pretended to be kept in the year 303, but it was
fo private till then, that we find no mention of it
in any ancient record : Neither Eufebius, nor Ruffi-
nus, St. Hierom, nor Socrates, Sozomen, nor Theodoret,
nor Eutropius, nor Bede, knew any thing of it,
and the eldeft allegation of it is by pope Nicho
las I. in the ninth century. And he that fhall
confider that 300 bifhops in the midft of horrid
perfecutions (for fo then they were) are pretended
to have convened, will need no greater argument
to fufpect the impofture ; befides, he that was the
framer of the engine did not lay his ends together
handfomely, for it is faid that the depofition of
Marcellinus by the fynod was told to Diocleftan,
when he was ( in the Perftan war, when as it is
known before that time he had returned to Rome,
and triumphed for his Perftan conqueft, as Eufebius
in- his chronicle reports : And this is fo plain that
Binius and Baronius pretend the text to be cor
rupted, and to go to * mend it by fuch an emen
dation, as is a plain contradiction to the fenfe, and
thatfo un-clerk-like, viz. by putting in two words
and leaving out one, which whether it may be
* Pro [cum eflet in bello Perfarum] legi volunt [cum rever-
fus efiet e bello Perfarum] Eufeb. Cbronicon.'-vide Binium in*
natis ad Concil. Sin-vejfanum. torn I. Concil. & Baron. Annal,
torn, 3. A.D. 303. num.jof. allowed

§.6. of Councils ecclefiaftical. 153
allowed them by any licence lefs than poetical let
criticks judge. St. Gregory f faith that the Con-
ftantinopolitans had corrupted the fynod of Chalce-
don, and that he fufpected the fame concerning the
Epheftne council : And in the fifth fynod there
was a notorious prevarication, for there were
falfe epiftles of pope Vigilius and Menna the patri
arch of Conftantinople inferted, and fo they paffed
for authentick till they were difcovered in the
fixth general fynod, Aclions the 12. and 14 : And
not only falfe decrees and actions may creep into
the codes of councils ; but fometimes the authority
of a learned man may abufe the church with pre
tended decrees, of which there is no copy or
fhadow in the code itfelf: And thus Thomas AqMi-
nas fays J, that the epiftle to the Hebrews v/as
reckoned in the canon by the Nicene council, no
fhadow of which appears in thofe copies we now
have of it ; and this pretence and the reputation
of the man prevailed fo far with Melchior Canus
the learned bifhop of Canaries, that he believed it
upon this ground, Fir fanclus rem adeo gravem non
aftrueret, nifi compertum habuiffet ; and there are
many things which have prevailed upon lefs rea
fon and a more flight authority. And that very
council of Nice, hath not only been pretended by
Aquinas, but very much abufed by others, and its
authority and great reputation hath made it more
liable to the fraud and pretences of idle people :
For whereas the Nicene fathers made but twenty
canons, for fo many and no more were received
by " Cecilian oi Carthage, who was at Nice in the
council ; by St. b Auftin, and 200 African bifhops
with him, by St. - Cyrill of Alexandria, by d Atti-
f L. 5. Ep. n. ad Narfem. % Comment, in Hebr.
3 Con. Carthag. VI. cap. 9. b Con. African. c Ibid. c. 102,
& c, 1 3 3 . <> Lib. 1 . Ecci. Hift, c. 6. cus

1 54 Of the uncertainty §. 6.
cus oi Conftantinople, by Ruffinus, " Ifidore and Theo
doret, as f Baronius witneffes, yet there are four-
fcore lately found out in an Arabian M. S. and
publifhed in Latin by Turrian and Alfonfus oi Pifa
jefuits furely, and like to be matters of the mint.
And not only the canons, but the very acts of
the Nicene council are falfe and fpurious and are
fo confeffed by Baronius ; though how he and
8 Lindanus will be reconciled upon the point, I
neither know well, nor much care. Now if one
council be corrupted, we fee by the inftance of
St. Gregory, that another may be fufpected and fo
all ; becaufe he found the council of Chalcedon
corrupted, he fufpected alfo the Epheftne, and ano
ther might have fufpected more, for the Nicene
was tampered foully with, and fo three of the four
generals were fullied and made fufpicious, and
therefore we could not be fecure of any ; if falfe
acts be inferted in one council, who can truft the
actions of any, unlefs he had the keeping the re
cords himfelf, or durft fwear for the regifter :
And if a very learned man (as Thomas Aquinas
was,) did either wilfully deceive us, or was him
felf ignorantly abufed in allegation of a canon
which was not, it is but a very fallible topick
at the beft, and the moft holy man that is,
may be abufed himfelf, and the wifeft may de
ceive others.
X. 6. And laftly, To all this and to the former
inftances, by way of corollary, I add fome more
particulars in which it is notorious that councils
general, and national, that is, fuch as were either
general by original, or by adoption into the ca
non of the catholick church did err, and were ac
tually deceived. The firft council of Toledo admits
' In princ. Con. de Synod. Princ. { Baronius, torn. 3.
A. D. 325. n. 156. torn. 3. ad A. D. 32c. n. 62, (,¦%.
¦i Panopl. 1. 2. c. 6. * to

§.6. of Councils ecclefiaftical. 155
to the communion him that hath a concubine, fo
he have no wife befides, and this council is ap
proved by pope Leo in the Q2d epiftle to Rufticus
bifhop of Narbona : Gratian fays that the council
means by a concubine, a wife married fine dote (3
folennitate; but this is daubing with untempered
mortar. For though it was a cuftom among the
Jews to diftinguifh wives from their concubines
by dowry and ;legal folennities, yet the chriftian
diftinguifhed them no otherwife, than as lawful
and unlawful, than as chaftity and fornication :
And befides,, if by a concubine is meant a lawful
wife without a dowry, to what purpofe fhould
the council make a law that fuch a one might be
admitted to the communion ? for I fuppofe it was
never thought to be a law of chriftianity, that a
man fhould have a portion with his wife, nor he
that married a poor virgin fhould deferve to be
excommunicate. So that Gratian and his fol
lowers are preft fo with this canon, that to avoid
the impiety of it, they expound it to a fignifica-
tion without fenfe or purpofe. But thebufinefs
then was, that adultery was fo publick and no
torious a practice that the council did chufe rather
to endure fimple fornication, that by fuch per-
miffion of a lefs, they might flacken the publick
cuftom of a greater, juft as at Rome they permit
ftews to prevent unnatural fins ; but that by a
publick fanction fornicators, habitually and notO-
rioufly fuch, fhould be admitted to the holy com
munion was an act of priefts, fo unfit for priefts,
that no excufe can make it white or clean. The
council of Wormes * does authorize a fuperftitious
cuftom at that time too much ufed, of difcovering
ftolen goods by the holy facrament, which Aqui
nas -j- juftly condemns for fuperftition. The
J Dift. 34. can. omnibus. • Cap. 3. f Part. 3. q. 80. a
6. ad 3 m. ,
fixth

156 Of the uncertainty §.6.
fixth fynod * feparates perfons lawfully married
upon an accufation of herefy : The Roman
council 'under -f pope Nicholas II. defined that
not only the facrament of Chrift's body, but
the very body itfelf of our bleffed Saviour is
handled and broke by the hands of the prieft, .
and chewed by the teeth of the communicants,
which is a manifeft error derogatory from the
truth of Chrift's beatifical refurrection, and glori
fication in the heavens, and difavowed by the'
church of Rome itfelf: But Bellarmine § who an-
fwers all the arguments in the world, whether it
be poffible or not poflible, would fain make the
matter fair, and the decree tolerable : for, fays he,
the decree means that the body is broken not in
itfelf but in the fign, and yet the decree fays that
. not only the facrament (which if any thing be, is
certainly the fign) but the very body itfelf is
broken and champed with hands and teeth refpec
tively ; which indeed was nothing but a plain
over- acting the article in contradiction to Beren-
garius. And the anfwer of Bellarmine is not fenfe ;
for he denies that the body itfelf is broken in it
felf (that was the error we charged upon the Ro
man fynod) and the fign abftracting from the
body is not broken, (for that was the opinion
that council condemned in Berengarius) but fays
Bellarmine, the body in the fign : What's that ?
for neither the fign, nor the body, nor both to
gether are broken : For if either of them dif-
tinctly, they either rufh upon the error which the
Roman fynod condemned in Berengarius, or upon
that which they would fain excufe in pope Nicho
las -, but if both are broken then 'tis true to af
firm it of either, and then the council is blafphe-
Can. 77. f Can. ego Bcrengar. de confecrat. dift. z.
§ Lib. 2. c. 8. de Conoil."
mou

§. j. of Councils ecclefiaftical. 157
mous in faying that Chrift's glorified body is paf-
fible and fringible by natural manducation : So
that it is and it is not, it is not this way, and yet
it is no way elfe, but it is fome way, and they
know not how, and the council fpoke blafphemy,
but it muft be made innocent ; and therefore, it
was requifite a cloud of a diftinction fhould be
raifed, that the unwary reader might be amufed,
and the decree fcape untouched ; but the truth is,
they that undertake to juftify all that other men
fay, muft be more fubtie than they who faid it,
and muft ufe fuch diftinctions which poflibly
the firft authors did not underftand. But I will
multiply no more inftances, for what inftance
foever I fhall bring, fome or other will be an-
fwering it, which thing is fo far from fatisfying
me in the particulars, that it encreafes the diffi
culty in the general, and fatisfies me in my firft
belief: For * if no decrees of councils can make
againft them though they feem never fo plain
againft them, then let others be allowed the fame
liberty, (and there is all the reafon in the world
they fhould) and no decree fhall conclude againft
any doctrine, that they have already entertained -,
and by this means the church is no fitter inftru-
n^ent to decree controverfies, than the fcripture it
felf, there being as much obfcurity and difputing
in the fenfe, and the manner, and the degree, and
the competency, and the obligation of the decree
of a council, as of a place of fcripture. And what
are we the nearer for a decree, if any fophifter
fhall think his elufion enough to conteft againft
the authority of a council ? yet this they do, who
pretend higheft for their authority, which confi-
* Ilia demum eis videntur edifta & Concilia, qux in rem
fpam faciunt ; reliqua non pluris aeftimant quam ennventum
muliercularum in textrina vel thermis. Ludo, Fives, in fchshis
lib. 20. Aug. ds Civit. Dei. C. 26. deration

158 Of the uncertainty §.6.
deration or fome like it might poffibly make Gra
tian prefer St. Hierom's fingle teftimony before a
whole council, becaufe he had fcripture of his
fide ; which fays, that the authority of councils
is not dutoTria-cG^, and that councils may poffi
bly recede from their rule, from fcripture ; and in
that cafe, a fingle perfon proceeding according to
rule is a better argument ; which indeed was the
faying of Panormitan, in concernentibus fidem etiam
diclum unius privdti ejet diclo Papa aut totius concilii
praferendum,fi ilk mover etur melioribus argumentis.
XL I end this difcourfe with reprefenting the
words of Gregory Nazianzen in his epiftle * to Pro-
copius ; ego fi vera f crib ere oportet, ita animo ajetlus
fum, ut omnia epifcoporum concilia fugiam, quoniam
nullius concilii finem latum fauftumque vidi, nee quod
depulftonem malorum potius quam accejwnem £3 incre-
mentum habuerit : But I will not be fo fevere and
dogmatical againft them : For I believe many
councils to have been called with fufficient autho
rity, to have been managed with fingular piety
and prudence, and to have been finifhed with ad
mirable fuccefs and truth. And where we find
fuch councils, he that will not with all veneration
believe their decrees, and receive their fanctions,
underftands not that great duty he owes to them
who have the care of our fouls, whofe faith we
are bound to follow -f- (faith St. Paul) that is fo long
as they follow Chrift, and certainly many coun
cils have done fo : But this was then when the
publick intereft of Chriftendom was better con
ferved in determining a true article, than in find
ing a difcreet temper, or a wife expedient to fa-
X 36. q. 2. c. placuit.
|| Part. 1. de election. Et ElecLpoteft. cap. figni ficafti.
* Athanaf. lib. de Synod. Fruftra igitur circumcurfitantes
prxtexunt ob (idem fe Synodos poftularc, cum fit Divina
Sriptura omnibus potentior. -j- Heb. 13. 7. tisfy

§.6. of Councils ecclefiaftical. 15
tisfy difagreeing perfons ; (as the fathers at Trent
did, and the Lutherans and Cahinifts did at Sen-
domir in Polonia ; and the Sublapfarians and Supra-
lapfarians did at Dort :) It was in ages when the
fum of religion did not confifl in maintaining the
Grandezza of the papacy ; where there was no or
der of men with a fourth vow upon them to ad
vance St. Peter's chair ; when there was no man
nor any company of men, that efteemed them
felves infallible, and therefore they fearched for
truth as if they meant to find it, and would be
lieve it if they could fee it proved, not refoived
to prove it becaufe they had upon chance or inte
reft believed it ; then they had rather have fpoken
a truth, than upheld their reputation, but only in
order to truth. This was done fometimes, and
when it was done, God's Spirit never failed them,
but gave them fuch afliftances as were fufficient
to that good end for which they were affembled,
and did iniplore his aid : And therefore it is that
the four general councils fo called by way of emi-
nency, have gained fo great a reputation above all
others, not becaufe they had a better promife, or
more fpecial afliftances, but becaufe they had pro
ceeded better according to the rule, with lefs fac
tion, without ambition and temporal ends.
XII. And yet thofe very affemblies of bifhops
had no authority by their decrees to make a divine
faith, or to conftitute new objects of neceffary
credence ; they made nothing true that was not fo
before, and therefore they are to be apprehended
in the nature of excellent guides, and whofe de
crees are moft certainly to determine all thofe
who have no argument to the contrary, of greater
force and efficacy than the authority or reafons of
the council. And there is a duty owing to every
parifh priefl, and to every diocefan bifhop ; thefe
are appointed over us and to anfwer for our fouls, and

160 Of the uncertainty " §.6.
and are therefore morally to guide us as reafon
able creatures are to. be guided, that is, by reafon
and difcourfe : For in things of judgment and
underftanding, they are but in form next above
beafts, who are to be ruled by the imperioufnefs
and abfolutenefs of authority, unlefs the authority
be divine, that is, infallible., Now then in a
jufter height, but flill in its true proportion, af-
femblies of bifhops are fo guide us with a higher
authority, becaufe in reafon it is fuppofed they
will do it better, with more argument and cer
tainty, and with decrees, which have the advan
tage, by being the refults of many difcourfes of
very wife and good men : But that the authority
of general councils, was never efteemed abfolute,
infallible, and unlimited, appears in this, that be
fore they were obliging, it was neceffary that each
particular church refpectively fhould accept them,
Concurrent e univerfali totius ecclefia confenfu^&c. in
declaratione veritatum qua credenda funt, £5^1 That
is the way of making the decrees of councils be
come authentick, and be turned into a law, as
Gerfon obferves ; and till they did, their decrees
were but a dead letter (and therefore it is that
thefe later Popes have fo laboured, that the coun
cil of Trent fhould be received in France ; and
Carolus Molineus a great lawyer, and of the Ro
man communion, difputed * againft the recep
tion,) and this is a known condition in th6 canon
law, but it proves plainly that the decrees of
councils have their authority from the voluntary
fubmiffion of the particular churches, not from
the prime fanction and conflitution of the coun
cil. And there is great reafon it fhould ; for as
t Vid.St. Augufi. 1. 1. c. 18. de bapt. contr. Donat.
So did the third cftate of France in the convention
of the three eftates under Lewis XHIth earneftly contend
againft it. the

§. 6\ of Councils ecclefiaftical 1.61
the reprefentative body of the church derives all
power from the diffufive body which is reprefented,
fo it refolves into it, and though it may have all
the legal power, yet it hath not all the natural ;
for more able men may be unfent, than fent ; and
they who are fent may be wrought upon by flra-
tagem, which cannot happen to the whole diffu
five church ; it is therefore moft fit that fince the
legal power, that is, the external was paffed over
to the body reprefentative, yet the efficacy of it,
and the internal fhould fo flill remain in the diffu
five, as to have power to confider whether their
reprefentatives did their duty yea or no ; and fo
to proceed accordingly : For unlefs it be in matters
of juftice, in which the intereft of a third perfon
is concerned, no man will or can be fuppofed to
pafs away all power from himfelf of doing himfelf
right, in matters perfonal, proper, and of fo high
concernment : It is moft unnatural and unreafon
able. But befides, that they are excellent inftru-
ments of peace, the beft human judicatories in
the world, rare fermons for the determining a
point in controverfy, and the greateft probability
from human authority, befides thefe advantages
(I fay) I know nothing greater that general coun
cils can pretend to with reafon and argument fuf
ficient to fatisfy any wife man : And as there was
never any council fo general, but it might have
been more general ; for in refped of the whole
church, even Nice itfelf was but a fmall affembly;
fo there is no decree fo well conftituted, but it
may be proved by an argument higher than the
authority of the council : And therefore generail
councils, and national, and provincial and dio-
cefan in their feveral degrees, are excellent guides
for the prophets and diredtions and inftructions
for their prophefyings, but not of weight and au
thority to reftrain their- liber ry fo wholly, but that
M they

1 62 Of the fallibility §.7.
they may diflent when they fee a reafon ftrong
enough to perfuade them, as to be willing upon
the confidence of that reafon and their own fince -
rity, to anfwer to God far fuch their modefty,
and peaceable, but (as they believe) their necef
fary difagreeing.

SECT. VII.
Of the fallibility of the Pope, and the uncertainty of
his expounding fcripture, and refolving queftions.
I. TJ U T fince the queftion between the Coun-
fj cii and the Pope grew high, there have
not wanted abettors fo confident on the Pope's
behalf, as to believe general councils to be no
thing but pomps and folennities of the catholick
church, arid that all the authority of determining
controverfies is formally and effectually in the
Pope. And therefore to appeal from the pope to
a future council is a herefy, yea, and treafon too
faid Pope Pius II *. and therefore it concerns us
now to be wife and wary. But before I proceed,
1 muft needs remember that fPope Pius II. while
he was the wife and learned Mneas Sylvius, was
very confident for the pre-eminence of a council,
and gave a merry reafon why more clerks were
for the popes than the council, though the truth
was on the other fide, even becaufe the Pope
gives bifhopricks and abbeys, but councils give
none; and yet as foon as he was made Pope, as
if he had been infpired, his eyes were open to fee
* Epift. ad Norimberg.
T Patrum & avorum noftrorum tempore pauci audebant
dicere Papam efle fupra Concilium. /. i. degeftis Concil. Bafil. the

§. j. of the Pope. 163
the great privileges of St. Peter's chair, which be
fore he could not fee, being amnfed with the
truth, or elfe with the reputation of a general
council. But however, there are many who hope
to make it good, that the Pope is the Univerfai
and the infallible doctor, that he breathes decrees
zc. oracles, that to diflent from any of his cathe
dral determinations is abfolute herefy, the rule of
faith being nothing elfe but conformity to the
chair of Peter. So that here we have met a re-
ftraint of prophecy indeed ; but yet to make
amends, I hope we fhall have an infallible guide,
and when a man is hi heaven, he will never com
plain that his choice ii taken from him, and that
he is confined to love and to admire, fince his
love and his admiration is fixed, upon that which
makes him happy, even upon God himfelf. And
in the church of Rome there is in a lpwer degree,
but in a true proportion, as little Caufe to be trou
bled, that we are confined to believe juft fo, arid
no choice left us for our underftandings to difco-
ver, or our wills to chufe, becaufe though we be
limited, yet we are pointed out where we ought
to reft, we are confined to our center, and there
where our underftandings, wili be fatisfied, ahd
therefore will be quiet, and where after all our
ilrivings, ftudies and endeavours we defire to
come, that is, to truth, for there .we are fecured
to find it, becaufe we have a guide that is infal
lible : If this prove true, we are well enough.
But if it be falfe or uncertain, it were better
we had ftill kept our liberty, than be cozened
out of it with gay pretences. This then we
muft confider.
II. And here we fhall be opprefled with a
cloud of witneffes : For what more plain than
the commiffion given to Peter t Thoie ftrt Peter,
and upon this Rock will I build my church. Arid t0
M % thee

1 64 Of the fallibility %. 7.
thee will I give the keys. And again, for thee have
I prayed that thy faith fail not ; but thou when thou
art converted, confirm thy brethren ; and again, If
thou loveft me, feed my fheep : now nothing of this
being fpoken to any other of the apoftles, by one
of thefe places St. Peter muft needs be appointed
foundation or head of the church, and by confe
quence he is to rule and govern all. By fome
other of thefe places he is made the fupreme
paftor, and he is to teach and determine all, and
enabled with an infallible power fo to do : and in
a right underftanding of thefe authorities, the
fathers fpeak great things of the chair of Peter -,
for we are as much bound to believe that all this
was fpoken to Peter's fucceflbrs, as to his perfon ;
that muft by all means be fuppofed, and fo did
the old doctors, who had as much certainty of it
as we have, and no more •, but yet let us hear
what they have faid, * To this church hy reafon of
its more powerful principality, it is necejary all churches
round about fhould convene :  In this, tradition
apoftolical always was obferved, and therefore to com
municate with this bifhop with this -f church, was to
be in communion with the church catholick :  J To
this church error or ptrfidioufnefs cannot have accefs.
 § Againft this fea the gates of hell cannot pre
vail :  ** For we know this church to be built
upon a rock :  And whoever eats the lamb not
within this houfe, is prophane ; be that is not in
the ark of Noah perifhes in the inundation of waters.
He that gathers not with this bifhop, he feat ters ; and
he that belongeth not to Chrift, muft needs belong to An-
tichrift. And that is his final fentence : But if
* Irenae. contra, hasref. 1. 3. c. 3.
t Ambr. de obitu Salyri, & 1. i . Ep. 4. ad Imp. Cyprian.
Ep. 52. t Cypr. Ep. 55. ad Cornel.
§ St. Auftin. in Pfal. contra, partem. Donat.
*¦* Hieron. Ep. 57. ad Damafum. you

§. j. of the Pope. i6$
you would have all this proved by an infallible
argument, * Optatus of Milevis in Africa fupplies
it to us from the very name of Peter : For there
fore Chrift gave him the cognomination of Cephas
diro ths xitpaAns, to fhew that St. Peter was
the vifible head of the catholick church. Dignum
patella operculum ! This long harangue muft needs
be full of tragedy to all them who take liberty
to themfelves to follow fcripture and their beft
guides, if it happens in that liberty that they de
part from the perfuafions or the communion of
Rome : But indeed, if with the peace of the bifhops ,
of Rome I may fay it, this fcene is the moft un-
handfomely laid, and the worft carried of any
of thofe pretences that have lately abufed Chrif
tendom. III. i. Againft the allegations of fcripture, I
fhall lay no greater prejudice than this, that if a
perfon difinterefted fhould fee them, and confider
what the produds of them might poffibly be, the
laft thing that he would think of, would be how
that any of thefe places fhould ferve the ends or
pretences of the church of Rome : For to inftance
in one of the particulars, that man had need have
a ftrong fancy who imagines, that becaufe Chrift
prayed for St. Peter, that (being he had defigned
him to be one of thofe upon whofe preaching
and dodrine he did mean to conftitute a church)
that his faith might not fail, (for it was neceffary
that no bitternefs or ftopping fhould be in one of
the firft fprings, left the current be eirher fpoiled
or obftruded) that therefore the faith of Pope
Alexander VI. or Gregory, or Ckmeni 1500 years
after, fhould be preferved by virtue of that prayer,
which the form of words, the time, the occafion,
the manner of the addrefs, the effed itfelf, and.
* L. 2. contra. Parmenian.
M 3 ail

1 66 Of the fallibility §.7.
all the circumftances of the adion and perfon did
determine to be perfonal : And when it was more
than perfonal, St. Peter did not reprefent his fuc-
ceffors at * Rome, but the whole catholick church,
fays Aquinas and the divines of the univerfity of
Paris, -j- Volunt enim pro fata Ecclefia eje oratum,
fays Bellarmine oi them, and the glofs upon the
canon law plainly denies the effed of this prayer
at all to appertain to the Pope : £$gare de qua Ec
clefia. intelUgas quod hie dicitur quod non pojfit errare,
ft de ipfo Papa qui ecclefia dicitur t fed certum eft
quod Papa: errare pot eft :  Refpondeo ipfa cangre-
gatio fidelium hie dicitur Ecclefia, & 'talis Ecclefia
non poteft non eje, nam ipfe Dominus orat pro Becle-
fia, et voluntate labiorum fuorum non fra/udabitur.
But there is. a little danger in this argument when
we well confider it ; but it is likely to redound
on the head of them whofe turns it fhould ferve :
for it may be remembered that for all this prayer
of Chrift for St. Peter, the good man fell foully,,
and denied his mafter fhamefully : And fhall
Chrift's prayer be of greater efficacy for his fuc-
ceffors, for whom it was made but indiredly and
by confequence, than for himfelf, for whom it
was diredly and in the firft intention ? And if
not, then for all this argument, the Popes may
deny Chrift as well as their cheif and deceffor
Peter. But it would not be forgotten, how tjhe
Roman dodors will by no means allow that St.
Peter was then the chief bifhop or pope, when he
denied his mafter. But then much lefs was he
chofen chief bifhop, when the prayer was made
for him, becaufe the prayer was, made before his
fall ; that is, before that tune in which it is con-
* 22 se. q 2. a, 6. ar. 6, ad. 3 m.' + L, 4. de Roman.
Pont. c. 3. J Cauf. 21. cap. a refta. q. 1. § 29. dift.
Anaftatius. 60. dift. fx Papa, feffed,

§•7- cf the Pope. ifjf
feffed, he was not as yet made Pope : And how
then the whole fucceffion of the papacy fhould be
intided to it, paffes the length of my hand to
fpan. But then alfo if it be fuppofed and allowed
that thefe words fhall intail infallibility upon the
chair of Rome, why fhall not alfo all the apofto
lical fees be infallible as well as Rome ? why fhall
not Conftantinople or Byzantium where St. Andrew
fat ? why fhall not Ephefus where St. John fat ?
or Jerufitlem where St. James fat ? for Chrift
prayed for them all, ttt Pater fanSlificaret eos fua
veritate. John 17.
IV. 2. For [tibi dabo claves,"] was it perfonal
or not ? If it were, then the bifhops oi Rome have
nothing to do with it : If it were not, then by
what argument will it be made evident that St.
Peter, in the promife, reprefented only his fuccef-
fors, and not the whole college of apoftles, and
the whole hierarchy ? for if St. Peter was chief of
the apoftles, and head of the church, he might
fair enough be the reprefentative of the whole
college, and receive it in their right as well as
his own ; which alfo is certain that it was fo, for
the fame promife of binding and loofing, (which
certainly was all that the keys were given for)
was made afterwards to all the apoftles, Mat. 18.
and the power of remitting and retaining which
in reafon and according to the ftile of the church
is the fame thing in other words, was adually
given to all the apoftles, and unlefs that was
the performing the firft and fecond promife, we
find it not recorded in fcripture how or when, or
whether yet or no, the promife be performed :
That promife I fay which did not pertain to Peter
principally and by origination, and to the reft
by communication, fociety and adherence ; but
that promife which was made to Peter firft, but
not for himfelf, but for all the college, and for
M 4 all

1 68 Of the fallibility %; f.
all their fucceflbrs, and then made the fecond
time to them all, without reprefentation, but in
diffufion, and performed to all alike in prefence,
except St. Thomas. And if he went to St. Peter
to derive it from him I know not ; I find no
record for that, but that Chrift conveyed the
promife to him by the fame commiffion, the
church yet never doubted, nor had fhe any rea
fon. But this matter is too notorious: I fay
no more to it, but repeat the words and argu
ment of * St. Auftin, Si hoc Petro tantum diclum
eft, non facit hoc Ecclefia : If the- keys were only
given and fo promifed to St. Peter, that the
church hath not the keys, then the church can
neither bind nor loofe, remit nor retain, which
God forbid ; if any man fhould endeavour to
anfwer this argument, I leave him and St. Auftin
to conteft it.
V. 3. F or pafce oves, there is little in that alle
gation, befides the boldnefs of the objedors •, for
were not all the apoftles bound to feed Chrift's
fheep ? had they not all the commiffion from
Chrift, and Chrift's fpirit immediately ? St. Paul
had certainly ; did not St. Peter himfelf fay to
all the bifhops of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Afia,
and Bithinia, that they fhould feed the flock of
God, and the great bifhop and fhepherd fhould
give them an immarcefcible crown ; plainly im
plying, that from whence they derived their au
thority, from him they were fure of a reward :
In purfuance of which f St. Cyprian laid his ar
gument upon this bafis, Nam cum fiatutum fit om
nibus nobis 13 c. & fingulis pafioribus portio gregis,
£3c. Did not St. Paul call to the bifhops of
Ephefus to feed the flock of God, of which the
holy Ghoft had made them bifhops or overfeers ?
f
* Tra. 50. in Joann. Lib. 1. Epift. 3. and

§.7/ of the Pope^ 169
and that this very commiffion was fpoken to Peter
not in a perfonal, but a publick capacity, and
in him fpoke to all the apoftles, we fee attefted
by St. * Auftin, and St. Ambrofe, and generally by
all- antiquity ; and it fo concerned even every
prieft that Damafus was willing enough to have
St, Hierom explicate many queftions for him.
And Liberius writes an epiftle to Athanafius, with
much modefty requiring his advice in a queftion
of faith, \va xayca 'irS'woi^cci cp aS^taxpitcaSy
•wept w d^ion v,iKivav jjloi. -f That I alfo may
be perfuaded without all doubting, of thofe things
which you fhall be pleafed to command me.
Now Liberius needed not to have troubled him
felf to have writ into the eaft to Athanafius ; fpr
if he had but feated himfelf in his chair, and
made the didate, the refult of his pen and ink
would certainly have taught him and all the
church ; but that the good Pope was ignorant
that either pafce oves was his own charter, and
prerogative, or that any other words of fcripture
had made him to be infallible, or if he was not
ignorant of it, he did very ill to compliment him
felf out of it. So did all thofe bifhops of Rome
who in that troublefome and unprofitable queftion
of Eafter, being unfatisfied in the fupputation of
the Egyptians, and the definitions of the mathe
matical bifhops of Alexandria, did yet require and
intreat $ St. Ambrofe to tell them his opinion, as
he himfelf witneffes ; ii pafce oves belongs only to
the Pope by primary title, in thefe cafes the fheep
came to feed the fhepherd, which though it was
well enough in the thing, is very ill for the pre
tentions of the Roman bifhops ; and if we confider
how little many of the Popes have done towards
* De agone Chrifti. c. 30. f Epift. ad Athan. apud Atha-
saf. torn. 1. pag. 42, Parif. J Lib. 10. Epift. 83. feeding

170 Of the fallibility §.7,
feeding the fheep of chrift, we fhall hardly deter
mine which is the greater prevarication, that the
Pope fhould claim the whole commiffion to be
granted to him, or that the execution of the com
miffion fhould be wholly paffed over to others ;
and it imay be there is a myftery in it, that fince
St. Peter fent a bifhop with his ftaff to raife up a
difciple of his from the dead, who was afterward
Bifhop of Triers, the popes of Rome never wear a
paftoral ftaff except it be in that diocefe (fays
Aquinas *) for great reafon that he who does not
do the office;, fhould not bear the fymbol ; but a
man would think that the Pope's mafter of the
ceremonies was ill advifed, not to affign a paftoral
ftaff to him, who pretends the commiffion of
pafce oves to belong to him by prime right and
origination. But this is not a bufinefs to be
merry in.
VI, But the great fupport is expeded from
Tu es Petrus, & fuper banc Petram adificaba eccle-
fia::i, (3c. Now there being fo great difference in
die expofition of thefe words, by perfons difinte-
refted, who, if any, might be allowed to judge
in this queftion, it is certain that neither one fenfe
nor other can be obtruded for an article of faith,
much lefs as a catholicon inftead of all, by con-
ftituting an authority which fhould guide us in
all faith, and determine us in all queftions :
For if the church was not built upon the perfon
of Peter, then his fucceflbrs can challenge no
thing from this inftance -, now that it was the
confeffion of Peter upon which the church was to
rely for ever, we have witneffes very credible,
t St, Ignatius, J St. Bafil, § St. Hilary, || St.
* M. 4. Sent. dift. 24. -f- Ad Philadelph. t Selcuc.
orat. 25. § Lib; 6. deTrinit. || De Trinitate adverf.
Judaeos. Gregory

§-7« of the Pope, 171
Gregory Nyjen, * St. Gregory the Great, f St.
Auftin, X St. Cyrill oi Alexandria, \\ Ifidore Pelu-
fiot, and very many more. And although all
thefe witneffes concurring cannot make a propo
fition to be true, yet they are fufficient witneffes
that it was not the univerfai belief of Chriften
dom, that the church was built upon St. Peter's
perfon. Cardinal Perron hath a fine fancy to
elude this variety of expofition, and the "confe-
quents of it ; for (faith he) thefe expofitions are
not contrary or exclufive of each other, but in-
elufive and canfequent to each other : for the
church is founded cafually upon the confeffion of
St. Peter, formally upon the miniftry of his per
fon, and this was a reward or a consequent of the
former : So that thefe expofitions are both true,
but they are conjoined as mediate and immediate,
dired and collateral, literal and moral, original
and perpetual, acqeffbry and temporal, the one
configned at the beginning, the other introduced
upon occafion ; for before the fpring of the Ar-
rian herefy, the fathers expounded thefe words of
the perfon of Peter ; but after the Arrians. troubled
them, the fathers finding great authority, and
Energy in this cqnfeffian of Peter, for the eftablifh-
ment of the natural filiation of the fon of God,
to advance the reputation of thefe words and the
force of the argument, gave themfelves licence to
expound thefe words to the prefent advantage,
and to make the confeffion of Peter to be the
foundation of the church, that if the Arrians
fhould encounter this authority, they might with
more prejudice to their perfons declaim againft
their caufe by faying they overthrew the founda
tion of the church. Befides that this anfwer does
muqh difhonour the reputation of the fathers
* L. 3. Ep. 33. f In 1. Eph. Joann. tr. 10. \ De
Trinit. lib. 4. || Lib. s. Eph. 235. integrity,

172 Of the fallibility §.7.'
integrity, and makes their interpretations lefs
credible, as being made not of knowledge or rea
fon, but of neceffity and to ferve a prefent turn, it
is alfo falfe : For *Ignatius expounds it in a fpiri
tual fenfe, which alfo the liturgy attributed to
St. James calls \iri iretpav tns iri^eooi : And
Origen expounds it myftically to a third purpofe,
but exclufively to this : And all thefe were before
theArrian controverfy. But if it be lawful to make
fuch unproved obfervations, it would have been
to better purpofe, and more reafon to have obfer-
ved it thus : the Fathers, fo long as the bifhop of
Rome kept himfelf to the limits prefcribed him by
Chrift, and indulged to him by the conftitution
or conceffion of the church, were unwary and apt
to expound this place of the perfon of Peter ; but
when the church began to enlarge her phylade-
ries by the favour of princes, and the funfhine
of a profperous fortune, and the Pope by the ad
vantage of the imperial feat, and other accidents,
began to invade upon the other bifhops and pa
triarchs, then that he might have no colour from
fcripture for fuch new pretenfions, they did moft
generally turn the ftream of their expofitions
from the perfon to the confeffion of Peter, and
declared that to be the foundation of the church.
And thus I have requited fancy with fancy; but
for the main point, that thefe two expofitions are
inclufive of each other, I find no warrant ; for
though they may confift together well enough,
if Chrift had fo intended them ; yet unlefs it
could be fhewn by fome circumftance of the text,
or fome other extrinfecal argument that they muft
be fo, and that both fenfes were adually intended,
it is but gratis ditlum and a begging of the quef
tion, to fay that they are fo, and the fancy fo"
* Epift. ad Philadeph. in c. 16. Mat. traft. 1.
new,

§¦7* of the Pope. 175
new, that when St. Auftin had expounded this
place of the perfon of Peter, he reviews it again,
and in his retradations leaves every man to his li
berty, which to take ; as having nothing certain
in this article : which had been altogether need-
lefs, if he had believed them to be inclufively in
each other, neither of them had need to have
been retraded, both were alike true, both of them
might have been believed : but I faid the fancy
was new, and I had reafon ; for it was fo unknown
till yefterday, that even the late writers of his
own fide expound the words of the confeffion of
St. Peter exclufively to his perfon or any thing
elfe, as is to be feen in * Marfilius, -J- Petrus de
Aliaco and the glofs upon Dift. 19. can. ita Do-
minus, %ut fupra, which alfo was the interpreta-
of Phavorinus Camers their own bifhop, from whom
they learnt the refemblance of the word Tlitp®*,
and -srgTpa, of which they have made fo many gay
difcourfes, tsitpa sepia g<p -5ri<ps afpayris ¦x.w
pjs Yipuv Ifcs X/3i<ra in oixoS'ojj.w -^v^ris h
too riySfJLOVixw S-gjw.gA«w ¦wpo^rijxiXiiifJLivrt.
VII. 5. But upon condition I may have leave
at another time to, recede from fo great and nu
merous teftimony of fathers, I am willing to be
lieve, that it was not the Confeffion of St. Peter,
but his Perfon upon which Chrift faid he would
build his church, or that thefe expofitions are
confiftent with and confequent to each other, that
this confeffion was the objedive foundation of
faith, and Chrift and his apoftles the fubjedive,
Chrift principally, and St. Peter inftrumentally ;
and yet I underftand not any advantage will hence
accrue to the fee of Romk : For upon St. Peter
* Defenf. pacis part. 2. c. 28. f Recommend, facra.
Script. it

174 Of the fallibility %. 7.
it was built, but not alone, for it voai upon the
foundation of the apoftles and prophets, Jefus Chrift
him/elf being tbe thief corner ftone -, and when St.
Paul reckoned the oeconomy of hierarchy, he
reckons not Peter firft, and then the apoftles.
But firft apoftles, fecondarily prophets, &c. And
whatfoever is firft, either is before all things elfe,
or at leaft nothing is before it : So that at leaft
St. Peter is not before all the reft of the apoftles,
which alfo St. Paul exprefsly avers, I am in no*
thing inferior to the very thiefeft of the apoftles, no
not in the very being a rock and a foundation \
and it was of the church of Epheftts, that St. Paul
faid in particular it was columna et firmament urn ve-
ritatis, that church was, not excluding others, for
they alfo were as much as fhe ; for fo we keep clofe
and be united to the corner ftone, although fome
be mafter builders *, yet all may build, and we
have known whole nations converted by laymen
and women, who have been builders fo far as to
bring them to the corner ftone.
VIII. 6. But fuppofe all thefe things concern
St. Peter in all the capacities can be with any co
lour pretended, yet what have the bifhops of
Rome to do with this ? for how will it appear
that thefe promifes and commiffions did relate to
him as a particular bifhop, and not as a publick
apoftle ? fince this later is fo much the more
likely, becaufe the great pretence of all feems in
reafon more proportionable to the founding of a
church, than its continuance : and yet if they did
relate to him as a particular bifhop (which yet
is a further degree of improbability, removed
further from certainty) yet why fhall St. Clement
or Linus rather fucceed in this great office of

D

* Vide Socrat. lib. i. cap. 19. 20. Sozom. lib. 2. cap. 14.
Niceph. lib. 14. cap. 40. headfhip

§. 7- of the Pope. 175
headfhip, than St. John or any of the apoftles that
furvived Peter ; it is no way likely a private per
fon fhould fkip over the head of an apoftle ; or
why fhall his fucceffbrs at Rome more enjoy the
benefit of it than his fucceflbrs at Antioch, fince
that he was at Antioch and preached there, we
have a divine authority, but that he did fo at
Rome, at moft we have but a human ; and if it
be replied that becaufe he died at Rome, it was
argument enough that there his fucceflbrs were
to inherit his privilege, this befides that at moft
it is but one little degree of probability, ahd fo
not of ftrength fufficient to fupport an article of
faith ; it makes that the great divine right of
Rome, and the apoftolical precedency was fo con
tingent and fallible as to depend upon the decree
of Nero ; and if he had, fent him to Antioch there
to have fuffered martyrdom, the bifhops of that
town had been heads of the catholick church.
And this thing prefles the harder, becaufe it is
held by no mean perfons in the church of Rome,
that the bifhoprick of Rome and the papacy are
things feparable : and the Pope may quit that fee
and fit in another, which to my underftanding is
an argument, that he who fucceeded Peter at
Antioch, is as much fupreme by divine right as he
that fits at Rome ;* both alike, that is, neither by
divine ordinance : for if the Roman bifhops by
Chrift's intentions were to be head of the church,
then by the fame intention, the fucceffion muft
be continued in that fee, and then let the Pope
go whither he will, the bifhop of Rome muft be
the head, which they themfelves deny, and
the Pope himfelf did not believe, when in a
fchifm he fat at Avignon ; and that it was to be
continued in the fee of Rome, it is but offered to
* Vide Cameracenf. Qu. vefpert. us

