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THEOLOGICAL WORKS

HERBERT THORNDIKE.

ft.
THE

THEOLOGICAL WORKS

HERBERT THORNDIKE,.
SOMETIME PREBENDARY OF THE COLLEGIATE CHUECH OF ST. PETER,.
WESTMINSTER.

VOL. II.— PART II.

OXFORD :
JOHN HENRY PARKER.
MDCCCXLVI.

OXFOBD :
PBINTED BJ I. SHRIMPTON.

TITLE OF THE WORK, THE FIRST BOOK OF WHICH
IS CONTAINED IN THIS VOLUME.

An Epilogue to the Tragedy of the Church of England, being a necessary
Consideration and brief Resolution of the chief Controversies in Religion
that divide the Western Church : occasioned by the present calamity of
the Church of England ; in three books : viz. of
I. The Principles of Christian Truth ;
II. The Covenant of Grace ;
III. The Laws of the Church ;
By Herbert Thorndike.
London ; Printed by J. M. and T. R. for J. Martin, J. Allestry, and
T. Dicas, and are to be sold at the sign of the Bell in St. Paul's Church
yard. 1659.

THE
CONTENTS OF THE PIRST BOOK.

OF THE PRINCIPLES OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.
Page
A Preface to all Christian Readers . . . . .3
CHAPTER I.
All agree, that reason is to decide controversies of faith. The objection,
that faith is taught by God's Spirit, answered. What reason decideth
questions of faith. The resolution of faith ends not in the light of
reason, but in that which reason evidenceth to come from God's
messengers ... ..... 15
CHAPTER II.
The question between the Scripture and the Church, which of them is judge
in matters of faith. Whether opinion the tradition of the Church stands
better with. Those that hold the Scripture to be clear in all things
necessary to salvation, have no reason to exclude the tradition of the
Church. What opinions they are, that deny the Church to be a society
or corporation by God's law . . . . .19
CHAPTER III.
That neither the sentence ofthe Church, nor the dictate of God's Spirit, can
be the reason why the Scriptures are to be received. No man can know
that he hath God's Spirit, without knowing that he is a true Christian,
which supposeth the truth of the Scripture. The motives of faith are
the reason why the Scriptures are to be believed. And the consent of
God's people the reason that evidences those motives to be infallibly
true. How the Scriptures are believed for themselves. How a circle
is made in rendering a reason of the faith. The Scriptures are God's
law to all, to whom they are published, by God's act of publishing them ;
but civil law, by the act of spvereign powers, in acting Christianity
upon their subjects ... ... 32
CHAPTER IV.
Neither the dictate of God's Spirit, nor the authority of the Church, is the
reason of believing any thing in Christianity. Whether the Church be
before the Scripture, or the Scripture before the Church. The Scrip
tures contain not the infallibility of the Church. Nor the consent of all
Christians . . . ¦ . . . .60
CHAPTER V.
All things necessary to salvation are not clear in the Scriptures to all under
standings. Not in the Old Testament. Not in the Gospel. Not in the
writings of the Apostles. It is necessary to salvation to believe more
than this, that our Lord is the Christ. Time causeth obscurity in the
Scriptures as well as in other records. That is no where said in the
Scriptures that all things necessary to salvation are clear in the Scrip
tures. Neither is there any consent of all Christians to evidence the
same . . . . • • • - .76

VIII CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VI. Page
All interpretation of Scripture is to be confined within the tradition of the
Church. This supposeth that the Church is a communion instituted by
God. What means there is to make evidence of God's charter, upon
which the corporation of the Church subsisteth. The name of the
Church, in the Scriptures, often signifieth the whole or Catholic Church 100
CHAPTER VII.
That the Apostles delivered to the Church a summary of Christianity, which
all that should be baptized were to profess. Evidence out ofthe Scrip
tures. Evidence out of the Scriptures for tradition regulating the com
munion of the Church, and the order of it. Evidence for tbe rule of
faith out of the records of the Church. For the canons of the Church,
and the pedigree of them from the order established in the Church by
the Apostles. That the profession of Christianity, and that by being
baptized, is necessary to the salvation of a Christian . . .110
CHAPTER VIII.
That the power of governing the whole Church was in the Apostles and dis
ciples of Christ, and those whom they took to assist them in the parts
of it. The power of their successors must needs be derived from those.
Why that succession which appears in one Church necessarily holdeth
all Churches. The holding of councils evidenceth the unity of the
Church ........ 140
CHAPTER IX.
The keys of the Church given the Apostles, and exercised by excommuni
cation under the Apostles. The ground thereof is that profession, which
all that are baptized are to make. That penance and abatement of
penance hath been in force ever since and under the Apostles. In par
ticular, of excluding heretics ...... 157
CHAPTER X.
Evidence of the Apostles' act from the effect of it, in preserving the unity
of the Church'. Of the business of Marcion and Montanus. That
about keeping Easter. That of the Novatians. Of rebaptizing heretics,
of Paulus Samosatenus, of Dionysius Alexandrinus, and Arius. Of
communicatory letters, and the intercourse of the Church under and
after the Apostles .... jyo
CHAPTER XI.
Upon what grounds the first book De Synedriis holds that the Church
cannot excommunicate. Before the law there was no such power, nor
by it. Christians went for Jews under the Apostles. His sense of
some Scriptures. What the Leviathan saith in general concerning the
power of the Church. Both suppose that ecclesiastical power includeth
temporal, which is not true. Of the Oxford doctor's Panenesis .193

CONTENTS. IX
CHAPTER XII. Page
That the law expressly covenanted for the land of promise. A great ob
jection against this, from the great precept of the law. The hope of
the world to come under the law, and the obedience which it requireth,
was grounded upon reason from the true God, the tradition of the
fathers, and the doctrine of the prophets. The love of God above all
by the law extendeth no further than the precepts of the law, the love
of our neighbour only to Jews. Of the ceremonial, judicial, and moral
law . . . . . . . . .217
CHAPTER XIII.
That the law tendereth no other promise but that of the Land of Canaan.
How the resurrection is signified by the prophets. Express text of the
Apostles. Their arguments, and the arguments of our Lord do sup
pose the mystical sense of the Scriptures. That this sense is to be
made good throughout the Scriptures, wheresoever the ground of it
takes place ; Christianity well grounded supposing this. What parts
of Scripture may be questionable, whether they have » mystical sense
or not The sayings and doings of our Lord have it; as also those
passages of the Old Testament, which are fulfilled by the same. The
sense of th e fathers . . . . . . .233
CHAPTER XIV.
The Leviathan's opinion, that Christ came to restore that kingdom of God
which the Jews cast off when they rejected Samuel. It overthroweth
the foundation of Christianity. The true government of God's ancient
people. The name of the Church in the New Testament cannot signify
the synagogue. Nor any Christian state . . . .261
CHAPTER XV.
How the power of the Church is founded upon the law. The power of the
kingdom, priesthood, prophets, and rulers of that people all of divine
right How far these qualities and the powers of them are to continue
in the Church. The sense of the fathers in this point. That the acts
of St Paul and the rest of the Apostles were not of force by virtue of
the law. What ecclesiastical power should have been among the Jews,
in case they had received the Gospel, and so the state had stood . 275
CHAPTER XVI.
The Church founded upon the power given the Apostles. What is the sub
ject matter of Church laws. The right of the Church to tithes and
oblations is not grounded upon the law, though evidenced by it, and by
the practice of the patriarchs. Evidence of the Apostles' order in the
Scriptures. The Church of Jerusalem held not community of goods.
The original practice of the Church ..... 291
CHAPTER XVII.
The power of excommunication in the Church is not founded in the law.
What argument there is of it in the Old Testament The allegorical
sense thereof is argumentative. It was not necessary that the Christians
should incur persecution for using the power of the keys, and not
[using it] by virtue of the law ..... 319

X CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XVIII. Page
The difference between St. Paul's anathema and that of the Jews. It is
not necessary that the Christians' anathema should signify cursing.
That the incestuous person at Corinth was excommunicated by St Paul.
Jurisdiction of the Church. Telling the Church, binding and loosing,
holding him that is bound for a heathen or a publican, signify the same.
The coherence of our Lord's discourse. Of excommunication and in
dulgence by private persons in the ancient Church. That excommuni
cation and the power of the Church could not come in force by the
voluntary consent of the first Christians. How it may be said to be
voluntary. Of the confederacy of the primitive Christians . . 335
CHAPTER XIX.
That power which was in Churches under the Apostles can never be in any
Christian sovereign. The difference between the Church and the syna
gogue in that regard. The interest of the secular power in determining
matters of faith presupposeth the society of the Church, and the act of
it. No man can be bound to profess the contrary of that which he be
lieveth. Every man is bound to profess that Christianity which he
believeth. The Church is the chief teacher of Christianity through
Christendom, as the sovereign of civil peace, through his dominions.
Why the Church is to decide matters of faith rather than the state,
neither being infallible ...... 371
CHAPTER XX.
The rest of the Oxford doctor's pretence. The power of binding and loosing
supposeth not only the preaching of the Gospel but the outward act of
faith. Christians are not at liberty to cast themselves into what forms
of Churches the law of nature alloweth. They are judges in chief for
themselves in matter of religion, supposing the Catholic Church, not
otherwise. Secular power cannot punish for religion, but supposing the
act of the Church, nor do any act to enforce religion, unless the Church
determine the matter of it . . . . . , 385
CHAPTER XXI.
How the tradition of the Church limits the interpretation of Scriptures.
How the declaration of the Church becomes a reasonable mark of
heresy. That which is not found in the Scriptures may have been de
livered by the Apostles. Some things delivered by the Apostles, and
recorded in the Scriptures, may not oblige. St. Augustine's rule of
Apostolical traditions ....... 4,09
CHAPTER XXII.
The authority of the fathers is not grounded upon any presumption of their
learning or holiness. How far they challenge the credit of historical
truth. The pre-eminence of the primitive. The presumption that is
grounded upon their ranks and qualities in the Church. Of Arnobius
Lactantius, Tertullian, Origen, Clemens, and the approbation of
posterity . . . . . . . 424

CONTENTS. XI
CHAPTER XXIII. Page
Two instances against the premises, beside the objection concerning the
beginning of Antichrist under the Apostles. The general answer to
it. The seven trumpets in tbe Apocalypse foretel the destruction of the
Jews. The seven vials, the plagues inflicted upon the empire for the
ten persecutions. The correspondence of Daniel's prophecy inferreth
the same. Neither St. Paul's prophecy nor St. John's concemeth any
Christian. Neither the opinion of the Chiliasts, nor the giving of
the Eucharist to infants new baptized, Catholic . . . 431
CHAPTER XXIV.
Two sorts of means to resolve whatsoever is resolvable concerning the Scrip
ture. Upon what terms the Church may, or is to, determine contro
versies of faith. And what obligation that determination produceth.
Traditions of the Apostles oblige the present Church, as the reasons
of them continue or not. Instances in our Lord's Passover and
Eucharist Penance under the Apostles, and afterwards. St. Paul's
veil, eating blood, and things offered to idols. The power of the Church
in limiting these traditions ...... 459
CHAPTER XXV.
The power of the Church in limiting even the traditions of the Apostles.
Not every abuse of this power, a sufficient warrant for particular
Churches to reform themselves. Heresy consists in denying something,
necessary to salvation to be believed. Schism, in departing from the
unity of the Church, whether upon that, or any other cause. Implicit
faith no virtue; but the effect of it may be the work of Christian
charity ...... . . 469
CHAPTER XXVI.
What it is to add to God's law ; what to add to the Apocalypse. St. Paul's
anathema. The Beraeans. St. John's Gospel sufficient to make one
believe ; and the Scriptures, the man of God perfect. How the law
giveth light, and Christians are taught by God. How idolatry is said
not to be commanded by God ..... 487
CHAPTER XXVII.
Why it was death to transgress the determinations of the Jews' consistory,
and what power this argueth in the Church. A difference between the
authority of the Apostles and that of the Church. The being of the
Church to the world's end, with power of the keys, makes it not infal
lible. Obedience to superiors and the pillar of truth infer it not .506
CHAPTER XXVIII.
The fathers acknowledge the sufficiency and clearness of the Scriptures, as,
the traditions of the Chuich, They are to be reconciled, by limiting
the terms which they use. The limitation of those sayings which make
all Christian truth to be contained in the Scriptures. Of those which
make the authority of the Church the ground of faith . . 523

Xli CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXIX. Page
Answer to an objection, that choice of religion becomes difficult upon these
terms. This resolution is for the interest of the reformation. Those
that make the Church infallible cannot, those that make the Scripture
clear and sufficient may, own tradition for evidence to determine the
meaning of the Scriptures, and controversies of faith. The interest of
the Church of England. The pretence of Richworth's Dialogues, that
we have no unquestionable Scripture, and that the tradition of the
Church never changes ...... 553
CHAPTER XXX.
That the Scriptures which we have are unquestionable. That mistakes in
copying are not considerable to the sense and effect of them. The
meaning of the Hebrew and Greek, even of the prophets, determinable,
to the deciding of controversies. How religion delivered by tradition
becomes subject to be corrupted ..... 571
CHAPTER XXXI.
The dispute concerning the canon of Scripture, and the translations thereof,
in two questions. There can be no tradition for those books that were
written since prophecy ceased. Wherein the excellency of them above
other books lies. The chief objections against them are questionable.
In those parcels of the New Testament that have been questioned the
case is not the same. The sense of the Church . . . 597
CHAPTER XXXII.
Only the original copy can be authentic. But the truth thereof may as well
be found in the translations of the Old Testament as in the Jews' copies.
The Jews have not falsified them of malice. The points come neither
from Moses nor Esdras, but from the Talmud Jews . . . 626
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Of the most ancient translations of the Bible into Greek first ; with the
authors and authority of the same ; then into the Chaldee, Syriac, and
Latin. Exceptions against the Greek, and the Samaritan Pentateuch.
They are helps nevertheless to assure the true reading of the Scriptures
though with other copies ; whether Jewish or Christian. Though the
vulgar Latin were better than the present Greek, yet must both depend
upon tbe original Greek of the New Testament. No danger to Chris -
tianity by the differences remaining in the Bible . 340

CHAPTER XX.
THE REST OF THE OXFORD DOCTOR'S PRETENCE. THE FOWER OF BINDING
AND LOOSING SUPI'OSETH NOT ONLY THE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL
BUT THE OUTWARD ACT OF FAITH. CHRISTIANS ARE NOT AT LIBERTY
TO CAST THEMSELVES INTO WHAT FORMS OF CHURCHES THE LAW OF
NATURE ALLOWETH. THEY ARE JUDGES IN CHIEF FOR THEMSELVES IN
MATTER OF RELIGION, SUPPOSING THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, NOT OTHER
WISE. SECULAR POWER CANNOT PUNISH FOR RELIGION, BUT SUPPOSING
THE ACT OF THE CHURCH, NOR DO ANY ACT TO ENFORCE RELIGION, UN
LESS THE CHURCH DETERMINE THE MATTER OF IT.
Now because the doctor of Oxford" might think himself C HAP.
neglected or disparaged, ifj having considered the first book  — —
152 de Synedriis — which in the point of excommunication he hath 0f the6S
made his own — and the Leviathan, I should take no notice 9xf°rt!
\ doctors
of that which he hath added ; I will not turn my reader to pretence.
him till I have noted the particulars in which he seems to
go alone : putting him first in mind to advise how to make
his choice whom of the three he will follow against all
Christendom, who, upon several grounds, have set upon the
Church, and the article of our Creed that professes the same,
to destroy it.
§ 2. He seems most to ground himself upon a supposition5
0 See chap. xi. sect. 25. note n. tentia in coelis, et utrasque perinde
b Velim astruere, pastores, seu sin- divinas et sanctas esse, ejusque actus
gulos, seu in coetum coactos, func- et effectus ex aequo ratos et probatos
tionem et munus sustinere concionandi esse Deo ; quod de judiciis, actibus et
et administrandiSacramenta, at nullam decretis synodalibus et consistorialibus
habere potestatem, qua legislationis, nemo dixerit. Hisce locis Scripturae
qua jurisdictionis, praeter internam per et sexcentis aliis, aut nominator, aut de-
quam, comitante vi et efficacia verbi scribitur potestas Dei seu clavium, per
Divini, per praedicationem Evangelii, quam Dominus Christus regnat in cor-
agente in corda hominum, peccator e dibus fidelium per legem fidei et legem
nolente fit volens, convertitur ad Deum, Spiritus ; illse sunt claves quibus reg-
et a regno Satanse ad regnum Dei ram Dei recluditur, et peccator solvi-
transfertur.— Molinad Paraenes., cap. i. tur vinculis et compedibus peccati :
p. 1. Londini, 1656. ilia jurisdictio, illud impermm tantum
' Paulo infra dicit, potestatem illam in a natura humanorum imperiorum ab-
ccelo et terra eandem esse cum potes- scedens quantum obsequium fidei ab
tate ligandi et solvendi, imo reputan- obsequio hominibus prsestito ; quorum
dum, eandem esse potestatem et sen- hoc propter iram illud propter consci-
tentiam in terris cum potestate et sen- entiam exhibetur ; hacce potestate, lllo
THORNDIKE. C C

386

OF THE PRINCIPLES

BOOK that the power of the keys extends no further than the con-
 h  verting of a man to become a true Christian by preaching

imperio, hisce clavibus, intellectus, vo
luntas et affectus subjiciuntur dominio
crucis seu regno Christi, Deus in
Christo cognoscitur, mox amatur ; nam
hisce duobus, cognitione et amore Dei
inchoatur vita aeterna ; turn intellectus
illustratur, voluntas flectitur, non tan-
tum ut velit, sed et ut libenter velit,
totus denique homo sceptro Christi re-
gitur, instruitur et corrigitur. Porro
cum regnum hoc Dei, in quo Dominus
noster est rex, sacerdos, et propheta,
sit internum et invisibile, nee Christus
innotescat subditis nisi per fidem ; nee
fides creetur nisi per auctitionem ver-
bi; nee audiatur verbum nisi per mi-
nisterium Evangelicum, cujus vox ne-
cesse est prius advolet ad aures quam
cor penetret et afficiat, Deus externum
ministerium instituit in Ecclesia no
mine etiam clavium insignitum in
Scriptura, quaruni usus est, turn ille
maximus ut sint canalis per quem po
testas ilia verba aperiens regnum cce-
lorum et solvens vinculis peccati ad
filios regni perveniat ; turn etiam con-
tranitentibus atque incredulis et im-
pcenitentibus regnum ccelorum claudat,
eosque jam peccati compedibus deten-
tos arctius liget: etenim quanquam
suo modo Deus pastores, ministerium,
verbum, aperiendo et solvendo, recipi-
ant in consortium regni coelorum, clau-
dendo vero et ligando regni ingressu
prohibeant ; attamen eadem potestas
interna flexanima per quam sumus
filii Dei, intimos recessus cordis pene
trans, non potest dici simul filios regni
solvere, alienigenas ligare, nisi qua-
tenus ejus vis influxus his denegatur,
in illos vero dimanat 
Intellects vocibus ipsis, res ipsa ob-
via est vulgari intellectui, quid velit
Dominus cum dicit, id quod in terris
ligatum est et clausum, id quoque in
coelis ligatum et clausum esse, hoc est
quicunque fructus et eventus ministerii
fuerit in Ecclesia militante in terris,
seu regno coelorum, ut quibusdam sit
odor mortis, aliis odor vita? ; his in gra-
tiam receptis per remissionem pecca-
torum, illis in infidelitate relictis, tam
ratum haberi, quam si res apud Deum,
et ubi Christus sedet ad dextram Pa-
tris transacta esset, ut judicium pas-
toris seu convertentis, seu ex acci-
dente obdurantis, sit judicium Dei,
potestas verbi sit potestas Dei, fides
quam facit pastor veritatis divinae et
piomissorum gratiae, sit donum Dei.

Hanc esse mentem Spiritus Dei, cum
Dominus noster promittit claves_ regni
ccelorum, et de potestate ligandi, sol-
vendi verba facit ; minime vero intel-
lexisse potestatem pastorum in faro ex-
terno et usu disciplinae ecclesiasticae,
excommunicationis et exauctorationis,
docet locorum contextus, arguit ratio
et testantur auctores judicii subactioris,
seu patres seu recentiores, quorum non-
nulli, utut admittant potestatem illam
pastoralem et ecclesiasticam circa ex-
communicationem, exauctorationem, in
usu discipline ecclesiasticae, verba
tamen Christi de clavibus, et potestate
ligandi, solvendi, intelligunt de potes
tate interna verbi, cujus qualis est
fructus in terris, talis sit voluntas Dei
dantis aut approban'is in coelis, non
vero de potestate externa pastorum,
quae quandoque versatur circa actus,
qui nee probantur, nee rati habentur in
ccelis : nos rationum momentis rejectis
in caput de excommunicatione, testi-
moniis nostram quam putamus esse
mentem Christi hie firmabimus. — Pa-
ramesis, cap. xi. pp. 200 — 202, 204,
205. Nemo melius Bellarmino, lib. i. de
Romano Pontifice, cap. xiii. potestatem
clavium et ligandi solvendique descrip-
sit ; ' Quid sit solvere et ligare Domi
nus exposuit Johan. xx. cum dedit au-
thoritatem Apostolis remittendi et re-
tinendi peccata, solvere enim est re-
mittere peccata, ligare est retmere :
quomodo autem remittantur et retine-
antur peccata Scriptura passim docet,
cum per Evangelii praedicationem tes
tator illuminari homines et liberari de
pravitate vitiorum 2 Cor. v. posuit in
nobis verbum reconciliationis, pro
Christo ergo legatione fungimur, tan
quam Deo exhortante per nos obsecra-
mus pro_ Christo reconciliamini Deo.'
Qua pericope, quam perperam suppo-
suit pro fundamento papalis hierar
chies, si avellatur a consequentiis quas
inde deducit, nihil sanius, nihil quod
potentius diruat aedificium aedificato-
rum imperii in imperio ; hie enim doce-
tur, pastores eatenus solvere pecca-
tores, quatenus per eorum ministerium
dlis annunciat Deus remissionem pec-
catorum, eosque peccati compedibus
excussis sibi reconciliat et asserit in
libertatem filiorum Dei, mente eorum
dlustrata et aperta per clavem cogni-
tioms, et voluntate per vim flexanimam
inclmata atque affectibus retinaculis

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

387

the Gospel, or rather the convicting of him that he ought so CHAP.
to be : resting therefore in the inward court of the conscience, xx-
and not reaching to any visible effect in the Church, because
nothing can be wanting to the salvation of such a one. For
him that is loose from sin by this means the Church cannot
bind, him that is bound by sin it cannot loose. They that
are by this means loosed from sin, have in themselves every
one the sovereign power of judging between true and false
in Christianity, as to the inward court0 ; as to the outward,
their sovereign d. They are therefore at their freedom to join
in ecclesiastical communion with whom they like best, and,
being so joined, do constitute a Church e. And Churches so

vitiorum solutis: hisce totam formalem
rationem clavium et potestates ligandi
et solvendi includit Bellarminus, et
eatenus vult pastores claves tractare
cum annunciant Evangelium, solvere
vero et ligare cum annunciant remis
sionem peccatorum, et omnes Evan-
gelicas exhortationes in compendium
mittunt duobus hisce verbis ' resipis-
cite et credite :' quae verba Bellarmini
sunt exegesis sententiae Paulinas 2
Corinth, v. 19, 20. edoeentis, minis
terium verbi clavem esse quae januam
aperit ad Christum quo parario recon-
ciliamur Deo, et peccati vinculis ne in
nobis regnet solvimur: de potestate
ecclesiastica excommunicandi, exauc-
torandi, ne per somnium quicquam ex-
sculpi potest, neque ex Bellarmini,
neque ex S. Pauli verbis — Paraenesis,
cap. xi. pp. 247, 248. Londini, 1656.
¦ Sed nee pastores aut synodi suis
canonibus et definitionibus in foro ex-
terno latis, quicquam obligationis im-
ponunt cuiquam in foro interno, ut eas
debeat suo assensu comprobare, eisque
se morigerum praEstare, cum, ut fusius
capite de judice controversiarum de
monstrator, ultima determinatio cre-
dendorum et agendorum, sit in unius-
cujuscunque eonscientiae dictamine et
judicio discretionis, quo judicio a syno-
dis et pastoribus proposita examinare
debet, et de eorum veritate et falsitate
secum constituere. Non obligat pas
tor, nisi quem prius a Deo obligatum
persuaserit ; at summa potestas etiam
quem in foro interno non persuaserit,
obligat in foro externo : si non per
suaserit, pastor recte accipiet ejus im-
peria pro humanis consiliis animo re-
volvendis, et quae in deliberationem
cadere debent, non vero pro mandatis,
quae satius sit exequi quam interpre- C C

tari. — Molin. Paraen., cap. vii. p. 112.
Londini, 1656.
d Hisce eadem astruit quae nos; —
1. Canones synodorum et judicia pas
torum irrita esse nisi coniirmentur a
magistratu civili; 2. magistratum non
debere recipere cceco judicio canones
synodorum et judicia pastorum; 3.
magistratum turn demum imperare de
bere qua? judicio discretivo ipse pro-
baverit et cognoverit conspirare cum
verbo Dei ; 4. ac proinde ultimum
judicium imperativum de canonibus et
constitutionibus ecclesiasticis obligans
vel ad obsequium vel ad pcenam in
foro externo pertinere ad magistratum
civilem. — Molin. Par., cap. ix. p. 160.
Londini, 1656.
Magnae quidem sunt authoritatis
canones apud internum hominem, si
conformes sunt verbo Dei et tales a
fidelibus apprehenduntur, nee eis au-
thoritas accrescit in foro interno quod
probati et confirmati fuerunt a summa
potestate ; at in foro externo canones
et definitiones synodorum nullam obli
gation em parendi imprimunt, nisi vim
legum recipiant a summa potestate, aut
vicaria et synodis delegata. — lb., cap.
xxiv. pp. 637, 638.
e Subsistendum ergo tandem nobis
in ceita et propria descriptione Ec
clesiae, quae sit privates ccetus, seu
societas Christianorum, qui seu sub
diversis Dominis, seu sub uno, et in
una vicinia degant, non tantum in
unum confluunt locum ad cultum Deo
exhibendum, sed et uno disciplinae et
externi ordinis vinculo colligantur.
Ejusmodi societas si constat capitibus
liberis, saltern quoad peragendos eos
actus qui pertinent ad cultum divi-
num, est independens, sui juris ; est-
que turn jure naturali turn divino pri-
2

388

OF THE PRINCIPLES

iook joined may, as they shall find their proficiency in Christianity
— 1  require, combine themselves with other Churches f, and assem
ble themselves in synods, to take order in matters of common
concernment ; provided they be tied no further by the reso
lutions of them than every man stands convict by the light
which his loosing hath given him, that they are either just or
requisite. By the same right they create themselves pastors,
not with any power to censure either people or pastors, fur-
• ther than reproving8.

mum et adaequatum subjectum omnis
disciplina? ecclesiasticae ; turn sibi non
aliis probat et retinet dogmata fidei,
quae proprio judicio etlumine fidei visa
fuerunt cum veritate divina in verbo
Dei conspirare, non quia probata fue
runt vicinis Ecclesiis, classibus aut
synodis, quorum judicia sic reveretur
ut consilia et monita fraterna, ut non
reformidet tanquam imperia et excom-
municationum anteludia, et quibus jure
natura et divino obtemperare teneatur.
— Param., cap. xvi. pp. 456, 457.
Londini, 1656.
f Legi naturae sacra Scriptura asti-
pulatur, quae requirit ad constitutionem
Ecclesiae ut coeat in unum locum 1
Cor. xiv. 23. et cap. xi. 18. ad vacan-
dum praedicationi et auditioni verbi
Act. xiii. 42 et 44. 1 Cor. cap. xi. At
Dominus nullum instituit cultum qui
non observari debeat in Ecclesia parti
cular!; nee instituit ministrum ordi-
narium nisi qui affixus est particular!
Ecclesiae, saltern qui eo munere pasto-
rali defungitur, cujus praecipuae partes
in Ecclesia particulari sustinentur:
atque ut Dominus non instituit unam
Catholicam, in qua omnes Christiani
toto orbe, sub eodem visibili pastore
aut ccetu ac eodem disciplinae vinculo
in unam Ecclesiam coalescere debeant,
sic nee instituit Ecclesiam quae certo
numero Ecclesiarum particularism
consociatarum constaret ; nam si vel
tres, vel quatuor, vel viginti sunt ido-
neus numerus ad constitutionem verae
Ecclesiae, cur non aeque numerus infra
ternum aut supra vicesimum ? imo si
totus orbis esset Christianus cur omnes
Ecclesia? particulares non possunt uno
fidei et disciplinae vinculo sub uno
Papa, pastore aut ccetu pastorum per-
inde confluere in Ecclesiam, secun
dum, ut volunt, institutionem Domini,
ac si duae tantum aut tres Ecclesia?
particulares in unam combinatam Ec
clesiam coalescerent ? Ut enim Domi
nus diserte non jussit ne minus quam

tres Ecclesiae sociarentur per unum
vinculum disciplinae, ita nee prohibuit
ut omnes toto orbe Ecclesiae unam com
binatam Ecclesiam constituerent. Tan
dem Dominus non instituit ut minores
Ecclesia? aut ccetus penderent a ma-
joribus ; sed eum omnes Ecclesiae sint
unius plane ac ejusdem juris, et una
non magis pendeat ab altera quam
altera ab ilia, habent quoque — si vis
major a summa potestate non obstet —
earn liberam optionem, vel seorsim res
suas ordinandi, vel se cum aliis Eccle
siis conjungendi, earumque consilium
expiscandi in rebus maximi momenti,
reservato sibi pleno jure in iis quae sua
non aliena attinent  Paraen., cap. xvi.
pp. 455, 456. Londini, 1656.
& Nolim autem abrogare usum sy
nodorum et classium ; nedum detrahere
venerationem et authoritatem quae de-
betur viris Sanctis in synodum congre-
galis: quin agnoscimus et pertendi-
mus, ubi magistrates civilis non est
orthodoxae fidei cultor, aut non susci-
pit procurationem rerum Ecclesiae . . .
plane expedire, immo necesse esse,
Ecclesias particulares per synodorum
coitiones, et confederatam disciplinam
in unum colligari, ut harmonia custo-
diatur in corpore visibili, seu Christi
seu Ecclesia?,  quisque conscius
suae tenuitatis et ignorantiae, eo facile
delabatur, ut suum consilium, suamque
sententiam alienae postponat : pareat
canonibus, et deeretis synodorum, non
quia nuperatis, sed quia justis, et cum
veritate divina, aut cum eutaxia con-
formibus: nam in ea colligatione, et
unione animorum et corporum inter
pares, fidelis de plebe, potestatem verbi
non pastoris timet; nee ejus potestatem,
sed personam reveretur: nulli ccetus,
sive sint synodorum, sive Ecclesiarum,
jus sibi assumunt, aut potestatem in
comparem judiciali auctoritate ; ut Ec
clesia privata, aut singuli de plebe
Christiana, necesse habeant judicium
aut voluntatem suam mancipare ejus

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

389

§3. And such Churches as these he imagines'1 the first chap.

xx.

[His

synagogues of the Israelites under the prophets to have been,
especially in the ten tribes after Jeroboam ; seeing they could theory of
not resort to Jerusalem, and yet resorted to such meetings, gotueTfoi
for that service of God which was not confined to the temple. lsraeL ]
But the judgment of matters concerning religion in the out
ward court, that is, as to the world, belonging only to the
sovereign and the powers derived from him, he vesteth even
in the heathen emperors', to the same effect as in Christian,

definitionibus, nee aliter sentire liceat,
neque hiscere contra, metu subeundi
minas et anathemata, quse ab altero
ccetu, eo quod numerosior aut superior
est, jaculabuntur. — Molin. Paraen., cap.
i. pp. 3, 4. Londini, 1656.
" Illos ccetus si qua certitudine con
stat extitisse passim in Juda et Israele,
pari certitudine liquet independentes
fuisse antequam regna divisa essent,
praeterquam a synedriis Hierosolymi-
tanis : nam ne quidem vestigium ex-
tat in Scriptura, illas congregationes
ulla consociatione combinatas fuisse,
aut in certas jurisdictiones distinctas,
quibus singulis suus archipropheta
praeficeretur. — Paraen., cap. xx. p. 515.
Sed sub Jeroboamo et successoribus
ejus, vero proprius est congregationes
illas fuisse independentes, neque enim
pendebant a synedriis Hierosolymi-
tanis : cum enim authore Jeroboamo
decern tribus a Deo et Davidis domo
defecissent, capitale erat et crimen per-
duellionis ventitare Hierosolymam ad
tria festa solemnia, qua? quotannis
Hierosolymis celebrabantur. — Ibidem.
p. 516.
Ex superioribus patet, inter tot ccetus
qui florente republica Judaeorum habe-
bantur, in synagogis illis seu sacris
conventibus per singula sabbata cele-
bratis, magis conspicuam fuisse natu
ram Ecclesiae quam in synedriis Hiero-
solymitanis : quia tamen istae syna-
gogas erant pars reipublicae, nee legibus
suis viventes, et obnoxiae legibus syne-
driorum qui conventus magis erant
politici quam ccetus hominum Deum
laudantum aut colentium ; non plane,
neque singula?, neque in universitate
sua naturam Ecclesia? exhibere pos-
sunt Cadente republica Judaeorum
dicerem synagogas plenius naturam
Ecclesiarum independentium exhibere,
eo quod a synedrio Hierosolymitano
saepius avulsae et a se invicem sic sepa
rata? essent, ut unaquaeque synagoga

pene independens esset, nee ulterius
quam velkt obstvingeretur observationi
legum extra suum ccetam latarum,
nisi quod, cum alieno imperio rege-
bantur, eorum synagogae minus sinceri
essent ccetus, sed vel per delegationem
sjnedrii Hierosolymitani, vel conces-
sione dominorum, partim conventus
colentium Deum, partim civium qui
bus potestas esset in minoribus causis
nee capitalibus, inconsultis principum
tribunalibus jus dicendi suis coutri-
bulibus, eos coercendi et in carcerem
conjiciendi : nam cum singulae syna
gogae sub judicibus et regibus suis,
abstinerent forensibus causis, quarum
cognitio ad synedria turn Hierosoly-
mitana, turn particularia ex viginti
tribus judicibus constantia, qua?que in
singulis civitatibus constituta erant,
pertinebat; postmodum sub aliis domi-
nis synedriorum jura quantum tempo-
ris et loci ratio, ac dominorum arbi-
trium permiserunt, in se transtulerunt ;
ut qua? synagoga domus erat orationis,
in qua etiam lex Mosis legebatur et ex-
ponebatur, eadem esset forensis curia,
eosdem judices, seu principes plebis,
seu sacerdotes aut Levitas in foren
sibus causis et sacvis habens. — Ibidem,
pp. 519, 520. Londini, 1656.
' At dicunt imperatorum ethnico-
rum potestatem civilem divisam fuisse
a potestate ecclesiarum, cum quibus
nullum ipsis erat commercium : in qua
quidem objectione aedificatores imperii
in imperio praecipuum ponunt praesi-
dium; cum enim viderent per 300
annos invita et reluctante summa po
testate a Christianis suos coetus habitos,
suamque disciplinam ac judiciariam
potestatem ; inde ansam arripuerunt
affingendi pastoribus, Ecclesiis et sy-
nodis potestatem ecclesiasticam jure
divino positivo a potestate civili toto
ccelo dissitam, et negare potestatem
ecclesiasticam civili potestati subordi-
natam. Sed si qua mihi mica sensus,

390

OF THE PRINCIPLES

allowing a reason why they do well or ill in the exercise of it,
as they do that which the Scriptures allow or not, but main
taining that they do not exceed their power, whatsoever they
do. So that excommunications, decrees of councils, ordina
tions, and whatsoever else may be done in behalf of the
Church, being done by virtue of this power, whether just or
not, are valid to tie the outward man either to stand to them
or to undergo the penalty assigned to the transgressing of
themk; which being done in the name and the title of the
Church, are mere usurpations and nullities.
§ 4. The ground then of this deceit — which Aristotle1 calls

infirmum mihi videtur hoc praesidium ;
nam si regnantibus Judaeorum regibus
idololatris ; nee propterea divisum fuit
imperium ab Ecclesia, neque potestas
civilis ab Ecclesiastica ; cur non par
ratio erit imperii et potestatis, per 300
illos annos ab Apostolis ad Constanti-
num Magnum? fuit sub regibus Judae
idololatris imperium corruptum, et in
malum usum adhibitum, at non divi
sum ab Ecclesia: namque turn reges
illi idololatra, turn ethnici impera-
tores, utut impium et perversum im-
perarunt cultum divinum, attamen cul
tum ; non errarunt quod existimaverint
se jurisdictionem habere circa sacra,
sed quod profana pro sacris impera-
verint : sed etsi nullum cultum impe-
rassent, non ideo fuerunt divisa? potes-
tates. — Paraen., cap. xxi. pp. 527, 528.
Londini, 1656.
k  denique cum potestas civi
lis, imo omnis potestas in foro externo,
non alia sit, quam quae imperet, coget,
et obliget in foro itidem externo, vel
ad obsequium vel ad pcenam, nemini
indulgens suas leges interpretari, sed
exequi, plane ecclesiastica potestas, aut
nulla est in foro externo, aut subordi-
nata est potestati civili. — Param., cap.
ii. p. 13.
Hffic tamen non obstant, quominus
in utroque foro interno et externo re-
periatur summa potestas, summum et
judicium, summaque parendi obligatio
imposita ; nam in foro externo humana
potestas habet summum imperium,
quia a nemine imperator; habet et
summum judicium tametsi errori ob-
noxium, quia ab eo non fit provocatio:
imponit quoque summo judicio obli-
gationem obsequendi ; vel agendo vel
patiendo. — Para?n., cap. vii. p. 113.
Sed naturam duplicis fori, nemo me
lius nobis exhibuit, quam S. Paulus

Rom. xiii. 1 — 3  Primo ergo de-
monstrat, earn esse naturam et vim fori
externi, ut obliget vel ad obsequium
vel ad poenam ; at intend, ut quod
conscientia cujusque dictaverit concor-
dare cum Deo loquente in Scriptura,
id imprimis vel credat vel faciat. 2. Le
ges fori externi seu humani, non obli-
gare in foro interno, nisi quatenus con
cordant cum dictamine conscientia? ;
nam si non concordant, turn hominem
liberum esse ab obligatione parendi in
terna, satius ducentem obedire Deo et
conscientiae dictamini, quam homini-
bus : non tamen liberum esse ab obli
gatione parendi externo foro, ut qui
non possit effugere iram ejus qui obli
gat in foro externo. 3. Sed nee leges
divinas obligare in foro externo nisi
humanis annumerentur, et a summa
potestate obligatio imposita sit vel pa
rendi, vel iram ejus, id est, punitionem
subeundi. 4. Inde etiam planum facit,
ut legibus divinis robur et vis accedit
ab humanis legibus in foro externo, sic
humanis legibus nomen vim et robur
dare leges divinas in foro interno. 5.
Etenim earn obedientiam debitam sum-
mis potestatibus quam S. Paulus vocat
divinam constitutionem S. Petrus voca-
bulo humana; indigitat ; nempe quia
divinae constitution secundum Paulum,
cui homo parere tenetur, pro conscien
tia? dictamine, vis et robur accrescit in
foro externo, a puriitione, et ira summs
potestatis in detrectantes ejus imperia.
—Paraen., cap. vii. pp. 115, 116. Lon
dini 1656.
1 'O Se \pevSijs \6yos yiverat vapa t5
Ttp&Tov ij/eCSos. f; ya.p 4k tuv Svo upo-
Taa-euv f) 4k -K\<ri6vo>v was earl crvXko-
yiaubs. ei ^tv oiv 4k t&v Mo, tojVwi/
avayK-n T> kripav % koX k^oripcts
elvat i|/eu8e?s- 4t, hKr,6S,v ykp oiK *)„
tyevtivs av\\oyto-/j.6s.~Ans.\. Prior., lib

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 391
vpmrov iJreOSo?, or " the first mistake" — lies in this ; that a c H A P.
man is loosed from his sin merely by the act of the inward ¦  ' —
man, acknowledging himself convicted of the truth of Chris- 0f binding
tianity, or producing besides what inward act of faith this ?" s°°aJ
opinion can require. Contrary to that which is settled by p0je* "ot
the premises"1, that the outward act of professing Christianity preaching
is absolutely requisite to obtain forgiveness of sins, and other Gospel
promises which the Gospel tendereth by the Holy Ghost, the 0utwaled
gift whereof the Sacrament inferreth. For baptism, presup- *<* of
posing the profession of the true faith consigned into the
hands of the Church — requiring it as the condition upon
which it tendereth remission of sins, and the promise of the
Holy Ghost — inferreth also the communion of the Church,
unto which it admitteth. Therefore is nobody a Christian
by believing the Scriptures, nor hath, by consequence, any
title to the kingdom of God, but by being baptized. Nor is it
worth the while among reasonable people to except those who
may be prevented by unavoidable necessity of mortality of
recovering that baptism which they had utterly resolved to
submit themselves to any condition to obtain : the rule of the
law being a production of common reason, that an exception
confirms a rule in cases not excepted11.
& 5. Now if it appear by the same consent of Christians [The cor-
1 ¦ i /-ii--. i i i • poration
that evidenceth our common Christianity, that he who obtains of the
baptism by making that profession which the Church requir- evidenced
153 eth, owneth the person of the Church — for corporations are fl'1°0tj?est^n
persons in law — for the evidence which he trusteth in the made at
„,... T i n i i baptism.]
matter of his salvation ; I shall not need to have recourse to
the article of our Creed to prove that he owneth the unity of
it, and obligeth himself upon his salvation to abide in the
same. § 6. Nor indeed have I any need here to repeat the pro
cess by which I have demonstrated0 the corporation of the
Church. Here I infer, as clearly gained by it, that the effect
of binding or loosing men from sin is limited by God to a
condition of acknowledging or not acknowledging the Church,
for two reasons, and in two cases. For he that is admitted to
ii. cap. xviii. torn. i. p. 66. ed. Bekker. n See chap. iii. sect. 8.
Berolini, 1831. ' • Chap. vi. seett 4— 17. See below,
m See chap. vii. sect. 24. sect. 16.

392 ' OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK baptism upon professing the faith of the Church, and under-
—  taking to live as a Christian, if he transgress this profession,
forfeits the communion of the Church which he attained by
making it. And he that acknowledgeth the unity of the
Church — which all that are baptized must needs acknowledge
— forfeits his share in it by doing that which dissolveth it,
though he transgress not the profession of his Christianity,
doing it.
§ 7. Now it appeareth * by St. Paul and our Lord that Chris
tians under infidels are forbidden to carry any of their suits
out of the Church, and commanded to end them among
themselves. And shall he not forfeit the benefit of his Chris
tianity, and become bound by the sin he committeth in so
doing, that doeth this? I may therefore grant Erastus q and
this doctor1, that "Let him be to thee as a heathen or publi
can" signifies, Be it lawful for thee to implead him before
unbelievers; but it must be, as I said afore s, upon suppo
sition that he is first excommunicate and become no Christian
" to thee," and therefore to be used as a heathen or a publi
can. As also I grant him' that, "to be delivered to Satan,"
signifies not to be excommunicate, but supposes it. For if
St. Paul, calling the miraculous graces of the Apostles' time
"the manifestation of the Spirit," do teach us that the world
was thereby convicted " that God of a truth was in His
Church," as he saith again, 1 Cor. xiv. 24, 25, then was it to
the same purpose and effect, that those who were shut out of
p Right of the Church, chap. i. seett laedentem, nee ethnicum et publica-
38 — 42. num intelligendum de excommunicatis,
1 Ergo genuinus hujus loci et capitis hisce verbis, sit Ubi ethnicus &c. Do-
sensus talis est ; cum frater, hoc est, minus remittit partem laesam ad judices
Judaeus, injuriam tibi facit, solus eum sasculares. — P. 348. Argument to chap.
tibi reeonciliare studeto. Si solus nihil xiv.
profeceris, duobus aut tribus aliis as- s Chap, xviii. sect. 31.
sumtis idem tentato. Si ne sic quidem * Eversis praesidiis pro excommuni-
te liberare ab injuria poteris, synedrii catione in historia Evangelica, nam
id est, tui populi, aut tua? religionis nihil reperitur in Actibus Apostolorum
magistratui indicate. Quod si hunc quod militet pro excommunicatione,
etiam audire nolit, sic adversus eum primum quod occurrit in Epistolis di-
citra cujusquam offensionem agere po- mendum, habetur 1 Corinth, v. ubi
teris^ quomodo adversus publicanum Paulus decemit ut incestus Satanae
aut gentilem injuriam tibi inferentem tradatur, et sic tollatur e medio Corin-
— qui ad aliud quam Romanorum tri- thiorum. Hujus capitis explanatio pen-
bunal se pertrahi non patiuntur— age- det ex intellectione traditionis Satanae,
res.— Thes. xli. p. 26. Pesclavii 1589. qua, si probetur, non intelligi de ex-
See chap, xviii. sect. 26. communicatione, facile concidet quic-
r Quis sensus verborum sit tibi Eth- quid eodem capite pro excommunica
tes &c, probatur, nullam sententiam tione afFertur. — Molin. Paraen. cap xii
excommunicationis latam in partem p. 294. Londini, 1656. *'

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

393

the Church should become liable to the incursions of evil chap.
spirits ; to wit, to make the difference between the land of xx'
Goshen and the rest of Egypt visible.
§ 8. It was therefore necessary that the power of binding or
loosing in the Apostles and disciples of our Lord should be
accompanied with the gift of the Holy Ghost, which our
Lord breathed upon them. For by them the world was to
be assured upon what terms they might be loosed from sin,
and continue in the unity of the Church, which if they for
sook they became bound again. But there is not the same
reason why the same should be thought requisite to the
same power in their successors. For those terms being once
declared and settled, he that professeth and teacheth them as
the Apostles have taught, is a competent minister11 to loose or

u Wicliff maintained the contrary
opinion, for which he was condemned
by the Church ; — Waldensis argued
against him as follows : —
Cascilius arguit, quod haereticus non
confert Sacramentum, quia mendax est,
quia cancer, quia sceleratus, maledicus,
blasphemus, sacrilegus propbanus, an-
tistes diaboli, Antichristus, ergo non
potest baptizare. Augustinus respon
ded avarum, invidum et sceleratum,
intra Ecclesiam existentem, secundum
Cyprianum et Paulum, si non sit hae
reticus posse conferre verum baptis-
mum : et tamen omnis talis est sceles-
tus, prophanus, sine fide, sine spe,
blasphemus, Antichristus, sacrilegus,
antistes diaboli, et si quid pejus dici
tur, ut ibi probat; ergo propter ista
mala non negatur haereticis, quin vera
conferant Sacramenta. Falsum ergo
assumsisti principium, mi Wicleff, quod
omnis .vir praescitus, aut irretitus mor-
tali peccato sacerdos, est eo ipso a Deo
suspensus, nee potest vera Sacramenta
conferre : et ideo haeretice conclusisti,
quod Deus non totaliter coassistit cum
falso Satrapa in confectione, secundum
ritum Ecclesiae, venerabilis Sacramenti.
Jam non ultra parcas blasphemis ap-
pellationibus : voca praelatos ' Caesa-
reos, falsos Satrapas, Antichristos,
pseudo-Apostolos, sacrilegos, impaca-
tos, daemoniacos, aut Diabolos:' quid
Ecclesiae et Sacramentis? In his
omnibus praevenit te a Bilta Caecilius.
Sit sacerdos Apostolicam benediclio-
nem habens ; et authoritate Scriptures,
et universalis concilii tibi dicit Augus
tinus, nihilominus vera Sacramenta

esse, quae confert ad salutem valitura,
quando charitas aderit suscepturis.
Cujus ratio est, quia Christus est, qui
baptizat, aut consecrat intus, etiamsi
sit malus, et daemoniacus sacerdos, qui
conficit foris. Non deserit Christus
Sacramentum, quamvis malum habue-
rit instrumentum. — "Waldensis, Doc-
trinale Fidei, cap. v. § 3. torn. ii. col.
63. Venet. 1758. The reason of it is
thus given by S. Antoninus in his
Summa Theologica ; Ratio hujus est,
quia quod consistit in opere operato,
non vitiatur ex demerito operantis, si
tamen concurrunt, qua? sunt de neces
sitate operis : sed omne Sacramentum
consistit in opere operato ; ergo non
vitiatur ex malitia vel demerito minis-
tri operantis. — Pars iii. Tit xiv. cap.
xiii. de Baptismo. col. 712. Verona?
1740. The council of Trent has decreed as
follows : — Si quis dixerit, ministrum
in peccato mortali existentem, modo
omnia essentialia, quae ad Sacramen
tum conficiendum aut conferendum
pertinent, servaverit, non conficere, aut
conferre Sacramentum, anathema sit. —
Sess. xii. can. xii. Labbei, torn. xx. col.
53. ed. Venet.
The ecclesiastical law further admits
that this power of absolution remains in
priests degraded and excommunicated,
but that its use is suspended through
defect of jurisdiction : In degradato
manet potestas absolvendi non reduci-
bi'lis ad actum : et hujus ratio supradicta
est, quia scilicet non reducitur ad ac
tum, nisi per jurisdictionem, et juris-
dictio ab illo aufertur, qui degradatur.

394

OF THE PRINCIPLES

BOOK to bind another ; not only though he have not that gift of the
 I  Holy Ghost, that may make him appear to be appointed by
God to that purpose, but also though he be bound himself,
because he* undergoes not that which he professeth.
§ 9. Now if the premises be true, it is a mistake y as gross

 non potest ab eo auferri potestas,
qua? est ex charactere ordinis, sed ad-
ministrationis, secundum quod pendet
ex jurisdietione, quae amissa est per
degradationem. — Albert. Mag. iv. Sent.
dist. xix. art. 3. In cases of neces
sity the ministration of these is allowed,
though not without considerable reasons
to the contrary. Quid tenendum in re
hac admodum difficili? Ego profecto
— sub aliorum rectius sentientium cen
sura — existimo distinguendum inter
excommunicatum denuntiatum, vel
omnino notorium clerici percussorem
 et haereticum, schismaticum, et
alios omnino pracisos, iu priori enim
specie, nempe in excommunicato de-
nuntiato, vel notorio omnino clerici
percussore, veriorem et certissimam
atque tenendam existimo priorem sen-
tentiam, ut is in articulo mortis, alio
legitimo dcficiente ministro possit au-
dire poenitentem, jam moriturum, ip-
sumque absolvere, atque proinde tam
confessio quam absolutio valida sit et
non iteranda, per omnia supra adducta
pro hac parte, quod in hoc casu bene
concludunt, pra?cipue prafatum decre-
tum concilii Tridentini, sess. xiv. c. 7.
dum universaliter loquitur, nullum ex-
cipiendo : quilibet enim sacerdos habet
auctoritatem jure divino absolvendi in
mortis articulo constitutum, secundum
probabiliorem sententiam, nee enim
est dare causam, quare fidelis in arti
culo mortis, praesente sacerdote Catho-
lico, quamvis excommunicato et de-
nuntiato, privetur Sacramento neces-
sario ad salutem jure divino : nee esset
minus intolerabile prohibere absolutio-
nem in articulo mortis hoc casu, quam
reservare casus hoc autem est contra
determinationem Ecclesia? : ergo et
illud non est tolerandum praesertim
cum communiter homines illo tempore
habeant attritionem. Prasterea sicut
Sacramentum baptismi est necessarium
ad salutem, ita et pcenitentiae Sacra
mentum est necessarium, non solum
necessitate praecepti, sed etiam neces
sitate medii : Ergo, sicut illud potest
ab excommunicato recipi, ut est prae-
dictum, ita et hoc, et ita ultra supra
allegatos hanc sententiam probavit Na-
varrus, in Manual. Latin, xxvii. num.