176 Of the fallibility §. 7.
us upon conjedure, upon an ad of providence,
as they fancy it, fo ordering it by vifion, and this
proved by an author which themfelves call
fabulous and apocryphal, under the name of Li
nus, in Biblioth. PP. de pajwne Petri & Pauli :
A goodly building which relies upon an event that
was accidental, whofe purpofe was but infinuated,
the meaning of it but conjedured at, and this con
jedure fo uncertain, that it was an imperfed aim
at the purpofe of an event, which whether it was
true or no, was fo uncertain, that it is ten to one
there was no fuch matter. And yet again another
degree of uncertainty is, to whom the bifhops of
Rome do fucceed : for St. Paul was as much bi
fhop of Rome, as St. Peter was ; there he prefi
xed, there he preached, and he it was that was
the dodor of the uncircumcifion and of the gen
tiles, St. Peter of the circumcifion, and of the
jews only; and therefore the converted jews, at
Rome, might with better reafon claim the privi
lege of St. Peter, than the Romans and the
churches in her communion, who do not derive
from Jewifh parents .
VII. 9. If the words were never fo appropriate
to Peter, or alfo communicated to his fucceflbrs,
yet of what value will the confequerit be ? what
prerogative is entailed upon the chair of Rome ?
For that St, Peter was the minifterial head of the
church, is the moft that is defired to be proved by
thofe and all other words brought for the fame
purpofes, and interefts of that fee : Now let the
minifterial head have what dignity can be imagi
ned, let him be the firft (and in all communities
that are regular, and orderly there muft be fome-
thing that is firft, upon certain occafions where
an equal power cannot be exercifed, and made
pompous or ceremonial :) But will this minifte
rial headfhip infer an infallibility ? will it infer
more

§. 7. <>f the Pope. 177
more than the headfhip of the jewifh fynagogue,
where clearly the high prieft was fupreme in many
fenfes, yet in no fenfe infallible ? will it infer more
to us, than it did amongft the apoftles ? amongft
whom if for order's fake, St. Peter was the firft,
yet he had no compulfory power over the
apoftles -, there was no fuch thing fpoke of,
nor any fuch thing put in practice. And
that the other apoftles were by a perfonal pri
vilege as infallible as himfelf, is no reafon to
hinder the exercife of jurifdidion or any compul
fory power over them ; for though in faith they
were infallible, yet in manners and matter of fad
as likely to err as St. Peter himfelf was, and cer
tainly there might have fomething happened in
the whole college, that might have been a record
of his authority, by tranfmitting an example of
the exercife of fome judicial power over fome one
of them : If he had but withftood any of them
to their faces, as St. Paul did him, it had been
more than yet is faid in his behalf. Will the
minifterial headfhip infer any more than when the
church in a community or a publick capacity,
fhould do any ad of miniflry ecclefiaftical, he
fhall be firft in order ? fuppofe this to be a dig
nity to prefide in councils, which yet was not al
ways granted him ; fuppofe it to be a power of
taking cognifance of the major caufes of bifhops
when councils cannot be called ; fuppofe it
a double voice or the laft decifive, or the nega
tive in the caufes exterior ; fuppofe it to be what
you will of dignity or external regimen, which
when all churches were united in communion, and
neither the intereft of ftates, nor the engagement
of opinions had madedifunion, might better have
been aded than now it can ; yet this will fall in
finitely fhort of a power to determine controver
fies infallibly, and to prefcribe to all rrjen's faith
N. and

378 Of th? fallibility §.7.
and confciences. A minifterial headfhip, or the
prime minifter, cannot in any capacity become
the foundation of the church to any fuch purpofe.
And therefore men are caufelefsly amufed with
fuch premifes, and are afraid of fuch conclufions
which will never follow from the admiffion of any
fenfe of thefe words, which can with any probabi
lity be pretended.
X. 8. I confider that thefe arguments from
fcripture, are too weak to fupport fuch an autho
rity which pretends to give oracles, and to anfwer
infallibly in queftions of faith, becaufe there is
greater reafon to believe the Popes of Rome have
erred, and greater certainty of demonftration,
than thefe places can be that they are infallible ;
as will appear, by the inftances and perpetual ex
periment of their being deceived, of which there
is no queftion, but of the fenfe of thefe places
there is : and indeed if I had as clear fcripture for
their infallibility, as I have againft their half
communion, againft their fervice in an unknown
tongue, worfhipping of images, and divers other
articles, I would make no fcrupie of believing,
but limit and conform my underftanding to all
their didates, and believe it reafonable all pro
phefying fhculd be reftrained : but till then, I
have leave to difcourfe, and to ufe my reafon ;
and to my reafon, it feems not likely that neither
Chrift nor any of his apoftles, St. Peter himfelf,
nor St. Paul writing to the church of Rome, fhould
fpeak the leaft word or tittle of the infallibility of
their bifhops, fot it was certainly as convenient
to tell us of a remedy; as to foretell that certainly
there muft needs be herefies, and need of a re
medy. And it had been a certain determination
of the queftion, if when fo rare an opportunity
was miniftered, in the queftion about circumci
fion, that they fhould have fent to Peter, who for
his

§.7, of the Pope. ijg
his infallibility in ordinary, and his power of
headfhip would not only with reafon enough as
being infallibly affifted, but alfo for his authority,
have beft determined the queftion, if at leaft the
firft chriftians had known fo profitable and fo ex
cellent a fecret ; and although we have but little
record, that the firft council of Jerufalem did
much obferve the folemnities of law, and the
form of conciliary proceedings, and the ceremo
nials ; yet fo much of it as is recorded, is againft
them, St. James and not St. Peter, gave the final
fentence, and although St. Peter determined the
queftion pro libertate, yet St. James made the de
cree, and the Affumentum too, and gave fentence
they fhould abftain from fome things there men
tioned, which by way of temper he judged moft
expedient : And fo it paffed. And * St. Peter
fhewed no fign of a fuperior authority, nothing.
of fuperior jurifdidion, 'Opa $-%. avtov {/.eta
xoiVK tsxavia 'wotavta yvoo^niy aS^ev auS-evlixws
e£ ap^itttci.
XI. So that if this queftion be to be determi
ned by fcripture, it muft either be ended by plain
places or by obfcure ; plain places there are none,
and thefe that are with greateft fancy pretended,
fire expounded by antiquity to contrary purpofes.
But if obfcure places be all the duSrefilia^ by
what means fhall we infallibly find the fenfe of
them ? The Pope's interpretation, though in all
other cafes it might be pretended, in this cannot ;
for it is the thing in queftion, and therefore can
not determine for itfelf ; either therefore We have
alfo another infallible guide befides the Pope, and
fo we have two foundations and two heads (for'
this as well as the other upon the fame reafon)
* St. Chryfoft, hom. 3. in1 aft. Apoft.
N 2. or

180 Of the fallibility §. 7.
or elfe (which is indeed the truth) there is no in
fallible way to be infallibly afiured that the Pope
is infallible. Njjw it being againft the common
condition of men, above the pretences of all other
governors ecclefiaftical, againft the analogy of
fcripture, and the deportment of the other apof
tles, againft the ceconomy of the church and St.-
Peter's own entertainment, the prefumptlon lies
againft him, and thefe places are to be left to their
prime intentions, and not put upon the rack, to
force them to confefs what they never thought.
XII. But now for Antiquity, if that be depofed
in this queftion, there are fo many circumftances
to be confidered, to reconcile their words and their
adions, that the procefs is more troublefome, than
the argument can be concluding, or the matter
confiderable : But I fhall a little confider it, fp
far at leaft as to fhew either antiquity faid no fuch
thing as is pretended, or if they did, it is but
little confiderable, becaufe they did not believe
themfelves ; their pradice was the greateft evi
dence in the world againft the pretence of their
words. But I am much eafed of a long difquifi-
tion in this particular (for I love not to prove a
queftion by arguments, whofe authority is in itfelf
as fallible, and by circumftances made as uncer
tain as the queftion) by the faying of Atneas Syl
vius, that before the Nicene council every man li
ved to himfelf, and fmall refped was had to the
church of Rome, which pradice could not well
confift with the dodrine of their bifhop's infalli
bility, and by confequence fupreme judgment and
laft refolution in matters of faith ; but efpecially
by the infinuation and confequent acknowledg
ment of Bellarmine, that for 1000 years together
the fathers knew not of the dodrine of the Pope's
* De Rom. Pont. I. 4. c. 2. § fecunda fententia. infallibility,

§. j. of the Pope. 181
infallibility; for Niks, Gerfon, Alemain, the divines
of Paris, Alphonfus de Caftro, and Pope Adrian VI.
perfons who lived 1400 after Chrift, affirm, that
infallibility is not feated in the Pope's perfon,
that he may err and fometimes aduaily hath,
which is a clear demonftration that the church
knew no fuch dodrine as this ; there had been no
decree nor tradition, nor general opinion of the
fathers, or of any age before them -, and therefore
this opinion, which Bellarmine would fain blaft if
he could, yet in his conclufion he fays it is not
proprie haretica. A device, and an expreffion of
his own without fenfe or precedent. But if the
fathers had fpoken of it and believed it, why may
not a difagreeing perfon as well rejed their autho
rity when it is in behalf of Rome, as they oi Rome
without fcruple caft them off when they fpeak
againft it ? For as Bellarmine, being preffed with
the authority of Niks bifhop of Thejalonica and
other fathers, fays that the Pope acknowledges no
fathers, but they are all his children, and. there
fore they cannot depofe againft him -, and if that
be true, why fhall we take their teftimonies for
him ? for if fons depofe in their father's behalf,
it is twenty to one, but the adverfe party will be
Caft, and therefore at the beft it is but fufpeclum
Teftimonium. But indeed this difcourfe fignifks
nothing, but a perpetual uncertainty in fuch to
picks, and that where a violent prejudice, or a
concerning intereft is engaged, men by not regard
ing what any man fays, proclaim to all the world
that nothing is certain, but divine authority.
XIII. But I will not take advantage of what
Bellarmine fays, nor what Stapleton, or any one of
them all fay, for that will be but to prefs upon
perfonal perfuafions, or to urge a general queftion
with a particular defaillance, and the queftion is
never the nearer to an end ; for if Bellarmine fay*
N 3 any

i 82 Of the fallibility §.7.
any thing that is not to another man's purpofe or
perfuafion, that man will be tried by his own ar*
gument, not by another's : And fo would every
man that loves his liberty, as all wife men do,
and- therefore retain it by open violence, or pri
vate evafions : But to return.
XIV. An authority from Irenaus in this quef
tion, and on behalf of the Pope's infallibility, or
the authority of the fee of Rome, or of the necef.
fity of communicating with them, is very fallible ;
for befides that there are almoft a dozen anfwers
to the words of the allegation, as is to be feen
in thofe that trouble themfelves in this queftion
with the allegation, and anfwering fuch authori
ties, yet if they fhcwld make for the affirmative
of this queftion, it is proteftatiq contra faclum.
For Iraneus had no fuch great opinion of Pope
Vitlor'?, infallibility, that he believed things in the
fame degree of neceffity that the Pope did, for
therefore he chides him for excommunicating the
Aftanbiihops, d^rpoooi all at a blow, in the queftion
concerning Eafter-day •, and in a queftion of faith
he exprefsly difagreed from the dodrine of Rome ;
for Irenaus was of the millenary opinion, and ber
Jieved it to be a tradition apoftolical ; now if the
church of Rome was of that opinion, then why
is fhe pot now ? where is the fucceffion. of her
dodrine ? but if foe was not of that opinion then,
and Irenaus was, where was his belief of that
church's, infallibility ? The fame I urge concernr
ing St. Cyprian, who was the head of a fed in op-
pbfition to the church of Rome, in the queftion of
re-baptjzation, and he and the abettors, Firmilian
and the other bifhops of Cappadocia, and the voi-
finage, fpoke harfh words oi Stephen, and 'fuch as
become them not to fpeak to an infallible; dodor,
and the fupreme head of the church. I will urge
rione of them to the disadvantage of that fee, hf„

§ . 7« of the Pope. 1 83
but only note the fatyrs of Firmilian iagainft him,
becaufe it is of good Ufe, to fhew that it is poffi-
ble for them, in their ill carriage, to blaft the re
putation and efficacy of a great authority : For
he fays that that church did pretend the authority
of the apoftles, * Cum in multis facramentis divina
rei, a principio difcrepet, £5? ab Ecclefia Hierofolymi-
tand, & defamet Petrum 13 Paulum tanquam authores.
And a little after jufte dedignor (fays he) apertam &
manifeftam ftultitiam Stephani, per quam Veritas Chrif-
tiana petra aboletur, which words fay plainly that
for all the goodly pretence of apoftolical authority,
the church of Rome did then in many things of
religion difagree from divine inftitution (and from
the church of Jerufalem, which they had as great
efteem of for religion fake, as of Rome for its
principality) and that flill in pretending to St.
Peter and St. Paul they difhonoured thofe bleffed
apoftles, and deftroyed the honour of their pre
tence by their untoward prevarication; which
words I confefs pafs my fkill to reconcile them to
an opinion of infallibility; and although they
were fpoken by an angry perfon, yet they declare
that in Africa they were not then perfuaded, as
now they were at Rome : f Nam nee Petrus quern
primum Dbminus elegit vendicavit ftbi aliquid infolenter
aut arroganter affumpfit, ut diceret fe primatum te-
nere : That was their belief then, and how the
contrary hath grown up to that height, where now
it is, all the world is witnefs : and now I fhall not
need to note concerning St. Hierom, that he gave
a compliment to Damafus, that he would not
have given to Liberius, Qui tecum non colligit ftargit.
For it might be true enough of Damafus who was
a good bifhop and a right believer ; but if
* Epift. Firmiliani contra. Steph. ad Cyprian. Vid. etiam,
Ep. Cypriani ad Pqmpeium.
f Cyprian Epift. ad Quintum fratrem.
N 4 Liberius'%

1 84 Of the fallibility §.7.
Liberius' s name had been put inftead of Damafus,
the cafe had been altered with the name ; for St.
Hierom did believe and write it fo, that Liberius had
fubfcribed to * Arrianifm. And if either he or
any of the reft had believed the Pope couid not
be a heretick nor his faith fail, but be fo good
and of fo competent authority as to be a rule to
Chriftendom ; why did they not appeal to the
Pope in the Arrian controverfy ? why was the
bifhop of Rome made a party and a concurrent as
other good bifhops were, and not a judge and
an arbitrator in the queftion ? Why did the fa
thers prefcribe fo many rules and cautions and
provifoes for the difcovery of herefy ? Why were
the emperors at fo much charge, and the church
at fo much trouble, as to call and convene in
councils refpedively, to difpute fo frequently, to
write fo feduloufly, to obferve all advantages
againft their adverfaries, and for the truth, and
never offered to call for the Pope to determine the
queftion in his chair ? Certainly no way could
have been fo expedite, none fo concluding and
peremptory, none could have convinced fo cer
tainly, none could have triumphed fo openly over
all difcrepants as this, if they had known of
any fuch thing as his being infallible, or that he
had been appointed by Chrift to be the judge of
controverfies. And therefore I will not trouble
this difcourfe to excufe any more words either
pretended or really faid to this purpofe of the
Pope, for they would but make books fwell and
the queftion endlefs; I fhall only to this purpofe
obferve that the old writers were fo far from be
lieving the infallibility of the Roman church or
bifhop, that many bifhops and many churches
did adually live and continue out of the Roman
* De Script, Ecclef. in Fortunatiano. communion $

§.7. of the Pope. 185
communion ; particularly *' St. Auftin, who with
217 bifhops and their fucceflbrs for iog years
together, flood feparate from that church, if we
may believe their own records : So did Ignatius oi
Conftantinople, St. Chryfoftom, St. Cyprian, Firmi
lian, thofe bifhops of Afia that feparated in the
queftion of Eafter, and thofe of Africa in the
queftion of rebaptization : But befides this, moft
of them had opinions which the church of Rome
difavows now, and therefore did fo then, or elfe
fhe hath innovated in her dodrine, which, though
it be moft true and notorious, I am fure fhe will
never confefs. But no excufe can be made for
St. Auftin's difagreeing, and conceiting in the
queftion of appeals to Rome, the neceffity of com
municating infants, the abfolute damnation of
infants to the pains of hell, if they die before
baptifm, and divers other particulars. It was a
famous ad of the bifhops of Liguria and Iftria,
who feeing the Pope of Rome confenting to the
fifth fynod, in disparagement of the famous coun
cil of Chalcedon, which for their own interefts they
did not like of; they renounced fubjedion to his
patriarchate, and ereded a patriarch at Aquileia,
who was afterwards tranflated to Venice, where his
name remains to this day. It is alfo notorious
that moft of the fathers were of opinion that the
fouls of the faithful did not enjoy the beatifick
vifion before doomfday -, whether Rome was then
of that opinion or no, I know not, I am fure now
they are not ; witnefs the councils of Florence and
* Ubi ilia Auguftini & reliqi'orum prudentia ? quis jam
ferat crafJirTims ignorantia? illam vocem in tot & tantis Pari
bus ? Alan. Cop. dialog, p. 76, 77. Vide etiam Bonifac. II..
Epift. ad Eulalium Alexandrinum. Lindanum Panopli. I. 4. c.
89. in fine. Salnieron Tom. 12. Trail. 68. § adCanenem San
der de iiifibili Monarchic, 1. 7. n. 41 1. Baron. Tom. 10.
J. D, 87S. Trent $

1 8 6 Of the fallibility §. 7.
Trent ; but of this I fhall give a more full account
afterwards. But if to all this which is already
noted, we add that great variety of opinions
amongft the fathers and councils in affignation of
the canon, they not confulting with the bifhop
of Rome, nor any of them thinking themfelves
bound to follow his rule in enumeration of the.
books of fcripture, I think no more need to be faid
as to this particular.
XV. 8. But now if after all this, there be fome
Popes, who were notorious hereticks, and preach
ers of falfe dodrine, fome that made impious de
crees both in faith and manners ; fome that have
determined queftions with egregious ignorance
and ftupidity, fome with apparent fophiftry, and
many to ferve their own ends moft openly, I fup
pofe then the infallibility will difband, and , we
may do to him as to other good bifhops, believe
him when, there is caufe ; but if there be none,
then to ufe our confciences, * Non enim falvat
Chriftianum quod Pontif ex conftanter ajfftrmat praceptum
fuum eje juftum, fed oportet illud examinari, (3 fe
juxta regulam fuperius datum dirigere : I would not
inftance and repeat the errors of dead bifhops,
if the extreme boldnefs of the pretence did not
make it neceffary : But if we may believe Tertul-
Uan, Pope Zepherinus approved the prophecies of
Montanus, and upon that approbation granted
peace to the churches of Afta and Phrygia, till
Praxeas perfuaded him to revoke his ad : But let
this reft upon the credit of TertuUian, whether
X Zepherinus was a Montanift or no ; fome fuch
thing there was for certain. Pope Vigilius denied
two. natures in Chrift, and in his epiftle to
* Tradl. de interdict. Compof. a Theol. Venet. prop. 13,
t Lib. adver. Praxeam.
% Vid. Liberal, in breviario, c. 22. Durand. 4. dift. 7. q. 4.
Theodora

§. 7. of the Pope. 187
Theodora the emprefs anathematized all them that
faid he had two natures in one perfon ; St. Gregory
himfelf permitted priefts to give confirmation,
which is all one as if he fhould permit deacons
to confecrate, they being by divine ordinance an-
next to the higher orders ; and upon this very
ground Adrianus affirms that the Pope may err
in definiendis dogmatibus fidei. And that we may
not fear we fhall want inftances, we may to fecure
it take their own confeffion, * Nam mult a funt de-
cretales haretica fays Oc-cham as he is cited by Al-
main, f £5? firmiter hoc credo (fays he for his own
particular) fed non licet dogmatizare oppofitum quo
niam funt determinata. So that we may as well fee
that it is certain that Popes may be hereticks, as
that it is dangerous to fay fo ; and therefore there
are fo few that teach it : All the patriarchs and
the bifhop of Rome himfelf fubfcribed to Arrianifm
(as J Baronius confeffes ;) and § Gratian affirms
that Pope Anaftaftus the fecond was ftricken of
God for communicating with the heretick Photi-
nus. I know it will be made light of that Gregory
the feventh fays, the very exorcifts of the Roman
church are fuperior to princes. But what fhall
we think oi that decretal of Gregory the third,
who wrote to Boniface his legate in Germany,
|| Quod illi quorum uxores infirmitate aliqua morbida
debitum reddere noluerunt, aliis poterant nubere ? was
this a dodrine fit for the head of the church, an
infallible dodor ? It Was plainly, if any thing ever
was doclrina Damoniorum, and is noted for fuch
by Gratian, cauf. 32. q. 7. can. quod propofuifti.
Where the glofs alfo intimates that the fame pri
vilege was granted to the Englifhmen by Gregory,
* Qua. de confirm, art. ult. f 3. dift 24. q. unica.
J A.D. 357. n. 44. § Dift. 19. cap. 9. Lib. 4. Ep. 2.
j| Vid. Coiranz. Sum. Concji fol. 218. Edit. Antwerp. quia

1 88 Of the fallibility §.7.
quia novi erant in fide. And fometimes we had *
little reafon to exped much' better ; for, not to
inftance in that learned difcourfe in the * canon
law de majoritate & obedientia, where the Pope's
Supremacy over kings is proved from the firft
chapter of Genefis, and the Pope is the fun, and
the Emperor is the moon, for that was the fancy
of One" Pope perhaps ; though made authentick
and dodrinal by him, it was (if it be poffible)
more ridiculous, that Pope Innocent the third
urges that the Mofaical law was ftill to be Obfer-
ved, and that upon this argument, Sane, faith he,
cum Deuteronomium fecunda lex interpretetur, ex vi
vocabuli comprobatur, ut quod ibi decernitur in Tefta-
triento novo debeat obfervari : Worfe yet ; for when
there was a corruption crept into the decree cal
led % Sancla Romana, where inftead of thefe words
Sedulii opus heroicis verfibus defcriptum, all the old
copies till of late read hareticis verfibus defcriptum ;
this very miftake made many wife men, (as Pie-
rius fays) yea -f- Pope Adrian the fixth, no worfe
man, believe that all poetry was heretical, becaufe
(forfooth) Pope Gelafius whofe. decree that was, al
though he believed Sedulius to be a good catho
lick, yet as they thought, he concluded his verfes
to be heretical : But thefe were ignorances ; it
hath been worfe amongft fome others, whofe er
rors have been more malicious-. Pope Honorius
was condemned by the fixth general fynod, and
his epiftles burnt, and in the feventh action of the
eighth fynod, the ads of the Roman council under
Adrian the fecond are recited, in which it is faid
that Honorius was juftly anathematized, becaufe
he was convid of herefy. Bellarmine fays it is
probable that Pope Adrian and the Roman eoun-
* Cap per venerabitem. qui fillii lint legitimi. % Dift.
s;. apud. Gratian. f De Sacerd. barb. c*d

§. y. of the Pope. 1 89
cii were deceived with falfe copies of the fixth
fynod, and that Honorius was no heretick. To
this I fay, that although the Roman fynod and
the eighth general fynod, and Pope Adrian, altoge
ther are better witneffes for the thing than Bellar-
mine's conjedure is againft it, yet if we allow his
conjedure we fhall lofe nothing in the whole, for
either the Pope is no infallible dodor, but may be
a heretick as Honorius was, or elfe a council is to
us no infallible determiner -, I fay, as to us, for
if Adrian and the whole Roman council and the
eighth general were all cozened with falfe copies
of the fixth fynod, which was fo little a while
before them, and whofe ads were tranfaded,
and kept in the theatre and records of the catho
lick church ; he is a bold man who will be confi
dent that he hath true copies now. So that let
which they pleafe ftand or fall, let the Pope be
a heretick or the councils be deceived and palpa
bly abufed, (for the other we will difpute it upon
other inftances and arguments when we fhall know
which part they will choofe) in the mean time we
fhall get in the general what we lofe in the par
ticular. This only, this device of faying the co
pies of the .councils were falfe, was the ftratagem
of * Albertus Pighius 900 years after the thing was
done, of which invention Pighius was prefently
admonifhed, blamed, and wifhed to recant. Pope
Nicholas explicated the myftery of the facrament
with fo much ignorance and zeal that in con
demning Berengarius he taught a worfe impiety.
But what need I any more inftances ; it is a con-
feffed cafe by Baronius, by Biel, by Stella, Abiain,
Occham, and Canus,-[ and generally by the beft
* Vid. diatrib. de a£l. 6. & 7a?. Synod prsfatione adLec-
torem & Dominicum Bannes 2zjb. q. 1. a. 10. dub. 2.
t Picus Mirand. in ejcppfit. theorem 4. fcholars

190 Of the fallibility §.7.
fcholars in the church oi Rome, that a Pope may
be a heretick, and that fome of them adually
were fo, and no lefs than three general councils
did believe the fame thing : viz. fixth, feventh,
and eighth, as Bellarmine is pleafed to acknow
ledge in his fourth book de Pontifice Romano, c.
n. refp. dd Arg. 4. And the canon Ji Papa dift.
40. affirms it in exprefs terms, that a P pe is ju
dicable and purrifhable in that cafe. But there is
no wound but fome emperick or other will pre
tend to cure it, and there is a cure for this too.
For though it be true that if a Pope were a here
tick, the church might depofe him, yet no Pope
can be a heretick, not but that the man may, but
the Pope cannot, for he is ipfo faclo no Pope, for
he is no chriftian ; fo * Bellarmine : and fo when
you think you have him faft, he is gone, and no ¦
thing of the Pope left ; but who fees not the ex
treme folly of this evafion ? For befides that out
of fear and caution he grants more than he needs,
more than -Jvas fought for in the queftion, the
Pope hath nb more privilege than the abbot of
Cluny, for he "cannot be a heretick, nor be depo
fed by a council, for if he be manifeftly a heretick
he is ipfo faclo ho abbot, for he is no chriftian;
and if the Pope be a heretick privately and occultly,
for that he may be accufed and judged faid the
glofs upon the canon Ji Papa dift. 40. And the
abbot of Cluny and one of his meaneft monks can
be no more, therefore the cafe is all one. -f But
this is fitter to make fport with than to interrupt
a ferious difcourfe. And therefore although the
canon Sancla Romana approves all the decretals
of Popes, yet that very decretal hath not decreed
it firm enough, but that they are fo warily received
• Ii. 2; c. 30. ubi fupra. § eft ergo.
f Vide Alphonf. a Caftr. lib. 1 , adv. hseref. c. 4. hoc lem
ma ridentem affabre, by

§. 7- of the Pope^ 1 9 i
by them, that when they lift they are pleafed to
diflent from them ; and it is evident in the extra
vagant of * Sixtus IV. Com. de reliquiis ; who ap
pointed a feaft of the immaculate conception, a
fpecial office for the day, and indigencies enough
to the obfervers of it : And yet the Dominicans
were fo far from believing the Pope to be infal
lible and his decree authentick, that they de
claimed againft it in their pulpits fo furioufly and
fo long, till they were prohibited under pain of
excommunication, to fay the Virgin Mary was
conceived in original fin ; now what folemnity can
be more required for the Pope to make a cathe
dral determination of an article ? The article was
fo concluded, that a feaft was inftituted for its ce
lebration, and pain of excommunication threaten
ed to them who fhould preach the contrary ; no
thing more folemn, nothing more confident and
fevere : And yet after all this, to fhew that what
foever thofe people would have us to believe, they
will believe what they lift themfelves : This thing
was not determined de fide faith Viclorellus ; nay
the author of the glofs of the canon law hath
thefe exprefs words, -f- De fefto Conceptionis nihil
dicitur quia celebrandum non eft, ficut in multis regi-
onibus fit, (3 maxime in Anglia, (3 bac eft ratio,
quia in peccatis concepta fuit ficut 13 cateri Sancli.
And the commiffaries, of Sixtus V. and Gregory
XIII. did not expunge thefe words, but left them
upon record, not only againft a received and
more approved opinion of the Jefuits and Irancif-
* Vide etiam. Innocentium Serm. z. de conferat. Pontif.
a£t. 7. 8ae. Synodi. & Concil. 5. fub Symmadio. vide Collat.
8. can 12. ubi P P. judicialem fententiam P. vigilii in caufa
trium Capitulorum damnarunt exprefle. Extra comm. Extrav.
grave. Tit. X.
T De Angelo cuftod. fol. 59. de confecrat. dift. 3. can pro-
nnnciand. glofl". verb. Nativit. cans,

192 Of the fallibility %. 7,
cans, but alfo in plain defiance of a decree made
by their vifible head of the church, who (if ever
any thing was decreed by a Pope, with an intent
to oblige all Chriftendom) decreed * this to that
purpofe. XVI. So that without taking particular notice of
it, that egregious fophiftry and flattery of the late
writers of the Roman church is in this inftance,
befides divers other before mentioned, clearly made
invalid. For here the bifhop of Rome not as a pri
vate dodor, but as Pope, not by declaring his.
own opinion, but with an intent to oblige the
church, gave fentence in a queftion which the-
Dominicans will flill account pro non determinata.
And every decretal recorded in the canon law if
it be faife in the matter, is juft fuch another in
ftance : And Alphonfus a Caftro fays it to the fame
purpofe, in the inftance of Calefiine diffblving mar
riages for herefy, Neque C^leftini error talis fuit qui
foli negligentia imputari debeat, ita ut ilium erraje
dicamus velut privatam perfonam & non ut Papam,
quoniam hujufmodi Caleftini definitio habetur in anti-
quis decretalibus in cap. Laudabilem, titulo de converfi-
one. infidelium ; quam ego ipfe vidi (3 legi, lib. 1. adv.
haref. cap. 4. And therefore 'tis a moft intole
rable folly to pretend that the Pope cannot err
in his chair, though he may err in his clofet,
and may maintain a falfe opinion even to his
death : For befides that, it is fottifh to think that
either he would not have the world of his own
opinion (as all men naturally would) or that if he
were fet in his chair, he would determine contrary
to himfelf in his ftudy (and therefore to reprefent
it as poffible, they are fain to fly to a miracle for
which they have no colour, neither inftrudions,
* Hac in perpetuum valitura conftitutione ftatuimus, &c.
De icliquiis, &c. Extrav. Com. Sixt. 4. cap. 1 . nor

§. 7. of the Popet 1 93
nor infinuation, nor warrant, nor promife ; be
fides that it were impious and unreafonable to de
pofe him for herefy, who may fo eafily, (even by
fetting himfelf in his chair and reviewing his theo
rems may eafily be cured) it is alfo againft a very
great experience : for befides the former allegati
ons it is moft notorious, that Pope .Alexander III.
in a council at Rome of 300 archbifhops and bi
fhops A. D. 1 1 79; condemned Peter Lombard of
herefy in a matter of great concernment, no lefs
than fomething about the incarnation ; from which
fentence he was, after thirty fix years abiding it,
abfolved by Pope Innocent III. without repentance
or derelidion of the opinion : now if this fentence
was not a cathedral didate, as folemn and great
as could be expeded, or as is faid to be neceffary
to oblige all chriftendom, let the great hyperaf-
pifls of the Roman church be judges, who tell
us that a particular council with the Pope's con
firmation is made oecumenical by adoption, and
is infallible and obliges all Chriftendom, fo Bel
larmine : And therefote he fays, that it is * teme-
rarium, erroneum, £3 proximum harefi, to deny it,
but whether it be or not it is all one, as to my
purpofe : For it is certain, that in a particular
council confirmed by the Pope, if ever, then and
there the Pope fat himfelf in his chair, and it is as
certain that he fat befides the cufhion, and deter
mined ridiculoufly and falfely in this cafe : -j- But
this is a device for which there is no fcripture, no
tradition, no one dogmatical refolute faying of
any father, greek or latin, for above 1000 years
after Chrift : And themfelves when they lift can
acknowledge as much. And therefore Bellarmine's
faying, I perceive is believed by them to be true :
L. z. de. Concil. cap. ;. f De Pontif. Rom. c. 14. §
refpondeo. In 3. fent. de 24. q. in conl. 6. dub. 6. in fine.
O That

194 Of the fallibility §. y
That there are many things in the * decretal
epiftles, which make not articles to be de fide.
And therefore, Non eft necejario credendum deter-
minatis per fummum Pontificem, fays Almain : And
this ferves their turns in every thing they do not
like, and therefore I am refoived it fhall ferve
my turn alfo for fome thing, and that is, that the
matter of the Pope's infallibility is fo ridiculous
and improbable, that they do not believe it them
felves : Some of them clearly pradiced the con
trary, and although Pope Leo X. hath determined
the Pope to be above a council,, yet the Sorbon to
this day fcorn it at the very heart. And I might
urge upon them that fcorn that Almain truly
enough by way of argument alledges. It is a
wonder that they who affirm the Pope cannot err
in judgment, do not alfo affirm that he cannot
fin -, they are like enough to fay fo, fays he, if the
vicious lives of the Popes did not make a daily
confutation of fuch flattery; Now for my own
particular, I am as confident and think it as cer
tain, that Popes are adually deceived in matters
of chriftian dodrine, as that they do prevaricate
the laws of chriftian piety : And therefore J Al-
phonfus a Caftro calls them impudentes papa ajenta-
tores, that afcribe to him infallibility in judgement
or interpretation of fcripture.
XI. But if themfelves did believe it heartily,
what excufe is there in the world, for the ftrange
uncharitablenefs, or fupine negligence of the
Popes, that they do not fet themfelves in their
* ProverbiaKter olim diftum erat, de Decretalibus. Male
cum rebus humanis aftum efle, ex quo decretis alae acceflerunt.
fcil. cum Decretales poll decretum Gratiani fab nomine Gre-
gorii noni edebantur.
t De Authorit. Ecclef. cap. 10. in fine.
t L. i. & 4. adverf. haeref. edit. Paris 1534. ^n f^}*!* non'
expurgantur ifta verba, at idem fenfus manet. chair

§.7. of the Pope. ig$
chair and write infallible commentaries, and deter
mine all controverfies without error, and blaft all
herefies with the word of their mouth, declare
what is and what is not de fide, that Jus difciples
and confidents may agree upon it ; reconcile the
Francifcans and Dominicans, and expound all myf
teries ? for it cannot be imagined but he that v/as
endued with fo fupreme power in order to fo great
ends, was alfo fitted with proportionable, that is,
extraordinary perfonal abilities, fucceeding and
derived upon the perfons of all the Popes. And
then the dodors of his church, need not trouble
themfelves with ftudy, nor writing explications pf
fcripture, but might wholly attend to pradical
devotion, and leave all their fcholaftical wrang
lings, the diftinguifhing opinions of their orders,
and they might have a fine church, fomething
like fairyland, or Lucian's kingdom in the moon:
But if they fay they cannot do this when they lift,
but when they are moved to it by the fpirit, then
we are never the nearer ; for fo may the bifhop
of Angolefme write infallible commentaries when
the holy ghoft moves him to it, for I fuppofe his
motions are notineffedual, but he will fufficiently
affift us in performing of what he actually moves
us to : But among fo many hundred decrees which
the Popes of Rome have made or confirmed and
attefted (which is all one) I would fa^n know in
how many of them did the holy ghoft affift them r"
If they know it, let them declare it, that it may
be certain which of their decretals are de fide ; for
as yet none of his own church knows : ff they .do
not know, then neither can we know it from tnern,
and then we are as uncertain as ever, and befides
the holy ghoft may poffibly move him, and he by
his ignorance of it may negled fo profitable a
motion, and then his promife of infallible affift
ance will be to very little purpofe, becaufe it is
O 2 with

1 9 6 Of the fallibility § . 7.
with very much fallibility applicable to pradice :
And therefore it is abfolutely ufelefs to any man
or any church, becaufe, fuppofe it fettled in Theft,
that the Pope is infallible, yet whether he will do
his duty, and perform thofe conditions of being
affifted which are required of him, or whether he
be a fecret fimoniack (for if he be, he is ipfo
faclo, no Pope) or whether he be a bifhop, or
prieft, or a chriftian, being all uncertain ; every
one of thefe depending upon the intention and
power of the baptizer or ordainer, which alfo are
fallible, becaufe they depend upon the honefly
and power of other men ; we cannot be infallibly
certain of any Pope that he is infallible ; and
therefore when our queftions are determined, we
are never the nearer, but may hug ourfelves in
an imaginary truth, the certainty of finding truth
out depending upon fo many fallible and contin
gent circumftances. And therefore, the thing,
if it were true, being fo to no purpofe, it is to be
prefumed that God never gave a power fo imper
tinently, and from whence no benefit can accrue
to the chriftian church, for whofe ufe and benefit,
if at all, it muft needs have been appointed.
XVIII. But I am too long in this impertinency :
If I were bound to call any man mafter upon
earth, and to believe him upon his own affirma
tive and authority ; I would of all men leaft fol
low him that pretends he is infallible and cannot
prove it. For that he cannot prove it, makes me
as uncertain as ever, and that he pretends to infal
libility makes him carelefs of ufing fuch means
which will morally fecure thofe wife perfons, who
knowing their own aptnefs to be deceived, ufe
what endeavours they can to fecure themfelves
from error, and fo become the better and more
probable guides.
XIX.

§. 7« ?/" ^ Po/<?. 197
XIX. Well ! Thus far we are come : Al
though' we are fecured in fundamental points
from involuntary error, by the plain, exprefs,
and dogmatical places of fcripture, yet in other
things we are not, but may be, invincibly mifta
ken, becaufe of the obfcurity and difficulty in
the controverted parts of fcripture, by reafon
of the incertainty of the means of its inter
pretation, fince tradition is of an uncertain repu
tation, and fometimes evidently falfe ; councils
are contradidory to each other, and therefore
certainly are equally deceived, many of them,
and therefore all may ; and then the Popes of
Rome are very likely to miflead us, but cannot
afcertain us of truth in matter of queftion ; and
in this world we believe in part, and prophefy in
part, and this imperfedion fhall never be done
away till we be tranflated to a more glorious
ftate ; either we muft throw our chances, and
get truth by accident or predeftination, or elfe
we muft lie fafe in a mutual toleration, and
private liberty of perfuafion, unlefs fome other
anchor can be thought upon, where we may fatten
our floating veffels; and ride fafely.