271. ex supradicto decreto concilii
Tridentini, et quia probabiliter credi
potest, piam matrem Ecclesiam non
auferre excommunicato hujusmodi, nee
suspendere jurisdictionem quoad mortis
articuli tempus, quamvis ante praedic-
tum concilium communis contra te-
nuerit  In secunda specie, nempe
in haeretico, schismatico, et similibus
omnino ab Ecclesia praecisis et decla-
ratis, existimo veriorem esse et tenen
dam communem sententiam negativam
supra positam, ut eisdem minime lici-
tum sit confiteri, nee ab eis absolu
tio prastita valida existat, sed potius
nulla. — Gutierrez, Canoni. Quaest, lib.
i. numm. 1. 63 — 68. tom.iv. p. 16. Lug-
duni, 1720.
x " Undertakes, but does not under
go, if he perform not that which he
professeth." — MSS.
y Cum ergo nullus extet visibilis
judex de controversiis fidei cui tuto
ac certe acquiescere debeat judicium
cujusque internum, putamus solum et
unicum judicem esse Deum loquentem
in unoquoque fideli per lumen fidei ac-
censum lectione sacrae Scripturae, nam
proprie lumen non est in Scriptura sed
in fideli. . . . . — Paraen., cap. ix. p. 147.
Hisce probari dilucide putamus, 1.
Scripturam proprie non esse judicem
sed regulam et normam secundum
quam quivis fidelis accedente luce in
tellectus dirigitur a spiritu Dei, ipse
vero verum a falso, bonum a maio diju-
dicat. 2. Non alium esse summum ju
dicem controversiarum, praeter earn
lucem seu judicium discretionis, adeo-
que omnes canones, decreta, constitu-
tiones, ad examen istius judicii in uno
quoque fideli revocandas. 3. Fideli im-
bibenti divinam veritatem, per illam lu
cem robur accedere posse, ex canonibus
et explicationibus a viris gravibus et
reverendis in synodum congregatis ; at
ultimam determinationem assensus circa
credenda et facienda in religionis ne-
gotio proficisci et perfici ab ilia luce, ut
quanquam prima cognitio veritatis in-
ccepta et instillata sit a pastoribus,
aucta sit per lectionem canonum et
decretorum synodalium, longius tamen
provecta sit, immo ultimam judicii li-
mam et judicandi ac probandi stateram

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 395
as pernicious to imagine that particular Christians, by the chap.
light common to all Christians, are judges in all things con-  ??•_
cerning Christianity or the Scriptures. For if the attaining are" ot™8
of Christianity, and salvation by it, require no more but to ]ibfll t0
know the rule of faith, and the common precepts of Chris- selves into
tian conversation, together with the offices wherewith God is forms of
to be served by His Church ; if the gift of the Holy Ghost be ^Twof
promised to those that are baptized, upon undertaking this; nature ai-
then is the understanding of the rest of the Scriptures no
further required at their hands, neither have they any warrant
for that which they shall do, upon any such presumption as
this. The Church that hath received of God the trust of
maintaining unity in this service of God, so as may best stand
with the maintenance of that profession which it presup
poseth, hath by consequence an obligation upon them to
stand to the resolution thereof, saving that common Chris
tianity which the constitution thereof presupposeth.
§ 10. It is therefore utterly a most poisonous doctrine2 to
be infused into the ears of Christian people, that they are, by
their Christianity, free to cast themselves into Churches, as
they may meet with those whom they best like to communi-
154 cate with. It is therefore a thing to stand astonished at, that
they who have hitherto declaimed against any thing in Chris
tianity, the reason whereof is not to be derived from the
Scripture", not seeing in the Scripture any such thing as a
Church that was not founded by the Apostles, or by com
mission from the Apostles ; not in all Christianity any thing
ever counted a Church that was not planted by mean autho
rity derived thence to some Church, should now think them
selves at liberty to build Churches upon no other foundation
than an arbitrary agreement of seven persons11.
receperit in cujusque fidelis mente, found ignorant, and graceless, or scan-
quae sedens in clavo tanquam fiye/j.opi- dalous, he may not be presently pre-
Kbv, non alium extra se et forum suum sented to the Church, till these evils
summum judicem controversiarum re- were removed." — Cotton's Way of the
cipit. — Molin. Para?nes., cap. ix. pp. Churches, chap. iii. sect. 2. p. 54.
156, 157. Londini, 1656. London, 1645.
z " They that desire to be added and » See chap. v. seett 29, 36.
joined to such a body, they first make b "When the hive is too full, bees
known their desires to the elders of the swarm into a new hive ; so should such
Church, who take trial of their know- excessive numbers of Christians issue
ledge in the principles of religion, and forth into more Churches. Whence it
of their experience in the ways of appeareth to be an error, to say there
grace, and of their godly conversation is no limitation or distinction of pa-
amongst men, that if any of them be rishes, meaning of Churches, jure di-

396 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK § 11. Suppose I say nothing as yet in what right and inter-
T— ^ — est several members, or rather several ranks and qualities
unity of concur to the resolution of the Church ; suppose I grant the
requires"* power may be so abused, that several parts of the Church
the sub- may stand obliged to provide for themselves without the
mission of ^ & *
its several whole, which is all that the common profession of reformation
par importeth; shall we not be throughly reformed till we re
nounce one Catholic Church, as visibly a corporation as the
baptism which we received upon acknowledging of it is
visible ? If every Church be planted by the authority of the
Apostles to that effect, extant and alive in some Church, then
is not the communion thereof with all other Churches — by
the means of that which planted it communicating with all — ¦
arbitrary, but a necessary consequence of that obligation to
the unity ofthe whole, which it begets by being a Church.
[much § 12. Nor is there any reason why the acts ofthe whole —
individual whether done by representatives in synods, or resolved at dis
members.] tance 0f tjme an(j place by intelligence and correspondence
of the absent — should any way depend upon the satisfaction
of particular Christians, how just or how requisite. For
neither doth their conformity to them in any reasonable con
struction import any engagement of their conscience to the
justice or necessity of them ; unless it could be said that a
man could not live in society without binding himself to
answer for the acts of that society wherein he liveth. Which
he that saith, will not find an independent congregation to
continue in for four and twenty hours, or to enter into only
for one. For what obligation can all Christians have to
answer for that which our Christianity, upon profession
whereof we are become Christians, containeth not ? Indeed,
when the abuse is so visible that the unity of the Church,
provided for the service of God upon supposition of this com
mon Christianity, evidently destroyeth what it pretendeth to
maintain ; I leave the case at present for their plea, who can
not obtain the consent of the whole if they reform them
selves.vino, for though * precise quotient, a wherein all may meet, and all may
number of hundreds and thousands be hear, and all may partake, and all may
not limited to eveiy Church, yet such be edified together." — Cotton's Way of
a number is limited as falleth not below the Churches, chap. iii. sect. i. p. 54.
seven, nor riseth above the bulk of our London, 1645.
congregation, and such a congregation

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 397
§ 13. But you see what reason I have to deny that this chap.
reformation consisteth in voiding the obligation of the acts

and decrees of the Church. For the same reason, the autho- tion does "
rity of pastors is as visibly derived from the act of the Apostles "nseuh^'
in primitive Churches, as their own authoritv is visible in the !\si(le the
xt m J decrees
Scriptures. And unless all Christendom could be cozened of ihe
or forced at once to admit such an imposture, they can be no
Churches further than the name, in which it is derived from
the law of nature and reason, and the liberty left private
Christians to dispose of themselves in ecclesiastical communion
where they please. For, of that liberty, neither the Scriptures,
nor all Christianity since the time of them, will yield one
example. § 14. I marvel therefore that St. Paul's commission to
Timothy, 1 Tim. v. 19, should seemc to import no more than
a reproof, and that at the discretion of him that is reproved,
whether he will admit it or return him as good as he brings.
For if St. Paul's commission to Timothy extend no further,
what could he have done more himself, had he been present?
And the Apostle, enjoining obedience to those who first
brought the Gospel, and to those who presently ruled those
Churches, in the same terms, Heb. xiii. 7. 17, must needs be
thought to give the successors their predecessors' authority,
saving the difference observed afore d. So certain is it which
I have advanced in another place6, that this opinion is not
tenable, without denying the authority of the Apostles in the
quality of governors of the Church. For as to the exception
c Quis enim negat pastorum esse improbos severe castigando, palam
reprehendere et compere peccantes et etiam Agendo quo pudefacti redeant ad
protervos, nee tamen temere credere bonam mentem, magis tamen insec-
rumoribus etdelationibus de pastoribus tando vitia quam homines, ejusmodi
quorum probata et doctrina et fides est, correptione castigari presbyterum vers.
nisi rei veritate comperta duorum sal- 19. docet versus qui sequitur: namque
tem testimonio, qua tandem explorata, Beza eo versu dicit per robs a/xapra-
jubet Paulus peccantes plurium offen- vov-ras intelligi presbyteros, in quos
diculo, vel si pastores sint, palam avgui, delationes exerceri contingere potuit
ut habet versus vigesimus qui est prae- versu prsecedenti. Nullum ibi vestigium
cedentis exegesis, quo S. Apostolus non jurisdictionis presbyteri in presbyte-
vult Timotheum officium judicis assu- rum, cum tamen alius alium corripere
mere ferendo sententiam in peccantem, possit, nulla interim invicem et in
unde capite aut libertate diminuatur comparem habita jurisdictione : — Mo-
in foro externo, ut integrum ei non sit lin. Para?nes., cap. x. p. 181. Londini,
vel audire vel participare sacra, sed 1656.
implere partes fidi ministri, legati et d Chap. iv. seett. 15, 16.
dispensatoris pra?ceptorum divinorum, e Chap. viii. seett. 1 — 3. Right of
propositis et denunciatis judiciis Dei, the Church, chap. ii. seett 26— -36.

398 OF THE PRINCIPLES
book that may be made concerning the use of this power, I have
 already' demurred to the doubt that may rest in difference
between the succession of faith and the succession of persons.
§ 15. In fine, not to insist here what the respective in
terests of public and private persons in the Church are and 155
ought to be, because it is a point that cannot here be voided ;
it shall be enough to say, that of necessity the authority of
public persons in and for the whole must be such as may make
and maintain the Church a society of reasonable people, not
a commonwealth of the Cyclops, in which, a/covet ovSkv ovSeU
ovSevos, " nobody is ruled by any body in any thing," accord
ing to Euripides s.
[DuMou- § 16. As for the synagogues, that may be presumed, rather
ment from than evidenced, to have subsisted in the ten tribes during the
of HieSteny sc^ismj 'et him make appear what he can, he shall never have
tribes i0y 0f it towards his intent, so Ions as the difference between
answered.] the law and the Gospel stands, which I have settled11, that the
Church and the state were both one and the same body under
the law, as standing both by the same title of it, but several
under the Gospel, the one standing upon the common ground
of all civil government, the other upon the common faith of
Christianity, which ought to make all Christian states one
and the same whole Church. For in the two tribes who were
at their freedom to resort to the temple for that service of
God which was confined to the temple — which all could
neither always do, nor were bound to do — there is no record
of any settled order for assembling themselves to serve God,
either in the law, obliging of right, or actually practised
according to historical truth. How much less in the ten
tribes, being fallen from the law by the schism ? And if there
wanted not those who had not bowed the knee to Baal, nor
prophets and schools of prophets, under whom they might
assemble themselves, yet was this far from a society formed
by a certain rule and order for communicating in God's
service, as I have shewed1 the Church is. And therefore
he who, upon that account, thinks himself free from the
rule of God's service under which we now are in the
Church of England, must first either nullify the Gospel,
1 Chap. viii. sect. 26. * See chap, xvii sect 2
« Eurip. Cyclop. 120. i Chap. vi. seett. 4, 5.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

399

as owning no such thing as one visible Church k, or- prove chap.
the Church in which he received his Christianity to be  : —
apostate \
17. Now I confess our doctor™ here makes use of an They are

§

k "The universal Church we are
speaking of is not a thing that hath, as
such, a specificative form, from which
it should be called an universal Church,
as a particular hath for its ground of
"being so called. It is but a collection
of all that are duly called Christians
in respect of their profession ; nor are
the several particular Churches of
Christ in the world so parts and mem
bers of any Catholic Church, as that it
should be constituted or made up by
them and of them, for the order and
purpose of an instituted Church, that
is, the celebration of the worship of
God, and institutions of Jesus Christ
according to the Gospel, which to assert
were to overthrow a remarkable differ
ence between the economy of the Old
Testament and the New." — Dr. Owen,
of Schism, chap. v. § 2. p. 113.
" In her [the Church of England]
design to reduce religion to its primi
tive purity, she always professed that
she did not take her direction from the
Scripture only, but also from the coun
cils and examples of the four or five
first centuries, to which she laboured
to conform her reformation. Let the
question now be whether there be not
corruptions in this Church of England,
supposing such a national state to be
instituted. "What, I beseech you, shall
bind my conscience to acquiesce in
what is pleaded from the four or five
first centuries consisting of men that
could and did err, more than that did
hers, which was pleaded from the nine
or ten centuries following ? Have I not
liberty to call reformation according to
the Scripture only? or at least, to pro
fess that my conscience cannot be
bound to any other ? The sum is, the
business of schism from the Church of
England is a thing built purely and
simply on political considerations so
interwoven with them, so influenced
from them, as not to be separated." — •
Dr. Owen, of Schism, chap. viii. § 26.
p. 244. Oxford, 1657.
1 " Who now — if not such to whom
the Scriptures are hidden, and this
book sealed — could in this general fall
ing away from the Gospel, this general
departure of the true Established
Churches out of the inhabited, this
universal corruption and confusion of

jud

all estates, degrees, persons, callings,
actions, both in the Church and com
monwealth, in this estate, in this defec
tion, seek for, or plead for, a true
visible established Church, the true
ministry of the Gospel, true worship,
ministration, sacraments, government,
order ? Or who — that were not drunk
and had all their senses bound and in
toxicate with the whore's cup — could
affirm this confused Babel, these cages
bf unclean birds, these prisons of foul
and hateful spirits, to be the spouse of
Christ, the congregations ofthe Saints,
the true established and rightly
ordered Churches of Christ? 
" The four principal transgressions,
wherewith we charge, and for which
we forsake these parish assemblies ;
namely, the profaneness, wickedness,
confusion of the people which are here
received, retained and nourished as
members. The unlawfulness of their
whole ministry which is imposed upon
them, retained and maintained by
them; the superstition and idolatry of
their public worship in that devised
liturgy, which is imposed upon them ;
and the forgery of their antichristian
ecclesiastical government, to which all
their churches stand subject, are such,
and so apparent, as not only prove
these parish churches to be no true
established Churches of Christ, but if
it were admitted — which can never be
proved — that they sometimes had been
true established Churches, yet these
transgressions obstinately stood in, and
defended, are sufficient causes of our
separation from them in this degene
rate estate 
" These reasons all men may see prove
directly these parish assemblies not to
be the true established Churches of
Christ, to which any faithful Christian
may join himself in this estate, espe
cially when all reformation unto the
rules of Christ's Testament, is not only
denied, but resisted, blasphemed, per
secuted." — Barrow and Greenwood,
Preface to the Plain Refutation, 1606.
In Denique summum judicium cadit
tantuni in privatum judicium quo unus-
quisque judicat, discernit et probat,
quod sibi verum utile et rationibus
propriis accommodatum in veritatis via
insistenda et regula morum amplec-

400 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK assumption which I intend not to deny, being an evident
1  truth ; that every man hath the sovereign power of judging
them-f°r in matter of religion what himself is to believe or to do.
"matteVof F°r how should any man be accountable to God for his choice,
religion, updn other terms? But he will entangle himself most pitifully
the Ca- ° if he imagine that God hath turned all men loose to the Bible,
Church, to make what they can of it, and profess the religion that they
wfee°ther" may fancy t0 themselves out of it. Even those who make men
believe the infallibility of the Church, must, in despite of
themselves, appeal to the judgment of whomsoever they per
suade, to pronounce that it is so. And, for the rest, how
much soever he refer himself to him that hath entangled him
in that snare, it proceeds wholly upon this supposition, to
which he hath once made his understanding a slave.
[The § 18. But if all the world should do as men do now in
aione England, make every fancy taken up out of the Bible a law to
theCfeithl ^elr faith — not questioning whether ever professed, owned,
or enjoined by the Church, or not — it would soon become
questionable whether there be indeed any such thing as
Christianity or not, those that profess it agreeing in nothing™
wherein they would have it consist. And, for my part, the
matter is past question, supposing what hath been said0; that
God provided from the beginning of Christianity, that all
Churches should be linked together by a law of visible com
munion in the service of God, and so to make one Church.
For, by this means, to become a member of any Church was
to become a member of the whole Church, by the right of
visible communion with all Churches, into which all members
of any Church were baptized. And this it is which made the
Church visible.
[The § 19. For when a man had no further to inquireP. but what
Church a i ?
visiblebody.] tenda, non autem judiciaria potestas et rasnes., cap. ix. p. ]62. Londini, 1656.
authoritas deflniendi, quid in fide aut n " If they do agree, it is 'not by
moribus alius, sive ccetus, sive homo virtue of any obligation which their
privatus debeat amplecti si salvus esse profession lays upon them, but by
velit ; qualem judicem in terris nemi- chance ; and till some congregations 
nem agnoscimus, nee dum a nobis im- that is four of seven  disclaim it
petramus, ut sacra Scriptura statuatur which may be the next moment."—
ejusmodi judex, qui sit summus inter- MSS.
pres et enodator in synodis aut Ecclesia ° Chap. vi. sect. 7.
visibili, sed regula summa et norma P Sed sub Apostolis, inquies nemo
fidei, secundum quam judicium cujus- Catholicus vocabatur : esto sic 'fuerit
que illuminatum de re quaquam con- vel illud indulge. Cum post Apostolos
troversa judicare debet.— Molin. Pa- haereses extitissent; diversisque nomi

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 401
Christians they were who in every city communicated with chap.
all Christians beside, the choice was ready made without  : —
further trial, avoiding the rest for heretics or schismatics. And
this choice being made, there was no fear of offence by read
ing the Scriptures, the sense whereof this choice confined to
the faith and rules received through the whole Church. So
that, speaking of God's institution, every man is sovereign to
156 judge for himself in matter of religion, supposing the commu
nion of the Church and the sense of the Scripture to be con
fined within that which it alloweth. But he who, thereupon,
takes upon him to judge of religion out of the Scripture, not
knowing what bounds the communion of the Church hath
given the sense of it, shall never impute it to God's ordinance
if he perish by choosing amiss.
& 20. Now if it be obiected that we are at a distance from [pbJe°-
v r tion to the
the Church of Rome, and all who communicate with it, upon rule of the
a just cause of refusing the reformation — as all that profess teaching
the reformation suppose — and therefore that there remains ^°™ ?m"
, no visible presumption what is true, the ground of visibility
being destroyed by the division of the Cfiurch ; I shall be far
enough from extenuating the force of this objection, or the
effect of this division, acknowledging that, according to my
opinion, holding both the reformation and the Catholic
Church, the Church should be visible, but is indeed invisible.
Not absolutely, but as that which is hardly visible may truly
be called invisible, because every one whom it concerns can
not attain to discern it upon clear grounds. For my intent
is to aggravate the mischiefs of division to the highest, which
they who believe not the Catholic Church do not take for
any inconvenience.
nibus columbam Dei atque reginam plebibus nomina tanta largitus est?
lacerare per partes et scindere nite- Cur tot urbibus, tot nationibus sua
rentur, nonne cognomen suum plebs quaeque descriptio est ? Ipse ille qui
Apostolica postulabat, quo incorrupti Catholicum nomen interrogat, causam
populi distingueret unitatem, ne inte- sui nominis nesciet, si requiram unde
meratam Dei virginem error aliquo- mihi traditum est.
rum per membra laceraret? Nonne Certe non est ab homine mutuatum
appellatione propria decuit caput prin- quod per saecula tanta non cecidit,
cipale signari ? Ego forte ingressus Catholicum istud nee Marcionem, nee
populosam urbem hodie cum Mar- Appellem, nee Montanum sonat, nee
cionitas, cum Apollinariacos, Cata- hsereticos sumit authores. — Pacian. ad
phrygas, Novatianos et caeteros ejus- Sympron., ep. i. ; Bibl. Maxim. Pa-
modi comperissem qui se Christianos trum, torn. iv. p. 306. Lugdun. 1677.
vocarent ; quo cognomiue congrega- See chap. iii. sect. 29 ; chap. viii. seett.
tionem meae plebis agnoscerem, nisi 6, 24.
Catholica diceretur? Age quid cseteris
THORNDIKE. J) (J

402

OF THE PRINCIPLES

BOOK I.
[Divisions
destroy
tha evi
dence of
Chris
tianity. ]

[Ancient
canonshave not
now the
force of
law.]

[Independency of
Churchesa new doc
trine.]

§ 21. And therefore I grant all, and do acknowledge that
division in the Church necessarily destroyeth that provision
which God hath made for the unlearned as well as the learned
— equally concerned in the common salvation of Christians —
to discern by their common sense where to resort for that
which is necessary to the salvation of all ; and how to improve
and husband the same, as their proficiency in Christianity calls
for more at their hands than the salvation of all requires.
Whereby it comes to pass, that they are put to make their
choice in matters whereof it is not possible for ordinary
capacities to comprehend the grounds ; and so must choose out
of fancy, education, prejudice, faction, or, which is the vilest
of all, interest of this world, which is, in one word, profit.
§ 22. But this being a choice that must be made, and,
though difficult, yet possible to be well made, he that, with
out supposing infallibility on the one side, or reformation on
the other side, would discern between true and false, sup
posing the original unity of the Catholic Church, must be a
madman if he advise not with the records of the Catholic
Church, though out of date, as to force of law, on both sides,
to tell him wherein reformation infallibly consisteth. For by
that means, though he shall not be able to restore that unity
which is once violated — the duty of all but obliging to an
effect that cannot take place without the consent of parties —
yet he shall be able so to behave himself; and that Church
which goes by this rule, be it greater or be it less, shall be so
constituted as not to make, but to suffer, the division which it
is charged with. But he who preaches"1 original liberty to all
Christians to cast themselves into presbyteries or into congre
gations at their choice, bids them sail the main sea without
ballast ; and beside departing from the unity of the Church
by becoming members of arbitrary societies, not parts of the
whole by the visible act of visible power in it, expose them
selves to the shelves and quicksands of positions destructive
to the faith of the Church.
§ 23. And I am to demand of this doctor, if the presbyteries
be Churches by association of congregations, and the congre
gations Churches without it, and those which are neither
presbyteries nor congregations— that is, in effect, all the parish
5 See sect. 2. note f. above.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 403
churches of the land — be Churches no less than either of both chap.
— because they have one whom the triersr call a godly man,  '¦ —
sent them to preach whatsoever he can make of the Bible — I
say I must demand of him what it is that qualifies a man a
member of a Church, or a Church a Church, and how a man,
by being such a one, becomes a member of the whole Church,
which hitherto hath been thought necessary to the salvation
of every Christian. For who knoweth not the dispute that
remains between the reformation and the Church of Rome,
which shall be the true Church ? Which if every man be at
liberty to become a member of a congregation, with any six
more that he likes — who by that means shall be a Church —
is plainly about nothing. And therefore we are plainly
invited to a new Christianity, part whereof hath hitherto been
157 to think ourselves members of the Catholic Church, by being
members of some particular Church, part of the Catholic. So
certain it is, that had not the Creed been first banished out of
men's hearts, it had not been banished out of the Church.
§ 24. But when this doctor maintaineth further8, that all Secular
men having power in chief to choose for themselves in matter cannot
of religion, the sovereign hath power not only to choose for ^j°g,?onfor
itself, but to impose penalties upon those which owe no man but SUP-
_ . . posing the
any account of their choice, if they choose not that which the act ofthe
sovereign chooseth ; I confess I find this toucheth me, and nordo any
the remnant of the Church of England, to the quick ; edify- f^^i
ing the sovereign to deny protection in the exercise of religion pon "n-
to them who find themselves bound never to communicate in Church
the change that is made, and is making, in religion amongst the' matter
us. But I find withal so much inconsequence and contradic- of It-
tion to his own sense, and the sense of all Christians, in it, that
I hope no secular power will be so prodigal of a good con
science as to make itself the executioner of a doctrine tending
to so unchristian injustice.
§ 25. For if, as he saith', no man is answerable for the [Wherein
consists
religion he chooseth to any but God, how shall he be liable persecu
tion.]
1 Dein accedere debet examen accu- gelicus, testimonio suo approbent, et
ratum quod peragant deputati a syno- commendent Ecclesiis particularibus.
dis vel Ecclesiis, qui indagine exacta — Molin. Paraenes., cap. x. p. 185.
rimentur vitam anteactam, mores, eru- Londini, 1656. See Review of Rel.
ditionem, peritiam linguarum, elocu- Assembl., chap. viii. sect. 16. note f.
tionem et per omnia idoneum et dig- » See notes c and d, sect. 2. above.
num compertum qui fiat pastor evan- * See note m, sect. 17. above.
Dd 2

404 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK to be punished by man for that wherein he offendeth him
 -  not? Or how can any man offend him to whom he is not
accountable ? Nor will it serve the turn to say u, that by deny
ing protection in the exercise of religion, the secular power
punisheth no man for the judgment of his conscience. For
all Christians, of what profession soever, do generally believe
that they are bound to exercise the religion which they are
bound to profess ; that baptism, wherein — by the positive will
of God under the Gospel — the profession of Christianity con
sisted, truly obliging true Christians to assemble themselves
for the service of God with His Church, according to the rules
of it.
[What is § 26. It cannot therefore be said that it is no penalty, no
cutioii.] persecution for religion, to deny protection in the exercise of
religion to them who are not punished for the judgment of
their conscience. For whosoever can be supposed to be a
good Christian, not only had rather, but surely had better lose
his life — much more any comfort of it — than lose the exercise
of his Christianity in the service of God, whereupon his sal
vation so nearly dependeth. Nor will it serve the turn to
say, as this doctor saith x, that in persecuting the Christian
faith — much more in denying protection to the exercise of
any profession which it enforceth — the heathen emperors
exceeded not their power, but only abused it ; having granted
afore, that a man is free to choose for himself, that is, not
accountable for his religion to his sovereign. For if it once
u King James I. argued in this way esset, neminem in Anglia religionis
in bis Praefatio Monitoria : — Ac pri- causa extremo supplicio affiei nisi con-
mum ut de suppliciorum causis dicam, tra leges externo aliquo actu deliquerit :
id constanter assevero, quod et in Apo- tamen quia leges prohibeut recipere
logia mea posui, hie neminem, sive sacerdotes Catholicos in domum, pro-
meis, sive defunctae reginas, temporibus, hibent reconciliari cum Ecclesia Catho-
conscientiae ac religionis causa ultimo lica, prohibeut interesse Sacrificio Mis-
supplicio affectum. Nam quantumvis sae, jubent praestari juramentum de
religioni suae deditus sit, quantumvis primatu regis in spiritualibus, vel
earn aperte et constanter profiteatur, certe jubent suscipi juramentum de
nullum ei a legibus impendet capitis non curanda excommunicatione Summi
periculum ; nisi comperto contra leges Pontificis, et alia id genus multa, quae
externo aliquo actu deliquisse : aut con- ad religionem pertinent: idcirco qui
jurationemconsiliumvesummaereiper- ultimo supplicio afficiuntur propter
niciosum iniisse : exceptis tantummodo transgressionem ejusmodi legum me-
sacrificulis caeterisque Pontificiarum rito dici possuut ultimo supplicio 'affici
partium, qui in transmarinis regionibus propter religionem.— Apologia pro Re-
sacris ordimbus mitiantur :— Pp. 134, sponsione, cap. xiii tm 187 1SR Pn
135. Londini, 1609. To this the Car- Ion. 1610.
dinal Bellarmine replies :— Ad haec * See note i, sect. 3. above
facilis est responsio, nam tametsi verum

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 405
be said that God granteth all men all freedom in the choice chap.
of their religion, it cannot be said that God granteth the  : —
secular power any right to punish him for that choice, for
which He maketh him unaccountable.
§ 27. The ground of my reason lies in that which hath [Thesecu-
been said? against the infallibility of the Church. For if the cannot er
sentence of the Church be not of force to oblige any man to beUevcTits
believe the truth of it, much less can the sentence of any sentence
. . . J true m
Christian, though never so sovereign, oblige the meanest of matters of
his subjects to believe that religion to be true which he com
mandeth, because he commandeth it. And whatsoever pe
nalty he inflicteth upon those that concur not to the exercise
of that religion which he holdeth forth — as when he denieth
them protection in the exercise of their own, which, as I
have shewed, is no mean one — implieth a command of exer
cising his, and is inflicted in consideration of obeying God's
command, which the subject is enabled by God to judge that
he hath, against all the world to the contrary.
§ 28. So that upon these terms the secular power, which [nor right-
is enabled to judge for itself upon the same account with the tnem for
meanest subject thereof, cannot have power to punish any enC°f!)ndl"
subject for exercising any religion which it alloweth not.
For all power, as I said afore2, is a moral quality, consisting
in a right of obliging another man's will by the act of his will
that hath it. Therefore if a subject cannot be obliged by the
will of his sovereign to profess and to exercise that religion
which his sovereign prescribeth, then cannot the sovereign
have power to impose any penalty upon his subject, for pro-
I58fessing, or exercising, that Christianity which he believeth;
all Christianity obliging a man, to the utmost of his ability,
to profess and to exercise that religion which he believeth
to be true.
§ 29. And the reason is manifest. For Christianity is from [All
God, and the secular power is from God, though by several from God.]
means. Christianity by the coming of Christ, and the preach
ing of His Apostles. Secular power by what means I will
not here dispute, nor yet suppose any thing that is question
able. That which serves my turn is evident to the common
reason of all men ; that, by another act of God than that upon
y Chap. iv. sect. 8. * Chap. xi. sect. 31.

406 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK which Christianity standeth; that Christianity dependeth not
—  upon it ; that", as I arguedb against the Leviathan, by a law
which no secular power can abate. If therefore God oblige
a Christian by his Christianity to serve God otherwise than
his sovereign commandeth, he is bound by the same bond to
disobey his sovereign to obey God ; which obliged the primi
tive Christians to suffer death rather than renounce the faith.
But I intend not to say that absolutely which I say upon sup
position of this doctor's sense. Nor do I intend here to dis
pute that which I have resolved in another place0, what kind
of penalties secular power is able to enact that Christianity
with, which itself professeth.
§ 30. The question is now, how the secular power is able,
or becomes able to impose penalties in matters of religion"1 —
which as a Christian it is not able to oblige the subject to
acknowledge — not how far these penalties may extend. A
question which cannot be answered, not supposing the
Church. A question which is no question supposing it.
For supposing that God, sending Christianity, founds for
part of it the visible society and corporation of a Church,
assuring the common sense of all people thereby, what is the
condition upon which salvation is to be had by communi
cating with it ; what will remain but to conform to the com
munion of this Church, labouring to work out every man his
own salvation, by the means which the communion thereof
furnisheth? Which whoso doth not, but pretends to disturb
it, will remain punishable by the secular power — for I have
said already", that the Church is not enabled to inflict tem
poral penalties — not absolutely, because it is Christian, but
upon supposition that it maintaineth the true Church; the
acts whereof, as excommunication, by the original constitu
tion thereof enforceth ; so, did not the secular power enforce
that excommunication, it must of necessity become ineffectual
when the world is come into the Church, and Christianity
professed by the state.
» " That Christianity, and the cor- * " Seeing the act of the secular
poration of the Church, stands by an power is not able to oblige a subiect as
act ' -MSS. a Christian to acknowledge it by con-
Chap. xix. sect. 21. forming to the religion it Inioineth "—
<= Right of the Church, chap. v. MSS. enjometn. —
sect- 6- ' Chap. xi. seett. 22—25.

OP CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 407
§31. And this is the resolution that I have given in CHAP.
another place f, that the acts of the Church, for the matter of  : —
them, are limited by the Church — that is to say, by persons
qualified by the Church, and in behalf of it — but the force
that executes them must come from the state. For supposing
the Church to be founded by God, and the power of it re
solved into that act wherein this foundation consisteth ; what
soever the Church is by this power enabled to do, will belong
to the Church by God's law to do, though the matter of that
which it doth be not limited by God's law, but by the act of
men enabled by God's law to do it. St. Cyprian g and others
of the fathers, have reason when they argue that the acts of
the Church are the acts of God. For no man capable of
common reason can doubt that what is done by commission
from superior power is the act of that power which granted
the commission, so far as it owns the execution of it.
§ 32. And I have sufficiently limited the power granted
the Church heretofore11, by the matter of that communion for
which it subsisteth, and the supposition of the Christianity
upon which it subsisteth. What is therefore done by virtue
of this commission, though perhaps ill done, for the inward
intent with which men do it, yet being within the bounds of
the power established by God, is to be accepted as His own
act, without contesting whose act of founding the Church, it
cannot be infringed. Which if it be true, so far is the secular
power from being able to create or constitute a Church' — by
f Right of the Church, chap. iv. 19. dist.
seett. 62, 63. Unde statuta Papae et ejus sanc-
s Statueramus quidem jam pridem, tiones debent reputari ac si ab ore Dei
frater carissime, participato invicem vel beati Petri essent prolatas : ut in
nobiscum consilio ut qui  capitulo, Sic omnes. — Jacob, de Concil.
Ne igitur ore nostro, quo pacem lib. x. p. 524. ad Calc. Labbei, Coll.
negamus, quo duritiam magis humanae Cone. ed. Venet.
crudelitatis quam divinae et paterna? So also Theodorus patriarch of Jeru-
pietatis opponimus, oves nobis com- salem, in his synodal letter to the second
missae a Domino reposcantur, placuit council of Nicaea: Non autem refu-
nobis, Sancto Spiritu suggerente, et tamus, sed oppido confirmamus et ad-
Domino per visiones multas et mani- mittimus etiam locales sanctas syno-
festas admonente, quia hostis imminere dos, et correctiones canonicas quae
praenuntiatur et ostenditur, colligere divina sunt ab eis inspiratione de-
intra castra militis Christi, examinatis prompts atque legislationes earum
singulorum causis, pacem lapsis dare, animas illustrantes. — Labbei, torn. viii.
imo pugnaturis arma suggerere. — Ep. col. 831. ed. Venet.
liv. pp. 77, 79. ed. Ben. " Chap. xi. seett. 11—13.
Sic omnes Apostolicae sedis sane- ' Hobbes held that the civil power
tiones accipiendae sunt, tanquam ip- could do this : — " And first, we are to
sius divini Petri voce fumatse sunt  remember that the right of judging

408

OF THE PRINCIPLES

BOOK creating that difference of qualities, in which the difference
¦  '-  between several members thereof consisteth — that it is not
able of itself to do any of those acts, which the Church, that
is, those who are qualified by and for the Church, are thereby
qualified to do, without committing the sin of sacrilege — in
seizing the powers which by God's act are constituted, and IM

what doctrines are fit for peace, and to
be taught the subjects, is in all com
monwealths inseparably annexed — as
hath been already proved chap, xviii. —
to the sovereign power civil, whether it
be in one man or in one assembly of
men  And therefore in all com
monwealths of the heathen, the sove
reigns have had the names of pastors
of the people, because there was no
subject that could lawfully teach the
people, but by their permission and
authority. " This right of the heathen kings can
not be thought taken from them by
their conversion to the faith of Christ,
who never ordained that kings for their
believing in Him should be deposed,
that is, subjected to any but Himself,
or — which is all one — be deprived of
the power necessary for the conser
vation of peace amongst their subjects,
and for their defence against foreign
enemies. And therefore Christian
kings are still the supreme pastors of
their people, and have power to ordain
what pastors they please to teach the
Church, that is, to teach the people
committed to their charge 
" Seeing then in every Christian com
monwealth the civil sovereign is the
supreme pastor, to whose charge the
whole flock of his subjects is com
mitted, and consequently that it is by
his authority that all other pastors are
made, and have power to teach, and
perform all other pastoral offices, it
followeth also that it is from the civil
sovereign that all other pastors derive
their right of teaching, preaching, and
other functions pertaining to that office,
and that they are but his ministers." —
Leviathan, part iii. chap. 42. pp. 295,
296. London, 1651.
Protestantes, quibus solenne est, re-
ligionem convenientiae status subordi-
nare, hac in re diversissimas abeunt
sententias. Hi nullo facto discrimine
palam asseverant, jus circa sacra et
religionem pertinere ad regalia supe
riors, unde frequens illud et decanta-
tum permanavit : cujus est regio, illius
est religio; Isti sua a sententia non

dimoventur asserentes, potestatem circa
sacra et regimen ecclesiasticum esse
penes principem politicum Christi
anum, utpote membrum principale ec
clesiae, tanquam custodem utriusque
tabulas, quam sententiam et in verbo
Dei, et in cana antiquitate, et in prisca
Christianorum Imperatorum consuetu-
dine maxime fundatam defendunt : dis-
cernunt alii jura inter majestatica et
collegialia  Quantumcunque
vero inter se discrepant- Protestantes,
in hoc tamen conveniunt plerique,
quod principiis juris naturas nimium
innixi pleraque sacerdotii et sacrorum
jura libero potestatis saecularis arbitrio
subesse, eique propria, insita ac con
genita esse, concordi fere sententia
diverso tamen modo tueantur. — Georgii
de Eckart, de jure Princ. Cath. § viii.
apud Schmidt Thes. Jur. Canon., torn.
iv. pp. 46, 47. Heidelberg, 1774.
"One of the very first things that
was done in young King Edward the
Sixth's reign, in relation to the Church,
was that the Bishops who had the care
of Ecclesiastical matters and the souls
of men, should be made to depend en
tirely upon the king and his council,
and to be subject to suspension from
their office, and to have their whole
episcopal power taken from them at his
pleasure, which might serve as a bridle
in case they should oppose the pro
ceedings of a reformation. In this I
suppose the Archbishop had his hand:
for it was his judgment that the exer
cise of all episcopal jurisdiction de
pended upon the prince, and that as he
gave it, so he might restrain it at his
pleasure. And therefore he began this
matter with himself petitioning ' that
as he had exercised the authority of an
Archbishop during the reign of the
former king : so that authority ending
with his life, it would please the pre
sent King Edward to commit unto him
that power again.' Por it seemed that
he would not act as Archbishop till he
had a new commission from the new
king for so doing."_Strype's Mem. of
?ranS bk "• ohaP- *• P- WI. Lon
don, 1694.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 409
therefore consecrated and dedicated to His own service, into chap.
its own hands — not supposing the free act of the Church, — ±5: —
without fraud and violence, to the doing of it.

CHAPTER XXI.
HOW THE TRADITION OP THB CHURCH LIMITS THE INTERPRETATION OP
SCRIPTURES. HOW THE DECLARATION OP THE CHUECH BECOMES A
REASONABLE MARK OP HERESY. THAT WHICH IS NOT FOUND IN THE
SCRIPTURES MAT HAYE BEEN DELIVERED BY THE ArOSTLES. SOME
THINGS DELIVERED BY THE APOSTLES, AND RECORDED IN THE SCRIP
TURES, MAY NOT OBLIGE. ST. AUGUSTINE'S RULE OP APOSTOLICAL
TRADITIONS. And by this means I make account I have gained another How the
principle towards the interpretation of Scriptu.e, and resolu- ofthe0"
tion of things questioned in Christianity, either concerning 9h,?rch,
the rule of faith, or such laws and customs determining the interpre-
circumstances of ecclesiastical communion, as I shewed aforek, Scripture.
are understood by the name of Apostolical traditions. Which
principle, that no man mistake me, pretends not any general
rule for the interpretation, of Scripture, even in those things
which concern the rule of faith; but infers a prescription
against any thing that can be alleged out of Scripture, that if
it may appear to be contrary to that which the whole Church
hath received and held from the beginning, it cannot be the
true meaning of that Scripture which is alleged to prove it.
For the meaning, even of those Scriptures which concern the
rule of faith, must be had by the same means by which I
shall come by and by1 to shew that the meaning of all Scrip
tures, whatsoever tney concern, is to be had and established.
But the being and constitution of the society of the Catholic
Church from the beginning is of force to prescribe this limita
tion to the fancies of all men that take upon them to inter
pret the Scriptures ; that they neither admit nor impose upon
any man any thing for the true sense of Scripture, whereby
the substance of Christianity? which the rule of faith im-
porteth, may become questionable. So that an evidence of
such opposition ought to outshine and suppress any appear
ance or supposed evidence of truth, in any such sense.
k Chap. vii. sect. 7. ' Chap. xxiv.

410 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK § 2. The rule of faith— not to go about to determine in
 L this place what it contains, because it is the master-piece of
all the divines of Christendom, to say what is fundamental in
Christianity and what is not, but to give a gross description
of what men mean when they enquire for it — consists partly
in things to be believed, partly in things to be done : he that
holds so much of Christian truth as may reasonably certify
him of all that is requisite to qualify a Christian man for re
mission of sins and life everlasting, which are the promises of
the Gospel, may well be said to hold the whole rule of faith
in things to be believed. He that holds so much of Christian
truth as may reasonably certify him of all that is requisite to
preserve all Christians with consciences void of sin, may be
said to hold it in things to be done.
§ 3. For the common rule of faith importeth not what is
necessary for any Christian, but for all Christians. And that
any thing contrary to the salvation of all Christians should be
held and professed by all Christians, is a gross contradiction
to common sense. Whereupon it is no less evidently true
that the Catholic Church of all ages and places is utterly in
fallible ; inasmuch as it is a gross contradiction to suppose a
number of men to attain salvation who all do hold something
destructive to the salvation of any one. So much difference
there is between the whole Church, which is the Catholic
Church of all times and places, and the present Catholic
Church, respectively to those ages in which the communion
of the whole was not interrupted by any breach, but effec
tuated by actual correspondence. For the act of the Catholic
Church, in this sense, which I call the present Church, if it
be lawful, obligeth all that are of it ; but itself stands obliged
to the faith of the whole Church, as that which the being and
privilege of a Church presupposeth to be professed by it.
§ 4. And of this I cannot conceive how any question
should remain. The difficulty that remains is, how it may 160
appear that all this is not a fine nothing, how it may reason
ably seem to signify something towards the limitation which
I prescribe, to the interpretation of those Scriptures which
may be alleged, in matter concerning the rule of faith. And
the answer is, that seeing it hath appeared m that the
m Chap. vi. sect. 10.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 411
Apostles of our Lord Christ established from the beginning chap.
one Catholic Church consisting of all Churches, by the will of  : —
God and His appointment — and that in consideration of that
which was made to appear afore", that all things necessary to
the salvation of all Christians, though evidently extant and
discernible in the Scriptures, are not nevertheless evidently
discernible by all them whose salvation they concern — that
therefore the unity and communion of the Catholic Church
was provided by God, as the depository of His truth, the
acknowledgment whereof should be necessary to obtain life
everlasting. §• 5. So that, the effect of this trust, deposited by God in How the
the Church, to be at least thus much ; that whatsoever was tion &of the
advanced in any part thereof, as belonging to the rule of Fhul^hg
faith, being condemned where first it was advanced, and, in reasonable
consequence of that condemnation, by all other parts of the heresy.
Church, to that effect, as to render those that held it incapable
of the communion of all the whole Church ; that this, I say,
might be accounted a reasonable mark to discern such doc
trine to be destructive to the rule of faith. And thus were
all heresies marked for such by the Church, and upon this
ground those marks were receivable, not only before Con
stantine, but so long as it may be visible that nothing hindered
this correspondence, wherein the actual unity of the Church
consisted, to operate and have effect.
§ 6. For if this be the reason and ground which made
these marks reasonable, as grounded upon it, then he that
supposes this reason either actually interrupted or impeached,
cannot presume upon the like effect. And therefore the
justifying of these marks requires the evidencing of this cor
respondence of the Church, and no more. And truly I could
not but admire, to find it alleged by Crellius0 the Socinian —
in his answer to Grotius concerning the satisfaction of Christ,
" Chap. v. sect. 1. rium sensisse scribit. Quod si eos
• Sed de perpetua ilia Christianorum Grotius Christianorum nomine non.dig-
sententia, eorum nempe qui post Apo- natur, necesse est ut ostendat, eos fidem
stolorum tempora extiterunt — nam de in Christum vivam ejusque fundamen-
ipsis Apostolis et iis qui veritatem hac turn suis sententiis evertisse, et ejus-
in parte, ab iis acceptam retinuerunt, modi dogma propugnasse, quod cum
id prorsus negamus — dubitandi causam ea nullo modo posset consistere, qua
ipse nobis prasbet Grotius, dum Pela- de re nobis nondum constat. — Respons.
gium et Ccelestium, quorum sententiaa ad cap. i. Crell. Opp. torn. iii. p. 39.
non pauci alii sunt adstipulati, contra- Irenopol. 1656.

412 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK where he argues p that no ecclesiastical writer ever professed
 — that opinion — I say I admired to find him answer that Pela
gius the heretic maintained the same. For sure it is not
much more pertinent than if he should allege that the Jews
profess our Lord Jesus not to be the Messias, or that the
Gentiles do not worship one true God ; inasmuch as, though
they be further from the faith of true Christians than Pelagius,
yet an heretic is no less excluded from the communion of
the Church, than a Jew or a Gentile : and the whole reason,
for which the testimony of ecclesiastical writers is receivable,
to evidence matters concerning the rule of faith — to which
they can give no credit, but are, by acknowledging the same,
receivable for Christians — is the communion of the Church,
which makes it evident that what such men profess in the
Church is not against the faith of the Church.
[How the S 7. And this, in the second place, may be a reasonable
consent of . r y
fathers be- presumption or evidence of that which belongeth to the rule
tesTofthe of faith, when a thing is so ordinarily and vulgarly taught by
true doc- ch^ch writers, that there can be no reasonable p.-esumption
made, by the doctrine of any of them, that the contrary was
ever allowed by the Church. So then, I do not tie myself to
this, that if any thing be found in the writings of any of
those whom we call commonly fathers, it is therefore not
contrary to Christianity, or to the rule of faith, that is, either
expressly or by consequence ; for who will or can think it
reasonable that the Church should be thought to avow all
that hath been written by any of the Church, and is come to
the hands of posterity by whatsoever means ? Or who will
think it strange that a Christian should not understand the.
rule of his Christianity, though the right understanding thereof
should have been the condition requisite to the making of him
a Christian? If the profession made by the . writing from
which posterity hath it, were evidently so notorious to the
Church, and the maintenance thereof so obstinate, that the
Church could not avoid taking notice of it and contradicting
p Facillimum esset demonstrate si Pelagio et Ccelestio dogma nraeter
id ageretur, et Judaeorum veterum et camera improbaverint, quod dicerent
Christianorum perpetuam hanc fuisse mortem non ex insidiis fluxisse rieccati'
sententiam, mortem qualemcunque ho- sed exegisse earn penitus legem .mmu '
minis, peccati esse pcenam : ut non tabilis constituti. — Grotii de Satisf
immerito Christiani imperatores hoc in Christi, cap. i. p 303 Londini "l679"

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 413
it, without quitting the trust ofthe rule of faith deposited with c H A P
xxi.

it [and the Church did not contradict itq;] then, and not
otherwise, I do admit that the contrary of that which is regu
larly and ordinarily taught by Church writers is inconsistent
with the rule of faith. [If notice were taken and proceeding
had upon it, there is evidence that the Church judgeth it in
consistent with the faith, not that it judgeth that consistent
with the same which it chargeth not to be such, and proceeds
not against.]
1161 § 8. Beside this, another presumption or prescription, limit-.
ing the interpretation of Scriptures in such things as concern
the traditions of the Apostles, we may be confident to have
gained from the society of the Church, demonstrated by the
premises ; to wit, that if any thing be questionable whether it
come by tradition from the Apostles or not, there can no con
clusion be made in the negative, because it is not expressed
in the Scriptures. Here I desire all them that will not mis
take me to take notice that I intend not here to conclude
or infer what force those traditions, which I pretend may
come from the Apostles, though it be not certified by the
Scriptures, may have to oblige the Church, which question I
found it requisite to set aside once afore1. But that which
here I affirm s only concerns the question of fact, that it is not
impossible to make evidence that some orders, or rites and
customs of the Church had their beginning of being brought
in for laws to the Church by the Apostles, though not written
in the Scriptures.
§ 9. Confessing nevertheless, that the proving hereof —
which no reason can hinder me to proceed with here — will be
a step to the resolving of that force which the traditions of
i The passage in brackets is from verborum hujus regula? praescripto vo-
MSS., so also the last sentence of this lumus aliquid probari, asserimus esse
section. aSvparov. Nam, quum aliquid dicimus
' Chap. vii. sect. 40. omnibus retro temporibus observatum
a Nam omnia retro tempora compre- esse ab universa ecclesia, turn necesse
hendunt etiam Apostolos. Sed asseri- est intelligi singulis aetatibus universa-
mus nihil esse hujusmodi praeter ea quae lem : hoc est, reipsa demonstrari non
sunt a traditione scripta : quorum etiam succedentibus temporibus repetita serie
ipsorum probatio non ducitur ex facto ab ipso initio esse apud quosdam aliquid
sed ex jure : hoc est non dicuntur ea observatum, sed apud omnes Catholicos.
instituta ab Apostolis, quia sint ab om- Atque hoc est quod in rebus non scrip-
nibus semper Ecclesiis observata : sed ta asserimus fieri non posse. — Chamier.
quia ex tabulis certis ita constet. Quod Panstrat Catholic, lib. viii. cap. xiv. §
si ex facto, et ut disertius loquar, ex 13. torn. i. p. 264. Genevae, 1626.

414 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK the Apostles — whether written or not written in the Scriptures
 L —have and ought to have, in obliging the Church at present,
when it shall appear to be common to written and unwritten
traditions, to have their authority from the Apostles. And
the evidence of this prescription depends upon a more gene
ral one, limiting the interpretation of Scripture, in matter of
this nature — that is, concerning the laws of the Church, how
far they were intended by the Apostles to tie the Church-
not to exceed the practice of the Church succeeding the times
of the Apostles. The demonstration whereof consists in cer
tain instances, of things recorded by the Scriptures of the
New Testament, either evidencing only matter of fact, that is,
what was then done — and therefore importing no precept
what was to be done for the future — or importing such pre
cepts as no man will contend to be now in force.
§ 10. It is manifest that the Scriptures report how the
disciples, under the Apostles, were wont to assemble them
selves to serve God by the offices of Christianity upon the
first day of the week called vulgarly Sunday, after the resur
rection of Christ, John xx. 19, 26 ; Acts xx. 7 ; 1 Cor. xvi.
2; Apoc. i. 10; speaking of the banishment of St. John,
conforming himself to the times of the Church for the service
of God, and thereupon ravished in spirit : which no man
questions. It is said indeed in this case*, as it is said by
others in the question -of tithes, that the first day of the week
is commanded to be kept holy of Christians by the fourth
commandment. But I demand of any man that can tell seven
whether the first day of the week and the seventh day of the
week be the same day ofthe week or not; and if this be unques
tionable, I demand further, whether the Jews were tied by
the fourth commandment to keep the last day of the week or
not : assuring myself, that whosoever believes the Scriptures,
1 "And that this sabbath day, which testimonies that it hath in the Old—
hath that commendation of antiquity, and by name we may see, how our Sa-
and consent which we have heard, viour Christ and all His Apostles es-
ought to stand still in his proper force ; tablished it by their practice ¦ for they
and that it appertaineth to us Chris- upon the sabbath ordinarily enter into
tians now most evidently appeareth the synagogues of the Jews, and preach
by tbat authority and credit, which it unto the people, doing such things upon
receiveth from the Gospel, and New those days as appertain to the sancti-
Testament also; m which it is so highly fying of them, according to the corn-
commended unto us— that I might not mandment."— Dr. Bound's Sabbathum
in this place speak ofthe manifold other Vet. et Nov. Test., p. 23 London 1606

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 415
and reads the commandment, that obliges them to rest all c h ap.
that day, in which God rested from making heaven and XXI'
earth, can no more doubt that they were bound to rest on
Saturday, than that God rested from making heaven and
earth upon that day.
§11. I demand then, whether the same precept that
obliged them to keep Saturday, can oblige Christians to keep
Sunday ? And do conclude that it can no more be said, than
that the same word signifies both the seventh and the first day.
So wide an error so small a mistake can cause, when faction
hath once swallowed it. A man would think it a very easj'
mistake to understand the seventh day of the week, which
God- commands to be hallowed, as if it signified one of the
seven and no more. Which if it were true, then were the
Jews never tied to rest on the Saturday by God's law, but
might have chosen which day of seven they would have rested
on, notwithstanding that God rested on the Saturday, which
is to make the reason of the precept impertinent to the matter
of it.
§ 12. I intend not to deny" that the reason and ground
upon which the Christian Church came to be enjoined to keep
the first day of the week, is drawn, and to be drawn from the
fourth commandment. But I say further*, that the reason and
" Ad tertium dicendum, quod obser- bus servilibus in significationem erat,
vatio Dominicae non obligat ex praecepto non autem nostra cessatio  S. Thom.
decalogi, nisi quantum ad hoc, quod est in iii. Sent. d. xxxvii. q. i. art. 5. torn.
de dictamine legis naturae : taxatio enim vii. fol. 145. K-omae, 1570.
illius diei est ex institutione Ecclesiae x Additur deinde in definitione legis
volentis resurrectionem Christi cui nos- per me data, quod lex sit voce aut scrip-
tram vitam conformare debemus in jugi to promulgata. Quae promulgatio ad
memoria esse. Quamvis autem resur- hoc necessaria est in lege, ut per illam
rectio Christi ei secundum humanitatem legislatoris voluntas innotescere possit
conveniat, tamen opus divinitatis est, his, quibus lex datur. Non est enim
quas eum a mortuis suscitavit : unde asquum, aut rationi consentaneum ut
non in minori reverentia est habenda, quis possit obligari ad faciendum id,
quam requies artificis, et consummatio quod nullo modo implere potest. Con-
conditoris factae in die Sabbati, imo am- stat autem neminem posse velle, id quod
plius secundum quod opus conditoris prorsus ignorat. At necesse est legis-
reparationis perficitur. latoris voluntatem, quae nee voce nee
Ad quartum dicendum, quod in die scriptomanifesta est, esse prorsus igno-
Dominico tenemur vacare ex coustitu- tarn. Et inde apertissime sequitur, ut
tione EeclesiiE ab operibus, quas nosim- legislatoris ignotas voluntati,nemopos-
pedire possent a cultu divino qui indi- sit obedire. Ex quo ulterius deducitur,
citur in tali die exercendus, nisi ex causa ut legislator neminem sua voluntate ob-
per eum qui habet authoritatem, in ali- ligare possit ad aliquid faciendum, nisi
quo dispensetur. Neque oportet quod prius suam voluntatem illi notam fe-
ab omnibus in die Dominica cessemus, cerit. Haec autem nisi voce aut scripto
a quibus in die sabbati cessabant : quia manifesteturvixpoterit alicui — ut opor-
antiquorum cessatio ad omnibus operi- tet — esse nota. Tanta est in statuenda

I.

416 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK ground of a positive law makes it not a law, but the act of him 162
that hath power to give law, signifying that he intends to enact
it for a law, whether he express the reason or not.
§ 13. And thus I say, as I have hitherto said?, concerning
other ordinances which have the force of law to oblige the
Church ; that they can no more stand by virtue of such ordi
nances2, as I acknowledge to have been correspondent to them
under the law of Moses, than Christianity by the virtue of
Judaism, or the Gospel by virtue of the law ; which though
it bear witness to the Gospel, yet he were a madman that
should say, that he who was bound to be circumcised, by
virtue of that circumcision should be bound to be baptized,
supposing him of the number of Christians who agree that
baptism coming in force circumcision could no more con
tinue in force. And surely those simple people3 who of late
times have taken upon them to keep the Saturday, though it
were, in truth and effect, no less than the renouncing of their
Christianity, yet, in reason, did no more than pursue the
grounds which their predecessors had laid, and drawn the
conclusion which necessarily follows upon their premises ; that
if the fourth commandment be in force, then either the
Saturday is to be kept, or the Jews were never tied to
keep it.
§ 14. Beside this particular, it is manifest that the Apo
stles observed the third and sixth, and ninth hours of the day
lege publicationis necessitas, ut Deus pastoribus pendant, immerito jure
ipse, cui rerum est summa potestas, non divino praescriptum diceretur, quia
possit lege positiva ab eo data, citra sacerdotibus ac Levitis veteris legis eo
ejusdem legis publicationem aliquem jure deberentur. Aliunde enim hoc
ad illius observationem obligare. — Al- jus pastorum Ecclesiae Christians de-
fons. a Castro, de potest. Leg. Paen. rivatur, quam a jure divino : ubi qui
cap. i. p. 244. Matriti, 1773. vide Sua- docti nunc sunt omnes, sententiam
rez. de Legibus, lib. i. capp. iv. v. sequuntur Sancti Thomae in secunda
y Chap. xvi. seett. 17—21. secundan partis q. 87. a. i. Idem esto
* Ex hoc vero jurisperiti merito col- judicium de asylo templorum, de im-
ligunt, a praeceptis veteris legis sive munitate clericorum in civilibus et
casremonialibus sive judicialibus argu- sascularibus, et de aliis generis ejus-
mentum non recte peti, ut doceatur, dem, quae in hominum disputatione
juris esse divim, si quid in Ecclesia versantur.— Liruti, Jurisprud. Eccles.
Christiana similiter servetur, ac olim lib. i. diss. ii. § 6. torn. i. pn 10 11.
servabatur inter Judaeos. Nam etsi Patav. 1793 ' ' '
id forte imitatione reipublic* Judaic* • Alicubi' Judaicum Sabbatum in
Ecclesia mstituisset, hoc ipsa fecisset usum revocarant, fenestris clausis Col-
sua voluntate non vi praecepti divini, cestriae ipsum Judaismum propagant,
quod a Deo ut Judasorum moderator et proselytos faciunt.— Honor Reggi
pecul.ari, Judapis sohs impositum, ad [George Horne] de Statu Eccles Bri-
Ecclesiam Chnstianam mimme trans- tannic. Hodierno, p 102 Dantisci
isset. Sic ut decimas Christiani 1647. '

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

417

for the service of God, Acts ii. 15 ; iii. 1 ; x. 3, 9, 30. And
this, according to an order then in force among God's people,
according to the Scriptures, Psalm lv. 17 ; Dan. vi. 10. As
the very words of these texts, and common reason, with the
testimonies of Tertullian, de Jejuniis, cap. x. b, Epiphanius0
adv. Uteres., St. Hierome, upon the text of Daniel d, St. Cyprian,
de Oratione Dominica*, and divers others importf. And again,
Acts xiii. 2, we see that the Christians at Antiochia assembled
themselves in fasting, for celebrating the service of God, when
they were to send away those that by God's appointment
were to carry the Gospel to further parts. As the Church,
according to this example e, hath of ancient ages had a custom

CHAP. xxi.
Some
things de
livered by
the Apo
stles, and
recorded
in the
Scrip
tures, may
not oblige.

b Cited before in Bel. Assembl.,
chap. viii. sect. 12.
c 'EoiSu/oi re vyoi iv avrij ri} ayi%
4KK\-n(TLtf SnjveKeis ylyoyrai, Kai -rrpoo-ev-
¦XoX ktuQtval, XvxvtKoi re afia vpa\f/.ol Kai
-irponevxal. — Expos. Fid. Cathol. num.
23. p. 1106. Colon. 1682.
d Tria autem sunt tempora quibus
Deo fiectenda sunt genua : tertiam
horam, sextam et nonam, Ecclesiastica
traditio intelligit. Denique tertia bora
descendit Spiritus Sanctus super Apo-
stolos. Sexra volens Petrus comedere,
ad orationem ascendit in ccenaculum.
Nona Petrus et Johannes pergebant ad
templum. — Comm. in cap. vi. 10. Opp.
torn. iii. col. 1096. ed. Ben.
' In orationibus vero celebrandis in-
venimus observasse cum Daniele tres
pueros in fide fortes et in captivitate
victores horam tertiam, sectam, nonam,
Sacramento scilicet Trinitatis, quae in
novissimis temporibus manifestari ha
bebat  Sed nobis fratres dilec-
tissimi praeter horas antiquitus obser-
vatas orandi nunc et spatia et Sacra
menta creverunt. Nam et mane oran-
dum est, ut resurreclio Domini matu-
tina oratione celebretur  Recedente
item sole ac die cessante necessario
rursus orandum est. — Pp. 214, 215.
ed. Ben.
' Haue institutionem ab Apostolis
acceptam continua ad nos usque tradi-
tione pervenisse nemo plane ibit infi-
cias ; qui vel levi oculo scripturas per-
lustraverit. Nam primo media node
Paulus et Silas oranles Deum laudasse
memorantur, Act. xvi. Deinde Apo-
stolos ipsos orantes hora tertia accepisse
Spiritum Sanctum testatur idem Ac-
tuum liber, ii. Praeterea ascendit Pe
trus in superiora ut oraret circa horam

diei sextam, cum ad ipsum Caesaraea
missi a Cornelio centurione Joppe ap-
propinquaverunt, Act. x. Denique etiam
Petrus et Joannes ascendebant in tem
plum ad horam orationis nonam Act. iii.
Neque vero mihi dubium esse potest,
Apostolos quoque praescriptum ex lege
matutinum vespertinumque laudum sa-
crificium Deo obtulisse : et sic sex sal
tern numero distinctas divinis celebran
dis laudibus horas canonicasinstituisse.
— Martene, de Antiq. Eccles. Kit., lib.
iv. cap. i. § 2. torn. ii. p. 1. Venet. 1783.
The canonical hours and their signi-
ficancies are described in these verses : —
Haec sunt septenis propter quae psal-
limus horis,
Matutina ligat Christum ; qui crimina
purgat :
Prima replet sputis, dat causam Tertia
morlis :
Sercta cruci nectit, latus ejus Nona
bipertit :
Vespera deponit, tumulo Completa
reponit.
s Institutionis autem quatuor tem-
porum cum plures a Leone I. et aliis
rationes assignentur, turn eae preecipuae,
ut singulis anni tempestatibus animus
jejunio purgetur, et jejuniorum diebus
ordinatio convenientius peragatur. Ex
Apostolica enim traditione, quam ex
Actibus Apostolorum colligimus, de
scendit, ut, nonnisi a jejunis ordinatio
peragatur, jejuniaque ordinationi prae-
mittantur, qua de re infra: unde quatuor
tempora instituta, vel ordinationibus ce
lebrandis assignata sunt, ut plebs Chris
tiana jejunio purgata bonorum sacerdo-
tum et utilium Ecclesiae in quolibet
gradu clericorum ordinationem facilius
a Deo precibus obtineret. Ex Augustino
autem tam Alcuinus quam Amalarius

THORNDIKE.

e e

418 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK of fasting before ordinations. But whether or no those
 things are to be observed by the Church, as laws introduced
and begun by these practices; this, whether true or false,
whether questionable or unquestionable, is not to be con
cluded by the words of those Scriptures which barely relate
what was done.
§ 15. Again : at the institution of the Passover it is ex
pressly commanded that it be eaten " with their loins girt,
shoes on their feet, and staves in their hands," Exod. xii. 11 ;
which notwithstanding, it is manifest to all that believe that
our Lord did eat the Passover, that He did eat it sitting at
the table or leaning on His side, as then they did eat at table,
Matt. xxvi. 20, Mark xiv. 18, Luke xxii. 14, in which pos
ture neither were their loins girt, nor their shoes on their
feet, nor had they staves in their hands. And yet, so sure as
our Lord knew what the law required, so sure it is that His
intent was to observe the same. And therefore, knowing this
to be Scripture, He knew nevertheless that it obliged not,
and every one that practised it knew the same, and by the
Scriptures could not know it.
§ 16. See the like at the last supper of our Lord. Our
Saviour, instituting the Sacrament of the Eucharist at His
last supper, commanded His disciples " to do that which He
had done." And the disciples of our Lord, in pursuance of
this commandment, are reported by the Scriptures to have
celebrated the Eucharist at supper as our Lord had instituted
it, and held those assemblies at which they served God with
the offices of Christianity for that purpose, the rich bearing
out the poor in the charge of it. This I have shewed afore h,
more at large, to be the meaning of those Scriptures wherein
mention is made of these their assemblies, Acts ii. 4% — 46 ; vi.
xx. 7 ; 1 Cor. xi. 20, 21, 22, 33, 34 ; Jude 12 ; 2 Peter ii. 13.
§ 17. By all this we find not that the Eucharist was insti-.
tuted by our Lord to be celebrated at the public service of
God, where this supper of our Lord is not celebrated, as
Tertullian acknowledgeth, where nevertheless he affirmeth
that it was delivered to the Church by the Apostles so to ob-
referunt, quamvis memoratis tempori- Hallier, de Sacr. Ordin., par. iii sect vii
bus non celebretur ordinatio, ea tamen cap. i. Art. ii. § 2. p. 247. Rom 174o"
annuatim jejunio esse consecranda. — h Chap. xvi. sect/33

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 419
Serve it. De Corona, iii. ' : Eucharistim Sacramentum, et in tem- CHAP.
¦pore victus, et omnibus mandatum a Domino, etiam antelucanis — - — '—
163 ccetibus, nee de aliorum manu quam prcesidentium sumimus.
" We receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist which our Lord
instituted at the time of meat, and for all, at our assemblies
afore day also, but only at the hands of our presidents."
Though I have endeavoured in another place k to shew that
this is to be gathered from some circumstances of the Apo
stles' writings — to wit, that in point of fact it was so practised
under them — yet it is manifest that the bare words of the
Scripture, " do this in remembrance of Me," and the Scrip
tures that relate only what the Apostles did, do not determine
whether it ought to be celebrated otherwise than at supper, as
our Lord instituted it.
§ 18. Further. The Apostles, Acts xv. 29, decree that
those who were then converted to Christianity of Gentiles,
should abstain from things offered in sacrifice to idols. Which,
being done to comply with the Jews, manifestly signifies that
they were to abstain from those meats, as meats of God's
making, notwithstanding that the eating of them implied no
communion with the sacrificing to idols. For it is a thing
certain, by the examples of Daniel and his fellows, Dan. i. 9,
of Tobit, i. 11, 12, and Judith, xii. 2, 3, 4, 19, that the Jews,
from the time of their captivity, when they could not avoid
conversing with the Gentiles, had taken upon them to abstain
not only from things really sacrificed to idols, but from most
things that came out of Gentile hands, because there was
some presumption that a part of most kinds for first-fruits,
had been consecrated to idols, the rest being by those first-
fruits polluted, as dedicated to idols. Therefore, in those
places alleged, it appears that they forbore all meats and
drinks that came from the Gentiles.
§ 19. Neither can there be reason to think it a folly which
the Jews tell us, that Nehemiah, being cup-bearer to the
king, was dispensed with for drinking the wine of the Gen
tiles. For why should we think him less scrupulous of the
law than those afore named ? About this wine of the Gen
tiles, and consequently other kinds, there are many nice and
Cited before in Rel. Assembl., y- Rel. Assembl., chap. viii. seett.
chap. viii. sect. 41. 41,42.
e e 2

420 OF THE PRINCIPLES
book scrupulous decisions in the Jews' constitutions, the ground
 :  whereof, you may see by the premises, is more ancient than
the beginning of Christianity. And this is that wherein the
Apostles order the Gentile Christians to comply with the
Jewish, to satisfy them that there was no intent of falling from
that God who gave their law, in those that turned Christians.
§ 20. And this decree St. Paul delivers to the Churches of
his foundation to be observed, Acts xvi. 4. Which notwith
standing, writing to the Corinthians, he manifestly distin
guishes between the eating of things sacrificed to idols
materially, as God's creatures, without enquiring whether so
sacrificed or not, and formally, when notice must needs be taken
that they are such, 1 Cor. viii. 7, instancing in two cases ;
first, when this is done, not only in the company of idolaters,
but in a house of idols, 1 Cor. viii. 10; secondly, when a
man being invited by idolaters, knows that they entertain him
with the remains of things sacrificed to idols, part of which,
as the first-fruits whereby the rest was consecrated, were
first consumed upon the Altar, whereby they that made the
feasts professed to communicate with their altars, that is,
with their idols, which were devils, 1 Cor. x. 19 — 30.
§ 21. In these two cases then the Apostle, forbidding them
to eat things sacrificed to idols — lest they might give occasion
to those that understood not what they did to communicate
in idolatries — manifestly allows them, when that considera
tion takes no place, to eat that which the Apostles had for
bidden to eat, intending to forbid the meats of the Gentiles,
for compliance with the Jews, in the distance they kept from
idolaters. And truly the same is manifestly to be gathered
from that which he orders among the Romans, xiv. 2, 3, 20,
21, neither to condemn one another for not observing that
difference of meats, which, by the law, then obliged ; nor yet
to use such meats, in case it might scandalize those that were
of the law, to think that Christianity stands not with it.
Whereby it is evident that he allows them that which the
Apostles had forbidden, because it is evident that this is one
of those differences which Jews, by the law, were bound to
make. If, therefore, there be this difference in the Scrip
tures, it is manifest that the letter of them doth not determine
what obliges.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 421
§ 22. So again, the same Apostle, 1 Cor. xi. 1 — 16, dis- CHAP.
I64puteth at large, that men ought not, but women ought, to  —
cover their heads at praying or prophesying in the Church.
For the intent whereof, though it hath been the subject of
whole books1 in this age, I conceive I need go no further than
Tertullian's book De Virginibus Velandis™, who, living so
much nearer the Apostles, knew better the customs of their
Churches than all the critics of this time. He disputes the
case in question then, whether virgins had a privilege not to
veil their faces at divine service, by arguing that they cannot
be excepted from St. Paul's words, and alleging the example
of the Church of Corinth, where, at that very time, the
virgins veiled their faces at divine service as other women
did. Which whether it tie the Church or not at this time, it
will scarce be granted by those who now practise it not.
§ 23. And in another place, 1 Tim. v. 3 — 6, he sheweth
there was then an order of widows, whose maintenance he
ordereth to come from the stock of the Church, as likewise
how they are to be qualified and how employed ; of which
order there is no where any step remaining in the Church at
present, though nothing be more imperative than the order
concerning it. So the precept of the Apostle serves not to
oblige the Church at present, though by Scripture. And if I
may use the argument ad hominem, upon the supposition of
those that I dispute with, who intend not to take any thing
for true which I prove not, as debating the principles of
Christian truth ; it is manifest that the Apostle, James v. 14,
appointeth that the sick be anointed with oil, together with
prayers, as well for the recovery of their health as for the for
giveness of their sins. Which, it is manifest that it cannot
appear not to oblige the Church at this time by virtue of
that Scripture which enjoineth it. And therefore, to say
nothing at present, whether it do indeed oblige the now
1 As for instance Cl. Salmasii Ep. usus est: neque virginem nominans,
ad AndreamColvium de Caesarie Viro- ut ostenderet dubitandum de velanda
rum et Mulierum Coma. Lugd. Bat. non esse, et omnem nominans mulie-
1644. rem, cum nominasset virginem. Sic
m ' Si quis,' inquit, ' contentiosus est, et ipsi Corinthii intellexerunt. Hodie
nos talem consuetudinem non habemus, denique virgines suas Corinthii velant.
neque Ecclesia Dei.' Ostendit conten- Quid docuerint Apostoli qui didice-
tionem aliquam de ista specie fuisse runt, approbant — Cap. viii. p. 312.
ad quam extinguendam toto compendio ed. Pam. Rothomag. 1662.

422 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK Church or not, those that believe it doth not oblige, cannot
— ~  be able to give a reason why it obligeth not, by the Scripture
alone. § 24. And this is the argument whereby I prove that the
interpretation of Scripture, as concerning matter of law to
the Church — or the means to be used in determining what
obligeth, what not — cannot transgress the tradition and prac
tice of the Church. Because, that which is propounded in
the Scriptures as mere matter of fact may oblige, and that
which is propounded as matter of precept creating right, may
not oblige, the Scripture not determining whether it intend
that obligation to be universal or not. For having shewed
afore11, that the Church is a society instituted by God, to
which these rules are given, as laws, to govern it, in the exer
cise of those offices wherein the communion thereof consist
ed! ; all reasonable men must grant, that as the intent and
meaning of all laws is to be gathered from the primitive and
original practice of that society for wrhich they were made, so
is the reason of all orders delivered to the Church by the
Apostles, and by consequence their intent, how far they were
to oblige, to be measured by the first and most ancient prac
tice of the Church which first had them to use.
§ 25. Whereunto let us add these considerations ; that the
orders delivered the Church by the Apostles were of neces
sity in force before mention can be made of them in their
writings ; that the writing of them is neither the reason why
they oblige, nor a thing thereunto requisite, but merely super
venient to the force of them ; and that there is sufficient
evidence that those motives0 to believe which the Scripture
recordeth but cannot evidence, are nevertheless true; and,
that the truth of those motives cannot be evident, but by the
society of the Church which the said laws do maintain. For
upon these considerations, it will appear necessarily conse
quent, that as there be Apostolical traditions which the Scrip
ture evidently witnesseth, so evidence may be made of them
without Scripture.
§ 26. The rule of St. Augustine p how to discern what tra-
" ChaP- vi- sectt- *. 5- conciliis institutum, sed sernner reten
• "Seasons of credibiity."-MSS. turn est, non nisi i^SS 1^-
p Quod umversa tenet ecclesia, nee lica traditum rectissime creditur —De

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 423
ditions do indeed come from the Apostles, is well enough chap.
known to be this, to wit, that which is observed over all the — XXI' —
Church, though it cannot be discerned when, where, or by tiiie'sUru"e"
whom it came first in force — that is, in his times, by the °tf0j^f°f
authority of what synod it was settled — that must be deemed traditions.
and taken to come from the authority of the Apostles them
selves. I will not use the terms of synod or synods, because
I conceive the Church was from the beginning11, by virtue of
165 the perpetual intelligence and correspondence settled and
used between the parts of it, a standing synod, even when
there was no assembly of persons authorized to consent in
behalf of their respective Churches ; such things as became
requisite to be determined in any Church being thereby so
communicated to the rest, as the order taken in one, either to
be accepted by them or redressed.
§ 27. Neither will I say that the rule is so effectual as it is
true. For I cannot warrant how general the practice of
every thing that may come in question can appear to have
been over the whole Church, nor whether it may appear to
have begun from some act of the Church, to be designed by
some place or persons, or not ; which in St. Augustine's time,
I doubt not, might be made to appear, and being made to
appear, would maintain the rule to be true. Nor have I need
of any such rule as may serve to discern whatsoever may be
come questionable, whether it come from the Apostles them
selves or not : it shall suffice me here to presume thus much,
that no man can prescribe against any rule of the Church,
that it comes not from the Apostles, because it is not recorded
in the Holy Scriptures.
§ 28. And therefore, that nothing hindereth competent
Bapt. contra Donat, lib. iv. cap. xxiv. se diffundit Ecclesia. — Ep. liv. ad In-
tom. ix. col. 140. ed. Ben. quis. Januar., cap. i. torn. ii. col. 124.
Ilia autem qua; non scripta sed tra- ed. Ben.
dita custodimus, quae quidem toto ter- ' Cum vero par sit ratio, sive Epi-
rarum orbe servantur, datur intelligi scopi in unum conveniant locum ad
vel ab ipsis Apostolis, vel plenariis determinanda varia, sive dispersi in
conciliis, quorum est in Ecclesia salu- idem consentiant, totius Ecclesiae per
berrima auctoritas, commendata atque orbem dispersae consensus eandem cum
statuta retineri, sicuti quod Domini conciliorum generalium decretis vim
passio et resurrectio et ascensio in habet, atque adeo non minus quam
ccelum, et adventus de coelo Spiritus concilia inter demonstrandi principia
Sancti, anniversaria solemnitate cele- referri debet. — Gmeiner Xav. Instit.
brantur, et si quid aliud tale occurrit Juris Ecclesiastici, § 16. torn. i. p. 7.
quod servatur ab universa, quacumque Graecii, 1 792.

424 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK evidence to be made ofthe authority ofthe Apostles, in some
 orders of the Church, of which there is no mention in the
Scriptures. Correspondently to that which was settled aforer
concerning the rule of faith, that no man can prescribe against
any thing questionable, that it is no part of it, because it is
not evident in Scripture ; or because such arguments may be
made against it out of the Scriptures, which every one, whose
salvation it concerns, is not able evidently to assoil. And all
this being determined, I intend nevertheless that it still shall
remain questionable how far these orders of the Apostles
oblige the Church : because I intend not to prescribe from all
this, that those orders which shall appear to have been brought
in by the Apostles may not become useless to the Church.

CHAPTER XXII.
THE AUTHORITY OF THE FATHERS IS NOT GROUNDED UPON ANY PRESUMP
TION OF THEIR LEARNING OR HOLINESS. HOW PAR THEY CHALLENGE
THE CREDIT OF HISTORICAL TRUTH. THE PRE-EMINENCE OF THE PRI
MITIVE. THE PRESUMPTION THAT IS GROUNDED UPON THEIR RANKS
AND QUALITIES IN THE CHURCH. OF ARNOBIUS, LACTANTIUS, TERTUL
LIAN, OP.IGEN, CLEMENS, AND THE APPROBATION OF POSTERITY.
The au- These things being said, we have got ground for a reso-
the'fathers lution in the dispute concerning the authority of the fathers
is not jn matters questionable concerning Christianity, and the inter-
grounded x . .
upon any pretation of the Scriptures. For truly, did the credit of those
tion of things which they affirm consist in the reputation of their
learning holiness or learning, whether or no the premises be true, the
' ' ' ' ]' consequence would be lame. He that could make a question

ness.

of the godliness and of the Christianity of those persons to
whom we owe the maintenance and propagation of Chris
tianity under God— by preserving Christ's flock from the con
tagion of heresies, by entertaining the unity of the Church,
and by laying down their lives for the truth — must, by con
sequence, question, though not that Christianity which he
hath fancied, yet that which was delivered by the Apostles.'
Which notwithstanding, if the Holy Ghost that was in them
to save them, by saving the common Christianity, hath not
given the Church evidence that He was given them to pre-
Sectt. I, 2, above, and chap. v. sect. 1.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 425
serve them from error in understanding the Scriptures, we CHAP.
. XXII
wrong them, and the Holy Ghost in them, if we take the — : — —
truth of their doctrine upon their credit.
§ 2. For though the having of the Holy Ghost presupposeth
the profession of Christianity, as I have shewed8, yet that
importeth no evidence to warrant the truth of all that they
might say in defence or interpretation of it. And though
their learning, in that which is proper to Christians, that is,
their skill in the Scriptures, be such as these ages, that boast
so much of learning, can never equal, because they made it in
a manner their whole business of study ; and though some of
them, as Clemens, Tertullian, Origen, and St. Hierome, that
looked about them for further helps to the defence ancl inter-
166 pretation of Christianity, may well challenge the curiosity of
these times for great knowledge ; yet because man's wit is
always fruitful in that which it is employed about, and may
still be well employed in clearing the true intent of Chris
tianity and the Scriptures, so long as there are contrary opi
nions and sects which cannot all be true, I will not create any
prejudice to the learning of this time* upon that score, which,
it is evident, may and doth employ more helps of learning,
than they ever did employ, towards the understanding of the
Scriptures. § 3. Two privileges there are belonging to the fathers of How far
the Church which no man that writes in these days can pre- \eX)ge the"
tend to, how godly, how learned soever he may be. The j^j' of,
first is that of their age and time, creating an infallible trust, truth.
in point of historical truth, concerning the state of Chris
tianity during those ages in which they lived, or which they
5 Chap. iii. sect. 3. which were not known to former ages :
* (( Two words only I add. One is, and divers of tbe learned in the
that notwithstanding all tbat is pre- Roman Church have not feared to pro
tended from antiquity, a Bishop having nounce, that whosoever denies the true
sole power of ordination and jurisdic- and literal sense of many texts of Scrip-
tion will never be found in prime an- ture to have been found out in this
tiquity. The other is, that many of last age, is unthankful to God, who
the fathers did unwittingly bring forth hath so plentifully poured forth His
that Antichrist which was conceived in Spirit upon the children of this gene-
the times of the Apostles, and therefore radon ; and ungrateful towards those
are incompetent judges in the question men who with so great pains, so happy
of hierarchy. And upon the other part, success, and so much benefit to God's
the lights ofthe Christian Church at Church, have travailed therein." — Hen-
and since the beginning of the reforma- derson's Second Paper. King Charles's
tion have discovered many secrets con- Works, vol. i. pp. 171, 172. London,
cerning the Antichrist and his hierarchy 1662.

426 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK might know. This is that which neither Pagans, nor Jews,
 T- nor Mahometans can refuse them any more than Christians
can refuse to believe them in matters of fact, which they re
late, not as things done in private — which themselves with a
few more may pretend to have had means to know — but
which were visible to the world at such time as they wrote,
and wherein, had they been otherwise, they might have been
reproved, as imposing upon the world not the belief of that
which doth not appear to be true, but of that which doth
appear to be untrue.
§ 4. Neither do I demand that upon this score their credit
be admitted any further than that which I have premised will
enforce. For if I have well concluded11 that the Church is a
society instituted by our Lord Christ and His Apostles, in
trust for the maintenance and propagation of Christianity,
contained in the Holy Scriptures which He deposited with it;
then is the sense of that time which is nearest the age of the
Apostles a legal presumption of the truth of that which it was
trusted with. And as all writers that relate things subject to
the sense of all men as well as their own, have the credit of
historical truth, and Church writers in matters of fact con
cerning the Church of their respective ages — the state thereof
being always visible — so those that write under the first ages
of the Church, though competent authors for the truth of
nothing in Christianity — for then why should not Christianity
be believed upon their credit ? — yet must be admitted as un
questionable witnesses of that Christianity which came hot
and tender from the forge of our Lord and His Apostles.
§ 5. Nor do I complain that any man refuses them upon
this score v. But when I see how many, pretending to search
the Scriptures, and the truth of things questioned in Chris
tianity, never make use of any information they might have
from them, to argue thereupon the true sense of the Scrip
tures — who, if they were to expound any author of human
learning, would count him a madman that should neglect the
records of those authors that lived nearest the same time, and
perhaps do themselves employ the writings of Jews and
Pagans in expounding the very Scriptures — I cannot choose
" chaP- viii- sect- 9- their age must be presumed to wit-
v "As those which by reason of ness." — MSS.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 427
but take it as a mark of prejudice against some truth, that men chap.
care not to be informed of the primitive Christianity, lest con  -^—

sequences might be framed against some prejudices of their
own, which, supposing only the credit of historical truth,
might prove undeniable.
§ 6. And here I must needs marvel at the Cardinal du The pre-
Perron's* demand, that the trial of what is to be thought ofthT06
Catholic — or universally received in the whole Church 0fpnmitlve-
God — should proceed chiefly, or at least necessarily, upon the
testimonies of those writers which lived about the fourth cen
tury of years from Christ, as that which flourished most for
number and learning of writers. For seeing the authority of
Church writers is not grounded upon presumption of their
learning, and that the credit of historical truth cannot be
denied even the single witness of those that wrote when they
were more scarce, and less knowing, at least in secular studies.
§ 7. But what is primitive, what accessory, is not to be
discovered but by the state of those times which were before
additions could be made ; he that demands to be tried by the
times of three hundred years' distance from the original —
wherein what change may have fallen out, not presumption
but historical truth must determine — I say, he that demands
this trial, demands not to be tried. Not that I would deny
167 the writers of that age, and such as follow, the credit which
their time, in the consideration now on foot, allows ; but that
the resolution of what is original and primitive must not come
from the testimony thereof, but from the comparison of it with
the testimony of those ages that went afore.
§ 8. The second consideration, in which the writings of the The pre-
fathers are valuable, cometh from that which is now proved, th™flon
that is, from the society of the Church, and the unity thereof; grounded
from whence it follows, that what is found to be taught in the rank and
Church by men authorized by the communion thereof, and ^theieS Church.
1 Et partant ayant a choisir un miers conciles, ne nous fournisse une
temps auquel il nous soit besoin non instruction, et un information beau-
eeulement d' estre d'accord, que l'Eglise coup plus universelle, expresse et dis-
qui subsistoit lors, estoit encore la tincte, que celle des siecles precedents ;
vraye Eglise ; mais auquel la face en- et principalement la prenant comme
tiere de la doctrine nous soit entiere- nous faisons, non separement, et avec
ment, parfaictement et distinctement exclusion des autres, mais conjointe-
representee ; il n'y a nul doute que pour ment et avec inclusion. — RepHque a
ce second article, que l'estat de l'Eglise la Response du Roy de la Grand Bre-
subsistente au temps des quatre pre- tagne, p. 634. Paris, 1633.

428 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK qualified to teach, and that without contradiction, is not con-
 -  trary to the rule of faith, but, if it be taught with one consent,
it is part of it.
§ 9. Without contradiction, I mean here, when a man is
not charged to transgress the faith of the Church in that
which he teacheth, much less disowned by the Church for
teaching it. Not when no man is found to hold a contrary
opinion, which always falls out in things disputable. For the
communion of the Church necessarily importeth that a man
qualified with authority in it profess nothing contrary to that
faith, the profession whereof qualifies all to be of the Church:
though other things there be many wherein a man may be
allowed, not only to believe, but to profess contrary to that
which another professes, and yet qualified, not only to be of
the Church, but to bear that authority which the society
thereof constituteth.
§ 10. The name therefore of fathers importeth at least
some part of that superiority which the Church giveth, and
therefore belongeth not properly to those that are not so
qualified, though they that are not so qualified may be the
authors of such writings as have the lot to remain to posterity.
But the authority of fathers, which is grounded upon this
presumption, that persons qualified, in the Church teach no
thing contrary to the faith of it, because their quality in the
Church would become questionable if they should teach that
which agrees not with the faith of the Church ; this autho
rity, I say, cannot appear in the writings of private Chris
tians, because the Church is no further chargeable by allow
ing him the communion of the Church, who declareth to
believe only that which indeed contradicts the rule of faith,
than of taking no notice what a private man professes to
think, out of that ignorance which may beseem a capacity of
being better informed.
Of Amo- §11. Hereupon it is that I think it no exception to the due
tantius.aC" authority of the fathers, that Arnobius or Lactantius should
be utterly disdained^ in some particulars. The one, known
to have been a novice in Christianity when he wrote and
writing, as St. Hierome2 testifies, to declare himself a Chris-
t <<Disclaimed.''-MSS. Sicca; apud Africam, florentissime
» Arnobius sub Diocletiano pnncipe, Rhetoncam docuit; scripsitque adver-

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 429
tian by trying his style — as being master of a school of eio- CHAP.
quence — in defence thereof against the Gentiles, had, it —  —
seems, the ill chance to light upon some writings of the
Gnostics, according to Saturninus or Basilides ; and, taking
them for Christians, because they affected to go under that
name, translated their monstrous opinions into his work, as
points of Christianity. The other, whether a novice or no I
cannot say, marked nevertheless by St. Hierome% as one
more able to refute Gentilism than to give an account of
Christianity — and therefore to have been converted to Chris
tianity, but not to have learned it — what presumption a dis
creet man can make of Christianity by his book let every
discreet man judge.
§ 12. I will not say the like of Justin the martyr, a man [Character
who hath deserved far more of Christianity, by renouncing Martyr!]
the world, and taking upon him the profession and habit of a
philosopher among the Gentiles, thereby to gain opportunity
of maintaining Christianity on all occasions which the heathen
philosophers took to maintain the positions of their several
sects. A resolution truly generous and Christian. In the
mean time, having in him more of a philosopher than of a
scholar, and gathering his knowledge rather from travel and
conversation than from reading, it is no marvel if he hath
suffered many impostures, at least in matters of historical
truth, which, he that should demand that the Church should
answer, as allowing his books to be read, would be very un
reasonable ; when, as bearing no rank in the Church above
that of all Christians, for any thing that I can perceive, if he
should have mistaken himself in any thing nearly concern
ing the substance of Christianity, his eminent merits towards
168 the Church might have been of force to have drowned all
consideration of them, and given his writings passport to
posterity notwithstanding.
§ 13. I will not extend this consideration to the writings Tertullian,
of Clemens Alexandrinus, of Origen, and of Tertullian ; the Clemens.
last whereof, that is Tertullian, belongs not to this rank,
having put himself out of the communion of the Church, by
sum gentes, quae vulgo extant volu- eloquentiffl Tullianae, utinam tarn nos-
mina. — Cat. Script. Eccles. 79. torn. iv. tra affirmare potuisset, quam facile
col. 121. ed. Ben. aliena destruxit. — Ep. i. ad Paulin.,
" Lactantius quasi quidam fluvius torn. iv. col. 567. ed. Ben.

430 OF THE PRINCIPLES
book making a party against the Church of Carthage, upon the
 h  pretences of the Montanists. The second, that is Origen,
whatsoever opinions he had, cannot be said either to have
held them so resolutely or to have professed them so publicly,
that those that were nearest him could be thought accessories
to themb. And therefore, as his very great merits of the
Church otherwise held him in his rank in the Church during
his time, so his extravagancies cannot impeach that authority
which others, and he also in such things as he agrees with
them in, do truly purchase by the allowance of the Church.
The same is to be said of his master, Clemens, whose writings,
as they are not so many, so neither his extravagancies so great
and considerable.
§ 14. But even these eccentrical writers, by being marked for
positions particular to them, besides the credit of historical
truth — which, in times nearest the Apostles, is of great con
sequence to inform us of the primitive state of Christianity,
and therefore of incomparable value towards the settling of a
right judgment in all things now questionable — I say, beside
that which is common to them with all writers, they get, by
the exceptions which are made against them, the advantage
of a rule of law in the rest ; that is to say, that setting aside
those points in which they are excepted against, they are
according to the rule of faith in things not excepted against.
And the § 15. In fine, the authority of the whole Church is found
tTon'of'" t° ^e expressly engaged in all things that have passed into
posterity, effect, either from the determination of synods — which, hav
ing been assembled by the free consent thereof, have been
received by the like free consent, whether all or part were
present at the synod — or from the act of any particular
Church, the proceeding and grounds whereof hath been
approved of, and received into effect by the whole. Which,
in some measure, may be said of the writings of particular
doctors: inasmuch as it is manifest that extravagant doctrines
may have been published in several parts of the Church,
which particular doctors may have employed their pens to
contradict, before any Church had employed any censure to
condemn. As by Epiphanius0 in the heresy of the Origenists,
" " Approvers of them."— MSS. K*ff eiprf>v ruv iirb rod ueucapinv
c Tavra pev ovy etrrw into uioovs WeBoSlov, toC Kai Eb/3ovAlov Ttepl roi

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 431
it appeareth that Origen was contradicted by Methodius. If c H A P.
therefore such extravagances so contradicted be extinguished, xxn-
such writings have continued cherished by the Church, it is
evidence enough that the Church itself is engaged in the
condemnation of those extravagances which have been sup
pressed by the means of such writings.
§ 16. And all this serves to maintain and evidence the society
of the Church and the influence of it in those acts whereby
Christianity hath been maintained and propagated from our
Lord and His Apostles. But, for the present, the question
concerning only the rule of faith, that which hath been said
shall suffice to ground this prescription, that whatsoever the
Church may appear unanimously to have agreed in, and to
have allowed no contradiction to it, that may and doth as
evidently appear to belong to the rule of faith, as evidently
it may and doth appear that the society of the Church, freely
acted by itselfj hath given such consent. And therefore this
prescription will infer nothing when it may by any means
appear that the consent of the Church, and the freedom which
is requisite to the validity thereof, hath been anticipated or
overswayed by any means intercepting that intercourse and
correspondence by the which it appeareth. In the mean
time, the interpretation of the Scriptures is to be confined
within the bounds of that which the whole Church from the
beginning hath taught, when as, by the means hitherto de
monstrated, it may be evidenced in things that become
questionable.
699 CHAPTER XXIII.
TWO INSTANCES AGAINST THE PREMISES, BESIDE THE OBJECTION CONCERN
ING THE BEGINNING OF ANTICHRIST UNDER THE APOSTLES. THE GENE
RAL ANSWER TO IT. THE SEVEN TRUMPETS IN THE APOCALYPSE FORE
TELL THE DESTRUCTION OF THE JEWS. THE SEVEN VIALS, THE PLAGUES
INFLICTED UPON THE EMPIRE FOR THE TEN PERSECUTIONS. THE COR
RESPONDENCE of Daniel's prophecy inferreth the same, neither
st. paul's prophecy nor st. John's concerneth any christian.
neither the opinion of the chiliast's, nor the giving of the eu
charist TO INFANTS NEW BAPTIZED, CATHOLIC.
Before I leave this point I must here take notice of two Two in-
instances against that which I have said. The first is the stanceLh
irpoeipTjfievov 3 Q.pty4vovs teal rrjs avrov t$ avrcp trepl hav '(rr&creoos \6ycp, — Hse-
di& <ro<pt<TTiKjjs Tr\dj/T]s KCLKoiTiffTias, 4v res. lxiv. num. 63. p. 590. Colon, 1682.

432

OF THE PRINCIPLES

BOOK I.
premisesbeside the
objectionconcerning the
beginningof Anti
christ under the
Apostles.

opinion of the Millenaries, which is said to be the general
opinion of the primitive fathers'1, Justin the martyr, Cle
mens Alexandrinus, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Victorinus the mar
tyr, Lactantius, and I know not how many more. So that
universal antiquity will prescribe nothing in matter of faith,
when we see so general an error of the most ancient corrected
by their successors. The other e, in the custom of giving the
Eucharist to infants, as soon as they were baptized, pretended
to be so general, that no practice of the Church can con
clude any thing to come from the Apostles, to him that
avoweth this to have been well and duly changed by the
Church that is.
§ 2. There is besides these a more general objection'

d " First then, that the Chiliasts are
heretics or your Church not infallible,
which counts them so, is most certain
and most plain ; and if you be in the
right, and that she teacheth nothing but
what she hath received uninterruptedly
down from the Apostles, then they must
always have been esteemed so by Chris
tians ; whereas their doctrine is so far
from having any tradition against it, that
if any opinion, whether controverted or
uncontroverted — except that Scripture
which never was doubted — may with
out blushing pretend to have that for it,
it must be this of theirs. My reasons
are these : — The fathers of the purest
ages — who were the Apostles' disciples,
but once removed — did teach this as
received from them, who professed to
have received it from the Apostles, and
who seemed to them witnesses beyond
exception, tbat they had done so, they
being better judges what credit tbey
deserved, than after comers could pos
sibly be." — Lord Faulkland's Reply,
pp. 71, 72. London, 1651.
Chillingworth repeats the same ar
gument thus : — " Por both the most
eminent fathers of that time, and even
all whose monuments are extant, or
mention made of them, viz. Justin Mar
tyr, Irenasus, Tertullian, Melito Sar-
densis agree in the affirmation of this
point, and none of their contemporary
writers oppose or condemn it. And be
sides they speak not as doctors, but as
witnesses, not as of their own private
opinion, but as Apostolic tradition and
the doctrine of the Church." — Answer
to some passages in Rushworth's Dia
logues, p. 113. London, 1687.
e "That infants are not to receive

the Eucharist, is now both the doctrine
and practice of the Roman Church, but
six hundred years the Church used it ;
St. Austin accounted it necessary at
least in some sense of the word, if not
absolutely — which last is most likely,
because from the necessity of that,
which could not be received but by them
who had received baptism, he and In-
nocentius, a pope, prove the necessity
of baptism — an Apostolical tradition."
— Lord Faulkland's Reply, p. 82. Lon
don, 1651.
Chillingworth, in the place above-
mentioned, puts this argument forward
thus ; " This custom in short time grew
universal, and in St. Austin's time
passed currently for an Apostolic tra
dition, and the Eucharist was thought
as necessary for them as baptism. This
custom the Church of Rome hath again
cast out, and in so doing professed either
her no regard to the traditions of the
Apostles, or that this was none of that
number. But yet she cannot possibly
avoid hut that this example is a proof
sufficient that many things may get in
by error into the Church, and by degrees
obtain the esteem and place of Apostolic
traditions which yet are not so." — P.
110. London, 1687.
1 " Secondly, I do humbly desire
your Majesty to take notice of the fal
lacy of that argument, from the prac
tice of the primitive Church, and the
universal consent of the fathers. It is
the argument of the Papists for such
traditions as no orthodox divine will
admit. The law and testimony must
be the rule. We can have no certain
knowledge of the practice universal of
the Church for many years ; Eusebius

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

433

against the testimony of the Church in any matter of Chris
tianity, rising from St. Paul's prophecy, 2 Thess. ii. 2, 1, 14,
that the mystery of iniquity was then in work, till he that
hindered were out of the way, not to be revealed. Which is
pretended to be the corruption of Christianity by such as pro
fessed to be of the Church, then begun, not to be declared
till the rise of the papacy, by the fall of the empire : or, as
the Socinians e will have it, till after the death ofthe Apostles,

CHAP. XXIII.

the prime historian confesseth so much ;
the learned Josephus Scaliger testifieth
that from the end of the Acts of the
Apostles until a good time after, no
certainty can be had from ecclesiastical
authors about Church matters. It is
true Diotrephes sought the pre-emi
nence in the Apostles' times, and the
mystery of iniquity did then begin to
work ; and no doubt in after times some
puffed up with ambition, and others
overtaken with weakness, endeavoured
alteration of Church government: but
that all the learned and godly of those
times consented to such a change as is
talked of afterwards, will never be
proved." — Henderson's First Paper,
King Charles's Works, vol. i. pp. 160,
161. London, 1662.
6 Rem ergo illam dilatum iri Apo
stolus significat, donee is, qui Anti-
christo jam nascituro, atque in apertum
prodituro impedimentum objiciat, e
medio tollatur. Quinam vero is fuerit,
jure quasritur. Plerique imperatorem
Romanum fuisse volunt. Hunc enim
impediisse, quominus tyrannidem in-
vadere Antichristus posset. Eum au
tem tunc e medio sublatum seu amotum
non pauci censent, cum Roma cessit,
et imperii sui sedem alio transtulit. Eo
enim ipse locum imperio Antichristi
fecisse, qui eo prassente rerum plane
potiri, et solium tam sublime invadere
non potuerit. Sed cum Antichristi
ortus altius repetendus esse videatur,
possis per eum qui tunc retinuerit, Apo-
stolos eorumque socios intelligere, quos
Antichristianse impietati sese jam ex-
erenti obstitisse quis dubitet 1 Unde
iis viventibus, munerisque sui officium
administrantibus, non ita ausi fuere ii,
qui Antichristi spiritu atque afflatu
ducebantur, caput attollere ; iis vero
morte deletis, statim, ut vidimus, sese
erigere cceperunt, quotidieque plus ro-
boris assecuti sunt, donee tandem unus
aliquis emersit, qui casterorum caput
esset cui sententiee illud magis, quam
priori, favere videtur, primum, quod
THORNDIKE. Tt

Apostoli eorumque socii consilio, stu
dio, ac conatu, nascenti Antichristianas
impietati obstiterint : imperator Roma-
nus non nisi ex eventu, nee tam Anti
christi ortui quam increments : deinde
quod cum aliquem e medio tolli dici-
mus, mortem ejus atque interitum
significare soleamus. At cum impera-
tores sedem alio transtulerunt, non in
terfere. Apostoli autem per mortem
extincti sunt, et post eorum obitum, ut
ipsimet prasdixerunt, defectio a sincera
Christi doctrina ccepit, et latius sub-
inde serpsit. Neque vero buie sen-
tentias id videtur obstare, quod Aposto
lus, eum qui retineat, commemoret,
veluti de uno, non de pluribus lo-
quens. Quorum enim idem munus
est, idem sensus ac consilium, idem
actionum scopus, instar unius con-
siderari possunt Neque vero qui
imperatorem Romanum intelligent,
unum aliquem nominatim designari
putant, sed plures quorum alii aliis in
eodem munere successerint. Quicquid
sit, illud ex dictis satis constat, Anti-
christum jamdudum in lucem prodi-
isse. Quo magis repudianda illorum
est opinio, qui Antichristum venisse
negant, venturum autem sub mundi
iinem asserunt. Si enim ipsorum jam
Apostolorum tempore Antichristiana
iniquitas fuit in opere, et nihil aliud
restitit, quam ut is, qui ejus incremen
ts tunc obstabat, e medio tolleretur j
quis non videt, necesse esse, ut per tot
seecula tandem aliquando emerserit?
prassertim cum Pauli verba satis indi-
cent, eum, qui tunc detinuerit, non
adeo diu duraturum. Particula enim
nunc de eo bis usurpata, et secuturo
tempori opposita, ilia, quce tunc flue-
bant, ac vicina illis tempora denotat,
non vero tam longe ab iis remota
seecula. Ut taceamus satis conspi-
cuum esse eum, in quo ea extant quas
Antichristi propria esse, supra docui-
mus. — Volkel. de Vera Refigione, lib.
iii. cap. xl. col. 160.

434 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK at what time, as Hegesippush in Eusebius witnesseth, the
—  Church, that till then had continued a virgin, was deflowered
and defiled by mixing with adulterate doctrine. This objec
tion I have produced elsewhere1, and repeat it here, in the
first place, to be considered, as pretending here to make fuller
answer.
[Early cor- § 3. I excepted heretofore thus: that, unless they that
werenotof make this objection tie themselves to demonstrate wherein
doctrine.] t^at corruptjon consists^ which the Apostle says was then in
working under-hand ; it will be as free for Socinians to pre
tend that he means this corruption to consist in the faith of
the Trinity, and the satisfaction of Christ, and original sin, as
in any thing peculiar to the papacy. And that with so much
the more reason, because, if we make the Pope antichrist by
virtue of this Scripture, we must make him so for that which
is peculiar to the papacy, whereas the corruption here spoken
of concerns the whole Church, as well as that of Rome.
§ 4. Now I except more strongly, that, supposing the pur
pose of St. Paul to concern the corruption of the Church, that
corruption cannot consist in any thing, which, by sufficient
testimony, may appear to have been received in the Church
from the beginning. That is to say, to this bare surmise of
St. Paul's meaning, I have opposed all the reason that hath
been alleged to prove that, whatsoever hath been received in
the Church from the beginning, is either of the rule of faith,
or some custom introduced by the Apostles. But because
still, this is but an exception in bar to the objection, not in
resolution of the difficulty which groundeth it, I will proceed
further, to shew, that neither this prophecy, nor the Revela
tion of St. John is meant of those that professed Christianity,
either in corrupting it, or in persecuting Christians, but of the
professed enemies thereof, who persecuted the profession of
it, to wit the princes of the Roman empire.
The gene- § 5. To which purpose, having observed k that the whole
toitT*'' prophecy of the Revelation, from chap. v. to xx. consisting in
the vision of a book sealed with seven seals ; at opening the
seventh whereof, seven Angels are seen to blow seven trum-
f £{tit h?7 nV86^28: " RiSht of the Church, Review, chap.
» Right of the Church, chap. v. sect. v. sect. 30 — 53
54.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 435
pets; at blowing the seventh whereof, seven Angels come chap.
forth, and pour forth seven vials of God's judgments upon  -
170 the earth ; I now say further that the seven trumpets signify
the judgments of God poured forth upon the Jews in Jewry,
for refusing and persecuting the Gospel. The evidence
hereof is first, in that of Apoc. vii. 4 — 8, where there are sealed
an hundred and forty-four thousand, of every tribe twelve
thousand, to be preserved from the plagues of the seven seals,
to wit, the Christians of whom our Lord had said, Matt. xxiv.
31, Mark xiii. 20, that for the elect's sake, those days should
be shortened.
§ 6. For it is evident that this vision is presented St. John
upon occasion of the like, which he had read in Ezekiel ix.
4, 5, 6, in the like case, where the Angel is first commanded
to mark those that should be saved from the destruction which
he prophesieth. And therefore, where, in the beginning of
the chapter, he seeth four Angels standing at the four corners
of the earth, who are forbidden to hurt it, " till the servants of
God be marked;" it is manifest that this earth is not the
world, but the land of Jewry. Again, when it is said, xi.
1, 8, 13, that the Gentiles shall trample the outer court ofthe
temple, and that therefore St. John should not measure it, as
he is tied to measure the inner court and temple ; that the
carcasses of the two witnesses should lie in the streets of the
great city where our Lord was crucified, spiritually called
Sodom and Egypt ; that there was a great earthquake, which
cast down the tenth part of that city and killed seven thousand;
he that would see men pitifully crucify themselves by racking
the Scriptures, let him look upon them1 that engage them-
1 " By the inmost and measured Church is Ethnicismus Christianus.
court of the temple, I understand the By the witnesses in sackcloth I under-
church in her primitive purity, when, stand the mournful prophecy of God's
as yet, the Christian worship was un- true ministers during all that time, who,
prophaned, and answerable to the di- when towards the end of their days of
vine rule revealed from above  mourning they should be about to put
By the second, or outward, court tram- off their sackcloth, and leave their
pled by the Gentiles, and not to be lamentation — seeing the truth they
measured, I understand the apostasy witnessed beginning to take place by
under the man of sin, when the visible public reformation — the beast which
Church, being possessed by idolaters ascends out of the abyss shall slay
and idolatry like that of the Gentiles, them, and rejoice over them as dead
became so inconformable and inapt three days and an half, that is, so many
for divine measure, that it was to be years." — Mede's Summary View of the
cast out and accounted as prophane Apocalypse, pp. 1126, 1127. London,
and polluted. For the apostasy of the 1664.