SECT. VIII.
Of the difability of Fathers, or Writers Ecclefiaf
tical, to determine our Queftions, 'with certainty
and truth.
I.JHT* HERE are fome that think they can
A determine all queftions in the world by
two or three fayings of the fathers, or by the
O 3 con-

198 Of the difability §. 8.
cortfent of fo many as they will pleafe to call a
concurrent teftimony : but this confideration will
foon be at an end ; for if the fathers, when they
are witneffes of tradition do not always fpeak
truth, as it happened in the cafe of Papias and his
numerous followers for almoft three ages together,
then is their teftimony more improbable when they
difpute or write commentaries.
II. 2. The Fathers of the firft ages fpake uni
tedly concerning divers queftions of fecret theo
logy, and yet were afterwards contradided by one
perfonage of great reputation* whofe credit had
fo much influence upon the world, as to make the
contrary opinion become popular ; why then may
not we have the fame liberty, when fo plain an
uncertainty is in their perfuafions, and fo great
contrariety in their dodrines ? But this is evident
in the cafe of abfolute predeflination, which till
St. Auftin's time no man preached, but all taught
the contrary, and yet the reputation of this one
excellent man altered the fcene. But if he might
diflent from fo general a dodrine, why may not
we do fo too, it being pretended that he is fo ex
cellent a precedent to be followed, if we have the
fame reafon ? He had no more authority nor dif-
penfation to diflent, than any bifhop hath now.
And therefore St. fuftin hath dealt ingenuouSy,
and as he took this liberty to himfelf, fo he de
nies it not to others, but indeed forces them to
preferve their own liberty : And therefore when
St. Hierom had a great mind to follow the Fathers
in a point that he fancied, and the beft fecurity he
had, was Patiaris me cum talibus errare, St. Auftin
would not endure it, but anfwered his reafon, and
negleded the authority. And therefore it had
been moft unreafonable that we fhould do that
now, though in his behalf, which he towards greater

§. 8. of the Fathers. 199
greater perfonages (for fo they were then) at that
time judged to be unreafonable. It is a plain re-
ceffion from antiquity, which was determined by
the council of * Florence, piorum animas purgatas,
&c. mox in Caelum recipi, & intueri dare ipfum Dt-
um trinum 13 unumficuti eft : As who pleafe to try,
may fee it dogmatically refoived to the contrary
by b Juftin Martyr, « Irenaus, by d Origen, e St.
Chryfoftom, { Theodoret, * Arathas Cafarienfts, h Eu ¦
tbymius, who may anfwer for the greek church,
and it is plain that it was the opinion of the greek
church by that great difficulty the Romans had of
bringing the Greeks to fubfcribe to the Florentine
council, where the Latins aded their mafter-piece
of wit and ftratagem, the greateft that hath been
till the famous and fuperpolitick defign of Trent.
And for the latin church, ' TertuUian, " St. Am
brofe, • St. Auftin, m St. Hilary, n Prudentius,
• LaSlantius, p Viclorinus Martyr, and q St. Bernard
are known to be of opinion that the fouls of the
faints are in abditis receptaculis, 13 exterioribus
atriis, where they exped the refurredion of their
bodies, and the glorification of their fouls, and
though they all believe them to be happy, yet
they enjoy not the beatifick vifion before the re
furredion : Now there being fo full a content of
fathers (for many more may be added) and the
decree of Pope John XXII. befides, who was fo
confident for his decree that he commanded the
univerfity of Paris to fwear that they would preach
a Self. ult. b Q^ 60. ad Chriftian. c Lib. 5. d Hom. 7.
in Levit. e Hom. 39. in t Cor. f In c. 1 1. ad H.b e In
c.'6. ad Apoc. !> In 16. c. Luc. ' Lib. 4. adv. Mar. k L. 2.
de. Cain. c. 2. ' Ep. in. ad Fortunatianum. m In Pfal.
138. n De exeq. defun&or. ° Lib. 7. 2. 21. p Inc. 6.
Apoc. i Serm. 3. de om. fancHs. Vid. enim, St. Aug. in En-
chir. c. 108. & 1. iz. de civit. Dei. c. 9. & in Pf. 36. & in 1. 1.
retraft. c. 1 4. Vid. infuper teftimonia qua? collegit. Spala. 1. 5.
c. 8. n. 98. de repub. Eccl. & Sixt. Senenf. 1. 6. annot. 345.
O 4 it

200 Of the difability §. <?.'
it and no other, and that none fhould be pro
moted to degrees in theology, that did not fwear
the like, (as ' Occham, s Gerfon, ' Marfilius, and
u Adrianus report :) Since it is efteemed lawful to
diflent from all thefe, I hope no man will be, fo
unjuft to prefs other men to confent to an autho
rity which he himfelf judges to be incompetent.
Thefe two great inftances are enough, but if more
were neceffary I could inftance in the opinion of
the Chiliafts, maintained by the fecond and third
centuries and difavowed ever fince : in the doc
trine of communicating infants, taught and prac-
tifed as neceffary by the fourth and fifth centuries,
and detefted by the latin church in all the follow
ing ages : in the variety of opinions concerning
the very form of baptifm : fome keeping clofe to
the inftitution and the words of its firft fandion,
others affirming it to be fufficient, if it be admi-
niftered in nomine Chrifti; particularly w St. Am
brofe, Pope Nicholas the firft, x V. Bede and y St.
Bernard, befides fome writers of after ages, as
Hugo de S. Viclore, and the dodors generally his
cotemporaries. And it would not be in confide
rable to obferve, that if any fynod, general, natio
nal, or provincial, be receded from by the church
of the later age, (as there have been very many)
then, fo many fathers as were then affembled and
united in opinion are efteemed no authority to de
termine our perfuafions. Now fuppofe 200 fa
thers affembled in fuch a council, if all they had
wrote books, and authorities, 200 authorities had
been alledged in confirmation of an opinion, it
would have made a mighty noife, and loaded any
man with an infupportable prejudice that fhould
' In oper. 90. dierum. s Serm. de Pafchal. '.In 4.
fent. q. 13. a. 3. " In. 4. de Sacram. confirmat. w De
corifecrat. dift. 4. c. aquodam Judteo. x In cap. to. aft,
Ep. 340. diflent :

§.8. of the Fathers. 201
diffent : and yet every opinion maintained againft
the authority of any one council, though but pro- '
vincial, is in its proportion fuch a violent recef-
fion and negled of the authority and dodrine of
fo many fathers as were then affembled, who did
as much declare their opinion in thofe affemblies
by their fuffrages, as if they had writ it in fo
many books ; and their opinion is more confide
rable in the afiembly than in their writings, be-
cailferit was more deliberate, affifted, united and
more uogmatical. In purfuance of this obferva-
tion, it is to be noted by way of inftance, that
St. Auftin and two hundred and feventeen bifhops
and all their fucceflbrs * for a whole age together
did confent in denying appeals to Rome ; and yet
the authority of fo many fathers (all true catho-
licks) is of no force now at Rome in this queftion ;
but if it be in a matter they like, one of thefe fa
thers alone is fufficient. The dodrine of St.
Auftin alone brought in the feflival and veneration
of the affumption of the bleffed virgin, and the
hard fentence paffed at Rome upon unbaptifed in
fants, and the Dominican opinion concerning pre
determination, derived from him alone as from
their original : fo that if a father fpeaks for them,-*
it is wonderful to fee what tragedies are ftirred up
againft them that diflent, as is to be feen in that
excellent nothing of Campian's ten reafons. But
if the fathers be againft them, then Patres in qui-
bufdam non leviter lapft funt, fays Bellarmine, and
conftat quofdam ex pracipuis, it is certain the chiefeft
* Vide Epift. Bonifacii II. apud Nicolinum, torn. 2. Concil.
pag. 544. & exemplar precum Eulalii apud eundem. ibid.
p. 52;. Qui anathematizat omnes decifores fuos qui in
ea caufa Romae fe opponendo recta: fidei regulum pnevaricari
funt, inter quos tamen fuit Auguftinus, quem pro maledifto
Cadeftinu's tacite agnofcit, admittendo fc. exemplar, precum.
Vid. DoHor. Maria. dejurifdia. part. 4. p. 273. & Erafm. an-
nof. in Hieron. pnefal. in Daniel.
Oi

202 Of the dif ability §. S*.
of them have foully erred. Nay Pofa, Salmeron,
and Wadding, in the queftion of the immaculate
conception, make no fcruple to diffent from anti
quity -, to prefer new dodors before the old, and
to juftify themfelves, bring inftances in which the
church of Rome had determined againft the fa
thers. And it is not excufe enough to fay, that
fingly the fathers may err, but if they concur they
are certain teftimony. For there is no queftion
this day difputed by perfons that are willing to be
tried by the fathers, fo generally attefted on either
fide, as fome points are which both fides diflike
feverally or conjundly. And therefore it is not
honeft for either fide to prefs the authority of the
fathers, as a concluding argument in matter of
difpute, unlefs themfelves will be content to fub
mit in all things to the teftimony of an equal
number of them, which I am certain neither fide
will do.
III. 3. If I fhould reckon all the particular rea
fons againft the certainty of this topick, it would
be more than needs as to this queftion, and there
fore I will abftain from all difparagement of thofe
worthy perfonages, who were excellent lights to
their feveral diocefes, and cures. And therefore
I will not inftance that -f Clemens Alexandrinus
taught that Chrift felt no hunger or thirft, but
eat only to make demonftration of the verity of
his human nature : Nor that St. Hilary taught
that Chrift in his fufferings had no forrow ; nor
that Origen taught the pains of hell not to have
an eternal duration : Nor that St. Cyprian taught
rebaptization ; nor that Athenagoras condemned
fecond marriages ; nor that St. John Damafcen faid,
Chrift only prayed in appearance, not really and
in truth -, I will let them all reft in peace, and
* De verb. Dei 1. 3. c. 10. §. dieef. f Strom. 1. 3, & 6.
their

§. 8. of the Fathers. 203
their memories in honour ; for if I fhould enquire
into the particular probations of this article, I
muft do to them as I fhould be forced to do nowj:
if any man fhould fay that the writings of the
fchool-men were excellent argument and autho
rity to determine men's perfuafions ; I muft con
fider their writings, and obferve their defaillances,
their contradidions, the weaknefs of their argu
ments, the mif-allegation of fcripture, their in-
confequent dedudions, their falfe opinions, and
all the weakneffes of humanity, and the failings
of their perfons, which no good man is willing to
do, unlefs he be compelled to it by a pretence
that they are infallible, or that they are followed
by men even into errors or impiety. And there
fore fince there is enough in the former inftances,
tO cure any fuch mif-perfuafion and prejudice, I
will not inftance in the innumerable particularities
that might perfuade us to keep our liberty intire,
or to ufe it difcreetly. For it is not to be denied
but that great advantages are to be made by their
writings, £5? probabile eft quod omnibus, quod pluribus,
quod fapientibus videtur ; ii one wife man fays a
thing, it is an argument to me to believe it in its
degree of probation, that is, proportionable to
fuch an affent as the authority of a wife man can
produce, and when there is nothing againft it
that is greater ; and fo in proportion higher and
higher as more wife men (fuch as the old dodors
were) do affirm it. But that which I complain
of is, that we look upon wife men that lived long
ago with fo much veneration and miftake, that
we reverence them not for having been wife men,
but that they lived long fince. But when the
queftion is concerning authority, there muft be
fomething to build it on ; a divine command-;
ment, human fandion, excellency of fpirit, and
greatnefs of underftanding, on which things all
human

204 Of the difability §. SV
human authority is regularly built. But now if we
had lived in their times (for fo we muft look upon
them now, as they did who without prejudice be
held them) I fuppofe we fhould then have beheld
them, as we in England look on thofe prelates,
who are of great reputation for learning and fanc
tity : here only is the difference ; when perfons
are living, their authority is depreffed by their
perfonal defailances, and the contrary interefts
of their cotemporaries, which difband when they
are dead, and leave their credit intire upon the
reputation of thofe excellent books, and monu
ments of learning and piety which are left behind :
But beyond this, why the bifhop of Hippo fhall
have greater authority than the bifhop of the Ca
naries, cateris paribus, I underftand not. For did
they that lived (to inftance) in St. Auftin's time
believe all that he wrote ? If they did, they were
much to blame, or elfe himfelf was to blame for
retrading much of it a little before his death ;
and if while he lived, his affirmative was no more
authority, than derives from the credit of one
very wife man, againft whom alfo very wife men
were oppofed ; I know not why his authority
fhould prevail further now ; for there is nothing
added to the ftrength of his reafon, fince that
time, but only that he hath been in great efteem
with pofterity : And if that be all, why the opi
nion of the following ages, fhall be of more
force than the opinion of the firft ages, againft
whom St. Auftin in many things clearly did op-
pofe himfelf, I fee no reafon ; or whether the firft
ages were againft him or no, yet that he is appro
ved by the following ages is no better argument ;
for it makes his authority not to be innate, but
derived from the opinion of others, and fo to be
precaria, and to depend upon others, who if they
fhould

§. 8. of the Fathers. 205
fhould change their opinions, and fuch examples
there have been many, then there were nothing
left to urge our confent to him ; which when it
was at the beft, was only this, becaufe he had
the good fortune to be believed by them that
came after, he muft be fo ftill ; and becaufe it
was no argument for the old dodors before him,
this will not be very good in his behalf: The fame
I fay of any company of them, I fay not fo of
all of them, it is to no purpofe to fay it, for there
is no queftion this day in conteftation, in the ex
plication of which all the old writers did confent :
In the affignation of the canon of fcripture, they
never did confent for fix hundred years together,
and then by that time the bifhops had' agreed
indifferently well, and but indifferently, upon that,
they fell out in twenty more ; and except it be
in the apoftles creed, and articles of fuch nature,
there is nothing which may with any. colour be
called a confent, much lefs tradition univerfai.
IV. 4. But I will rather chufe to fhew the un
certainty of this topick by fuch an argument,
which was not in the fathers power to help, fuch
as makes no invafion upon their great reputation,
which I defire fhould be preferved as facred as it
ought. For other things, let who pleafe read
Mr. Daille du vray ufage des Peres : But I fhall
only confider that the writings of the fathers
have been fo corrupted by the intermixture of he
reticks, fo many falfe books put forth in their
names, fo many of their writings loft which would
more clearly have explicated their fenfe, and at
laft an open profeffion made, and a trade of ma
king the fathers fpeak, not what themfelves
thought, but what other men pleafed, that it is
a great inftance of God's providence and care of
his church, that we have fo much good preferved
in the writings which we receive from the fathers, and

206 Of the dif ability §. #.
and that all truth is not as clear gone, as is the
certainty of their great authority and reputation.
V. The publifhing books with the infcription
of great names began in St. Paul's time ; for fome
had troubled the church of Thejalonica with a falfe
epiftle in St. Paul's name, againft the inconveni
ence of which he arms them in 2 TheJ. 2. 1. And
this increafed daily in the church. The Arrians
wrote an epiftle to Conftantine, under the name of
Athanafius, and the Eutychians wrote againft Cyrill
ai Alexandria, under the name of * Theodoret ; and
of the age in which the feventh fynod was kept ;
Erafmus reports, -f- Libris f alfo celebrium virorum ti-
tulo commendatis f cater e omnia. It was then a pub
lick bufinefs, and a trick not more bafe than pub
lick : But it was more ancient than fo, and it is
memorable in the books attributed to St. BaJM,
containing thirty chapters die Spiritu Sanclo, whereof
fifteen were plainly added by another hand under
the covert of St. Bafil, as appears in -the difference
-of the ftile, in the impertinent digreffions, againft
the cuftom of that excellent man, by fome paffa-
ges contradidory to others of St. Bafil, by citing
Meletius as dead before him, who yet lived three
% years after him, and by the very frame and
manner of the difcourfe ; and yet is was fo hand
fomely carried, and fo well ferved the purpofes
of men, that it was quoted under the title of St.
Bafil by many, but without naming the number
chapters; and by St. John Damafcen in thefe words,
§ Bafilius in opere triginta capitum de Spiritu S. ad
Amphilochium, and to the fame purpofe, and in the
number of 27 and 29. chapters he is cited by
|| Photius, by Euthymius, by Burchord, by Zonaras,
* Apolog. Athanaf. ad Conftant. + Vide Baron. A. D.
553- t Vide Baron, in Annal. § L. 1. de imagin. orat.
i. H Ndmocan. tit. 1. cap. 3. Balfamon

§.8. of the Fathers. 207
Balfamon and Nicepborus ; but for this fee .more in
Erafmus's preface upon this book of St. Bafil.
There is an epiftle goes ftill under the name of
St, Hierom ad Demetriadem viginem, and is of great
ufe in the queftion of predeftination, with its ap
pendices, and yet a very * learned man 800
years ago did believe it to be written by a Pela
gian, and undertakes to confute divers parts of it,
as being high and confident Pelagianifm, and
written by Julianus Epifc. Eclanenfis, but Gregorius
Ariminenfis from St. Auftin affirms ft to have been
written by f Pdagius himfelf. I might inftance
in too many ; there is not any one of the fathers
who is efteemed author of any confiderable num
ber of books, that hath efcaped untouched ; bat
the abufe in this kind hath been fo evident that
now if any interefted perfon of any -fide be preffed
with an authority very pregnant againft him, he
thinks to efcape by accufing the edition, or the
author, or the hands it paffed through, or at laft
he therefore fufpeds it, becaufe it -makes againft
him ; both fides being refoived that they are m
the right, the authorities that they admit, they
will believe not to be againft them ; and they
which are too plainly againft them, fhall be no
authorities : And indeed the whole world hath
been fo much abufed that every man thinks he
hath reafon to fufped whatfoever is againft him,
that is, what he pleafes ; which proceeding only
produces this truth, that there neither is. nor can
be any certainty, nor very much probability in
fuch allegations.
VI. But there is a worfe mifchief than this, be
fides thofe very many which are not yet .difco
vered, which like the peftilence ,deftroys in the

* Vide Beda. de gratia Chrifti adv. Julianum.
f Greg. A«n>. in 2. -fent. dift. 26. q. i.-ajj.

dark,-

20 8 Of the difability §. 8,
dark, and grows into inconvenience more infen-
fibly and irremediably, and that is, corruption of
particular places, by inferting words and altering
them to contrary fenfes : A thing which the fa
thers of the fixth general fynod complained of
concerning the conftitution of * St. Clement, qui-
bus jam olim ab iis qui a fide aliena fentiunt adult erina
quadam etiam pietate aliena introduEla funt qua divi-
norum nobis Decretorum elegantem (3 venuftam fpeciem
obfcurarunt : And fo alfo have his recognitions,
fo have his epiftles been ufed, if at leaft they
were his at all, particularly the fifth decretal epiftle
that goes under the name of St. Clement, in which
community of wives is taught upon the authority
of St. Luke, faying the firft chriftians had all
things common ; if all things, then wives alfo
fays the epiftle ; a forgery like to have been done
by fome Nicolaitan, or other impure perfon :
There is an epiftle of Cyril extant to Succejus bi
fhop of Diocafarea, in which he relates that he
was afked by Budus bifhop of Emeja, whether he
did approve of the epiftle of Athanafius to Epicle-
tus bifhop of Corinth, and that his anfwer was,
•f Si hac apud vos fcripta non ftnt adulterd : Nam .
plura ex his ab hoftibus Ecclefia deprehenduntur eje
depravata : And this was done even while the au
thors themfelves were alive ; for fo Dionyftus of
Corinth complained that his writings were cor
rupted by hereticks, and Pope Leo, that his
epiftle to Flavianus was perverted by the Greeks :
And in the fynod of J Conftantinople before quoted
(the fixth fynod) Macarius and his difciples were
convided. quod Sanclorum teftimonia aut truncarint
aut depravarint : Thus the third chapter of St.
Cyprian's book, de unitate Ecclefia in the edition of
Pamelius fuffered great alteration : Thefe words
* Can. 2. f Euf. 1. 4. c. 23. % Aft. 8. vid. etiam. Synod
7. aft 4. [Primatus

§. 8. of the Fathers. 209
[Primalus Petro datur\ wholly inferted, and thefe
[fuper Cathedram Petri fundata eft Ecckfia~\ and
whereas it was before, fuper unum /eiificat Eccleftam
Chriftus, that not being enough they have made
it fuper [ilium] unum. Now thefe additions are
againft the faith of all old copies, before Minu-
tius and Pamelius, and againft Gratism, even after
himfelf had been chaftifed by the Roman correc
tors, the commiffaries of Gregory XIII. as is to
be feen where thefe words are alfedged, Decret. c.
24. ^. 1. can. loquitur Deminus ad Pefrum. So
that we may fay of Cyprian's works as Pamelius
himfelf faid concerning his writings, and the wri
tings of. other of the fathers, mide colligimus (faith
he) * Cypridni fcripta ut 13 aliorum Veterum a librae
riis varie fuifte inierpolata. But Grdtian himfelf
could do as fine a feat when he lifted, or elfe fome
body did it for him, and it was in this very
queftion, their beloved article of the Pope's fu-
premacy ; for de panit. difl. 1. c. poteft fieri, he
quotes thefe words out of St. Ambrofe, Non habent
Petri hareditatem qui non habent Petri fedem -, fidem,
not fedeni, it is in St. Ambrofe; but this error was
made authentick by being inferted into the code
of the law of the catholick church; and confider-
ing how little notice the clergy had of antiquity,
but what was tranfmitted to them by Gratian, it
will be no great wonder that all this part of the
world fwallowed fuch a bole and the opinion that
was wrapped in it. But I need not inftance in
Gratian any further1, but refer any one that de
fires to be fatisfied concerning this colledion of
his, to't Auguftinus archbifhop oiTarracon in emen-
datione Grctiani, where he fhall find fopperies and
* Annot Cyprian, fuper. Concil. Carthag. n. i.
f Vid. Ind. Expurg. Be!,?, in Bertram. & Flandr. Hifpan.
Portugal. Neopolitan. Romanum. Junium in prasfat. ad Ind.
Expurg. Berg. Hafen mullerum. pag. 275. Withrington.
Apolog. num 449. P corruptions

210 Of the dif ability §. ct
corruptions good flore noted by that learned man:
But that the Indices Expurgatorii commanded . by
authority, and pradifed with publick licence, pro-
ofefs to alter and corredthe fayings of the fathers,
and to reconcile them to the catholick fenfe by put
ting in and leaving out, is fo great an impofture,
fo unchriftian a proceeding, that it hath made the
faith of all books and all authors juftly to be fuf-
peded; for confidering their infinite diligence and
great opportunity, as having had moft of the co
pies in their own hands, together with an unfatis-
fiable defire of prevailing in their right, or in their
wrong, they have made an abfolute deftrudion of
this topick, and when the fathers fpeak * latin,
or breath in a Roman diocefe, although the pro
vidence of God does infinitely over-rule them,
and that it is next to a miracle that in the monu
ments of antiquity, there is no more found that
can pretend for their advantage than there is,
which indeed is infinitely inconfiderable : Yet our
queftions and uncertainties are infinitely multi
plied, inftead of a probable and reafonable deter
mination. For fince the Latins always com
plained of the Greeks, for privately corrupting the
ancient records both of councils and fathers ; and
now the Latins make open profeffion not of cor
rupting, but of correding their writings (that's the
word) and at the moft it was but a human autho
rity, and that of perfons not always learned, and
very often deceived ; the whole matter is fo un
reasonable, that it is not worth a further difqui-
fition. But if any one defires to enquire further, he
may be fatisfied in Erafmus, in Henry and Robert
Stephens, in their prefaces before the editions of
Videat Leftor Andream Criftovium in Bello. Jefuitico,. &•
Joh. Reinolds in libr. de idol. Rom-. f Vid. Ep. Nicolai ad
Michael. Imperat. the

$.8. of the Fathers. 2 i 1
the fathers, and their obfervations upon them : in
Bellarmine de [cript. Ecclef. in Dr. Reynolds, de libris
Apocryphis, in Scaliger, and Robert Coke, of Leedsi
in Torkfhire, in his book, De cenfura Patrum.

SECT. IX.

Of the incompetency of the Church in its diffufive ca
pacity to be judge of Controverfies, and theimper*
tinency of that pretence of the Spirit.
I. A N D now after all thefe eonfiderations of
f~\_ the feveral Topicks, Tradition, Councils,
Popes, and ancient Dodors of the church ; I fup
pofe it will not be neceffary, to confider the au
thority of the Church apart. For the Church
either fpeaks by tradition, or by a reprefentative
body in a council, by Popes, or by the Fathers :
For the church is not a Chimara, not a fhadow,
but a company of men believing in Jefus Chrift ;
which men either fpeak by themfelves immediate
ly, or by their rulers, or by their proxies and repre-
fentatives ; now I have confidered it in all fenfes,
but in its diffufive capacity ; in which capacity fhe
cannot be fuppofed to be a judge of controver
fies, both becaufe in that capacity fhe Cannot
teach us, as alfo becaufe if by a judge we mean
all the church diffufed in all its parts and mem
bers, fo there can be no controverfy, for if all
men be of that opinion, then there is no queftion
Conceited ; if they be not all of a mind, how can
the whole diffufive catholick church be pretended
in defiance of any one article, where the diffufive
church being divided, part goes this way, and
part another ? But if it be faid, the greateft part
muft carry it ; befides that it is impoffible for us
P 2 to

212 Of the incompetency §.9.
to know which way the greateft part goes in many
queftions, it is not always true that the greater
partis the beft, fometimes the contrary ris moft
certain, and it is often very probable, but it is
always pofiible. And when paucity of followers
was objeded to Liberius, he gave this in anfwer,
* There was a time when but three children of
the captivity refitted the king's decree. And
Athanafius -f wrote on purpofe againft thofe that
did judge of truth by multitudes, and indeed it
concerned him fo to do, when he alone flood in
the gap againft the numerous armies of the
Arrians. II. But if there could in this cafe be any dif-
tind confideration of the church, yet to know
which is the true church is fo hard to be found'
out, that the greateft queftions of Chriftendom
are judged before you can get to your judge, and
then there is no need of him. For thofe queftions
which are concerning the judge of queftions muft
be determined before you can fubmit to his judge
ment, and if you can yourfelves determine thofe
great queftions which confift much in univerfa-
Iities, then alfo you may determine the particulars
as being of lefs difficulty. And he that confiders
how many notes there are given to know the true
church, no lefs than 1 5 by Bellarmine, and con
cerning every one of them almoft whether it be
a certain note or no, there are very many queftions
and uncertainties, and when it is refoived which
are the notes, there is more difpute about the ap
plication of thefe notes than of the YIpctitoxpLvofJii-
voV) will quickly be fatisfied that he had better
fit ftill, than to go round about a difficult and
troublefome paflage, and at laft get no further,
but return to the place from whence he firft fet
• Theod. 1. 2. c. 16. baft. + Tom. 2. out.

§-9- of the Church. 213
out. And there is one note amongft the reft, ho~
linefs of dodrine, that is, fo as to have nothing
falfe either in Doclrina fidei or morum, (for fo Bel
larmine explicates it,) which fuppofes all your con
troverfies judged, before they can be tried by the
authority of the church, and when we have found
out all true dodrine (for that is neceffary to judge
of the church by, that as St. Auftin's council is
Eccleftam in verbis Chrifti inveftigemus) then we are
bound to follow becaufe we judge it true, not
becaufe the church hath faid it; and this is to
judge of the church by her dodrine, not of the
dodrine by the church. And indeed it is the
beft and only way ; but then how to judge of
thac dodrine will be afterwards inquired into.
In the mean time, the Church, that is, the go
vernors of the churches are to judge for them
felves, and for thofe who cannot judge for them
felves. For others they muft know that their
governors judge for them too, fo as to keep
them in peace and obedience, though not for the
determination of their private perfuafions. For
the ceconomy of the church requires that her au
thority be received by all her children. Now this
authority is divine in its original, for it derives
immediately from Chrift, but it is human in its
miniftration. We are to be led like men not like
beafts ; a rule is prefcribed for the guides them
felves to follow, as we are to follow the guides ;
and although in matters indeterminable, or ambi
guous, the prefumption lies on behalf of the go
vernors, (for we do nothing for authority, if we
fuffer it not to weigh that part down of an indif
ferency, and a queftion which fhe choofes) yet if
there be error manifeftus, as it often happens, or if
the church-governors themfelves be rent into in
numerable feds, as it is this day in Chriftendom,
then we are to be as wife as we can, in chufing
P 3 our

Of the incompetency §. 3,
our guides, and then to follow, fo long as that
reafon remains for which we firft chofe them.
And even in that government which was an im
mediate fandion of God, I mean the ecclefiaftical
government of the fynagogue, where God had
configned the high-prieft's authority, with a me
nace of death to them that fhould difobey, that
all the world might know the meaning and ex
tent of fuch precepts, and that there is a limit
beyond which they cannot command, and we
ought not to obey : it came once to that pafs,
that if the prieft had been obeyed in his conci-
liary decrees, the whole nation had been bound to
b"iieve the condemnation of our blefled Saviour
to have been juft, and at another time the Apof
tles muft no more have preached in the name of
Jesus. But here was manifeft error. And the
cafe is the fame to every man that invincibly, and
therefore innocently, believes it fo. Deo potius
quam hominibus, is our rule in fuch cafes. For al
though every man is bound to follow his guide,
unlefs he believes his guide- to miflead him ; yet
when he fees reafon againft his guide, it is beft
to follow his reafon : for though in this he may
fall into error, yet he will efcape the fin ; he may
do violence to truth, but never to his own con^
fcience ; and an honefl error is better than an hy
pocritical profeffion of truth, or a violent luxa
tion of the underftanding, fince if he retains his
hor.efty and fimplicity, he cannot err in a matter
of faith or abfolute neceffity : God's goodnefs hath
fecured all honeft and careful perfons from that ;
for other things, he muft follow the beft guides
he can, and he cannot be obliged to follow better
than Gcd hath given him.
III. And there is yet another way pretended of
infallible expofitions of fcripture, and that is, by
the Spirit, But of this I fhall fay no more, but
th?.t

§•9' of the Church. 215
that it is impertinent, as to this queftion. For
put the cafe, the Spirit is given to fome men
enabling them to expound infallibly, yet becaufe
this is but a private affiftance, and cannot be
proved to others, this infallible affiftance may
determine my own affent, but fhall not en
able me to prefcribe to others, becaufe it were
unreafonable I fhould, unlefs I could prove to him
that I have the fpirit, and fo can fecure him from
being deceived, if he relies upon me. In this
cafe I may fay as St. Paul, in the cafe of praying
with the fpirit. He verily giveth thanks well, but the
other is not edified. So that let this pretence be as
true as it will, it is fufficient that it cannot be of
confideration in this queftion.
IV. The refult of all is this ; fince it is not
reafonable to limit and prefcribe to all men's un
derftandings by any external rule in the interpre
tation of difficult places of fcripture, which is our
rule : fince no man, nor company of men, is fe
cure from error, or can fecure us that they are
free from malice, intereft and defign ; and fince
all the ways by which we ufually are taught, as
tradition, councils, decretals, &c. are very un
certain in the matter, in their authority, in their
being legitimate and natural, and many of them
certainly falfe, and nothing certain but the divine
authority of fcripture, in which all that is necef
fary is plain, and much of that which is not necef
fary is very obfcure, intricate, and involved ; ei-
their we muft fet up our reft, only upon articles
of faith, and plain places, and be incurious of
other obfcurer revelations, (which is a duty for
perfons of private underftandings, and of no pub
lick fundion) or if we fearch further (to which
in fome meafure the guides of others are obliged)
it remains we enquire how men may determine
themfelves, fo as to do their duty to God, and
P 4 not

216 Of the authority §. 10
not to differve the Church, that every fuch man
may do what he is bound to, in his perfonal ca
pacity, and as he relates to the publick, as a
publick minifter.

SECT. X.
Qf the authority of Reafon, and that It, proceeding
upon beft grounds, is the beft judge.
I.TTERE then I confider, that although no
jf\ man may be trufted to judge for all others,
unlefs this perfon was infallible and authorifed fo
to do, which no man nor no company of men is;
yet every man may be trufted to judge for him^
felf : I fay every man that can judge at all,
(as for others, they are to be faved as it pleafeth
God) but others that can judge at all, muft either
choofe their guides who fhall judge for them,
(and then they oftentimes do the wifeft, and al
ways fave themfelves a labour, but then they chufe
too) or if they be perfons of greater underftand
ing, then they are to chufe for themfelves in par
ticular, what the others do in general, and by
chufing their guide -, and for this any man may
be better trufted for himfelf, than any man, can be
for another : For in this cafe his own intereft is
moft concerned ; and ability is not fo neceffary as
honefty, which certainly every man will beft pre
ferve in his own cafe, and to himfelf, (and if he
does not, it is he that muft fmart for it) and it is
not required of us not to be in error, but that
we endeavour to avoid it.
II. 2. He that follows his guide fo far as his
region goes along with him, or which is all one,
he that tollows his own reafon (not guided only by

§. io. of Reafon. 217
by natural arguments, but by divine revelation,
and all other good means) hath great advantages
over him, that gives himfelf wholly to follow any ,
human guide whatfoever; becaufe he follows all
their reafons and his own too ; he follows their*
till reafon leaves them, or till it feems fo to him,
which is all one to his particular, for by the con
feffion of all fides, an erroneous confcience binds
him, when a right guide does not bind him.
But he that gives himfelf up wholly to a guide is
oftentimes (I mean, if he be a difcerning perfon)
forced to do violence to his own underftanding,
and to lofe all the benefit of his own difcretion,
that he may reconcile his reafon to his guide.
And of this we fee infinite inconveniences in the
church of Rome, for we find perfons of great un
derftanding, oftentimes fo amufed with the au
thority of the church, that it is pity to fee them
fweat in anfwering fome objedions, which they
know not how to do, but yet believe they muft,
becaufe the church hath faid it. So that if they
read, ftudy, pray, fearch records, and ufe all the
means of art and induftry in the purfuir of truth,
it is not with a refolution to follow that which
fhall feem truth to them, but to confirm what
before they did believe : and if any argument
fhall feem unanfwerable againft any article of their
church, they are to take it for a temptation, not
for an illumination, and they are to ufe it ac
cordingly : which makes them make the Devil to
foe the author of that which God's fpirit hath
affifted them to find in the ufe of lawful means
and the fearch, of truth. And when the Devil of
falfhood is like to be caft out by God's fpirit,
they fay that it is through Beelzebub ; which was
one of the worft things that ever the pharifees
faid or did : And was it not a plain flirling of the
juft and reafonable demands made by the em
peror,

2i8 Of the authority §. 10.
peror, by the kings of France and Spain, and by
the ableft divines among them, which was ufed in
the council of Trent, when they demanded the
reftitution of priefts to their liberty of marriage,
the ufe of the chalice, the fervice in the vulgar
tongue, and thefe things not only in purfuance
of truth, but for other great and good ends, even
to take away an infinite fcandal and a great
fchifm ? And yet when they themfelves did pro
fefs it, and all the world knew thefe reafonable
demands were denied merely upon a politick con
fideration, yet that thefe things fhould be fram'd
into articles, and decrees of faith, and they for ever
after bound not only not to defire the fame things,
but to think the contrary to be divine truths ;
never was reafon made more a flave, or more ufe
lefs. Muft not all the world fay, either they
muft be great hypocrites, or do great violence to
their underftanding, when they not only ceafe
from their claim, but muft alfo believe it to be
unjuft ? If the ufe of their reafon had not been re-
ftrained by the tyranny and imperioufnefs of their
guide, what the emperor, and the kings, and
their theologues would have done, they can beft
judge, who confider the reafonablenefs of the de
mand, and the unreafonablenefs of the denial.
But we fee many wife men, who with their Optan-
dwn effet ut Ecclefia licentiam daret, &c. proclaim to
all the world, that in fome things they confent
and do not confent, and do not heartily believe,
what they are bound publickly to profefs, and
they themfelves would clearly fee a difference, if
a contrary decree fhould be fram'd by the church,'
they would with an infinitely greater confidence
reft themfelves in other propofitions, than what
they muft believe as the cafe now ftands, and they
would find that the authority of a church is a pre
judice

§. io. of Reafon. 219
¦Hidice, as often as a free and modeft ufe of reafon
*s a temptation.
III. 3. God will have no man preffed with
anothers inconveniencies in matters fpiritual and
intelledual, no man's falvation to depend upon
another, and every tooth that eats four grapes
fhall be fet on edge for itfelf, and for none elfe :
and this is remarkable in that faying of God by
the prophet, * If the prophet ceafes to tell my people
of their fins, and leads them into error, the people /hall
die in their fins, and the blood of them I will require
at the hands of that prophet : meaning, that God
hath fo fet the prophets to guide us, that we alfo
are to follow them by a voluntary affent, by an ad
of choice and eledion. For although, accidentally
and occafionally, the fheep may perifh by the fliep-
herd's fault, yet that which had the chiefeft in
fluence upon their final condition, is their own ad
and eledion ; and therefore God hath fo appointed
guides to- us, that if we perifh, it may be accounted
upon both our fcores, upon our own and the guides
too, which fays plainly, that although we are in
trufted to our guides, yet we are intrufted to our
felves too. Our guides muft dired us ; and yet if
they fail, God hath not fo left us to them, but he ¦
hath given us enough to ourfelves to difcover their
failings, and our own duties in all things neceffary.
And for other things we muft do as well as we can.
But it is beft to follow our guides, if we know no
thing better ; but if we do, it is better to follow
the pillar of fire, than a pillar of cloud, though
both poffibly may lead to Canaan: but then alfo it
is poffible that it may be otherwife. But I am fure
if I do my own beft, then if it be beft to follow a
guide, and if it be alfo neceffary, I fhall be fure
by Gods grace and my own endeavour, to get to
* Ezek. 33. it;

22o Of the authority §. lo.
it ; but if I without the particular engagement of
my own underftanding, follow a guide, poffibly I
'may be guilty of extreme negligence, or I may
extinguiffi God's fpirit, or do violence to my own
reafon. And whether intrufting myfelf wholly
with another, be not a laying up my talent in a
napkin, I am not fo well affured. I am certain
the other is not. And fince another man's anfwer-
ing for me will not hinder, but that I alfo fhall
anfwer for myfelf; as it concerns him to fee he
does not wilfully mifguide me, fo it concerns me
to fee that he fhall not, if I can help it, if I cannot
it will not be required at my hands : whether it
be his fault, or his invincible error, I fhall be
charg'd with neither.
IV. 4. This is no other, than what is enjoined
as a duty. For fince God will be juftified with a
free obedience, and there is an obedience of un
derftanding, as well as of will and affedion, it is
of great concernment, as to be willing to believe
whatever God fays, fo alfo to enquire diligently
whether the will of God b = fo as is pretended.
Even our ads of underftanding are ads of choice,
and therefore it is commanded as a duty, to * fearch
the fcriptures, to try the fpirits whether they be of God
er no, of ourfelves to be able to judge what is right, to
try all things, and to retain that which is brft. For
he that refolves not to confider, refolves not to be
careful whether he have truth or no, and there
fore hath an affedion indifferent to truth or falf-
hcod, which is all one as if he did chufe amifs ;
and fince when things are truly propounded and
made reafonable and intelligible we cannot but
affent, and then it is no thanks to us ; we have no
way to give our wills to God in matters of belief,
* Mat. 15. 10. Joh. ;. 40. 1 Joh. 4. 1. Ephef. 5. 17.
Luk. 24. 25. Rom. 3. 11. 1. 18, Apoch. 2. 2. Aft. 17. 11.
but

§. io. of Reafon. 221
but by our induftry in fearching it and examining
the grounds upon which the propounders build
their didates. And the not doing it is oftentimes
a caufe that God gives a man over m v&v dS'oxifjt.ov,
into a reprobate and undifcerning mind and un
derftanding. V. 5. And this very thing (though men will
not underftand it) is the perpetual pradice of all
men in the world that can give a reafonable ac
count of their faith. The very catholic church
itfelf is * rationabilis 13 ubique diffufd, faith Optatus,
reafonable, as well as diffufed, every where. For
take the profelytes of the church of Rome, even in
their greateft fubmiffion of underftanding, they
feem to themfelves to follow their reafon moft of
all. For if you tell them, fcripture and tradition
are their rules to follow, they will believe you
when they know a reafon for it ; and if they take
you upon your word, they have a reafon for that
too, either they believe you a learned man, or a
good man, or that you can have no ends upon
them, or fomething that is of an equal height to
fit their underftandings. If you tell them they
muft believe the church,, you muft tell them why
they are bound to it ; and if you quote fcripture
to prove it, you muft give them leave to judge,
whether the words alledged fpeak your fenfe or
no, and therefore to diffent, if they fay ho fuch
thing. And although all men are not wife, and
proceed difcreetly, yet all make their choice fome
way or other. He that chufes to pleafe his fancy,
takes his choice as much, as he that chufes pru
dently. And no man fpeaks more unreafonably,
than he that denies to men the ufe of their reafon
in choice of their religion. For that I may by
$he way remove the common prejudice, reafon
* Lib. 3. and

222 Of the authority §¦. 164
and authority are not things incompetent of re
pugnant, efpecially when the authority is infal
lible and fupreme : for there is no greater reafon
in the world, than to believe fuch an authority.
But then we muft confider, whether every autho
rity that pretends to be fuch, is fo indeed. And
therefore Deus dixit, ergo hoc verum eft, is the
greateft demonftration in the world for things of
this nature. But it is not fo in human didates,
and yet reafon and human authority are not ene
mies. For it is a good argument for us to follow
fUch an opinion, becaufe it is made facred by the
authority of councils and ecclefiaftical tradition,
and fometimes it is the beft reafon we have in a
queftion, and then it is to be flridly followed ;
but there may alfo be at other times a reafon
greater than it that fpeaks againft it, and then
the authority muft not carry it. But then the
difference is not between reafon and authority, but
between this reafon and that, Which is greater :
for authority is a very good reafon, and is to pre
vail, unlefs a flronger come and difarm it, but
then it muft give place. So that in this queftion
by [Reafon] I do not mean a diftind topick, but a
tranfeendent that runs through all topicks ; for
reafon, like logick, is inftrument of all things
elfe ; and when revelation, and philofophy, and
public experience, and all other grounds of pro
bability or demonftration have fupplied us with
matter, then reafon does but make ufe of them ;
that is, in plain terms, there being fo many ways
of arguing, fo many feds, fuch differing interefts,
fuch variety of authority, fo many pretences, and
fo many, falfe beliefs, it concerns every wife man
to confider which is the beft argument,' which
propofition relies upon the trueft grounds : and
if this were not his only way, why do men dif-
pute and urge arguments, why do they cite coun cils

§. io. of Reafon. 223
cils and fathers, why do they alledge fcripture
and tradition, and all this on all fides, and to con
trary purpofes? If we muft judge, then we muft
ufe our reafon; if we muft not judge, why do
they produce evidence ? Let them leave difputing
and decree propofitions magifterially, but then we
may chufe whether we will believe, them or no-,
or if they fay we muft believe them, they muft
prove it, and tell us why. And all thefe difputes
concerning tradition, councils, fathers, &c. are
not arguments againft or befides reafon, but con-
teftations and pretences to the beft arguments,
and the moft certain fatisfadion of our reafon.
But then all thefe coming into queftion, fubmit
themfelves to reafon, that is, to be judged by
human underftanding, upon the beft grounds and
information it can receive. So that fcripture, tra
dition, councils, and fathers, are the evidence in
a queftion, but reafon is the judge: that is, we
being the perfons that are to be perfuaded, we
muft fee that we be perfuaded reafonably, and it
is unreafonable to affent to a leffer evidence, when
a greater and clearer is propounded ; but of that
every man for himfelf is to take cognizance, if he
be able to judge, if he be not, he is not bound
under the tie of neceflity to know any thing of it -,
that which is neceffary fhall be certainly conveyed
to him, God that beft can, will certainly take
care for that ; for if he does not, it becomes to be
not neceffary ; or if it fhould flill remain necef
fary, and he damned for not knowing it, and yet
to know it be not in his power, then who can help
it? there can be no further care in this bufinefs. In
other things, there being no abfolute and prime
neceffity, we are left to our liberty to judge that
way, which makes beft demonftration of our
piety and of our love to God and truth, not that
way that is always the beft argument of an ex
celled

224 Caufes of E)rror §. 1 1.
cellent underftanding, for this may be a bleffing,
but the other only is a duty.
And now that we are pitched upon that way
which is moft natural and reafonable in determi
nation of ourfelves rather than of queftions,
which are often indeterminable, fince right rea
fon proceeding upon the beft grounds it can, viz.
of divine revelation and human authority, and
probability is our guide, {Stando in humanis) and
fuppofing the affiftance of God's fpirit (which he
never denies them that fail not of. their duty in
all fuch things in which he requires truth and
certainty) it remains that we confider how it comes
to pafs that men are fo much deceived in the
ufe of their reafon, and choice of their religion,
and that in this account We diftinguifh thofe acci
dents which make error innocent, from thofe
which make it become a herefy.