436 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK selves not to understand by all this, the city of Jerusalem and
 '¦  the temple there.
§ 7. Further, what is the meaning that the hundred and
forty-four thousand are seen standing with the Lamb upon
mount Sion, xiv. 1, if they belong not to that people? What
is the meaning that afterwards, xiv. 19, 20, when the Angel
with the sickle had made the vintage, and cast it into the
wine-press of God's wrath, this wine-press is trod without the
city, the blood overflows to the space of a thousand and six
hundred furlongs ; but that the city of Jerusalem is meant,
and the judgment executed in the destruction thereof ex
pressed by the wine-press of God's wrath, which overflowed
all that compass without the city ?
§ 8. If these things cannot be, unless the sounding of the
seven trumpets, chap. viii. and ix, be understood to proclaim
the same vengeance ; let me ask what is the reason, that
having related what the sounding of them produced, he addeth,
ix. 20, 21, " The rest of men, that were not slain with these
plagues, neither repented of the works of their hands, so as
not to worship devils, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone,
and wood, which can neither see, nor hear, nor go : nor of their
murders, and witcheries, and whoredoms, and thefts." For
the Jews not being chargeable with idolatry at that time, nor
the consequences thereof, how should the rest be chargeable
for not repenting of the same ? For to say that covetousness
of silver, gold, and goods of brass, stone, or wood, is the
idolatry, and these the idols here meant, is to strain the Scrip
ture to an improper sense, whereof there is no argument in
the words. But if we say that the rest of men, that were not
slain with the Jews, are the Gentiles, to whom God by de
stroying Jerusalem, sent a warning to turn them from their
idols to Christianity, for persecuting whereof they saw the
Jews destroyed ; we say that the main scope of the whole
prophecy is couched in these words.
§ 9. And from hence we shall be able to give a reason,
why, having propounded— in the twelfth and thirteenth chap
ters — the subject of that vengeance which he seeth God to
take, by the vision of the seven vials, in the fifteenth and six
teenth chapters, he returneth to the remembrance of those
hundred and forty -four thousand that were marked to be saved,

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 437
and of the destruction of the rest of the Jews, xiv. 1—5, 14 — ^^,p-
20, of which I shall not easily believe that a reasonable ac-  —
count can be given otherwise. For having foretold the per
secution of Christians in those two chapters, the twelfth and
thirteenth, what could be more pertinent, than that he should
return to the remembrance of the saving of those that were
marked, and the destruction of Jerusalem, as a pattern of
comfort to Christians, to encourage them to endure, and of
terror to the Gentiles to refrain that fury ? And therefore, as
before, ix. 20, this intent had been signified, so it is most ex
pressly repeated by the proclamation of three Angels one after
another, xiv. 6, 8, 9 — 11, warning all to worship God alone,
171 not the beast of chapter xiii., and forewarning of the fall of
Babylon for her idolatries.
§ 10. Now I am to remember you, that after the sealing of The seven
the hundred and forty-four thousand Jewish Christians, there in the
appears before the throne of God so great a multitude as no iyp"e fore
man could number, of all nations, tribes, people, and languages, tell the de-
clothed in white robes, and singing praises to God. Which, ofthe
afterwards, are expounded by the Angel to be " those that
came out of the great tribulation, and had washed their robes
white in the blood of the Lamb," vii. 9, 14 ; that is to say, mar
tyrs. And further, that these are they who are seen at open
ing the fifth seal, standing beneath the Altar, and calling for
vengeance upon their blood, vi. 9, 10. Which vengeance be
gins to be executed by the seven trumpets. And the Angel
that throws down those coals of vengeance upon the earth,
from the Altar above, is said to put incense to the prayers of
the saints, viii. 3, 4, 5. So that the same censer sends up
perfume, that is those prayers, to the throne, and vengeance
down upon earth.
§ 11. Seeing then, that it is manifest to all, that at open
ing the first seal our Lord goes forth upon a white horse to
make war, vi. 2, who, after victory and revenge upon His
enemies, appears in the same likeness again, as triumphing
over His enemies, xix. 11 — 16, it will be requisite to under
stand the vision of opening the six seals to be a general pro
position of the whole prophecy, signifying the publishing of
the Gospel, and the prevailing thereof, through the vengeance
which God would execute upon the persecutors of it, Jews

438

OF THE PRINCIPLES

BOOK first, and afterwards Gentiles of the Roman empire, who would
 '-  not take warning by the destruction of Jerusalem, to turn from
persecuting the Gospel, to embrace Christianity. And therefore
the signification of the rest of the seals is common to both.
§ 12. For when he seeth a red horse to signify war, a
black horse to signify famine, and a pale horse to signify pes
tilence, vi. 3 — 8, it is manifest that all this agrees wonderfully
with that which our Lord had foretold should come to pass in
Jewry, as a preface to the destruction of Jerusalem, of wars,
famines, earthquakes, and pestilences, so as, notwithstanding,
the end not to be yet, Matt. xxiv. 6 — 15; Mark xiii. 5 — 10;
Luke xxi. 8 — 20. And yet it expresseth as punctually those
calamities of the world, which those of the empire did impute
to the sufferance of Christianity, when God indeed intended
thereby to punish them that embraced it not. Antiquity is
copious in this subject, that when these calamities fell out,
the Romans cried out upon the Christians as the only cause
of them. The beginning of Arnobius's™ dispute against the
Gentiles will satisfy you of it.

m Quoniam comperi nonnullos, qui se
plurimum sapere suis persuasionibus
credunt,insanire,baccharietvelut quid-
dam promptum ex oraculo dicere : post-
quam esse in mundo Christiana gens
coepit, terrarum orbem periisse, multi-
formibus malis affectum esse genus hu-
manum : ipsos etiam coalites derelictis
curis solennibus, quibus quondam so-
lebant invisere res nostras, terrarum ab
regionibus exterminatos. — P. 1. Lugd.
Bat. 1651.
Hsec coitio Christianorum merito
sane illicita, si illicitis par; merito
damnanda, si non dissimilis damnan-
dis, si quis de ea quaaritur eo titulo,
quo de factionibus querela est. In
cujus perniciem aliquando conveni-
mus ? hoc sumus congregati quod et
dispersi : hoc universi quod et singuli :
neminem lsedentes, neminem contris-
tantes. Cum probi, cum boni coeunt,
cum pii, cum casti congregantur, non
est factio dicenda, sed curia. At e
contrario illis nomen factionis accom-
modandum est, qui in odium bonorum
et proborum conspirant, qui adversum
sanguinem innocentium conclamant,
prsetexentes sane ad odii defensionem
illam quoque vanitatem, quod existi-
nient omnis publican cladis, omnis
popularis incommodi Christianos esse

causam. Si Tiberis ascendit ad mcenia,
si Nilus non ascendit in arva, si ccelum
stetit, si terra movit, si fames, si lues,
statim Christianos ad leonem. — Tertul
lian. Apologet, capp. xxxix., xl., p. 70.
ed. Pam. Rothomag. 1662.
Sed enim cum dicas plurimos con-
queri quod bella crebrius surgant, quod
lues, quod fames saeviant, quodque
imbres et pluvias serena longa suspen-
dant nobis imputari, tacere ultra non
oportet ;  Dixisti per nos fieri, et
quod nobis debeant imputari omnia
ista, quibus nunc mundus quatitur et
urgetur, quod dii vestri a nobis non
colantur  Quod autem crebrius
bella continuant, quod sterilitas et
fames solicitudinem cumulant, quod
SEevientibus morbis valetudo frangitur,
quod humanum genus luis populatione
yastatur, et hoc scias esse prasdictum,
in novissimis temporibus multiplicari
mala et adversa variari, et appropin-
quante jam judicii die magis ac magis
in plagas generis humani censuram
Dei indignantis accendi. Non enim,
sicut tua falsa querimonia, et imperitia
veritatis ignara jactat et clamitat, ista
acciduirt, quod dii vestri a rfobis non
colantur, sed quod a vobis non colatur
Deus.— S. Cyprian. Lib. ad Demetrian.,
pp. 216, 217, ed. Ben.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 439
§ 13. When, therefore, the persecution of Christianity was CHAP.
both begun in Jewry — as the Acts of the Apostles inform us —  —

and prosecuted in the empire, it will be against the truth of the
case, to restrain the cry of the souls under the Altar, upon the
opening of the fifth seal, either to those that suffered by the
Jews or by the empire. Now he that peruseth that which is
said to have come to pass upon the opening of the sixth seal,
Apoc. vi. 12 — 17, might have cause to think that he reads the
destruction of the world, but that it is evident both that the
destruction of Jerusalem is prophesied by our Lord by the like
expressions — which the prophets also of the Old Testament
do use in describing the vengeance which God taketh upon
the nations — and also, that this prophecy expresses a large
time for Christianity to continue in the world, after this ven
geance taken by God upon the enemies of it. And therefore
we must believe that those have reason, who refer the effect
of it no less to the great change that fell out in the world
upon the ceasing of the persecution of Diocletian, and the
coming of the empire into the hands of the Christians, than
to the destruction of Jerusalem.
§ 14. For when could it be said more justly that the world
was in an earthquake, " that the sun became like hair cloth,
and the moon like blood, that the stars fell to the earth, as a
fig-tree shaken with a great wind casts her figs, that the
heavens passed away as a book folded up, and the mountains
arid islands were removed out of their places" — if ever such
things could justly be said by the prophets to express great
alterations to fall out in the world — than when those tyrants,
and by consequence all their ministers, for shame that they
were not able to root up Christianity, gave up the design with
172 their power, and left the empire to strangers, which, in a few
years, fell into the hands of Constantine, and the Christians
his ministers ? When could it be more justly said that " the
kings and great ones of the earth, the rich, the captains, and
the nobles, the bond and the free, hid themselves in caves
and rocks of the mountains, saying to them, Fall on us and
hide us from the face of Him that sits on the throne, and
from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of His wrath
is come, and who can stand?" than when the persecutors,
some gave up the design, others proclaimed the hand of God

440 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK upon them, and all their ministers saw Christianity, which
 h  they had persecuted, to flourish, and their powers possessed by
Christians? Which how strongly it inferreth — especially if
you take the premises along — that, the trumpets sounding the
vengeance taken upon the Jews, the vials must signify the
like upon the empire for the ten persecutions raised upon the
same pretence of rooting out Christianity — not by those that
profess Christianity, though indeed they corrupt it — I leave
to all the world to judge.
§ 15. Especially if we consider that which is often repeated
from the beginning of the prophecy, that the matter of it
must come to pass shortly, that they are happy that shall read
and observe it, and that to that purpose it is sent to the seven
Churches of Asia, as concerning them deeply; which, if it
concern vengeance to be taken of the blood of those that
suffered by the papacy, by consequence of the premises is yet
to come, at least the vengeance prophesied, and ten thousand
chances to one if ever it do come, while those that rack the
prophecy to signify it, are forced to prophesy themselves, with
out evidencing any commission for it ; and the seven Churches
in a manner suppressed by infidels, far enough from seeing
any thing of the effect of it, or any of those to whom St.
John can be supposed to speak when he sends it.
§ 16. And truly, supposing that the sound of the trumpets
concerns the Jews, which no reason refuses, no modesty
denies ; and supposing again, that St. John was not banished
into Patmos till Domitian's days, which is the original and
more probable report of Irenaeus11 — though some suppose he
was sent thither afore0, when Claudius's edict commanded all
" Ei yap eSei avatpavSbv r$ vvv Kaipq Asiae cum intelligeret Ephesi novam
K-qp&rretrQai rovvo/xa avrov, SC eKelvov existere sectam Judseorum, cujus prin-
av 4^e8rirov Kai r^v'AiroKoi?v.v<f/iv eapa- ceps esset Johannes, atque inde turbas
kAtos. oiiSe yap -irpb itoXKov xpdvov eu- oriri, quales illse quas describuntur Act.
p&Bri, a\\a trxeSov eitl rrjs ri/xerepas xix. scripsit de eo, ut credibile est, ad
yeveas, wpbs rcf reAet rijs Aofj-ermvoD Claudium peregrinis religionibus in-
hpxfis.—IAh. v. cap. xxx. p. 330. ed. imicum : cujus jussu Johannes, quasi
Ben. Vid. Euseb. Hist. Eccles., lib. v. seditiosus, deportatus est in insulam,
cap. viii. p. 173. ed. Vales. quae frequens poena eo tempore. . . .
• Fuisse autem Johannem in Patmo Firmat hanc de deportatione Johan-
Claudii jussu, et ibi visis illustratum, nis per Claudium facta sententiam, quod
tradidit Epiphamus in Alogis, non du- Johannes infra imperatores Romanos a
bium quin veteres secutus, et id verum Claudionumerare incipit, sicut tempora
puto. Nam et alii ante excisa Hieroso- Ezechiel a sua deportatione numerat.
lyma scnbi hunc hbrum ccepisse argu- Non obstat his, qua; diximus, id quod
mentis nonmalis colligunt. Proconsul ab aliis traditum est, a Domitiano Jo-

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 441
Jews to depart from Rome, because Epiphaniusp says that he C H A P.
prophesied under Claudius, and the pro-consul of Asia might,  —
as it was ordinary, command the same for that province which
the prince had at Rome ; for what probability can there be
that St. John should be forbidden Asia, when St. Paul was
permitted Achaia, as we find by the Acts ? — I say supposing
this, a very good reason is to be given why the calamities of
the Jews, then past, are represented to St. John by the vision
of the trumpets ; to wit, for the assurance and encouragement
of the Christians, for the terror and conversion of their per
secutors, who, knowing that which was come upon the Jews,
prophetically described by the sounding of the seven trumpets,
might both the better understand that part of it, and better
infer the meaning of the seven vials ; together with that which
goes afore, to prepare the way for the pouring of them forth,
and follows, to shew the consequence of it.
§ 17. And I must add further, that though I say that the
destruction of Jerusalem was past when St. John was banished
into Patmos, yet this prophecy of it, and of the seven trum
pets, might be revealed to him before, according to Epipha-
nius, affirming that he prophesied in Claudius's days. For
what hindereth that which concerned the Jews only to be re
vealed while Jerusalem stood, the visions of the seven seals
and seven vials — concerning the Gentiles either in part or
only— being reserved to the persecution under Domitian, in
which St. John is commanded to write that letter to the seven
Churches, which he is commanded to send the whole prophecy
with? § 18. Let me now desire the reader to look upon that in- The seven
terpretation which I have given in the Review of my book of plagues
the Right ofthe Church in a Christian State", to that which is Jl^Jjfthe
prophesied of the reign of the saints, that is, the Christians, empire for
with their Lord Christ, for a thousand years, Apoc. xx., which persecu-
they that refer the seventh trumpet, and the seven vials, in
which it is accomplished, to the judgments to come upon the
hanni irrogatum Patmi exilium. Nam crdfian rov aylov 'laidvvov . . fierd r-r\v ..
Vetera contra Christianos edicta sustulit Koi/j.7]<rtv. Avrov Se -itpotp-nrebo-avros ev
Vespasianus, utexTertullianodiscimus, XP^V01S K\avSiov Kaiaapos avwrdra:, '6re
restituit Domitianus. — Grotii Annot. in els rfyv Tldrpov vriaov virrip'^ev. — Haeres.
Apocalyps., cap. i. vers. 9. p. 1162. li. contr. Alogos, num. 33. p. 456. Colo-
Londini, 1679. niae, 1682.
p 'AAA& vpoSea-nure irpo<priTiKa>s iv r<? i Chap. v. seett. 30 — 53.

442 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK papacy, cannot avoid to infer the opinion of the Millenaries,
 :  condemned long since, and suppressed in the Church, inso
much that the most learned1" of them hath professedly set up
the standard to revive it. I will not here suppose any thing, 173
how prejudicial this opinion either is, or, as it is held, may be
to Christianity.
§ 19. This I will say, that those which read the history of
the successors of Alexander, kings of Syria and Egypt, so ex
pressly prophesied, Dan. xi., that many particulars of it might
have been buried in oblivion, had not the exposition of it
enforced St. Hierome and his predecessors to have recourse
to those histories which now are lost, and out of them to
relate such passages as the prophet points at ; I say, I shall
count them strange men, if, seeing the rest agree with the
story, when they come to Antiochus Epiphanes, and those
things which the prophet foretells of his acts in a continued
narrative, they can persuade themselves that they were not
fulfilled under him, but must belong to the coming of Anti
christ. I know St. Hierome5 is chargeable with it: but it is
one thing for him to follow some predecessors* in expounding
* Joseph Mede, B.D. of Christ's Col- to understand that all the ecclesiastical
lege, Cambridge. See his Apostasy of writers delivered this to be the true
the Latter Times, especially chapp. exposition, for having there confuted
xiii. and xvi. Porphyry, who, to derogate from the
¦ Hucusque ordo historiae sequitur ; divinity of this prophecy, would have
et inter Porphyrium ac nostros, nulla it meant of Antiochus Epiphanes, and
contentio est. Caetera, quae sequuntur therefore written when the event was
usque ad finem voluminis, ille inter- past, he concludeth thus: Ergo dica-
pretatur super persona Antiochi, qui mus, quod omnes Scriptores Eccle-
cognominatus est Epiphanes,  siastici tradiderunt ; in consummatione
Nostri autem haec omnia de Anti- mundi, quando regnum destmendum
christo prophetari arbitrantur, qui ul- est Romanorum, decern futures reges,
timo tempore futurus est. Quumque qui orbem Romanum inter se divi-
eis videatur illud opponi : quare tantos dant, et undecimum surrecturum esse
in medio dereliquerit sermo prophe- regem parvulum, qui tres reges de
ticus, a Seleuco usque ad consumma- decern regibus superaturus sit, id est,
tionem mundi ; respondent quod et in .ffigyptiorum regem, et Africae et jEthi-
priori historia, ubi de regibus Persicis opiae, sicut in consequentibus manifes-
dicebatur, quattuor tantum reges post tius dicemus." [Tom. iii. col. 1101. ed.
Cyrum Persarum posuerit; el multis Ben.]
in medio tiansilitis, repente venerit ad Who these three kings were which this
Alexandrum regem Macedonum : et horn displanted to make himself elbow
hanc esse Scripturae Sacrae consuetu- room, you shall hear more anon. But
dinem, non universa narrare ; sed ea I will not conceal that I have heard of
qua; majoravideanturexponere.— Com- another exposition, which fits our turn
f,on^ ? Panie1' "' 2L t0m- iiL CoL forthe ^ginning of the apostasy no less
nf7^' ^e": , ,, ., than that of the fathers; namely, that
i 1S- 1S m /I? V° eAe; Jho by ten kingd°™s may be meant the full
makes this use of St. Hierome : •• Nay, plurality of the Roman provinces, so
St. Jerome in his comment upon this much whereof as three is of ten, should
seventh chapter of Daniel, will give us have the imperial power rooted out of

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 443
that which he knew not how to expound otherwise, another chap. XXIII
thing to impose such a doctrine upon the Church, upon no  —
ground but such an interpretation as that.
§ 20. I must say farther, that the visions of the seventh
and eighth chapters of Daniel of the four beasts, and the ten
horns of the fourth, and the little horn that blasphemed God
and made war against the saints, vii. 8, 2 1 ; of the ram and
the goat, and the little horn thereof which made war against
God and His people, Dan. viii. 9 — 14, must of necessity be
understood of Antiochus Epiphanes, because of the taking
away of the daily sacrifice so expressly foretold ; that Nebu
chadnezzar's vision of the statue, which represents four king
doms, the last whereof is evidently that of Syria and Egypt,
whereof both in their turns had the command of the Jews,
Dan. ii., seemeth to have no other aim but to introduce the
prophecy of their sufferings under Epiphanes. The purpose
of these visions toward the Jews being the same with that of
the Apocalypse toward the Christians, to comfort them with
resolution to adhere to the law, under so great trials, the good
success whereof the same prophecy which foretold the perse
cutions assureth.
§ 21. It is not my business here to enter into any further
exposition of the particulars, presuming that the reasons which
confine the interpretation being so concluding, those that will
look into the writings of those that walk within the bounds of
Epiphanes's time, especially Grotius, the latest and ablest, will
find a more proper sense within those times than any can be
imagined otherwise. If therefore the persecutions then related
be fulfilled in the sufferings of the Jews under Epiphanes,
then the kingdom which there is foretold to be given the
saints and people of God, after vengeance executed upon him,
Dan. vii. 18, 22, 27, xii. 2, 3, must also of necessity be under
stood of that dominion which that nation attained by freeing
themselves from the dominion of the Macedonians under the
Maccabees.them, and fall under the dominion of Roman empire, which a man may judge
the antichristian horn, who should act by his eyes or compasses in a map :
the sovereignty of the latter times, or and yet I prefer the other exposition
the last sovereignty of that kingdom. before it." — Apostasy of the Latter
Now it is most true thatthe Pope's pa- Times, part i. chap. xiii. p. 811. Lon-
triarchdom in the west holds just that don, 1663.
scantling ofthe ancient territory of the

444

OF THE PRINCIPLES

BOOK I.
The cor
respondence of
Daniel's

§ 22. Now there being such correspondence, not only be
tween the main intent of both prophecies, but also between
the particulars of them, in very many things, which no man
can read both with diligence but must observe — though it is
prophecy true that many figures are used in St. John's Revelations
the same, which are found to correspondent purposes in the visions of
others of the prophets concerning God's ancient people — I
conceive no man will be able to reprove the consequence,
that both the persecutions which pretended to make the
Christians renounce Christ, as Antiochus pretended to make
the Jews renounce the law, are intended by the fifth seal, and
also the coming of Constantine to the empire, whereby the
government of the world came into the hands of Chris
tians by the sixth seal ; as well as the dominion of the Macca
bees succeeding the persecution of Epiphanes, by the reign of
the saints foretold by Daniel.
§ 23. From whence I argue, that St. Paul's prophecy can
not intend any that should profess Christianity with an intent
to corrupt it", because of the terms which he useth; "He
that exalteth himself against all that is called God, or to be
worshipped, so as to seat himself in the temple of God, shew
ing himself that he is God ;" being the same in which Epi
phanes is described, Dan. xi. 36, 37 : " And the king shall
do what him list ; he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself
against all that is God, and shall speak marvellous things
against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath be
accomplished : for the determination is made. Neither shall
he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desires of women, 174
nor care for any god : for he shall magnify himself above all."

u "When that appointed time for
the date of his prosperity comes to its
period, and the time of the ruin and
change of his dominion draws near,
then this Roman state shall cashier
and foTsake the idols and false gods
whom their fathers worshipped, and
shall acknowledge Christ, a God whom
their fathers knew not. At that time
the desire of women and married life
shall be discountenanced, and shall not
be of that account and regard it had
been, but contrary to the long-con
tinued custom of the Romans, single
life shall be honoured and privileged
above it. Yea, and soon after the
Roman shall bear himself so as if he

regarded not any god, and with anti
christian pride shall magnify himself
over all." — Mede's Paraphrase of
Daniel xi. 37. vol. ii. p. 827. Again he
writes : " Thus we see how, p-i\rus, how
expressly the Spirit foretold that the
Roman empire, having rejected the
multitude of gods and demons wor
shipped by their ancestors, and betaken-
themselves to that one and only God
which their fathers knew not, should
nevertheless depart from this their faith
and revive again the old theology of de
mons by a new superinduction of Ma-
huzzims !" — Apostasy of the Latter
Times, Appendix, chap. xvii. p. 827.
London, 1663.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 445
For who is it that magnifies himself above all that is called or chap. xxiii.

accounted God, and worshipped for God, though by his own
predecessors, but he that appoints the Jews whom they shall
worship for their own, the true God, in the temple ; but he
that appoints the Christians to whom they shall sacrifice?
Which, as of all other princes that had the Jews in their
power, none did but Epiphanes, so all the emperors that
raised persecution against the Christians did necessarily do.
§ 24. For as it is manifest that both the Macedonian
kings and Roman emperors were themselves worshipped for
gods by their Gentile subjects; so can none be said to advance
himself above all that is called or worshipped for God, but
those that first forbid the worship of the true God, then of
false gods, allow or disallow the worship of whomsoever their
own fancy directs, which is a thing common to Antiochus
Epiphanes with the Roman emperors. For the saying of
Tertullian is well enough known; Apolog. cap. v.x, Nisi
homini deus placuerit, deus non erit ; spoken in regard of the
power that state used, to allow or disallow the religions and
the gods which they pleased ; whereupon he rests and says,
that "such gods, if they have not man to friend, must be no
gods." And besides, the emperors by assuming the legal
power of Pontifex maccimusy, were invested with a civil right
x P. 30. ed. Pam. Rothomag. 1662. Augustus Romanorum primus im-
y Fuit etiam Pontificum cura prae- perator primus pontificatum maximum
cipua, ut circa religiones caeremonias- suscepit, quem vivo Lepido non ambivit.
que versarentur. Atque ipsa cognitio Errat enim Florus cum scribit Augus-
in jus religionis et in jus reipublicae dis- turn in confusione rerum ac tumultu,
tributa est : ut de republica cognosce- Lepidum pontiflcem maximum intere-
rent, cum ceremoniarum jus, aut civi- misse, qui suo fato ereptus est. Augus-
tatis cogeret salus. Iidem de sacris, de tus autem illius pontificatum adeptus,
votis, de feriis decernebant, de ludis quicquid fatidicorum librorum Graci
maximis, de deorum penatium Vestas- Latinique generis, nullis vel parum
que Matris ca?remoniis, de sacro illo idoneis authoribus vulgo ferebatur, su-
ipso, quod fiebat pro salute populi Ro- pra duo millia contracta undique cre-
mani, ea tenere quae soli scire debe- mavitet solos retinuit Sibyllinos. Quod
bant. Qua voluntas esset Deorum pontificum demonstrat potestatem, quo-
immortalium, interpretabantur, et hoc rum fuit, sacrorum libros probare vel
unum maxime ut de diis immortalibus improbare. Imperatores cseteri Au-
non erraus aut vaga, sed stabilis certa- gusti exemplum secuti, omnes ad pon-
que scientia teneretur. Tantum ita- tificatum maximum irrepserunt. Ho-
que illorum authoritati, fidei, prudentiaa rum tamen nul lus ante Hadrianum,
veteres tribuerunt, ut ab illis dissentire, Pontificis maximi officium peregit. —
nefas semper judicarint. — Guther. de Guther. ut supr. cap. xv. coll. 32, 33. — ¦
Vet. Jur. Pont., lib. i. cap. xviii. ap. Gutherius, however, is in error when he
Graevii Thesaur. Antiquitatum Roma- says that the emperors before Hadrian
narum, torn. v. col. 39. Lugd. Batav. abstained from the exercise of the func-
1696. tions of the chief pontiff.

446 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK of allowing or disallowing whomsoever should pretend to be
worshipped for God, within the bounds of the empire.

Neither § 25. Whether then that we suppose that the prophecy of
nor St."1 St. Paul to the Thessalonians, and the Revelations made to
J°n" ra ^t- J°hn> d° concern Antichrist or not ; seeing the Scripture
eth any n0 where saith that either the one or the other intendeth to
Christian. , . .
speak of Antichrist ; and for the present omitting the dispute
whether that Antichrist whom St. John in his first Epistle,
ii. 18, 19, iv. 1 — 3, admitteth to be appointed to come,
though other Antichrists were come afore ; whe'ther I say
that Antichrist be such a one as by persecution should seek to
constrain Christians to renounce Christ, or such a one as by
professing Christianity should induce Christians to admit the
corruption of Christianity, and thereby to forfeit the benefit
of it ; I say, omitting to dispute this for the present, out of
the premises I shall easily infer that there is neither in
St. Paul's prophecy, nor in St. John's Revelations, any thing
to signify that they are intended of any that should bring in
the corruption of Christianity, by making profession of it.
§ 26. Whereupon it followeth, that though we suppose the
mystery of iniquity which St. Paul foretelleth to be the same
that St. John saw — as truly I do suppose — and both to begin
with the preaching of Christianity, yet from thence no excep
tion can be made to the interpretation of the Scriptures, and
the determination of things questioned in Christianity, from
that which may appear to have been received by the whole
Church from the beginning. Only I will add, that it is a
very barbarous wrong that is done the Church, whether by
the Socinians z, or by whosoever they area, that allege the
z Quod autem inventi sint ejus- tate, ut ipsis Deus miserit efficaciam
modi, qui Apostolico saiculo impure erroris eo quod veritatis amore non
praedicare Evangelium ausi sunt, de tenerentur. Non potest igitur esse nisi
quibus tot sanctorum virorum queri- suspecta Ecclesiae auctoritas.  Przip-
monias legimus ; inde patet primum, covii Cogitat. in Philippens. ' i. 15. p.
antiquitatemalicujus opinionis non esse 156. Eleutheropoli 1692.
sufficiens veritatis indicium. Secun- » Mais peu apres' la mort des Apo-
dum Ecclesia; auctontati non facile stres, l'ambition ne tarda gueres k re-
esse confidendum, cum et apostasia in prendre ses erres Et se verifie en ce
ea prasdicta sit, 2 Thessal et quidem point comme eu plusieurs autres, ce
mox post obitum Pauh, Act. xx. 29. que nous dit Hegesippe au recit d'Eu-
,mo ipsorum Apostolorum, praesertim sebe, que jusque au temps de Trajan,
Johannis tempore multi essent Anti- ou environ, "l'eglise estoit demeuree
christi 1 John n 19. et videamus m en son integrite, et comme vierge.
ipsis imtus Ecclesiae multos errorum Mais que depuis que la sacree com-
patronos extitisse inter eos, qui justo pagnie des Apostres, par divers genres
Dei judicio pumti sunt ejusmodi easci- de mort fust retiree de ce monde la

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 447
testimony of Hegesippus in Eusebius — acknowledging, that chap.
the Church, which during the time of the Apostles was a  ~
pure virgin, after their departure began to be adulterate with
the contagion of pestilent doctrines — to argue, that this being
the mystery of iniquity which St. Paul prophesieth, is also
the corruption of the papacy, which beginning so early, leaves
nothing unsuspected that can be presumed upon the consent
of the Church.
§ 27. For it is manifest that Hegesippus speaks of the [Meaning
abominable doctrines of the Gnostics, which, as it is manifest sage from
by the writings of the Apostles, that they were on foot during puS/jsl'J"
their time, so may we well believe Hegesippus, that upon
their death they spread so far, that in comparison of what
succeeded, the Church of the Apostles may well be counted
a pure virgin. It is also manifest, from the premises, that the
Gnostics could find in their hearts to counterfeit themselves
as well Christians as Jews or Gentiles, to secure themselves
from punishment, and win followers : but it is also manifest,
that as they were discovered by the Church, so they were put
out of the Church, and forced to range themselves among
their own respective sectaries. So that to impute the corrup
tion of their damnable inventions to the Church, because they
175 mixed themselves with the Church till they were discovered,
is the same justice that the Gentiles did the Christians, in
charging them with those horrible incests and villanies, which
the Gnostics only were guilty of, because they, so far as it was
for their turn, affected to shelter themselves under the profes
sion of Christians.
§ 28. I shall have occasion in another place b to enquire
further concerning the rising of the Gnostics during the time
of the Apostles. In the mean time, because I see those who
know not how to yield to the truth when it is shewed them,
stand in the justification of the wrong that is done the
Church, by expounding of the corruptions of the papacy
that which Hegesippus saith of the Gnostics, it shall be
enough to give you his own words in Eusebius, Eccles.
Hist. iii. 32, c to? apa p.i'xpt, rwv Tore j(p6vmv irapQivos
conspiration de l'erreur commenca a L' Histoire de la Papautfi, p. 7. Saumur,
operer a teste descouverte." Cela vient 1611.
environ jusques en l'an 100. — Du Pies- b In book ii. chap. xii.
sis, Le Mystere d'Iniquite, c'esta dire, c Pp. 104, 105. ed. Vales.

448 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK Kadapd km, a8i,d<f)6opo<; epeivev r\ eKKK-naia- iv aBr/Xw itov
 :  a-Koret <pa>Xev6vr<ov elaeri Tore, twv, el Kal Twe? \mr\pypv,
TrapatpOelpeiV eirvyeipovvTcov tov vyur) icavova tov craiTrjplov
KTjpvjfJ.aTO'i. a>? B' 6 tepo? twv ' ' AttocttoXojv %opos Bid(j)opov
eiX-rjtfieo tov /3lov reXo?, •jrapekrfKvdei, ts f] yevea eicelvr), twv
avTcu<; a,Koal<; tt)? ivdeov aoiplwi iiraicovaai KaTrj^Lcofievav,
TTjviKavTa Trjs a8eov irXdvr]<; tyjv dpyjp) ekdfifiavev r\ av<TTa<n$,
Bod T?;? twv eTepoBoBaaKaXcov am-arris, ot noi a Te firiBevb*; en twv
' ' AiroaToXodv Xenro/xevov, yvfivfj Xonrbv 77817 Trj iceobaXr), Tm t?}?
dX-rjBeia'; K7)pvyp.a,Ti ttjv -^revBrnvv/xov yvdocriv dvTbtcripvTTeiv
hreyeipovv. § 29. Hegesippus saith, "that till that time the Church
remained a pure virgin and undeflowered ; those that endea
voured to adulterate the true rule of that preaching which
saveth," the rule of faith, which I said so much of afore d,
"lurking in obscure holes of darkness till then$ if any such
there were. But the sacred choir of the Apostles having
found the several ends of their lives, and that generation of
men being past, that were vouchsafed to hear the wisdom of
God with their own ears, then did the confirmation of atheisti
cal error receive beginning, through the deceit of false
teachers ; who now, none of the Apostles remaining, under
took, bareheaded for the future, to preach that knowledge
which is falsely so called in opposition to the preaching ofthe
truth." For here you have, in express terms, that " knowledge
falsely so called," from whence the Church, after St. Paul,
calls all those heretics Gnostics, as pretending to have got it
by such means as our Lord had not discovered to His Apo
stles. You have also the difference between their lurking
under the Apostles, and their open preaching after their death,
in terms so express, that he must have a good will to it, who
ever oversees. I shall be obliged to refer myself to these
same words in another place e.
N^her § 30. Now to that which is objected concerning the
nionof the opinion of the Millenaries, I answer first, that it cannot be
Chibasts. thought ever to haye been Catholic. For Justin the Martyr1,
\ Chap. yn. To^o yevn<r6fj.evov ttoWovs S' ad Kai
In book n. chap. xu. T&, ^ KaBapds Kal eire/Bois SrraP
Cl/xoXdy-no-a oiv aoi Kal -npirepov, Xpianavuv yv<ifa,s, toOto u.h yvuplfav
Sri eya fxev Kal aWoi TtoAAol ravra iai]ii.avd aoi 
tppovoifiev 6>s Kal irdvras i-tlarao-Be  iyu' 5>; Ka\ 0y rulij e;ffl„

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 449
who first mentions it in his dispute with Trypho the Jew, not chap.
many years after the Apostles, expressly testifies that it was  '-
the opinion of the most orthodox Christians — to wit, in his
judgment — but withal, that it was contradicted by others,
who were nevertheless Christians, even in his account, that is,
of the communion of the Church. Which, as it is a peremp
tory exception against the universality, so is it a reasonable
presumption against the originality of it ; seeing that, in so
few years between him and the Apostles, those that believed
not all which they had delivered for the common Christianity,
can in no probability be thought to have enjoyed the com
munion of the Church.
& 31. And truly, had it not been contradicted elsewhere, [The opi-
3 J n mon of
that excellent prelate, Dionysius of Alexandria, that sup- the Mil-
pressed it in Egypt about one hundred and thirty years Supp'reS-
after, as you may see in Eusebius, Eccles. Hist. vii. 23 — 25, ed-]
would have found a hard task of it. For the intelligence and
correspondence then in use between all parts of the Church,
would easily have confirmed those of his charge even against
himg. The reason of achieving the work was, because the
rest of Christendom insisted not on it. Neither is the number
or repute of writers extant, the reason to conclude any thing
Catholic, if the premises be true ; but the evidence which may
be made — sometimes from the disputes of able writers, but
bpdoyv&i&oves Kara itdvra Xptimavol, Justin Martyr in his dialogue against
Kal <rapK6s avdaratnv yevt}aeaQai, 4itl- Trypho says, it was the belief of all
o-rdfie6a' Kal x^a err} ev 'lepoviraX^p: Christians exactly orthodox, Kal el rives
oiKoSo[L7}6eiff-n Kal Koo-fil}Bei(Tri Kal ir\a- elo-lKarairdvra6p9oyvcofj.oves xp^navol,
rvvBelan, ol irpocprirai 'Ieje/trijA. Kal and yet there was no such tradition, but a
'Icra.tas, Kal ol &Wol bfioXoyovcnv. — mistake in Papias, but I find it nowhere
Dial, cum Tryph., cap. 80. pp. 177, spoken against, till Dionysius of Alex-
178. ed. Ben. andria confuted Nepos's book, and con-
From which Jeremy Taylor argued verted Coracion the Egyptian from the
thus : " In the first age after the Apo- opinion. Now if a tradition whose be-
stles, Papias pretended he received a ginning of being called so began with a
tradition from the Apostles, that Christ scholar of the Apostles — for so was Pa-
before the day of judgment should reign pias — and thencontinued for some ages
a thousand years upon earth, and His upon the mere authority of so famous
saints with Him in temporal felicities; a man, did yet deceive the Church;
and this thing proceeding from so great much more fallible is the pretence,
an authority as the testimony of Papias, when two or three hundred years after
drew after it all or most of the Christians it but commences, and then by some
in the first three hundred years. For learned man is first called » tradition
besides that the millenary opinion is Apostolical." — Liberty of Prophesying,
expressly taught by Papias, Justin Mar- § 5. pp. 84, 85. London, 1647.
tyr, Irenaeus, Origen, Lactantius, Se- e " Confirmed the Christians that
verus, Viotorinus, Apollinaris, Nepos, resorted to Alexandria even against
and divers others, famous in their time, him."— MS.

THORNDIKE.

as

450

OF THE PRINCIPLES

BOOK much more from the acts which passed in the Church, accord-
—  ing to, or against, that which they dispute — that their doctrine
was received or not received by the Church, in whole or in
part, as necessary or not. And therefore, secondly, I say,
that the matter of this position concerneth not the rule of
faith commonly obliging all Christians, but the interpretation
of a true prophecy indeed; but the true understandings
whereof, whoso would make necessary to the salvation of all
Christians, should tie all Christians upon their salvation to
understand the Apocalypse, which who does ?
§ 32. To justify this opinion, it hath been shewedh that the
Jews have this opinion, that their Christ shall reign one
thousand years when he comes, which seeing they cannot be
supposed to have received from the Christians, it makes a just
presumption that they had it even in St. John's time. The
Jews have a tradition which they attribute to the school of
one R. Elias, mentioned in many of their writings, by name
in Baal haturim upon Gen. ii., and which is also the conceit
not only of Lactantius vii. 14', Tychonius the Donatist in his

[The Jew-
ish opi
nion of
the Mil
lennium.]

h " Nevertheless it is true that the
primitive fathers — especially those who
believe the Chiliad — conceived the
world should last, and the Church
therein labour, six thousand years, and
that the seventh thousand should be
the day of judgment, and Sabbath, in
which the saints should reign with
Christ their Lord." 
" The ancient Jews also had a tradi
tion to the same purpose, as appears by
these testimonies recorded in the Ge-
mara, or gloss of their Talmud, cod.
Sanhedrim, cap. Kol. Israel. For there,
concerning that of Esay, chap, ii., Ex-
altabitur Dominus solus die illo, thus
speaks the Talmudical gloss : Dixit
Rabbi Ketina, sex annorum millibus
stat mundus, et uno millenario vastabi-
tur ; de quo dicitur, ' atque exaltabitur
Dominus solus die illo.' Note, by vas-
tabitur they mean the vastation of the
world by tire in the day of judgment,
whereby it shall become new, or a new
heaven and new earth. Sequitur, tra-
ditio adstipulatur R. Ketinae, nempe
ista, Sicut ex septenis annis Septimus
quisque annus remissionis est, ita sep-
tem millibus annorum mundi Septimus
millenarius remissionis erit, ut Domi
nus solus exaltetur in die illo. Dicitur
enim, Ps. xcii. psalmus et canticum de
die Sabbati, id est, de eo die, qui totus

quies est Note, they understand this
psalm of the great day of judgment,
and the sabbath mentioned in the title
of the great sabbath of a thousand years.
Dicitur item, Ps. xc. nam mille anni
in oculis tuis velut dies hesternus.
Traditio domus Eliae, sex mille annos
durat mundus ; bis mille annis inani-
tas, bis mille annis lex, denique bis
mille annis dies Christi. At verb
propter peccata nostra et plurima et
enormia, abierunt ex his qui abierunt,
These last words Petrus Galatinus
proves to be added to this tradition by
the later Jews. And surely this Elias
lived under the second temple, and
before the birth of Christ. And though
there be no mention here of the seventh
thousand years ; yet that this R. Elias
acknowledged it as well as the rest,
appears by a former place of the same
Gemara Talmudica, which is this, Tra
ditio domus Eliae, ' quos resuscitabit
Deus,' &c. — Mede's Works, bk. v. pp.
1092, 1093. London, 1665.
1 Ergo quoniam sex diebus cuncta
Dei opera perfecta sunt; per secula
sex, id est annorum sex millia manere
hoe statu mundum necesse est. Dies
enim magnus Dei mille annorum cir-
culo terminatur, sicutindicat propheta,
qui dicit; 'Ante oculos tuos, Domine,
mille anni, tanquam dies unus.' Et

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 451
fifth rulek for expounding the Scripture, and the Epistle chap.
anciently entitled to St. Barnabas' and lately published, but  -
also — as you may see in the late lord primate's Latin Dis
course of Cainanm — of divers fathers", that as there passed
two thousand years before the law, under the law, counting
from Abraham two thousand years, so the days of Christ
should be two thousand years, and after that the everlasting
Sabbath. § 33. But whether or no the Jews of St. John's time could
expect this thousand years for the complement of the Sabbath
or work of seven thousand years, which this tradition pro
mised ; whether or no Christians may expect the end of the
world at the end of seven thousand years, the Sabbath that
shall succeed being eternity — according to that of St. Peter,
and of the Psalm [xc. 4.J that a thousand years are as a day
in God's sight — let them that have nothing else to do enquire;
certainly it will not concern the meaning of the Apocalypse,
unless it could be said that the thousand years there foretold
are to begin after two thousand years of our Lord are finished.
§ 34. Indeed, this we see, that the Jews whom King
Alphonsus0 employed to make the accounts of the celestial
ut Deus sex illos dies in tantis rebus torn. vi. p. 60. Lugdun. 1677.
fabricandis laboravit ; ita et religio ejus ' UpSaexere, reKva, ri Ae-yet rb a-vve-
et Veritas in his sex millibus annorum reXetrev 4v e| rmepais- rovro. Aeyet, Hrt
laboret necesse est, malitia praevalente trvvreXel 6 &ebs Kvptos 4v e£aKio~xiAtois
ac dominante. Et rursus quoniam ereo~i ra irdvra' 7/ yap 7]p.epa Trap' avrcp
perfectis operibus requievit die septimo, x'L^la *T7l- - ¦ • Ovkovv, reKva, iv e£ 7]fii-
eumque benedixit ; necesse est, ut in pats, iv rois e^aKLo-xiAiois ereat, trvvre-
fine sexti millesimi anni malitia omnis XeaB-fjo-eraL ra. irdvra. — Cap. xv. pp. 44,
aboleatur e terra, et regnet per annos 46. ed. Coteler.
mille justitia ; sitque tranquillitas et m Ejusmodi enim divisionem He-
requies a laboribus, quos mundus jam- braico nomine Phaleg significatam pu-
diu perpessus est. — Pp. 643, 644. Oxon. tabant . . . . et 6000 annis integrum
1684. Mede has produced this passage presentes sseculi spatium defiuiebant:
in the place just mentioned. quae recepta fuerat apud Hebrasos,
11 Sicut autem in prima parte tem- Graecos et Latinos opinio ; ut in Bar-
poris cuj usque tempus est: ita in no- nabae tributa epistola, dicto illo domus
vissima hora totus dies sit, reliquiae Eliae apud Tahnudicos celebri, Cab-
mille annorum, mille anni sunt. Sex balistico autore D^TltD m primum Ge-
dies sunt mundi astas, id est 6000 an- neseos versiculum, Lactantio, lib. vii.
norum. In reliquiis sexti diei, id est cap. 14, Tychonio in regula, et aliis
mille annorum natus est Dominus, pas- videre licet. — Usserii dissert, ap. Critic.
sus et resurrexit. Item reliquiae mille Sacr.,tom. ix. col. 4010. Londin. 1660.
annorum dictae sunt mille anni primae ° The words "of divers fathers" are
resurrectionis. Sicut enim reliquiae inserted from MS.
sexte feriae, id est, tres horae, totus ° Alphonsus x. Hispaniaa rex, ....
dies est unus ex tribus sepulturae hie in tabulas astronomicas convocatis
Domini, ita reliquiae sexti diei majoris undique Mathematicis insignibus, 40,
quo surrexit Ecclesia, totus dies est ut alii, 200 coronatorum millia impen-
mille anni. — Bibliothec. Patr. Maxim., dit. — Hoffman's Lexic. in voce.
Gg2

452

OF THE PRINCIPLES

BOOK I.

motions, in appointing the motion of the fixed stars from west
to east to come round in forty-nine thousand years, the irregu
larity of that motion to come round in seven thousand years —
and that, not being obliged to it by any observations — made
the like account of sabbaths of thousands of years, and seven
thousands, as the law doth of days, or years, or sabbaths of
years. But if these JewsP be pitifully put to it, when to excuse

Nam convocatis Mauris et Judaeis
astronomice peritis Toletum ab Al
phonso, praecipuus inter eos fuit Isahac
Hazan, id est, Cantor, fuit enim Syna-
gogae Toletanae Cantor, quem Hispa-
lenses Hebraei dicunt auctorem tabula-
rum Alphonsinarum ; is ergo cabalis-
ticis mysteriis assuetus, dixit per an
num sabbaticum significatum esse *
Deo motum fixarum, qui dicitur ac-
cessus et recessus, ideoque illius revo-
lutionem compleri annis septem milli
bus, quia Deus, Exod. xxi. Deuteron.
xv. et Jerem. xxxiv. praecipit Judaeis
ut septimo quoque anno quiescant ab
agricultura et exactione mutui, servos-
que dimittant, qui proinde annus, Sce-
mita, id est, remissionis, et sabbaticus a
requie terras appellabatur, Quoniam
vero idem Dominus, ibidem jusserat
exactis 7 hebdomadibus annorum sab-
baticorum, hoc est, completis quibus-
que 49 annis celebrari Jubilaeum an
num, ita dictum a Jobel, id est, a clan-
gore tubae, quo anno redibant omnia
vendita ad pristinos dominos ; idcirco
finxit Isahac significari per hos annos
49 apocatastasim motus absoluti fixa
rum, et augium omnium planeta*rum —
siquidem Ptolemaeus quoque lib. ix. 5.
putavit pari motu moveri fixas et
planetarum quinque minorum apogea
¦ — ideoque hanc revolutionem compleri
• annis 49,000, et tunc quasi Jubilaeo
universali reverti omnia in pristinum
tanquam magno anno peracto. — Ric-
ciol. Almagest. Nov. lib. vi. cap. xvi.
p. 444. Bononias, 1651.
Augustinus Riccius says that Chris
tians were also employed : Is itaque ex
regis mandato caeteris Hebraeorum
Christianorumque adjuvantibus ; which
Riccioli omits, though indebted for his
information to Riccius. Bailly too,
Hist, de l'Astronomie Moderne, speaks
of Chretiens, Juifs, Maures, torn. i. p.
299. Paris, 1785.
P Filo nostrae disputationis tantisper
omisso, digreditur doctissimus vir ad
aliud quaesitum, quod omnes Chris-
tiani, qui Judasum convertere inten-
dunt, maxime extollunt. Quaerunt a

nobis propter quod peccatum adeo Ion-
gam et miseram captivitatem sustine-
mus, quantumvis Mosis legem exacte
observare eamque contra totum genus
humanum retinere cupiamus, idolo-
latria, quae erat pessimum Israelis pec
catum, penitus relicta, et toto corde
abominata; cum antea tempore judi-
cum idem crimen brevissimis captivi-
tatibus, vel vicinis populis subjectione,
puniretur, Deo statim ac resipisceret,
sui populi miserente. Postea in Baby-
lonica 70 annis Dominus contentus fuit
pro Israelis expiatione, cui pepercit, et
misericors in patriam reduxit : cum
tamen ea captivitas propter horrenda
crimina fuisset, praesertim pro univer
sali populi idololatria, quam reges, prin
cipes et sacerdotes, per aliquot sascula,
commiserant; tamen 70 captivitatis
annis fuit expurgata. Quare igitur,
in hac, in qua nee idololatria, neque
sacrilegia, nee majora peccata, quam
caeterae gentes, Judaei patrant, adeo
durat ut plusquam per 16 secula vaga-
bundi sint, extorres a patria, sine rege,
sine Domino potius abjecti, et omnibus
populis in opprobrium et perpetuam
despectionem ? Quod ergo est hoc pec
catum quod nee veniam, nee consola-
tionem aliquam pro spe nostra fir-
manda, ita Dei misericordiam impedit
nobis largiri, praeter modum, quo Deus
propter majora crimina cum dilecto
suo populo usus fuerat 1 Quod enim
aliud nisi obstinata in Messiam jam
adventum infidelitas ? 
Ad duo capita hoc quaesitum redu-
citur : primum, ob quas peccata Domi
nus per omnes populos Israelem in cap
tivitatem dispersit? Secundum, quare
adeo diuturna sit haec captivitas ; cum
antea propter majus scelus, nempe ido-
lolatriam, 70 anni Babylonicae captivi
tatis suffecerint ad peccati expiationem,
ut populus pristinam libertatem con-
sequeretur? Ad primum Deus ipse
aperte respondet, qui in tota lege, et
prophetis Israeli de hac per totum uni-
versum dispersione, et summa abjec-
tione, comminatur, non nisi propter
illius legis, quam per Mosem promul-

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 453

their not believing in Christ who came when the world was CHAP.
about four thousand years old, according to their own tradi- ¦A '

tion, they are fain to say that it hath failed a small matter, of
almost seventeen hundred years, for their sins; among the
Christians what can be said more, but that it pleased God to
promise them a thousand years of prosperity and reign, which
the Jews, forsaking Christ, promised themselves to no purpose ?
seeing the beginning of them cannot be tied to the end of
six thousand years from the beginning of the world.
§ 35. And truly no more than this can be thought requisite
to the purpose of the whole prophecy, of encouraging them
to continue constant in the profession of Christianity, not
withstanding all persecutions, as foreknowing the issue. Now
he that continues constant in Christianity, and never knew this
prophecy, shall want nothing necessary to his salvation, though
he want something very effectual to the having of that which
is necessary ; to wit, of perseverance in Christianity ; the in
tent of this prophecy being to persuade them to it. Which is
enough to shew any man a difference between the right
understanding of this prophecy, and any part of the rule of
faith. § 36. As for the custom of giving the Eucharist15 to infants Northe
so soon as they were baptized, I answer, that the evidence theEucha-
which I" will give you, that it was never used out of an f**£ °n^
baptized,
gavit, transgressionem ; nulla alia ad- with so great an appellative. St. Aus-
ditu causa, neque de Messiaa abnega- tin called the communicating of infants
tione verbum locutus. Quare igitur an Apostolical tradition, and yet we do
alias nostrae captivitatis causae assig- not practise it, because we disbelieve
nandae? Sufficit clarum verbum Dei, the allegation." — Jeremy Taylor's
ut certissime sciamus divinae legis Liberty of Prophesying, § 5. p. 88.
Mosis praevaricationem, haec omnia London, 1647.
nobis adduxisse mala ; nee nobis aliam " I find that the fathers were in-
causam quasrere, aut exspeculari licet, finitely deceived in their account and
cum conscii nobis simus hos et majores enumeration of traditions, sometimes
labores propter legis transgressionem, they did call some traditions such, not
adhuc hodie mereri. Aliam nostrae cap- which they knew to be so, but by argu-
tivitatis causam disquirant ad quos ments and presumptions they con-
maxime oportet invenire, ut sua dog- eluded them so. Such as was that of
mata possint stabilire. — Tert. Script. S. Austin ea quce universalis tenet ec-
Judaei, apud Limborch, Amic. Collat. elesianee aconciliis institutareperiuntur,
pp. 98, 99. Goudae, 1687. credibile est ab Apostolorum traditione
i "There are some opinions which desefndisse. Now suppose this rule
when they began to be publicly re- probable, that is the most, yet it is not
ceived, began to be accounted prime certain : it might come by custom,
traditions, and so became such not by whose original was not known, but yet
a native title, but by adoption, and could not derive from an Apostolical
nothing is more usual than for the principle." — Jeremy Taylor, Liberty
fathers to colour their popular opinion of Prophesying, p. 84.