SECT. XI.
Of fome caufes of Error in the exercife of Reafon
which are inculpate in themfelves.
I i.HpHEN I confider, that there are a great
X many inculpable caufes of error, which
are arguments of human imperfedion, not con-
vidions of a fin. And (i.) the variety of human
underftandings is fo great, that what is plain and
apparent to one, is difficult and obfcure to ano
ther ; one will obferve a confequent from a com
mon principle, and another from thence will
conclude the quite contrary. When St. Peter
faw the vifion of the fheet let down with all forts
of beafts in it, and a voice faying, Surge Petre,
macla £5? manduca, if he had not by a particular affiftance

§. ii. in the* exercife of Reafon. 225 '•
affiftance been direded to the meaning of the holy
fhoft, poffibly he might have had other appre-
enfions of the meaning of that vifion, for to
myfelf it feems naturally to fpeak nothing but the
abolition of the Mofaical rites, and the reftitu-
tion of us to that part of chriftian liberty which
confifts in the promifcuous eating of meats ; and
yet befides this, there want not fome underftand
ings in the world, to whom thefe words feem to
give St. Peter a power to kill heretical princes.
Methinks it is a ftrange underftanding that makes
fuch extradions, but Bozius and Baronius did fo.'
But men may underftand what they pleafe, efpe-
cially when they are to expound oracles. It was
an argument of fome wit, but of fingularity of
underftanding, that happened in the great contef
tation between the Miffals of St. Ambrofe and
St. Gregory. The lot was thrown, and God made
to be judge, fo as he was tempted to a miracle,
to anfwer a queftion which themfelves might have
ended without much trouble. The two Miffals
were laid upon the altar, and the church door fhut
and fealed. By the morrow mattins they found
St. Gregory's miffall torn in pieces (faith the ftory)
and thrown about the church, but St. Ambrofe's
opened and laid upon the altar in a pofture of
being read. If I had been to judge of the mean
ing of this miracle, I fhould have made no fcruple
to have faid it had been the will of God that the
Miffal of St. Ambrofe which had been anciently
ufed, and publickly tried and approved of, fhould
flill be read in the church, and that of Gregory
let alone, it being torn by ah angelical hand as an
argument of its imperfedion, or of the inconve
nience of innovation. But yet they judged it
otherwife, for by the tearing and fcattering about,
they thought it was meant, it fhould be ufed.
Over all the world, and that of St. Ambrofe read
Q. only

226 Caufes of Error §. it.
only in the in the church of Millaine. I am more
fatisfied that the former was the true meaning,
than I am of the truth of the ftory : But we muft
fuppofe that. And now there might have been
eternal difputings about the meaning of the mira
cle, and nothing left to determine, when two fan
cies are the litigants, and the conteftations about
probabilites bine inde. And I doubt not this was
one caufe of fo great variety of opinions in the
primitive church, when they proved their feveral
opinions, which were myfterious queftions of chrif
tian theology, by teftimonies out of the obfeurer
prophets, out of the pfalms and canticles, as who
pleafe to obferve their arguments of difcourfe and
adions of council fhall perceive they very much
ufed to do. Now although men's underftandings
be not equal, and that it is fit the beft under
ftandings fhould prevail -, yet that will not fatisfy
the weaker underftandings, becaufe all men will
not chink that another underftanding is better
than his own, at leaft not in fuch a particular,
in which with fancy he hath pleafed himfelf. But
commonly they that are leaft able, are moft bold,
and the more ignorant is the more confident;
therefore it is but reafon, if he would have another
bear with him, he alfo fhould bear with another -r
and if he will not be prefcribed to, neither let
him prefcribe to others. And there is the more
reafon in this, becaufe fuch modefty is commonly
to be defired of the more imperfed ; for wife
men know the ground of their perfuafion, and
have their confidence proportionable to their evi
dence, others have not, but over-ad their trifles •,
and therefore I faid it is but a reafonable demand,
that they who have the leaft reafon fhould not be
moft imperious ; and for others it being reafon
able enough, for all their great advantages upon
other men, they will be foon perfuaded to it ; for
although

§. II in tbe exercife of Reafon. 227
although wife men might be bolder, in refped of
the perfons of others lefs difcerning, yet they
know there are but few things fo certain as to
create much boldnefs and confidence of afTertion;
if they do not, they are not the men I take
them for.
II. 2. When an adion or opinion is commen
ced with zeal and piety againft a known vice or
a vicious perfon, commonly all miflakes of it's
proceeding are made facred by the holinefs of the
principle, and fo abufe the perfuafions of good
people, that they make it as a charaderi flick note
to diftinguifh good perfons from bad ; and then
whatever error is confecrated by this means, is
therefore made the more lafting, becaufe it is ac
counted holy, and the perfons are not eafily ac
counted hereticks, becaufe they erred upon a pious
principle. There is a memorable inftance in one
of the greateft queftions of Chriftendom, viz.
concerning Images. For when Philippicus had ef-
pyed the Images of the fix firft fynods upon the
front of a church, he caufed them to be pulled
down ; now he did it in hatred of the fixth fy
nod : for he being a Monothelite, flood con
demned by that fynod. The Catholicks that
were zealous for the fixth fynod, caufed the ima
ges and reprefentments to be put up again, and
then fprung the queftion concerning the lawful-
nefs of images in churches ; Philippicus and his
party thrived by fuppreffing images to do difpa-
ragement to the fixth fynod : the * catholicks to
preferve the honour of the fixth fynod, would
uphold images. And then the queftion came to
be changed, and they who were eafy enough to
be perfuaded to pull down images, were over
awed by a prejudice againft the Monothelites, and
* Vid. Paulum Diaconum.
Q^2 the

228 Caufes of Error §. 1 1
the Monothelites flrived to maintain the advantage
they had got by a juft and pious pretence againft
images. The Monothelites would have fecured
their error by the advantage and confociation of a
truth, and the other would rather defend a du
bious and difputable error, than lofe and let go
a certain truth. And thus the cafe flood, and
the fucceflbrs of both parts were led invincibly.
For when the herefy of the Monothelites difbanded,
(which it did in a while after) yet the opinion of
the Ico7ioclafts, and the queftion of images grew
ftronger. Yet fince the Iconoclafts at firft were he
reticks, not for their breaking images, but for
denying the two wills of Chrift, his divine and
his human : that they were called Iconoclafts was
to diftinguifh their opinion in the queftion con
cerning the images, but that then Iconoclafts fo
eafily had the reputation of hereticks, was becaufe
.of the other opinion which was conjund in their
perfons ; which opinion men afterwards did not
eafily diftinguifh in them, but took them for he
reticks in- grofs, and whatfoever they held to be
heretical. , And thus upon this prejudice grew
great advantages to the veneration of images, and
the perfons at firft were much to be excufed, be
caufe they were mifguided by that which might
have abufed the beft men. And if Epiphanius
who was as zealous againft images in churches as-
Philippicus or Leo Ifawrns, had but begun a public
conteftation, and engaged emperors to have made
decrees againft them, Chriftendom would have
had other apprehenfions of it, than they had
when the Monothelites began it. For few men
will endure a truth from the mouth of the devil,
and if the perfon be fufpeded, fo are his ways
too. And it is a greatly fubtlety of the devil fo
to temper truth and falfhood in the fame perfon,
that truth, may lofe much of its reputation by its-
mixture

§. 1 1. in the exercife of Reafon. 229
mixture with error, and the error may become
more plaufible by reafon of its conjundion with
truth. And this we fee by too much experience,
for we fee many truths are blafted in their reputa
tion, becaufe perfons, whom we think we hate
upon juft grounds of religion, have taught them.
And it was plain enough in the cafe of * Maldonat,
who faid of an explication of a place of fcripture,
that it was moft agreeable to antiquity, but be
caufe Calvin had fo expounded it, he therefore
chofe a new one. This was malice. But when a
prejudice works tacitly, undifcernably, and irre
futably of the perfon fo wrought upon, the Man
is to be pitied, not condemned, though poffibly
his Opinion deferves it highly. And therefore it
hath been ufual to difcredit dodrines by the per
fonal defaillances of them that preach them : or
with the difreputation of that fed which maintains
them in conjundion with other perverfe dodrines.
Fauftus the Manichee in * St. Auftin, glories much,
that in their religion God was worfhipped purely
and without images. St. Auftin liked it well,
for fo it was in his too ; but from hence Sanders
concludes, that to pull down images in churches.
v/as the herefy of the Manichees. The Jews en
dure no images ; therefore Bellarmine makes it a
piece of judaifm to oppofe them. He might as
well have concluded againft faying our prayers,
and church mufick, that it is J judaical, becaufe
the jews ufed it. And he would be loath to be
ferved fo himfelf; for he that had a mind to ufe
fuch arguments, might with much better pro
priety conclude againft their facrament of Extreme
Undion, becaufe when the miraculous healing was
ceafed, then they were not catholicks, but herer
* In cap. 6. Joh. f L. 20. c. 3. cont. Fauftum Man,
L. 1. c. ult. de Imagin. t De reliq, SS. 1. 2. c. 18, Sect,
Nicolaus. 0^3 ticks

230 Caufes of Error §< 11,
ticks that did transfer it to the ufe of dying per
fons, (fays * Irenaus -,) for fo did the Valentini-
ans : And indeed this argument is fomething
better than 1 thought for at firft, becaufe it was
in Irenaus's time reckoned among the herefies.
But there are a fort of men that are even with
them, and hate fome good things which the
church of Rome teaches, becaufe fhe who teaches
fo many errors, hath been the publifher, and is
the pradiier of thofe things. I confefs the thing
is always unreafonable, but fometimes it is invin
cible and innocent -, and then may ferve to abate
the fury of all fuch decretory fentences, as con
demn all the world but their own difciples.
III. 3, There are fome opinions that have gone
hand in hand with a bleffing, and a profperous
profeffion ; and the good fuccefs of their defen^
ders hath amufed many good people, becaufe they
thought they heard God's voice where they faw
God's hand, and therefore have rufhed upon fuch
opinions with great piety and as great miftaking,
For where they once had entertained a fear of
God, and apprehenfion 6i his fo fenfible declara
tion, fuch a fear produces fcruple, ahd a fcrupu-
lous confcience is always to be pitied, becaufe
though it be feldom wife, it is always pious. And
this very thing hath prevailed fo far upon the
underftandings even of wife men, that Bellarmine
makes it a note of the true church. Which opi
nion, when it prevails, is a ready way to make,
that inftead of martyrs, all men fhould prove he-.
reticks or apoftates, in perfecution ; for fince men
in mifery are very fufpicious, out of ftrong defires
to find out the caufe, that by removing it they
may be relieved, they apprehend that to be it,
which is firft prefented to their fears ; and then if
* Lib. 1. cap, 8, ady, haeref. ever

§. 1 1. in the exercife of Reafon, 23 1
ever truth be afflided, fhe fhall alfo be deftroyed.
I will fay nothing in defiance of this fancy, al
though all the experience in the world fays it is
falfe, and that of all men chriftians fhould leaft
believe it to be true, to whom a perpetual crofs
is their certain expedation, (and the argument is
like the moon, for which no garment can be fit,
it alters according to the fuccefs of human affairs,
and in one age will ferve a papift, and in another
a proteftant) yet when fuch an opinion does prevail
upon timorous perfons, the malignity of their
error (if any be confequent to this fancy, and
taken up from the reputation of a profperous
herefy) is not to be confidered fimply and nakedly,
but abatement is to be made in a juft proportion
to that fear, and to that apprehenfion.
IV. 4. .Education is fo great and fo invincible a
prejudice, that he who mailers the inconvenience
of it, is more to be commended, than he canjuftly
be blamed that complies with it. For men do not
always call them principles which are the prime
fountains of reafon, from whence fuch confe-
quents naturally flow, as are to guide the adions
and difcourfes of men ; but they are principles
which they are firft taught, which they fucked in
next to their milk, and by a proportion to thofe
firft principles they ufually take their eftimate of
propofitions. For whatfoever is taught to them
at firft, they believe infinitely, for they know no
thing to the contrary; they have had no other
matters, whofe theorems might abate the ftreagth
of their firft perfuafions, and it is a great advan
tage in thofe cafes to get poffeffion ; and before
their firft principles can be diflodg'd, they are
made habitual and complexional;-, it is in their
nature then to believe them, and this is helped
forward very much by the advantage of love and
veneration, which we have to the firft parents of
Q^4 our

232 Caufes of Error §. 1 1.
our perfuafions. And we fee it in the orders of
Regulars in the church of Rome. That opinion,
which was the opinion of their patron or founder,
or of fome eminent perfonage of the inftitute, is
enough to engage all the order to be of that
opinion •, and it is ftrange that all the Dominicans
fhould be of one opinion in the matter of prede
termination and immaculate conception, and all
the Francifcans of the quite contrary -, as if their
underftandings were form'd in a different mould,"
and fi arnifhed with various principles by their very
rule. Now this prejudice works by many prin
ciples, but how flrongly they do poffefs the un
derftanding is vifible, in that great inftance of the
affedion and perfed perfuafion the weaker fort of
people have, to that which they call the religion
of their forefathers. * You may as well charm a
fever afleep with the noife of bells, as make any
pretence of reafon againft that religion, which old
hien have entail'd upon their heirs male, fo many
generations till they can prefcribe. And the
apoftles found this to be moft true in the extremeft
difficulty they met with, to conteft againft the
yites of Mofes, and the long fuperftition of the
gentiles, which they therefore thought fit to be
retain'd, becaufe they had done fo formerly,
Pergentes non quo. eundum eft, fed quo itur, and all
the bleffings of this life which God gave them,
they had in conjundion with their religion, and
therefore they believed it was for their religion,
and this perfuafion was bound faft in them with
ribs of iron, the' apoftles were forc'd to unloofe
die whole conjundure of parts and principles in
their underftandings, before they could make
r Optima rati ca qua ir.agno affenfu recepta funt, quorumque
ex em pin mult a funt, nee ad rationem, fed ad fimilitudineni njivi-
?n:is,- Sen. Vid. Minut. Pel. oclav. them

§. ii. in the exercife of Reafon. 233
them malleable, and receptive of any impreffes,
But the obfervation and experience of all wife men
can juftify this truth. All that I fhall fay to the
prefent purpofe, is this, that confideration is to
be had to the weaknefs of perfons, when they are
prevail'd upon by fo innocent a prejudice, and
when there cannot be arguments ftrong enough
to over-mafter an habitual perfuafion bred with a
man, nourifh'd up with him, that always eat at
his table, and lay in his bofom, he is not eafily
to be called heretick ; for if he keep the founda
tion of faith, other articles are not fo clearly de-
monftrated on either fide, but that a man may in
nocently be abufed to the contrary. And there
fore in this cafe to handle him charitably, is but
to do him juftice : and when an opinion in mino~
ribus articulis, is entertain'd upon the title and
flock of education, it may be the better permitted
to him, fince upon no better flock nor ftronger
arguments, moft men entertain their whole re
ligion, even chriftianity itfelf.
V. 5. There are fome perfons of a differing
perfuafion, who therefore are the rather to be
tolerated, becaufe the indired pradices and im-
poftures of their adverfaries have confirmed them,
that thofe opinions which they difavow, are not
from God, as being upheld by means not of God's
appointment : for it is no unreafonable difcourfe
to fay, that God will not be ferved with a lie,
for he does not need one, and he hath means
enough to fupport all thofe truths which he hath
commanded, and hath fupplied every honefl caufe
with enough for its maintenance, and to conteft
againft its adverfaries. - And (but that they who
ufe indired arts will not be willing to lofe any of
their unjuft advantages, nor yet be charitable to
thofe perfons, whom either to gain or to undo,
they leave nothing unattempted) the church of
Rome.

234 Caufes of Error §• n»
Rome hath much reafon not to be fo decretory in
her fentences againft perfons of a differing per
fuafion : for if their caufe were entirely the caufe
of God, they have given wife people reafon to
fufped it, becaufe fome of them have gone to the
devil to defend it. And if it be remembered
what tragedies were ftirred up againft Luther, for
faying, the devil had taught him an argument
againft the mafs, it will be of as great advantage
againft them, that they go to the devil for many
arguments to fupport not only the mafs, but the
other diftinguifhing articles of their church : I in
ftance in the notorious forging of miracles, and
framing of falfe and ridiculous legends. For the
former I need no other inftances, than what hap
pened in the great conteftation about the immacu
late conception, when there were miracles brought
on both fides to prove the eontradidory parts ;
and though it may be more than probable that
both fides play'd the jugglers, yet the Dominicans
had the ill luck to be difcovered, and the adors
burn'd at Berne. But this difcovery happened by
providence ; for the Dominican opinion hath more
degrees of probability than the Francifcan ; is
clearly more confonant both to fcripture and all
antiquity, and this part of it is acknowledged by
the greateft patrons themfelves, as Salmeron, Pofa
and Wadding : yet becaufe they played the knaves
in a juft queftion, and ufed falfe arts to maintain
a true propofition, God almighty, to fhew that he
will not be ferved by a lye, was pleafed rather to
difcover the impofture in the right opinion than in
the falfe : fince nothing is more difhonourable to
God, then to offer a fin in facrifice to him, and
nothing more incongruous in the nature of the
thing, than that truth and falfhood fhould fupport
each other, or that true dodrine fhould live at
the charges of a lye. And he that confiders the
arguments

§. Ii. in the exercife of Reafon, 235
arguments for each opinion will eafily conclude?
that if God would not have truth confirmed by a
lye, much lefs would he himfelf atteft a lye with
a true miracle. And by this ground it will eafily
follow, that the Francifcan party, although they
had better luck then the Dominicans, yet had not
more honefty, becaufe their caufe was worfe, and
therefore their arguments no whit the better. And
although the argument drawn from miracles is
good to atteft a holy dodrine, which by its own
worth will fupport itfelf, after way is a little made
by miracles, yet of itfelf and by its own reputa
tion it will not fupport any fabrick ; for inftead of
proving a dodrine to be true, it makes that the
miracles themfelves are fufpeded to be illufions,
if they be pretended in behalf of a dodrine, which
we think we have reafon to account falfe. And
therefore the Jews did not believe Chrift's doc
trine for his miracles, but difbelieved the truth of
his miracles, becaufe they did not like his doc
trine. And if the holinefs of his dodrine, and
the fpirit of God by infpirations and infufions,
and by that which Saint Peter calls a furer word of
frophefy, had not attefted the divinity both of his
perfon and his; office, we fhould have wanted-
many degrees of confidence which now we have
upon the truth of chriftian religion. But now
fince we are foretold by this * furer word of pro-
phefy, that is, the predidion of Jefus Chrift, that
Antichrift fhould come in all wonders, and figns,
and lying miracles, and chat the church faw much
of that already verified in Simon Magus, Apollonius
Tyaneus, and- Manetho, and divers f hereticks,
it is now come to that pafs, that the argument in
* Vid. Baron. JE. D. 68. n. 22. Philoftrat. I. 4. T. 485.
compend. Cedren. p. 202. f Stapleton. prompt. Moral.
pars zeftiva, p. 627. its

236 Caufes of Error §. n;
its beft advantage proves nothing fo much, as that
the dodrine, which it pretends to prove, is to be
fufpeded; becaufe it was foretold, that falfe doc
trine fhould be obtruded under fuch pretences.
But then when not only true miracles are an infuf-
ficient argument to prove a truth fince the efta- ,
blifhment of chriftianity, but that the miracles
themfelves are falfe and fpurious, it makes that
dodrine in whofe defence they come, juftly to be
•fufpeded, becaufe they are a demonftration that
the interefted perfons ufe all means, leave nothing
unattempted to prove their propofitions ; but fince
they fo fail as to bring nothing from God, but
fomething from the devil, for its juftification, it's
a great fign that the dodrine is falfe, becaufe we
know the devil, unlefs it be againft his will, does
nothing to prove a true propofition that makes
againft him. And now then thofe perfons who
will endure no man of another opinion, might do
well to remember how by their exorcifms, their
devils tricks at Lowdon, and the other fide pre
tending to cure mad folks and perfons bewitched,
and the many difcoveries of their jugling, they
have given fo much reafon to their adverfaries to
fufped their dodrine. that either they muft not
be ready to condemn their perfons, who are made
fufpicious, by their indired; proceeding in atteftaT
tion of that, which they value fo high as to call
their religion ; or elfe they muft condemn them
felves for making the fcandal adive and effedual.
VI. As for falfe Legends, it will be of the fame
confideration, becaufe they are falfe teftimonies
of miracles that were never done ; which differs
only from the other as a lye in words from a lye
in adion : but of this we have witnefs enough in
that decree of pope Leo X. feffion the eleventh,
of the laft Lateran council, where he excommu
nicates all the forgers and inventors of vifions and
falfe

§. ii. in the exercife of Reafon. 237
falfe miracles ; which is a teftimony, that it was
then a pradice fo public, as to need a law for its
fuppreffion : and if any man fhall doubt whether
it were fo or not, let him fee the Centum gravamina
of the princes of Germany, where it is highly com-
plain'd of. But the extreme flupidity and fot-
tifhnefs of the inventors of lying flories is fo great,
as to give occafion to fome perfons to fufped the
truth of all church * ftory : witnefs the legend of
Lombardy : oi the ¦ author of which the bifhop of
the Canaries gives this teftimony, In ilia enim libra
miraculorum monftra fapius quam vera miracula legas.
Hum homo fcripfit ferrei oris, plumbei cordis, animi
certe parum feveri £ff pradentis. But I need not
defcend fo low -, for St. -f Gregory and V. Bede
themfelves reported miracles, for the authority of
which they only had the report of the common
people : and it is not certain that St. J Hierome had
fo much in his flories of St. Paul and St. Anthony,
and the Fauns and the Satyrs which appear'd to
them, and defir'd their prayers. But I fhall only,
by way of eminency, note what Sir Thomas More
fays in his epiftle to Ruthal the kings fecretary,
before the dialogue of Lucian [Philopfeudes] that
therefore he undertook the tranflation of that dia
logue, to free the world from a fuperftition, that
crept in under the face and title of religion. For
fuch lyes (fays he) are tranfmitted to us with fuch
authority, that a certain impoftor had perfuaded
St. Auftin, that the very fable which Lucian feoffs,
and makes fport withal in that § dialogue, was a
real ftory, and aded in his own days. The
'hvzafia.i wa^a,a«.tva,^ova-». Ifld. Pelus. -f- Vid. I. II. loc,
Theol. cap. 6. % Canus ibid. § Viz. De duobus fpuni-
nis, altera decedente, altera in •vitam redeunte poft -viginti dies ;
quam in aliis nominibus ridet Lucianus. Vide etiam argumentum
Vilberti cognati,- in Annttat. in hunc Dialog. epiftle

23 & Caufes of Error §. it,
epiftle is worth the reading to this purpofe ; but
he fays this abufe grew to fuch a height, that
fcarce any life of any faint or martyr is truly re
lated, but is full of lyes and lying wonders, and
fome perfons thought they ferved God, if they did
honour to God's faints, by inventing fome pro
digious ftory, or miracle for their reputation. So
that now it is no wonder if the moft pious men
are apt to believe, and the greateft hiftorians are
eafy enough to report fuch flories ; which ferving
to a good end, are alfo configned by the report of
perfons, otherwife pious and prudent enough. I
will not inftance in * Vincentius his fpeculum, Tu-
ronenfts, Thomas Cantipratanus, John Herolt, Vit£
Patrum, nor the revelations of St. Bridget though
confirmed by two popes, Martin V. and Boniface
IX. even the beft and moft deliberate amongft
them, Lippoman, Surius, Lipftus Bzovius, and Ba
ronius are fo full of fables, that they caufe great
difrepute to the other monuments and records of
antiquity, yet do no advantage to the caufe under
which they ferve and take pay. They do no good
and much hurt ; but yet accidentally they may
procure this advantage to charity, fince they do
none to faith ; that fince they have fo abufed the
credit of ftory, thatour confidences want much of
that fupport, we fhould receive from her records
of antiquity, yet the men that diffent and are fcan-
daliz'd by fuch proceedings fhould be excufed, if
they fhould chance to be afraid of truth, that hath
put on garments of impofture : and fince much
violence is done to the truth and certainty of their
judging, let none be done to their liberty of judg
ing : fince they cannot meet a right guide, let
them have a charitable judge. And fince it is
one very great argument againft Simon Magus and
* Vid. Palasot. dq facta, findone, part. i. Epift. ad Leflor. againft

§. 1 1. in the exercife of Reafon. 239
againft Mahomet, that we can prove their miracles
to be impoftures, it is much to be pitied if timo
rous and fufpicious perfons fhall invincibly and
honeftly lefs apprehend a truth, which they fee
conveyed by fuch a teftimony, which we all ufe as
an argument to reprove the Mahometan fuper-
ftition. VII. 6. Here alfo come in all the weakneffes
and trifling prejudices which operate not by their
own ftrength, but by advantage taken from the
weaknefs of fome underftandings. Some men by
a proverb or a common faying are determin'd to
the belief of a propofition, for which they have
no argument better than fuch a proverbial fen
tence. Ahd when divers of the common people
in Jerufalem were ready to yield their underftand
ings to the belief of the Meffias, they were turn'd
clearly from their apprehenfions by that proverb,
look and fee, does any good thing come from Galilee ?
And this, when Chrift comes, no man knows from
whence he is ; but this man was known of what
parents, of what city. And thus the weaknefs
of their underftanding was abufed, and that made
the argument too hard for them. And the whole
feventh chapter of St. John's gofpel is arperpetual
inftance of the efficacy of fuch trifling prejudices,
and the vanity and weaknefs of popular under
ftandings. Some whole ages have been abufed by
a definition, which being once received, as moft
commonly they are upon flight grounds, they are
taken for certainties in any fcience refpectively,
and for principles, and upon their reputation men
ufe to frame conclufions, which muft be falfe or
uncertain according as the definitions are. And
he that hath obferv'd any thing of the weakneffes
of men, and the fucceffions of groundlefs dodrines
* Joh. 7. from

240 Caufes of Error §. 1 1.
from age to age, and how feldom definitions which
are put into fyftems, or that derive from the fa
thers, or approved among fchoolmen are examined
by perfons of the fame interefts, will bear me
witnefs, how many and great inconveniences prefs
hard upon the perfuafions of men, who are abufed,
and yet never confider who hurt them. Others,
and they very many, are lead by authority or ex
amples of princes, and great perfonages, * Num-
quis credit ex principibus ? Some, by the reputation
of one learned man, are carried into any perfuafion
whatfoever. And in the middle and later ages
of the church, this was the more confiderable,
becaufe the infinite ignorance of the clerks, and
the men of the long robe, gave them over to be
led by thofe few guides which were mark'd to
them by an eminency, much more than their or
dinary : which alfo did the more amufe them,
becaufe moft commonly they were fit for nothing
but to admire what they underftood not ; their
learning then was in fome fkill in the mafter of
the fentences, in Aquinas or Scotus, whom they ad-
mir'd next to the, moft intelligent order of angels ;
hence came opinions that made feds and divifion
of names, Tnomifts, Scotifts, Albertifts, Reals,
and I know not what monfters of names ; and
whole families of the fame opinion, the whole
inftitute of an order being engag'd to believe ac
cording to the opinion of fome leading man of the
fame order, as if fuch an opinion were impofed
upon them in virtute fancla obedientia. But this
inconvenience is greater when the principle of
the miftake runs higher, when the opinion is de-
riv'd from a primitive man and a faint, for then
it often happens, that what at firft was but a plain
innocent fedudion, comes to be made facred by
the veneration which is confequent to the perfon
for having lived long agone ; and then, becaufe the

.§.ii. in the exercife of Reafon. z^i
the perfon is alfo fince canonized, the error is al
moft made eternal, and the cure defperate. Thefe
and the like prejudices which are as various as
the miferies of humanity or the variety of human
underftandings are not abfolute excufes, unlefs to
fome perfons ; but truly if they be to any, they
are exemptions to all, from being preffed with
too peremptory a fentence againft them, efpecially
if we confider what leave is given to all men by
the church of Rome to follow any one probable
dodor in an opinion which is protefted againft
by many more. And as for the dodors of the
other fide, they being deflitute of any pretences
to an infallible medium to determine queftions, muft
of neceflity allow the fame liberty to the people,
to be as prudent as they can in the choice of a
fallible guide ; and when they have chofen, if
they do follow him into error, the matter is not
fo inexpiable for being deceived in ufing the beft
guides we had, which guides becaufe themfelves
were abufed, did alfo againft their wills deceive
me. So that this prejudice may the eafter abufe
us, becaufe it is almoft like a duty to follow the
didates of a probable dodor ; or if it be over-
aded or accidentally pafs into an inconvenience,
it is therefore to be excufed becaufe the principle
was not ill, unlefs we judge by the event, not by
the antecedent probability. Of fuch men as thefe
it was faid by St. * Auftin, Cateram turbam non in-
telligendi vivacitas, fed credendi fimplicitas tutijimam
facit. And Gregory Nazianzen, f o-wfyi •sroAAa>tis
tov Aaof to e/£a,<ravicfQv. The common fort of
people are fafe in their not inquiring by their own
induftry, and in the fimplicity of their underftand
ing, relying upon the beft guides they can get.
» ConH. Fund. c. 4. + Orat. 21.
R But

242 Innocency of Error §. 12.
But this is of fuch a nature, in which as we may
inculpably be deceived, fo we may turn it into a
vice or a defign, and then the confequent errors
will alter the property, and become herefies. There
are fome men that have mens perfons in admira
tion becaufe of advantage, and fome that have
itching ears, and heap up teachers to themfelves.
In thefe and the like cafes the authority of a per
fon, and the prejudice of a great reputation is
not the excufe but the fault : And a fin is fo far
from excufing an error, that error becomes a fin
by reafon of it's relation to that fin, as to it's pa
rent and principle.

SECT. XII.
Of the innocency of Error in opinion in a pious perfon.
LAND therefore as there are fo many inno-
_/\ cent caufes of error, as there are weak
neffes within, and harmlefs and unavoidable pre
judices from without ; fo, if ever error be pro
cured by a vice, it hath no excufe, but becomes
fuch a crime, of fo much malignity, as to have
influeuce upon the effed and confequent, and by
communication makes it become criminal. The
apoftles noted two fuch caufes : covetoufnefs and
ambition, the former in them of the circumcifion,
and the latter in Diotrephes and Simon Magus ; and
there were fome that were * dyofnevot l7nSrup.txn
woiKihats, they were of the long robe too, but
they were the fhe-difciples, upon whofe con
fciences fome falfe apoftles had influence by ad
vantage of their wantonnefs, and thus the three
* 2 Tim. 3. principles

§. 12. in a pious Perfon. 243
principles of all fin become alfo the principles of
herefy, the luft of the flefh, the luft of the eye,
and the pride of life. And in purfuance of thefe
arts the devil hath not wanted fuel to fet to work
incendiaries, in all ages of the church. The
bifhops were always honourable, and moft com
monly had great revenues ; and a bifhpprick
would fatisfy the two defigns of covetoufnefs and
ambition, and this hath been the golden apple
very often contended for, and very often the
caufe of great fires in the church. Thebulis quia
rejeclus ab Epifcopatu Hierofolymitano, turbare ccepit
Ecclefiam, faid Egefippus in Eufebius. TertuUian
turn'd Montanift in difcontent for miffing the
bifhoprick of Carthage after Agrippinus; and fo
did Montanus himfelf for the fame difcontent, faith
Nicephorus. Novatus would have been bifhop of
Rome, Donatus of Carthage, Arrius of Alexandria,
Aerius of Sebaftia, but they all miffed, and there
fore all of them vexed Chriftendom. And this
v/as fo common a thing, that oftentimes, the
threatning the church with a fchifm, or a herefy,
was a defign to get a bifhoprick : and Socrates re
ports of Afterius, that he did frequent the conven
ticles of the Arrians ; Nam Epifcopatum aliquem
ambiebat. And fetting afide the infirmities of men,
and their innocent prejudices, Epiphanius makes
pride to be the only caufe of herefies, i€pn -kcli
-xs-poxpiaiSy pride and prejudice caufe them all, the
one criminally, the other innocently. And indeed
St. Paul does almoft make pride the only caufe
of herefies ; his words cannot be expounded, un
lefs it be at leaft the principal, li tn ?iepc£i-
JWjtaAsi, and confients not to found zvords, and the
do Urine that is according to godlinefs ; Tglu(pwW uy-
£tv tTrtq'a.fA.iv©^, <xAAa voacov irspi t^nlno-en %a.i
Xofo^cL^ioLi^ '£§ mv yivela.1 <pGcr©»> eiis, (z7\<xg-
<gYIULlCtl} VTSl'StCtl TTGUiipXt.
R 2. T*1*

244 Innocency of Error §, 12.
The fum is this, If ever an opinion be begun
with pride, or managed with impiety, or end in
a crime ; the man turns heretick : but let the
error be never fo great, fo it be not againft an
article of creed, if it be fimple and hath no con
federation with the perfonal iniquity of the man,
the opinion is as innocent as the perfon, though
perhaps as falfe as he is ignorant, and therefore
fhall burn though he himfelf efcape. But in thefe
cafes and many more, (for the caufes of deception
increafe by all accidents, and weakneffes, and il-
lufions) no man can give certain judgment upon
the perfons of men in particular, unlefs the matter
of fad and crime be accident and notorious. The
man cannot by human judgment be concluded a
heretick, unlefs his opinion be an open receffion
from plain demonftrative divine authority (which
muft needs be notorious, voluntary, vincible, and
criminal) or that there be a palpable ferving of an
end, accidental, and extrinflcal to the opinion.
But this latter is very hard to be difcerned, be
caufe thofe accidental and adherent crimes which
make the man a heretick, in queftions not fim
ply fundamental or of neceffary pradice, are adions
fo internal and fpiritual, that cognizance can but
feldom be taken of them. And therefore (to in
ftance) though the opinion of purgatory be falfe,
yet to believe it cannot be herefy, if a man be
abufed into the belief of it invincibly ; becaufe it
is not a dodrine either fundamentally falfe, or
pradically impious ; it neither proceeds from the
will, nor hath any immediate or dired influence
upon choice and manners. And as for thofe
other ends of upholding that opinion, which pof
fibly its patrons may have, as for the reputation
of their church's infallibility, for the advantage
of dirges, requiems, maffes, monthly minds, an-
niverfaries, and other offices for the dead, which
ufually

§. 12. in a pious Perfon. 245
ufually are very profitable, rich and eafy, thefe
things may poffibly have fole influences upon
their underftanding, but whether they have or no
God only knows. If the propofition and article
were true, thefe ends might juftly be fubordinate
and confident with a true propofition. And there
are fome truths that are alfo profitable, as the ne
ceffity of maintenance to the clergy, the dodrine
of refticution, giving alms, lending freely, re
mitting debts in cafes of great neceffity : and it
would be but an ill argument, that the preachers
of thefe dodrines fpeak falfe, becaufe poflibly in
thefe articles they may ferve their own ends. For
although Demetrius and the crafts-men were with
out excufe for refifting the preaching of St. Paul,
becaufe it was notorious they refitted the truth
upon ground of profit and perfonal emoluments,
and the matter was confeffed by themfelves, yet if
the clergy fhould maintain their juft rites and re
venues, which by pious dedications and donatives
were long fince afcertained upon them, is it to be
prefumed in order of law and charity, that this
end is in the men fubordinate to truth, becaufe it
is fo in the thing itfelf, and that therefore no
judgement in prejudice of thefe truths can be
made from that obfervation ?
But if aliunde we are afcertain'd of the truth or
falfhood of a propofition refpedively, yet the
judgment of the perfonal ends of the men, can
not ordinarily be certain and judicial, becaufe
moft commonly the ads are private, and the pur
pofes internal ; and temporal ends may fometimes
confift with truth, and whether the purpofes of
the men make thefe ends principal or fubordinate,
no man can judge ; and be they how they will,
yet they do not always prove that, when they are
conjunct with error, the error was caufed by
thefe purpofes and criminal intentions.
R 3 But

246 Innocency of Err Or §. 12.
But in qucftiorts pradical, the dodrine itfelf
and the perfon too, may with more eafe be re
proved, becaufe matter of fad being evident, ahd
nothing being fo certain as the experiments of hu
man affairs, and thefe being the immediate con-
fequents of fuch dodrines, are with fome more
certainty of obfervatioh redargued, than the fpe-
culative ; whofe judgment is of itfelf more diffi
cult, more remote from matter and human ob-
iervation, and with lefs euriofity and explicitnefs
declared in fcripture, as being of lefs confequence
and concernment in order to God's and man's
great end. In other things, which end in notion
and ineffedive contemplation, where neither the
dodrine is malicious, nor the perfon apparently
criminal, he is to be left to the judgment of God ;
and as there is no certainty of human judicature
in this cafe, fo it is to no purpofe it fhould be
judged. For if the perfon may be innocent with
his error, and there is no rule whereby he can
certainly be pronounced, that he is adually crimi
nal ; (as it happens in matters fpeculative.) Since
the end of the commandment is love out of npure
confidence, and faith unfeigned ; and the command
ment may obtain its end, in a confiftence with this
fimple fpeculative error, Why fhould men trouble
themfelves with fuch opinions, fo as to difturb
the publick charity or the private confidence ?
Opinions and perfons are juft fo to be adjudged
as other matters ahd perfons criminal. For no
man can judge any thing elfe : it muft be a crime,
and it muft be open, fo as to take cognizance,
and make true human judgment of it. And this
is all I am to fay concerning the caufe of herefies,
and of the diftinguifhing rules for guiding of our
judgments towards others.
VI. As for guiding our judgments and the ufe
of our reafon in judging for ourfelves, all that is
to

§. 12. in a pious Perfon. 247
to be faid is reducible to this one propofition.
Since errors are then made fins, when they are con
trary to charity or inconfiftent with a good life
and the honour of God, that judgment is the
trueft, or at leaft that opinion moft innocent that
1. beft promotes the reputation of God's glory,
and 2. is the beft inftrument of holy life. For in
queftions and interpretations of difpute, thefe two
analogies are the beft to make propofitions, and
conjectures and determinations. Diligence and
-care in obtaining the beft guides, and the moft
convenient afliftances, prayer, and modefty of
fpirit, fimplicity of purpofes and intentions, hu
mility and aptnefs to learn, and a peaceable dif-
pofition, are therefore neceffary to finding out
truths ; becaufe they are parts of good life, with
out which our truths will do us little advantage,
and our errors can have no excufe ; but with thefe
difpofitions, as he is fure to find out all that is ne
ceffary, fo what truth he inculpably miffes of, he
is fure is therefore not neceffary ; becaufe he could
pot find it when he did his beft, and his moft in
nocent endeavours. And this I fay to fecure the
perfons -, becaufe no rule can antecedently fecure
the propofition in matters difputable. For even
in the proportions and explications of this rule
there is infinite variety of difputes : and when the
difpute is concerning free will, one party denies
it becaufe he believes it magnifies the grace
of God, that it works irrefiftably; the other
affirms, becaufe he believes it engages us upon
greater care, and piety of our endeavours. The
one opinion thinks God reaps the glory of our
good adions, the other thinks it charges our bad
adions upon him. So in the queftion of merit,
one part chufes his afTertion, becaufe he thinks it
encourages us to do good works ; the other be
lieves it makes us proud, and therefore he rejeds
R 4 it.

248 Innocency of Error §. 12.
it. The firft believes it increafes piety, the fecond
believes it increafes fpiri>.ial prefumption and
vanity. The firft thinks it magnifies God's juf-
tice, the other thinks it derogates from his mercy.
Now then, fince neither this nor any ground
can fecure a man from poffibility of miftaking,
we were infinitely miferable, if it would not fecure ,
us from punifhment, fo long as we willingly con
fent not to a crime, and do our beft endeavour to
avoid an error. Only by the way, let me ob
ferve, that fince there are fuch great differences
of apprehenfion concerning the confequents of an
article, no man is to be charged with the odious
confequences of his opinion. Indeed his dodrine
is, but the perfon is not, if he underftand not
fuch things to be confequent to his dodrihe ; for
if he did, and then avow them, they are ' his di-
red opinions, and he ftands as chargeable with
them as with his firft propofitions ; but if he dif-
avow them, he would certainly rather quit his
opinion, than avow fuch errors or impieties, which
are pretended to be confequent to it; becaufe
every man knows that can be no truth, from
whence falfhood naturally and immediately de
rives ; and he therefore believes his firft propo
fition, becaufe he believes it innocent of fuch
errors as are charg'd upon it diredly or confe-
quently. Vll. So that now, fince no error, neither for it
felf nor its confequents, is to be charg'd as crimi
nal upon a pious perfon, fince no fimple error is
a fin, nor condemns us before the throne of
God, fince he is fo pitiful to our crimes, that he
pardons many de toto & integro, in all makes
abatement for the violence of temptation, and
the. furprizal and invafion of our faculties, and
therefore much lefs will demand of us an account
for our weakneffes ; and fince the ftrongeft un-
" -der-ftanding

§. 13. in a pious Perfon. 249
derftanding cannot pretend to fuch an immunity
and exemption from the condition of men, as
not to be deceived and confefs its weaknefs ; it
remains we inquire what deportment is to be ufed
towards perfons of a differing perfuafion, when
we are (I do not fay doubtful of a propofition,
but) convinced that he who differs from us is in
error, for this was the firft intention, and the
laft end of this difcourfe.

SECT. XIII.
Of the deportment to be ufed towards perfons dif
agreeing, and the reafons why they are not to be
puni/hed with death, &c.
I. f,1 O R although every man may be deceived,
X. yet fome are right and may know it too,
for every man that may err, does not therefore
certainly err, and. if he err becaufe he recedes
from his rule, then if he follow it he may do
right ; and if ever any man upon juft grounds did
change his opinion, then he was in the right and
was fure of it too, and although confidence js
miftaken for a juft perfuafion many times, yet
fome men are confident, and have reafon fo to
be. Now when this happens, the queftion is,
what deportment they are to ufe towards perfons
that difagree from them, and by confequence are
in e: ror ?
II. 1 . Then, no chriftian is to be put to death,
difmembred, or otherwife diredly perfecuted for
his opinion, which does not teach impiety or
blafphemy. If it plainly and apparently bring
in a crime, and himfelf ad it or encourage
it, then the matter of fad is punifhable accord-

250 Perfons difagreeing, §. 13
ing to its proportion or malignity ; as if he
preach treafon or fedition, his opinion is not
his excufe, becaufe it brings in a crime, and a
man is never the lefs traitor, becaufe he believes
it lawful to commit treafon ; and a man is a mur
derer if he kill his brother unjuftly, although he
think he does God good fervice in it. Matters
of fad are equally judicable whether the principle
of them be from within or from without : and if
a man could pretend to innocence in being fedi-
tious, blafphemous, or perjured, by perfuading
himfelf it is lawful, there were as great a gate
opened to all iniquity, as will entertain all the
pretences, the defigns, the impoftures, and dif-
guifes of the world. And therefore God hath
taken order that all rules concerning matters of
fad and good life fhall be fo clearly explicated,
that without the crime of the man, he cannot be
ignorant of all his pradical duty. And therefore
the apoftles and primitive dodors made no fcruple
of condemning fuch perfons for hereticks, that
did dogmatize a fin. He that teaches others to
fin, is worfe than he that commits the crime,
whether he be tempted by his own intereft, or
encouraged by the others dodrine. It was as bad
in Baftlides to teach it to be lawful to renounce
faith and religion, and take all manner of oaths
and covenants in time of perfecution, as if him
felf had done fo ; nay it is as much worfe, as the
mifchief is more univerfai, or as a fountain is
greater than a drop of water taken from it. He
that writes treafon in a book, or preaches fedition
in a pulpit, and perfuades it to the people, is the
greateft traitor and incendiary ; and his, opinion
there is the fountain of a fin, and therefore could
not be entertained in his underftanding upon
weaknefs, or inculpable or innocent prejudice ;

iccnnnot from fcripture or divine revelation have

any

§.13. whether to be punifhed? 251
any pretence to colour that fo fairly as to feduce
either a wife or an honeft man. If it reft there
and go no futher, it is not cognofcible, and fo
fcapes that way ; but if it be publifhed and come
a ftylo ad Macharam (as Tertullian's phrafe is) then
it becomes matter of fad in principle and in per
fuafion, and is juft fo punifhable, as is the crime
that it perfuades : fuch were they of whom St.
Paul complains, who brought in damnable doc-
tries and lulls. * St. Paul's Utinam abfcindantur is
juft of them, take it in any fenfe of rigour and
feverity, fo it be proportionable to the crime, or
criminal dodrine. Such were thofe of whom
God fpake in Deut. 13. If any prophet tempt
to idolatry, faying, let us go after other Gods,
he fhall be flain. But thefe do not come into this
queftion. But the propofition is to be underftood
concerning queftions difputable in materia intellec
tual^ which alfo for all that law of killing, fuch
falfe prophets were permitted with impunity in the
fynagogue, as appears beyond exception in the
great divifions and difputes between the Pharifees
and the Sadduces. I deny not but certain and
known idolatry, or any other fort of pradical im
piety, with its principiant dodrine may be punifhed
corporally, becaufe it is no other but matter of
fad ; but no matter of mere opinion, no errors
that of themfelves are not fins, are to be perfe
cuted or punifhed by death or corporal inflidions.
This is now to be proved.
III. 2. All the former difcourfe is fufficient ar
gument how eafy it is for us in fuch matters to be
deceived. So long as chriftian religion was a
fimple profeffion of the articles of belief, and a
hearty profecution of the rules of good life, the
fewnefs of the articles and the clearnefs of the
* Galatians c. rule,

252 Perfons difagreeing, §. 13."
rule, was caufe of the feldom prevarication. But
when divinity is fwelled up to fo great a body,
when the feveral queftions which the peeviffinefs and
wantonnefs of fixteen ages have cdmmenced, are
concentered into one, and from all thefe queftions
fomething is drawn into the body of Theology, till
it hath afcended up to the greatnefs of a moun
tain, and the fum of divinity colleded by Aquinas,
makes a volume as great as was that of Livy
mocked at in the Epigram,
¦ Quern mea vix totum bibliotheca capit. X
It is impoffible for any induftry to confider fo
many particulars, in the infinite numbers of quef
tions, as are neceffary to be confidered before we
can with certainty determine any. And after all
the confiderations which we can have in a whole
age, we are not fure not to be deceived. The ob-
fcurity of fome queftions, the nicety of fome ar
ticles, the intricacy of fome revelations, the va
riety of human underftandings, the windings of
Lorick, the tricks of adverfaries, the fubtlety of
fophifters, the engagement of educations, perfo
nal affedions, the portentous number of writers,
the infinitity of authorities, the vaftnefs of fome
arguments, as confifting in enumeration of many
particulars, the uncertainty of others, the feveral
degrees of probability, the difficulties of fcripture,
the invalidity of probation of tradition, the op-
pofition of all exterior arguments to each other,
and their open conteftation, the publick violence
done to authors and records, the private arts and
fupplantings, the falfifyings, the indefatigable in
duftry of fome men to abufe all underftandings,
aud all perfuafions in their own opinions, thefe and
thoufands more, even all the difficulty of things,
and the weakneffes of man, and all the arts of the
devil.

§. 13. whether to be punifhed ? 253
devil, have made it impoffible for any man in fo
great variety of matter not to be deceived. No
man pretends to it but the Pope, and no man is
more deceived than he is in that very particular.
IV. 3. From hence proceeds a danger which
is confequent to this proceeding ; for if we, who
are fo apt to be deceived, and fo infecure in our
refolution of queftions difputable, fhould perfecute
a dif-agreeing perfon, we are not fure we do not
fight againft God, for if his propofition be true
and perfecuted, then, becaufe all truth derives
from God, this proceeding is againft God ; and
therefore' this is not to be done upon Gamaliel's
' ground, left peradventure we be found to fight
againft God, of which, becaufe we can have no
fecurity (at leaft) in this cafe, we have all the
gUilt of a doubtful or an uncertain confcience.
For if there be no fecurity in the thing, as I have
largely proved, the confcience in fuch cafes is as
uncertain as the queftion is, and if it be not
doubtful where it is uncertain, it is becaufe the
man is not wife, but as confident as ignorant ; the
firft without reafon, and the fecond without ex
cufe. And it is very difproportionable for a man
to perfecute another certainly, for a propofition,
that if he were wife, he would know is not cer
tain ; at leaft, the other perfon may innocently be
uncertain of it. If he be killed, he is certainly
killed; but if he be called heretick, it is not fo
certain that he is an heretick. It were good there
fore, that proceedings were according to evidence,
and the rivers not fwell over the banks, nor a
certain definitive fentence of death paffed upon
fuch perfuafions which cannot certainly be defined.
And this argument is of fo much the more force,
becaufe we fee that the greateft perfecutions that
ever have been, were againft truth, even againft
chriftianity itfelf; and it was a predidion of our
bleffed

254 Perfons difagreeing, §. 13.
bleffed faviour, that perfecution fhould be the lot
of true believers : and if we compute the expe
rience of fuffering Chriftendom, and the predic
tion that truth fhould fuffer, with thofe few in
ftances of fuffering hereticks, it is odds, but
perfecution is on the wrong fide, and that it is er
ror and herefy, that is cruel and tyrannical ; efpe-
cially fince the truth of Jefus Chrift, and of his
religion are fo meek, fo charitable, and fo mer
ciful : and we may in this cafe, exadly ufe the
words of St. Paul, But as then, he that was bom
after the flefh, perfecuted him that was born after the
fpirit ; even fo it -is new : and fo it ever will be till
Chrift's fecond coming.
V. 4. * Whoever perfecutes a difagreeing per
fon, arms all the world againft himfelf ; and all
pious people of his own perfuafion, when the
fcales of authority return to his adverfary, and at
teft his contradidory ; and then, what can he urge
for mercy for himfelf, or his party that fheweth
none to others ? If he fay, that he is to be fpared
becaufe he believes true, but the other was juftly
perfecuted becaufe he was in error, he is ridicu
lous. For he is as confidently believed to be a
heretick, as he believes his adverfary fuch, and
whether he be or no, being the thing in queftion,
of this he is not to be his own judge, but he
that hath authority on his fide, will be fure to
judge againft him. So that, what either fide can
indifferently make ufe of, it is good that neither
would, becaufe neither fide can with reafon fuffi
cient do it in prejudice of the other. If a man
will fay, that every man muft take his adventure,
* SZuo comperto Mi in noftram perniciem licentiore audacia graf-
fabuntur. S. Aug. epift. ad Donat. Proconf. & Contr. ep.
Fuad. ita nunc debeo fuftinerc k£ tanta patientia 'vobifcum agere
quanta mrciim egerunt prox'vii mei cum in iiejlro dogmate rabiafus
a: arms 'rrarem. and

§. 13. whether to be punifhed ? 255
and if it happen authority to be with him, he
will perfecute his adverfaries; and if it turn
againft him he will bear it as well as he can, and
hope for a reward of martyrdom, and innocent
fuffering ; befides that this is fo equal to be faid
by all fides, and befides, that this is a way to
make an eternal difunion of hearts and charities,
and that it will make Chriftendom nothing but a
fhambles, and a perpetual butchery, and as faft as
mens wits grow wanton, or confident, or proud,
or abufed, fo often there will be new executions
and maffacres : Befides all this, it is moft unrea
fonable and unjuft, as being contrary to thofe
laws of juftice and charity, whereby we are bound
with greater zeal to fpare and preferve an inno
cent, then to condemn a guilty perfon, and there's
lefs malice and iniquity in fparing the guilty, than
in condemning the good. Becaufe it is in the
power of men to remit a guilty perfon to divine
judicature, and for divers caufes, not to ufe feve-
ricy, but in no cafe is it lawful, neither hath God
at all given to man a power to condemn fuch
perfons as cannot be proved other than pious and
innocent. And therefore it is better, if it fhould
fo happen, that we fhould fpare the innocent per ¦
fon, and one that is adually deceived, than that
upon the turn of the wheel, the true believers
fhould be deftroyed.
VI. And this very reafon, he that had autho
rity fufficient, and abfolute to make laws, was
pleafed to urge as a reafonable inducement for the
eftablifhing of that law which he made for the
indemnity of erring perfons. It was in the para
ble of the tares mingled with the good feed, in
Agro dominico, the good feed (Chrift himfelf being
the interpreter) are the children of the kingdom-,
the tares are the children of the wicked one -,
upon this comes the precept, gather not the tares bv

256 Perfons difagreeing, §. 13.
by themfelves, but let them both grow together till the
harveft -, that is, the day of judgment. This para
ble hath been tortured infinitely to make it con -
fefs its meaning, but we fhall foon difpatch it.
All the difficulty and variety of expofition is re
ducible to thefe two queftions, What is meant by
[gather not,] and what by [Tares.] That is, what
kind of fword is forbidden, and what kind of
perfons are to be tolerated. The former is clear ;
for the fpiritual fword is not forbidden to be ufed
to any fort of criminals, for that would deftroy
the power of excommunication. The prohibition
therefore lies againft the ufe of the temporal
fword, in cutting off fome perfons. Who they
are, is the next difficulty. But by tares, or the
children of the wicked one, are meant either perfons
of ill lives, wicked perfons only in re praclicd, or
elfe another kind of evil perfons, men criminal or
faulty in re intellecluali. One or other of thefe two
muft be meant ; a third I know not. But the
former cannot be meant, becaufe it would deftroy
all bodies politick, which cannot confift withovit
laws, nor laws without a compulfory and a power
of the fv/ord ; therefore if criminals were to be let
alone till the day of judgment, bodies politick
muft ftand or fall ad arbitrium impiorum ; and
nothing good could be proteded, not innocence
itfelf; nothing could be fecure but violence and
tyranny. It follows then, that fince a . kind of
perfons, which are indeed faulty, 'are to be tolera
ted, it muft be meant of perfons faulty in another
kind, in which the gofpel had not in other places
clearly eftablifhed a power externally compulfory ;
and therefore fince in all adions pradically crimi
nal a power of the fword is permitted, here where
it is denied muft mean a crime of another kind,
and by confequence errors intelledual, commonly
called herefy. VII.

§ • J 3 * whether to be punifhed? 2$y
VII. And after all this the roafon there given
confirms this * interpretation, for therefore it is
forbidden to cut off thefe tares, left we alfo pull
up the wheat with them, which is the fum of thefe
two laft arguments. For becaufe herefy is of fo
nice confideration, and difficult fentence, in think
ing to root up herefies, we may by our f miftakes
deftroy true dodrine, which although it be poffi-
ble to be done in all cafes of pradical queftion,
by miftake, yet becaufe external adions are more
difcernable than inward fpeculations arid opinions,
innocent perfons are not fo eafily miftaken for the
guilty, in adions criminal, as in matters of in
ward perfuafion. And upon that very reafon St.
Martin was zealous to have procured a revocation
of a commiffion granted to certain tribunes to
make enquiry in Spain for feds and opinions ; for
under colour of rooting out the Prifcilianifts,
there was much mifchief done, and more likely
to happen to the Orthodox. For it happened
then, as oftentimes fince, Pallore potius i3 vefte
quam fide hareticus dijudicari folebat aliquando per
Tribunos Maximi. They were no good inquifitors
of heretical pravity ; fo Sulpitius witneffes. But
fecondly, the reafon fays, that therefore thefe per
fons are fo to be permitted as not to be perfe
cuted, left when a revolution of human affairs
fets contrary opinions in the throne or chair, they
who were perfecuted before, fhould now themfelves
become perforators of others ; and fo at one time
or other, before or after, the wheat be rooted up,
and the truth be perfecuted. But as thefe reafons
confirm the law, and this fenfe of it, fo abftrad-
* Vide St. Chryfoft. homil. 47. in Cap. 13. Matth. et. St.
Auguft. Queft. it: cap.- 13. Mat. St. Cyprian. Ep. lib. 3. Ep.
1. Theophyl. in 13. Matth.
f St. Hieron. in cap. 13. Matth. ait, per banc parobolam
Ggnificari, ni in rebus dubiis pra-ceps fiat judicium.
S ing

258 Perfons difagreeing, §. 13.
*ng from the law, it is of itfelf concluding by an
argument ab incommodo, and that founded|upon the
principles of jufliee, and right reafon, as I for
merly alledged.
VIII. 4. We are not only uncertain of finding
out truths in matters difputable, but we are certain
that the beft and ableft * dodors of Chriftendom
have been adually deceived in matters of great
concernment, which thing is evident in all thofe
inftances of perfons from whofe dodrines all forts
of chriftians refpedively take liberty to diffent.
The errors of Papias, Irenaus, Laclantius, Juftin
Martyr, in the millenary opinion ; of St. Cyprian,
Firmilian, the Afian and African fathers, in the
queftion of re-baptization ; St. Auftin in his de
cretory and uncharitable fentence againft the un-
baptifed children of chriftian parents, the Roman
or the Greek dodors in the queftion of the pro
ceffion of the holy ghoft, and in the matter
of images, are examples beyond exception.
A/M(pi J^ ctvSrponruv (ppeaiv A//.7rAajciai dvczpiSr-
fj.vtoi ¦x.pi\j.a.ytcni. Now if thefe great perfonages
had been perfecuted or deftroyed for their opini
ons; who fhould have ardwered the invaluable
lofs the church of God would have fuftained in
miffing fo excellent, fo exemplary, and fo great
lights ? But then if thefe perfons erred, and by
confequence, might have been deftroyed, what
fhould have become of others, whofe underftand
ing was lower, and their fecurity- lefs ; their er
rors more, and their danger- greater ? At this rate
* Illi in voi fis'viant qui nefciunt cum qito labor e ver urn iniie-
niatur, & quam difficile cawantur errores. Illi in -vos fieviant
qui nefciu7it quam rarum et arduum fit cairnalia phantafmata piee
mentis ferenitate fuper are. Illi in <vos fieviant qui nefciunt quibus
bffufpiriis ci? gemitibus fiat ut ex quantulflcunque parte pojfit in-
telligi Deus. Poftremo illi in mot faviant qui nulla tali errore
decepti funt, quali i/os deceptos wdent. all

§. 13 whether to be punifhed? 259
all men fhould have paffed through the fire, for
who can efcape when St. Cyprian and St. Auftin
cannot ? Now to fay thefe perfons were not to be
perfecuted becaufe although they had errors, yet
none condemned by the church, at that time of
before, is to fay nothing to the purpofe, and no
thing that is true. Not true, becaufe St. Cyprian's
error was condemned by Pope Stephen, which in
the prefent fenfe of the prevailing party in the
church of Rome, is to be condemned by the
church. Not to the purpofe ; becaufe it is nothing
elfe but to fay that the church did tolerate their
errors. For fince thofe opinions were open and
manifeft to the world, that the church did not
condemn them, was either becaufe thofe opi
nions were by the church not thought to be errors,
or if they were, yet fhe thought fit to tolerate the
error and the erring perfon. And if fhe would
do fo ftill, it would in moft cafes be better than
now it is. And yet if the church had condemned
them, it had not altered the cafe as to this quef
tion, for either the perfons upon the condemna
tion of their error fhould have been perfecuted or
not. If not, why fhall they now, againft the in
ftance and precedent of thofe ages, who were
confeffedly wife and pious, and whofe pradice are
often made to us arguments to follow ? If yea,
and that they had been perfecuted, it is the thing
which this argument condemns ; and the lofs of
the church had been invaluable in the lofing or
the provocation and temptation of fuch rare per
fonages : and the, example and the rule of fo ill
confequence, that all perfons might upon the fame
ground have fuffered, and though fome had efca-
ped, yet no man could have any more fecurity
from punifhment than from error.
* St. Auguft, Contr. Ep. Fund.
S 2 IX.

260 Perfons difagreeing, §. 13
IX. 5. Either the difagreeing perfon is in er
ror, or not, but a true believer ; in either of the
cafes to perfecute him is extremely imprudent.
For if he be a true believer, then it is a clear cafe
that we do open violence to God, and his fer-
vants, and his truth. If he be in error, what
greater folly and flupidity than to give to error
the glory of martyrdom, and the advantages which
are accidentally confequent to a perfecution ? For
as it was true of the martyrs, Quoties morimur
toties nafcimur, and the increafe of their trouble,
was the increafe pf their confidence and the efta
bliffiment of their perfuafions : fo it is in all falfe
opinions ; for that an opinion is true or falfe is
extrinfecal or accidental to the confequents and
advantages it gets by being afflided. And there
is a popular pity that follows all perfons in mi
fery, and that companion breeds likenefs of af
fections, and that very often produces likenefs of
perfuafion ; and fo much the rather, becaufe there
arifes a jealoufy and pregnant fufpicion that they
who perfecute an opinion are deftitute of fufficient
arguments to confute it, and that the hangman
is the beft difputant. For if thofe arguments
which they have for their own dodrine were a
fufficient ground of confidence and perfuafion,
men would be more willing to ufe thofe means
and arguments, which are better compliances with
human underftanding, which more naturally
fatisfy it, which are more humane and chriftian,
than that way which fatisfies none, which deftroys
many, which provokes more, which makes all
rnen jealous. To which add, that thofe who die
for their opinion, leave in all men great argu
ments of the heartinefs of their belief, of the
confidence of their perfuafion, of the piety and
innocency of their perfons, of the purity of their
intention and fimplicity of purpofes ; that they are

§. 13- whether to be punifhed? 261
are perfons totally difinterefted, and feparate from
defign. For no intereft can be fo great as to be put in
balance againft a man's life and his foul ; and he
very imprudently ferves his ends who feeingly
and fore-knowingly lofes his life in the profecution
of them. Juft as if Titius fhould offer to die for
Sempronius upon condition he might receive twenty
talents when he had done his work. It is certainly
an argument of a great love, and a great confi
dence, and a great fincerityj and great hope when
a man lays down his life in atteftation of a propo
fition. Greater love than this hath no man, than to
lay down his life, fays our bleffed faviour. And
although laying of a wager, is an argument of
confidence, more than truth, yet laying fuch a
wager, flaking of a man's foul, and pawning his
life, gives a hearty teftimony that the perfon is
honeft, confident, refigned, charitable and noble.
And I know not whether truth can do a perfon or
a caufe more advantages than thefe can do to an
error. And therefore befides the impiety, there
is great imprudence in canonizing a heretick, and
confecrating an error by fuch means, which were
better preferved as encouragements of truth, and
comfort, to real and true martyrs. And it is not
amifs to obferve that this very advantage was ta
ken by hereticks who were ready to ihew, and
boaft their catalogues of martyrs, in particular
the CircumceUians did fo, and the Donatifts, and yet
the firft were hereticks, the fecond fchifmaticks.
And it was remarkable in the fcholars of Prificil-
lian, who, as they had their mafter in the reputa
tion of; a faint while he was living, fo when he
was dead, they had him in veneration as a martyr ;
they with reverence and devotion carried his, and
the bodies of his flain companions to an honour
able fepulchre, and counted it religion to fwear
by the name of Prifcillian. So that the extinguiffi-
ing of -the perfon, gives life and credit to his doc-
S 5 trine

s

262 Perfons difagreeing, §- 13-
trine, and when he is dead he yet fpeaks more
effedually. " X. 6. It is unnatural and unreafonable to per
fecute difagreeing opinions. Unnatural ; for un
derftanding being a thing wholly fpiritual, can
not be reftrained, and therefore neither punifhed
by corporal affiidions. It is in aliena republica, a
matter of another world ; you may as well cure
the cholick by bruffiing a man's cloaths, or fill a
man's belly with a fyllogifm : thefe, things do not
communicate in matter, and therefore neither in
adion or paflion ; and fince all punifhments in a
prudent government puniffi the offender to pre
vent a future crime, and fo it proves more me
dicinal than vindidive, the punitive ad being in
order to the cure and prevention : and fince no
punifhment of the body can cure a difeafe in the
foul, it is difproportionable in nature, and in all
civil government, to puniffi where the punifhment
can do no good. It may be an ad of tyranny,
but never of juftice. For is an opinion ever the
more true or falfe for being perfecuted ? Some
men have believed it the more, as being provo
ked into a confidence, and vexed into a refolution,
but the thing itfelf is not the truer, and though
the hangman may confute a man with an inexpli
cable dilemma, yet not convince his underftanding,
for fuch premifes can infer no conclufion, but that
of a man's life : and a wolf may as well give laws
to the underftanding, as he whofe didates are
only propounded in violence, and writ in blood.
And a dog is as capable of a law as a man, if
there be no choice in his obedience, nor difcourfe
in his choice, nor reafon to fatisfy his difcourfe.
And as it is unnatural, fo it is unreafonable, that
Sempronius fhould force Caius to be of his opinion,
becaufe Sempronius is conful this year, -and com
mands the Liclors : As if he that can kill a man
cannot

§ . 1 3 • whether to be punifhed ? 263
cannot but be infallible : and if he be not, why
fhould I do violence to my confcience, becaufe he
can do violence to my perfon ?
XI. 7. Force in matters of opinion can do no
good, but is very apt to do hurt ; for no man
can change his opinion when he will, or be fatis
fied in his reafon that his opinion is falfe, becaufe
difcountenanced. If a man could change his opi
nion when he lifts, he might cure many inconve
niences of his life : all his fears and his forrows
would foon difband, if he would but alter his
opinion, whereby he is perfuaded, that fuch an
accident that affiids him is an evil, and fuch an
objed formidable ; let him but believe himfelf
impregnable, or that he receives a benefit when
he is plundered, difgraced, imprifoned, con
demned, and afflided, neither his fleeps need to
be difturbed, nor his quietnefs difeompofed. But
if a man cannot change his opinion when he lifts,
nor ever does heartily or refolutely, but when he
cannot do otherwife ; then to ufe force, may make
him an hypocrite, but never to be a right believer,
and fo inftead of ereding a trophee to God and
true religion, we build a monument for the devil.
Infinite examples are recorded in church ftory to
this very purpofe : But Socrates inftances in one
for all ; for when Eleuftus bifhop of Cyzicum was
threatened by the emperor Valens with baniffi-
ment and confifcation, if he did not fubfcribe to
the decree of Ariminum, at laft he yielded to the
Arrian opinion, and prefently fell into great tor
ment of confcience, openly at Cyzicum recanted
the error, afked God and the church forgivenefs,
and complained of the Emperor's injuftice, and
that was all the good the Arrian party got by of
fering violence to his confcience. And fo many
families in Spain, which are as they call them
new chriftians, and of a fufpeded faith, into
S 4 which

264 Perfons difagreeing, §. 13.
which they were forced by the tyranny of the in
quifition, and yet are fecret Moors, is evidence
enough, of the * inconvenience of preaching a
dodrine in o?e gladii cruentandi. For it either pu-
nifhes a man for keeping a good confcience, or
forces him into a bad ; it either pun'ifhes fincerity,
or perfuades hypocrify ; it perfecutes a truth, or
drives into error : and it teaches a man to diffem-
ble and to be fafe, but never to be honeft.
XII. 8. It is one of the glories of chriftian re
ligion, that it was fo pious, excellent, miraculous
and perfuafive, that it came in upon its own piety
and wifdom, with no other force but a torrent of
arguments and demonftration of the fpirit ; a
mighty rufhing wind to beat down all ftrong
holds, and every high thought and imagination ;
but towards the perfons of men it was always full
of meeknefs and charity, compliance and tole
ration, condefcenfion and bearing with one ano
ther, reftoring perfons overtaken with an error, in the
fpirit of meeknefs, conftdering left we alfo be tempted.
The confideration is as prudent, and the propofi
tion as juft, as the precept is charitable, and the
precedent was pious and holy. Now things are
beft conferved with that which gives it the firft
being, andwhich is agreeable to its temper and con-
ftitution. That precept which it chiefly preaches,
in order to all the bleffednefs in the world, that
is, of meeknefs, mercy and charity, fhould alfo
preferve itfelf, and promote its own intereft.
For indeed nothing will do it fo well, nothing
doth fo excellently infinuate itfelf into the under- ,
ftandings and aftedions of men, as when the
* EJufmcdi frit Hipponenfium converfio, cujus quidem fpecief
decepit Auguft. ita ut opinaretur hareticos licet -non morte trucidan,
dos vi tamen coercendos, Experientiaenim demonftravit eos tam
facile ad Arianifmum tranfiiffe at que adCatholicifmum, cum Arri-
mi Princip" rerum in ea civitate potirentur.' adions

§. 13. - whether to be punifijed? 265
adions and perfuafions of a fed, and every part
and principle and promotion are univocal. And
it would be a mighty difparagement to fo glorious
an inftitution, that in its principle it fhould be
merciful and humane, and in the promotion and
propagation of it fo inhumane : And it would be
improbable and unreafonable, that the fword
fhould be ufed in the perfuafion of one propofi
tion, and yet in the perfuafion of the whole re
ligion nothing like it. To do fo, may ferve the
end of . a temporal prince, but never promote the
honour of Chrift's kingdom ; it may fecure a de
fign of Spain, but will very much differve chriften
dom, to offer to fupport it by that which good
men believe to be a diftindive cognizance of the
Mahometan religion, from the excellency and
piety of chriftianity, whofe fenfe and fpirit is de-
fcribed in thofe excellent words of St. Paul, 2.
Tim. 2. 24. The fiervant of the Lord muft not ftrive,
but be gentle unto all men, in meeknefs inftrutling thofe
that oppofe themfelves, if God peradventure will give
them repentance to the acknowledging the truth. They
that oppofe themfelves, muft not be flrncken by
any of God's fervants ; and if yet any man will
finite thefe who are his oppofites in opinion, he
will get nothing by that, he muft quit the title
of being a fervant of God for his pains. And I
think a diftindion of perfons fecular and eccle
fiaftical will do no advantage for an efcape ; be
caufe even the fecular power, if it be chriftian,
and a fervant of God, muft not be 7rA»jt1ix©-:
AbXov Kvpis a <Pei fxcty/eo-Qai, I mean in thofe
cafes where meeknefs of inftrudion is the remedy,
or if the cafe be irremediable, abfciflion by cen
fures is the penalty.
XIII. 9. And if yet in the nature of the thing.
it were neither unjuft nor unreafonable, yet there
is nothing under God Almighty that hath power over

266 Perfons difagreeing, §. 13.'
over the foul of man, fo as to command a per
fuafion, or to judge a difagreeing : human pofi
tive laws dired all external ads in order to feveral
ends, and the judges take cognizance accordingly,
but no man can command the will, or punifh
him, that obeys the law againft his will : for be
caufe its end is ferved in external obedience, it
neither looks after more, neither can it be ferved
by more, nor take notice of any more. And yet
poffibly the underftanding is lefs fubjed to hu
man power than the will, for that human power
hath a command over external ads which na
turally and regularly flow from the will, & ut
plurimum fuppofe a dired ad of will, but always
either a dired or indired volition, primary or ac
cidental; but the underftanding is a natural
faculty fubjed to no command, but where the
command is itfelf a reafon fit to fatisfy and per
fuade it. And therefore God commanding us to
believe fuch revelations, perfuades and fatisfies
the underftanding, by his commanding and re
vealing : for there is no greater probation in the
world that a propofition is true, than becaufe God
hath commanded us to believe it. But becaufe
no mart's command is a fatisfadion to the under
ftanding, or a verification of the propofition,
therefore the underftanding is not fubjed to hu
man authority/ They may perfuade, but not in-
join where God hath not ; and where God hath,
" if it appear fo to him, he is an infidel if he do
not believe it. And if all men have no other
efficacy or authority on the underftanding but by
perfuafion, propofal and intreaty, then a man is
bound to affent but according to the operation of
the argument, and the energy of perfuafion, nei
ther indeed can he, though he would never fo
fain, and he that out of fear and too much com
pliance and defire to be fafe, fhall defire to bring his

§. 13- whether to be punifhed? 267
his underftanding with fome luxation to the be
lief of human didates and authorities, may as
often mifs of the truth as hit it, but is fure al
ways to lofe the comfort of truth, becaufe he be
lieves it upon indired, infufficient, and incom
petent arguments : and as his defire it fhould be fo
is his beft argument that it is fo, fo the pleafing
of men is his beft reward, and his not being con
demned ancf contradided all the poffeffion of a
truth.

SECT. XIV.
Of the pratlice of Chriftian Churches towards perfons
difagreeing, and when perfecution firft came in.
I, A ND thus this truth hath been pradifed in
, f\ all rimes of chriftian religion, when there
were no collateral defigns on foot, nor interefts
to be ferved, nor paffions to be fatisfied. In St.
Paul's time, though the cenfure of herefy were
not fo loofe and forward as afterwards, and all
that were called hereticks were clearly fuch, and
highly criminal ; yet as their crime was, fo was
their cenfure, that is, fpiritual. They were firft
admonifhed, once at leaft, for fo a Irenaus, b Ter
tuUian, c Cyprian, * Ambrofe, and e Hierome read
that place of Titus 3 . But fince that time all men,
and at that time fome read it, Poft unam_ Z3 al
teram admonitionem, rejed a heretick. Rejedion
from the communion of faints after two warnings,
that's the penalty. Saint John expreffes it by not
eating with them, not bidding them God fpeed, but
a Lib. ¦x.eap. 3. b De prefcript. c Lib . ad S>uirinum. d In
hunc locum,. e Ibidem. the

2 68 The Origin of Perfecution. §.14.
the perfons againft whom he decrees fo feverely,
are fuch as denied Chrift to be come in the flefh,
dired Antichrifts : and let the fentence be as high
as it lifts in this, cafe, all that I obferve is, that
fince in fo damnable dodrines nothing but fpiritual
cenfure, feparation from the communion of the
faithful was enjoined and prefcribed, we cannot
pretend to an apoftolical precedent, if in matters
of difpute and innocent queftion, and of great
uncertainty and no malignity, we fhould proceed
to fentence of death.
II. For it is but an abfurd and illiterate ar
guing, to fay that excommunication is a greater
punifhment, and killing, a lefs ; and therefore
whoever may be excommunicated may alfo be put
to death (which indeed is the reafoning that Bel
larmine ufes) for firft, excommunication is not
diredly, and of itfelf a greater punifhment than
corporal death. Becaufe it is indefinite, and in-
compleat, and in order to a further punifhment,
which if it happen, then the excommunication
was the inlet to it ; if it do not, the excommu
nication did not fignify half fo much as the lofs
of a member, much lefs death. For it may be
totally ineffedual, either by the iniquity of the
proceeding, or repentance of the perfon : and in
all times and cafes it is a medicine if the man
pleafe ; if he will not, but perfevere in his im
piety, then it is himfelf that brings the cenfure to
effed, that aduates the judgment and gives a
fling, and an energy upon that which other-
wife would be %eip c'xvp(&>. But, 2. when it
is at worft, it does not kill the foul, it only
configns it to that death which it had deferved,
and ffiould have received independently from that
fentence of the church. And, 3- yet excom
munication is to admirable purpofe ; for whe
ther it refer to the perfon cenfured or to others, it

§. 14- The Origin of Perfecution. 269
it is prudential in itfelf, it is exemplary to others,
it is medicinal to all. For the perfon cenfured
is by this means threatened into piety, and the
threatning made the more energetical upon him.
becaufe by fidion of law, or as it were by a facra-
mental reprefeutment, the pains of hell are made
prefent to him ; and fo becomes an ad of pru
dent judicature, and excellent difcipline, and the
beft inftrument of fpiritual government : becaufe
the nearer the threatning is reduced to matter,
and the more prefent and circumflantiate it is
made, the more operative it is upon our fpirits
while they are immerged in matter. And this
is the full fenfe and power of excommunication
in its dired intention : confequently and acci
dentally other evils might follow it, as in the
times of the apoftles, the cenfured perfons were
buffeted by fatan, and even at this day there is
lefs fecurity even to the temporal condition of
fuch a perfon whom his fpiritual parents have
anathematized. But befides this, I know no war
rant co affirm any thing of excommunication ; for
the fentence of the church does but declare, not
effed the final fentence of damnation. Whoever
deferves excommunication deferves damnation ;
and he that repents fhall be faved, though he die
out of the churches external communion, and if
he do not repent, he fhall be damned though he
was not excommunicated.
III. But fuppofe it greater than the fentence
of corporal death, yet it follows not, becaufe
hereticks may be excommunicated, therefore
killed ; for from a greater to a lefs, in a feveral
kind of things the argument concludes not. It
is a greater thing to make an excellent difcourfe
than to make a ffioe, yet he that can do the greater
cannot do this lefs. An angel cannot beget a
man, and yet he can do a greater matter in that
kind

270 The Origin cf Perfecution. §. 14.
kind of operations which we term fpiritual and
angelical. And if this were concluding that who
ever may be excommunicated may be killed, then,
becaufe of excommunications the church is con-
feffed the fole and entire judge ; fhe is alfo an ab
folute difpofer of the lives of perfons. I believe
this will be but ill dodrine in Spain : for in Bulla
Ciena Domini the king of Spain is every year ex
communicated on Maunday Thurfday ; but if by
the fame power he might alfo be put to death (as
upon this ground he may) the pope might with
more eafe be invefted in that parr, of St. Peter's
patrimony which that king hath invaded and fur-
prized. But befides this, it were extreme harfh
dodrine in a Roman Confiftory, from whence ex
communications iffue for trifles, for fees, for not
fuffering themfelves infinitely to be opprefied,
for any thing ; if this be gteater than death, how
great a tyranny is that which does more then kill
men for his then trifles, or elfe how inconfequent
is that argument which concludes its purpofe
upon fo falfe pretence and fuppofition ?
IV. Well, however zealous the apoftles were
againft hereticks, yet none were by them, or their
didates, put to death. The death of Ananias and
Saphira, and the blindnefs of Elymas the forcerer
amount not to this, for they were miraculous in-
flidions : and the firft was a punifhment to vow-
breach and facriledge, the fecond of for eery, and
open conteftation againft the religion of Jefus
Chrift ; neither of them concerned the cafe of
this prefent queftion : or if the Cafe were the
fame, yet the Authority is not the fame : For he
that infiided thefe puniffiments was infallible, and
of a power competent : But no man at this day
is fo. But as yet, people were converted by mi
racles, and preaching, and difputing, and here
ticks by the fame means were convinced, and all
men

§. 14. The Origin of Perfecution. 271
men inftruded, none tortured for their opinion.
And this continued till chriftian people were vexed
by difagreeing perfons, and were impatient and
peevifh, by their own tdo much confidence and the
luxuriancy of a profperous fortune : but then they
would not endure perfons that did dogmatize any
thing which might intrench upon their reputation
or their intereft. And it is obfervable that no
man, nor age did ever teach the lawfulnefs of
putting hereticks to death, till they grew wanton
with profperity. But when the reputation of the
governors was concerned, when the interefts of
men were endangered, when they had fomething
to lofe, when they had built their eftimation upon
the credit of difputable queftions, when they be
gan to be jealous of other men, when they over
valued themfelves, and their own opinions, when
fome perfons invaded biffiopricks upon pretence of
new opinions ; then they, as they thrived in the
favour of emperors, and in the fuccefs of their
difputes, follicited the temporal power to banifh,
to fine, to imprifon, and to kill their adverfaries.
V. So that the cafe ftands thus. In the beft
times, among the beft men, when there were
fewer temporal ends to be ferved, when religion
and the pure and Ample defigns of chriftianity
were only to be promoted ; in thofe times and
amongft fuch men, no perfecution was adual, nor
perfuaded nor allowed towards difagreeing perfons.
But as men had ends of their own and not of
Chrifh*, as They receded from their duty, and re
ligion from its purity, as chriftianity began to be
compounded. with interefts, and blended with tem
poral defigns, fo men were perfecuted for their
opinions. This is moft apparent, if we confider
when perfecution firft came in, and if we obferve
how it was checked by the holieft and the wifeft
perfons. VI.