454 ' OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK opinion of necessity to salvation, as the baptism of infants was,
 '¦  seemeth to be an exception sufficient against the universal use
of it, as supposed to come from the Apostles. He that will
shew me any writer of the Church, by whose testimony it may
be presumed that the Church did not baptize infants, out of
an opinion that they could not be saved without it — I speak1
not now of the truth of this opinion, but only of the point of
fact, whatsoever may be argued from thence by virtue of the
premises— I will yield him, that the same writer did believe
that the giving of the Eucharist to infants upon their baptism
was commanded by the Apostles.
§ 37. I acknowledge it is the opinion of Tertullian13 — for
which there is no mark upon him as ever a whit the less
catholic — that it was not expedient to baptize infants, because
of the danger of years under discretion to seduce them from
the fulfilling of their profession, before they could throughly 177
understand what it imported. But I deny that this was
because he, or any body, then believed that they could go out
of the world unbaptized and yet be saved. For when the
vigilance of parents, and the diligence of all, might assure
them not to fail of baptism in case of necessity, it is no
marvel if the reason alleged might move men to defer it to
the years of manhood', believing no less the necessity of it.
r " I argue not here that infants are mercede postremis quasque persoluta.'
to be baptized, whatsoever in due time ItaNazianzenus — Orat. 40 de Baptism.
may be argued from the point of fact, —eos introducit, baptismi sui dilatio-
by virtue of the principle premised, nem excusantes. Ha;c ratio adeo ab-
omnis, semper, ubique." — MS. surda erat, ut multos, qui ea agebantur,
_ ^ Itaque pro personae cujusque con- earn profiteri puderet.
ditione ac dispositione, etiam tetate Alii baptismum ad vita usque suae '
cunctatio baptismi utilior est : praecipue exitum procrastinabant, ex principio
tamen circa parvulos.— De Baptismo, quodam Novatiano, eo quod se metuere
cap. xvm. p. 392. ed. Pam. Rothomag. dicerent, ne post baptismum rursus
16f2' peccarent ; neque vero secundum quen-
Nonnulli baptismum ex ethnico dam baptismum dari, quo homines ad
quodam principio, in ipsis adhuc resi- regnum coeleste denuo regenerentur,
duo, differebant, quia mundi amore et quum contra futurum sit, ut, si sub
illecebris tenebantur irretiti, a quibus mortis horam baptismum receperint,
abnegandis Cbristique jugo in se attol- ccelum sibi protinus apertum mundi et
lendo, ammum gerebant alieniorem, immaculati ingrediantur. Quod si
Si?„n. !Pw- <¦ sev?r.iore.m.viven(Ji «su veniat ut ante baptismum diem
^Beobhptamm existimarent. suum obeant, sperare se, Deum baptismi
frui P ZZ -t 3T ™aJltatlbus cupiditatem pro ipso baptismo acceptu-
frui atque ita demum baptizan, et rum. Jam vero uti ista opinatio mul-
n.hi ominus eandem gratiam quam tis erroribus fundata erat ita Vetoes
qui longe ante baptizati essent, conse- in ea confutanda copies" sunt -pi £"
qu. se posse credebant. 'Neque enim tim. Origin. Eccles , lib ™ cap vi
q.upnoresinyinealaborassent,meliori de tempore et loco baptismi p 253
ldcirco conditione fuisse, aequa nempe Venet. 1766. uaP"»™h P- ««¦

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 455
§ 38. Now in the writings of Fulgentius11, a worthy African chap.
prelate, there is extant a little piece, in answer to a letter of  —
Ferrandus, a deacon of his, it seems, about a certain Moor,
who being converted, and having divers times made profession
of Christianity, as the custom of the Church then required ;
after that, being taken sick, was baptized, without being able,
by speaking, to make the like profession as the rule required
all at their baptism to make. Upon other considerations, the
letter desires resolution of the salvation of this Moor ; but
upon this also, because he survived not to receive the Eucha
rist, which is clearly answered in the affirmative, upon as
good reasons of Scripture as a good Christian can desire.
Which is without exception, to shew that they had not that
opinion of the necessity of the Eucharist, as of baptism,
sufficient to argue a several beginning of observing them
both. § 39. And truly, seeing it is granted on all hands, that it is
no inconvenience in Christianity, that the Church, or any part
of it, mistake the true meaning of some Scriptures, the alleging
of our Lord's words, " Unless ye eat the flesh of the Son of
man, and drink His blood, ye have not life in you," John vi.
53, seems to argue that this came to be an order from some
new act of the Church, or part of it ; rather than that it was
practised as coming from the Apostles. Whereunto if we add
that which here follows, though it appear — chiefly by St.
Cyprian", deLapsis — to have been frequented in Africa, though
it were practised in the Western and Eastern Church, yet per
haps it will appear to come short of St. Augustine's rule7, of
discerning what comes from the Apostles, as affording appear-
u Profer, obsecro, de thesauro tuo . . . erit. — Ep. Ferrandi, apud Fulgentum.
dubitanti quid sequatur ostendas. Re- Nullus autem debet moveri fidelium
ligiosi cujusdam viri famulus, aetate in illis, qui etsi legitime Sana mente
adolescens, colore jEthiops. .. . fit ex baptizanturpravenientevelociusmorte,
more catechumenus .... inter com- carnem Domini manducare, et sangui-
petentes ofiertur, scribitur, eruditur nem bibere non sinuntur : propter illam
.... in extremo halitu constitutus, videlicet sententiam Salvatoris, qua
sine voce, sine motu, sine sensu, nihil dixit, "nisi manducaveritis carnem filii,"
valens sacerdoti interroganti respon- &c. Quod quisquis non solum secun-
dere, deferentium manibus apportatur, dum veritatis mysteria, sed secundum
et pro eo nobis, quasi pro infante, re- mysterii veritatem considerare poterit,
spondentibus, mente absentissimus ac- inipso lavacro sanctae regenerationishoc
cepit baptismum, quem se accepisse, fieri providebit. — S. Fulgent, opp. Ep.
post paululum mortuus, in hac prae- xii. § 24. p. 103. Venet. 1742.
senti, arbitror, vita nescivit. Qukso * See the last note to this chapter,
nunc, utrum nihil ad aeternam beatitu- sect. 44.
dinem consequendam vox ablata nocu- r Chap. xxi. § 24.

456 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK ance that it was neither original nor catholic ; - as for how
 — prejudicial, this is not the place to determine it.
§ 40. The words of Innocent I., Pope, out of which it is
commonly taken for granted that this custom was in use at
Rome, are these, Epist. xciii., apud Augustinumz : Illud vero
quod eos vestra fraternitas asserit prcedicare, parvulos teternm
vitce prcemiis absque baptismatis gratia posse donari, perfa-
tuum est. Nisi enim manducaverint carnem Filii hominis, et bibe-
rint sanguinem ejus, non habebunt vitam in semetipsis. "But
that which your brotherhood affirms that they publish, that
infants may have the reward of eternal life given them even
without the grace of baptism, is very foolish : for unless they
eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, they
have not life in themselves." Where it is plain, that eating
the flesh, and drinking the blood of Christ, which he makes
necessary to salvation, is that which consists in being bap
tized3; but of giving them the Eucharist, not a word more
than this.
§ 41. The same sense — concerning the eating of the flesh,
and drinking the blood of Christ in and by baptism, and that
only necessary to salvation — St. Augustine also most mani
festly delivers in a passage alleged by Gratian, de Consecrat,
dist. 2. cap. 36. Quia passus est Dominus, out of a certain
homily, de Infantibus, which Bede also hath, in 1 ad Cor. x.
Nulli est aliquatenus ambigendum, tunc unumquemque fidelium
corporis et sanguinis Dominici fieri participem, quando in bap-
tismate membrum efficitur Christi, nee alienari ab illius panis
calicisque consortio, etiamsi antequam panem ilium comedat et
calicem bibat, de hoc seculo in unitate Corporis Christi con-
stitutus abscedat. " No man is any way to doubt that every
» Ep. clxxxii. torn. ii. .col. 640. ed. tur. Quibus necessaria est Eucharistiae
Ben. Innoc. Ep. xxv. Labbei, torn. iii. sumptio, iisdem baptismi sumptio ma-
col. 48. ed. Venet. gis est necessaria: siquidem ad sanc-
a Per haec verba, viri quidam non tissimam Eucharistiam reverenter su-
vulgariter docti existimarunt Innocen- mendam, nemo, nisi ante rite et legi-
tium hunc locum S. Joannis Evange- time baptizatus admittatur ; at infan-
listffi, non de Eucharistiae, sed de bap- tulis omnibus est necessaria Eucha-
tismi sumptione interpretari. Decepti ristiae sumptio ; ergo infantilis omni-
sunt, quod vim argumenti, quo Pon- bus etiam est necessaria susceptio bap-
tifex utitur, non fuerunt assecuti. Ille tismi. Minorem quam ille tunc tem-
enim ut Pelagium— qui docebat baptis- poris sustinebat, probabat per praedicta
mum infantilis patre fideli prognatis, verba S. Joannis, juxta earn expositio-
ideoque originalepeccatum non contra- nem accepta, quae praxi Ecclesiae non
hentibus, necessarium^ non esse— con- repugnat.— Nota Severini Binii in loc.
vinceret, hac rationacinatione hie uti- Labbei, torn. iii. col. 49. ed. Venet.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

457

believer then becomes partaker of the body and blood of chap.
Christ, when he is made a member of Christ by baptism : nor _
does he become a stranger to the communion of that bread and
cup, though before he eat that bread, and drink that cup, he
goes out ofthe world, estated in the unity of Christ's body."
§ 42. And thus he expounds also the eating of Christ's flesh,
and drinking His blood, de Peccatorum Meritis et Remissionibus,
iii. 4.b And so he is likewise there to be understood, lib. i.
cap. xx. c And to this purpose all those passages of his are in
force, whereby he requireth nothing but baptism to the sal
vation of infants. And in this sense Hypognost. ad art. V. d
Quomodo igitur vitam regni coelorum promittitis parvulis non
178 renatis ex aqua et spiritu, non cibatis came, neque potatis san
guine Christi, Qui fusus est in remissionem peccatorum ? Ecce
non baptizatus, vitali etiam cibo poculoque privatus, dividitur a
regno ccelorum, ubi fons viventium permanet Christus. " How
do ye, Pelagians, promise little ones, not born again of water
and the spirit, not fed with the flesh, nor drenched with the
blood of Christ shed for remission of sins, the life of the king
dom of heaven? See, the unbaptized, deprived also ofthe bread
and cup of life, is divided from the kingdom of heaven, where
Christ the well of life remains."
§ 43. So it appears that the African Church had this cus
tom, but held it not necessary to salvation as baptism ; but by
Gennadius, de Dogmatibus Ecclesiasticis, cap. lii.e, it appears to
have been a custom of the Church, when heretics were recon
ciled to the Church by confirmation, to give their little ones
the Eucharist presently upon it. And Ordo Romanus* de Bap
tismo prescribes it after the solemn baptism before Easter,
b Unde fit consequens, ut quoniam d Hypomnest., lib. iv. torn. x. Ap-
nihil agitur aliud, cum parvuli bapti- pend. col. 40. ed. Ben.
zantur, nisi ut incorporentur Ecclesiae, e Si vero parvuli sunt, vel hebetes,
id est, Christi corpori membrisque so- qui doctrinamnon capiant, respondeant
cientur ; manifestum sit eos ad damna- pro illis, qui eos offerunt, juxta morem
tionem, nisi hoc eiscollatum fuerit, per- baptizandi; et sic manus impositione
tinere. — Tom. x. col. 74. ed. Ben. et chrismate communiti Eucharistia2
c Dominum audiamus, inquam, non mysteriis admittantur. — P. 30. Ham-
quidemhoc de Sacramento lavacri dicen- burg. 1614.
tem, sed de Sacramento sanctae mensae f Illud autem parvulis, providendum
suss, quo nemo rite nisi baptizatus ac- est, nepostquambaptizati fuerint, ullum
cedit ; Nisi manducaveritis &c. cibum accipiant, neque lactentur sine
An vero quenquam etiam hoc dicere summa necessitate, antequam commu-
audebit quod ad parvulos haac sententia nicent Sacramento Corporis Christi. —
non pertineat, possuntque sine partici- Ordo Romanus, Bibl. Patr. Maxim.,
patione corporis hujus et sanguinis in torn. xiii. p. 697. Lugdun. 1677.
se habere vitam.— lb. col. 15. ed. Ben.

458

OF THE PRINCIPLES

BOOK which the French Capitulary, i. 161, g and Alcuinus also, de
¦  Divinis Officiish, provideth for. And in the Eastern Church,
Dionysius in the end of the book de Ecclesiastica Hierarchia '.
§ 44. In the mean time it is to be considered, that there
being no order that all should be baptized infants, nor at what
age — whereupon St. Gregory Nazianzen, Orat. xl. in Sanc
tum Baptismal, advises at three or four years of age — it cannot
be said to have been a general custom of the Church; nor
that it could be original from the Apostles1, because the solemn
times of baptism, at Easter and Whitsuntide, cannot be thought
to have been settled till Christianity was grown very vulgar.
For as for those that were baptized upon particular occasions,
or in danger of death, it cannot be thought that the Eucharist
was celebrated for their purpose ; nor doth any example ap
pear that it was ever brought them from the Church. On the
contrary, when the times of baptism came to be disused, be
cause it was found to be for the best that all should be bap
tized infants, upon this occasion the receiving of the Eucharist
came to be deferred as much longer than was fitting, in my
baptizabant, hanc circumstantiam ju
dicio et prudentiae successorum suo-
rum in Ecclesia in totum relin quentes.
Hoc ipsum ex Actis Apostolorum et
subsecutae Historia? Ecclesiasticae mo-
numentis, sibi invicem comparatis, sat
luculenter patet. Veruntamen quando
stati temporis regulae strictissime ob-
servabantur, erant nihilosecius diversi
casus, in quibus eas migrari consultum
esse videbatur. Infirmitas et extrema
quaedam necessitas justam dabant ex-
ceptionem, uti jam ante vidimus. Quo-
rundam etiam catechumenorum doci-
litas, et proficiendi studium, quo alios
sui ordinis antecellebant, maturius bap
tismi privilegium illis conciliabat, siqui-
dem ejus desiderium testarentur, prae-
sertim in Ecclesiis orientalibus, quem-
admodum ex Chrysostomi— Hom. i. in
Act — e'.. Basilii— Exhortat. ad Bapt.
Hom. xiii. — adhortationibus colligi po
test, quibus eos, quos ad baptismum
digne praeparatos, norant, ad ilium
prima quaque opportunitate, sine ulla
majoris cujusdam solemnitatis expec-
tatione, suscipiendum invitabant. Ut
adeo ista solemnia tempora ex scitis
rationibus ab Ecclesia fuerint praesti-
tuta, et ex a=que idoneis rationibus
negbgi potuerint.— Paleotim. Origin.
f™les-> Hb- xi- caP- vi. p. 255. Venet.

s Ut presbyter semper Eucharistiam
habeat paratam ; ut quando quis in-
firmaverit, aut parvulus infirmus fuqrit,
statim eum communicet, ne sine com-
munione moriatur. — Cap. Reg. Franc,
torn. i. col. 731. Paris. 1677.
h Sed et hoc praevidendum est, ut
nullum cibum accipiant, neque lac-
tentur antequam communicent. Omni
autem die, usque in Octavas ad mis-
sam veniant, et communicent, parentes
vero oblationespro ipsis faciant. — Cap.
xix. Alcuin. torn. ii. pars ii. p. 484. Mo
nast. S. Emmeram. 1777.
1 MeraSiSoxn Se ti£ itaiSl roiv lepwv
(rv/j.f$6ha>v & 'lepdpxys, oirws iv avrots
avarpatpetr). — Cap. vii. p. 419. Antverp.
1633. k Tt 5* %v elrtas itepl rciiv en vrj-iriajv
Kal fi-r]re rrjs fa/Aias iitaitTBavop.ivwv,
[i-ftre rrjs xapiros; 3) Kal ravra f$awrt-
trofj.ev; irdvu ye, el-jreprts 4-rteiyoi KivSvvos
.... Ttepl Se roiv %.KKoiv SiSw/xi- yvtifj.7]V,
rr]v rpieriav avafteivavras, r) fxiKpov ivrbs
rovrov, 7] uirep rovro. — P. 713, 714. ed.
Ben. 1 Equidem in prima Evangelii per
orbem terrarum annuntiatione nuspiam
homines ad observandum stata baptismi
tempora fuerunt obligati, quia Apostoli
nullam hac de re legem praescripse-
runt. Ipsimet quovis tempore, ut res
et occasio se dabat, indiscriminatim

1766.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 459
opinion, as it was given too soon in St. Cyprian's time, ac- chap.
cording to the example related by him in his book de Lapsism ,- — :  -
where the child, whom the Pagans had given bread dipped in
the wine that had been consecrated to their idols — because
too young to eat of the flesh of their sacrifices — receives the
Eucharist in the Church.

CHAPTER XXIV.
TWO SORTS OP MEANS TO RESOLVE WHATSOEVER IS RESOLVABLE CONCERN
ING THE SCRIPTURE. UPON WHAT TERMS THE CHURCH MAY OR IS TO
DETERMINE CONTROVERSIES OF FAITH. AND WHAT OBLIGATION THAT
DETERMINATION PRODUCETH. TRADITIONS OP THE APOSTLES OBLIGE
THE PRESENT CHURCH, AS THE REASONS OF THEM CONTINUE OR NOT.
INSTANCES IN OUR LORD'S PASSOVER AND EUCHARIST. PENANCE UNDER
THE APOSTLES, AND AFTERWARDS. ST. PAUL'S VEIL, EATING BLOOD, AND
THINGS OFFERED TO IDOLS. THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN LIMITING
THESE TRADITIONS.
I may now proceed, I conceive, to resolve generally upon Two sorts
what principles any thing questionable in Christianity is resolve18 °
determinable ; and as frankly as briefly do affirm, that there wbatsoever
, , ls resolv-
are but two sorts of means to resolve us in any thing of that able con-
nature : tradition and argument, authority and reason, history the Scrip-
and logic. For whatsoever any artist or divine hath said of tmes'
the great use of the languages in discovering the true mean
ing of the original Scriptures, by the ancient translations as
well as the originals — which I allow as much as they demand
— they must give me leave to observe, that seeing all lan
guages are certain laws of speaking, which have the force of
signifying by being delivered to posterity upon agreement of
their predecessors, all that help is duly ascribed to tradition,
which we have from the languages. Indeed this is no tra
dition of the Church, no more than all history and historical
truth, concerning the times, the places, the persons mentioned
m Ubi vero solennibus adimpletis reluctanti licet de Sacramento calicis
calicem diaconus offerre praesentibus infudit. Tunc sequitur singultus et
ccepit, et accipientibus caeteris, locus vomitus. In corpore atque ore vio-
ejus advenit, faciem suam parvula in- lato Eucharistia permanere nonpotuit.
stinctu divinae majestatis avertere, os  Hoc circa infantem quae ad elo-
labiis obturantibus premere, calicem re- quendum alienum circa se crimen nec-
cusare. Perstitit tamen diaconus, et dum habuit astatem. — P. 189. ed. Ben.

460 OF THE PRINCIPLES

BOOK in the Scripture, concerning the laws, the customs, the

fashions, and orders practised by persons mentioned in the
Scriptures, in all particulars whereof the Scripture speaks;
which, whether it be delivered by Christians or not Christians, 179
as far as the common reason of men alloweth or warranteth it
for historical truth, is to be admitted into consequence in en
quiring the meaning of the Scriptures ; and without it, all
pretence of languages is pedantic and contemptible, as that
which gives the true reason to the language of the Scripture,
whatsoever it import in vulgar use.
§ 2. This help being applied to the text of the Scripture, it
will be of consequence to consider the process of the discourse,
pursuing that which may appear to be intended not by any
man's fancy, but by those marks which, cleared by the helps
premised, may appear to signify it ; which is the work of
reason, supposing the truth of the Scriptures. And whereas
other passages of Scripture either are clearer of themselves, or
being made clearer by using the same helps, may seem to
argue the meaning of that which is questioned; whereas other
parts of Christianity resolved afore may serve as principles to
infer, by consequence of reason, the truth of that which
remains in doubt — not to be imputed therefore to reason, but
to the truth from which reason argues, as believed and not
seen — this also is no less the work of reason, supposing the
truth of the Scriptures.
§ 3. But whereas there be two sorts of things questionable
in Christianity ; and all that is questionable merely in point
of truth hath relation to, and dependance upon, the rule of
faith, as consequent to it, or consistent with it, if we will have
it true; or otherwise if false : I acknowledge in the first place,
that nothing of this nature can be questionable, further than
as some Scripture, the meaning whereof is not evident, creat-
eth the doubt : and therefore, that the determination of the
meaning of that Scripture, is the determination of the truth
questionable. For seeing the truth of God's nature and
counsels, which Christianity revealeth, are things which no
Christian can pretend to have known, otherwise than by
revelation from God; and that we have evidence that whatso
ever we have by Scripture is revealed, but by the tradition
of the Church, no further than all the Church agreeth in it 

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 461
all that wherein it agreeth being supposed to be in the Scrip- CHAP
ture, and much more than that — it followeth, that nothing can  -
be affirmed as consequent to, or consistent with, that which
the tradition of the Church containeth, but by the Scripture,
and from the Scripture.
§ 4. So that I willingly admit, whatsoever is alleged from
divers sayings of the fathers, that whatsoever is not proved
out of the Scriptures, is as easily rejected as it is affirmed,
limiting the meaning of it as I have said. But whatsoever
there is Scripture produced to prove, seeing we have pre
scribed that nothing can be admitted for the true meaning of
any Scripture that is against the Catholic tradition of the
Church ; it behoveth that evidence be made, that what is pre
tended to be true, hath been taught in the Church so expressly,
as may infer the allowance of it, and therefore is not against
the rule of faith. But this being cleared, so manifest as it is
that the Church hath not the privilege of infallibility, in any
express act, which is not justifiable from the universal original
practice of the Church, whether in prescribing what is to be
believed, what is to be professed, or what is to be done ; so
manifest must it remain, that nothing can be resolved by
plurality of votes of ecclesiastical writers as to the point of
truth. For then were the privilege of infallibility in the votes
of those writers, which themselves disclaim, from the substance
of what they write. And it is to say, that what had no such
privilege when it was written, if it have more authors survive
that hold it, shall be and must be held infallible.
§ 5. Which consequences being ridiculous, it followeth, that
for the trial of truth within the bounds aforesaid, recourse
must be had to the means premised. And the effect of those
means every day's experience witnesseth. For the obligation
which all men think they have, firmly to hold that which by
these means they have all concluded from the Scriptures, is
the consequence of these principles in expounding the same.
Which obligation, though sometimes imaginary, in regard that
between contradictory reasons the consequence may be equally
firm on both sides ; yet that it cannot be otherwise, he that
believes the truth of Christianity must needs imagine. For
true principles truly used necessarily produce nothing but true
consequences.

462 OF THE PRINCIPLES

BOOK § 6. Which if it be so, why should any question be made, 180

I.

that the Church may and sometimes ought to proceed in
Uponwhat ... , J n , . • i i r
terms the determining the truth of things questionable upon occasion ot
may oi- is to the Scriptures, concerning the rule of Christian faith? or
determine ^hich js &\\ onG} that the exercise of this power by the Church,
sies of produceth in those that are of the Church, an obligation of
submitting to the same ? Indeed here be two obligations,
which sometimes may contradict one another, and therefore
whatsoever the matter of them be, the effects of them cannot
be contraries. The use of the means to determine the mean
ing of the Scriptures, produceth an obligation of holding that
which followeth from it ; which obligation no man can have,
or ought to imagine he hath, before the due use of such means,
whether his estate in the Church oblige him to use them or
not.
And what § 7. But the visible determination of the Church obliges
thatSdeter- a^ that are °f t'le Church not to scandalize the unity thereof
minatio" by professing contrary to the same. And to both these obli
gations the same man may be subject, as the matter may be,
to wit, as one that hath resolved the question upon true
principles not to believe the contrary; and as one of the
Church that believes the Church, faileth in that for which he
is bound not to break the unity thereof, not to profess against
what the Church determineth. For I am bold to say again,
that there is no society, no communion in the world, whether
civil, ecclesiastical, military, or whatsoever it be, that can sub
sist, unless we grant that the act of superior power obligeth
sometimes, when it is ill used. In the mean time, I say not
that this holds always, and in matters of whatsoever concern
ment ; nor do take upon me generally to resolve this, no more
than what is the matter of the rule of faith, which he that
believes may be saved, he that positively believes it not all
cannot. It shall be enough for me, if I may give an opinion
whether that which we complain of be of value to disoblige
us to our superiors or not : as concerning what is questioned
among us, whether it be of the rule of faith or not.
§ 8. But this I shall say, that to justify the use of this
power towards God, requireth not only a persuasion of the
truth competent to the weight of the point in question, in
those that determine for the Church; but also a probable

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 463
judgment that the determination which they shall make will CHAP.
be the means to reduce contrary opinions to that sense which  —
they see so great authority profess and enjoin. For without
doubt there can be no such means to dissolve the unity of the
Church, as a precipitate and immature determination of some
thing that is become questionable. For effectually to proceed
to exercise ecclesiastical communion, upon terms contrary to
that which hath been received afore, is actually to dissolve the
unity of the Church. The engagement to make good that
which men shall have once done, being the most powerful
witchcraft and ligature in the world, to blind them from seeing
that which all men see besides themselves ; or at least, from
confessing to see that which they cannot but see.
§ 9. But if we speak of things which concern the commu- Traditions
nion of the Church, in those offices which God is to be served Apostles
with by Christians, or that tend to maintain the same ; beside present*6
the meaning and truth of the Scriptures, there remains a fur- Church, as
1 • i • i,i i ,-ci i i thereasona
ther question, what is, or ought to be, law to the Church, and of them
oblige them that are of the Church — seeing that whatsoever is or not.
in the Scripture obligeth not the Church for law, though
obliged to believe it for truth — the resolution whereof will
require evidence of the reason, for which every thing was done
by the Apostles ; for as it holds or not, so the constitution
grounded upon it is to hold, either always, or only as it holds.
And this reason must be evidenced by the authority of the
Church admitting that reason into force, whether by express
act or by silent practice.
§ 10. When the Israelites are commanded to eat the Pass- instances
over in haste, with their loins girt, and their staves in their ™0°™s
hands, there is appearance enough that the intent of it was Paf o/er
. . -r, a e
only concerning that Passover which first they celebrated in Eucharist.
Egypt, not for an order always to continue, because then the
case required haste ; and because then the angel passed over
their houses, upon the door-posts whereof the blood was com
manded to be sprinkled, that by that mark he might pass over
181 them to smite the Egyptians. For though Philo" would have
Tip S)i iojvI roirip, Trepl rectaapea- to lepeTa, Bvowri 5' ol lepels, oWa v6fiov
KaiSeKarpv 7j/j.epav preXXovros rov ere- irpocrrd^ei avp-irav rb eBvos leparat rSiv
X-nviaicov kvkXou yiveaBai irX-ntritpaovs, Karh /xeptis eKaarov ras imep avrov
fryeTai t& Siaffar-lipia Si),uoi|)aj'J)s eoprri, Bvalas avdyovros rire /cal xeipovpyovv-
rb XaXSa'io-ri Xey6p,evov -ndtTKa, iv ros. — De Vita Mosis, lib. iii. p. 686.
ovx ol p.ev ISiwrai itpotrdyovai rip ISap/p Paris. 1640.

464 OF THE PRINCIPLES
book the Passover to be celebrated at home, and not at Jerusalem —
 — though perhaps only by those of the dispersions, those that
dwelt in the land of promise being all tied to resort to Jeru
salem — yet all that acknowledge the Talmud think it not law
ful to celebrate it but at Jerusalem0; contenting themselves
with the supper, and abating the lamb, as one of those sacri
fices which the law forbiddeth every where but before the ark.
But had not the practice of the nation, and the authority of
the elders, trusted by the law to determine such matters, ap
peared in the business, our Lord, who, according to His own
doctrine, was subject to their constitutions, had not had a rule
for His proceeding.
§ 11. So, in the infancy of Christianity, it is no marvel if
the Christians at Jerusalem entertained daily communion p,
even at board also, among themselves ; and that they gave their
estates to the maintenance of it, not by any law of communion
of goods, but as the common necessity required ; for what
could make more towards the advancement of Christianity?
And when, at Corinth, and in other Churches, the communion
was in use, though not so frequent, nor giving up their estates,
but offering the first fruits of them to the maintenance of it;
yet still was the Eucharist frequented at these occasions as it
was first instituted by our Lord, as by the express words of
Tertullian q we understand that it was even in his time. But
when the number of Christians so increased, that the use of
the like communion could not stand with the maintenance of
the world, which Christianity supposeth, when the same dis
cipline could not prevail in so vast a body, which had ruled at .
the beginning ; is it then any marvel to see those feasts of love
laid aside — whether with the Eucharist or without it — and the
Sacrament of the Supper of our Lord become so unfrequented
° Armum deinde et ovum iterum quas vox et brachium significat; et
mensas apponunt, et singulis secundum ovum, quod, una cum armo apponunt,
scyphum plenum infundunt, atque seu- Chaldaice dicitur. . . . Beah, quae vox
tellam cum placentis e mensa tollunt, et velle significat. Itaque hie volunt
ut filii eorum, sicut priscis temporibus, significari .... quod Deus ipsos libe-
habeant quod de agno paschali quaerant, raverit brachio excelso. Non tamen
quemadmodum scribitur ; ' Et quum audent dicere de hoc armo, quod sit 
dixerint vobis filii vestri, quae est ista loco Paschatis, ne videantur, ac si
religio?' Sic etiam nunc quaerere de- sanctacomedant extra terram sanctam:
beant : 'Cur secundum poculum infun - quia idprohibitum. — Buxtorf. Synagog.
datur, antequamcomederint.' Respon- Jud., cap. xviii. pp. 411, 412. Basil.
dent singuli pueris quod norunt, cito- 1661.
que iterum ad mensam referuntur .... p See chap. xvi. sect. 33.
Armus hebraice dicitur  Seroah, q See chap. xxi. sect. 17.'

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 465
at supper, that it is strange to the rest of Christendom to see cha p.
it so used in Egypt1, on Maundy Thursday, in remembrance —  —
merely of the primitive custom ?
§ 12. What shall we say of the order of widows, whereof
St. Paul writeth ? Is it not manifest that there was then a
necessity of such persons as might give attendance upon the
sick, and poor, and impotent of every Church ? that might
minister hospitality to those strangers that should travel by
every Church, and were to receive entertainment according
to the custom ? And is it not manifest, that when, Christianity
increasing, daily oblations could not serve for this purpose,
but standing endowments were to be provided, this course
could not serve the turn, nor the office continue necessary,
when the work ceased?
§ 13. There is nothing more evident than that which I Penance
have said in another place s, concerning the rigour of penance Apostles
under the Apostles : nothing to intimate that they forbade and after-
any sin, how grievous soever, to be admitted to reconcilement
with God by the Church : many evident arguments that
they left it in the power of the Church to grant it or not.
But the increase of Christianity, abating the sincerity and zeal
of Christians, made it so necessary to abate that rigour, and
to declare free access even for adulterers, murderers, and
apostates to the worship of idols; that Montanus first, and
afterwards the Novatians, are justly counted schismatics for
departing from the Church, upon that which the change of
* " I have but little to say of the Greeks the mean time the patriarch put off' his
in this place, having spoken of them patriarchal ornaments, without the as-
elsewhere. There are many of them in sistance of any, and putting on again
Egypt, and have a patriarch there, who his tiara, he tied one napkin about him,
— as well as the primate of the Coptites and put another by his side, then setting
— carries the title of Patriarch of Alex- a great bason and ewer on the ground,
andria, but he resides commonly at he poured a little water into tbe bason,
Cairo. I saw him celebrate Mass at making the sign of the cross, giving the
Cairo on Holy Thursday. .'. . ewer to a clerk, who poured water on
"Mass being over, the patriarch went the foot of the first of the twelve Apo- .
in tbe body of the church to a place sties, whilst the patriarch washed and
railed in, raised about three feet from rubbed it well with his hands, then
the ground, at the end whereof there wiped it with his napkin, and offered to
was a chair for him, and on each side kiss it, which the priest would not suffer.
six chairs, for twelve priests that fol- He did so to the rest, pouring always
lowed him, and there being all in copes, out water for every one of them, with
they sat down. These twelve priests tbe sign of the cross." — DeThevenot's
represented the twelve Apostles ; then Travels into the Levant, pt. i. chap. 77.
a priest went to the chancel door, and pp. 256, 257. London, 1687.
turning his back to the Altar read the s Right of the Church, chap. i. sect.
Gospel for Holy Thursday in Greek ; in 21.
THORNDIKE. xr h

466 OF THE PRINCIPLES
book times made necessary for the preservation of unity in it:
 '-  which the Donatists remain much more liable to, breaking
out afterwards upon a branch of the same cause.
§ 14. Yet is nothing more evident to them that use not the
unction of the sick, than that instance. For what is, or what
can be alleged, why an express precept of the Apostles,
backed with the uninterrupted practice of the Church, should
not take place, but the appearance that the reason for which
it was commanded ceaseth ; the miraculous curing of bodily
sickness no more remaining in the Church, and so drawing
after it the ceremony which signified and procured it ?
st. Paul's § 15. But in St. Paul's dispute of women covering their
' heads in the Church, the case is not so clear, unless we admit
two suppositions, both evident upon the credit of historical
truth*. The first, that neither Jews, Greeks, or Romans, ever
used, or knew what it meant, to uncover the head in sign of
reverence. What use soever they made of hats or caps, as
they had use of them — though not so continual as we have —
seeing you never find that they put them off in sign of reve
rence, it is impossible that keeping them on should be i
understood among them for a sign of irreverence. And
therefore that the whole dispute nothing concerns the ques
tion of preaching with a hat or a cap on in the Church.
§ 16. The second is, that which we learn by Tertullian's
book, de Virginibus Velandis : the subject whereof being, that
virgins are not exempted, by any privilege, from veiling their
faces in the Church, is argued by consequences drawn from
this dispute of St. Paul ; and namely, it is alleged11, that in
the Church of Corinth at that time, according to St. Paul's
order, they veiled their faces. Whereby it appears that
St. Paul was understood to speak of a veil, which covering
1 Discooperto enim capite in publi- Sanctus. Ex Apostoli praescripto hunc
cum prodire, symbolum est libertatis, morem Christiani veteres perpetuo te-
dignitatis et dominii. Caeterum tecto nuerunt. UndeTertullianusaifllluc"
aut discooperto capite sacra facere et scilicet in ccelum, " suspicientes Chris-
orare non uniformis fuit apud gentes tiani manibus expansis, quia innocuis;
usus. Judaei tecto orant capite in tem- capite nudo quia non erubescirmis, de-
plo, metuentes ne ipsi minus digni nique sine monitore, quia de pectore,
majestatem Dei conspicerent. Apud oramus." — Natalis Alexandr. Comm.
Gracos mos fuit sacra facere, capite in Ep. i. ad Corinth, xi. 4. p. 414.
discooperto. Romani tecto capite sacris Paris. 1746.
operabantur, et intererant. S. Paulus » Sic et ipsi Corinthii intellexerunt.
Graecis Cormthns scnbens Gracum Hodie denique virgines suas Corinthii
prafert morem, et rationes addit quales velant.-Tertull.deVirgin.Velandis, cap.
pro negotu natura suggessit Spiritus viii. p. 312. ed. Pam. Rothomag. 1662.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

467

the head, came down before the face, which St. Paul therefore chap.
one while calls, eVt K€(j)a,X-r)<; ty-iv, another while mm /ce<£a\?5? —  -
exeiv, signifying that which is so upon the head, as it comes
down before the facex; in English, a veil. And so Clemens
Alexandrine? and others understand it.
§ 17. This being the case, what is the reason, which ceasing,
the precept thereupon may be thought to cease? Surely
nothing else but because those Christians which overcame the
Roman empire did not think that civility and the modesty
of women required them to keep their faces veiled ; as the
opinion and custom of Jews, Greeks, and Romans, to whom
St. Paul preached, did require. And though he argueth that
nature, which teacheth women every where to let their hair
grow at length, teaches them to veil their faces, because even
unclothed, they are provided of a veil ; yet when he addeth,
" If any man be contentious, we have no such custom, neither
the Churches of God," it is manifest he intends no law of
nature, but an inference, which civility making from nature,
was fit to be maintained by the custom of the Church, as that
custom, for the unity of the Church. But when those nations
whose civility had not made the same inference, received
Christianity, is it marvel that Christianity should not impose
that upon them, which being no part of Christianity, had no
ground, unless they would be bound to receive the civility of
other nations upon the account of the common Christianity ?
§ 1 8. In the decree of the Apostles at Jerusalem, prohibit- Eating
ing the Gentile Christians things sacrificed to idols, strangled,
and blood, it appeareth by the disputes of sundry learned men2
* See Right of the Church, Review, Noachi posteris observanda esse, con-
chap, v. sect. 24. tendunt ; idque Rabbini per cabalam
y . . iyKexaXitpBai Se Kal ri)v Keipa- ex Genes, xi. 16. evincere conantur.
Xty, Kal rb rtpiaontov eireffKidcrBai itpotr- Unde et Seldenus juxta baec septem
reraKrar ou yap Sffiov eTvai 6-liparpov praecepta totum jus naturale in opere
avBpumav rb KdXXos rod ffiifiaros. — incomparabili de Jure Naturali ex Doc-
Paedag., lib. ii. cap. x. p. 238. Venet. trina Hebrteorum pertractavit.
1757. Grotius ad jus divinumvoluntarium,
z Secundum genus juris divinivolun- referthanc legem Noacho publicatam,
tarii, quod Grotius non ex jure natu- de non esu sanguinis viventis. At in
rali onri, sed Noacho, ejusque posteris genere notandum est, praeter legem de
verbis declaratum esse, fingit, est jus non esu sanguinis nullam aliam Noae a
Noachicum, quod doctores potissimum Deo publicatam fuisse, quia altum de
ex sex praeceptis Adamo jam prae- aliis in sacra pagina est silentium.
scriptis constare dicunt, quibus sep- Neque opus fuisset tali publicatione,
timum demum, de non esu sanguinis turn quia praacepta reliqua ex bypothesi
viventis, nova hac lege accessisse, puta- Rabbinorum jam Adamo erant publi-
bant. Atque haec praecepta ab omnibus eata; turn quia omnia ilia praecepta se-
Hh2

468 OF THE PRINCIPLES
book admitting the Jews' tradition, that all the sons of Noah re-
!  ceived seven precepts from God, which, when other nations
fell away to idols, remained visible only in the practice of such,
as not being Jews nor circumcised, are nevertheless, in sundry
places of the law, allowed to live among them in the land of
promise, under the name of "the stranger within the gates:"
for this allowance was upon condition of undertaking these
seven precepts.
§ 19. When therefore Gentiles were admitted to Chris
tianity with Jews, and the question resolved, that they were
free of the law of Moses, and yet an expedient was requisite,
not to scandalize the Jews by the use of that freedom, that
Jews and Gentiles might the more kindly join in one Church,
it appears that the precept of blessing the name of God, that
is, worshipping God, was sufficiently provided for by the
Christian faith ; the precepts of maintaining courts of judica
tures, and of forbearing rapine, were sufficiently provided for
by the government of the empire ; and the precept of the
Sabbath out of date under the Gospel. It remaineth there
fore3, that by prohibiting things sacrificed to idols, and fornica-
quuntur, ex ratione naturali, adeoque seu amicitiam, id est, in societatem Im
pertinent ad ipsum jus naturae. — manam, quempiam nomine proselyti
Samuel Cocceii Introduct. in Grot, de domicilii apud eos, dum plane sui juris
Jure Belli ac Pacis, torn. v. Dissert, fuere, acceptum, nisi is modo etiam ibi
Procem. ii. sect. ii. § 24 — 27. pp. 63, 64. indicato, juris Noachidarum seu natu-
Lausannae 1759. rali, quod prae manibus est, capitum ob-
a In novo demum Foedere insitam servationi nomen daret. Quod itidem
Hebrasis de Noachidarum seu gentium ferme cernitur in eis quos proselytorum
jure nemini non observando sententiam domicilii instar diximus. Cum igitur
spectasse volunt aliqui sacrosanctam sub initiis Christianismi, Judasi aliquot
synodum illam Iherosolymitanam sub ex Pharisaeorum secta, rituum suorum
Christians Ecclesias initiis habitam; ac Mosaica legis tenaciores, Christo
ubi agitata quaestione, utrum etiam nomina dederant, atque interea ani-
gentes quae Christianismo nomen dede- madverterant gentes non sine baptismo
rant, servare deberent leges Mosaieas quidem, ac sine circumcisione atque
adeoque circumcidi,an exlibertateChris- oblatione, in Christianismi secum socie-
tiana eis forent soluti, responsum mise- tatem seu Ecclesiam sibi communem
runt Apostoli et Seniores fratres in epi- adscisci, adeoque veluti proselytos jus-
stola synodica ad eos qui fuere tunc in titiae qua Judasis conjungerentur, aut in
Antiochia, Syria, et Cilicia fratres ex religionis unionem ab illis admitteren-
gentibus ea de re dubitantes  tur — ex regeneratione haberi ; ne patrii
Sed vero ut res penitius dispiciatur, atque vetustioris in proselytorum ejus-
paulo altius est repetenda. Ex iis quae modi justitiae admissioneritus.nunquam
libro secundo supra ostensa sunt, liquet antea sibi majoribus suis non diligent-
Judaeos sine baptismo, circumcisione issime observati, negligentiores in gen-
atque oblatione neminem admisisse, ut tium societatem banc convenient, etiam
proselyti justitias nomine, in eorum eas circumcidi atque leges, qua? fuere
Ecclesiam cooptaretur. Nee cooptatum caeterae, Mosaieas observare volebant.
quempiam qui futuram legis Mosaicae Unde illud, Et quidam deseendentes 
observationem m se non reciperet, modo Et certe ex eis quae in eodem capite se-
itidem ibi indicato, Quin nee in fcedus quuntur satis constat, tam Pharisaeos

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

469

tion, with that which was strangled, and blood, the Apostles chap.
establish such compliance between Jewish and Gentilish  —
Christians, as was in use between Jews and strangers, prose
lytes, in the land of promise.
6 20. Not as if Christians had not sufficiently renounced and things
¦ ii • • • i ^ • i t. offered to
idolatry in receiving the faith ; or, as if it were not free for idols.
them, being Christians, to use God's creatures, which perhaps
might have been sacrificed to idols ; but because, as I said
afore b, the Jews had a custom not to eat any thing till they
had enquired whether sacrificed to idols, or consecrated by
offering the first fruits thereof; which scrupulosity those who
did not observe, they counted not so much enemies to idols as
they ought to be; which opinion of their fellow Christians
was not so consistent with that opinion of Christianity which
was requisite. Not as if fornication were not sufficiently pro
hibited by Christianity, but because simple fornication being
183 accounted no sin, but merely indifferent among the Gentiles;
all the professions, and all the decrees that could be made,

fuisse qui tunc pacem Ecclesiae hac doc-
trinaturbarent, quam non solum circum-
cisionem sed etiam caeteras, qua? fuere,
leges Mosaieas observari a gentibus bap
tismo susceptis, eos voluisse. Hac de
re autem Antiochiae disputatione habita,
Paulus est Barnabas — qui argumentis
plurimis in Pharisaicam illam senten
tiam usi, controversiam tamen finire
nequibant — cum aliis aliquot Hieroso-
lymam ablegautur, ut ibi ab Apostolis
etpresbyteris res definiretur. In synodo
ea agitantur. Apostolis et presbyteris
in ea definitum est, lege quidem Mosaica
seu Hebraeorum, qua Mosaica atque
Ecclesiae seu reipublicas Judaic^ prae-
scripta, gentes quae Christo nomina de-
derant neutiquam teneri, sed Christiana
frui debere libertate. Unde nee ritus,
quibus proselyti justitiae fieri solerent,
jam aut vim aut locum habere. Nam
proselyti justitiae ad morem majorum
sic died, ad ecclesiam Judaicam, qua
Judaica esset, qua singularis, et a caete-
ris hominum quibuscunque ccetibus dis-
creparet, tantum attinebant. At vero
advertendum est, minime quaestionem
agitari de juris quo simpliciter gentiles
tenerentur capitibus, qualia sunt ilia
Noachidarum septem quae tractavimus,
sed de jure Mosaico, seu eo quod in
fcedere veteri Judaeis prasscriptum est,
equo desumuntur ilia de idolothytis,
sanguine, suffocato, fornication e ; ut quae

necessario observanda, ex autoritate sy-
nodi, ab eis qui Christianismo nomina
dantes cum Judaeis sua pariter Christia
nismo dantibus nomina viverent, adeo
que societatem religionis cum eis inirent.
Nee quidem de proselytorum domicilii
jure — quorum nee admissionis formula
tunc temporis, nee diu ante, in usu —
sed plane de eo quod proselytorum jus
titiae admistionem haud parum imitare-
tur, actum est, Scilicet de gentilium iu
Societatem Judaeorum Christianismo,
ex disciplina in Judaea orta, imbutorum
cooptatione. Neque enim de bomicidii,
furti, aut blasphemiae interdictis, aut de
judiciis civilibus — quasex septem Noa
chidarum juris capitibus sunt quatuor
— omnino in synodo monetur. Nee in
canone vocabxdum occurrit quod ad
horum aliquod spectare videatur, nisi
sanguinem de bomicidio, seu ejusdem
effusione ibi dictum cum veterum non-
nullis, manifesto hallucinatis admiseris.
Nee sane opus era, ut ubi de eis ibi mo-
neretur, uti nee de ipsa idololatria, qua-
tenus simpliciter actus est idola colendi;
utpote quae universa, ex Evangelica dis
ciplina, quam amplecterentur tam gen
tiles quam Judasi sic in societatem
Christanismi simul ac vitae cooptati,
satis cognita. — Selden. de Jure Naturali
et Gentium, lib. vii. cap. xii. pp. 882 —
887. Argentorati 1665.
* Chap. xxi. sect. 18.

470 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK were little enough to persuade the Jews that their fellow
 I  Christians of the Gentiles held it in the like detestation as
themselves.
The power § 21. Now though we find that the Christians did some-
Church in times, and in most places c, forbear blood, and things strangled,
tS"L and offered to idols, even where this reason ceased; and that
ditions. perhaps out of an opinion that the decree of the Apostles
took hold of them— in doing which they did but abridge
themselves of the common freedom of Christians — yet seeing
the Apostles give no such sign of any intent of reviving that
which was once a law to all that came from Noah, but for
gotten and never published again; it followeth, that the
Church is no more led by the reason of their decree, than
those Churches of Rome and Corinth were, whom St. Paul
licenses to eat all meats in general, as the Romans, or things
sacrificed to idols expressly, as the Corinthians, excepting the
case of scandal — which our common Christianity excepteth —
setting aside the decree of Jerusalem, which St. Paul allegeth
not, and naming two cases, wherein that scandal might fall
out, as excepting no other case.
§ 22. But in all these instances — and others that might be
brought — as it was visible to the Church whether the reasons
for which such alterations were brought into the Church con
tinued in force or not ; so was it both necessary and sufficient
for them that might question whether they were tied to them
or not, to see the express act, or the custom of the Church
for their assurance. For what other ground had they to
assure their consciences, even against the Scripture, in all
ages of the Church ? For if these reasons be not obvious, if
every one admit them not, much less will every one find a
0 Usu abolita fuit hasc lex cessante quin et Latini aliqui, ut Aurelianenses,
dissidio Judasorum et gentium, cum quibus hoc edicitur in Concil. Aurelian.
utrique plane in unam Ecclesiam coa- ii. can. 20,acWormatienses,Moguntini,
luerunt. Unde S. Augustinus loco jam aliique Germani, ut patet ex concil.
citato, [lib. xxii. contra Faustum, cap. "Wormatiensi, can. 65. et ex Zacharia
13.] scribit earn suo tempore non am- Papain epistola ad Bonifacium. Verum
plius fuisse in usu, apud suos Hippo- nunc a multis centenis annis lex ista
nenses, aliosque vicinos Africanos : nam ubique gentium — exceptis Graecis —
nonnulli post astatem S. Augustini ad usu contrario abolita est. Unde nunc
reverentiam Apostolorum, qui earn lu- sanguinem in farciminibus, quae fiunt
lerant, illam observarunt, prassertim ex intestinis porcorum et boum san-
Grasci — qui etiamnum earn observant — guine infartis, comedimus. — Cornel.il
ut patet ex Concil. Gangrens. cap. ii. Lapide, Comm. in Act. Apost. xv. 20.
et Leone Imp. in Novell. Constit. 58. p. 248. Antverp. 1684.
ubi hanc Apostolorum legem renovat :

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 471
resolution wherein all may agree, and all scandal and dissen- chap.
sion may be suppressed.  '—

CHAPTER XXV.

THE POWER OF THE CHUECH IN LIMITING EVEN THE TRADITIONS OF THE
APOSTLES. NOT EVERT ABUSE OF THIS POWER, A SUFFICIENT WARRANT
FOR PARTICULAR CHURCHES TO REFORM THEMSELVES. HERESY CONSISTS
IN DENYING SOMETHING, NECESSARY TO SALVATION TO BE BELIEVED.
SCHISM, IN DEPARTING FROM THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH, WHETHER
UPON THAT, OR ANY OTHER CAUSE. IMPLICIT FAITH NO VIRTUE ; BUT
THE EFFECT OF IT MAY BE THE WORK OF CHRISTIAN CHARITY.
Supposing now the Church a society, and the same from The power
the first to the second coming of Christ by God's appoint- church in
ment ; let it be considered, what is the difference between the limitl°s
3 * even the
state thereof under the Apostles, and under Constantine, or traditions
• • i iii .ofthe
now under so many sovereignties as have shared these parts of Apostles.
the empire ; and let any understanding, that can apprehend
what laws or what customs are requisite to the preservation of
unity in the communion of the Church, in the one and in the
other estate ; I say, let any such understanding pronounce,
whether the same laws can serve the Church as we see it now,
or as we read of it under Constantine, and as it was under
the Apostles.
§ 2. He that says yea, will make any man that understands, [Grounds
say that he understands not what he speaks of; he that says p0Wer,]
nay, must yield, that even the laws given the Church by the
Apostles, oblige not the Church, so far as they become useless
to the purpose for which they are intended, seeing it is mani
fest that all laws of all societies whatsoever, so far as they
become unserviceable, so far must needs cease to oblige. And
the Apostles, though they might know by the Spirit the state
of the Church that should come after ; yet, had they intended
to give laws to that state, they had not given laws to the state
which was, when they lived and gave laws. The authority
therefore of the Apostles remaining unquestionable, and the
ordinances also by them brought into the Church, for the
maintenance of God's service according to Christianity, the

472

OF THE PRINCIPLES

BOOK Church must needs have power d, not only to limit and deter-
 :  mine such things as were never limited nor determined by

d Ad quartnmvero argumentum sunt
qui respondeant, Ecclesiae auctoritatem
tantam esse, ut quaedam etiam de Scrip-
turis Sacris immutarit. Hujus generis
exempla ponunt, Sabbatum, esum suf-
focati, et sanguinis ; baptisma in nomine
Jesu, et quod Christus coenatis dedit
Eucharistiam, Ecclesia jejunis ; Chris
tus sub ambabus speciebus, Ecclesia
laicis sub una : quod Paulus denique
permisit dispares in fide conjuges, Ec
clesia improbavit. Ita quamvis lex
Scriptura? sit, ut is non ordinetur Epi
scopus, qui duas habuerit uxores ; Ec
clesia tamen earn legem poterit vel ex
parte solvere, vel etiam omnino abro-
gare. Hoc autem responsum hanc qui
dem habet viam, quae deducit ad con-
venientiam, conservationemque Eccle
siasticae auctoritatis, quam si sequemur,
nunquam aberrabimus, sequemurque,
et id quod certum et tutum est, et id
quod ad fidelium consociationem ac-
commodatum, et id quod vebemens at
que forte. Se~d cavendum sane est, ne
si in argumentorum confutatione ad
Ecclesiam tanquam in aram confugi-
mus, rustici potius quam Theologi esse
videamur. Mihiitaque aliud responsum
multo et doctius videtur et verius, quod
duplici partitione subnixum est. Una
est hujusmodi. Scripturee praecepta
quaedam temporaria erant, id est, ad
tempus ex loci, temporis, personarum,
aliarumve rerum et causarum ratione
servanda. Atque hujusmodi ipsa ex
se in praefinito tempore antiquabantur,
nulla etiam Ecclesiae interveniente auc-
toritate. Quod enim pro necessitate
temporis statutum est, cessante neces
sitate, debet cessare pariter quod urge-
bat. 1. q. 1. Quod pro necessitate. Ejus
generis fuit Sabbatismus, et reliqua
omnia quae proprie ad legem veterem
pertinebant. Talis etiam lex ilia fuit,
de immolatis, sanguine et suffocato.
Talis quoque usus Apostolicus de bap
tismo in nomine Jesu. Alia vero prae
cepta asterna sunt, quorum servandorum
ratio non brevis et temporalis, sed per-
petua et sempiterna est. Sempiternum
autem Scripturae more voco, quod sem
per erit, non quod semper fuit. In hoc
genere sunt omnia naturae praecepta,
quae tam in Veteri, quam in Novo Tes-
tamento continentur. In hoc etiam lex
ilia, Nisi quis renatus fuerit, et similia.
Et altera similis de pcenitentiae Sacra
mento. Praeceptarursum Apostolorum,

quae in sacris litteris scripta sunt, quae
dam a Christo ipsi acceperunt gentibus
evulganda, juxta illud, Baptizate omnes
gentes, docentes eos servare omnia ques-
cunque mandavi vobis. Altera vero non
fuerunt quidem a Christo Apostolis in-
juncta; sed ipsi post Christum in coelos
assumptum ea populistradiderunt. Quae
tamen Christi Deiqne praecepta dicun-
tur, non ob earn modo causam, quod per
acceptam a Domino potestatem lata
sunt; veruntamen quia Dei Spiritu pe-
culiariter suggerente edita fuere. Visum
est, inquiunt, Spiritui Sancto ei nobis
nihil ultra imponere. Quas verba Ba-
silius, lib. v. contra Eunomium, referens,
' Spiritui, ait, visum est quidem a quo ut
Domino Ecclesiae leges datee sunt, Apo
stolis vero tanquam ministris, per quos
decreta sunt edita.' Quod autem prae
cepta haec Christi quoque diei possint,
Christus ipse docet, inquiens, Qui vos
audit me audit, qui vos spernit me spernit.
Inter haec autem Scripturae mandata,
non leve discrimen est, quod priora ilia
a. Domino Apostolis tradita, ut propria
sunt legis novae praecepta, ita Ecclesia
nee solvere, nee remittere ulli potest,
sicut nee legem natural quidem. Cujus
rei causam nos, in Relectione de Pce-
nitentia, dedimus, quod legis auctor
Evangelicas Christus Dominus non alia
praecepta, per se ipse edidit, quam quae
essent summopere ad salutem neces
saria. At posteriora mandata proprie
quidem humana et ecclesiastica fuere ;
quae videlicet ab Apostolis Ecclesiam
gubernantibus edita sunt, non aliter
atque alia fuere pq^tea a praefectis Ec
clesiae subsequentibus ; dispari tamen
auctoritate. Nam Apostolorum nemo
in praeceptis suis errare poterat, sed a
spiritu Sancto peculiarissime eorum
quisque dirigebatur, in ferendis Ecclesiae
legibus. Posteriores vero antistites hanc
peculiarem Spiritus Sancti praesentiam
non habent, nisi cum in nomine Christi
etEcclesiae congregantur. Quodutique
fit in conciliis generalibus. Qua de re
libro postea quinto fusius disseremus.
His autem prasceptis, licet Apostolica
fuerint, et in sacris etiam Uteris scripta,
summus Pontifex subditos suos liberare,
vel ex parte, vel omnino potest. Qua
etiam ratione, ut alia non esset, lex ilia
Apostolica de abstinendo a sanguine et
suffocato, per Ecclesiae potestatem ab-
rogari potuit. Quanquam, ut diximus,
ea lege, admonitae sunt gentes, ne sua

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 473
the Apostles, but even those things also, the determination chap.
whereof made by the Apostles, by the change of time, and the  '—
184 state ofthe Church therewith, are become evidently useless
and unserviceable to the intent for which it standeth.
§ 3. And if it be true that I said afore e, that all power pro
duceth an obligation of obeying it in some things — I say not
in all, as afore — even when it is abused, in respect of God and
of a good conscience ; then is the act of the Church so far a
warrant, to all those that shall follow it so far, even in things
which a man not only suspects, but sees to be ill ordered by
those that act in behalf of it. This is that which all the
variety and multitude of canons, rites, and ordinances, which
hath been introduced into the Church, before there was cause
of making any change without consent of the whole, evi
denced}; being nothing else but new limitations of those
ordinances which the Apostles either supposed or introduced
for the maintenance of God's service, determining the circum
stances according to the which they were to be exercised.
§ 4. For if there were always cause, since the beginning,
for particular Churches — that is, parts of the whole — to make
such changes, without consent of the whole, as might justly
cause a breach between that part and the whole ; then was
there never any such thing as a Catholic Church, which all
Christians profess to believe. And truly, the Jews' law may
be an argument, as it is a pattern, of the same right ; which,
notwithstanding an express precept, of " neither adding to it,
nor taking from it," unless we admit a power of determining
circumstances not limited by the letter of it, becomes un
serviceable, and not to be put in practice : as may easily
libertate in fratrum offensionem abu- suo potest. Sed id tamen nisi semel
terentur. Praescribunt autem Apostoli, aut iterum, et gravi etiam urgente causa
quatenus pro tempore expediebat, qui- non fecit. Nee id nisi summo Pontifici
bus illae rebus in fratrum offensionem permissum in Ecclesia est, nam Epi-
possint incurrere. Quia igitur lex a scopis contra Apostolum dispensare
fine suo aestimanda est, tunc haec in- cum bigamis non licet, ut Lucius et
telligitur abrogata, cum ab illis often- Innocentius tradunt ; De bigam, non or-
sionibus, ac dissidiis, quibus occurrere dinand. cap. Super, et cap. A nobis.
voluerunt Apostoli, nihil amplius peri- Divus vero Augustinus de legibus primi
culi fuit Quibus positis, facile, ut generis loquebatur, quas si Christus ipse
opinor, quartum illud argumentum re- tulerit, ut quae vere et proprie, divinae et
felletur. Nam Pauli praeceptum de Evangelicae sunt, nemo aut possit, aut
non ordinando Episcopo qui bigamus ausit immutare. — Melchior Cani, Loc.
fuerit, secundi generis est, id est, hu- Theol. lib. ii. cap. xviii. pp. 166—169.
manu'm et Ecclesiasticum ; cujus pro- Matriti, 1791.
inde vinculum solvere Ecclesia jure • Chap-, xi. seett. 31 — 34.

474 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK appear to any man that shall peruse the cases that are put,
 — upon supposition of those precepts which determine not the
same. [Cases, which indeed are the whole subject, as it were,
of the Talmudf.] Whereupon a power is provided by the
same law, of inflicting capital punishment upon any, that not
resting upon the determination established by those that have
authority in behalf of the whole, shall tend to divide the
synagogue.
Not every § 5. I intend not hereby to say, that the power of giving
thifpower law to the Church, cannot be so much abused, that it may at
a sufficient length enable, or oblige parts of the Church, to provide for
for parti- themselves such an order in the communion of Christianity,
Churches as may stand with the Scriptures and the unity of the Church,
them-™ though without consent of the whole Church of the present
selves. time. For it is evident that this disorder may be so great in
the laws of the Church as to make them useless and un
serviceable, not only to the profession of the true faith, or to
the service of God, for which the communion of the Church
standeth, but even to the unity of the Church itself, which is
the prime precept, that all which the Church does, ought to
aim at. It is evident also that this is the true cause which
the reformation hath to dispute against the Church of
Rome. § 6. But this I say, that though particular Churches must
necessarily have their particular laws — which are the differ
ences which several Churches observe in the exercise of the
same ordinances — yet may not any particular Church8 make
f Thewords in brackets are from MSS. some of its laws, yet as to none of them
* " It hath been declared in the may it be repugnant to those of the
former book that there are some rites Church Catholic 
and customs of the Catholic Church, "To conclude this chapter, as it is
which have obtained every where, and plain on the one hand, that every parti-
always, and among all, or, which is cular Church may have some laws about
tantamount, among most Christians, things indifferent — andcannotwellsub-
and may be called upon that account sist without them — which may be proper
its common law ; it hath been shewn and peculiar to itself, and in which it
also in the foregoing chapter, that every may differ from other Churches; so on
particular Church may have some laws the other hand it is as clear, that no
proper and peculiar to itself, provided particular Church ought to reject such
they be only about things indifferent, rites as are received, or to observe such
that is, such things as are neither com- rites as are rejected, by the Church uni-
manded nor forbidden by God's word, versal, or to determine of any thing this
nor determined ad unum, either by the way or that, which hath been deter-
usage and custom, or the definitive sen- mined ad unum already, either by the
tence of the Church universal in some ancient custom and common usage, or
general council ; so that though a par- the definitive sentence of the same, in
ticular Church may be singular as to any free and general council ; or which

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 475
itself any law which may tend to separation, by disclaiming chap.
the unity of the whole Church; or, either expressly, or by  —
due construction denying the same. This is done by abro
gating Apostolical traditions as inconsistent with Christianity
for the matter of them ; not because the reason and ground of
them is ceased. For they who disclaim the authority of the
Apostles, cannot acknowledge the unity of the Church : and
they who make Apostolical ordinances inconsistent with
Christianity, do necessarily disclaim the authority of the
Apostles. § 7. The same is done by abrogating the constitution of
the Church, done by virtue of the authority left it by the
Apostles. For to disclaim the Church in this authority, is to
disclaim the Apostles that left it. And though this authority
may be so abused that particular Churches — that is to say,
parts of the whole Church — may thereby be authorized, yea
obliged to provide for themselves without the consent of the
whole, yet not against the authority of the whole, that is to
say, of the Apostles from whence it proceedeth. Nor is every
abuse thereof a cause sufficient to warrant the scandals that
such proceedings necessarily produce. And this shall be
enough for me to have said in this place ; having, I suppose,
established those principles, by the right application whereof,
he that can make it may judge what is the true plea whereby
185 that separation, which the reformation hath occasioned, must
either be justified or be thought unjustifiable.
§ 8. From that which hath been said, the difference11 between
is the same, no particular Church what- tuti fidei, apostasia ex toto, haeresis ex
soever ought to have any rites, laws, or parte. Schisma nullum est ex prae-
customs, repugnant to the rites, laws, dictis, sed formaliter est recessus ab
and customs ofthe Church Catholic, as obedientia Ecclesiae et Papae, licet fere
in the title of this chapter." — Dawson's semper involvat haeresim, per quam,
Origo Legum, book vi. chap. ii. pp. 86, tanquam per motivum coloratum et
89. London, 1694. apparens, qui recedit, conatur suam
h Quomodo differant inter se haec separationem reddere licitam et hones-
tria, apostasia haeresis et schisma ? tam, licet ex natura rei sit nulla et vi-
Haec enim separant apostatam haereti- tiosa. Non opponitur schisma fidei,
cum et schismaticum ab Ecclesia et sicut duo praedicta, sed charitati, quae
ejus capite, idcirco utile erit assignare unionem Ecclesiae inter membra cum
illorum differentias. capite commendat, quam unionem scin-
Differunt, nam apostasia et haeresis dit et dispergit schisma. Apostasia au-
sunt recessus vitiosus a fide in baptis- tem et haeresis sunt duo vitia majora
mate recepta, ilia quidem ex toto, haec schismate, ilia enim duo principaliter
vero ex parte ; per illam recedens fit sunt contra Deum, hoc vero contra
Judaeus, vel paganus, per hanc haere- Ecclesiam et summum Poutificem. —
ticus se fingit verum Christi discipu- Bordoni, Sacr. Tribunal., cap. ix. torn. i.
lum. Utrumque vitium opponitur vir- p. 281. Ludguni, 1665.

476

OF THE PRINCIPLES

BOOK I.
Heresy
consists in
denyingsomething
necessary to salva
tion to be
believed.

heresy and schism, and the true nature of both crimes in
opposition to Christianity, may and ought to be inferred in
this place, because it ought not to be forgotten — which ought
daily to be lamented — that at the beginning of the troubles it
was questioned in the Lords' House1 whether there were any
such crimes or not, or whether they were only bugbears to
scare children with : and that hereupon every man sees Eng
land overrun with bothk.

1 " My lords, let me presume upon
your patience so far further as to give
me leave to speak to the other imputa
tion laid upon me that I am a separatist,
and the greatest in England ; and first
I shall say of this word ' separatist,'
as that learned man Mr. Hales of Eton
saith in a little MSS. of his which I
have seen,
( ' ' That where it may be rightly fixed
and deservedly charged, it is certainly
a great offence ; but in common use
now amongst us it is no other than a
theological scarecrow, wherewith the
potent and prevalent party useth to
fright and enforce those who are not of
their opinions, to subscribe without
daring to question them, or bring them
to any rule or examination either of
Scripture or reason.' And he observ
eth that this was too usual, even in
ancient times as well as now." — Two
Speeches of Lord Say and Sele in Par
liament, pp. 12, 13. London, 1641.
k " Hence then from all these errors,
heresies, blasphemies, practices, &c.
laid down both in the first and second
part of Gangraena, we may see how far
the sectaries of our times have pro
ceeded, and how high they have risen :
in a word, to sum up in one page what
more at large is expressed in many
sheets, the sectaries are gone very far,
both in damnable doctrines and wicked
practices, in holding principles and
positions destructive to Church and
State, against all government, both civil
as well as ecclesiastical, and that not
only for the matter, but in the manner
and way of propagation of them. They
have questioned and denied all the
articles of faith, and have justified and
pleaded for all kind of errors and abo
minations. They have denied the
Scriptures, Trinity, the Godhead of the
Son, and Holy Ghost, justification by
Christ, the Gospel, law, holy duties,
Church, ministry, Sacraments, and all
ordinances. They hold there are no
devils, no sin, no hell, no heaven, no

resurrection, no immortality of the soul.
And together with these they are against
all kingly government, the king, lords,
the house of commons, as to have any
thing to do in matters of religion, or in
civil matters, any longer than the peo
ple who choose them think fit, and to be
chosen yearly or oftener, according as
they carry themselves ; yea against all
kind of civil government, and magis-
tratical power whatsoever, as appears by
denying the power of imposition of
taxes, and assessments, in denying the
power of magistrates over Church mem
bers in cases of murder, treason, &c.
And as they have denied all these, so
on the contrary they have maintained,
and pleaded for, all kind of blasphe
mous and heretical opinions, and loose
ungodly practices, yea they have pub
licly in print justified there should be
an open toleration for all these, and if
any man should so far degenerate, as
to believe there is no God, nay come to
blaspheme God and the Scriptures, yet
he should not be troubled or molested,
but enjoy the liberty of his conscience.
And they have not only pleaded thus,
but some of them have actually blas
phemed God, Christ, the Spirit, the
Scriptures, ministers, Sacraments, and
all holy ordinances, beside committing
of horrible uncleanness, forsaking of
husbands and wives as antichristian,
being guilty of thefts, defraudings,
being partakers also of the horrible
rebellion of Ireland, in justifying the
rebels, that they did no more than what
we would have done ourselves. All
these, with many others, as the plead
ing for stage plays to be set up again,
some or other of the sectaries have
been guilty of, and unto all these have
added this moreover, to canonize and
cry up for saints, faithful servants of
God, antiscripturists, antitrinitarians,
Arians, perfectists, yea blasphemers
and atheists, so they be but for inde
pendency against presbytery : and par
ticularly how is Paul Best that fearful

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

477

§ 9. The word heresy signifies nothing but choice, and chap.
therefore the signification of it is sometimes indifferent, im- -=5— — -—
porting no more than a way of professing and living which a what it is.]
man voluntarily chooseth, as St. Paul useth it, when he saith
that he "lived according to the most exact heresy of the
Jews' religion, a Pharisee;" Acts xxvi. 5. For it is known,
that besides the necessary profession of the Jews' law, there
were three sects, which no man by being a Jew was obliged
to, but by his own free choice, the Pharisees, the Sadducees,
and the Essenes ; which being all maintained by the law, as
it was then used, the common name of them cannot signify
any crime among them to whom St. Paul then spoke, what
soever we believe of the Sadducees.
§ 10. And thus it sounds among them who use it to signify

blasphemer, — now he is in question by
the House of Commons — pleaded for
by many sectaries of our times, and
bitter speeches spoken against the
House of Commons for meddling with
him ? Yea, and in print too he is
pleaded for, and compared in a sort
with Paul the Apostle. Certainly nei
ther we nor our fathers before us ever
heard or saw such evils of blasphemy,
heresy, in this kingdom, as we have
done within these two or three last
years. The worst of the Bishops and
their chaplains, when they were at
worst, were saints in comparison of
many of the sectaries of our times, and
would have abhorred — as bad as they
were — such opinions and practices
which some of the sectaries magnify,
cry up, and pretend to do by virtue of
new light, the spirit, and as a matter of
great perfection, as for instance, a
man's or woman's forsaking their own
husbands and wives, and taking others
at their pleasure, out of pretence of
casting off antichristian yokes, the
pleading for a general toleration of all
religions, yea blasphemies and denying
a Deity out of pretence of liberty of
conscience. But what speak I of
Bishops and their chaplains ? I am
persuaded all the stories and relations
of the Anabaptists and Sehwenkenfel-
dians in Luther's time, of the Pope's
and Papists' blasphemies, of many hea
thens and scoffers of the Scriptures and
Christian religion, as Galen, Porphy-
rius, Lucian, Julian the apostate, do
fall short of the blasphemies and ways
of some of our sectaries." — Edwards's

Gangraena, second part, pp. 177 — 179.
London, 1646. In the epistle dedi
catory to the Parliament, the same
presbyterian writer says, "You have,
most noble senators, done worthily
against papists, prelates and scandalous
ministers, in casting down images,
altars, crucifixes, throwing out cere
monies, but what have you done against
other kinds of growing evils, heresy,
schism, disorder, against seekers, ana
baptists, antinomians, Brownists, liber
tines, and other sects ? You have de
stroyed Baal and his priests, but have
you been zealous against tbe golden
calves and the priests of the lowest of
the people? Are not these grown up
and daily increase under you ? 
You have put down the book of Com
mon Prayer, and there are many among
us have put down the Scriptures, slight
ing, yea blaspheming them. You have
broken down images of the Trinity,
Christ, Virgin Mary, Apostles, and we
have those who overthrow the doctrine
of the Trinity, oppose the divinity of
Christ, speak evil of the Virgin Mary,
slight the Apostles. You have cast
out the Bishops and their officers, and
we have many that cast down to the
ground all ministers in all the reformed
Churches. You have cast out cere
monies in the Sacraments, as the cross,
kneeling at the Lord's Supper, and we
have many cast out the Sacraments,
Baptism and the Lord's Supper. You
have put down saints' days, and we
have many make nothing of Lord's
days and fast days."

478 OF THE PRINCIPLES
book the sects of the Grecian philosophers, allowed by those who
 — embraced them not: as in the title of Lucian's discourse1, Trepl
Alpkaeoov. But because it is too ordinary for men, of their own
choice, to depart from the rule to which they are or ought to
stand obliged ; thereupon the word is most part used to sig
nify the free choice of a rule of living, contrary to that rule
which they stood obliged to before : in which sense Adam is
called by Tertullian m the first heretic, as he that first departed
from the will of God, to live according to his own.
§ 11. Supposing now that Christianity obliges [both to the
rule of faith and to the society of the Church, by virtue of
that rule — because the belief of the Catholic Church is part of
it, as hath been declared afore11, it is manifest that whosoever
disbelieves any part of that rule — the belief whereof is the
condition upon which a man becomes a Christian — and thereby
forfeits his interest in those promises which God hath made
to Christians, doth or may either lead others or follow, in
living according to that belief which he chooseth, whether,
professing it, as a Christian ought to profess his Christianity,
or not. And in this sense it seems to be used by St. Paul,
when he says, Titus iii. 10, 11, "A man that is an heretic,
after the first and second admonition, avoid. Knowing that
such a one is turned aside, and sinneth, being condemned by
himself." § 12. For when he speaks of admonishing them, he signifies
that he speaks not of such as had actually departed from the
communion of the Church, but sheltered themselves under
the common profession of Christians, doing every thing as
they did, that by such means they might inveigle such as
suspected nothing, to admit their infusions, which I shewed
before" to have been the fashion of the Gnostics, whose doc
trines the Apostle, 2 Pet. ii. 1, calls, alpeaeis aTrwXelas, "pes
tilent heresies ;" and whom St. Paul must needs speak of in
this place, because there were no other on foot, so as to be
mentioned by their writings.
1 Hermotimus, Lucian. Opp. p. 274. prudenter definxisti me ; confessus est
Paris. 1615. seductionem, non occultavit seductri-
» Aut quis dubitabit, ipsum illud cem: rudis admodum haereticus fuit.
Adae delictum, haeresin pronuntiare, — Advers. Marcion., lib. ii. cap. ii. p.
quod per electionem suae potius quam 644. ed. Pam. Rothomag. 1662. '
divinae sententiae admisit, nisi quod " Chap. xx. sect. 23.
Adam nunquam figulo suo dixit, non ° Chap, xxiii. sect. 27.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 479
§ 13. Such a one, then, the Apostle saith is condemned by CHAP.
himself, in the same sense as the councils and Church writers

cause.

, [How a
say of one in the same case, in seipsum sententiam dixit?, " he heretic is
hath given sentence against himself;" because, by refusing the demnedj
second admonition, he hath declared himself obstinate in that
which the common Christianity maketh inconsistent with the
communion of the Church. And this more proper to the
circumstance of this text than St. Hierome'si interpretation of
those that condemn themselves to be put out of the Church
by voluntarily leaving the communion of it, though that also
is not far from truth concerning them who are properly
signified by the general name of heretics.
§ 14. For it is very evident that when St. Paul saith, Schism in
1 Cor. xi. 19, "there must be heresies among you," his j„g fro"m
meaning is only of such factions as tended to schism, *etl"e1Ity
whereof he admonisheth them, 1 Cor. i. 10, " that there be Church,
whether
schisms among them." Now it is manifest how much dif- upon that,
i ference there is between him who holdeth something con- other7
trary to the faith, and yet departeth not from the communion '
of the Church, and him that departeth from the communion
of the Church, though holding nothing contrary to the sub
stance of the Christian faith. The one forfeiteth his interest
in heaven by the inward act of his soul, refusing the common
faith which saveth all Christians, though outwardly holding
communion with the Church; the other, by the inward act
of the soul, proceeding to the outward act of dissolving the
communion of the Church, which the common charity of
Christians in the first place is to maintain.
§ 15. If both these crimes may come under the common
p Dixisti enim inter caetera, schis- ante audientiam communionem prae-
maticos a vite, velut sarmenta, esse sumserit, ipse in se damnationis judi-
concisos : destinatos pcenis, tanquam cetur protulisse sententiam. — Concil.
tigna arida, gehennae ignibus reser- Aquisgran., A.D. 816. can. 54. Labbei,
vari. Sed video te adbuc ignorare torn. ix. col. 448. ed. Venet. It occurs
schisma, apud Carthaginem a vestris also in the letter of Pope Vigilius to
principibus factum. Quaere harum Rusticus and Sebastianus, where it is
originem rerum, et invenies te hanc thus introduced ; Definiunt enim ca-
in vos dixisse sententiam, cum schis- nones : Si quis excommunicatus ante
maticis haereticos sociasti. — S. Optat. audientiam communicare praesumserit,
de Schism. Donat., lib. i. cap. x. p. 10. ipse in se damnationem protulit. —
Antwerp. 1702. Apud Concil. Constantinopol. ii. A.D.
Item placuit universo concilio, ut qui 553. Collat. vii. Labbei, torn. vi. col.
excommunicatus fuerit pro suo neglec- 187. ed. Venet.
tu, sive episcopus, sive quilibet cleri- ' Right of the Church, chap. i. sect.
cus, et tempore excommunicationis suae 34.

480 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK name of heresy — because inward misbelief r naturally tendeth
 :  to make a sect of such as shall profess to live according to
it — no marvel if all divisions of the Church be commonly
called both heresies and schisms, whatsoever be the cause
upon which they divide ; if mere schisms — that is, where the
cause is not any thing necessary to the salvation of all to be
believed — be also heresy in the language of the Apostles.
Nevertheless, there being so much difference between the
two crimes and the grounds of them, it is necessary to under
stand, setting aside all equivocation of terms, that there is a
crime consisting in misbelieving some article of the faith,
which, if you please, may properly be called heresy; and
another consisting in dissolving the unity of the Church,
which is properly called schism, when the*re is no further
pretence for it than some law, which, the Church being able
to make, the other part will rather depart than admit.
§ 16. There may be divisions in the Church upon pretence
of such doctrines as are not necessary to the salvation of all
— and so no part of the rule of faith — but so evidently to be
deduced from it, and from the rest of the Scriptures, that the
Church may have cause to determine the same, and yet others
may choose rather to depart from the Church than suffer the
determination thereof to take place. Which divisions that
memorable observation of St. Hierome3 seems to call heresies,
r Dividitur schisma in purum, et testis est Hieronymus, in cap. Inter
conjunctum cum haeresi. Schisma haeresim, 26. Caus. 24. ,q. 3. 'nullum
autem purum non opponitur fidei, sed enim schisma,' inquit,non aliquam sibi
charitati, et paci, quando scilicet aliqui confingit haeresim, ut recte ab Ecclesia
ex sola malitia voluntatis nolunt sum- recessisse videantur. — Engel, Coll. Jur.
mo Pontifici qua tali obedire, vel reli- Univ., lib. ». tit. viii. p. 408.' Mantuae
quis Ecclesiae membris uniti esse, v. g. Carpetanorum, 1777.
si certum aliquod regnum constituat » Inter haeresim et schisma hoc esse
sibi episcopum, vel patriarcham, cui in arbitrantur, quod haeresis perversum
spiritualibus obediat, aut alios speciales dogma habeat. Schisma propter epi-
religionis cultus adhibeat, et non ob- scopalem dissensionem ab Ecclesia se-
temperet mandatis summi Pontificis, paretur : quod quidem in principio
quamvis de caetero non neget Pontiff- aliqua ex parte intelligi potest Cae-
catum Romanum, vel alios fidei arti- terum nullum schisma non sibi ali-
cul°s: . , 1uam haeresim ut recte ab Ecclesia
Schisma conjunctum cum haeresi recessisse videatur —Comm in Tit iii
est, quod praeter separationem ab Ec- II. torn. iv. col 439 ed Ben
clesia insuper in fide dissentit, ut quia This observation of St. Jerome brings
negat Romanum pontificem esse Christi to mind the following passage in Peter
Vicanum, et Ecclesiae caput, vel Eu- de Marca,— Lugendum illud schisma
chanstinm legitime sub una tantum et omnibus saeculis deplorandum, quod
specie distribui. florentissimas Orientis Ecclesias a ca-
Verum quamvis haec distinctio spe- pite suo avulsit, non aliam causam con-
culative tantum procedat, practice ta- iciendum est, quam in contentionem
men v.x unquam dan purum schisma, qu* ob dioce es Zl c more usurpata

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

481

which said that all schisms naturally devise to themselves C _HAT>.
some heresy — that is, some doctrine extravagant from the  '—
doctrine of the Church— that they may seem not to have
departed from the Church for nothing; which is very well
exemplified by St. Augustine* in the Donatists. But whether
such divisions are to be counted heresies or schisms, both
names properly signifying all divisions of the Church — and
only that crime which consisteth in misbelieving some articles
of faith, appropriating the name of heresy, because common
use hath given it no peculiar name of its own — I leave to him
that shall please to determine it.
§ 17. Supposing these things, it will not be requisite for [Dr-Owen's
me to say much to that which hath been published concern- schism.]
ing the nature of schism, of lateu. That being to be had
only out of the Scripture", it is no where there to be had but
in St. Paul to the Corinthians : that there was at Corinth,
when St. Paul wrote, only one congregation of Christians,
which he calleth the Church of Corinth; that therefore
there is no crime of schism, but in breaking one congregation
into more. As for any visible society of the Catholic Church
acknowledging the materials, men that profess Christianity —
which he that sees cannot believe — to the form — which is
that unity which is visible — he is as great a strangery as if he
exarsit. Non enim in earn haeresim, observatione diversum. — Contra Cres-
quae de processione Sancti Spiritus di- con. Donat., lib. ii. cap. vii. torn. ix.
micantes Ecclesias postea collisit, re- col. 413. ed. Ben.
ferenda est hujus dissidii causa, sed in u " Dr. Owen will have the Church of
earn de qua dixi, diceceseon usurpatio- Corinth to be but one congregation."
nem; unde nata est Giaeculis occasio ¦ — MSS. See chap. ii. sect. 8. note i.
de summis Christiana? religionis capi- * " Of schism in any other place, or
tibus et certis quibusdam disciplinae in reference to any other persons, but
articulis litis movendae adversus Ro- only to this Church of Corinth, we
manam Ecclesiam, ut secessionein suam hear nothing." — Dr. Owen, of Schism,
necessariam in omnibus comprobarent. chap. ii. seett. 6, 7. Oxford, 1657.
— De Concord. Sacerd. et Imp., lib. i. "I supposed, I had proved that it
cap. i. § 4. p. 2. Venet. 1770. was only one congregation, that used
* Fit ut secundum istam ipsam de- to assemble in one place, that the
finitionem tuam qua dixisti 'Haeresis Apostle charged this crime upon." —
est autem diversa sequentium secta,' et Dr. Owen's Review of Schism, chap.
haeretici sitis, et victi appareatis; hae- iv. p. 61. Oxford, 1657.
retici quidem, quod non tantum di- r " I shall only add, that if there be
visi, verum et in rebaptizando diver- not an institution for the joining in the
sum sequimini ; victi autem, quia da- same numerical ordinances, the union
turn per nos baptismum tanquam non of this Church is not really a Church-
ipsum, vel tanquam nullum sit iteratis, union ; I mean of an instituted Church,
quod unum atque idem, nee diversum which consists therein, but something
esse fatemini. Tua quippe verba sunt, of another nature. Neither can that
quod nobis vobisque sit una religio, have the formal reason of an instituted
eadem Sacramenta, nihil in Christiana Church as such, which as such can
THORNDIKE. I {

482

OF THE PRINCIPLES

BOOK I.

had never heard of the Creed; acknowledging2 notwith
standing, an invisible unity in the common faith and love
of Christians, upon persuasion whereof he challenges as great
freedom from schism as ever any member of the Catholic
Church could claim.
§ 18. For having shewed" how a thing which God made
visible for many ages, may reasonably be expected to be
found in the Scriptures, I am not to yield to try it by any
part of them, knowing that, whosoever evidenceth a society
of the Church by God's law, evidenceth the crime that con
sists in the dissolving of it. And it were fit we were told,
how all the Christians, in a city where " God had much
people," should sit at one table — or, at least, sup in one

join in no one act of the worship of
God, instituted to be performed in
such societies : so that he that shall
take into his thoughts the conditions of
all the Christians in the world ; their
present state, what it hath been for
1500 years, and what it is like to be,
eus rr\s (TvvreXeias rod alwvos, will
easily understand, what church state
they stand in, and relate unto.
" It cannot possibly have its union
by a relation to any one officer given to
the whole, such an one as the Papists
pretend the Pope to be. For though it
be possible that one officer may have
relation to all the Churches in the
world, as the Apostles severally had —
when Paul said the care of all the
Churches lay on him — who by virtue
of their Apostolical commission were
to be received and submitted to in all
the Churches in the world, being ante
cedent in office to them, yet this neither
did, nor could make all the Churches
one Church ; no more than if one man
were an officer or magistrate in every
corporation in England, this would make
all those corporations to be one corpo
ration. I do not suppose the Pope to
be an officer to tbe whole Church visible
as such, which I deny to have an union
or order capable of any such thing ; but
suppose him an officer to every par
ticular Church, no union of the whole
would thence ensue. That which is
one Church must join at least in some
one Church act, numerically one. So
that though it should be granted, that
the Pope were a general officer unto
all and every Church in the world, yet
this would not prove that they all

made one Church, and had their
Church union in subjection to him,
who was so an officer unto them all ;
because to the constitution of such an
union, as hath been shewed, there is
that required, which in reference to
the universal society of Christians is
utterly and absolutely impossible." —
Dr. Owen, Of Schism, chap. v. §§ 7, 8.
pp. 117—119. Oxford, 1657.
* " Our communion with the visible
Catholic Church is in the unity of the
faith only. The breach of this union,
and therein a relinquishment of the
communion of the Church, lies in a
relinquishment of, or some opposition
to, some or all of the saving necessary
truths of the Gospel. Now this is not
schism, but heresy or apostasy." —
Schism, chap. iii. sect. 12. p. 161.
"I began with the consideration of
the Catholic invisible Church of Christ,
and the union thereof; .... I affirm
and evince it to be all and only elect be
lievers ; the union of this Church con
sists in the habitation of the same Spirit
in all the members of it, uniting them
to the head Christ Jesus, and therein
to one another. The breach of this
union, I manifested to consist in the
loss of that Spirit, with all the peculiar
consequences and effects of Him in the
hearts of them in whom He dwells.
This I manifest according to our prin
ciples to be impossible, and upon a
supposition of it, how remote it would
be from schism, under any notion or
acceptation of the word." — Review of
Schism, chap. vi. pp. 96, 97. Oxford,
1657. " Chap. vi. seett 4—10.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 483
room — before we believe that there was then no more Chris- chap. xxv
tians at Corinth than could assemble at onceb. Which if I  —

did believe, I would notwithstanding allege Justin the Martyr's
words, Apol. i.c km t§ tov r/Xlov Xeyo/j,evr) rjp.epa, irdvTwv
Kara 7rdXet? rj aypovs fievovToav em, to avTo avvekeva-K ylverai,
"on the day called Sunday, all that dwelt in cities, or in
187 countries, assemble themselves in one." And supposing that
then there were more Christians in Rome, and the territory
thereof, for example — for he writes to the emperor Antoninus
— than could meet together in one place ; as Justin means
not, when he says that all in cities or countries meet in one,
that all made one assembly, but met all in common assemblies ;
I would thereupon argue, that no more does St. Paul say —
when he gives these rules to the Corinthians, 1 Cor. xi. 14,
which serve any assembly — that there was then but one con
gregation at Corinth.
§ 19. If in Justin's time, if afore, if after, he can shew me
any Church of Rome, or any city beside Rome, that contained
not all the Christians of that city, and the territory thereof;
I will believe, that when Clemens wrote the letter lately pub
lished11, from the Church of Rome to the Church of Corinth,
there were no more Christians at Rome, or at Corinth, than
could meet all at once. But if in all the Scripture, as well
as in all the records of the Church, a Church signify the
university of Christians, which one city, and the territory
thereof, containeth ; it is an affront to common sense, for him
to deny6 that 'EkkXtjo-io, irapoiKovaa 'Pa>fir)v, or KbpwOov,
b " I suppose that in this description e " It is alleged, indeed, that it is not
of a particular Church I have not only the single Church of Corinth that is
the consent of them of all sorts, with here intended, but all the Churches of
whom I have now to do, as to what Achaia, whereof that was the metro-
remains of this discourse, but also their polis: which, though as to the nature
acknowledgment that these were the of schism it be not at all prejudicial
only kinds of Churches of the first in- to what hath been asserted, supposing
stitution. The reverend authors of the such a Church to be, yet because it
Jus Divinum Ministerii Anglicani, sets up in opposition to some principles
part 2. chap. 6. [p. 82. London, 1654.] of truth, that must afterwards be im-
tell us that ' In the beginning of proved, I shall briefly review the argu-
Christianity the number of believers, ments whereby it is attempted to be
even in the greatest cities, were so few, made good.
as that they might well meet, i-al rb "The title of the epistle in the first
avrb, in one and the same place.' " — place is pretended to this purpose : it
Dr. Owen, Of Schism, chap. vii. § 2. is 'H 'EKKX-ntrla &eov itapoiKovaa 'Ptfynyi'
pp. 202, 203. Oxford, 1657. rrj 'E/cKtojtria tov &eov irapoiKovtrn K6~
c Cap. 67. p. 83. ed. Ben. pivBov, wherein, as it is said, on each
d See Prim. Govern.) chap. iii. sect. 3. part the irapotKia or whole province, as
ii2

484

OF THE PRINCIPLES

BOOK I.

is the Church that is contained in the city and territory of
Rome, or Corinth.
§ 20. Let the learned publisher f of that epistle take
irdpoi,Ko<i there for inquilinus or peregrinus, an inmate or
pilgrim — because his Greek gave him leave — he that hath
been shewed so plentiful mention of irapoiKia^, in the subject
in question, for that which we now call a diocese, can have
no reason to see with his eyes, but because he is resolved
not to use his own. For in the very address of Polycarpus'
epistle, 'EKKXijala 0eov tj} irapoiKovarj ^Ckmirov;, " To the

of Rome, so of Corinth, the region and
territory, the region that belonged to
those metropolis is intended. But as
I have formerly elsewhere said, we are
beholding to the frame and fabric of
Church affairs in after ages for such
interpretations as these : the simplicity
of the first knew them not ; they who
talked of the Church of God that did
•napoiKetv at Rome, little then thought
of province or region. 'EKKX-naia tta-
poiKovaa 'Pu>[i7]v is as much as 'ZKKX-n-
ffia iv 'lepoo-oXv/Aots, Acts viii. 1. Ud-
poiKos is a man that dwells at such a
place, properly one that dwells in an
other's house, or soil, or that hath re
moved from one place, and settled in
another ; whence it is often used in the
same sense with preroiKos, he is such an
inhabitant as hath yet some such con
sideration attending him, as makes him
a kind of a foreigner to the place where
he is ; so Ephes. ii. 19, itdpoiKoi and
o-vpLiroX?rai are opposed. Hence is ira-
poKia, which, as Budaeus says, differs
from KaroiKia, in that it denotes a
temporary habitation, this a stable and
abiding. TlapotKew is so to inhabit,
to dwell in a place, where yet some
thing makes a man a kind of a stranger.
So it is said of Abraham, iritrrei iraptp-
K7]o-ev els rrjv yr/v rr/s iitayyeXias us
aXXorpiav, Heb. xi. 9 ; 1 Pet. ii. 1 ] ,
joined with itapeitlS-qjxos — hence this
word by the learned publisher of this
epistle is rendered 'peregrinatur' ' di-
versatur' — and more clearly, Luke xxiv.
18, <rt5 p.6vos trapoiKeis iv 'lepovcraX^fi,
which we have rendered, ' are you only
a stranger in Jerusalem?' whether ita-
pomia and parcecia is from hence or no,
by some is doubted, irdpoxos and trapo-
X.r) praebitio, Gloss. Vet. So that paro-
chia may be called so from them, who
met together to break bread, and to
eat ; allow parochia to be barbarous,

and our only word to be parcecia from
irapotKia, then it is as much as the
' Voisinage,' men living near together
for any end whatever. So says Budaeus,
irdpoLKoi are irp6troiKOL, thence Churches
were called irapoiKias, consisting of a
number of them, who were rtdpomoi or
irp6<roiKoi. The saints of God express
ing the place which they inhabited,
and the manner as strangers, said of
the Churches whereof they were, 'Ek-
KX-qaia irapoiKOuo-a 'Ytj3p.-qv, and 'EkkXtj-
tria irapoiKovaa K.6pivdov : this is now
made to denote a region, a territory,
the adjacent region to a metropolis;
and such like things as the poor primi
tive pilgrims little thought of. This
will scarcely, as I suppose, evince
the assertion we are dealing about ;
there may be a Church of God dwell
ing at Rome or Corinth, without any
adjacent region annexed to it, 1 think.
Besides, those who first used the word
in the sense now supposed, did not un
derstand a province by itapowia, which
was with them — as originally — the
charge of him that was a Bishop, and
no more. 'E-jrapxta was with them a
province that belonged to a metropoli
tan ; such as the Bishop of Corinth is
supposed to be. I do not remember
where a metropolitan province is called
his irapoLKla, there being many of these
in every one of them." — Dr. Owen, Of
Schism, chap. ii. §§ 13, 14. pp. 33—
36. Oxford, 1657.
f Hence this word by the learned
publisher of this Epistle is rendered
'peregrinatur,"diversatur.' — Dr.Owen,
Schism, chap. ii. sect. 14. p. 35. See
Junius's note on -irapoiKoian K6piv8ov.
Coteler., torn. i. p. 144. Antwerp. 1698.
e See Right of the Church, chap, ii
seett. 16, 17. See Hammond, Disserta-
tiones V, cap. ii. pp. 261, 262. Londini,
1651. _

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

485

Church of God dwelling beside Philippi ;" the dative case CHAP.
quite spoils the construction of the words to his sense. If  —
the Church of the Philippians dwelt near Philippi, then the
Christians of the territory belonged to the Church of the
city. § 21. As for the visible unity of the Catholic Church, it
was not so easy for me to evidence that, which could not be
questionable till the difference between Catholic Church and
true Church came to be questionable ; as it is not hard for
any Christian to question whether the Church, which was
. Catholic for so many ages, ought now to be Catholic, or not.
For till he have destroyed the evidence which this abridg
ment hath been able to advance — and, when that is done,
new evidence will not be wanting, so long as the records of
the Church are historically true, and men continue possessed
of common sense — it is in vain to allege the dictate of his own
spirit, to shew that he is no schismatic, not acknowledging,
much less holding, the unity of the Church, out of which no
man can be accounted otherwise.
§ 22. But I marvel most wherein he would have the crime
of schism, acknowledged by St. Paul, in that one text which
he would be tried by, to consist. It is the law of nature that
enables Christians to join in an independent congregation, as
our other doctor of Oxford hath told ush- If a covenant or
league pass between so many sovereigns in this point, con
sider how difficult it is to charge a sovereign with breach of
league, such contracts consisting of many articles, one whereof
violated voids the contract ; at least to the contrary there is
no rule. Now the covenant of a congregation must suppose
all Christianity, the violation whereof in any point, by any
member, supported by the rest, frees a man of his contract.
How then shall St. Paul's words take place, 1 Cor. xi. 19,
"There must be heresies, that the approved may become
manifest among you :" for if one leave six — the congrega
tion consisting of seven — how shall it appear that the six are
in the right?
§ 23. But, in my supposition, these petty animosities at [Causes of
Corinth may have been fomented by secret heretics, as in a0en^!"
time I shall shew that they were. And their endeavour Corinth-]
h See chap. xx. seett. 2, 3.

486 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK might be, to make a party for their heresy out of other
 Churches as well as out of that of Corinth ; and, being
formed, to unite them by the like bond as they saw the
Church tied with by the Apostles. In this case division is
ruinous to Christianity, not when the question is, whether
seven shall meet together, or three and four. For by this
means it may become difficult for particular Christians, upon
true principles, to give sentence for themselves in the matter
of differences, but easy to miss the truth, and to join with the
enemies of it — thinking they serve God in communicating
with them — by charging themselves with judging of the sense 188
of the Scriptures, either in those laws of the Church which
concern not the salvation of particular Christians, or in the
common faith, without those bounds which God hath pro
vided by the Church. And, upon these terms, "those that
are approved may and do become manifest," by the rising of
heresies in the Church.
Implicit § 24. That which I shall infer is this; that though there
virtue!°but t>e no such virtue as implicit faith, because it is no part of
the effect faith', no office of that virtue to believe that any thing is true
be the — because the Church believes it with that firm adherence to
Christian it, as we are resolved to stand to that, by believing which we
a" y' hope to be saved — yet it is part of the virtue, and part of the
office of a faithful man, that is, a Christian, to conform himself
to the belief of all that which the Church lawfully determineth
to be believed ; that is to say, not to profess the contrary of
it — and upon that profession, to do any thing towards dis
solving the unity of the Church — so long as the determination
thereof causeth not that corruption of those things which the
society of the Church presupposeth, as may seem to make the
unity thereof useless ; whereof this is not the place to debate
when it comes to pass.
§ 25. It is sufficient for the present, that whatsoever the
1 Son FS, Esperanza, y Caridad, y Catolica. La qual Fe a todos Ios
se Ilaman virtudes teologales, que Christianos nos obliga a creer en ge-
quiere decir divinas, porque se ocupan neral, y sin excepcion, lo que enseiia
y miranenDios. la Iglesia Catolica, y en particular,
La Fe es un don de Dios, por el y distintamente el symbolo de la Fe,
qual es alumbrado nuestro entendi- y Apostoles, y Ios catorze articulos de
miento, y tiene por cierto, y sin duda la Fe, como Ios enseSa la Iglesia Ca-
alguna todo lo que Dios ha revel ado, tolica.— Constit. Synod, del Obisp.
y propuesto por medio de su Iglesia de Canaria, fol. 51. Madrid 1631

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 487
Church hath power to determine according to the premises, chap.
that the Church— that is, all particular Christians— are obliged ^ ^
not to believe — by the office of faith, which is only exercised ecciesias-
ticcil ssn-
in them who can make deductions of conclusions from the tences.]
principles of faith, who necessarily holding the conclusions in
consideration merely of the premises, do necessarily believe
the conclusions, by that virtue of faith which holds the prin
ciples — but to hold, and to conform to, and not to scandalize,
by the office of that charity which is most eminently exercised
about that which concerns the common good of all Christians
in general, which nothing in the world can so much concern,
next the common faith, as the unity and communion of the
Church. § 26. Thus have I bounded the power of the Church, and
so shewed the reason upon which the right use of it is to pro
ceed. I shewed afore k the ground of that exception which
the interest of secular power in Church matters createth to
the due use of it. When I shall have shewed, in the third
book1, what the law of God hath determined in matters con
cerning the communion of the Church — and, by consequence,
what it leaveth to the Church to determine — it will be time
to take in hand the same consideration again. For the ground
of this exception will shew how far it extendeth, whereby it
will appear that Christian powers do acknowledge the Church
and the power of it to stand by God's law, even when they
limit the exercise of it, by virtue of that interest which the
law of God alloweth them in Church matters.

CHAPTER XXVI.
WHAT IT IS TO ADD TO GOD'S LAW ; WHAT TO ADD TO THE APOCALYPSE.
ST. PAUl/s ANATHEMA. THE BERjEANS. ST. John's GOSPEll^.UFFICIENT
TO MAKE ONE BELIEVE ; AND THE SCRIPTURES ; THE MAN OF GOD PER
FECT. HOW THE LAW GIVETH LIGHT, AND CHRISTIANS ARE TAUGHT BY
GOD. HOW IDOLATRY IS SAID NOT TO BE COMMANDED BY GOD.
In the beginning of this book I proposed the chief texts what it is
of Scripture, which are usually drawn into consequence, to GodMaw-
prove either the infallibility of the Church m, or the sufficiency
k Chap. xix. sect. 24. 1 Chap, xxxii.
m Chap. iv. seett. 11—13.

488 OF THE PRINCIPLES
book and clearness of the Scriptures"- Of which I may truly say
that they are, and have been, for these hundred and forty

years, the theme of a dispute between the Scriptures and the
Church, for the right of giving law to the consciences of
Christians, what communion to choose, that of the reforma
tion, or that of the Church of Rome ; but with so little suc
cess, that a discreet man may truly say that the parties do
now stand at a bay, as it is visible that they do, merely be
cause they are not able to force- one another by the arms
which they are furnished with ; the arguments of either side
serving to maintain them against the adversary, merely be
cause the arguments of the other side are insufficient, not
because either hath either the whole truth, or nothing of the 189
truth for it. I shewed you there that they come short of
making good that which they are employed to prove, on this
side as well as on that.
[The pro- § 2. As for my present business — which is here to shew
add to the how the sense of them concurs to the truth which I have
*1 established — I shall but desire any man of common sense to
make an argument from the text of Moses alleged in the first
place, and say"; the people of Israel are forbidden by the
law of Moses, "to add any thing to the said law, and to take
any thing from it ;'' therefore the Scriptures contain — clearly
set down to all understandings concerned — all things neces
sary to the salvation of all Christians ; then to tell me whether
he will undertake to make good this consequence or not. For
f the law ofMoses cannot pretend to contain clearly all things
necessary to the salvation of all Christians, it will not hurt my
opinion to infer, that because it is unlawful to add any thing
to Moses's law — by saying that it is and ought to be part of
it, when it is not, nor ought to be — therefore it is unlawful to
add any thing to the Bible, by saying that it is necessary to
the salvation of all Christians, though not written there ; for
this, my opinion says not.
§ 3. And truly, I must here allege », that God's law, Deut.
¦ Chap. v. seett. 26—29. in difficilibus et ambiguis mittuntur
» See the passage from Whitaker haesitantes ad judicem sacerdotem pro
cited in chap. v. sect 30. note x. tempore, sub poena capitali, si non ob-
p Objiciunt primo, Non minus pros- temperent Deut. xvii. 8. et seq. qualis
pectum fuit Christianis sub Testamento constitutus fuit Amarias, 2 Chron. xix.
povo ac fuit Judaeis sub veteri. At ibi 11. Secundo, quia pastor est ille unus,

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 489
xvii. 8 — 12, provideth a power in that people to resolve and chap.
determine all things which the peace and unity of that

[consistent
people requireth to be determined; and that, for the effect of with the
this power, we have to shew all the constitutions and deter- and obe-
minations — whereby the precepts of Moses's law are limited, ^"sanhe-
how they are to be observed — which we find recorded in the drin.]
Jews' Talmud, and all the disputes and debates that have
ended in those determinations. Inasmuch as we have to
allege that our Lord in the Gospel hath commanded to hear
the Scribes and Pharisees, as those that sit in Moses's chair.
For those constitutions derive their pedigree from those that
were in force in our Lord's time, by the authority of the
Scribes and Pharisees, as it appears to all that compare them
with the particulars mentioned in the Scriptures, in Philo,
and Josephusq. For though the particulars be not always
the same, because time produces continual change in par
ticular customs ; yet there is agreement enough to shew that
it was successively the same authority that made such orderly
and moderate changes — as the state of the time might re
quire, or men's fancies imagine — in the practice of their law.
Whereby it is evident that the power of so interpreting the
law, being established by the law, cannot be against the law,
as forbidden by it. And this abundantly enough for the jus
tifying of that which I have said.
§ 4. For the interpretation and limitation of the precepts
of the law, by the tradition left with Moses, and by the au
thority settled in the synagogue, being established by the
law, cannot be accounted an addition to the lawr. Therefore
praeses magistrorum, ultra cujus deter- unus non summum designat Judaeo-
minationem nil amplius requirendum rum sacerdotem, sed Deum Scripturae
Eccles. xii. 11. Quia tertio labia ejus authorem, vel Christum ex Romanen-
praecipue custodient sapientiam ut lex shim glossis. Ad tertium. Nee in-
requiratur sicut ab angelo Domini ex dicat locus Malachiae sacerdotum in-
ore ejus. Mal. ii. 7. Ergo multo magis fallibilitatem sed oflkium, sequitur
sub Evangelio judex talis est admit- enim in textu vos autem recessistis de
tendus. via et plurimos scandalizastis in lege.
Solutio. Ad primum, non agitur — Prideaux, Fasc. Controv. Theol. de
ibidem de controversiis fidei, sed rituali- Scriptura, pp. 40, 41. Oxon. 1649.
bus, ut inter sanguinem et sanguinem : \ tee Rel. Assembl., chap. vii. sect.
lepram et lepram — exprimente textu — 23 ; Review, chap. iii. sect. 3 ; and
quo nomine ablegat Salvator decern Right of the Church, chap. iv. sect. 18.
mundatos ad sacerdotem, Luc. xvii. 14, p Primum igitur argumentum ex
qui tenebatur sententiam ferre juxta tribus locis constat, Deuteron. iv. ' Non
legem, Deut. xvii. 1 1. Nee amplior addetis ad verbum quod ego praecipio
delegata fuit a Josophato authoritas vobis nee auferetis ex eo' 8:c 
Amariae. Ad secundum, Pastor iste Ad primum respondeo, primo ibi non

490 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK the interpretation of the Scriptures, by tradition, left the
1 Church by the Apostles, and the limitation of the circum

stances which the service of God is to be regulated with, by
the authority settled in the Church, cannot be counted an
addition to God's new law, or to the Scriptures of the New
Testament. But because the satisfaction of the reader, in
the true intent of these precepts of the law, requires more, I
shall say further, that I conceive that God, providing a power
requisite to determine all circumstances, which the practice
of the law should require, repeats nevertheless a caution of
adding to, or taking from the law, that it might not be
thought that this power extended to alter any thing in the
worship of the one true God, which all the precepts of the
law tended to limit.
§ 5. Surely, in the text of Deut. xii. 32, this caution
follows immediately upon warning given not to worship
God by any of those ceremonies with which the Gentiles
honoured their false gods ; the reason whereof is plain, lest,
by using the like ceremonies, the honour of those false gods,
to whom they were tendered by those that believed in them,
might be admitted. Whereupon, when it is inferred that
nothing be added to or taken from those precepts by which
the law commandeth to serve the true God, it is manifest
agi de verbo scripto, sed tradito viva vetus, sed explicationem, cum Aposto-
voce ; nam non ait 'ad verbum quod lus ad Rom. dicat ' Evangelium pro-
scripsi,' sed ' quod ego praecipio.' Se- missum a Deo per prophetas in Scrip-
cundo, dico veram expositionem ejus turis Sanctis.' Et Act. xv. non sint
loci esse, quod Deus velit integre ausi Apostoli in concilio aliquid de-
et perfecte servari mandata ut ipse cernere sine testimonio Scripturae.
praecepit et nullo modo ea depravari At contra, nam hoc modo etiam
falsa interpretatione. Itaque non vult traditiones non sunt additiones, sed
dicere, non servabitis aliud, quam id explicationes. Nam in lege Mosis non
quod nunc praecipio, sed in hoc quod continentur prophetarum scripta, neque
praecipio nihil mutabitis addendo vel in lege et prophetis continetur Testa-
minuendo, sed integre faeietis ut jubeo mentum novum, nisi in universal!, et
et non aliter. Quod idem solet Scrip- quodammodo in virtute, sicut tota ar-
tura significare illis verbis : ' non de- bor continetur in semine. Habemus
clinabis ad dextram, neque ad sinis- enim in lege Deut. xviii. Prophetam
tram.' Et quod hoc sit verum patet, suscitabit tibi Deus, et ilium audies,
quia alioqui peccassent prophetae et Ibi autem continetur in genere quic-
Apostoli, qui tam multa postea addi- quid Christus fecit et dixit : at in par-
derunt. ticulari tamen quod Christus deberet
Respondent Brentius Kemnitius, praedicare Trinitatem personarum in
Calvinus prophetas non addidisse Deo, instituere Sacramenta, facere talia
quicquam ad legem, quantum ad doc- miracula &c, ibi non habetur. — Card.
trinam attinet, sed tantum vaticinia Bellarm. de Verbo Dei non Scripto,
quaedam de futuris scripsisse, et legis lib. iv. cap. x. coll. 195, 196. Colon.
doctrinam explicavisse. Testamentum 1620.
quoque novum non esse additionem ad

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 491
how well the limitation of circumstances, questionable in the chap.
practice of the law, stands with this caution, so soon as it ap- -^ — u.
pears that the precepts thereof cannot be practised till so
limited. § 6. And upon the same caution, Deut. iv. 2, he infers
190 immediately; "Thine eyes have seen what the Lord did to
those that served Baal-peor; now they are dead, and thou
alive this day." As supposing this consequence ; that if they
stuck close to their own, the true God, nothing should seduce
them from His laws: not this; that if they stuck close to
their own, the true God, nothing should persuade them to
practice the precepts of His worship, in that form which the
power appointed by Him should determine. So that both
texts press upon them the precepts of the law, as those
whereby the worship of the true God is distinguished; not
as if, of themselves, they contained matter to oblige that
people, or to procure them happiness.
§ 7. And surely, the determinations of their elders, as they
concur to the same ends, so are they enforced by the same
obligation which the precepts themselves produce. And
therefore it will not be amiss to take notice how far the
Jews, who acknowledge all that I say of limiting the law,
are from thinking it to be contradicted by these Scriptures.
Solomon Jarchi upon Deut. iv. 2s: " Thou shalt not add ;
as for example, to the five sections in the phylacteries; to
the five kinds in the bouquet, which we carry at the feast of
tabernacles ; to the five thrums in the fringes : and so when
he says, ' Thou shalt not take away.' "
§ 8. They are commanded by the law to wear frontlets
upon them, to put them in remembrance of the precepts
thereof, Exod. xiii. 9, Deut. vi. 8, xi. 18 ; to carry in their
hands, and to walk with a bush, made up of the branches of
several trees, at the feast of tabernacles, Levit. xxiii. 40; to
put a fringe to the corners of their garments, made of a thread
of hyacinth among others, Numb. xv. 38, 39. But that those
frontlets should contain five sections of the law, and no more ;
that those fringes should consist of four kinds beside the hya-
8 Videlicet, exempli gratia: quinque cularaenta sic quoque non detrahatis.
sectiones in Tephillin et quinque spe- ¦ — E Vers. Joh. Frid. Breithaupt, p.
cies frondium in Lulaf, ac quinque peni- 1328, Goths, 1713.