272 The Origin of Perfecution. §. 14.
VI. The firft great inftance I fhall note was in
Prifcillian and his followers, who were condemned
to death by the tyrant Maximus. Which inftance
although St. Hierom obferves as a punifhment, and
judgment for the crime of herefy, yet is of no ufe
in the prefent queftion, becaufe Maximus put fome
chriftians of all forts to death promifcuoufly, ca
tholick and heretick without choice, and there
fore the Prificilianifts might as well have called it
a judgment upOn the catholicks, as the catholicks
upon them.
VII. But when Urfatus and Itacius, two bifhops,
procured the Prificilianifts death by the power they
had at court : St. Martin was fo angry at them for
their cruelty, that he excommunicated them both.
And St. Ambrofe upon the fame flock denied his
communion to the Itaciani. And the account that
Sulpitius gives of the ftory is this, Hoc modo (fays
he) homines luce indignijimi peffimo exemplo necati funt.
The example was worfe than the men. If the
men were heretical, the execution of them how
ever was unchriftian.
VIII. But it was of more authority that the
Nicene Fathers fupplicated the emperor, and pre
vailed for the banifhment of * Arius ; of this we
can give no other account, but that by the hiflory
of the time we fee bafenefs enough, and perfonal
mifdemeanor, and fadioufnefs of fpirit in Arius,
to have deferved worfe than banifhment, though
the obliquity of his opinion were not put into
the ballance ; which we have reafon to believe
was not fo much as confidered, becaufe Conftan-
tine gave toleration to differing opinions, and
Arius himfelf was reftored upon fuch conditions
to his country and office, which would not ftand
with the ends of the catholicks, if they had been
* Sozom. /.i, c. 20. fevere

§- 14.. The Origin of Perfecution. 273
fevere exadors of concurrence and union of per
fuafions. IX. I am ftill within the fcene of ecclefiaftical
perfons, and am confidering what the opinion of
the learnedeft and the holieft prelates were concern
ing this great queftion. If we will believe St. * Au
ftin (who was a credible perfon) no good man did
allow it. Nullis tamen bonis in Catholicd hoc placet,
ft, ufque ad mortem in quenquam licet bareticum favia-
tur. This was St. Auftin 's final opinion ; for he
had firft been of the mind that it was not honeft
to do any violence to mifperfuaded perfons ; and
when upon an accident happening in Hippo he had
altered and retraded that part of the opinion, yet
then alfo he excepted Death, and would by no
means have any mere Opinion made capital. But
for aught appears, St. Auftin had greater reafon
to have retraded that retradion, than his firft
opinion. For his faying of nullis bonis placet was
as true as the thing was reafonable it fhould be
fo. Witnefs thofe known teftimonies of f Tertul-
lian, s Cyprian, h Latlantius, 'l Hierom, k Sever us
Sulpitius, ' Minutius, m Hilary, " Damafcen, " Chry-
foftome, p Theophylatl, and q Bernard, and divers
others, whom the reader may find quoted by the
archbifhop of Spalato, Lib. 7. de rep. Ecclef. cap. 8,
X. Againft this concurrent teftimony my read
ing can furnifh me with no adverfary, nor contrary
inftances, but in Atticus oi Conftantinople, Theodofius of
* Socrat. l.l.c. 26. Cont. Crefcan. Grammat. lib. 3. c. 50.
vide etiam Epift. 61. ad dulcilium. et Epift. 158. et 159. et lib.
I.e. zo. cont. tit. petilian. vide etiam Socrat. lib. 3. c. 3. et a
29. Lib. 2. cap. 5. retraliat. vide Epift. 48. ad vincent. fcript.
paft. retraB. et Epift. 50. ad Bonifac. f Ad Scapulam. s Lib.
3. Ep. 1. Epift. h Lib. 5. c. 20. * In cap. 13. Matth. et in
cap. 2. Hof. k In vit : S. Martin. ' Oiftav. m Cont. Aux-
ent. Arr. n 3. Se<3>: C. 32. ° In cap. 13. Matth. hom :
47. p In evang. Matth. 1 In verba Apoft. fides exau-
ditu. ' T Synnda,

274 The Origin of Perfecution. §. 14.
Synada, in Stacius and Urfaus before reckoned.
Only indeed fome of the later popes oi Rome began
to be bufy and unmerciful, but it was then when
themfelves were fecure, and their interefts great,
and their temporal concernments highly con
fiderable. XI. For it is moft true, and not amifs to ob
ferve it, that no man who was under the ferula
did ever think it lawful to have opinions forced,
or hereticks put to death; and yet many men who
themfelves have efcaped the danger of a pile and
a faggot, have changed their opinion juft as the
cafe was altered, that is, as themfelves were un
concerned in the fuffering. * Petilian, Parmenian,
and Gaudentius, by no means would allow it law
ful, for themfelves were in danger, and were upon
that fide that is ill thought of and difcountenan-
ced : but -j- Gregory and J Leo, popes of Rome,
upon whofe fide the authority ahd advantages
were, thought it lawful they fhould be punifhed
and perfecuted ; for themfelves were unconcerned
in the danger of fuffering. And therefore St.
Gregory commends the exarch of Ravenna, for
forcing them who diffented from thofe men who
called themfelves the church. And there were
fome divines in the Lower Germany, who upon
great reafons fpake againft the tyranny of the in
quifition, and reftraining prophefying, who yet
when they had ffiaken off the Spanifh yoke, began
to perfecute their brethren. It was unjuft in them,
in all men unreafonable and uncharitable, and
often increafes the error, but never leffens the
danger. XII. But yet although the church, I mean,
in her diftind and clerical capacity, was againft
* Apud Aug. lib. i. e. 7. cont. Epift. Parmenian, cif /. z.
t. 10. cont. tit. Petilian. f Epift. i. adTurbium. \ Lib.
t, ep. 72. deftroying

§. 14. The Origin of Perfecution. 27$
deftroying or punifhing difference in opinion, till
the Popes of Rome did fuper-feminate and per
fuade the contrary, yet the bifhops did perfuade
the Emperors to make laws againft hereticks, and
to puniffi difobedient perfons with fines, with im-
prifonment, ,with death and banifhment refpec
tively. This indeed calls us to a new account..
For the churchmen might not proceed to blood
nor corporal inflidions ; but might they not de
liver over to the fecular arm, and perfuade tem
poral princes to do it ? For this I am to fay,
that fince it is notorious that the dodrine of the
clergy was againft punifhing hereticks, the laws
which were made by the emperors againft them.
might be for reflraint of differing religion in
order to the prefervation of the publick peace,
which is too frequently violated by the divifion of
opinions. But I am not certain whether that was
always the reafon, or whether or no fome bifhops
of the court did not alfo ferve their own ends in
giving their princes fuch untoward counfel ; but
we find the laws made feverally to feveral pur
pofes, in divers cafes and with different feverity.
* Conftantine the emperor made a fandion ; Utpa-
rem cum fidelibus ii qui errant pads (3 quietis fruitio--
nem gaudentes accipiant. The emperor Gratian de
creed ; Ut quam quifque vellet religionem fequeretur -,
& conventus Fcclefiafticos, femoto metu, omnes agerent.
But he excepted the Manichees, the Photinians,
and Eunomians. f Theodofius the elder made a
law of death againft the Anabaptifts of his time,
and baniffied Eunomius, and againft other erring
perfons appointed a pecuniary muld ; but he did
no executions fo fevere as his fandions, to fhew
they were made in terrorem only. So were the
* Apud Eufeb. de vita,. Conftant. f Vide Socrat. lib. 7.
, 12.
T 2 laws

276 The Origin of Perfecution. §. 14.
laws of * Valentinian and Martian, decreeing con
tra omnes qui prava docere tentant, that they fhould
be put to death ; fo did -f- Michael the emperor ;
but Juftinian only decreed banifhment.
XIII. But whatever whifpersfomepolitiques might
make to their princes, as the wifeft and holieft
dicyhink it lawful for churchmen alone to do
executions, fo neither did they tranfmit fuch per
fons to the fecular judicature. And therefore
when the edid of Macedonius the prefident was fo
ambiguous, that it feemed to threaten death to
hereticks, unlefs they recanted ; St. Auftin ad-
monifhed him, carefully to provide that no here
tick fhould be put to death, alledging it alfo not
only to be Unchriftian, but illegal alfo, and not
warranted by imperial conftitutions ; for before
his time no laws were made for their being put to
death : but however he prevailed, that Macedo
nius pubiifhed another edid, more explicite, and
lefs feemingly fevere. But in his epiftle to Do -
natus, the African proconful, he is more con
fident and determinate, Neceffitate nobis impacld &
indicia, ut potius occidi ab eis eligamus, quam eos oc-
cidendos veftris judiriis ingeramus.
XIV. But afterwards many got a trick of giv
ing them over to the fecular power, which at the
beft is no better than hypocrify ; removing envy
from themfelves, and laying it upon others, a
refufing to do that in external ad, which they do
in counfel and approbation : which is a tranf
mitting the ad to another, and retaining a pro
portion of guilt unto themfelves, even their own
and the others too. I end this with the fayin^
of 4" Chryfoftome, Dogmata impia & qua ab hareticis
• Vid. Cod. de heretic. L. manichees. y leg. Arriani, cif /.
Quicunque. f Apud Paulum Diac. I. ld.{$ /.' 24. J Serm.
de Anatbematc, profecla

§• 15* Reftraint how far lawful. 277
profetla funt, arguere •&? anathematizare oportet ; bo-
minibus autem parcendum 13 pro fialute eorum 0-

randum.

SECT. XV.
How far the church or governors may act to the re-
ftraining falfie or differing opinions.
I. T) U T although heretical perfons are not to
X) be deftroyed, yet herefy being a work of
the flefh, and all hereticks criminal perfons, whofe
ads and dodrine have influence upon communi
ties of men whether ecclefiaftical or civil ; fhe
governors of the republic, or church, refpedively
are to do their duties in reftraining thofe mifchiefs
which may happen to their feveral charges, for
whofe indemnity they are anfwerable. And
therefore, according to the effed or malice of the
dodrine or the perfon, fo the cognizance of them
belongs to feveral judicatures. If it be falfe doc
trine in any capacity, and doth mifchief in any
fenfe, or teaches ill life in any inftance, or en
courages evil in any particular, £ei 'iiri^o^i^uv^
thefe men muft be filenced, they muft be con
vinced by found dodrine, and put to filence by
fpiritual evidence, and reflrained by authority ec
clefiaftical, that is, by fpiritual cenfures, accord
ing as it feems neceffary to him who is moft con
cerned in the regimen of the church. For all this
we have precept and precedent apoftolical, and
much reafon. For by thus doing, the governor
of the church ufes all that authority that is com
petent, and all the means that are reafonable, and
that proceeding which is regular, that he may
difcharge his cure and fecure his flock. And
T 3 that

278 Reftraint how far lawful. §. 1 5.
that he poffibly may be deceived in judging a
dodrine to be heretical, and by confequence the
perfon excommunicated fuffer injury, is no ar
gument againft the reafonablenefs of the proceed
ing. For all the injury that is, is vifible and in
appearance, and fo is his crime. Judges muft
judge according to their beft reafon guided by
law of God as their rule, and by evidence and
appearance as their beft inftrument ; and they
can judge no better. If the judges be good and
prudent, the error of proceeding will not be
great, nor ordinary, and there can be no better
eftabliffiment of human judicature, than is a fal
lible proceeding upon an infallible ground ; and
jf the judgment of herefy be made by eftimate
and proportion of the opinion to a good or a bad
life refpedively, fuppofing an error in the deduc
tion, there will be no malice in the conclufion ;
ahd that he endeavours to fecure piety, accord
ing to the beft of his underftanding, and yet did
miftake in his proceeding, is only an argument
that he did his duty after the manner of men,
poffibly with the piety of a faint, though not
with the underftanding of an angel. And the
little inconvenience that happens to the perfon in-
jiiriouny judged is abundantly made up in the
excellency of the difcipline, the goodnefs of the
example, , the care of the publick, and all thofe
great influences upon the manners of men; which
derive from fuch an ad fo publickly configrted.
But fuch publick judgment in matters of opinion
muft be feldom and curious, and never but to fe
cure piety, and a holy life ; for in matters fpecu
lative, as all determinations are fallible, fo fcarce
any of them are to purpofe, nor ever able to make
compenfation on either fide, either for the pub
lick fradidn, or the particular injuftice, if it
ffiould fo happen, in the cenfure, II,

§. 15- Refiraint how far lawful. 279
II. But then as the church may proceed thus
far, yet no chriftian man, or community of men
may proceed farther. For if they be deceived in
their judgment and cenfure, and yet have paffed
only fpiritual cenfures, they are totally ineffedual,
and come to nothing, there is no effed remaining
upon the foul, and fuch cenfures are not to meddle
with the body fo much as indiredly. But if any
other judgment pafs upon perfons erring, fuch
judgments whofe effeds remain, if the perfon be
unjuftly cenfured, nothing will anfwer and make
compenfation for fuch injuries. If a perfon be
excommunicated unjuftly, it will do him no hurt;
but if he be killed or difmembred unjuftly, that
cenfure and inflidion is not made ineffedual by
his innocence ; he is certainly killed and difmem
bred. So that as the church's authority in fuch
cafes fo reftrained and made prudent, cautelous,
and orderly, is juft and competent : fo the pro
ceeding is reafonable, it is provident for the pub
lick, and the inconveniences that may fall upon
particulars fo little, as that the publick benefit
makes ample compenfation, fo long as the pro
ceeding is but fpiritual.
III. This difcourfe is in the cafe of fuch
opinions, which by the formal rules are formal
herefies, and upon pradical inconveniences. But
for matters of queftion, which have not in them
an enmity to the publick tranquility, as the re-
publick hath nothing to do, upon the ground cf
all the former difcourfes ; fo if the church meddle
with them where they do not derive into ill life,
either in the perfon or in the confequent, or elfe
are deftrudions of the foundation of religion,
which is all one, for that thofe fundamental ar
ticles are of greateft neceflity in order to a vir
tuous and godly life, which is wholly built upon
them, (and therefore are principally neceffary.) If
T 4 fhe

2S0 Reftraint how far lawful. §. 15.
ffie meddle further, otherwife then by preaching,
and conferring, and exhortation, ffie becomes ty
rannical in her government, makes herfelf an
immediate judge of confciences and perfuafions,
lords it over their faith, deflroys unity, and cha
rity ; and as if he that dogmatizes the opinion
becomes criminal, if he trouble the church with
an immodeft, peeviffi, and pertinacious propofal
of his article, not fimply neceffary ; fo the church
does not do her duty, if fhe fo condemn it pro
tribunali, as to injoin him and all her fubjeds to
believe the contrary. And as there may be per-
tinacy in dodriue, fo there may be pertinacy in
judging, and both are faults. The peace of the
church and the unity of her dodrine is beft con
ferved, when it is judged by the proportion it
hath to that rule of unity which the apoftles gave,
that is, the Creed for articles of meer belief, and
the precepts of Jefus Chrift, and the pradical
rules of piety, which are moft plain and eafy, and
without controverfy, fet down in the Gofpels, and
writings of the Apoftles. But to multiply arti
cles, and adopt them into the family of faith, and
to require affent to fuch articles, which (as St.
Pauls phrafe is) are of doubtful difputation; equal
to that affent we give to matters of faith, is to
build a tower upon the top of a bulruffi, and the
further the effects of fuch proceedings extend, the
worfe they are ; the very making fuch a law is
unreafonable, the infiiding fpiritual cenfures upon
them that cannot do fo much violence to their un
derftanding as to obey it, is unjuft ar.d ineffec
tual ; but to puniffi the perfon with death, or with
corporal infliction, is indeed effedual, but it is
therefore tyrannical.  We have feen what the
church may do towards reftraining falfe or differ
ing opinions ; next, I fhall confider by way of
corollary,

§. 1 6. Toleration how far lawful. 281
corallary, what the prince may do as for his inte
reft, and only in fecuring his people, and ferving
the ends of true religion.

SECT. XVI.
Whether it be lawful for a Prince to give toleration to
feveral Religions.
FO R upon thefe very grounds we may eafily
give account of that great queftion, Whether
it be lawful for a prince to give toleration to
feveral religions ?
For firft, it is a great fault that men will call
the feveral Sells of Chriftians by the names of
feveral Religions. The religion of Jesus Christ
is the form of found dodrine and wholfome words,
which is fet down in fcripture indefinitely, adu
ally conveyed to us by plain places, and fepara-
ted, as for the queftion of neceffary or not necef
fary, by the fymbol of the apoftles. Thofe
impertinencies which the wantonnefs and vanity
of men have commenced, which their interefts have
promoted, which ferve not truth fo much as their
own ends, are far from being diftind religions ;
for matters of opinion are no parts of the worffiip
of God, nor in order to it, but as they promote
obedience to his commandments ; and when they
contribute towards it, are in that proportion as
they contribute parts and adions, , and minute
particulars of that religion to whofe ends they do,
or pretend to ferve. And fuch are all the feds,
and all the pretences of chriftians, but pieces and
minutes of chriftianity, if they ferve the great
end, as every man for his own fed and intereft
believes for his fhare it does. II. 2.

282 Toleration how far lawful. §. 16
II. 2. Toleration hath a double fenfe or pur
pofe ; for fometimes by it men underftand a pub
lick licence and exercife of a fed ; fometimes it
is only an indemnity of the perfons privately to
convene and opine as they fee caufe, and as they
mean to anfwer to God. Both thefe are very
much to the fame purpofe, unlefs fome perfons
whom we are bound to fatisfy be fcandalized ;
and then the prince is bound to do, as he is
bound to fatisfy. To God it is all one. For ab-
flrading from the offence of perfons, which is to
be confidered, juft as our obligation is to content
the perfons, it is all one whether we indulge them
in meeting publickly or privately, to do adions
of religion, concerning which We are not perfu
aded that they are truly holy. To God it is juft
one to be in the dark and in the light, the
thing is the fame, only the circumftance of pub
lick and private is different ; which cannot be
concerned in any thing, nor can it concern any
thingfUDUt the matter of fcandal and relation to
the minds and fantafies of certain perfons.
III. 3. So that to tolerate is not to perfecute.
And the queftion whether the prince may tolerate
divers perfuafions, is no more than whether he
may lawfully perfecute any man for not being of
his opinion. Now in this cafe he is juft fo to to
lerate diverfity of perfuafions, as he is to tolerate
publick adions -, for no opinion is judicable ; and
no perfon punifhable, but for a fin ; and if his
opinion by reafon of its managing, or its effed,
be a fin in itfelf, or become a fin to the perfon ;
then as he is to do towards other fins, fo to that
opinion or man fo opening. But to believe fo,
or not fo, when there is no more but mere belie
ving, is not in his power to enjoin, therefore not
to puniffi. And it is not only lawful to tolerate
difagreeing perfuafions, but the authority of God
only

§. 1 6. Toleration how far lawful. 283
only is competent to take notice of it, and infal
lible to determine it, and fit to judge ; and there
fore no human authority is fufficient to do all
thofe things, which can juftify the infliding tem
poral puniffiments upon . fuch as do not conform
irt their perfuafions to a rule or authority, which
is not only fallible, but fuppofed by the difagree
ing perfon to be adually deceived.
IV. But I Confider that in the toleration of a
different opinion, religion is not properly and
immediately concerned, fo as in any degree to be
endangered. For it may be fafe in diverfity of
perfuafions, and it is alfo a part of * chriftian
religion that the liberty of mens confciences
fh6uld be preferved in all things, where God
hath not fet a limit and made a reftraint ; that
the foul of the man fhould be free, and acknow
ledge no mafter but Jefus Chrift -, that matters
fpiritual fhould not be reftrained by puniffiments
corporal ; that the fame meeknefs and charity
fhould be preferved in the promotion of chriftian-
riity, that gaVe it foundation and increment, and
firmnefs in its firft publication ; that conclufions
ffiould not be more dogmatical, than the virtual
refolution and efficacy of the premifes : And that
the perfons ffiould not more certainly be con
demned, than their opinions confuted ; and laftly,
that the infirmities of men and difficulties of
things fhould be both put in balance to make
abatement in the definitive fentence againft mens
perfons. But then becaufe toleration of opinions
is not properly a queftion of religion, it may be
a queftion of policy : And although a man may
be a good chriftian, though he believe an error
* Humani juris y naturalis potejlatis, unicuique quod puta-
verit, colcre. Sed nee rcligionis eft cogere religiancm, qua fuj-
pici fponte debet, non vi, Tertul. ad Scapulaai. . not

284 Toleration how far lawful. §. 16.
not fundamental, and not diredly or evidently
impious ; yet his opinion may accidentally difturb
the publick peace through the over adivenefs of
the perfon, and the confidence of the belief and
the opinion of its appendent neceffity ; and there
fore toleration of differing perfuafions in thefe
cafes is to be confidered upon political grounds ;
and is juft fo to be admitted or denied, as the
opinions or toleration of them may confift with
the publick and neceffary ends of government.
Only this : As chriftian princes muft look to the
intereft of their government, fo efpecially muft
they confider the interefts of chriftianity, and not
call every convidion or modeft difcovery of an
eftablifficd error, by the name of difturbance of
the peace. For it is very likely that the peeviffi
nefs and impatience of contradidion in the gover
nors may break the peace. Let them remember
but the gentlenefs of chriftianity, the liberty of
confcience which ought to be preferved, and let
them dojuftice to the perfons, whoever they be
that are peeviffi ; provided that no man's perfon
be over-borne with prejudice. For if it be necef
fary for all men to fubfcribe to the prefent efta-
bliffied religion, by the fame reafon at another
time a man may be bound to fubfcribe to the con-
tradidory, and fo to all religions in the world.
And they only, who by their too much confi
dence entitle God to all their fancies, and make
them to be queftions of religion, and evidences
for heaven, or confignations to hell, they only
think this dodrine unreafonable, and they are the
men that firft difturb the church's peace, and then
think there is no appeafing the tumult but by get
ting the vidory. But they that confider things
wifely, underftand, that fince falvation and dam
nation depend not upon impertinehces, and yet
that publick peace and tranquillity may, the
prince

§. 1 6. Toleration how far lawful. 285
prince is in this cafe to feek how to fecure go
vernment, and the iffues and intentions of that,
while there is in thefe cafes diredly no infecurity
to religion, unlefs by the accidental uncharitable
nefs of them that difpute : which uncharitablenefs
is alfo much prevented when the publick peace is
fecured, and no perfon is on either fide engaged
upon * revenge, or troubled with difgrace, or
vexed with puniffiments by any decretory fentence
againft him. It was the faying of a wife flatef-
man (I mean Thuanus) Haretici qui pace data facit -
cnibus fcinduntur, perfecutione uniuntur contra Remp.
If you perfecute hereticks or difcrepants, they
unite themfelves as to a common defence : If you
permit them, they divide themfelves upon private
intereft ; and the rather, if this intereft was an
ingredient of the opinion.
V. The fum is this, it concerns the duty of a
prince, becaufe it concerns the honour of God,
that all vices and every part of ill life be dif-
countenanced and reftrained : and therefore in re
lation to that, opinions are to be dealt with. For
the underftanding being to dired the will, and
opinions to guide our pradices, they are confide
rable only as they teach impiety and vice, as they
either difhonour God, or difobey him. Now all
fuch dodrines are to be condemned ; but for the
perfons preaching fuch dodrines, if they neither
juftify nor approve the pretended confequences
which are certainly impious, they are to be fepa-
rated from that confideration. But if they know
fuch confequences and allow them, or if they do
not flay till the dodrines produce impiety, but
take fin before hand, and manage them impioufly
in any fenfe ; or if either themfelves or their doc-
* Dextera preecipue copit induhentia mentes, Afperitas odium
fieva tie bella parit. trine

286 Of compliance §.' 17.
trine do really and without colour or feigned
pretext, difturb the publick peace and juft inte
refts, * they are not to be fuffered. In all other
cafes it is not only lawful to permit them, but it
is alfo neceffary, that princes and all in authority
ffiould not perfecute difcrepant opinions. And in
fuch cafes, wherein perfons not otherwife incom
petent are bound to reprove an error, (as they are
in many) in all thefe if the prince make reftraint,
he hinders men from doing their duty, and from
obeying the laws of Jesus Christ.

SECT. XVII.
Of compliance with difagreeing perfons, or weak con
fidences in general.
I.T TPON thefe grounds it remains that we
xj reduce this dodrine to pradical conclufi
ons, and confider among the differing feds and
opinions which trouble thefe parts of Chriftendom,
and come into our concernment, which feds of
chriftians are to be tolerated, and how far ? and
which are to be reftrained and punifhed in their
feveral proportions ?
II. The firft confideration is, that fince diver
fity of opinions more concern publick peace than
religion, what is to be done to perfons, who dif-
* Ext at prudent monitum. Mecanatis apud Dionem Cajfium ad
Auguftum in heec verba. Eos vera qui in divinis aliquid inno*
vant, odio babe, Cif coerce, non Deorum folum caufa : fed. quia
uova numina hi tales introducentes tnultos impellunt ad mutafionem
rerum. Unde conjurationes feditiones, Conciliabula exiftunt, res
profeSio minime conducibiles principatui. Et legibus quoque ex-
prefjum eft, quod in religionetn committitur, in omnium fertur
injuriam. obey

§.17. with weak Confidences. 287
obey a publick fandion upon a true allegation ;
that they cannot believe it to be lawful to obey
fuch conftitutions, although they difbelieve them
upon infufficient grounds, that is, whether in
conftiluta lege difagreeing perfons or weak confcien
ces are to be complied with, and their difobeying
and difagreeing tolerated ?
Ill 1. In this queftion there is no diftindion
can be made between perfons truly weak, and but
pretending fo. For all that pretend to it, are to
be allowed the fame liberty whatfoever it be ; for
no man's fpirit is known to any, but to god
and himfelf : and therefore pretences and realities
in this cafe, are both alike in order to the pub
lick toleration. And this very thing is one argu
ment to perfuade a negative. For the chief thing
in this cafe is the concernment of publick go
vernment, which is then moft of all violated,
when what may prudently be permitted to fome
purpofes, may be demanded to many more ; and
the piety of the laws abufed to the impiety of
other mens ends. And if laws be made fo malle
able, as to comply with weak confciences, he that
hath a mind to difobey, is made impregnable
againft the coercive power of the law, by this
pretence. For a weak confcience fignifies nothing
in this cafe, but a diflike of the law upon a con
trary perfuafion. For if fome weak- confciences do
obey the law, and others do not, it is not their
weaknefs indefinitely that is the caufe of it, but
a definite and particular perfuafion to the contrary.
So that if fuch a pretence be excufe fufficient from
obeying, then the law is a fandion obliging every
one to obey that hath a mind to it, and he that
hath not, may choofe ; that is, it is no law at
all, for he that hath a mind to it may do it if
there be no law, and he that hath no mind to it
need for all the law. IV.

288 Of compliance §. 17.
IV. And therefore the wit of man cannot pru
dently frame a law of that temper and expedience,
but either he muft lofe the formality of a law,
and neither have power coercive nor obligatory,
but adarbitrium inferiorum ; or elfe it cannot, ante
cedently to the particular cafe, give leave to any
fort of men to difagree or difobey.
V. 2. Suppofe that a law be made with great
reafon, fo as to fatisfy divers perfons, pious and
prudent, that it complies with the neceffity of
government, and promotes the intereft of God's
fervice and publick order -, it may eafily be ima
gined that thefe perfons, who are obedient fons of
the church, may be as zealous for the publick or
der and difcipline of the church, as others for
their opinion againft it, and may be as much
fcandalized if difobedience be tolerated, as others
are if the law be exaded ; and what fhall be done
in this cafe ? Both forts of men, cannot be com
plied with, beeaufe, as thefe pretend to be offen
ded at the law, and by confequence (if they un
derftand the confequences of their own opinion)
at them that obey the law : fo the, others are
juftly offended at them that unjuftly difobey it.
If therefore there be any on the right fide as con
fident and zealous as they who are on the wrong
fide, then the difagreeing perfons are not to be
complied with ; to avoid giving offence ; for if
they be, offence is given to better perfons, and
fo the mifchief, which fuch complying feeks to
prevent, is made greater and more unjufb; obedi
ence is difcouraged, and difobedience is legally
canonized, for the refult of a holy and a tender
confcience. VI. 3. Such complying with the difagreeings
of a fort of men, is the total overthrow of all
difcipline, and it is better to make no laws of
publick worffiip, than to refcind them in the very
conftitution :

§. 17- with weak Confciences. 289
and there can be no end in making the fandion,
but to make the law ridiculous, and the authority
contemptible. For to fay that complying with
weak confciences in the very framing of a law of
difcipline, is the way to preferve unity, were all
one as to fay, To take away all laws is the beft
way to prevent difobedience. In fuch matters of
indifferency, the beft way of cementing the frac
tion, is to unite the parts in the authority ; for
then the queftion is but one, viz. Whether the
authority muft be obeyed or not ? But if a per-
miffion be given of difputing the particulars, the
queftions become next to infinite. A mirrour
when it is broken reprefents the objed multiplied
and divided : but if it be entire, and through one
centre tranfmit the fpecies to the eye, the vifion
is one and natural. Laws are the rnirrour in
which men are to drefs and compofe their adions ;
and therefore muft not be broken with fuch
claufes of exception which may without remedy
be abufed to the prejudice of authority, and peace,
and all human fandions. And I have known
in fome churches that this pretence hath been no
thing but a defign to difcredit the law, to dif-
mantle the authority that made it, to raife their
own credit, and a trophy of their zeal, to make
it a charaderiftick note of a fed, and the cogni
zance of holy perfons ; and yet the men that
claimed exemption from the laws, upon pretence
of having weak confciences, if in hearty expref
fion you had told them fo to tl.rir heads, they
would have fpit in your face, and were fo far from
confeftmg themfelves weak, that they thought
themfelves able to give laws to chriftendom; to
inftrud the greateft clerks, and to catechife the
church herfelf ; and which is the worft of all,
they who were perpetually clamorous, that the
feverity of the laws fhould flacken as to their par-
XJ ticular,

290 Of compliance §. 17.
ticular, and in matter indifferent (in which, if
the church hath any authority, fhe hath power
to make laws) to indulge a leave to them to do
as they lift ; yet were the moft imperious amongft
men, moft decretory in their fentences, and moft
impatient of any difagreeing from them though
in the leaft minute and particular : whereas by all
the juftice of the world, they who perfuade fuch
a compliance in matters of fad, and of fo little
queftion, ffioujd not deny to tolerate perfons, that
differ in queftions of great difficulty and con
teftation. VII. 4. But yet fince all things almoft in the
world have been made matters of difpute, and
the will of fome men, and the malice of others,
and the infinite induftry and pertinacy of conteft -
ing, and refolution to conquer, have abufed fome
perfons innocently into a perfuafion, that even
the laws themfelves though never fo prudently
conftituted, are fuperftitious or impious ; fuch
perfons, who are otherwife pious, humble and
religious, are not to be deftroyed for fuch matters,
which in themfelves are not of concernment to
falvation ; and neither are fo accidentally, to fuch
men and in fuch cafes, where they are innocently
abufed, and they err without purpofe and defign.
And therefore, if there be a publick difpofition
in fome perfons to diflike laws of a certain quality,
if it be forefeen, it is to be confidered in lege di-
cendd ; and whatever inconvenience or particular
offence is forefeen, is either to be diredly avoided
in the law, or elfe a compenfation in the excel
lency of the law, and certain advantages, made
to out-weigh their pretenfions : But in lege jam
ditld, becaufe there may be a neceflity fome per
fons ffiould have a liberty indulged them, it is
neceffary that the governors of the church fhould
be intrufted with a power to confider the particular cafe,

§. 17. with, weak Confciences. 291
cafe, and indulge a liberty to the perfon, and
grant perfonal difpenfations. This I fay is to be
done at feveral times, upon particular inftance,
apon Angular confideration, and new emergen
cies. But that a whole kind of men, fuch a kind
to which all men without poffibility of being
confuted may pretend, ffiould at once in the very
frame of the law be permitted to difobey, is to
nullify the law, to deftroy difcipline, and to hal
low difobedience ; it takes away the obliging part
of the law, and makes that the thing enaded fhall
not- be enjoined, but tolerated only: it deftroy s
unity and uniformity, which to preferve was the
very end of fuch laws of difcipline : it bends the
rule to the thing which is to be ruled, fo that the
law obeys the fubjed, not the fubjed the law : it
is to make a law for particulars, not upon general
reafon and congraity, againft che prudence and
defign of all laws in the world, and abfolutely
without the example of any church in chriften
dom ; it prevents no fcandal, for fome will be
feandalized at the authority itfelf, fome at- the
complying, and remifsnefs of difcipline, and
feveral men at matters, and upon ends contra
dictory : all which cannot, fome ought not, to
be complied withal.
VIII. 6. The fum is this, The end of the laws
of difcipline is an immediate order to the confer
vation and ornament of the publick, and there
fore che laws muft not fo tolerate, as by conferv-
ing perfons to deftroy themfelves and the publick
benefit, but if there be caufe for it, they muft be
caffated ; or if there be no fufficient caufe, the
complyings muft be fo as may beft preferve the
particulars in conjundion with the publick end,
which becaufe it is primarily intended, is of
greateft confideration. But the particulars, whe
ther of cafe or perfon, are to be confidered occa-
U 2 fionally

292 Anabaptifmt §. 18,
fionally and emergently by the judges, but can
not antecedently and regularly be determined by
a law. IX. But this fort of men is of fo general pre
tence, that all laws and all judges may eafily be
abufed by them. Thofe feds which are fignified
by a name, which have a fyftem of articles, a
body of profeffion, may be more clearly deter
mined in their queftion concerning the lawfulnefs
of permitting their profeffions and affemblies.
I fhall inftance in two, which are moft trouble-
fome and moft difliked ; and by an account made
of thefe, we may make judgment what may be
done towards others, whofe errors are not appre
hended of fo great malignity. The men I mean
are the Anabaptifts, and the Papifts..

SECT. XVIII.
A particular confideration of the opinions of the
Anabaptifts,
I. ¥"N the Anabaptifts I confider only their two
JL capital opinions, the one againft the Baptifm
of Infants, the other againft Magiftracy : and be
caufe they produce different judgments and vari
ous effeds, all their other fancies, which vary as
the moon does, may ftand or fall in their propor
tion and likenefs to thefe.
II. And firft I confider their denying Baptifm
to Infants ; although it be a dodrine juftly con
demned by moft fort of chriftians, upon great
grounds of reafon ; yet poffibly their defence may
be fo great, as to take off much, and rebate the
edge of their adverfaries affault. It will be neither
unpleafant nor unprofitable to draw a fhort fcheme
of plea for each party, the refult of which poffibly may

§. 1 8. particularly confidered. 293
may be, that though they be deceived, yet they
have fo great excufe on their fide, that their error
is not impudent or vincible.
The Baptifm of Infants reds wholly upon this
difcourfe. III. When God made a covenant with Abraham
for himfelf and his pofterity, into which the gen
tiles were reckoned by fpiritual adoption, he for
the prefent configned that covenant with the fa
crament of circumcifion. The extent of which
rite, was to all his family, from the Major domo to
the Profelytus domicilio, and to infants of eight
days old. Now the very nature of this covenant
being a covenant of faith for its formality, and
with all faithful people for the objed ; and cir
cumcifion being a feal of this covenant ; if ever
any rite do fupervene to confign the fame cove
nant, that rite muft acknowlege circumcifion for
its type and precedent. And this the apoftle tells
us in exprefs doctrine. Now the nature of types,
is to give fome proportion to its fucceffor the an
titype, and they both being feals of the fame righ-
teoufnefs of faith, it will not eafily be found where
thefe two feals have any fuch diftindion in their
nature or purpofes, as to appertain to perfons of
differing capacity, and not equally concern all :
and this argument was thought of fo much force
by fome of thofe excellent men, who were bi
fhops in the primitive church, that a good bifhop
wrote an epiftle to St. Cyprian, to know of him
whether or no it were lawful to baptize infants
before the eighth day, becaufe the type of baptifm
was miniflered in that circumcifion ; he in ,his dif
courfe fuppofing that the firft rite was a diredion
to the fecond, which prevailed with him fo far as
to believe it to limit every circumftance.
IV. And not only this type, but the ads of
Chrift, which were previous to the inftitution of
U 3 baptifm,

294 Anabaptifin, §. 18.
baptifm, did prepare our underftanding by fuch
impreffes, as were fufficient to produce fuch per
fuafion in us, that Chrift intended this miniftry
for the adual advantage of infants, as well as of
perfons of underftanding. For Chrift commanded
that children fhould be brought unto him ; he took
them in his arms, he impofed hands on them and
bleffed them ; and without queftion did by fuch ads
of favour confign his lbve to them, and put them to
a capacity of an eternal participation of it. And pof
fibly the invitation which Chrift made to all to
come to him, all them that are heavy laden, did
in its proportion concern infants as much as others,
if they were guilty of original fin, and if that fin
be a burthen, and prefs them to any fpiritual
danger or inconvenience. And it is all the reafon
in the world, that fince the grace of Chrift is- as
large as the prevarication oi Adam, all they who
are made guilty by the firft Adam, fhould be clean-
fed by the fecor.d. But as they are guilty by ano
ther man's ad,, fo they ffiould be brought to the
font, to be purified by others, there being the
fame proportion of reafon, that by others ads,
they fhould be relieved, who were in danger of
periffiing by the ad of others. And therefore St.
* Auftin argues excellently to this purpofe. Ac-
commodat illis mater Ecclefia aliorum pedes, ut veniant;
aliorum cor, ut credant, aliorum linguam ut fiate-
antur ; ut quoniam quod agrifunt, alio peccante pra-
gravantur, fie cum fanifiant alio confitente falventur.
And f Juftin Martyr, d^mvlxi £y twv £ix ta
@x'if)io'iJLxl@h ayxSrwv tx Qpitpi) tn iric^ei tmv
•mposcpfpovtoiv x'Jlx tea ftxTniGfjixli.
V. But whether they have - original fin or no,
yet take them in puris naturalibus, they cannot go
to God, or attain to eternity : to which they were
intended in their firft being and creation, and
* Serin. 10. de verb. Apoft. f Refp. ad Orthodoxos. therefore

§. 1 8. particularly confidered. 295
therefore much lefs fince their naturals are im
paired by the curfe on human nature procured by
Adam's prevarication. And if a natural agent
cannot in puris naturalibus attain to heaven, which
is a fupernatural end, much lefs when it is loaden
with accidental and grievous impediments. Now
then, fince the only way revealed to us of ac
quiring heaven is by Jefus Chrift; and the firft
inlet into chriftianity, and accefs to him, is by
baptifm, as appears by the perpetual analogy of
the New Teftament ; either infants are not perfons
capable of that end, which is the perfedion of
human nature, and to which the foul of man in
its being made immortal was effentially defigned,
and fo are miferable and deficient from the very
end of humanity, if they die before the ufe of
reafon ; or elfe they muft be brought to Chrift by
the Church doors, that is, by the font and waters
of baptifm.
VI. And in reafon, it feems more pregnant
and plaufible that infants rather then men of un
derftanding ffiould be baptized : for fince the effi
cacy of the facraments depends upon divine infti
tution and immediate benedidion, and that they
produce their effeds independently upon man, in
them that do not hinder their operation -, fince
infants cannot, by any ad of their own, promote
the hope of their own falvation, which men of
reafon and choice may, by ads of virtue and
eledion ; it is more agreeable to the goodnefs of
God, the honour and excellency of the facrament,
and the neceffity of its inftitution, that it ffiould
in infants fupply the want of human ads and free
obedience. Which the very thing itfelf feems to
fay it does, becaufe its effed is from God, and
requires nothing on man's part, but that its effi
cacy be not hindered : and then in infants, the
difpofition is equal, and the neceflity more ; they
U 4 cannot

296 Ana baptifm, §. 18.
eannot ponere obicem, and by the fame reafon can
not do other acts, which without the facraments
do advantages towards our hopes of heaven, and
therefore have more need to be fupplied by an
ad, and an inftitution divine and fupernatural.
VII. And this is not only neceffary in refped
of the condition of infants in capacity, to do ads
of grace, but alfo in obedience to divine precept.
For Chrift made a law, whofe fandion is with an
exclufive negative to them that are not baptized ;
[Unlefs a man be born of water and of the fpirit, he
/hall not enter into the kingdom of heaven ;,"] If then
infants have a capacity of being co-heirs with
Chrift in the kingdom of his father, as Chrift af
firms they have, by faying [for of fuch is the king
dom of heaven] then there is a neceffity that they
fhould be brought to baptifm, there being an ab
folute exclufion of all perfons unbaptized, and
ail perfons not fpiritual, from the kingdom of
heaven. VIII. But indeed it is a deftrudion of all the
hopes and happinefs of infants, a denying to them
an exemption from the final condition of beafts
and infeds, or elfe a defigning of them to a worfe
mifery, to fay that God hath not appointed fome
external or internal means of bringing them to an
eternal happinefs : internal they have none ; for
grace being an improvement and heightningof the
faculties of nature, in order to a heightened and
fupernatural end, grace hath no influence or effi
cacy upon their faculties, who can do no natural
ads of underftanding : and if there be no ex
ternal means, then they are deflitute of all hopes,
and poffibilities of falvation.
IX. But thanks be to God, he hath provided
better and told us accordingly, for he hath made
a promife of the holy Ghoft to infants as well as
to men : The promife is made to you and to your chil
dren,

§. 1 8. particularly confidered. 297
dren, faid St. Peter ; The promife of the father, the
promife that he would fend the holy Ghoft. Now if
you afk how this promife fhall be conveyed to our
children, we have an exprefs out of the fame fer-
mon of St. * Peter, Be baptized, and ye fhall re
ceive the gift of the holy Ghoft ; fo that therefore be
caufe the holy Ghoft is promifed, and baptifm is
the means of receiving the promife, therefore bap
tifm pertains to them, to whom the promife,
which is the effed of baptifm, appertains. And
that we may not think this argument is fallacious,
or of human colledion, qbferve that it is the ar
gument of the fame apoftle in exprefs terms : for
in the cafe of Cornelius and his family, he juftified
his proceeding by this very medium, Shall we deny
baptifm to them, who have received the gift of the
holy Ghoft as well as we ? Which difcourfe if it be
reduced to form of argument fays this ; they that
are capable of the fame grace are receptive of the
fame fign; but then (to make the fyllogifm up
with an afliimption proper to our prefent purpofe,)
infants are capable of the fame grace, that is, of
the holy Ghoft (for the promife is made to our
children, as well as to us ; and St. Paul fays, the
children of believing parents are holy, and there
fore have the holy Ghoft, who is the fountain of
holinefs and fandification) therefore they are to
receive the fign and the feal of it, that is, the
facrament of baptifm.
X. And indeed, fince God entered into a co
venant with the Jews, .which did alfo adually in
volve their children, and gave them a fign to
eftablifh the covenant, and its appendant pro
mife ; either God does not fo much love the
church as he did the fynagogue, and the mercies
of the gofpel are more reflrained, than the mer-
* Ad. z. 38. 39. cies

298 Anabaptifm, §. 18;
cies of the law, God having made a covenant
with the infants of Ifrael, and none with the chil
dren of chriftian parents ; or if he hath, yet we
want the comfort of its confignation ; and unlefs
our children are to be baptized, and fo intitled to
the promifes of the new covenant, as the Jewifh
babes were by circumcifion, this mercy which ap
pertains to infants is fo fecret and undeclared and
unconfigned, that we want much of that mercy
and outward teftimony which gave Them comfort
and affurance.
XI. And in proportion to thefe precepts and
revelations was the Pradice Apoftolical : for they
(to whom Chrift gave in precept to make difciples
all nations baptizing them, and knew that na
tions without children never were, and that there
fore they were paffively concerned in that com
miffion,) baptized whole families, particularly
that of Stephanus and divers others, in which it is
more than probable there were fome minors if not
fucking babes. And this pra6tice did defcend
upon the church in after ages by tradition apofto
lical : of this we have fufficient teftimony from
* Origen, Pro hoc Ecclefia ab Apoftolis traditionem ac-
cepit, etiam parvulis baptifmum dare : And St.
*f Auftin, Hoc Ecclefia d majorum fide percepit : And
generally all writers (as J Calvin fays) affirm the
fame thing : For nullus eft Scriptor tarn vetuftus, qui
non ejus originem ad Apoftolorum faculum pro certo
refer at. From hence the conclufion is, that in
fants ought to be baptized; that it is fimply ne
ceffary, - that they who deny it are hereticks, and
fuch are not to be endured, becaufe they deny to
infants hopes, and take away the poffibility of
their falvation, which is revealed to us on no
* In Rom. 6. torn. 2. pag. 543. f Serm. 10. de verb.
Apoft. c. 2. % 4- Inftit. cap. j6. §. 8. other

.§. 1 8. particularly confidered. 299
other condition, of which they are capable, but
baptifm. For by the infinuation of the type, by
the adion of Chrift, by the title infants have to
heaven, by the precept of the gofpel, by the
energy of the promife, by the reafonablenefs of
the thing, by the infinite neceflity on the infants
part, by the pradice apoftolical, by their tradi
tion, and the univerfai pradice of the church;
by all thefe God and good people proclaim the
lawfulnefs, the conveniency, and the neceffity-,
of infants baptifm.
XII. To all this, the Anabaptift gives a foft
and gentle anfwer : that it is a goodly harangue,
which upon flrid examination will come to no
thing ; that it pretends fairly and fignifies little ;
that fome of thefe allegations are falfe, fome im
pertinent, and ail the reft infufficient.
XIII. For the argument from circumcifion,
fay they, is invalid upon infinite confiderations -,
figures and types prove nothing, unlefs a com
mandment go along with them, or fome exprefs
to fignify fuch to be their purpofe : for the de
luge of waters and the ark of Noah were a figure
or baptifm, faid Peter ; and if therefore the cir
cumftances of one ffiould be drawn to the other,
we ffiould make baptifm a prodigy rather than a
right : the Pafchal Lamb was a type of the eu-
charift, which fucceeds the other as baptifm does
to circumcifion ; but becaufe there was in the
manducation of the PafchaJ Lamb, no prefcrip-
tion of facramental drink, fhall we thence con
clude that the eucharift is to be miniftred but in
one kind P And even in the very inftance of this
-argument, fuppofing a correfpondence of analogy
between circumcifion and baptifm, yet there is
no correfpondence of identity : for although it
were granted that both of them did confign the
covenant of faith, yet there is nothing in the cir-
cumftanc*