492 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK cinth — which are the determinations of their elders — these,
I. •
 '¦  according to his opinion, they are as much forbidden to add
to, as to take from that which is determined by the letter of
the law.
§ 9. Abenezra seems to be more sober upon the same
place; "Thou shalt not add," saith he, "of your own
conceit, as thinking the worship of God to consist in it."
For believing that they vow to worship one God alone, and
that no positive acts, which the light of nature enjoineth not,
can be esteemed the worship of God, of themselves ; but in
the doing of them is the keeping of that law which appoints
them : it is one thing to worship God, as the precepts of the
law, determined by that power which it appoints, do enjoin;
another thing to introduce rules of worshipping God, not by
virtue of His law, but upon a man's own conceit. And there
fore it is forbidden them to inquire after the fashions by which
the Gentiles worshipped their gods, Dent. xii. 30, as a pre
sumption that he which should say that he would worship
God as they did their idols, had a mind to worship their idols
instead of God, otherwise he would rest content with that
way of worshipping God which the law had prescribed.
§ 10. Whereupon the Jews determine that there are four
ceremonies, which whoso does to any thing but to God alone,
must be understood to worship it for God ; which are, sacri
ficing, burning incense, pouring out drink-offerings, and
adoration : but others there are, by doing which a man
cannot be concluded to worship any thing but God, till he
do it in that way and fashion as is done by those that pro
fess to worship it for God.
§ 11. If it be said that these are Jews which allow tra
ditions ; but that there is another sort of Jews called Scrip-
turaries, D'sop*, which admit nothing but the letter of the
Scriptures : I answer, that those also who admit only the text
of Scripture, and pretend to determine all controversies about
the law, by consequences to be drawn from it, could never
come to agreement among themselves what consequence
should take place, and what not, did they not acknowledge
some public persons, whose determinations the whole body
of them submitteth to ; the consequences which they derive
* See Right ofthe Church, chap. iv. sect. 18.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 493
their observations by, from the letter of the law, being so CHAP.
ridiculously insufficient, that they could not satisfy the XXVL
meanest understandings otherwise, as may appear by those
which the Talmudists allege for their constitutions. Which
being no less ridiculous, than the traditions which they allege
incredible, would be both to no effect, did not the public
power of the nation — which, while the law stood, was of force
191 by it; but, now it is void, ought to cease — put all pretences
beyond dispute.
§ 12. And for that which is alleged out ofthe Apocalypse" What to
— which in sound of words seems to import some such thing Ip'oca- e
concerning the whole book ofthe Scriptures, as these texts oflypse-
Moses import concerning the law — I shall desire the under
standing reader but to consider that protestation whereby
Irenaeus conjures all that should copy his book to collate it
well with the original, that they might be sure neither to add
to it, nor take from it ; as Eusebius relateth out of his book
De Ogdoade against the Valentinians, Eccl. Hist., v. 20.
OpKi^co ae tov fieTaypaijrofievov to fiifiXlov tovto, KaTa, tov
Kvpiov fjfi&v 'Itjo-ov XpiaTOv, Kal KaTa t»}? evBo^ov Trapovaia^
avTov, 179 ep-yeTai Kplvai ^covras Kal veKpoii<;, '(va avTifidX-yv-; 6
fieTeypa-^rco, Kai KaTopOcoo-r/'i avTO Trpbs to dvTiypa<j)ov tovto,
odev p,eTeypdyfrco eVt/ieXco?, /cal tov opKov tovtov d/iowu? yttera-
ypdvprjs, Kal 0^aet.<i iv t& dvTtypd<f>a>. "I adjure thee, that shalt
copy out this book, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by His
glorious presence, when He comes to judge the quick and
dead, to collate what thou hast transcribed, and correct it by
this copy whence thou hast transcribed it, with care ; and
likewise to transcribe this adjuration, and put it in the copy."
§ 13. Setting aside this adjuration, what is the difference
between St. John's charge, and the matter of it ? And finding
n Secundus noster Scripturae locus authoritas et ratio aliorum librorum :
sumitur ex Apocalyps. xxii. 18. et est Ergo si non licet ad hunc librum ad-
priori similis,  Non prohibe- dere, ex pari non licebit ad alium ali- ^
tur hoc loco quaevis librorum additio, quem librum addere quicquam aut de-
modo illi prophetici aut Apostolici sint. trahere. Atque hinc sequetur hos libros
Poterant prophetae, poterant Apostoli plenam perfectamque doctrinam in se
alios libros addere  fateor haec continere, nee ullum dogma extra illos
verba proprie pertinere ad confirman- quaeri oportere. Qui vero ullum prae-
dam authoritatem illius propheticae terea dogma necessarium esse putant,
Scripturae, sed possunt tamen valere illi ad hos libros addunt. — Whitaker.,
ad confirmandam totius canonis 6X0- de Sacr. Script. Controv. i. Quaest. vi.
KX-qplav. Sic enim possumus ab ar- cap. xiv. pp. 397, 398. Genevae, 1610.
gumento parium disputare ; Par est

494 OF THE PRINCIPLES
book the words of St. John to import neither more nor less, to tell
 me what he thinks of this argument ; St. John protesteth in
the conclusion of his revelation, that whoso shall add any
thing to the true and authentic copy of these prophecies, to
him shall be added the plagues written in it ; whoso taketh
from it, from him shall be taken his share in the book of life,
and the holy city, and the good things written in that book :
therefore all things necessary to the salvation of all Christians
are contained in the Scriptures clearly to all understandings.
§ 14. But strain the consequence of this text beyond the
words of it — which concern only " the words of the prophecy
of this book,'' that is, the Apocalypse — if you please, and take
it for a seal to the whole Bible, forbidding to take any thing
from, or to add any thing to it — for some of the ancientsx
have so argued from it — shall he that addeth the true sense
to, or taketh false glosses from, the Bible by force of that evi
dence which the tradition of the Church createth, be thought
therefore to add to the word of God, or to take from it?
Then did God provide that His own law should be violated
by His own law; when, having forbidden to add to, or to take
from, Moses's law, He provided a power to limit or to extend
both the sense and practice of it, and that under pain of
death to all that refractorily should resist it.
St. Paul's § 15. Now I demand of them that shall allegey St. Paul's
anathema. anathetna against him that should preach any other Gospel
than what he bad preached to the Galatians, against the
position that I maintain, whether they do believe that the
Galatians had then the New Testament, consisting of the
four Gospels, and other Apostolical Scriptures, or whether
they can maintain that they had any part of it. For if this
cannot — as is evident that it cannot — be affirmed, then, of
necessity, St. Paul speaks of the Gospel, not as we have it
¦* Docet igitur nos praesentis series St. Thomas Aquinas, on 1 Tim. vi.
lectionis neque detrahere aliquid debere * Duo Scripturae testimonia tractata
mandatis neque addere. Nam si Jo- jam sunt, quibus addi aut detrahi ali-
bannes hoc judicavit de suis scriptis ' Si quid Scripturae prohibetur : sequiturjam
quis apposuerit &c. — quanto nihil di- tertium. Illud vero habetur, in 1 cap.
vinis mandatis est detrahendum?' — S. ad Galat. vers. 8. his verbis. Etiamsi
Ambros.de Paradiso, cap. xii. torn. i. col. nos et  fateor Apostolum anathe-
171. ed. Ben. Whitaker, de Sacr. Scrip. ma denunciare illis, qui aliquid addunt
Controv. i. Quaest. vi. cap. xiv. p. 398, ad verbum Dei, quod ipse annunciavit:
cites this passage of St. Ambrose and at affirmo illud omne verbum in Scrip-
also St. Augustine on the place, and turis haberi. — Whitaker, ib. p. 398.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 495

written in the books of the New Testament, but as they had CHAP.
received it from the preaching of St. Paul by word of mouth; l

which being common to all Christians — unless we question
whether all the Apostles preached the same Gospel — cannot
be thought to destroy either the being of the Catholic Church,
or the faith which it supposeth, or the power wherein it con-
sisteth, and the authority of those acts which have voluntarily
proceeded from it.
§ 16. As for the Berseans2, that examined even the doc- The Be-
trine of St. Paul by the Scriptures, is it a wonder that they rffians-
should not take St. Paul for an Apostle of Jesus Christ, upon
his own word, but should demand of him to shew by the
Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ, that so they might be
induced to believe him sent to preach the Gospel of Christ ?
Therefore, when they were become Christians, we must be
lieve that they understood themselves, and St. Paul better,
than to call his doctrine under examination, or to dispute
with him about the meaning of the Scriptures which he
should allege, which our illuminati, which take this for an
argument, must consequently do, because they value not, in
St. Paul, the commission of an Apostle, but the presumption
192 they have, that the Holy Ghost moved him to write the
Scriptures* which he hath left us, though they have nothing
to allege for it, but the general commission of an Apostle.
2 Nam unde — quaeso — confirmavit Genevae, 1610.
suum evangelium Apostolus? Certe ex s Multifariam autem et multis vici-
Scripturis Veteris Testamenti. Quo- bus revelatio haec facta fuit: extraor-
modo hoc constabit? Ex Act. xvii. 10. dinarie per oracula turn per ipsum
ubi legimus Beraeenses evangelium et Deum ac Filium Ejus Dominum nos-
doctrinam Pauli ex Scripturis exami- trum Jesum Christum, turn per An-
nasse quod non fecissent nisi omnia a gelos Dei jussu pronunciata, per visio-
Paulo tradita fuissent in Scripturis. — nes, per somnia et per Urim et Thum-
Whitaker, ib. mim. Ordinarie in principio ad tem-
 Utrum Beraeenses, Paulum pora usque Mosis per vivam doctrinae
Apostolum esse, cognoverint neene, amajoribusacceptae traditionem : dein-
non multum refert. De personis enim ceps cum decrescente hominum aetate,
non quaeritur, sed de genere doctrinae. oblivio, socordia, atque etiam malitia
Laudantur Beroenses, quod non temere hominum accrescerent, ne per Satanam
ac subito susceperint quicquid Paulus ejusque instrumenta doctrina divinitus
docuit, sed ejus doctrinam diligenter revelata corrumperetur, voluit ac jussit
ad Scripturas examinarunt. Ex quo Deus eandem ad Ecclesiae iurvpaXeiav
duo colligimus, primum omnem doc- scripto quo verba exprimi soient, com-
trinam ex Scripturis dijudicandam esse, prehendi ac quasi publicis tabulis con-
 Secundum Apostolos nihil prae- signari. Scriptum hoc sacram Scrip-
dicasse, quod non ex Scripturis pro- turam, sacras litteras et verbum Dei
pheticis confirmari posset, et cum eis Scriptum appellamus. — Hommii, Disp.
usquequaque consentiret. — lb., Con- Theol., Disp. i. § 2. p. 2. Lugdun.
trov. i. Quaest v. cap. viii. p. 359. Batav. 1614.

496 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK § 17. To the words of the Evangelist, John xx. 30, 31 b,
 L  I answer, that he speaks only of his own Gospel. And that
beinfe,nred the things written in that Gospel are sufficient to induce a
st^ohnT man t0 believe> that believing he may have life ; but that is
Gospel,] not sufficient to infer that therefore all things necessary to
the salvation of all Christians are clearly expressed, either in
St. John's Gospel, or in the whole Scripture ; because he that
is induced by the things there written to believe the truth of
Christianity, may seek further instruction in the substance
thereof, that he may attain unto life by embracing the same.
So St. John saith not that a man hath life by believing what
is there, but that by knowing it he cometh to believe.
[or from § 18. As for those words of St. Paul, 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17C, I
toTimo-16 confidently believe that St. Paul speaketh only of the books
thy, that 0f ^g qj^ Testament, then — before the writings of the Apo-
all things ' . .
necessary sties were gathered into that body which now is the New
are clearly .
expressed Testament — known by the name of the scriptures : being
ture.C]r'P" well assured that no evidence can be made to the contrary,
because of those alone it could be demanded that they should
bear witness to that which the Apostles preached and taught:
there being no question that the sayings and doings of our
Lord and His Apostles — the matter of the Gospels and Acts —
and the writings of the Apostles, contain the same which the
man of God, that is Timothy, is to preach and teach. Never
theless, waiving so evident a presumption, I am ready to stand
b Quartus vero Scripturae locus, - que sunt ad salutem necessaria in
quem nos contra traditiones citamus Scripturis habentur. — Whitaker., Con-
habetur Joan. xx. ultimo versu, his trov. i. Quaest. vi. cap. xiv. pp. 399,
verbis, ' Haec scripta sunt ut credatis,' 400. Genevae, 1610.
&c. Ex his verbis manifestum est in c Venio nunc ad celebrem ilium
illis quae scripta sunt, omnia necessaria Apostoli locum qui habetur 2 Tim. iii.
posse inveniri quia ex his fides plena 16,17. ' Tota Scriptura divinitus est in-
ac perfecta nascitur utpote quam salus spirata, et utilis ad doctrinam' &c. See
aeterna consequatur  Scriptura note p, chap. v. sect. 26. Whitaker
non est tantum unum ex illis mediis sums up his argument thus : Cum igi-
quae referuntur ad salutem, sed est tur Scriptura ad haec quatuor utilis sit,
totum et solum medium, est perfectum cum hominem Dei perfectum reddat
et integrum medium, quia fidem per- cum sapientiam perfectam ad salutem
fectam generat. Ea enim fides quae doceat, perfectam earn esse ac suflici-
affert salutem est perfecta. Perfectum entem necesse est : and before he had
igitur est illud medium, quo haec fides said, Ergo sunt sufficientes. Nam si
generator. Argumentum hujusmodi minister omnia quae sunt ad suum
institui potest. Quaecunque sunt ad munus necessaria, ex Scripturis hau-
salutem necessaria, ea posita sunt in rire potest, turn et populus etiam omnia
hoc, ut Jesum esse Christum Dei Fili- ad salutem necessaria in Scripturis in-
um credamus : Sed quaecunque neces- venire potest. — lb., pp. 400, 401. Ge-
saria sunt ut Jesum esse Christum ere- nevae, 1610.
damus, ea scripta sunt : ergo quaecun-

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

497

to all, that the words, understood of the whole Bible, will
argue. § 19. For granting that all Scripture was inspired by God
to this purpose, that the man of God might be perfectly fur
nished to every good work, of edifying believers or convincing
gainsayers ; of instructing the sons of the Church, or correct
ing the rebellious; it would be nevertheless in vain to inferd,
that therefore all things necessary to the salvation of all
Christians are clearly expressed to all understandings in the
Scriptures ; because it is evident that the man of God, by
being first made a Christian, or else a man of God, might be
instructed in all things necessary to the salvation of all Chris
tians, or to the discharge of his particular trust, which by
learning the Scriptures he might afterwards be more plenti
fully enabled to know.
§ 20. For granting that the Scripture is able abundantly to
furnish him that hath learned all that is necessary for a Chris
tian, or for a man of God to know, with all parts" belonging
to a man of God, it followeth notf that the Scripture clearly

CHAP. xxvi.
St. John's
Gospel
sufficient
to make
one be
lieve ;

and the
Scrip
tures, the
man of
God per
fect.

d " Again, when you say that un
learned and ignorant men cannot un
derstand the Scripture, I would desire
you to come out of the clouds, and tell
us what you mean : whether that they
cannot understand all Scripture, or that
they cannot understand any Scripture,
or that they cannot understand so much
as is sufficient for their direction to
heaven. If the first, I believe the
learned men are in the same case. If
the second, every man's experience will
confute you : for who is there that is
not capable of a sufficient understand
ing of the story, the precepts, the pro
mises, and the threats of the Gospel ?
If the third, that they may understand
something, but not enough for their
salvations ; I ask you first, why then
doth St. Paul say to Timothy, the
Scriptures are able to make him wise
unto salvation? Why does St. Austin
say, Ea quae manifeste posita sunt in
Sacris Scripturis, omnia continent quae
pertinent ad fidem moresque vivendi ?
Why does every one of the four Evan
gelists entitle their book the Gospel, if
any necessary and essential part of the
Gospel were left out of it? Can we
imagine that they omitted something
necessary, out of ignorance, not know
ing it to be necessary? or knowing it
THORNDIKE. K

to be so, maliciously concealed it ? or
out of negligence, did the work they
had undertaken by halves ? If none of
these things can without blasphemy be
imputed to them, considering they were
assisted by the Holy Ghost in this
work, then certainly it most evidently
follows, tbat every one of them wrote
the whole Gospel of Christ: I mean
all tbe essential and necessary parts of
it. So that if we had no other book of
Scripture, but one of them alone, we
should not want any thing necessary to
salvation. And what one of them has
more than another, it is only profitable,
and not necessary. Necessary indeed
to be believed, because revealed ; but
not therefore revealed, because neces
sary to be believed." — Chillingworth,
Relig. of Protestants, chap. ii. pp. 123,
124. London, 1687.
e Parts, " qualities." MSS.
f Ex hoc loco sic concludimus :
Tota Scriptura utilis est ad hoc, ut
homo Dei sit perfectus ad omne opus
bonum ; ergo ad omnia, quae nobis
necessaria sunt, Scripturae sufficiunt.
Adversarius dupliciter respondet ; pri
mo, admittendo quandam sufficientiam :
secundo, negando istam sufficientiam
quam nos statuimus. Nos istas respon-
siones examinemus. Primo ait, re-
k

498

OF THE PRINCIPLES

BOOK I.

teacheth him that hath not learned the same, all that is neces
sary to the salvation of all Christians ; because he that trans-
gresseth not the substance of Christianity, may find in the
Scriptures sufficient furniture both for the maintaining and
for the advancing of that Christianity which he acknowledg
ed! ; and yet he that trusteth his own sense to find out what
is the substance of Christianity, by the letter of the Scrip
tures, may well miss of that which God never bade him trust
his own sense to find by the Scripture.
§ 21. Now if it be demandeds how the law can be said to

sponderi posse, Scripturas instruere
hominem sufficienter, etperficerehomi-
nem Dei quodam modo, quod multa
expresse in Scriptura continentur, et
docet eadem Scriptura, unde reliqua
sunt petenda. Respondeo, Nos huic
responsioni prius respondimus, non
posse scilicet Scripturam eo tantum
nomine suflicientem diei, quod quaedam
necessaria in universali sufficienter tra-
dat, et ostendat unde reliqua sumi pos-
sint ; quia turn non opus esset, ut
Spiritus Sanctus tam multos Scripturae
libros ederet. Sufficerent enim deca-
logus, symbolum, et oratio Dominica,
nee opus esset tot libris. Sed voluit
Spiritus Sanctus nos plenissime erudiri,
ideoque tot libros edidit et nos remisit
ad Scripturas, in quibus luculenta et
sufficiens explicatio omnium partium
fidei nostrae reperitur. — Whitaker., de
Sacr. Script, Controv. i. cap. xiv. p.
400. Genevae, 1610.
ff Nulla lucerna est obscura. At
Scriptura Sacra est lucerna ; ergo non
est obscura. Major per se patet, nee
eget aut explicatione aut confirmatione.
Sciunt enim omnes earn esse lucernae
naturam, eum usum, ut tenebris oppo-
natur easque discutiat, quod non posset,
si ipsa esset obscura. Minor autem
probatur ex disertis Scripturae locis,
Psal. 119, Lucerna pedibus meis, &c.
 et rursus 119, Declaratio ser-
monum tuorum illuminat et intellectum
dat parvulis ? — Chamier. Panstrat. Ca
tholic, lib. xv. cap. v. § 1. torn. i. p. 545.
Genevae, 1626.
Jam secundo in loco ea testimonia
producemus quae verbum scriptum per
fectum agnoscunt, idque in ordine ad
sapientiam coelestem et salutiferam pro-
creandam. Sic Psalmista, Ps. xix. 8,
Lex Domini perfecta convertens ani-
mam, testimonium Domini fidele, sapi
entiam dans parvulis. Sic Paulus ad
Tim., ep. 2. cap. iii. vers. 15 — 17, A

puero sacras literas nosti, &c. Quod
parvulos, hoc est, rudes et imperitos,
sapientes reddit, idque ad salutem;
imo quod hominem Dei, hoc est, verbi
interpretem et ministrum, perfectum
facere potest, et ad omne bonum opus
perfecte instructum, id contineat ne
cesse est perfectam doctrinam fidei et
cultus divini : at hoc sacrae Scripturae
facere possunt, teste Davide et Paulo,
Jam si fingamus cum Pontificiis pluri-
ma et altissima Christianae fidei et
pietatis mysteria, non in verbo scripto
haberi, sed propter reverentiam illis
debitam apud pauculos sapientiores re-
condita conservari, turn ex studio Scrip-
turarum neque docti neque indocti
possent sapientiam salutiferam adipisci,
quod testimoniis allatis aperte contra
dicit. Quid ad haec Papistae 1 Jesuitas in
colloquio Ratisbonensi perfectionem
Scripturarumnonaudent negare ;dicunt
igitur nullam debitam iis perfectionem
deesse, sed hanc quam nos supponimus,
ut omnia dogmata fidei et cultus ex
presse contineant, non esse illis debi
tam. Quemadmodum igitur hominem
perfectum vocamus, licet alas non ha-
beat, quia hae homini non debent adesse ;
ita Scripturas perfectas dieamus licet
omnia fidei dogmata non contineant,
quia non debent continere. Sed quae
tandem est haec debita perfectio ? Id
explicant hisce verbis : Scripturae di-
cuntur perfects quoad perfectionem
credibilitatis et exactissimae veritatis.
Sed haec facillime refelluntur, nam
hanc credibilitatem habet omnis pro-
positio vera, quae velut principium
nobis per se innotescit, vel ex principio
evidenti consequentia deducitur. De
bita autem perfectio Scripturarum
consideranda est in ordine ad finem
suum ; finis autem est, hominem Dei
instruere sufficienter ad salutem. Jam
vero perfectio credibilitatis aut exactis-

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 499
give light or wisdom to the simple, being of itself not to be chap.
understood, I will answer from the peculiar consequence of  —
• • ¦ ith n , , r • How the
my position concerning the double sense of the law : for it law giveth
becometh a Christian to believe that the law is thus highly 'g '
extolled by the prophets — whom he is obliged to take for the
forerunners of Christ — not for the outward and carnal sense
of it, as it was the condition of holding the land of promise,
and the happiness thereof; but for the inward and spiritual
sense, as the means whereby the Spirit of God then enlight
ened them to discern the true inward and spiritual righteous
ness of Christians, as I said afore h.
§ 22. And what is the reason that the Psalmist saith, and chris-
xxv. 13, 14, " What man is he that feareth the Lord ? him taught by
shall He teach in the way that He shall choose. The secret God-
of the Lord is among them that fear Him, and He will shew
them His covenant :" the covenant of the Lord being clearly
expressed to all Israelites, whose ancestors contracting it with
God had undertaken to teach it their children? But that
there was something more in it than all that were of it under
stood, which God teacheth by the Psalmist all that were of it
193 that He was ready to teach them that should come with His
fear in their hearts to learn it. The same which our Lord
tells the Jews of His time, John vii. 17, " If any man will do
the will of My Father, he shall know, concerning My doctrine,
whether it be of God, or I speak from Myself." For that
which our Lord Christ shews, shall be expressly received and
acknowledged by those who by the law had been conducted
to be willing to do what God should command in point of in
ward and spiritual obedience ; to them that stand so affected,
nothing remaining to be done but to shew them that Christ
simae veritatis non sufficit ad hunc religionem ex Scripturis dedueuntur
finem, sed requiritur insuper perfecta mediante infallibili authoritate Eccle-
comprehensio doctrinae salutiferae. Haec siae, turn certum est omnia in Scrip-
perspicua sunt, itaque tandem extorse- turis contineri quae ad religionem nos-
runt adversariis hanc confessionem no- tram pertinent. Nam Ecclesia quae
tatu dignissimam ; Nos minime Scrip- ex Scripturis deducit quod in illis non
turarum imperfectionis accusamus,imo continetur, non tam deduxisse, quam
fatemur palam earn esse perfectam, et seduxisse dicatur : nee infallibili autho-
sufficienler tradere omnia quae ad reli- ritate munitur, sed manifesto errore
gionem spectant: non solum quia ea deluditur. Propria itaque confessione
quae omnibus simpliciter scitu neces- distinctionem suam funditus everterunt
saria sunt aperte tradit, sed etiam quia Jesuitae. Sed hos mittamus. — Dave-
ex ilia ea quoque omnia mediante au- nant, Praelect. de Judice Controv,, cap.
thoritate infallibili Ecclesiae dedu- x. pp. 42, 43. Cantabrigiae, 1634.
cuntur. Si omnia quae spectant ad h Chap. xii. seett. 37, 38.
Kk 2

500 OF THE PRINCIPLES
book was come from God with instructions what He would hence-
 :  forth have them to do that would be saved.
§ 23. Now if the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah1 promise
that under the Gospel all Christians shall be taught of God :
if our Lordk praiseth the Father for revealing to babes the
secret thereof, which He had concealed from the great and
learned of the world ; if, upon the same account, it was not
flesh and blood1, but the Father that had revealed to St. Peter
the Christ the Son of God: I demand whether we shall
imagine their meaning to be that God taught them these
things without shewing them reason sufficient to believe them
to be true ; or having shewed them such, that He taught them,
by inclining them to follow that which He had shewed them
sufficient arguments to believe.
§ 24. If we say that He taught them immediately, without
shewing them any sufficient reason for the truth of that which
He taught them to follow, we expose our common Chris
tianity to the scorn of all unbelievers, whom by consequence
we can shew no reason why they should become Christians,
unless God make them so before they know why. Nay, we
can shew them no reason why we deal with them to become
Christians ; why the Gospel should be preached at all, or any
man suffer for preaching or professing it, in order to reduce
the world to it, unless we suppose that we can shew them
reason so sufficient why they should be Christians, that it may
by God's grace become effectual to make them no less.
§ 25. But this is the reason why our Lord Christ protesteth
concerning the testimony of John the Baptist — which every
man sees how available it was to make Him receivable of those
who before had admitted John to be sent by God, professing
himself sent expressly to bear witness to our Lord Christ — I
say, this is reason enough why He professeth nevertheless not
1 Isa. liv. 12; Jer. xxxi. 33, 34. ' Et omnes filii tui edocti erunt a Je-
Quicumque promissiones a Deo habent hova.' Hieremiae trigesimo primo,
de intelligentia Scripturae, iidem Scrip- ' Dabo legem meam in cordibus eorum:
turam interpretari possunt. At quili- et in corde eorum scribam earn, et non
bet fideles id genus promissiones ha- docebit ultra vir proximum suum, di-
bent : ergo quilibet interpretari pos- cens, cognosce Dominum. Omnes
sunt. Major^ in confesso est, etiam enim scient me a minimo eorum usque
apud adversarios, qui hanc ob causam ad maximum eorum.' — Chamier. Pan-
Ecclesiae vindicant hoc jus omne, quod strat. Catholic, lib. xvi. cap. ii. § 2.
ei promissum dicunt Spiritum Sane- torn. i. p. 582. Genevae, 1626.
turn. Probatur autem minor Scripturae k St. Matt. xi. 25.
locis, Esaiae quinquagesimo quarto, ' St. Matt. xvi. 17.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 501
to receive any witness from man. For had not God provided CHAP. XXVI
aforehand, that the witness of John should be accepted for  —
the word of God ; that being so accepted it might leave no
doubt in them that had accepted it — so considerable a party,
that those who refused our Lord Christ durst not provoke it,
as we see by the Gospels — that our Lord was come from
God; in vain had it been for our Lord to allege his witness.
Wherefore when He alleged him, alleging not him but the
Father, Who had procured hiin to be accepted ; well and truly,
though alleging [the] witness of John Baptist, He renounced
the witness of man, but professeth to speak those things
whereby they might be saved, only under the witness of God.
§ 26. Neither is it strange that the prophets Isaiah and
Jeremiah, and the Apostle St. Johnm, should say that those
who had been thus taught of God, should need no instruction
from one another, because they knew all things already, or
because they had that within them that should teach them all
things. I confess if we look impertinently upon that infinity
of disputes that remains in the world, either about action or
about knowledge ; if we look upon the multiplying of contro
versies in religion, the least of which dispute of reason decides
not, and therefore faction determines ; it may appear a very
large word to make good : but if we look upon the intent of
those that spake it, and the matter which they had in hand, it
will appear very unreasonable to extend it to any thing else.
§ 27. Now I suppose upon the premises, that the prophets
Isaiah and Jeremiah, in the first and literal and obvious sense,
intend to foretel the return of the people of Israel from cap
tivity, and the great change that should be seen in their faith
fulness to God; though figuring thereby that knowledge of
God, and that fidelity of Christians, which the preaching of
the Gospel should produce. And truly I do challenge all
them that are best acquainted with the state of that people
from the beginning, to shew me any greater change in it than
Uhat which we see came to pass upon their return from the
captivity. To wit, that they who formerly, before the cap
tivity, had been every day falling away from their own, the
true God, to the worship of imaginary deities, should from
thenceforth continue constant to Him, when tempted with
"> 1 St. John i. 20, 12. See sect. 23.

I.

502 OF THE PRINCIPLES
book the greatest torments in the world, to renounce Him for the
worship of idols, as we see by the relations of the Maccabees.
§ 28. And is it strange then that I should say that this is
the change which these prophecies intend to declare ? Espe
cially when I say not that this is all they intend, because I
know that the Apostles have declared them to be intended of
the times of the Gospel ; but that this is that which they in
tend in the first instance, which by the premises must be a
figure and step to that which the Gospel intends to declare.
And yet in regard of the manifold idolatries which prevailed
before the captivity, it shall be most truly and significantly
understood, that the people of God, who after the captivity
never departed from the true Godn, shall not then teach one
another to know the true God ; because that law, the sum of
the old law, should be written in their hearts and entrails, so
that they should have no need to teach one another to know
the true God.
§ 29. If this be true, referring this prophecy to the Gospel,
of which the Apostle expounds it in the mystical sense, Heb.
viii. 8 — 12, it will be much more evident how those that are
baptized upon the profession of the Christian faith — who are
the new Israel according to the Spirit — shall have no need to
teach one another to know the true God, who both know
God, and the way to God, which is the law of God which
they bear in their hearts, if their Christianity be not counter
feit. So that when God promiseth to establish this new
covenant, He promiseth neither more nor less than the con
version of the world to the Christian faith.
¦¦ Verum est, quod a communi idolo- borch. Amic. Collat. Tert. Script Ju-
latria populus in captivitate Babylonica, daei, Num. iii. pp. 100, 101. Goudae,
et postea, abstinuit; tamen per totum 1687.
id tempus horrenda commisit peccata, Quia quando Judaeos ab idololatriae
quibus ad extremum exterminium Dei crimine immunes pronuntio, ego totum
iram provocavit, ^acrilegia in sancto populum seu Judaeorum universitatem
templo, homicidia, incestus, latrocinia, respicio ; prout olim ante captivitatem
constantissima odia, et alia, quae referre Babylonicam totus populus, rex et pri-
pudet, et Josephus atque nostri antiqui mores se criminis illius reos fecerunt,
nobis scripsere. Verum a communi, et paucis tantum piis, qui in computum
publica idololatria, quoquomodo absti- venire nequeunt, exceptis. Quam
nuere, quae quamvis sit deterioris natu- autem nunc committunt idololatriam
rae, quam praefata peccata, non semper Judaei quamvis excusari minime queat,
est aequalis malitiae, nisi in iis, qui alterius aliquomodo generis est, et non
idololatriam committunt, scientes se proprie ilia quam lex directe et in ter-
contra Deum peccare, ut Jeroboam, et minis vetat quando idola gentium con-
similes, qui propter fines humanos Deo demnat. — Id. Respons. ad Tert. Script.
scienter spreto, idola colunt. — Lim- Judaei, p. 278.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

503

§ 30. Accordingly St. John truly tells the Christians to c H A p.
whom he writes, that they knew all things, and had no need  —
that any man should teach them, because the unction that
was in them taught them the truth; because he doth not
mean that they knew the secrets of geometry, or the myste
ries of nature, or whatsoever is or is done in the utmost parts
ofthe world, or any thing else impertinent to his present dis
course ; but because they had in them a principle sufficient to
condemn those errors which he writes against there ; to wit,
those that deny both the Father and the Son, by denying
Jesus to be the Christ, which, saith the Apostle, is the spirit of
Antichrist. § 31. For surely he that hath unfeignedly professed the
Christian faith upon being catechized in it, hath in him a
principle sufficient to preserve him from such gross infections;
which the Holy Ghost, wherewith he is anointed upon being
baptized into this profession out of a good conscience, sealeth
up in his heart, so that such corruptions can have no access
to infect it. And therefore the Apostle might well call upon
them to try such spirits, whether of God or not ; seeing that
the comparing of their pretences with that which they had
once received must needs be sufficient to condemn that which
is opposite to it, by the judgment of any man that unfeignedly
adhereth to it. So that St. Paul, when he bids the Thessalo
nians " try all things, but hold that which is good," demands
no unreasonable thing at their hands, if we understand those
things which he would have tried, to be such as are triable
by the rule of faith common to all Christians.
§ 32. Indeed the same Apostle, when he writeth to the
Corinthians that " the spiritual man is judged by no man, but
himself judgeth all things," seems to speak more generally,
not only of the rule of faith, but of the secret counsel and
good pleasure of God, in dispensing the revelation thereof,
one way to the ancient prophets, another way to the Apostles,
both by the Spirit of God and Christ : which secret counsel
those spiritual men that he speaketh of were able to interpret,
in the Scriptures of the Old Testament, by comparing spiritual
things with spiritual things ; that is, the revelations granted
under the law, with those which the Gospel had brought
forth. Which though the Apostles could do, yet the grace of

504 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK understanding the Scriptures of the Old Testament, by the
— —  Holy Ghost, was no more common to all Christians at that
time, than now that the understanding of the Scriptures is to
be purchased by human endeavours, it can be common to all
Christians to be divines. 195
§ 33. By all which it appeareth, not that the Scriptures
contain all things necessary to salvation, clearly to all that
want it, but that Christianity affordeth sufficient means of in
struction in all things necessary to the salvation of all that
learn it. And those who", to find this instruction, turn simple
plain-meaning Christians to that translation of the Bible which
they like, to find resolution in the pretences of the sects which
can arise, cannot be said either to teach them Christianity or
sufficient means to learn it. For he who hath not only
acknowledged the substance of Christianity, but grounded the
hope of his salvation upon it, will rather deny his own senses
than admit any thing contrary to it to be the true meaning
of the Scripture, whatsoever be the sound of the words of it.
§ 34. But he that only knoweth the Scriptures to be God's
truth, and believeth he hath the Spirit of God to conduct him
in seeking the sense of it, not supposing the belief of Chris
tianity to be a condition requisite to the having of God's
Spirit, may easily be seduced by his inbred pride to devise
and set up new positions, sounding like the Scriptures, which
the Church acknowledgeth no more than that meaning of the
Old Testament which our Lord and His Apostles first de
clared was acknowledged by the Scribes and Pharisees. And
0 Omnia scripta eum in finem con- ullius hominis speciali indulto, legere.
scribuntur ut legantur. Sic etiam Nee metuendum est ut ea ratione per
Deus Sacram Scnpturam conscribi vo- se ullum homines percipiant detri-
luit, ut dihgenter a nobis legatur, quod mentum, aut in errores atque haereses
ipse per prophetas et Apostolos saepius inducantur, quin potius multiplex inde
et expresse omnibus sine discrimine utilitas ad eos redundet Quare im-
mandavit. Caeterum cum omnes nee pium et tyrannicum est Pontificiorum,
Hebraice nee Graece, neque etiam La- quo plebem seu laicos, ut vocant, a
tine intelligant, et tamen Scriptura Sacrae Scripturae arcent, quo eos faci-
quae ad omnes est scripta, et salutis lius in crassa ilia inscitia detineant
aeternae cujus cura omnibus et singulis eorumque fidei et conscientiis dominari
mcumbit, rationem mamfestat, ab om- queant : atque ea ratione armis spiri-
mbus propterea dil.genter m timore tualibus et consolatione Scripturarum
Dei est legenda. Ac non tantum licet miseras animas spoliant, et non sine
ttt ,t£ 7 'a am, laiC°' Sed «**l«*i° Prohibeut, quod Deus non
JZZ S <! T 0dam.m?.d0 necessa- totum promisee omnibus concessit,
num est, S. Scnpturam in inguam ver- sed etiam expresse mandavit.-Hom-
naculam translatam si aliam linguam mii Disp. Theol., disp v S 6 nn 19
non mtelligat, etiam sine Episcopi aut 20. Lugd. Bat 1614

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

505

thinking he doth it by the same right as they had, must needs
take himself and his followers for our Lord and His Apo
stles, but the Church for the Scribes and Pharisees.
§ 35. As for that extravagant conceit of Cartwright P, I will
once more stand amazed at it. A man of so much knowledge
as to think himself fit to recall the laws of his country, and
give new laws to the Church of God in it 9, is not ashamed to
admit that the reason why the idolatries of Israelites were so
odious to God was, because He had not commanded them by
the Scriptures ; as if God had never forbade them to worship
idols by the Scriptures. For otherwise he could not have
inferred by the words of the prophet that a Christian ought
poor, what the deacon's ofiice, and of
all other orders of the consistory, which
it pleased God that I had in mind and
thought most profitable to alter. It
remaineth for me now to return again
to the state, to the queen's most excel
lent majesty, the honourable coun
sellors, all the nobility, and all the
worshipful" commons of this realm.
And I humbly beseech her majesty in
principal, to vouchsafe the hearing of
us, and like as we make our appeal for
the Lords Bishops to be uprightly
heard, what may be said of our parts
further and more throughly in this
matter of God's, by divers of no small
learning and judgment, and integrity
of life, so it will please her majesty and
you all, herein to accept our appeal
tbat not only we may not thus be
oppressed and wrung as we are, against
all equity and conscience, but also that
God's cause should not be so trodden
under foot, the benefit of His Church
so little regarded, such daily conten
tions raised up, and not pacified, such
grieving of godly men's consciences,
and they not relieved. In so quiet a
reign of our sovereign, that papists for
pity are not much disquieted, and yet
there should be a persecution of poor
Christians, and the professors of the
Gospel not suffered, not far unlike to
the six articles, which crafty heads
devised, and brought the king her noble
father unto, as they would do her ma
jesty now. That we should have God's
cause by us truly and faithfully pro
pounded, and by others wickedly op
pugned and withstood, and yet it may
not by us again be maintained without
great peril." — A Second Admonition,
p. 55. A.D. 1617.

CHAP. XXVI.

How idol
atry is said
not to be
command
ed by God.

p See chap. v. sect. 29.
i " And this is that order of ec
clesiastical discipline which all [the]
godly wish to be restored, to the end
that every one by the same may be kept
within the limits of his vocation, and a
great number be brought to live in
godly conversation. Not that we mean
to take the authority of the civil magis
trate and chief governor, to whom we
wish all blessedness, and for the in
crease of whose godliness we daily
pray; but that Christ being restored
into His kingdom, to rule in the same
by the sceptre of His word, and severe
discipline : the prince may be better
obeyed, the realm more flourish in god
liness, and the Lord Himself more sin
cerely and purely, according to His
revealed will, served than heretofore
He hath been, or yet at this present is."
— Admonition to the Parliament of
1570, 1571. p. 7. A.D. 1617.
" I have thus briefly as I could, and
handling matters as I ought, passed
through many abuses in the ministry
and government of the Church of Christ
in England, and I have, according to
my poor talent, declared what should
be the state of a well-ordered and re
formed Church. How many sorts of
ministers, how they should be called
to the function, what their office is,
what order should be amongst them,
what meetings and conferences there
should be for the continuing of true
religion, and for them to increase in
knowledge by. And in like sort, I
have wasted in declaring what officers
there should be in the government,
what stroke they may bear, so it be by
the congregation ; what a consistory is,
what excommunication is, what pro
vision there should be made for the

506 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK to do nothing without a text of Scripture to warrant it ; much
 ' — less to admit any law of the Church without such evidence.
Which had it been granted him, with power to give the
Church such laws, he could not have proceeded without de
manding this exception, that those which Cartwright should
make without any such warrant might be counted godly and
religious ; but these which the Church, superstitious.

CHAPTER XXVII.
WHY IT WAS DEATH TO TRANSGRESS THE DETERMINATIONS OF THE JEWS'
CONSISTORY, AND WHAT POWER THIS ARGUETH IN THE CHURCH. A
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE AUTHORITY OF THE APOSTLES AND THAT OF
THE CHURCH. THE BEING OF THE CHURCH TO THE WORLD'S END, WITH
POWER OF THE KEYS, MAKES IT NOT INFALLIBLE. OBEDIENCE TO SUPE
RIORS AND THE PILLAR OF TRUTH INFER IT NOT.
Why it was It will not be more difficult to shew how the true sense of
transgress a^ those Scriptures which are alleged towards the infallibility
the deter- 0f fae Church, concurs to make good the terms upon which
minations .
ofthe I have resolved the dispute in hand. For having shewedr
sistory, that the law of Moses was given the Jews for the condition of
holding the land of promise, they ruling as well their civil
communion as the service they tendered to God, according to
it ; I will demand but one thing more from the general expe
rience of all civil people : which is this ; that no form of laws
can be propounded to any community of men whatsoever, so
as to serve it, without further determining and limiting of
such things as time, and the occurrences of time, shall discover
to be undetermined by that law, and therefore questionable.
So that Moses's law, though given by God, Who foresaw what
soever could become questionable concerning the matter of
His law; yet because given for the civil law of that people,
must needs be given liable to want such limitations as the
occurrences of time should make requisite. Neither can the
truth hereof be better evidenced than by shewing the course
which God, by the law, hath taken for the ending of all such
disputes arising upon the law. 196
r Chap. xii.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

507

§ 2. I do therefore not only grant, but insist upon this s, that
the power established by the law of Deut. xvii. 8 — 12, ex
tendeth to all manner of debates, arising upon occasion of any
precept of Moses's law, and to the determining of them, by
limiting those things which the letter of the law had not ex
pressed. I do likewise grant that death is allotted for a
penalty to whomsoever should not conform to any such
determination, and the practice of the law according to it.
And I do find so much reason for it, that I do not understand
how possibly that people should subsist — and, by consequence,
the law which made them that people — in [the] practice of it,
without such a provision as this ; an opinion of the intent and
meaning of God, in the practice of any precept, being suffi
cient to divide that people into parties, not to be reconciled
but by the voice of God, either upon the occasion or by the
law, warranting the sentence of those whom He authorizeth to
declare what He requireth of His people.
§ 3. Setting aside for the present to dispute', whether it be

CHAP. XXVII.

B Non agitur ibidem de controver-
siis fidei, sed ritualibus, ut inter san
guinem et sanguinem, lepram et le
pram — exprimente textu — quo nomine
ablegat Salvator decern mundatos ad
sacerdotem, Luc. xvii. 14, qui tene-
batur sententiam ferre juxta legem Dei,
Deut. xvii. 11. — Prideaux, Fascicul.
Controv. Theol., p. 40. Oxon. 1649.
Respondeo, verba ista non intelli-
genda esse de perpetuo jure interpre-
tandi Scripturas, sed de authoritate
tantum definiendi diificiles lites ac con-
troversias, sive ecclesiasticas illas qui
dem, per ministrum ; sive politicas et
forenses, per magistratum ; ut esset
semper in utrisque aliquis, a quo pro-
vocare non liceat ; alioqui enim nullus
esset litigandi finis. Jam vero hoc
argumentum non sequitur; lites de
caede et plaga, de sanguine, de lepra,
et hujusmodi, finiendae semper sunt ab
aliquo judice, et debet esse aliquod
forensium controversiarum certum ju
dicium: ergo oportet esse aliquem
summum judicem, penes quem sit au-
thoritas interpretandi omnes Scripta-'
ras, et a quo provocare non liceat.
Non enim hac lege constitutum est
ullum de religione judicium, quod sibi
Deus uni reservavit: nullihomini per-
misit, cum sciret quam facile homines
religionem inficiant pravis opinionibus :
sed lex lata est de judiciis externis

forensium controversiarum, quas aut
magistratus politici, aut sacerdotes ju-
dicabant. Nulla autem respublica stare
potest, nisi summum aliquod tribunal,
a quo nulli fas sit provocare ; sed tamen
in iis causis, in quibus injustae etiam
sententiae parere pium sit, non im-
pium. Sed Bellarminus ait, legem esse
generalem de omnibus dubiis, quae ex
lege oriebantur: et occasio hujus legis
fuit propter eos, qui serviunt diis ali-
enis. Respondeo, primo, de dubiis ex
lege ortis nulla mentio habetur in lege,
in qua non nisi forenses externaeque
lites commemorantur. Secundo, quod
de occasione legis falsum etiam est,
texit, nee valeret aliquid si verum
esset. — "Whitaker., Controv. i. Quaest.
v. cap. iv. p. 350. Genevae, 1610.
* Et quisquis rite perpenderit quae
habentur in Exod. xviii. et Deuteron. i.
ubi de praefecturarum illarum institu-
tione agitur, ei haud credibile, puto,
videbitur, eos apud quos ex institutione
ilia Deus, seu sententia Dei quaerenda
erat, quorum item judicium, Dei judi
cium signantius dicitur, atque in quos
sic distributum est Mosis in judicando
onus, non tam sacras quam profanas
causas, easque omnimodas pariter et e
re nata tractasse ac definiisse. Atque
aequum sane est ut de patriarchis etiam
anterioribus Ada, Setho, Noacho, Mel-
chizedeco, Abraha, aliis hujus inter-

508

OF THE PRINCIPLES

BOOK I.
and what
power this
argueth in the
Church.

the priests alone, or the priests with the chief of the people,
in whom this power is vested by the law — as for the present
I dispute not who the persons are in whom the power of
Church matters rests, in behalf of the Church — it is plainly,
by this law, a capital crime to teach and do contrary to what
the public power of that people should determine, concerning
the intent and practice of any precept of that law. And
therefore accordingly I grant, and insist, that in the new Israel
of God according to the Spirit, which is the Church of Christ,
there is and ought to be a power of putting out of the fellow-

valli principibus summis eorumque,
quae fuere, praefecturis minoribus tan-
tumdem admittamus. Hue maxime
autem spectat, etiam quod supra de
modo et ratione agendi et judicandi ad-
duximus, in actionibus omnimodis. C erte
quatenus tam praecepto divino aut im
mediate aut mediate, quam jure hu-
mano nitebatur quaelibet actio, sive
publica, sive privata, sive sacra, sive
profana,eatenus de ea ita dijudicandum
erat ut manifestam sacrorum atque re
ligionis, in forensi tunc negotio quoli-
bet, rationem habitam esse non agnos-
cere nequeamus ; id est, imperium
circa sacra, qua sacra, plane sic exer-
citum esse. Atque ita Theologia et
Jurisprudentia in eadem praefectura
necessario conjunctae ; seu potius qua
forum spectarunt in unam eandemque
reciderunt. Ac sacrae itidem ac pro-
fanae causae in eisdem praefecturis ideo
dirimebantur, quia nulla tam simpli
citer profana esse potuit, ut dum prae-
ceptorum divinorum vim ibi semper et
in qualibet causa perpeudendam con-
siderabant judices, nihil sacri in se
commistum haberet. Sed vero non ad-
mittunt viri aliquot doctissimi impe
rium seu jurisdictionem circa sacra
praefecturis illis minoribus, aut earum
alibi a Mose tributam, sed illi integre
reservatam, juxta quod superius me-
moratur ubi ea de re plura. Caeterum
concredatur — quod tamen haud ullibi
constat ; et contrarium ex verbis toties
de judiciis sine discrimine in sacro hac
de re sermone prolatis eliciendum plane
videtur — cognitionem rerum et causa-
rum sacrarum, scilicet earum quae
maxime ad cultum et religionem spec-
tarent, Mosem sibi soli reservasse.
Quaeritur tunc, sub cujusnam pririci-
patus aut praefecturae generis notione
de eis cognosceret ille. Duplicem sci
licet in eo aiunt fuisse principatum :

alterum sacerdotalem, quasi nunc di-
ceres, ad vulgi sensum, ecclesiasticum,
alterum regium, seu in regimine pub
lico, ut distinguunt, summum. Ad
eoque sub notione principatus sacerdo-
talis, seu qui ad eum ex sacerdotii
munere pertinebat, causarum de sacris
cognitionem eum volunt habuisse, non
omnino sub notione principatus politici,
seu nomine regio, quale itidem asse-
runt de sacerdotiis patriarcharum, qui
eis primogeniture nomine fruebantur.
Et nemo non videt facile quidem con-
cipi posse ut compluria in eadem per
sona esse possint jurisdictionis ac im
perii genera, adeo ab invicem distincta,
ut licet eorum omnia ex unica autori-
tate constituentis — ut hie Mosis prae
fecturae qualiscunque ex autoritate Nu-
minis — simul pendeant, alteri tamen
cum altero ex constituti natura nihil
habeatur commune. Id palam cernitur
in eadem persona praetura urbana et
peregrina, verbi gratia, donata, in plu-
rium provinciarum ut invicem distinct-
arum, praeside, id genus aliis satis ob-
viis. Etiam agnoscitur quidem turn
Mosem fuisse tam sacerdotem quam
regem, turn in primogeniti apud ante-
riores praerogativis sacerdotium fuisse
cum dignitate sacerdotali conjunctum.
De Mosis regno, seu principatu summo
satis testatur ipse in gestis suis passim,
et expressius ubi in sacro sermone sic
appellatur. Sacerdotem autem eo fu
isse diserte ait David, Moses et Aaron
in sacerdotibus Ejus. Et de functione
quadam ejusdem sacerdotali publica
manifesto liquet ex ejus consecratione
Aharonis et filiorum, aliisque circa in-
stitutionem sacerdotii Aharonici et ta-
bernaculi praestitis. — Selden. de Sy-
nedr. Hebr., lib. i. cap. xvi. pp. 352,
353. Amstel. 1679. See Right of the
Church, Review, chap. i. sect. 13.
note n.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 509
ship of the same any man that shall not stand to the resolution chap.
which legally is able to conclude it. For without such a
power it cannot be imagined how the unity thereof should
subsist, seeing that there can be no community in which
debates shall not arise, about those things wherein they com
municate. § 4. I grant further and insist, that he who is justly put out
of the Church, though merely for violating the unity thereof,
by disobeying that just order which unites it, is thereby con
demned to the death of the world to come ; as he that teaches
and does contrary to the sentence of that power that concludes
the synagogue, is put out of this. Notwithstanding, as many
other crimes beside this are capital by the law of Moses, so
there be many other causes, both of faith and of life, by which
a man forfeits his interest, both in the world to come and in
the communion ofthe Church.
§ 5. But if any man argue u that because a man forfeits the
communion of the Church, by disobej'ing the determination
thereof, therefore all the determinations thereof are infallibly
true and obliging, by virtue of God's law : I shall deny the
consequence by virtue of that very law of Deut. xvii. 8 — 12,
upon which this argument is grounded ; for whereas it makes
disobedience a capital crime, there are other laws that sup
pose a breach ofthe law, even in following the determinations
of that power which it establisheth. At least if we admit the
practice of those Jews that followed the Talmud in those pre
cepts of Levit. v. 15 — 21, Numb. xv. 22—26, which indeed
cannot reasonably be otherwise understood : how should the
congregation offer sacrifices to expiate that ignorance wherein
" Quod vero in primo illo funda- acquieseere. ' Qui enim,' inquit, ' su-
mento sectariorum ex Deuteronomio perbierit, nolens obedire sacerdotis im-
addebatur, credendum esse sacerdoti perio, morietur homo ille.' Itaque
judicauti secundum legem, et non ali- cum sine contradictione ulla obedire
ter, libenter id sane damus sectariis. homines jussi sunt sacerdoti judicanti
Sed duo tamen hie eos meminisse opor- secundum divinam legem ; persuadere
tet. Alterum, quod, ut paulo ante sibi etiam divinitus jussi sunt ilium,
dicebamus, lex sive Dei verbum latius cum de rebus controversis judicabat,
multo quam lex sive Dei verbum omnino judicare secundum divinam le-
scriptum patet. Alterum quod nemini gem: Quod ipsum multo etiam maxime
subditorum tamen fas erat judicium persuadere nobis de summo Ecclesiae
sibi dejudicis sui sacerdotisque defini- pastore, cum ex traditione Ecclesias-
tione arrogare — cum res aliter mani- tica, controversias religionis definit,
feste praejudicata non erat— num divi- nunc jubemur. — Gregorii de Valentia,
nae legi esset consentanea, quin sim- Analysis Fidei Catholicae, lib. viii. cap.
pliciter omnes jubebantur sacerdoti de vi. de Traditionibus Apostolicis, p. 107.
rebus controversis aliquid statuenti Paris. 1010.