300 Anabaptifm, §. 18.
cumftance of childrens being circumcifed, which
fo concerns that myftery, but that it might very
well be given to children, and yet baptifm only
to men of reafon ; becaufe circumcifion left a
charader in the fleffi, which being imprinted
upon infants did its work to them when they
came to age ; and fuch a charader was neceffary,
becaufe there was no word added to the fign :
but baptifm imprints nothing that remains on the
body ; and if it leave a charader at all, it is upon
the foul ; to which alfo the word is added which
is as much a part of the facrament as the fign it
felf is •, for both which reafons, it is requifite that
tho perfons baptized ffiould be capable of reafon,
that they may be capable both of the word of the
facrament, and the imprefs made upon the fpirit :
fince therefore the reafon of this parity does wholly
fail, their is nothing left to infer a neceffity of
complying in this circumftance of age, any more
than in the other annexes of the type : and the
cafe is clear in the bifhop's queftion to * Cyprian,
for why fhall not infants be baptized juft upon
the eighth day, as well as circumcifed ? If the
correfpondence of the rites be an argument to in
fer one circumftance, which is impertinent and
accidental to the myfterioufnefs of the rite, why
fhall it not infer all ? And then alfo females muft
not be baptized, becaufe they were not circum
cifed : but it were more proper, if we would un
derftand it right, to profecute the analogy from
the type to the anti-type by way of letter and
fpirit, and fignification ; and as circumcifion
figures baptifm, fo alfo the adjunds of the cir
cumcifion fhall fignify fomething, fpiritual, in
the adherencies of baptifm : and therefore as in
fants were circumcifed, fo fpiritual infants fhall
* 3. Epift. 8. ad Fidum. be

§. 1 8. particularly confidered. 301
be baptized, which is fpiritual circumcifion ; for
therefore babes had the miniftry of the type, to
fignify that we muft when we give our names to
Chrift become vwwioi 'ev izrovypix children in ma
lice, [for unlefs you become like one of thefe little ones,
you cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven] faid bur
bleffed Saviour, and then the type is made com-
pleat. And this feems to have been the fenfe of
the primitive church ; for in the age next to the
Apoftles they gave to all baptized perfons milk
and honey, to reprefent to them their duty, that
though in age and underftanding they were men,
yet they were babes in Chrift, and children in
malice. But to infer the fenfe of the Pasdo-bap-
tifts is fo weak a manner of arguing, that Auftin,
whofe device it was (and men ufe to be in love
with their own fancies) at the moft pretended it
but as probable and a mere conjedure.
XIV. And as ill fuccefs will they have with the
other arguments as with this : For from the ac
tion of Chrift's blefling infants to infer that they
are to be baptized, proves nothing fo much as
that there is great want of better arguments ; the
conclufion would be with more probability de
rived thus : Chrift bleffed children and fo dif-
miffed them, but baptized them not ; therefore
infants are not to be baptized : but let this be as
weak as its enemy, yet that Chrift did not baptize
them, is an argument fufficient, that Chrift hath
other ways of bringing them to heaven than by
baptifm ; he paffed his ad of grace upon them by
benedidion and impofition of hands.
XV. And therefore, although neither infants
nor any man in puris naturalibus can attain to a
fupernatural end, without the addition of fome
inftrument or means of God's appointing, ordi
narily and regularly ; yet where God hath not ap
pointed a rule nor an order, as in the cafe of in

fant

s

302 Anabaptifm, §. 18.
fants we contend he hath not, the argument is
invalid. And as we are fure that God hath not
commanded infants to be baptized ; fo we are
fure God will do them no injuftice, nor damn
them for what they cannot help.
XVI. And therefore, let them be preffed with
all the inconveniencies that are confequent to ori
ginal Sin, yet either it will not be laid to the charge
of Infants, fo as to be fufficient to condemn them ;
or if it could, yet the mercy and abfolute goodnefs
of God will fecure them, if he take them away
before they can glorify him with a free obedience ;
Quid ergo feftinat innecens atas ad remijionem pecca-
torum, was the queftion of TertuUian, (lib. de bapt. )
he knew no fuch danger from their original guilt,
as to drive them to a lav-er, of which in that age
of innocence they had no need, as he conceived.
And therefore, there is no neceffity of flying to
the help of others, for tongue and heart, and faith,
and predifpofitions to baptifm; for what need all
this ftir ? as infants without their own confent,
without any ad of their own, and without any ex-
teriour folemnity contraded the guilt oi Adam's fin,
and fo are lyable to all the punifhment, which can
with juftice, defcend upon his pofteritv who are
perfonally innocent -, fo Infants fhall be reflored with
out any folemnity or adof their own, or of any other
men for them, by the fecond Adam, by the redempti
on of Jefus Chrift, by his righteoufnefs and mercies
applyed either immediately, or how or when he
fhall be pleafed to appoint. And fo Auftin's ar
gument will come to nothing, without any need
of god-fathers, or the faith of any body elfe. And
it is too narrow a conception of God Almighty,
becaufe he hath tied us to the obfetvation of the
ceremonies of his own inftitution, that therefore
he hath tyed himfelf to it. Many thoufaud ways
there are, by which God can bring any reafonable
foul to himfelf: But nothing is more unreafonable, than

§. 1 8. particularly confider' d. 303
than becaufe he hath tyed all men of years and
difcretion to this way ; therefore we of our own
heads ffiall carry infants to him that way, without
his diredion : The conceit is poor and low, and
the adion confequent to it is too bold and ventrous-,
myfterium meum mihi 13 filiis domus mea : Let him do
what he pleafe to infants, we muft not.
XVII. Only this is certain, that God hath as
great care of infants as of others, and becaufe they
have no capacity of doing fuch ads, as may be
in order to acquiring falvation, God will by his
own immediate mercy bring them thither where
he hath intended them ; but to fay that therefore
he will do it by an external ad and miniftry, and
that confin'd to a psrcieular, viz. This Rite and
no other, is no good Argument, unlefs God could
not do it without fuch means, or that he had faid
he wou'd not : And why cannot God as well do his
mercies to infants now immediately, as he did be
fore the inftitution either of circumcifion or bap
tifm? XVIII. However, there is no danger that in
fants ffiould perifh for want of this external miniftry,
much lefs for prevaricating Chrift's precept oiNift
quis renatus fuerit, &c. For firft, the water and the
fpirit in this place fignify the fame thing -, and by
water is meant the effed cf the fpirit, cleanfing and
purifying the foul, as appears in its parallel place
of Chrift baptizing with the fpirit and with fire.
For although this was literally fulfilled in Pente-
coft, yet morally there is more in it, for it h the
fign of the effed of the Holy Ghoft ; and his pro-
dudions upon the foul ; and it was an excellency
of our blefled faviour's office, that he baptizes all
that come to him with Holy Ghoft and with fire ;
for fo St. John preferring Chrift's million and office
before his own, tells the Jews, not Chrift's difci-
ples, that Chrift fhall baptize them with fire and the

304 Anabaptifm, §. 18
the holy fpirit, that is, all that come to him, as John
the Baplift did with water ; for fo lies the Antithefis :
And you may as well conclude, that infants muft
alfopafs through the fire as through the water. And
that we may not think this a trick to elude the
preffure of this place, Peter fays the fame thing ;
for when he had faid that Baptifm faves us, he adds
by way of explication (not the wafting of the flefh,
but the confidence of a good confcience towards God)
plainly faying that it is not water, or the purifying
of the body, but the cleanfing of the fpirit, which
does that which is fuppofed to be the effed of bap
tifm ; and if our Saviour's exclufive negative be
expounded by analogy to this of Peter, as certainly
the other parallel inftance muft, and this may, then
it will be fo far from proving the neceffity of infants
baptifm, that it can conclude for no man, that he
is oblig'd to the rite ; and the dodrine of the bap
tifm is only to derive from the very words of in
ftitution, and not be forced from words which were
fpoken before it was ordain'd. But to let pafs this
advantage, and to fuppofe it meant of external
baptifm ; yet this no more infers a neceffity of in
fant's baptifm, then the other words of Chrift infer
a neceffity to give them the holy communion ;
Nifi comederitis carnemfilii hominis, (3 biberitis fan-
guinem, non introibitis in regnum caelorum ; and yet
we do not think thefe words fufficient Argument
to communicate them ; if men therefore will do
us juftice, either let them give both facraments to
infants, as fome ages of the church did, or neither.
For the wit of man is not able to ffiew a difparky
in the fandion, or in the energy of its expreffion.
And therefore they were honeft who underftood
the obligation to be parallel, and performed it ac
cordingly ; and' yet becaufe we fay they were de
ceived in one inftance, and yet the obligation (all
the world cannot reafonably fay otherwife) is the
fame ;

§. 1 8. particularly confider' d. 305
fame ; they are as honeft and do neither. And fince
the ancient church did with an equal opinion of
neceflity give them the communion, and yet men
now adays do not, why ffiall men be more burthen-
ed with a prejudice and a name of obloquy, for
not giving the infants one facrament, more than
they are difliked for not affording them the other ?
If Anabaptift ffiall be a name of difgrace, why ffiall
not fome other name be invented for them that
deny to communicate infants, which ffiall be equal
ly dfgraceful, or elfe both the opinions fignified by
fuch names, be accounted no difparagement, but
receive their eftimate according to their truth ?
XIX. Of which truth, fince we are now taking
account from pretences of Scripture, it is confidera
ble that the difcourfe of St. Peter which is pretend
ed for the intitling infants to the promife of the
Holy Ghoft, and by confequence to baptifm, which
is fuppofed to be its inflrument and conveyance,
is wholly a fancy, and hath in it nothing of certain
ty or demonftraticn, and not much probability.
For befides that the thing itfelf is unreafonable,
and the Holy Ghoft works by the heightening and
improving our natural faculties ; and therefore is
a promife that fo concerns them as they are reafon
able creatures, and may have a title to it, in pro
portion to their nature, but no pofleflion or recep
tion of it, till their faculties come into ad : befides
this, I fay, the words mentioned in St. Peter's fer-
mon (which are the only record of the promife)
are interpreted upon a weak miftake: The promife
belongs to you and to your children, therefore in
fants are actually receptive of it in that capacity.
That's the argument ; but the reafon of it is not
yet difcovered, nor ever will, for [to you and to your
children] is ufed to you and your pofterity ; to you
and your children when they are of the feme capa
city, in which you are effedually receptive of the
X promife ;

306 Anabaptifm, §. 14.
promife : But he, that when ever the word [children]
is ufed in fcripture fhall by [children] Underftand in- ,
fants, muft needs believe that in all Ifrael there
were no men, but all were infants ; and if that
had been true, it had been the greater won
der they ffiould overcome the Anakims and beat the
king of Moab, and march fo far, and difcourfe fo
well ; for they were all called the children of Ifrael.
XX. And for the allegation of St. Paul that in
fants are holy, if their parents be faithful, it figni-
fies nothing, but that they are holy by defignati-
on, juft as Jeremy and John Baptift were fandified
in their mother's womb, that is, they were appoint
ed and defigned for holy miniftries ; but had not
received the promife of the Father, the gift of the
Holy Ghoft, for all that fandification ; and juft fo
the children of chriftian Parents are fandified, that
is defigned to the fervice of Jefus Chrift, and the
future participation of the promifes.
XXI. Andasthepromife appertains not (foraught
appears) to infants in that capacity and confiftence,
but only by the title of their being reafonable crea
tures, and when they come to that ad of which by
nature they have the faculty; fo if it did, yet bap
tifm is not the means of conveying the Holy Ghoft.
For that which Peter fays, be baptized and ye /hall
receive the Holy Ghoft, fignifies no more than this ;
Firft be baptized and then by impofition of the
apoftles' hands (which was another myftery and
rite,) ye fhall receive the promife of the Father :
And this is nothing but an infinuation of the rite
of confirmation, as it is to this fenfe expounded
by divers ancient authors, and in ordinary miniftry,
the effed of it is not beftowed upon any unbapti
zed perfons ; for it is an order next after baptifm ;
and upon this ground Peter's argument in the cafe
of Cornelius, was concluding enough a majori ad mi
nus ; Thus the Holy Ghoft was bellowed upon him and

§. 1 8 particularly confider' d. 307
and his family, which gift by ordinary miniftry,
was confequent to baptifm, (not as the effed is to
the caufe or to the proper inftrument, but as a con
fequent is to an antecedent in a chain of caufes,
accidentally and by pofitive inftitution depending
upon each other) God by that miracle did give tefti
mony, that the perfons of the men were in great
difpofitions towards heaven, and therefore were to
be admitted to thofe rites, which are the ordinary
inlets into the kingdom of heaven. But then from
hence to argue that where ever there is a capacity of
receiving the fame grace, there alfo the fame fign
is to be miniftred, and from hence to infer Paedo-
baptifm, is an argument very fallacious upon feve
ral grounds. 1 . Becaufe baptifm is not the fign of
the Holy Ghoft, but by another myftery it was con
veyed ordinarily, and extraordinarily -, it was con
veyed independently from any myflerv, and fo the
argument goes upon a wrong fuppofition. 2. If
the fuppofition were true, the propofition built up
on it is falfe ; for they that are capable of the fame
grace, are not always capable of the fame fign ;
for women under the law of Mofes, although they
Were capable of the righteoufnefs of faith, yet they
were not capable of the fign of circumcifion : For
God does not always convey his graces in the fame
manner, but to fome mediately, to others immedi
ately ; and there is no better inftance in the world
of it, than the gift of the Holy Ghoft (which is
the thing now inftanced in this conteftationj for it
is certain in fcripture, that it was ordinarily given
by impofition of hands, and that after baptifm;
(And when this came into an ordinary miniftry,
it was called by the ancient church chrifm, or con
firmation) but yet it was given fometimes without
impofition of hands, as at Penteccft and to the fa
mily oi Cornelius; fometimes before baptifm, fome
times after, fometimes in conjundion with it.
X 2 XXII.

308 Anabaptifm, § :i 8v
XXII. And after all this, left thefe arguments
fhould not afcertain their caufe, they fall on com
plaining againft God, and will not be content with
God, unlefs they may baptize their children; but
take exceptions that God did more for the children
of the jews. But why fo? Becaufe God made a cove
nant with their children adually as infants, and
configned it by circumcifion : Well ; fo he did with
our children too in their proportion. He made a
covenant of fpiritual promifes on his part, and fpi
ritual and real fervices on ours ; and this pertains
to children when they are capable, but made with
them as foon as they are alive, and yet not fo as
with the Jewiffi babes; for as their rite configned
them adually, fo it was a national and temporal
bleffing and covenant, as a feparation of them from
the portion of the nations, a marking them for a
peculiar people, (and therefore while they were
" in the wildernefs and feparate from the commix
ture of all people, they were not at all circum
cifed) but as. that rite did feal the righteoufnefs
of faith, fo by virtue of its adherency, and re-
manency in their fleffi, it did that work when
the children came to age. But in chriftian in
fants the cafe is otherwife ; for the new cove
nant being eftabliffi'd upon better Promifes,
is not only to better purpofes, but alfo in dif-
tind manner to be underftood ; when their fpi-
rits are as receptive of a fpiritual ad or imprefs, as
the bodies of jewiffi children were of the fign of
circumcifion, then it is to be configned : But this
bufinefs is quickly at an end, by faying that God
hath done no lefs for ours, than for their children ;
for he will do the mercies of a Father and Creator
to them ; and he did no more to the other ; but
he hath done more to ours ; for he hath made a co
venant with them, and built it upon promifes of
the greateft concernment ; he did not fo them :
But then for the other part which is the main of the
argument,

§. 1 8. particularly confider' d. 309.
argument, that unlefs this mercy be configned by
baptifm, as good not at all in refped of us, be
caufe we want the comfort of it ; this is the great
eft vanity in the world : For when God hath made
a promife pertaining alfo to our children (for fo
our adverfaries contend, and we alfo acknowledge
in its true fenfe) ffiall not this promife, this word
of God be of fufficient truth, certainty, and effi
cacy to caufe comfort, unlefs we tempt God and
require a fign of him ? May not Chrift fay to thefe
men as fometime to the jews, a wicked and adulte
rous generation feeketh after a fign, but no fign fhall be
given unto it ? But the truth on't is, this argument
is nothing but a dired quarrelling with God
Almighty. XXIII. Now fince there is no flrength in the
dodrinal part, the pradice and precedents apofto
lical and ecclefiaftical, will be of lefs concernment,
if they were true as is pretended, becaufe adions
apoftololical are not always rules for ever ; it
might be fit for Them to do it pro loco & tempore as
divers others of their inftitutions, but yet no en
gagement paft thence upon following ages ; for it
might be convenient at that time, in the new fpring
of chriftianity, and till they had engaged a confi
derable party, by that means to make them parties
againft the gentile fuperftition, and by way of
pre-occupation to afcertain them to their own fed
when they came to be men ; or for fome other rea
fon not tranfmitted to us, becaufe the queftion of
fad itfelf is not fufficiently determined. For the
infinuation of that precept of baptizing all nations,
of which children certainly are a part, does as lit
tle advantage as any of the reft, becaufe other pa
rallel exprefiions of fcripture determine and ex
pound themfelves to a fenfe that includes not all
perfons abfolutely, but of a capable condition ; as
adqrate'eum omnes gent es, £3 ' pfallite Deo omnes nationes
terra, and divers more.
X 3 XXIV.

^ 10 Anabaptifm, %. 18.
XXIV. As for the conjedure concerning the
family of Siephanus, at the beft it is but a con
jedure, and befides that, it is not proved that
there were children in the family ; yet if that were
granted, it follows not that they were baptized,
becaufe by [whole families] in fcripture is meant all
perfons of reafon and age within the family; fof
it is faid, of the ruler at * Capernaum, that he be
lieved and all. his houfe : now you may alfo fuppofe
that in his houfe were little babes, that is likely
enough, and you may fuppofe that they did be
lieve too before they could underftand, but that's
not fo likely; and then the argument from bap
tizing of Stephen's houfhold may be allowed juft
as probable : but this is unman-like to build
upon fuch flight aery conjedures.
XXV. But Tradition by all means muft fupply
the place of Scripture, and there is pretended a
tradition apoftolical, that infants were baptized:
but at this we are not much moved : for we who
rely upon the writen word of God as fufficient to
eftabiifh all true religion, do not value the allega
tion of traditions : and however the world goes,
none of the reformed churches can pretend this
argument againft this opinion, becaufe they who
rejed tradition when 'tis againft them, muft not
pretend it at all for them : but if we ffiould al
low the topick to be good, yet how will it be
verified ? For fo far as it can yet appear, it relies
wholly upon the teftimony of Origen ; for from
him Auftin had it. Now a tradition apoftolical,
if it be not configned with a fuller teftimony than
of one perfon whom all after-ages have condemned
of many errors, will obtain fo little reputation
amongft ih'jfe, who know that things have upon
greater authority pretended to derive from the
* John 4. apoftles,

§. 1 8. particularly confidered. 311
apoftles, and yet falfly, that it will be a great ar
gument that he is credulous and weak, who ffiall
be determined by fo weak probation in matters of
fo great concernment. And the truth of the
bufinefs is, as there was no command of fcripture
to oblige children to the fufception of it, fo the
neceflity of Pasdo-baptifm was not determined in
the church till in the eighth age after Chrift, but
in the year 418 in the Milevitan council, a pro
vincial of Africa, there was a canon made for Pae-
do-baptifm ; never till then ! I grant it was prac-
tifed in Africa before that time, and they or fome
of them thought well of it, and though that be
no argument for us to think fo, yet none of them
did ever, before, pretend it to be neceffary, none
to have been a precept of the gofpel. St. Auftin
was the firft that ever preached it to be abfolutely
neceffary ; and it was in his heat and anger againft
Pelagius, who had warmed and chafed him fo in
that queftion, that it made him innovate in other
dodrines poffibly of more concernment than this.
And that although this was pradifed anciently in
Africa, yet that it was without an opinion of ne
ceffity, and npt often there, nor at ail in other
places, we have the teftimony of a learned Psedo-
baptift, Ludovicus Vives, who in his annotations
upon St. Auftin, DeCivit Dei, I. 1. c. 27. affirms,
Neminem nifi adultum antiquitus fiolere baptizari.
XXVI. But befides that the tradition cannot
be proved to be apoftolical ; we have very good
evidence from antiquity, that it was the opinion
of the primitive church, that infants ought not to
be baptized -, and this is clear in the fixth canon
of the council of Neocafarea, The words are thefe,
•argflj Kuotyopacrrii oti cVii (poori^&xi otroti fduAelxt'
nS"ev yxp x.oiyct>vei t\ ti-ictsax tco tixtofjiSvo).
Six to skxc^b i^ixv t'tiv Tzrpaaipso'iv tnv ev tn
ojjLoXofix fuxvua-grxi : The fenfe is this, A wo-
X 4 man

312 Anabaptifm, §. 1 8.
man with child may be baptized when fhe pleafe ;
for her baptifm concerns not the child. The rea
fon of the connexion of the parts of that canon
is in the following words ; becaufe every one in
that confeffion is to give a demonftration of his
own choice and eledion : meaning plainly, that
if the baptifm of the mother did alfo pafs upon
the child, it were not fit for a pregnant woman to
receive baptifm, becaufe in that facrament there
being a confeffion of faith, which confeffion fup-
pofes underftanding, and free choice, it is not
reafonable the child ffiould be configned with fuch
a myftery, fince it cannot do any ad of choice or
underftanding : the canon fpeaks reafon, and it
intimates a pradice which was abfolutely univerfai
in the church, of interrogating the Catechumens
concerning the articles of creed : which is one ar
gument that either they did not admit infants to
baptifm, or that they did prevaricate egregioufly
in afking queftions of them, who themfelves knew
were not capable of giving anfwer.
XXVII. * And to fupply their incapacity by
the anfwer of a godfather, is but the fame unrea
fonablenefs aded with a worfe circumftance : and
there is no fenfible account can be given of it ;
for that which fome imperfedly murmur con
cerning flipulations civil performed by tutors in
the name of their pupils, is an abfolute vanity :
for what if by pofitive conftitution of the Ro
mans fuch folemnities of law are required in all
flipulations, and by indulgence are permitted in
the Cafe of a notable benefit accruing to Minors,
muft God be tied, and chriftian religion tranfad
her myfteries by proportion and compliance with
* Quidni neceffe eft (fie legit Franc. Junius in notis ad
Tertul.) fponfores etiam periculo ingeri qui & ipfi per mor-
talitatem deftituere promiffiones fuas poffint, & proventu malse
indolis falli i Tertul. lib. dt baptif. cap. 18. the

§. 1 8. particularly confidered. 313
the law of the Romans ? I know God might if
he would have appointed Godfathers to give an
fwer in behalf of the children, and to be fidejuflbrs
for them ; but we cannot find any authority or
ground that he hath, and if he had, then it is to
be fuppofed he would have given them commiffion
to have tranfaded the folemnity with better cir
cumftances, and given anfwers with more truth.
For the queftion is afked of believing in the pre
fent. And if the godfathers anfwer in the name
of the child, * [/ do believe] it is notorious they
fpeak falfe and ridiculoufly; for the infant is not
capable of believing, and if he were, he were
alfo capable of diffenting, and how then do they
know his mind ? And therefore TertuUian gives
advice that the baptifm of infants ffiould be de
ferred, till they could give an account of their
faith ; and the fame alfo is the counfel of -j- Gregory
Bifhop of Nazianzum, although he allow them
to haften it in cafe of neceffity ; for though his
reafon taught him what was fit, yet he was over
born with the pradice and opinion of his age,
which began to bear too violently upon him ; and
yet in another place he makes mention of fome
to whom baptifm was not adminiftred J^a, vnisior
ttitx, by reafon of infancy ; to which if we add
that the parents of St. Auftin, St. Hierom, and St.
Ambrofe although they were chriftian, yet did not
baptife their children before they were 30 years
of age, it will be very confiderable in the example,
and of great efficacy for deftroying the fuppofed
neceffity or derivation from the apoftles.
* Lib. de baptif. prope finem, cap. 1 8. itaque pro perfonas
cujufque conditione ac difpofitione, etiam astate, cunftatio
baptifmi utilior eft, praecipue tamen circa parvuloj....Fiant
Chriftiani cum Chriftum nofle potuerint. f Orat. 40. quasft
in S. Baptifma.
XXVIII,

314 Anabaptifm, §. 18.
XXVIII. But however, it is againft the per
petual analogy of Chrift's dodrine to baptize in
fants : for befides that Chrift never gave any pre
cept to baptize them, nor ever himfelf nor his
apoftles (that appears) did baptize any of them ;
all that either he or his apoftles faid concerning
it, requires fuch previous difpofitions to baptifm
of which infants are not capable, and thefe are
faith and repentance : and not to inftance in thofe
innumerable places that require faith before this
facrament, there needs no more but this one fay
ing of our bleffed Saviour, * He that believeth and
is baptized /hall be faved, but he that believeth not
/hall be damned; plainly thus, faith and baptifm in
conjundion will bring a man to heaven ; but if
he have not faith, baptifm fhall do him no good.
So that if baptifm be neceffary then, fo is faith,
and much more ; for want of faith damns abfo
lutely ; it is not faid fo of the want of baptifm.
Now if this decretory fentence be to be underftood
of perfons of age, and if children by fuch an an
fwer (which indeed is reafonable enough) be ex
cufed from the neceffity of faith, the want of
which regularly damns; then it is fottifh to fay,
the fame incapacity of reafon and faith fhall not
esccufe from the actual fufception of baptifm, which
is lefs neceffary, and to which faith and many
other ads are neceffary predifpofitions when it is
reafonably and humanely received.
The conclufion is, that baptifm is alfo to be
deferred till the time of faith : and whether in
fants have faith or no, is a queftion to be difputed
bv perfons, that care not how much they fay, nor
how little they prove.
XXIX. 1. Perfonal and adual faith they have
none ; for they have no ads of underftanding -,
• Mar. 16. and

§. 1 8. particularly confidered. 315
and befides how can any man know that they
have, fince he never faw any fign of it, neither
was he told fo by any one that could tell ? 2 . Some
' fay they have imputative faith ; but then fo let
the facrament be too ; that is, if they have the
parents faith or the church's, then fo let baptifm
be imputed alfo by derivation from them, that as
in their mothers' womb, and while they hang on
their breafts, they live upon their mother's nou -
riffiment, fo they may upon the baptifm of their
parents or their mother the church. For fince
faith is neceffary to the fufception of baptifm (and
they themfelves confefs it by ftriving to find out
new kinds of faith to daub the matter up) fuch as
the faith is, fuch muft be the facrament : for
there is no proportion between an adual facrament
. and an imputative faith ; this being in immediate
and neceffary order to that : and whatfoever can
be faid to take off from the neceffity of adual
faith, all that and much more may be faid to ex
cufe from the adual fufception of baptifm. 3. The
firft of thefe devices was that of Luther and his
fcholars, the fecond of Calvin ahd his ; and yet
there is a third device which the church of Rome
teaches, and that is, that infants have habitual
faith : but who told them fo ? How can they
prove it ? What revelation, or reafon teaches any
fuch thing ? Are they by this habit fo much as
difpofed to an adual belief without a new mafter ?
Can an infant fent into a Mahometan province be
more confident for chriftianity when he comes to
be a man, than if he had not been baptized ?
Are there any ads precedent, concomitant or con
fequent to this pretended habit ? This ftrange in
vention is abfolutely without art, without fcrip
ture, reafon, or authority : but the men are to be
excufed unlefs there were a better ; but for all
thefe ftratagems, the argument now alledged againft

316 , Anabaptifm, §. 18.
againft the baptifm of infants is demonftrative and
unanfwerable. XXX. To which alfo this confideration may
be added, that if baptifm be heceflary to the fal
vation of infants, upon whom is the impofition
laid ? To whom is the command given ? To the
parents or to the children ? Not to the children,
for they are hot capable of a law ; not to the pa
rents, for then God hath put the falvation of in
nocent babes into the power of others ; and in
fants may be damned for their fathers carelefsnefs
or malice. It follows that it is not neceffary at all
to be done to them, to whom it cannot be pre
fer! bed as a law, and in whofe behalf it cannot be
reofonably intrufted to others with the appendant
necefrity; and if it be not neceffary, it is certain
it is not reafonable, and moft certain it is no
where in terms prefcribed, and therefore it is to
be prefumed, that it ought to be underftood and
adminiftred according as other precepts are, with
reference to the capacity of the fubjed, and the
reafonablenefs of the thing.
XXXI. For I confider, that the baptizing of
infants does ruffi us upon fuch inconveniences
which in other queftions we avoid like rocks,
which will appear if we difcourfe thus.
Either baptifm produces fpiritual effeds, or it
produces them not: if it produces not any, why
is fuch contention about it, what are we the nearer
heaven if we are baptized ? And if it be negleded,
what are we the farther off ? But if (as without all
peradventure all the Pado-papifts will fay) baptifm
does a work upon the foul, producing fpiritual
benefits and advantages, thefe advantages are pro
duced by the external work of the facrament
alone ; or by that as it is helped by the co-opera
tion and predifpofitions of the fufcipient. If

§. 1 8. particularly confidered. 317
If by the external work of the facrament alone,
how does this differ from the opus operatum of the
papifts, fave that it is worfe ? For they fay the
facrament does not produce its effed but in nfuf-
cipient difpofed by all requifites and due prepara
tives of piety, faith, and repentance ; though in
a fubjed fo difpofed, they fay the facrament by
its own virtue does it; but this opinion fays it
does it of itfelf, without the help, or fo much as
the co-exiftence of any condition, but the mere re
ception. But if the facrament does not do its work alone,
but per modum recipientis, according to the pre-
difpofitions of the fufcipient ; then, becaufe in
fants can neither hinder it, nor do any thing to
further it, it does them no benefit at all. And
if any man run for fuccour to that exploded
x.pvo-(puyeloV) that infants have faith, or any other
infpired habit of I know not what or how ; we
defire no more advantage in the v/orld, than that
they are conftrained to an anfwer without revela
tion, againft reafon, common fenfe, and all the
experience in the world.
The fum of the argument in ffiort, is this,
though under another reprefentment.
Either baptifm is a mere ceremony, or it implies
a duty on our part. If it be a ceremony only, how
does it fandify us, or make the comers thereunto
perfecl ? If it imply a duty on our part, how then
can children receive it, who cannot do duty at all ?
And indeed, this way of miniftration makes
baptifm to be wholly an outward duty, a work of
the law, a carnal ordinance ; it makes us adhere
to the letter, without regard of the fpirit, to be
fatisfied with fhadows, to return to bondage, to
relinquifh the myfterioufnefs, the fubftance and
fpirituality of the gofpel. Which argument is of
fo much the more confideration, becaufe under the

3 18 Anabaptifm, §. 1 3.
the fpiritual covenant, or the gofpel of grace, if
the myftery go not before the fymbol (which it
does when the fymbols are feals and confignations
of the grace, as it is faid the facraments are) yet
it always accompanies it, but never follows in
order of time : and this is clear in the perpetual
analogy of holy fcripture.
For baptifm is never propounded, mentioned
or enjoined, as a means of remiffion of fins, or of
eternal life, but fomething of duty, choice and
fandity is joined with it, in order to the produc
tion of the end fo mentioned, * Know ye not, that
as many as are baptized into Chrift Jefus, are bap
tized into his death ? There is the myftery and the
fymbol together, and declared to be perpetually
united, ocroi e@xTso-iia-3rny.ev. All of us who were
baptized into one, were baptized into the other.
Not only into the name of Chrift, but into his
death alfo : but the meaning of this, as it is ex
plained in the following words of St. Paul, makes
much for our purpofe : for to be baptized into'
his death, fignifies -f to be buried with him in bap
tifm; that as Chrift rofe from the dead, we alfo fhould
walk in newnefs of life : that's the full myftery of
baptifm ; for being baptized into his death, or
which is all one in the next words, ev 'oy.otcoy.xli
ts $rxvx% cvjts % i}1t° the likenefs ofi his death, can
not go alone ; if we be fo .planted into Chrift, we
fhall be partakers of his refurretlion ; and that is not
here inftanced in precife reward ; but in exacl duty,
for all this is nothing but "§ crucifixion of the old
man, a dcfiroying the body of fin, that we no longer
ferve fin.
This indeed is truly to be baptized both in the
fymbol and the myftery : whatfoever is lefs than this,
is but the fymbol only, a mere ceremony, an opus
* Rom. 6. 3. f Verf. 4. J Verf. 5. § Verf. 6.
operatum,

§. 1 8. particularly confider' d. 319
operatum, a dead letter, an empty fhadow, an in-
ftrument without an agent to manage, or force
to aduate it.
Plainer yet : Whofoever are baptized into Chrift
have put on Chrift, have put on the new man : but to
put on this new man, is to be formed in right eouf-
nefs, and holinefs, and truth : this whole argument
is the very words of St. Paul. The major propo
fition is dogmatically determined. Gal. 3. 27.
The minor in Ephef. 4. 24. The conclufion then
is obvious, that they who are not formed new in
righteou/nefs, and holinefs, and truth, they who re
maining in the prefent incapacities cannot walk in
newnefs of life ; they have not been baptized into
Chrift, and then they have but one member of
the diftindion, ufed by St. Peter, they have that
baptifm which is a putting away the filth of the flefh ;
but they have not that baptifm * which is the an -
fwer of a good confidence towards God, which is the
only baptifm that faves us : and this is the cafe of
children ; and then the cafe is thus.
As infants by the force of nature cannot put
themfelves into a fupernatural condition, (and
therefore fay the Pado-papifts, they need baptifm
to put them into it : ) fo if they be baptized before
the ufe of reafon, before the works of the fpirit,
before the operations of grace, before they can
throw off the works of darknefs, and live in righteouf-
nefs and newnefs of life, they are never the nearer :
from the pains of hell they ffiall be faved by the
mercies of God and their own innocence, though
they die in puris naturalibus, and baptifm will carry
them no further. For that baptifm that faves us,
is not only the wafhing with water, of which only,
children are capable, but the anfwer of a good con
fcience towards God, of which they are not capable
* 1. Pet. 3. 2!. till

320 Anabaptifm, §. 18
till the ufe of reafon, till they know to chufe the
good and refufe the evil.
And from thence I confider anew, That all
vows made by perfons under others' names, flipu •
lations made by minors, are not valid, till they by
a fupervening ad after they are of fufficient age
do ratify them. Why then may not infants as
well make the vow de novo, as de novo ratify that
which was made for them ab antiquo, when they
come to years of choice ? If the * infant vow be
invalid till the manly confirmation, why were it
not as good they ftaid to make it till that time,
before which if they do make it, it is to no pur
pofe ? This would be confidered.
XXXII. And in conclufion, Our way is the
furer way, for not to baptize children till they
can give an account of their faith, is the moft
proportionable to an ad of reafon and humanity,
and it can have no danger in it : for to fay that
infants may be damned for want of baptifm, (a
thing which is not in their power to acquire, they
being perfons not yet capable of a law) is to af
firm that of God which we dare not fay of any
wife and good man. Certainly it is much dero
gatory to God's juftice and a plain defiance to the
infinite reputation of his goodnefs.
XXXIII. And therefore, whoever will perti-
nacioufly perfift in this opinion of the Pasdo-papifts
and pradife it accordingly, they pollute the blood
of the everlafting teftament, they diffionour and
make a pageantry of the facrament, they ineffec
tually reprefent a fepulchre into the death of
Chrift, and pleafe themfelves in a fign without
effed, making baptifm like the fig-tree in the
gofpel, full of leaves but no fruit ; and they in-
vocate the holy ghoft in vain, doing as if one
$ Vide Erafmum in prxfat. ad Annotat. in Matth. fhould

§. 1 8. particularly confidered. 321
fhould call upon him fo illuminate a ftone, or
a tree. XXXIV. Thus far the Anabaptifts may argue •,
and men have difputed againft them with fo much
weaknefs and confidence, that they have been en
couraged in their error * more by the accidental
advantages we have given them by our weak ar-
guings, then by any truth of their caufe, or ex
cellency of their wit. But the ufe I make of it,
as to our prefent queftion, is this: That fince
there is no dired impiety in the opinion, nor any
that is apparently confequent to it, and they with
fo much probability do or may pretend to true
perfuafion, they are with all means, chriftian,
fair, and humane, to be argued with, or in-
ftruded; but, if they cannot be perfuaded, they
muft be left to God, who knows every degree of
every man's underftanding, all his weakneffes and
ftrengths, what imprefs each argument makes
upon his fpirit, and how unrefiftible every reafon
is, and he alone Judges his innocency and fin-
cerity ; and for -the queftion,, I think there is fo
much to be pretended againft that, which I be
lieve to be the truth, that there is much more
truth than evidence on our fide, and therefore
we may be confident as for our own particulars,
but not too forward peremptorily to prefcribe to
others, much lefs damn, or to kill, or to per
fecute them that only in this particular difagree.
* a'js It toi; tavrat &>y/*a?i T»» kt%v* e%o»1k, aM. et toi; rijitit-
eut o-aSgoi? ravrr,t %%votln;, as Nazianzen obferves of the cafs
of the church in his time.

SECT.

322 Of DocJrines againfi Piety ; §: 19.
SECT. XIX.
That there may be no toleration of doclrines incon
fiftent with piety or the public good.
I. Y> U T then for their other capital opinion
jfj) with all its branches, that it is not lawful
for princes to put malefadors to death, nor to
take up defenfive arms, nor to minifter an oath,
nor to contend in judgment, it is not to be dif
puted with fuch liberty as the former : for al
though it be part of that dodrine which * Clemens
Alexandrinus fays was delivered per fecretam tra-
ditionem Apoftolorum, Non licere Chriftianis contendere
in judirio, nee coram gentibus, nee coram fanclis, £5?
perfeclum non debere jurare ; and the other part
feems to be warranted by the eleventh canon of
the Nicene council, which enjoins penance to them
that take arms after their converfion to chrif
tianity ; yet either thefe authorities are to be
flighted, or be made receptive of any interpre
tation rather than the common wealth be dif-
armed of its neceffary fupports, and all laws made
ineffedual and impertinent : for the intereft of
the republick, and the well-being of bodies poli
tick is not to depend upon the nicety of our ima
ginations, or the fancies of any peevifh or mif
taken priefts ; and there is no reafon a prince
fhould afk John-a-Brunck, whether his under
ftanding will give him leave to reign, and be a
king ; nay, fuppofe there were divers places of
fcripture, which did feemingly reftrain the po
litical ufe of the fword ; yet fince the avoiding a
•perfonal inconvenience, hath by all men been
accounted fufficient reafon to expound fcripture
* Lib. 7. Stromat. to

§. 19- or the Public Good. 323
to any fenfe rather than the literal, which infers
an unreafonable inconvenience, (and therefore the
pulling out an eye, and the cutting off an hand, is ex -
pounded by mortifying a vice, and killing a cri
minal habit) much rather muft the allegations
againft the power of the fword endure any fenfe,
rather than it fhould be thought that chriftianity
fhould deftroy that which is the only inftrument
of juftice, the reftraint of vice, and fupport of
bodies polkick.' It is certain that Chrift and his
apoftles, and chriftian religion did comply with
the moft abfolute government, and the moft im
perial that was then in the world ; and it could
not have been at all indured in the world, if it
had not ; for indeed the world itfelf could not
laft in regular and orderly communities of men,
but be a perpetual confufion •, if princes and the
fupreme power in bodies politick, were not armed
with a coercive power to puniffi malefadors : the
publick neceffity, and univerfai experience of all
the world, convinces thofe men of . being moft
unreafonable, who make fuch pretences which
deftroy all laws, and all communities, and the
bands of civil focieties, and leave it arbitrary to
every vain or vicious perfon, whether men ffiall
be fafe, or laws be eftabliffied, or a murderer
hanged, or princes rule. So that in this cafe men
are not fo much to difpute with particular argu
ments, as to confider the intereft and concernment
of kingdoms and publick focieties : for the re
ligion of Jefus Chrift is the beft eftabliffier of the
felicity of private perfons, and of publick com
munities ; it is a religion that is prudent and in
nocent, humane, and reafonable, and brought
infinite advantages to mankind, but no inconve
nience, nothing that is unnatural, or unfociable,
or unjuft. And if it be certain that this world
cannot be governed without laws, and laws with-
Y 2 out

324 Of Dodrines againft Piety ; §. ig.
out a Compulfory fignify nothing ; then it is cer
tain, that it is no good religion that teaches doc
trine whofe confequents will deftroy all govern
ment ; and therefore it is as much to be rooted
out, as any thing that is the greateft peft and
nuifance to the publick intereft : and that we may
guefs at the purpofes of the men, and the incon
venience of fuch dodrine ; thefe men who did
firft intend by their dodrine to difarm all princes,
and bodies politick, did themfelves take up arms
to eftablifh their wild, and impious fancy ; and
indeed, that prince or common wealth that ffiould
be perfuaded by them, would be expofed to all
the infolencies of foreigners, and all mutinies of
the teachers themfelves ; and the governors of
the people could not do that duty they owe to
their people, of proteding them from the rapine
-and malice which will be in the world as long as
the world is. And therefore, here they are to be
reftrained from preaching fuch dodrine, if they
mean to preferve their government, and the ne
ceffity of the thing will juftify the lawfulnefs of
the thing : if they think it to themfelves, that
cannot be helped -, fo long it is innocent, as much
as concerns the publick ; but if they preach it,
they may be accounted authors of all the confe
quent inconveniences, and punifhed accordingly :
No dotirine that deftroy s government is to be endured ;
for although thofe dodrines are not always good
that ferve the private ends of princes, or the fecret
defigns of ftate, which by reafon of fome accidents
or imperfedions of men may be promoted by that
which is falfe and pretending; yet no dodrine
can be good that does not comply with the for
mality of government itfelf, and the well being
of bodies politick ; * Augur cum effet Cato, dicere
* Cicero de fenectute. aufius

§• 19 or the Public Good. 325
aufus eft, optimis aujpiciis ea geri qua pro reipub :
falute gererentur ; qua contra rempub. fierent, contra
aufpicia fieri : Religion is to meliorate the condition
of a people, not to do it difadvantage ; and there
fore thofe dodrines that inconvenience the pub
lick, are no parts of good religion ; ut Refpub.
falva fit, is a neceffary confideration in the per-
miflion of prophefyings; for according to the
true, folid, and prudent ends of the republick,
fo is the dodrine to be permitted or reflrained ;
and the men that preach it, according as they are
good fubjeds, and right common wealths men :
for religion is a thing fuperinduced to temporal
government ; and the church is an addition of a
capacity to a common wealth ; and therefore is in
no fenfe to differve the neceffity and juft interefts
of that, to- which it is fuper-added for its advan
tage and confervation.
II. And thus by a proportion to the rules of
thefe inftances, all their other doctrines are to
have their judgment, as concerning toleration or
reftraint ; for all are either fpeculative, or prac
tical, they are confiftent with the publick ends or
inconfiftent, they teach impiety or they are in
nocent, and they are to be permitted or rejeded
accordingly. For in the queftion of toleration,
the foundation of faith, good life and govern
ment is to be fecured ; in all other cafes, the
former confiderations are effedual.

SECT.

326 Popery how far tolerable. §.20.
SECT. XX.
How Jar the religion of the church of Rome is
tolerable.
I. "|3 U T now concerning the religion of the
J3 church of Rome (which was the other in
ftance I promifed to confider) we will proceed
another way, and not confider the truth or falfity
of the dodrines ; for that is not the beft way to
determine the queftion concerning permitting their
religion or affemblies ; becaufe that a thing is not
true, is not argument fufficient to conclude that
he who believes it true is not to be endured ; but
we are to confider what inducements there are
which poffefs the underftanding of thofe men; whe
ther they be reafonable and innocent, fufficient to
abufe or perfuade wife and good men, or whether
the dodrines be commenced upon defign, and
managed with impiety, and then have effeds not
to be endured.
II. And here firft, I confider that thofe doc
trines which have had long continuance and poffef-
fion in the church, cannot eafily be fuppofed in
the prefent profefibrs to be a defign, .fince they
have received it from fo many ages ; and it is
not likely that all ages ffiould have the fame pur
pofes, or that the fame dodrine ffiould ferve the
feveral ends of divers ages. But however, long
prefcription is a prejudice, oftehtimes fo infup-
portable, that it cannot with many arguments be
retrenched, as relying upon thefe grounds, that
truth is more ancient than falffiood, that God
would not for fo many ages forfake his church,
and leave her in an error -, that whatfoever is new,
is not only fufpicious, but falfe ; which are fnp-
poficions,

§. 2o. Popery how far tolerable. 327
pofitions, pious and plaufible enough. And if
the church of Rome had communicated infants fo
long as ffie hath prayed to faints, or baptized in
fants, the communicating would have been be
lieved with as much confidence, as the other ar
ticles are, and the diffentients with as much im
patience rejeded. But this confideration is to be
enlarged upon all thofe particulars, which as they
are apt to abufe the perfons of the men, and amufe
their underftandings, fo they are inftruments of
their excufe ; and by making their errors to be
invincible, and their opinions, though falfe, yet
not criminal, make it alfo to be an effed of reafon
and charity, to permit the men a liberty of their
confcience, and let them anfwer to God for them
felves and their own opinions : fuch as are the
beauty and fplendor of their church ; their pom
pous fervice ; the ftatelinefs and folemnity of the
Hierarchy ; their name of Catholick, which they
fuppofe their own due, and to concern no other
fed of chriftians ; the antiquity of many of their
dodrines ; the continual fucceffion of their bi
fhops ; their immediate derivation from the
apoftles ; their title to fucceed St. Peter ; the fup-
pofal and pretence of his perfonal prerogatives ;
the advantages which the conjundion of the im
perial feat with their epifcopal had brought to
that See ; the flattering expreflions of minor
bifhops, which by being old records, have ob
tained credibility ; the multitude and variety of
people who are of their perfuafion; apparent
confent with antiquity in many ceremonials which
other churches have rejeded ; and a pretended,
and fometimes an apparent confent with fome
elder ages in many matters dodrinal -, the ad
vantage which is derived to them by entertaining
fome perfonal opinions of the fathers, which they
Y 4 with

328 Popery how" far tolerable. §.20,
with infinite clamours fee to be cried up to be a
doctrine of the church of that time; the great
confent of one part with another in that which
moft of them affirm to be de fide 5 the great differ
ences which are commenced amongft their adver
faries, abufing the Liberty of Prophefying unto a
very great licentioufnefs ; their happinefs of being
inftruments in converting divers nations ; the ad-
Vantages of monarchical government, the benefit
of which as well as the inconveniences (which
though they feel they confider not) they daily en
joy ; the piety and the aufterity of their religious
orders of men and women ; the fingle life of their
priefts and bifhops 5 the riches of their church ;
the feverity of their fafls and their exterior obfer-
vances •, the great reputation of their firft bifhops
for faith and faridity ; the known holinefs of
fome of thofe perfons whofe inflitutes the religious
petfohs pretend to imitate ; their miracles falfe or
true, fubftantial or imaginary ; the cafualties and
accidents that have happened to their adverfaries,
which being chances of humanity are attributed
to feveral caufes, according as the fancies of men
and their interefts are pleafed or fatisfied ; the
temporal felicity of their profeffors ; the oblique
arts and indired proceedings of fome of thofe who
departed from them ; and amongft many other
thihgs, the names of heretick and fchifmatick,
wffiich they with infinite pertinacy faften upon all
that difagree from them.
Thefe things and divers others may very eafily
perfuade perfons of much reafon and more piety,
to retain that which they know to have been the
religion of their fore-fathers, which had adual
poffcffion and feizure of mens underftandings,
before the oppofite poffeffiOns had -a name; and
fo much the rather, becaufe religion hath more
advantages

§. 2o. Popery how far tolerable. 329
advantages upon the fancy and affedions, than it
hath upon philofophy and fevere difcourfes ; and
therefore is the more eafily perfuaded upon fuch
grpunds as thefe, which are more apt to amufe
than to fatisfy the underftanding.
III. Secohdly, If we confider the dodrines
themfelves, we fhall find them to be fuperftrudures
ill built, and worfe managed, but yet they keep
the foundation, they build upon God in Jefus
Chrift, they profefs the apoftles creed, they re
tain faith and repentance as the fupporters of all
our hopes of heaven, and believe many more
truths than can be proved to be of fimple and
original neceffity to falvation : and therefore all
the wifeft perfonages of the adverfe party allowed
to them poffibility of falvation, whilft their errors
are not faults of their will, but weakneffes and
deceptions of the underftanding. So that there
is nothing in the foundation of faith, that can rea
fonably hinder them to be permitted : the founda
tion of faith ftands feeUre enough for all their
vain and unhandfome fuperftrudures.
But then on the other fide, if we take account
of their dodrines as they' relate to good life, or
are confiftent or inconfiftent with civil govern
ment, we fhall have other confiderations.
IV. For, Thirdly, I confider, that many of
their dodrinfes do accidentally teach or lead to ill
life, and it will appear to any man that confiders
the refult of thefe propofitions : attrition (which
is a low and imperfed degree of forrow for fin,
or as others fay a forrow for fin commenced upon
any reafon of temporal hope* or fear or defire or
any thing elfe) is a fufficient difpofition for a man
in the facrament of penance to receive abfolution,
and be juftified before God, by taking away the
Quilt of all his fins, and the obligation to eternal pains.

330 Popery how far tolerable. §'. 20.
pains. So that already the fear of hell is quite
removed, upon conditions fo eafy, that many
men take more pains to get a groat, than by this
dodrine we are obliged to, for the curing and ac
quitting all the greateft fins of a whole life, of the
moft vicious perfon in the world : and but that they
affright their people with a fear of purgatory, or
with the feverity of penances in cafe they will not
venture for purgatory (for by their doctrine they
may chufe or refufe either) there would be nothing
in their dodrine or difcipline to impede and flacken
their proclivity to fin ; but then they have as eafy
a cure for that too, with a little more charge
fometimes, but moft commonly with lefs trouble :
for there are fo many confraternities, fo many
priviledged churches, altars, monafleries, cce-
meteries, offices, feftivals, and fo free a con-
ceffion of indulgences appendant to all thefe, and
a thoufand fine devices to take away the fear of
purgatory, to commute or expiate penances, that
in no fed of men, do they with more eafe and
cheapnefs reconcile a wicked life with the hopes
of heaven, than in the Roman communion.
V. And indeed, if men would confider things
upon their true grounds, the church of Rome
fhould be more reproved upon dodrines thac infer
ill life, than upon fuch as are contrary to faith.
For falfe fuperftrudures do not always deftroy
faith; but many of the dodrines they teach, if
they were profecuted to the utmoft iffue, would
deftroy good life : and therefore my quarrel with
the church of Rome is greater and ftronger upon
fuch points which are not ufually confidered, than
it is upon the ordinary difputes, which have to no
very great purpofe fo much difturbed Chriften
dom : and I am more fcandalized at her for
teaching the fufficiency of attrition in the facra
ment.

§.20. Popery how far tolerable. 331
ment, for indulging penances fo frequently, for
remitting all difcipline, for making fo great a
part of religion to confift in externals and cere
monials, for putting more force and energy and
exading with more feverity the commandments of
men than the precepts of juftice, and internal re
ligion : laftly, befides many other things, for
promifing heaven to perfons after a wicked life,
upon their impertinent cries and ceremonials tranf-
aded by the prieft and the dying perfon : I con
fefs I wifh the zeal of Chriftendom were a little
more adive againft thefe and the like dodrines,
and that men would write and live more earneftly
againft them, than as yet they have done.
VI. But then, what influence this juft zeal
is to have upon the perfons of the profeffbrs,
is another confideration : for as the Pharifees
preached well and lived ill, and therefore were to be
heard not imitated : fo if thefe men live well
though they teach ill, they are to be imitated, not
heard : their dodrines by all means, chriftian and
humane, are to be difcountenanced, but their
perfons tolerated eatmus ; their profeffion and de
crees to be rejeded and condemned, but the per
fons to be permitted ; becaufe by their good lives
they confute their dodrines, that is, they give
evidence, that they think no evil to be confe
quent to fuch opinions ; and if they did, that
they live good lives, is argument fufficient that
they would themfelves caft the firft ftone againft
their own opinions, if they thought them guilty
of fuch mifdemeanors.
VII. But, Fourthly, if we confider their doc
trines in relation to government, and publick fo
cieties of men ; then if they prove faulty, they
are fo much the more intolerable, by how much
the confequents are of greater danger and malice :
fuch

332 Popery how far tolerable. §.20.
fuch dodrines as thefe, the pope may difpenfe
with all oaths taken to God or man : he may ab-
folve fubjeds from their allegiance to their natural
prince : faith is not to be kept with hereticks ;
heretical princes may be flain by their fubjeds.
Thefe propofitions are fo depreft, and do fo im
mediately communicate with matter, and the in
terefts of men, that they are of the fame confidera
tion with matters of fad, and are to be handled
accordingly. To other dodrines ill life may be
confequent ; but the connedion of the antecedent
and the confequent is not (peradventure) per
ceived or acknowledged by him that believes the
opinion with no greater confidence than he dif-
avows the effed, and iffue of it. But in thefe,
the ill effed is the dired profeffion and purpofe of
the opinion, and therefore the man and the man's
opinion is to be dealt with, juft as the matter of
fad is to be judged ; for it is an immediate, a
perceived, a dired event, and the very purpofe
of the opinion. Now thefe opinions are a dired
overthrow to all humane fociety, and mutual
commerce, a deftrudion of government, and of
the laws and duty and fubordination which we
Owe to princes ; and therefore thofe men of the
church of Rome who hold them, and preach
them, cannot pretend to the excufes of innocent
opinions, and hearty perfuafion, to the weaknefs
of humanity, and the difficulty of things; for
God hath not left thofe truths which are necefiary
for confervation of publick focieties of men, fo
intricate and obfcure, but that every one who is
honeft and defirous to underftand his duty, will
certainly know that no chriftian truth deftroys a
man's being fociable and a member of the body
politick, co-operating to the confervation of the
whole, as well as of itfelf. However, if it might
happen

§. 20 Popery bow far tolerable. 333
happen that men fhould fincerely err in fuch plain
matters of fad (for there are fools enow in the
world) yet if he hold his peace, no man is to pro-
fecute or puniffi him ; for then it is mere opinion
which comes not under political cognifance, that
is, that cognifance which only can puniffi cor
porally ; but if he preach it, he is adually a tray-
tor, or feditioup, or author of perjury, or a de-
flroyer of humane fociety, refpectively to the na
ture of the dodrine ; and the preaching fuch doc
trines cannot claim the privilege and immuaity of
a mere opinion, becaufe it is as much matter of
fad, as any the adions of his difciples and con
fidents, and therefore in fuch cafes is not to be
permitted, but judged according to the nature of
the effed it hath, or may have, upon the adions
of men.
VIII. Fifthly: But laftly, in matters merely
fpeculative, the cafe is wholly altered, becaufe
the body politick, which only may lawfully ufe
the fword, is not a competent judge of fuch
matters, which have not dired influence upon the
body politick, or upon the lives and manners of
men, as they are parts of a community (not but
that princes or judges temporal may have as much
ability as others, but by reafon of the incompe
tency of the authority;) and Gallio fpoke wifely,
when he difcourfed thus to the Jews, * If it were
a matter of wrong or wicked lewdnefs^, O ye Jews,
reafon would -that I Jhould hear you ; but, if it be a
queftion of words, and names, and of your law, lock
ye to it, for I will be no judge of fuch matters : the
man Fpoke excellent reafon ; for the cognifance
of thefe things did appertain to men of the other
robe : but the ecclefiaftical power, which only is
* Aa.,is. 4. competent

334 Popery how far tolerable. §.20.
competent to take notice of fuch queftions, is not
of capacity to ufe the temporal fword or corporal
inflidions : the mere dodrines and opinions of
men are things fpiritual, and therefore not cog-
nofcible by a temporal authority ; and the eccle
fiaftical authority, which is to take cognifance, is
itfelf fo fpiritual, that it cannot inflid any punifh
ment corporal.
IX. And it is not enough to fay, that when
the magiftrate reftrains the preaching fuch opi
nions, if any man preach them he. may be punifh
ed (and then it is not for his opinion but his difo
bedience that he is punifhed,) for the temporal
power ought not to reftrain prophefyings, where
the publick peace and intereft is not certainly con
cerned. And therefore it is not fufficient to ex
cufe him, whofe law in that cafe, being by an in
competent power, made a fcruple where there was
no fin.
X. And under this confideration come very
many articles of the church of Rome, which are
wholly fpeculative, which do not derive upon
pradice, which begin in the underftanding and
reft there, and have no influence upon life and
government, but very accidentally, and by a
great many removes, and therefore are to be con
fidered only fo far as to guide men in their per
fuafions, but have no effed upon the perfons of
men, their bodies, or their temporal condition :
I inftance in two -, prayer for the dead, and the
dodrine of tranfubftantiation, thefe two to be in
ftead of all the reft.
XI. For the firft, This difcourfe is to fuppofe
it falfe, and we are to dired our proceedings ac
cordingly : ahd therefore I fhall not need to urge
with how many fair words and gay pretences, this
dodrine is fet off, apt either to couzen or inftrud the

§.20. Popery how far tolerable. 335
the confcience of the wifeft, according as 'tis
true or falfe refpedively. But we find (fays the
Romanifl) in the hillory of the Maccabees, that
the Jews did pray and make offerings for the
dead (which alfo appears by other teftimonies,
and by their form of prayers ftill extant, which
they ufed in the captivity) it is very confiderable,
that fince our blefled Saviour did reprove all the
evil dodrines and traditions of the Scribes and
Pharifees, and did argue concerning the dead
and the* refurredion againft the Sadduces, yet he
fpake no word againft this publick pradice, but
left it as he found it, which he who came to de
clare to us the will of his father would not have
done, if it had not been innocent, pious and full
of charity. To which by way of confociation, if
we add that St. Paul did pray for * Onefiphorus,
That God would phew him a mercy in that day, that
is, according to the ftile of the New Teftament,
the day of judgment : the refult will be, that al
though it be probable, that Onefiphorus at that
time was dead (becaufe in his falutations he falutes
his houfhold, without naming him who was the
major domo, againft his cuftom of falutations in
other places :) yet befides this, the prayer was for
fuch a bleffing to him whofe demonftration and
reception could not be but after death; which
implies clearly, that then there is need of mercy
and by confequence the dead people, even to the
day of judgment inclufively, are the fubjed of a
mifery, the objed of God's mercy, and therefore
fit to be commemorated in the duties of our piety
and charity, and that we are to recommend their
condition to God, not only to give them more

* 2 Tim. 1. 18. clon

336 Popery how far tolerable. §.20.
glory, in the reunion, but to pity them to fuch
purpofes in which they need; which becaufe they
are not revealed to us in particular, it hinders us
not in recommending the perfons in particular to
God's mercy, but ffiould rather excite pur charity
and devotion : for it being certain that they have
a need of mercy, and it being uncertain how great
their need is, it may concern the prudence of
charity to be the more earneft, as not knowing
the greatnefs of their neceffity.
XII. And if there ffiould be any uncertainty in
thefe arguments, yet its having been the univerfai
pradice of the church of God in all places, and in
all ages till within thefe hundred years, is a very
great inducement for any member of the church
to believe that in the firft traditions of chriftianity,
and the inftitutions apoftolical, there was nothing
delivered againft this pradice, but very much to
infinuate or enjoin it ; becaufe the practice of it
was at the firft, and was univerfai. And if any
man fhall doubt of this, he fhews nothing but that
he is ignorant of the records of the church, it
being plain in * TertuUian and St. ^Cyprian (who
were the eldeft writers of the Latin church) that
in their times it was ab antiquo, the cuftom of the
church to pray for the fouls of the faithful departed,
in the dreadful myfteries : and it was an inftitution
apoftolical (fays one of them) and fo tranfmitted
to the following ages of the church, and when
once it began upon flight grounds and difcontent
to be contefted againft by Aerius, the man was
prefently condemned for a heretick, as appears in
Epiphanius. XIII. But I am not to confider the arguments
for the dodrine itfelf, although the probability
* De eorona milit. c. 3. & de monogam. c. 10. -)- Ep. 66.
and

§. lo. Popery how far tolerable. 337
and fair pretence of them may help to excufe fuch
perfons, who upon thefe or the like grounds do
heartily believe it. But I am to confider that
whether it be true or falfe, there is no manner of
malice in it, and at the worft, it is but a wrong
error upon the right fide of charity, and con
cluded againft by its adverfaries upon the con
fidence of fuch arguments, which poffibly are not
fo probable as the grounds pretended for it.
XlV. And if the fame judgment might be
made of any more of their dodrines, I think it
were better men were not furious, in the con
demning fuch queftions which either they under
ftood not upon the grounds of their proper argu
ments, or at leaft cpnfider not, as fubjeded in the
perfons, and leffened by circumftances, by the
innocency of the event, or other prudential con-
fi derations. ,
XV. But the other article is harder to be
judged of, and hath made greater flirs in chriften
dom, and hath been daffit at with more impetuous
objedions, and fuch as do more trouble the quef
tion of toleration. For if the dodrine of tran-
fubftantiation be falfe, (as upon much evidence
we believe it is) then 'tis accufed of introducing
idolatry, giving divine worffiip to a creature,
adoring of bread and wine, and then comes in
the precept of God to the Jews, that thofe pro
phets who perfuaded to idolatry ffiould be flain. *
XVI. But here we muft deliberate ; for it is
concerning the lives of men,, and yet a little de
liberation may fuffice : for idolatry is a forfaking
the true God, and giving divine worffiip to a
creature or to an idol, that is, to an imaginary
God, who hath no foundation in effence or ex-
* Deut. 13.
Z iftence :

338 Popery how far tolerable. §.20.
iftence : and is that kind of fuperftition which by
divines is called the fuperftition of an undue ob
jed : now it is evident that the objed of their
adoration (that which is reprefented to them in
their minds, their thoughts, and purpofes, and
by which God, principally if not folely, takes
eftimate of human adions) in the bleffed facra
ment, is the only true and eternal God, hypo-
ftatically joined with his holy humanity, which
humanity they believe adually prefent under the
veil of the facramental figns : and if they thought
him not prefent, they are fo far from worfhipinc
the bread in this cafe, that themfelves profefs it
to be idolatry to do fo, which is a demonftration
that their foul hath nothing in it that is idolatrical.
If their confidence and fanciful opinion hath en
gaged them upon fo great miftake (as without
doubt it hath) yet the will hath nothing in it, but
what is a great enemy to idolatry, Et nihil ardet
in inferno nifi propria voluntas: and although they
have done violence to all philofophy, and the
reafon of man, and undone and cancelled the
principles of two or three fciences, to brino- in
this article, yet they have a divine revelation
whofe literal and grammatical fenfe, if that fenfe
were intended, would warrant them to do vio
lence to all the fciences in the circle ; and indeed,
that tranfuhftantiation is openly and violently
againft natural reafon, is no argument to make
them difbelieve it, who believe the myftery of
the trinity in all thofe niceties of explication which
are in the fchool (and which now adays pafs for
the dodrine of the church) with as much violence
to the principles of natural and fupernatural phi
lofophy, as can be imagined to be in the point of
tranfubftantiation. r

XVII.

§.20. Popery how far tolerable. 339
XVII. 1. But for the article itfelf, we all fay
that Chrift is there prefent fome way or other ex
traordinary ; and it will not be amifs to worfhip
him at that time, when he gives himfelf to us in
fo myfterious a manner, and with fo great ad
vantages ; efpecially fince the whole office is a
confociation of divers adions of religion and di
vine worffiip. Now in all opinions of thofe men
who think it an ad of religion to communicate
and to offer ; a divine worfhip is given to Chrift,
and is tranfmitted to him by mediation of that
adion and that facrament, and it is no more in
the church of Rome, but that they differ and mif
take infinitely in the manner of his prefence 5
which error is wholly feated in the underftanding,
and does not communicate with the will; for all
agree that the divinity and the humanity of the
fon of God is the ultimate and adequate objed of
divine adoration, and that it is incommunicable
to any creature whatfoever, and before they ven
ture to pafs an ad of adoration, they believe the
bread to be annihilated or turned into his fub
ftance who may lawfully be worfhiped'-, and they
who have thefe thoughts, are as much enemies
of idolatry, as they that underftand better how
to avoid that inconvenience which is fuppofed to
be the crime, which they formally hate, and we
materially avoid : this confideration was concern
ing the dodrine itfelf.
XVIII. 2. And now for any danger to men*
perfons for fuffering fuch a dodrine, this I ffiall
fay, that if they who do it, are not formally
guilty of idolatry, there is no danger that they
whom they perfuade to it ffiould be guilty ;
and what perfons foever believe it to be idolatry,
to worffiip the facrament, while that perfuafion
remains will never be brought to it, there is no
Z 2 fear

34° Popery how far tolerable. §. 20.
fear of that : and he that perfuades them to do it
by altering their perfuafions and beliefs, does no
hurt but altering the opinions of the men, and
abufing their underftandings ; but when they be
lieve it to be no idolatry, then their fo believing
it is fufficient fecurity from that crime which hath
fo great a tindure and refidency in the will, that
from thence only it hath its being criminal.
XIX. 3. However, if it were idolatry, I think
the precept of God to the Jews of killing falfe
and idolatrous prophets will be no warrant for
chriftians fo to do : for in the cafe of the apoftles
and the men of Samaria, when James and John
would have called for fire to deftroy them, even as
Elias did under Mofies's law, Chrift diftinguifhed
the fpirit of Elias from his own fpirit, and taught
them a leffon of great fweetnefs, and configned
this truth to all ages of the church, that fuch
feverity is not confiftent with the meeknefs which
Chrift by his example and fermons hath made a
precept evangelical : at moft it was but a judicial
law and no more of argument to make it neceffary
to us, than the Mofaical precepts of putting adul
terers to death, and trying the accufed perfons
by the waters of jealoufy.
XX. And thus in thefe two inftances, I have
given account what is to be done in toleration of
diverfity of opinions : the refult of which is prin
cipally this : Let the prince and tbe fiecular power
have a care the common wealth be fafe. For
whether fuch or fuch a fed of chriftians be to be
permitted is a queftion rather political than re
ligious -, for as for the concernments of religion,
thefe inftances have furnifhed us with fufficient
to determine us in our duties as to that particular,
and by one of thefe all particulars may be judged.'
XXL

§. 20. Popery how far tolerable. 341
XXI. And now it were a ftrange inhumanity
to permit Jews in a common wealth, whofe in
tereft is ferved by their inhabitation, and yet upon
equal grounds of flate and poficy, not to permit
differing feds of chriftians : for although poffibly
there is more danger, mens perfuafions fhould. be
altered in a commixture of divers feds of chrif
tians, yet there is not fo much danger when they
are changed from chriftian to chriftian, as if they
be turned from chriftian to jew, as many are daily
in Spain and Portugal.
XXII. And this is not to be excufed by faying
the church hath no power over them, qui f oris funt,
as Jews are : for it is true the church in the ca
pacity of fpiritual regimen hath nothing to do
with them, becaufe they are not her diocefe : yet
the prince hath to do with them, when they are
fubjeds of his regimen : they may not be excom
municated any more than a ftone may be killed,
becaufe they are not of the chriftian communion ;
but they are living perfons, parts of the common
wealth, infinitely deceived in their religion, and
very dangerous if they offer to perfuade men to
their opinions, and are the greateft enemies of
Chrift, whofe honour and the intereft of whofe
fervice a chriftian prince is bound with all his
power to maintain. And when the queftion is
of punifhing difagreeing perfons with death, the
church hath equally nothing to do with them
both, for ffie hath nothing to do with the tem-
' poral fword -, but the prince whofe fubjeds equally
chriftians and jews are, hath equal power oyer
their perfons ; for a chriftian is no more a fubjed
than a jew is, the prince hath upon them both
the fame power of life and death ; fo that the*
jew by being no chriftian is not j oris, or any more
an exempt perfon for his body, or his life than
Z 3 the

328 Popeiy how far tolerable. §. 2,0.
he chriftian is : and yet in all churches where
the fecular power hath temporal reafon to tole
rate the jews, they are tolerated without any
fcruple in religion ; which thing is of more con
fideration, becaufe the jews are dired blafphemers
of the Son of God, and blafphemy by their own
law, the law of Mofes, is made capital ; and
might with greater reafon be infiided upon them,
who acknowledge its obligation, than urged upon
chriftians as an authority, enabling princes to put
them to death,* who are accufed of accidental and
confecutive blafphemy and idolatry refpedively,
which yet they hate and difavow with much zeal
and heartinefs of perfuafion. And I cannot yet
learn a reafon why we ffiall not be more comply
ing with them, who are of the houfhold of faith j
for at leaft they are children, though they be but
rebellious children (and if they were not, what
hath the mother to do with them any more than
with the jews?)' They are in fome relation or
habitude of the family, for they are configned
with the fame baptifm, profefs the fame faith
delivered by the apoftles, are ereded in the fame
hope, and look for the fame glory to be revealed
to them, at the coming of their common Lord
and Saviour, to whofe fervice according to their
underftanding they have vowed themfelves : and
if the difagreeing perfons be to be efteemed as
heathens and publicans, yet not worfe, Have no
cotnpany with them, that's the worfl that is to be
done to fuch a man in St. Paul's judgment. Yet
count him not as an enemy, but admoni/h him as a
brother.

SEC T.-

§. 21, Communion how far allowable. 343
SECT. XXI.
Of tbe duty of particular Churches in allowing
Communion.
I. |7» ROM thefe premifes, we are eafily in-
X; ftruded concerning the lawfulnefs or duty
refpedively of chriftian communion, which is
differently to be confidered in refped of particular
churches to each other, and of particular men to
particular churches : for as for particular churches,
they are bound to allow communion to all thofe
that profefs the fame faith upon which the apoftles
gave communion; for whatfoever preferves us
as members of the church, gives us title to the
communion of faints, and whatfoever faith or
belief that is to which God hath prOmifed heaven,
that faith makes us members of the Catholick
church : fince therefore the judicial ads of the
church are then moft prudent and religious when
they neareft imitate the example and piety of God :
to make the way to heaven ftraighter than God
made it, or to deny to communicate with thofe
with whom God will vouchfafe to be united, and
to refufe our charity to thofe who have the fame
faith, becaufe they have not all our opinions,
and believe not every thing neceffary which we
over- value ; is impious and fchifmatical, it infers
tyranny on one part, and perfuades and tempts to
uncharitablenefs and animofities on both ; it dif-
folves focieties, and is an enemy to peace ; it
bufies men in impertinent wranglings, and by
names of men and titles of fadions it configns the
interefted parties to ad their differences to the
height, and makes them negled thdfe advan-
Z 4 tages

344 Communion how far allowable. §.21.
tages which piety and a good, life bring to the re
putation of chriftian religion and focieties.
II. And therefore *- Vincentius Lirinenfts, and
indeed the whole church accounted the Donatifts
hereticks upon this very ground, becaufe they did
impericufly deny their communion to all who
were not of their perfuafion, whereas the authors
of that opinion for which they firft did feparate,
and make a fed, becaufe they did not break the
church's peace, nor magifteriallv prefcribed to
others, were in that difagreeing and error ac
counted catholicks, Divifio enim & difunio facit voS
hareticos, pax S3 unitas faciunt Catholieos faid *f St.
Auftin ; and to this fenfe is that of St. Paul, If I
had all faith and. have not charity, I am nothing i He
who upon confidence of his true belief denies a
charitable communion to his brother, lofes the re
ward of both. And if Pope Viclor had been as
charitable to the Afiaticks as Pope Anicetus and St.
Polycarp were to each other in the fame dif
agreeing concerningEafter, Viclor had not been
TrAmilixurepov r.xtxt i^reiy,ev®^, fo bitterly re
proved and condemned as he was for the uncha
ritable managing of his difagreeing by ijl Polycrates
and Irenaus ; Concerdaritia enim, qua eft charitatis
cffeclus, eft unio voluntatum non opinionum. § True
faith which leads to charity leads on to that which
unites wills and affedions, not opinions.
III. Upon thefe or the like confiderations,
the Emperor Zeno publifhed his ivoatistov in which
he made the Nicene creed to be the medium of
catholick communion, and although he lived
after the council of Chdlcedon, yet he made not
* Cap. 11. Vid. Pacian. Epift ad Sempron. 2. f L. 2. e.
g^. contra liter. Petilian. J Eufeb. 1. 5. c. 25. 26. § Aquin.
zs. x. q. 37. a 1. the

§. 21. Communion how far allowable. 345
the decrees of that council an inftrument of its
reftraint and limit, as preferring the peace of
Chriftendom, andthe union of charity far before
a forced or pretended unity of perfuafion, which
never was or ever will be real and fubftantial ;
and although it were very convenient if it could
be had, yet it is therefore not neceffary becaufe it
is impoffible ; " and if men pleafe, whatever ad-
" vantages to the publick would be confequent to
" it, may be fupplied by a charitable compliance
" and mutual permiffion of opinion, and the offices
" of a brotherly affedion prefcribed us by the laws of
" chriftianity :" And we have feen it, that all feds
of chriftians, when they have an end to be ferved
upon a third, have permitted that liberty to a fe
cond, which we now contend for, and which they
formerly denied, but now grant, that by joining
hands, they might be the ftronger to deftroy the
third. The Arrians and Meletians joined againft
the Catholicks ; The Catholicks and Novatians
joined againft the Arrians. Now if men would
do that for charity which they do for intereft,
it were handfomer and more ingenuous ; for that
they do permit each others difagreeings for their
intereft's fake, convinces them of the lawfulnefs
of the thing, or elfe the unlawfulnefs of their
own proceedings ; and therefore it were better they
would ferve the ends of charity than of fadion,
for then that good end would hallow the pro
ceeding and make it both more prudent and
more pious, while it ferves the defign of religious
purpofes.

SECT.

346 Of communicating §.22.

SECT. XXII.
That particular men may communicate with Churches
of dijerent perfuafions, and how far they may do it.
I. A S for the duty of particular men in the
ff\ queftion of commuisicating with churches
of different perfuafions, it is to be regulated ac
cording to the laws of thofe churches ; for if they
require no impiety, or any thing unlawful as the
condition of their communion, then they com
municate with them as they are fervants of Chrift,
as difciples of his dodrine and fubjeds to his
laws, and the particular diftinguifhing dodrine
of their fed hath no influence or communication
with him, who from another fed is willing to
communicate with all the fervants of their com
mon Lord : For fince no church of one name is
infallible, a wife man may have either the misfor
tune, or a reafon, to believe of every one in par
ticular, that fhe errs in fome article or other;
either he cannot communicate with any, or elfe
he may communicate with all, that do not make
a fin or the profefXon of an error to be the con
dition of their communion. And therefore, as
every particular church is bound to tolerate dif
agreeing perfons in the fenfes and for the reafons
above explicated ; fo every particular perfon is
bound to tolerate her, that is, not to refufe her
communion when he may have it on innocent con
ditions : For what is it to me if the Greek church
deny proceffion of the third perfon from the fe
cond, fo ffie will give me the right hand of fel-
lowffiip (though I affirm it) therefore becaufe I
profefs the religion of "Jefus Chrift, and retain ail
matters

§.22. with different Churches. 347
matters of faith and neceffity ? But this thing
will fcarce be reduced to pradice : for few churches
that have framed bodies of confeffion, and articles,
will endure any perfon that is not of ths fame
confeffion ; " whichis a plain demonftration that
" fuch bodies of confeffion and articles do much
" hurt, by becoming instruments of feparating and
" dividing communions, and making unneceffary
" or uncertain propofitions a certain mean of
" fchifm and difunion :" But then men would do
well to confider whether or no fuch proceedings
do not derive the guilt of fchifm upon them who
leaft think it, and whether of the two is the
fchifmatick ? he that makes unneceffary and (fup
pofing the ftate of things) inconvenient impofiti-
ons, or he that difobeys them, becaufe he cannot
without doing violence to his confcience believe
them ? He that parts communion, becaufe with
out fin he could not entertain it, or they who
have made it neceffary for him to feparate, by
requiring fuch conditions which to no man are
fimply neceffary, and to his particular are either
finful or impoflible ?
II. The fum of all is this, There is no fecurity
in any thing or to any perfon, but in the pious
and hearty endeavours of a good life, and neither
fin nor error impedes it from producing its
proportionate and intended effed : becaufe it is a
dired deletery to fin and an excufe to errors, by
making them innocent, and therefore harmlefs.
And indeed this is the intendment and defign of
faith : For (that we may join both ends of this
difcourfe together) therefore certain articles are
prefcrihed to us, and propounded to our under
ftanding, that fo we might be fupplied with in-
ftrudions, with motives and engagements to.
incline and determine our wills to the obedience
of Chrift. So that obedience is juft fo confequent to

348 Of communicating §-22.
to faith, as the ads of the will are to the didates of
the underftanding : Faith therefore being in order
to obedience, and fo far excellent as itfelf is a
part of obedience or the promoter of it, or an en
gagement to it : it is evident that if obedience
and a good life be fecured upon the moft rea
fonable and proper grounds of chriftianity, that
is, upon the apoftles creed, then faith alfo is fe
cured. Since whatfoever is befide the duties, the
order of a good life, cannot be a part of faith,
becaufe upon faith a good life is built ; all other
articles by not being neceffary, are no otherwife
to be required, but as they are to be obtained
and found out, that is, morally, and fallibly,
and humanly ; it is fit all truths be promoted
fairly and properly, and yet but few articles pre-
fcrib'ed magiflerially, nor framed into fymbols
and bodies of confeffion -, leaft of all after fuch
compofures, ffiould men proceed fo furioufly as
to fay all difagreeing after fuch declarations to be
damnable for the future, and capital for the
prefent. But this very thing is reafon enough to
make men more limited in their prefcriptions,
becaufe it is more charitable in fuch fuppofitions
fo to do.
III. But in the thing itfelf, becaufe few kinds
of errors are damnable, it is reafonable as few
ffiould be capital. And becaufe every thing that is
damnable in itfelf and before God's judgment
feat, is not difeernable before men (and queftions
difputable are of this condition) it is alfo very
reafonable, that fewer be capital, than what are
damnable, and that fuch queftions fhould be per
mitted to men to believe, becaufe they muft be
left to God to judge. It concerns all perfons to
fee that they do their beft to find out truth ;
and if they do, it is certain that, let the error
be never fo damnable, they fhall efcape the error or

§.22. with different Churches. 349
or the mifery of being damned for. it. And if
God will not be angry at men, for being invinci
bly deceived; why fhould Men be angry one at
another ? For he who is moft difpleafed at another
man's error, may alfo be tempted in his own
will, and as much deceived in his underftanding:
For if he may fail in what he can chufe, he
may alfo fail in what he cannot chufe : His un
derftanding is no more fecured than his will, nor
his faith more than his obedience. It is his own
fault if he offend God in either, but whatfoever
is not to be avoided ; as errors, which are inci
dent oftentimes even to the beft and moft inqui-
fitive of men, are not offences againft God, and
therefore not to be punifhed, or reftrained by
men : but all fuch opinions, in which the publick
interefts of the common-wealth, and the founda
tion of faith, and a good life, are not concerned,
are to be permitted freely : Quifique abundet in fenfu
fuo, was the dodrine of St. Paul, and that is
argument and conclufion too ; and they were ex
cellent words which St. Ambrofe faid in atteftation
of this great truth ; Nee Imperiale eft, libertatem
dicendi negare ; nee facerdotale, quod fentias, non
die ere.
I end with a ftory, which I find in the Jews'
books. " When Abraham fat at his tent-door,
" according to his cuftom waiting to entertain
" Arrangers, he efpied a man coming towards
" him, flooping and leaning upon his ftaff, weary
" with travel and age, for he was an hundred
" years old. Abraham received him kindly,
" wafhed his Feet, provided fupper, caufed him
" to fit down : but obferving that the old man
" eat and prayed not, nor begged for a bleffing
" on his meat; Abraham afked him, why he did
" not worfhip the God of heaven ? The old man
" told him, that he worfhipped the /re only, and
"> acknowledged

3 50 Conclufion.
' acknowledged no other God. Abraham grew
' fo zealoufly angry, that he thruft the old man
' out of his tent, and expofed him to all the
' evils of the night, and an unguarded condition.
' When the old man was gone, God called to
c Abraham^ and afked him, where the ftranger
' "was ? He replied, I thruft him away, becaufe
' he did not worffiip Thee. God anfwered him ;
' I have fuffered him thefe hundred years, al-
' though he difhonoured Me; and couldft not
' Thou endure him one night, when he gave
' Thee no trouble ? Upon this, faith the ftory,
' Abraham fetched him back again, and gave
' him hofpitable entertainment and wife inftruclion."
— Go thou and do likewife ; and thy charity will be
rewarded by the God of Abraham.
THE END

ERRATA.
PAGE 7, line 34, for Jefus, read Jefum. P. 16, 1. 18,
-dele on. P. 62, 1. 25, f. Damafcus, r. Damafus. P. 67,
1. 16, f. avatomi, r. atoi-r^oint. P. 76, 1. "J, f. Damafcus, I.
Damafus. P. 78, 1. 19, f. believe, r. belief. P. 81, 1. II,
after read, add, as Gothofrid and fome others tumid have it,
Aa tb; ays^a?, or rather, T*? ayt7\a.<;,. or ts? «yi*aiB?, that the.
P. 81, 1. 15, for the lofs of a letter, r. the little change of fome
letters. P. 1 14, 1. 27, f. tradiones, {jr. traditiones. P. 124, 1.
25, f. lefs ufelefs, r. ufelefs. P. 184, 1. 29, f. excufe, r. ufe.
P. 188, ult. f. Cap. per <venerabitem fillii, r. Cap. per wnerabi-
lent filii. P. 201, N. f. regulum preewaricari, r. regulam pree-
<uaricati. P. 274, f. Stacius and.Urfeus, r. Itacius and Urfztus.
P. 276, 1. 7, f. did think, r. did not think. P. 282, 1. 35, f.
opening, r. opining. P. 283, N. f.fufpici, r. fufcipi. P. 287,
ult. f. need, r. need not. P. 296, 1. 7, f. infants in capacity,
r. infants' incapacity. P. 305, 1. I, f. and do, r. nvbo do..
P. 308, penult, f. them, r. to them. P. 311, 1. 19, f. chafed f
r. chafed.

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