510 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK all were involved, but as those that had power to make
.  h  wrong determinations should expiate that ignorance which
the congregation by following had incurred.
§ 6. Neither saith our Lord any less in the Gospel, though
in a matter of greater consequence, when having condemned
them that transgressed God's commandment for the tradition
of their predecessors, Matt. xv. 5 — 10, Mark vii. 8 — 12, never
theless He commands them to observe and do all such things
as the Scribes and Pharisees, sitting in Moses's chair, should
command, Matt, xxiii. 2, to wit, because the authority of
Moses's chair presupposed the law of God, but extended not
to nullify any part of it. In like manner the authority of the
Church presupposing the truth of Christianity — the profession
whereof makes Christians, the body whereof is the Church —
it is not possible that it should teach so far as to warrant any
man to believe that, which those grounds upon which the truth
of Christianity stands, cannot evidence to be true.
§7.1 say not that the Church cannot determine what shall
be taught and received in such disputes as will divide thei97
Church, unless an end be put : but I say that the authority of
the Church x can be no reason obliging or warranting to believe
1 Haec de difficultatibus occurren- ipsi Deo revelanti. Credere enim ali-
tibus. Nunc ad rem principalem re- quem articulum fidei, est credere Deo
deamus, et formalem credendi ratio- revelanti hunc articulum fidei. E con-
nem, non esse Ecclesiae vocem adhuc verso, credere Deo revelanti hoc aut
paucis ostendamus : ut nimirum pro- illud, est credere hoc aut illud:
positis initio argumentis plenius satis- non autem credere Deo revelanti
fiat, resque ipsa magis elucescat. Quem- simpliciter. Hoc enim facit infide-
admodum ergo in intelligendo prin- lis — ut postea suo loco clarius doce-
cipia scientiarum — hujusmodi enim bimus — sed solus fidelis credit Deo
quaedam sunt ea quae creduntur, qua- revelanti hos vel illos articulos fidei.
tenus non probantur argumentis, sed In hoc ergo consistit tota formalis
ex authoritate revelantis et attestantis ratio credendi, et in hoc stat ultima
innotescunt — sola formalis ratio illis resolutio credendorum. Verbi gratia,
assentiendi, est lumen naturale intel- Credo Christum esse Deum et homi-
lectus agentis, quem propterea splen- nem, non simpliciter et absolute, quia
dori et luci comparat Aristoteles ; ta- Evangelistae sic scripserunt, vel Apo-
men multa praeambula, quasique in- stoli docuerunt, vel Ecclesia tradidit :
ducentia quaedam media praecedunt, Sed quia Deo ipsis Evangelistis et
ut ilia principia cognoscantur — qualia Apostolis et Ecclesia hoc revelante,
sunt institutio, disciplina, explicatio illud scripserunt, docuerunt, et tradi-
per exempla, per effecta, terminorum derunt. Aecedit tamen Evangelista-
quoque expositio et similia — sic in rum, Apostolorum et reliquae Ecclesiae
assensu fidei, formalis ratio assentiendi testimonium, tanquam conditio quae-
alicui articulo fidei, est lumen super- dam Dei sic revelantis ; per quam con-
naturale a Deo revelante infusum : ditionem partim adjuvatur intellectus,
quod quidem turn proponit intellectui, ut ad fidei assensum determinetur,
id quod credi debet, turn inclinat intel- propter innatam infirmitatem et rerum
lectum per voluntatem nova gratia divinarum ignorantiam : partim medio
motam et excitatam, ad credcndum quodam ordinario divinitus instituto

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 511
that for truth which cannot be reasonably deduced from the CI* A*"-
motives of our common faith ; only it shall be a reason obliging 
and warranting to keep the peace of the Church by not scan
dalizing such determinations thereof as are not destructive to
the common faith. Much more where the faith is not con
cerned — only the question is, of determining the circumstances
of those actions wherein the communion of the Church is
exercised, which neither our Lord nor His Apostles have
determined — shall the disobeying of such determinations be
the violating of that unity which all Christians profess that
God hath ordained in His Church.
§ 8. And now we have an easy accounty to give how the
prophets Haggai [ii. 11.] and Malachi [ii. 7.] send the
Israelites to the priest for resolution in those things which the
practice of that people determined to belong to their office to
resolve ; because it cannot be doubted that their resolutions
depended upon the acts of that authority which concluded
that people by the law aforesaid of Deut. xvii. 8 — 12. Which
if not infallible, and yet authorized by God to warrant the
proceedings of His people, it will be no marvel if those that
act in dependance on them, be authorized to warrant the
people, though further from being infallible.
§ 9. To come now to those things that are alleged to be A differ-
said of the Apostles and of the Church — having already limited tween the
the power of the Church not to extend to the faith of Chris- ™ *|}ority
tianity which it presupposeth — it will be easy to distinguish it Apostles
from the power of the Apostles. Which though it presuppose 0f the
the truth of Christianity preached by our Lord, as that which churc '
inducitur ad assentiendum, propter perpetua futura est: quia denique in
innatam mortalibus superbiam, et hujusmodi pastoribus, excellentiori
propter unitatem servandam: ordine quodam modo regnat Christus; eamque
pulcherrimo hac ratione instituto, ut potestatem usque ad finem mundi per
homines ab hominibus discamus. — illos exercet, quam a Patre accepit ;
Stapleton., Princip. Fidei, Controv. iv. pascendi, docendi, in veritatem indu-
lib. viii. cap. xxii. pp. 317, 318. Paris. cendi. Deum hominibus manifestandi,
1582. mundum reconciliandi, peccata sol-
r Ex quibus omnibus conficitur, Ec- vendi, caeteraque omnia ad salutem
clesiam Christi non aliam ob causam necessaria dispensandi. Hos enim pas-
proprie et proxime stabilem in fide, tores et doctores constituit. In his
perpetuam in duratione, regnum Christi verbum reconciliationis posuit. Hos
in potestate esse, quam quia de pasto- dispensatores mysteriorum Dei, qui
ribus et magistris, Ecclesiae prospec- vice et loco suo pro illo legatione fun-
tum est: a quorum ore Veritas non gerentur, fecit. — Stapleton., Princip.
recede!:, et ex quorum ore legem, et ex Fidei, Controv. ii. lib. iv. cap. vii. p.
labiis scientiam exquiras : quia etiam 169. Paris. 1582.
horum pastorum successio, certa atque

512 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK they are employed to introduce and establish, yet in order of
 nature and reason is before the very being of the Church, as
serving to evidence any truth of the Gospel to them that
believe, being convicted that they came from God to move
them to believe.
§ 10. For how can they stand obliged to believe the truth
of our common Christianity to be that which God sent our
Lord Christ to preach ; but by standing convict that the Apo
stles were sent by Him, to move them to accept of it, and
thereupon enabled with means to evidence this commission
and trust ; whereupon the world may safely repose themselves
upon the credit of them, whose act God owns, by the witness
He yields them for His own? The true reason and ground
upon which no act of theirs, whether by word or writing, is
refusable by the Church: upon which the truth of things
determined by their writings is no more determinable by the
Church, because the meaning of their words, which is the
truth sought for, is in the words from the time they are said.
§ 11. And is it then an unreasonable demand that their
charter*, [St. Luke x. 16,] " He that heareth you heareth Me,"
extending to all that falls under their office, should not be
thought to descend upon the Church indefinitely, but according
to such limitations as the constitution thereof determineth;
7 Quod quidem hactenus rationibus nitus accepimus, non ex mundo aut ab
Theologicis investigatum, vel explica- hominibus, ut pseudoprophetae. Qui
turn potius, nunc Scripturarum autho- novit Deum, audit nos. Qui non est
ritate breviter demonstrator. Nam ex Deo non audit nos. In hoc cog-
magna ex parte hoc jam antea factum noscimus Spiritum veritatis, et spiritum
est, quum de supposita necessitate erroris. Plane sua verba pro Dei ver-
vocis Ecclesiae ex Dei ordinatione, bis venditat, non secus quam supra
supra, cap. viii. et de obedientia fidei, Christus. Hoc autem ideo facit quia
cap. x. disputavimus. Christus cum Apostolus, quia pastor Ecclesiae Dei
Apostolis diceret, Qui vos audit me fuerat legitime missus, et testis veri-
audit, apertissime docuit vocem Ec- tatis constitutes : ut de illo verum sit,
clesiae magistrorum esse vocem Dei. quod Christus de se ipso dixit- Quem
Sed invertit haec Christi verba, nosque enim misit Deus, verba Dei loquitur.
propter sensum jam dictum asinos et Jam vero, ne haec illis tanquam Apo-
stolidos, vocat Melancthon in repetit. stolis tantummodo, non etiam tan-
Confessionis Augustanae. Ait enim, quam pastoribus Ecclesiae et veritatis
Qui vos audit, me audit, id est, verbum testibus constitutis dicta fuisse : pro-
meum non vestrum loquimini. Intel- indeque eorum in hac parte successo-
ligit autem verbum scriptum sed hoc ribus minime convenire, videantur ;
commentum verba ipsa evertunt. . . . Apostolus Paulus de universa fidei et
Agens enim [Johannes] de falsis doctrinae ratione disserens, idem quo-
spiritibus et pseudoprophetis cavendis ; que quibuscunque fidei magistris tri-
ipsi, inquit, de mundo sunt, ideo de buit. — Stapleton., Princip. Fidei, Con-
mundo loquuntur, et mundus eos au- trov. iv. lib. viii. cap. xviii. pp. 306,
dit. Nos ex Deo sumus, id est, do- 307. Paris. 1582.
cendi, qua fungimur potestatem divi-

Oli CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 513
that is to say, not to the effect of creating faith, but of pre- chap.
serving peace and unity in the communion of the Church?  -
Not prejudicing, nevertheless, that force of evidencing the
truth of Christianity, and the meaning of the Apostles'
writings, which I have shewed8 to be in the testimony of
the Church, not by any authority it hath from God, but from
that conviction which the testimony of such a body of men
inferreth. § 12. I shall not therefore deny that he who heareth or
refuseth their successors heareth and refuseth God; if that
which they would be heard in be within the bounds of that
power which God hath assigned them, but is not the same
that He assigned the Apostles. But I shall utterly deny that
it is by virtue of these words, which were spoken by our Lord
at such time as He had not declared whether they should
have successors or not. For there is very great appearance
that they themselves, after this, expected to see the world's
end, and the coming of Christ. When the Apostles, Matt.
xxiv. 3, enquire of our Lord, "When shall these things come
to pass ? And what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of
the world's end?" though our Lord by His answer distin
guished! the time of the destruction of Jerusalem from the
end of the world, yet by the question there is no appearance
that the Apostles did so distinguish before His answer. And
198 when His answer contains that this generation shall not be
over till all these things come to pass, and that not only
after He had declared the destruction of Jerusalem, but His
coming, and the end of the world, Matt. xxiv. 14 — 22,
29 — 34, it appeareth that those things which He declares
shall forerun the world's end, were to begin before that gene
ration were out, when to end being not thought fit then to
be said.
§ 13. If this interpretation of Grotius b, which makes good
* Chap. iii. seett. 19 — 25. existimarent, sed quod rerum immi-
b Occasione ejus quod Christus de nentium praecipuas una opera sibi
excidio templi dixerat, discipuli de ejus praedici cuperent ; ac praeterea existi-
excidii tempore Christum interrogan- marent inter haec omnia non multum
tes, duo praeterea quaerunt, quae ab aliis temporis intercessurum : Dogmata
non ibidem expressa Matthaeus dis- Christi jam satis imbibisse se puta-
tincte posuit ; nempe, quae futurae es- bant ; nunc vaticinia ab Ipso audire
sent iiroxal turn adventus Christi, turn desiderant, freti ea pollicitatione qua
finis saeculorum : non quod has tres Christus dixerat multa se arcana seor-
quaestiones in unum idemque recidere sim a plebe caetera revelaturum, jra-
THORNDIKE. L ]

514

OF THE PRINCIPLES

BOOK the letter best, suffer contradiction, yet is it evident by St.
 L_ Paul's Epistles0, 1 Cor. xv. 51, 52, 2 Cor. v. 1—3, 1 Thess.
iv. 15, 17, that he was not certified but that the coming of
Christ to judgment should be during his time. In which St.
John, by the Apocalypse, was more fully informed. If these
things be true, the obedience due to the Apostles' successors
cannot stand by virtue of this command, given when it was
not declared whether they were to have successors or not:
but by those Scriptures, whereby it may appear so far in due
place d, it shall appear, whether or no, and upon what terms
the Apostles left their authority with successors : which when
it appears, then by consequence of reason it will be inferred
from these words that who hears or refuses them hears or
refuses God, by whom the Apostles were enabled to leave
such part of their power with successors.
§ 14. Neither will it be strange that I allow not any coun
cil' in which never so much of the authority of the present

pova-tav Christi a consummatione saecu-
lorum multi non distinguunt, vocis, ni
fallor, ambiguo decepti, nam multi-
plici significatu usurpari trapovo-tav
certissimum est. At Matthaeus dis-
tinguit hanc quaestionem non minus a
tertia quam hanc et tertiam a prima ;
et Christus, si quid video, distinctis
quaestionibus distincte respondet, pri
ms ad comma usque 23, secundae inde
ad comma 30, postremae in sequentibus.
Quare irapovaiav hie interpretor, non
judicium sed regnum Messiae, quod
illustre fore splendore externo discipuli
putabant. Argumentum sententiae
meae est, quod verba ilia ' Si dixerint,
hie aut illic est ; ne exite,' quae hie
Christus usurpat ad solvendam quae
stionem trepl rrjs irapovo-tas, ut videre
est infra 23, 26, 27. Apud'Lucam
quoque inveniuntur xvii. 22, 23, ubi
itidem fulminis apparet comparatio.
Eodem autem loco clarissime ostendit
Christus agere Se de regno suo, quod
regnum Dei, loquendi more Judaeis
usitato, appellat ; id ipsum regnum
venturum significans ov peri, irapa-
rqpi]trea>s. Conferat diligens lector
loca ; videbit ita se rem habere ut dico.
Fateor quidem itapovalas voce saepe
ilium judicii adventum significari ; sed
ad perpetuum non est. Nam Petrus
irapovo-tas voce efficaciam Christi desig-
nans conjungit Stivaptiv Kal irapovo-lav
2 Ep. i. 16. Et alia quoque sunt in

Apostolicis scriptis loca quae earn reci-
piunt interpretationem. — Grotii, Com
ment, in S. Matth. xxiv. 3. torn. ii. p.
221. Londini, 1679.
c Incipiam ergo a praedictione Pauli
ad Thessalonicenses, Paulus idem duo-
bus in locis, 1 Thess. iv. 15, 17. 1
Corinth, xv. 6, 22, de resurrections
agens, resurrecturos in duo dividit ge
nera, in eos qui praemortui erunt, et in
eos qui vivent eo tempore ; his autem
se accenset, utens pronomine fi/ieTs, et
in ilia ad Thessalonicenses bis, ri/ieis ot
Zavres : nimirum quod existimaret ad
id usque temptis — est autem ilia ad
Corinthios haud dubie posterior ilia ad
Thessalonicenses, de qua nos agimus —
fieri posse ut resurrectio accideret intra
illud spatium quo ipse erat victurus, ¦
loquens hac in re non SoyfiariKus sed
aroxao-riKus  Cum igitur ita ex-
istimaverit Paulus, fieri posse, ut se
adhuc vivente mundi ruina contingeret,
inde collegi, quaecunque praedixit
Paulus ante scriptam priorem ad Co
rinthios, ea omnia talia esse ut intra
hominis unius vitam exitum suum ha
bere possent. — Grotii, Append, ad
Comm. de Antichristo, torn. iii. pp.
475, 476. Londini, 1679.
a Bk. iii. chapp. xvi. xvii.
c Tertius locus est Act. xv. ubi pri
mum concilium confidenter ait: 'Vi
sum est Spiritui Sancto, et nobis.' Si
autem illud concilium, ex quo formam

XXVII.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 515
Church is united, to say in the same sense, and to the same chap
effect as the synod ofthe Apostles at Jerusalem [Acts xv. 28],
" It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us :" though I
allow the overt act of their assembling to be a legal presump
tion, that their acts are the acts of the Holy Ghost, so far as
they appear not to transgress those bounds upon which the
assistance ofthe Holy Ghost is promised the Church. For as
for the Apostles, I have shewed before f that they had the
Holy Ghost given them, not only to preserve them in the
truth of the common profession of Christians, but to reveal
unto them the true sense of the old Scriptures, according
to the Gospel which they preached — though that grace was
common to many more besides the Apostles, not to all Chris
tians — upon which depended the resolution of the point then
in debate.
§ 15. Besides, I do not intend to depart from that observa
tion which I have made in another place s, that we find by the
Scriptures, and by the primitive records ofthe Church, many
revelations made to God's people at their public assemblies,
by the means of such as had the grace [of immediate revela
tions, which may be generally comprised under the name of
prophecy11.] And thereupon do infer that such a revelation
was made to that assembly upon the place, directing the decree
wdiich there follows, and is signified — according to that brevity
which the Scriptures use, in alleging that whereof no mention
is premised in the relation that went afore — by these words,
" it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us."
§ 16. Now the words of our Lord1, Matt, xxviii. 20, "Be-
acceperunt omnia alia concilia, asserit ' Caeterum istam potestatem Apo-
decreta sua, esse decreta Spiritus Sancti, stolis datam, perpetuo in futuris Eccle-
certe idem asserere possunt caetera le- siae pastoribus mansuram, et non nisi
gitima concilia, quae universae Eccle- certa successione ad pastores deven-
siae regulas credendi et operandi prae- turam, illae Scripturae luculenter de-
scribunt. Illi enim concilio adfuit monstrant, quae ipsius Ecclesiae stabi-
Spiritus Sanctus, quia id necesse erat litatem perpetuam in evangelio pro-
pro Ecclesiae conservatione : at non mittunt. Etenim — quod diligenter
minus aliis temporibus novis haeresibus animadverti debet — ubicunque Chris-
exorientibus, id necessarium fuit, atque tus Dominus Ecclesiae suae vel potes-
etiam erit  Bellarm. de Concil., lib. ii. tatem vel stabilitatem perpetuam in
cap. ii. col. 55. Colon. 1619. See Right Evangelio promittit, non nisi Apostolis
ofthe Church, chap. iv. sect. 13. note o. suis loquitur. Unde haec duo colligere
f Chap. xxvi. sect. 31. licet, et potestatem ipsam Apostolicam
s Right of the Church, chap. iv. sive Episcopalem perpetuam esse ac.
seett. 22, 23. stabilem, et hanc perpetuam stabili-
h The passage in brackets is from tatem, non toti corpori immediate, sed
MSS. proprie ipsis pastoribus Ecclesise, in
l1 2

516

OF THE PRINCIPLES

B 00 k hold I am with you to the world's end," are manifestly said
The being to ^e b°dy of the Church, and therefore do not promise it
of the any privilege of the Apostles. And truly seeing it is a pro-
the world's mise immediately ensuing upon a precept, "Go preach and
make disciples all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe
all things I have commanded you ;" I find it a matter of no
ill consequence, but very reasonable, to say, that the precept
is the condition of the promise, seeing no act so expressed can
reasonably be understood otherwise.
§ 17. But in regard it is otherwise manifest that the con-

Evangelio tributam esse. Ut prop-
terea etsi tota Ecclesia sit stabilis et
aeterna, et Spiritu veritatis donata, hoc
tamen ideo verum sit, quia pastores
stabiles sunt, et a veritate non exci-
dunt ; id est, Ecclesia non erratin fide,
Ecclesia recte judicat de fide, quia pas
tores Ecclesiae non errant, et recte
judicant; pastores autem, non hie aut
ille, seorsim singuli, sed simul omnes
unitatem retinentes, ut jam antea dix-
imus. Toti enim, non partibus, uni
Ecclesiae universali, sive Catholicae,
non certis paroeciis, locis aut gentibus
prospexit Deus ; cum Ecclesiam in san
guine filii sui consecraret, et Apostolis
ac eorum successoribus poscendam re-
linqueret. Sed nunc illas Scripturas,
quas dixi, videamus. Dicit Christus
in Evangelio, ' Qui Ecclesiam audierit'
&c. Sed de qua Ecclesia, aut de qui
bus haec dixit 1 Profecto de praepositis
Ecclesiae, ut Chrysostomus, Theophy-
lactus, et alii patres exponunt, et prae
terea loci circumstantia manifeste de-
monstrat. Sequitur enim immediate,
Amen dico vobis quaecunque alligave-
ritis super terram, &c. Hoc autem
quis negabit ad solos praepositos perti-
nere ? ' At non fit hie doctrinae mentio,'
inquit Calvinus, ' sed tantum censuris
asseritur sua authoritas, ut corrigantur
vitia.' Quasi vero qui corripientem
Ecclesiae praepositum non audit, habe-
bitur sicut ethnicus, et qui docentem
contemnit absque culpa erit, aut quasi
non eadem, imo major sanae doctrinae,
quam vitae ac morum habenda esset
ratio — ut in superiori controversia obi
ter ostendimus — quasi denique qui po
testatem habent ab Ecclesia per cen-
suras ejieiendi, potestate carerent in
Ecclesiam per doctrinam fidei colli-
gendi. Maxime cum potestas omnis

Ecclesiae data sit ad aedificationem, et
manifestatu Spiritus ad utilitatem.
Rursum asserit Christus, quod contra
Ecclesiam suam, portee inferi non prae-
valebunt, Sed quam Ecclesiam ibi dicit,
nisi Petri principis pastorum cujus per-
sonae ilia verba loquitur, ut in sequent-
ibus evidenter ostendemus ; tam Muni
ut supremum Ecclesiae caput et pas-
torem, quam etiam in ejus persona
omnia Ecclesiae capita et pastores,
stabilitate perpetua, etsi non pari gradu,
firmans ? Dicit iterum Christus ; Alium
paracletum dabit vobis Pater et sed
quibus hoc dixit? Certe nee turbis
credentium, nee omnibus discipulis,
sed solis Apostolis in horto post coenam ;
qui soli cum Eo ccenati sunt, et quibus
solis postea dixit, ' posui vos ut eatis
et fruetum afferatis,' &c, et rursum
' Sicut Me Tu misisti in mundum et
Ego eos misi in mundum. Addit
tamen ' in aeternum' ne illis solis per-.
sonaliter locutus videatur, et non etiam
aliis in eorum postea locum successuris.
Postremo dixerat ' Et Ego vobiscum.
sum omnibus diebus,' &c. Sed illis hoc
dixit, quibus panlo ante dixerat ' Eun-
tes docete omnes gentes' &c. Ut
praesentiam suam Christus et Spiritum
Sanctum toti quidem Ecclesiae suae
promiserit, sed immediate et proxime
Apostolis, futurisque eorum successo
ribus, mediate vero et per Apostolorum
atque successorum ministerium, toti
corpori Ecclesiae. Haec sunt loca, quae
maxime Ecclesiae stabilitatem probant:
et haec eadem sunt loca, quae maxime
potestatem pastorum confirmant: ut
intelligatur Ecclesia ideo esse stabilis,
ideo potestatem in causa fidei habere,
quia ejus pastores utroque donantur.—
Stapleton., Princip. Fidei, Controv. ii.
lib. v. cap. vii. p. 167. Paris, 1582.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 517
tinuance of the Church is absolutely promised and foretold chap. XXVII.
till the world's end, by name, in those other words of our  -
Lord, " The gates of hell shall not prevail against it," Matt.
xvi. 18 : I shall easily admit that God absolutely promises
to be with His [Church] to the world's end, so as to preserve
Himself a people in the manifold distractions and confusions
that fall out, by the fault of those that profess themselves Chris
tians, as well as by the malice of infidels : but I shall deny that
this infers the gift of infallibility in any person or quality, in
behalf of the body of Christians'1. For supposing the visible
profession of Christianity to continue till the world's end, so
that under this visible profession there is sufficient means to
conduct a true Christian in the way to salvation ; and that by
this means a number of men invisibly united to our Lord
199 Christ by His Spirit, do attain unto salvation indeed : these
promises of our Lord will be evidently true, though we neither
acknowledge on one side any gift of infallibility in the Church,
nor deny on the other side the visible unity of the Church
instituted by God's law.
§ 18. It will be evidently true that our Lord Christ "is with
His disciples," that is, Christians, " till the world's end," who
could not continue invisibly united to Him without the in
visible presence of His Spirit. It will be evidently true that
"the gates of hell prevail not against His Church," in the
visible society whereof a number of invisible Christians pre
vail over the powers of darkness. For though, granting the
Church to be subject to error, salvation is not to be attained
without much difficulty : and though division in the Church
may create more difficulty in attaining salvation than error
might have done, yet so long as salvation may be, and is, at
tained by visible communion with the Church, so long "is
^ Nam ex primo loco Matthaei xvi. Ecclesiam velut petra ac fundamentum
18. Tu es Petrus, &c. hoc argumentum perpetuo sustinere, et adversus infero-
dedueitur. Potestas ilia et auctoritas, rum portas ac quosvis adversariorum
quae per modum petrae et fundamenti, impetus immotam tueri debet: Ergo
juxta Christi promissionem, Ecclesiam potestas et auctoritas Petri, ac succes-
perpetuo sustinere, et adversus infero- sorum ipsius Romanorum Pontificum
rum portas, ac quosvis adversariorum necessario est, ac esse debet infallibilis,
impetus immotaton tueri debet, neces- saltern in dubiis fidei quaestionibus, a
sario est, et esse debet potestas seu quarum sincera definitione puritas et
auctoritas infallibilis : potestas et auc- integritas fidei totius Ecclesiae depen-
toritas Petri ac successorum ipsius det. — Tanner. Theol. Scholast., torn. iii.
Romanorum Pontificum juxta Christi de Fide, Disp. i. Quaest. iv. dub. vi. § 5.
promissionem,- universam Christianam col. 268.

518

OF THE PRINCIPLES

BOOK I.

withpower of
the keys,
makes it
infallible.

[ Clave non
errante.]

Christ with His," nor do " the gates of hell prevail against
His, Church," though error, which excludeth infallibility,
though division, which destroyeth unity, hinder many, and
many of attaining it.
§ 19. But if the consequence that is made from those words
of our Lord be lame, that which may be pretended from the
power of the keys, or of remitting and retaining sins— both
one by the premises— granted St. Peter, the Apostles, or the
Church, will easily appear to be none at all. For no man
can maintain the power of remitting and retaining sins to be
granted to the Church, but he must yield it to be communi
cated to more than those in whom the gift of infallibility can
be pretended to reside. Neither can the greatest of the Apo
stles remit or retain any man's sin without inducing him to
embrace the profession of Christianity, or — if, having em
braced it, he fall from it in deed and in effect — without re
ducing him to the course and study of performing the same,
and upon due profession thereof, re-admitting him into the
Church; on the other side, excluding those that cannot be
reduced to this estate. Nor can the least of all that are able
to bring any man into the Church, fail of doing the same upon
the same terms.
§ 20. And did ever any man1 ascribe the gift of infallibility

1 Hac sane de causa recte judicarunt
scholastici, ad clavium potestatem, Ec
clesiae in persona Petri datam,pertinere
etiam et istud, exponere scripturas, turn
his scripturis edocti, turn etiam ex sensu
probatissimorum patrum. Nam de vi
clavium Petro data, dixit Epiphanius,
'Juxta omnem modum, in Petro fir-
mata est fides, qui accepit clavem cce
lorum, In hoc enim omnes de fide sub-
tilitates inquisitae reperiuntur : sive
omnium difficultatum solutiones in-
veniuntur.' Haec ille in Anchoratu
juxta Graecam veritatem. De hoc of
ficio clavium dixit Hieronymus 'Apo-
stolos solvere homines sermone Dei et
testimoniis scripturarum, et exborta-
tione doctrinae.' In Comm. in Esai.
cap. xiv. Denique hanc potestatem
clavem scientiae vocat Ambrosius, et
earn accepisse Paulum scribit, sicuti
Petrus accepit clavem potentiae. Non
quod uterque utrarnque clavem non
habuerit; sed quod in hac Petrus, in
ilia Paulus excelluerint. Est ergo pars

potestatis clavium aperire scripturas:
ut sane cum privatus doctor id facit ex
privata scientia, authoritatem ilia in-
terpretatio infallibilem, irrefragabilem,
et authenticam non habeat, Quum au
tem Ecclesia id facit, vel per Episco-
pos suos seorsim ex cathedra loquentes :
vel per concilia Episcoporum ; virtute
clavium aperire censenda sit; ideoque
authoritatem habeat plane irrefraga
bilem. Et quamvis gratia Sacramenti Or-
dinis annexa characteri, videatur qui-
busdam scholasticis ad ea tantum of
ficia exercenda conferri, quae ad potes
tatem ordinis attinent, et non ad ea
quae ad jurisdictionem spectant, ex
ponere autem Scripturas ad potestatem
jurisdictionis, non solius ordinis refer-
tur, — tamen vel ilia sententia de juris-
dictione exteriori tantum intelligenda
est, vel certe vera non est. Nam ad
remissionem peccatorum in foro con-
scientiae, quae est pars jurisdictionis.
interioris, extra controversiam est, cou-

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 519
to all them that should have power and right from the Church, CHAP.
and in the Church, to do this ? What meaneth then the ex  -

ception of clave non errantem, which is every where, and by
every body cautioned for, that with any reason challenges
the power of the keys for the Church ? To me it seems rather
an argument to the contrary, that seeing this power is chal
lenged for the Church, under this general exception, without
limiting the exception to any sort of matters or subjects ; and
that the act of it is the effect of the decrees of the greatest
authority visible in the Church — as, whether Arius should
communicate with the Church or not, was the issue of as
great a debate as the authority of the Church can determine
— that therefore the sentence of his excommunication pro
ceeded not from the gift of infallibility, in any authority con
curring to the decree of Nicaea, whence it proceeded, grant
ing generally the power of excommunication to be liable to
the exception of clave non errante.
§ 21. Indeed it cannot be denied that something requisite
to the exercise of this power was in the Apostles infallible, or
unquestionable, as presupposed to the being of the Church.
For what satisfaction could men have of their Christianity, if
any doubt could remain whether the faith which they preached
were sent from God or not ? whether the laws of ecclesiastical
ferri gratiam sacramentalem dicente multiplicato charactere vel gratia Sa-
Christo, 'Accipite Spiritum Sanctum, cramentali ipsius ordinis, quae una est,
quorum remiseritis' &c. Rursus sicut sicut unum est Sacramentum. His
alia quaedam, ut Sacramentum ordinis ergo et argumentis et Scripturarum
et confirmationis administrare, non so- testimoniis evidentissimis, firmiter col-
lum sunt jurisdictionis sed etiam or- ligitur habere Ecclesiam in suis prae-
dinis — nemo enim nisi ordinatus ea positis, certam illam et irrefragabilem
exequi potest — sic et exponere Scrip- Scripturarum interpretationem, cui
turns, virtute clavium utriusque erit ; omnis fidelis acquiescere debet ; quic-
etpropterea sine gratia non erit. Deinde quid adversarii hodie contra hanc po
ut sacerdoti in Sacramenti suscep- testatem, quam praetoriam et tyranni-
tione confertur gratia remittendi pec- cam vocant, in vanum blaterant. —
eata, licet earn exercere sine jurisdic- Stapleton., Princip. Fidei, Controv. vi.
tione nequeat; sic et gratia exponendi lib. x. cap. xiii. p. 383. Paris. 1582.
Scripturas virtute clavium, in eodem ™ Dico ergo sine praejudicio, quod qui
Sacramento confertur, licet earn ut sic semel vere poenitet, et recipit satisfac-
exercere non valeat, nisi accepta juris- tionem, vel poenitentiam condignam sibi
dictione et cura animarum. Postremo, impositam ab Ecclesia, clave non er-
absurdum non est in Archiepiscopo rante, quantumcunque postea recidivet,
et metropolitano, quorum amplior est nunquam tenebitur, nisi ad illam uni-
jurisdictio, ampliorem conferri gratiam cam satisfactionem adimplendam : et
— ut absurdum esse adversae fautores si earn impleat in charitate melius est,
sententiae putant — quia quemadmodum quia non tantum solvit poenam, sed
in Episcopo est extensior et amplior meretur. — Duns Scoti, in 4. Sent. dist.
character Sacerdotalis, et per conse- xv. Qu. i. torn. ix. p. 134. Lugdun.
quens, gratia, sic et in istis ; non tamen 1639.

520

OF THE PRINCIPLES

book communion, which they advanced, were according to their
 :  commission or not? But the causes upon which the Church
is obliged to proceed to employ this power, being such as de
pend many times upon the rule of faith, and the laws given
the Church by the Apostles, by very many links between
both; the dependence whereof it is hard for all those that
are sometimes to concur to these sentences to discern; I
conceive it now madness to maintain the gift of infallibility
from the power of the keys, in the exercise whereof so many
occasions of failing may come to pass.
§ 22. As for the exhortations of the Apostles", whereby
they oblige the Churches of the Thessalonians and Hebrews
diligently to obey and follow their governors, 1 Thess. v. 12,
13, Heb. xiii. 7. 17, these I acknowledge to be pertinent to
the question in debate, as concerning such governors as had20''
in their hands the ordinary power of the Church ; saving that
when he saith, " Remember your rulers, which have spoken
to you the word of God ; and considering the issue of their
conversation, imitate their faith ;" it is possible he may speak
of those that first brought them the Gospel, and those were
the Apostles and disciples of Christ, either the first rank of
the twelve, or the second of the seventy, whose privileges

Obedience to
superiors,

¦ Episcopi atque presbyteri in Ec
clesia Catholica legitime ordinati, et
ejusdem unitatem retinentes, potesta
tem habent de rebus fidei judicandi,
verum que a falso discernendi. — Sta
pleton., Controv. ii. lib. v. cap. v. p.
164. Jam vero ne haec omnia solis Apo
stolis dicta esse videautur, aut haec
potestas in ipsis Apostolis interiisse,
nee ad ipsorum successores per-
venisse putetur ; diligenter expen-
dendum et memoria retinendum est,
quod Apostolus de perpetuo Eccle
siae regimine scribit, Ipse dedit quos-
dam quidem Apostolos, quosdam au
tem prophetas &c. Vel hie enim unus
locus evidentissime quod diximus de-
monstrat. Consummare enim seu con-
firmare Sanctos, id est, fideles ; ha
bere ministerium verbi atque doctrinae ;
aedificare, et propagare corpus Christi,
quod est populus fidelis, videre atque
prospicere, ut servetur unitas fidei, id
est Sana doctrina, ne tanquam parvuli
circumferamur omni vento doctrinae,
id est, ne cuilibet haeretico, et mendaci

magistro, quasi praedae simus ; hoc
sane totum est habere potestatem, au
thoritatem et judicium in rebus fidei
maxime controversis, verumque a falso
discernere posse. Rursum ne solis
Apostolis hoc judicium et potestatem
a Christo dari quisquam suspicetur, ip-
simet Apostoli suis successoribus tan-
tundem tribuunt. Paulus Epheso dis-
cessurus, ubi pastores constituerat, sic
eos alloquitur : 'Attendite vobis et
universo gregi, in quo posuit vos Spi
ritus Sanctus Episcopos, regere Eccle
siam Dei,' usus sane eodem verbo quo
Christus ad Apostolos, ' posui vos ut
eatis' &c. Sic etiam ad Hebraeos scri
bit ; a quibus Apostoli jam discesse-
rant, toto orbe Evangelium praedicaturi,
solusque Jacobus, si tamen ille, super-
fuerat, ' Obedite pTaepositis vestris, et
subjacete illis. Ipsi enim pervigilant,
quasi rationem pro animabus vestris
reddituri.' Non ergo soli Apostoli tales
vigiles aut speculators constituti sunt,
quibus obedire oves debent. — lb., cap.
vii. p. 166. Paris. 1582.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 521
are not to be communicated to any authority, to be preserved CHAP.
in the Church afterwards. xxvii.
§ 23. But the importance of these exhortations is not such
as can infer any imagination of infallibility in those whom
they are exhorted to follow. For they that know the bounds
of that power which the Apostles had trusted with the go
vernors of particular Churches, presupposing the Christianity
and laws of ecclesiastical communion which themselves had
delivered, may safely be exhorted " to acknowledge them, to
esteem them above measure in love, to obey them, and to
give way to them, remembering those from whom they had
first received Christianity" — from whom they had received
these instructions as well as their then rulers — because they
had long before received, and yielded obedience to those
things which we except from the obedience of present rulers,
as presupposed to any power they can challenge.
§ 24. As for the words of St. Paul0, 1 Tim. iii. 15, 1 confess and the
they contain a very just and full attribute ofthe Church, and fruth^fnfer
a title serving to justify all the right I challenge for it. For Lt not-
if the Church be " the house of the living God," then is it,
by God's founding and appointment, a body consisting of all
members of the true Church wherein God dwells, as of old
in the temple at Jerusalem ; as He dwells in every Christian,
° Nostra igitur sententia est, Eccle- At contra : Nam in primis hoc modo
siam absolute non posse errare, nee in oificinae librariorum essent columnae
rebus absolute necessariis, nee in aliis, veritatis, quae diligentissime custodiunt
quae credenda, vel facienda nobis pro- omnes Scripturas ; deinde Apostolus
ponit, sive habeantur expresse in Scrip- non meminit hie Scripturarum, sed
turis, sive non, et cum dicimus, Eccle- simpliciter dicit, Ecclesiam esse co-
siam non posse errare, id intelligimus, lumnam, et firmamentum veritatis.
tam de universitate fidelium, quam de Praeterea multo amplius est, esse co-
universitate Episcoporum, ita ut sensus lumnam quam simplicem custodem :
sit ejus propositionis, Ecclesia non po- nam columnae innititur domus, et ea
test errare, id est, id quod tenent omnes remota cadit. Sic igitur Apostolus vo-
fideles tanquam de fide, necessario est cans Ecclesiam columnam veritatis,
verum et de fide, et similiter id quod vult significare veritatem fidei, quoad
docent omnes Episcopi, tanquam ad nos, niti Ecclesiae auctoritate, et verum
fidem pertinens, necessario est verum esse quicquid Ecclesia probat, falsum
et de fide. quicquid ilia improbat. Adde quod
His explicatis probatur haec Veritas. etiam Ecclesia fuit columna quando
Primo de Ecclesia universa, ut continet non erant Scripturae, ex quo sequitur
omnes fideles, ac primum ex illo 1 Tim. non diei columnam propter custodiam
iii. Ecclesia Dei est columna et firma- Scripturarum. Denique si de cus-
mentum veritatis. Respondet Calvinus, todia ageretur, melius arcae quam co-
Ecclesiam diei columnam et firmamen- lumnae Paulus comparasset Ecclesiam :
turn veritatis, quia conservat, tanquam nee enim columnae sed arcae libros cus-
fidissima custos, praedicationem verbi todiunt.— Card. Bellarmin. de Eccles.
Deiscripti,non quod in nulla re errare Milit, cap. xiv. coll. 148, 149. Colon.
possit. 1619.

522 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK as He dwelt in the tabernacle and camp of the Israelites. And
—  if it be the pillar that sustains the truth, then must it have
wherewith to maintain it, beside the truth itself, which is the
Scriptures. And what can that be but the testimony of
itself, as a body and fellowship of men only, which, securing
itself, that is, succession, by the evidence made to the pre
decessors of the same body, maintains the truth once com
mitted to the trust of it, not only by writing, but also by
practice. § 25. But what is this to the gift of infallibility? for sup
pose the Church, by the foundation of it, enabled to maintain
both the truth and the sufficiency of the motives of faith
against infidels, and also the rule of faith against heretics, by
the evidence which it maketh that they are received ; what is
this to the creating of faith, by decreeing that, which, before
it was decreed, was not the object of faith ; but upon such
decree obligeth all the faithful to believe ? Surely the Church
cannot be the pillar that sustains any faith, but that which is
laid upon it, as received from the beginning, not that which
it layeth upon the foundation of faith.
§ 26. Here I will desire the reader to peruse these words of
St. Basil, Epist. lxii.P, speaking of the Bishop of Neocsesarea
deceased, OXyerai. dvrjp, Bia<paveaTaTa Bfj, t&v Ka0' eavrbv,
iraauv 6/jlov tois dvdpawlvot's virepeveyKwv dyaOois epei,o-/j,a ira-
T/at'Sos, 'JE/c/cX^crta? k6ct[io<;, cttvXo<; Kal eBpalwfia tj;? dX^delw;,
" There is a man gone, that of all men of his time most evi
dently excelled in all and every of those good things that
belong to men : the stay of his country, the ornament of the
Church, the pillar that sustaineth the truth." For if a par
ticular prelate may duly be qualified, as well " the pillar that
supporteth the truth," as "the prop of his country;" well may
the Church be thought capable of the same style, though it
create no matter of faith by decreeing, but only preserve that
which it hath received by defending and maintaining it.
p St. Basil, Opp. torn. iii. Ep. xxviii. col. 106. ed. Ben.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 523

CHAP.
XXVIII.
201 • CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE FATHERS ACKNOWLEDGE THE SUFFICIENCY AND CLEARNESS OF THE
SCRIPTURES, AS, THE TRADITIONS OF THE CHURCH. THEY ARE TO BE
RECONCILED, BY LIMITING THE TERMS WHICH THEY USE. THE LIMITA
TION OF THOSE SAYINGS WHICH MAKE ALL CHRISTIAN TRUTH TO BE
CONTAINED IN THE SCRIPTURES. OF THOSE WHICH MAKE THE AUTHO
RITY OF THE CHURCH THE GROUND OP FAITH.
It is now time, having shewed the meaning of those Scrip- The
tures which are alleged for both extremes which I avoid, to acknow-
do the like for some of those sayings of the fathers which are ^^J;
pleaded to the same purpose. This abridgment cannot con- a"d ciear-
sider all ; therefore I will not multiply those which speak to Scriptures.
one and the same purpose, nor marshal them according to
the matter which they speak to ; finding them speak to any
branch of those extremes which I decline, I will put them
down as they come.
§ 2. St Augustine again, De Doctrina Christiana, ii. 6q, for
one place you had afore r ; Magnifi.ee igitur et salubriter Spiritus
Sanctus ita Scripturas sanctas modificavit, ut locis apertioribus
fami occurreret, obscurioribus autem fastidia detergeret. Nihil
enim fere de illis obscuritatibus eruitur, quod non planissime
dictum alibi reperiatur. "Gallantly as well as wholesomely
hath the Holy Ghost so tempered the Scriptures, as to satisfy
hunger by those places that are plain, by those that are ob
scure to wipe off queasiness. For there is scarce any thing
digged out of those dark places, that is not found most mani
festly said elsewhere." Epist. iii- s Tanta est enim Chris-
tianarum profunditas literarum, ut in eis quotidie proficerem, si
eas solas, ab ineunte pueritid usque ad decrepitam senectutem,
maximo otio, summo studio, meliore ingenio conarer addiscere.
Non quod ad ea qua necessaria sunt saluti, tanta in eis per-
veniatur difficultate ; sed cum quisque ibi fidem tenuerit, sine
i Tom. iii. col. 22. ed. Ben. These Concilii Tridentini, Genev. 1634.
and the following passages are cited by r Chap. v. sect. 38.
Chamier throughout his work, Pan- a Tom. ii. Ep. ] 37. § 3. col. 402. ed.
stratiae Catholicae Corpus, torn. i. lib. Ben. — Chamier., Panstrat. Catholic,
xv. cap. ix. § 3. p. 555. Genevae, 1626 : lib. xv. cap. xviii. § 20. torn. i. p. 580 j
and by Chemnitius, in his Examen, and before in cap. ix. § 3.

524 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK qud pie recteque non vivitur, tam multa, tamque multiplicibus
 mysteriorum umbraculis opacata intelligenda proficientibus restant:
" So great is the depth of the writings of Christianity, that
I should profit in them continually if I should endeavour to
learn them only at very great leisure, with most earnest study,
having a better wit, from the beginning of my nonage till de
crepit old age. Not as if it were so hard to attain to that
which is necessary in them ; but when a man hath attained
the faith, without which there is no good and godly living,
there remain so many things to be understood, and so darkly
shadowed with manifold mysteries."
§ 3. Clemens in Protrepticot ; 'AKovaaTe ovv ol fiaxpav,
aKovaaTe ol iyyvs' ovk drtreKpv^r\ nvd<; 6 Aoyov 0w? eWt koc-
vbv eiriKdfi/irei trdmv dvOpwiroi? ovBeli Kifi/xepio? iv Aoytp.
" Hear ye then that are far off, hear ye that are near hand.
The Word is not hid from any. It is a common light, it
shineth upon all men. There are no Cimmerians in the
Word." As some saidu then, that there were in the world
that had no sun. Irenaeus, ii. 46 x. Universes Scriptura et
propheticce et Evangelia in aperto et sine ambiguitate, et similiter
ab omnibus audiri possint. "All the Scriptures both of the
prophets and Apostles are open, and without ambiguity, and
may be heard" or understood " alike of all." III. 15 y. Doctrina
Apostolorum manifesto, et firma, et nihil subtr aliens : neque alia
quidem in abscondito, alia vero in manifesto docentium. "The
doctrine of the Apostles is clear and firm, and conceals
nothing; as not teaching one thing in secret and another
openly." § 4. Origen, contra Celsum, vii.z Tb toiv ISuot&v TrXrj6os
Bvvdfievov il; etr^epov?, /xerd ttjv dira^ yevop,ivr]v elaaywyrjv,
4 Cohortat. ad Gentes, cap. ix. p. 72. pavbv aarep6evra,
Venet. 1757. cited by Whitaker, Con- OvB' Srav &vf/' iitl yaiav air' ob-
trov. i. Quaest iv. cap. iv. p. 344. pav6Bev irporpdirrirai-
Genev. 1610: and by Chamier, Pan- ' AXX' iirl vbl 0X0^ rerarai SeiXo'ai
strat. Catholic, lib. xv. cap. xii. § 1. fSpoTo7tri. —
tom.^i. p. 559. Genevae, 1626. Homer. Odyss. xi. 13 — 19.
u 'H 5' es TreipaB' 'Uave PaOvfyiov x Cap. xxvii. p. 155. ed. Ben. Cha-
'ClKeavolo- mier., Panstrat. Catholic, lib. xv. cap.
'EvBa Se Kifipeplav avSpav Srjp.6s xii. § 2. p. 559.
re, tt6Xis re, j Pag. 203. ed. Ben. Chamier., Pan-
'Hepi Kal veQeXn KeKaXv,ufjievoi- strat. Catholic, lib. xv. cap. xii. § 3.
oi/Se tvot avrovs p. 559.
'He'Aioj (paeBav imSepxerai aKrl- * Tom. i. lib. vii. § 60. p. 737. ed.
veffa-iv, Ben. Chamier., ut supr.
Ou5J dw6r' tiv trrel-)(rtv7t irpbs oir-

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 525
<$>CKoTip,ri<Ta(r6ai irpbs to Kal fiaOmepq, twv KeKpv/j,p.eva>v vot]- CHAP.
fidrmv iv Tai<; ypacpals KaTaXafieiv. Kal tw Tvypvn yap BrjXov 
Tavra? dvaytvdoaKOVTL, on iroXXd (SaOvTepov tov avToOev ip,-
<j)aivop,evov 'i^eiv BvvaTai vovv toi<; dvariQelaiv avrovs Ty e|e-
Taaei tov Xoyov, <f>avepovp,evov KaTa ttjv dvdXoyov tj}? et? tov
Xoyov a--)(pX7J<i, Kal e« t-tjv axrK'qtnv ainov Trpodvp,(a<{. " The
vulgar, after their entrance made, may easily study to appre
hend even the deeper notions that are hid in the Scriptures.
For it is manifest to any man that reads them, that they may
have much deeper sense than that which straight appears in
them ; which becomes manifest to those that dedicate them
selves to the examining of the word, according to the rate of
that leisure and forwardness which they bestow upon their
exercise in it."
§ 5. Athanasius, Disp. cum Ario in Cone. NicX, if it be his,
202 speaking ofthe Godhead ofthe Holy Ghost; Al dyiai ypa<f>al
irdvTa a-afyri BiaXeyovTai. " The Holy Scriptures clearly de
clare all things," and not only that which was in debate.
St. Chrysostom in Lazarum, Hom. iii.b, encourages to read
the Scripture, because it is not obscure; the Gentiles that
sought vain-glory by writing books, affecting obscurity as the
way to be admired, but the Holy Ghost, seeking the good of
all, contrariwise. In Joan., Hom. ii.c, he compares St. John's
¦ St. Athanas. Opp., torn. ii. p. 228. KareKpvvpav. ol Se 'AttSittoXoi Kal ol
§ 43. ed. Ben. The work is not that irpoipTirai rovvdvrtov aitav irtoi-qaav.
of St. Athanasius. The passage is cited <ra<J>ij yap Kal SyXa ri, trap' ehutSv
by Chamier, Panstrat. Catholic, lib. Karetrr-qirav dirairiv, are kolvoI rrjs ol-
xv. cap. xii. § 4. Kovpievqs 6vres SiSdffKaXot, Xva eKaaros
b Aia yap rovro tjtov Xlveviiaros cpKovd- Kal Si3 eavrov fiavBdveiv Siv-qrai 4k rrjs
fi-na-e x^-Pis reXuvas Kal aXieas, Kal <xkt]- avayvtvo-eios p.6v7js rh Xey6p,eva. — Tom.
vo-irolovs Kal -n-oifievas, Kal alit6xovs Kal v. p. 244. ed. Savil. See Chamier, lib.
ISiixrras Kal aypafifidro vs ravra trvvBelvai xv. cap. xii. § 12. p. 560. Whitaker,
ra. filfiXia, Xva p.rqSels ra>v ISiwrmv els Controv. i. Quaest. iv. cap. iv. pp. 343,
ravr-qv %XV Karatpevyeiv r^jv irp6tyojnv, 344.
Xva itatnv evs-dvo-nra p ra Xey6pieva' c Aia rovro oi/Se £6<pcp rivl Kal ck6-
Xva Kal 6 x*lP0T*Xvr\% Ka^ olKer-qs, Kal rep eKpvvpev eavrov r^v StdactKaXlav Kadd-
r\ Xfhpa yvv-i}, Kal 6 -iravroiv avBpca-iraiv rrep iirolovv iKeivoi rwv evSov ivaitoKel-
afiaBecraros icepSdvn re Kal uicpeX-qBrj, fievtav KaKWV r7]V iv rtp Xeyeiv affdipeiav,
Ttapa. rris aKpodaeats. ov yap itpbs Kevo- Kaddirep ri -tcapaireratT{J.a, Trpof2aXX6p.e-
So^iav, Kaddirep ol t-|a>0ec, aXXa irpbs voe aXXa ra rovrov S6yp.ara rmv r\Xia-
rty fTiar-iipiav rwv a.Kov6vrcav ravra kwv aKrlviav iarl tpavep&repa. Sib Kal
irdvra trvveB-qKav ol irapa r^v apxnv irao-i rots Kari. rrjv oiKovpievTjv avBpik-
Kara^itaBevres rris rov Tlveifiaros x^-P1' lrois av^irXwrai  roffairrqv ro?s
ros. ol ftev yap e\ioBev <pix6aoipoi, Kal ffip-atriv 4yKarep.i\ev eitKoXiav, ws /j.7]
frftropes, Kal ffvyypatpels ov rb Koivp p.6vov avSpaci Kal o-vverols, aXXa Kal
fftipupepov farovvres, aXX' b'was avrol ¦ yvvat^lv Kal veois, attavra elvai ra Xe-
BavpiairdeTev pidvov o-KOTrovvres, el ri Kal y6p.eva SrjXa. — Tom. ii. p. 561. ed. Savil.
ap-fio-ip.ov el-irov, Kal rovro KaBdirep iv See Chamier., Panstrat. Cath., Kb. xv.
^itpip rivl rfi tijj avv6i\Kris ao-a(peia, cap. xii. § 10. p. 560,

526 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK doctrine to the sun, as shining to all, not only men of under*
 :  standing, but women and youths. In Matth., Hom. i.d, to the
same purpose.
§ 6. Epiphanius, Hser. lxxvi.e IldvTa yap o-aftrj ev t$
6eiq ypacjxrj, rot? j3ovXop,evoi<; evaefiel Xoyia-fim irpoa-ep^eaOai
tq) 0ela> Xoym, Kal pJq BiafloXiKfjv ivepyetav iyKuacrrja-avTa^,
eavTov<; KaTao-Tpe<f>eiv et? [idpaOpa tov Qovotov. " For all is
clear in God's Scriptures to those that will come to the Word
of God with godly reason, and turn not themselves down the
precipices of death, through lust wrought in them by the
devil." To the same purpose, Hser. Ixix/ Gregory Nyssene
in Psalm.B, commendeth the Psalms for rendering deep mys
teries easy and pleasant to men and women, young and old.
§ 7. Cyril in Julianum, vii.h answering his scorn of the
Scriptures for their vulgar language, saith it was so provided,
that they might not exceed any man's capacity. Fulgentius,
according to St. Augustine, Serm. de Dispensatoribus1 : Modera-
tionis sua tenens ubique temperiem, ut nee ovibus desint pabula,
nee pastoribus alimenta. The Scripture "holds this modera
tion in the temper of it everywhere, that neither the sheep
want^ood nor the shepherd nourishment" in it. St. Chry-

d 'AXXi, rb SiKaiov Kal rb irpeirov Kal Keiav itrol-nffev, &>s p.)} p.6vov reXeiots
rb tripapepov Kal itatrav r-hv &XX-qv ape- &vSpatri rois ¥iS-q KeKadapp.evois Td rys
rfyv iv fipdxeos Kal o~a<peos o-vXXafi&v tyvxfqs alffB-qriipia r))v SiSaaKaXlav rah-
fri)p.a<riv 48'iSa^ev 7jp.as <5 Xpitrrbs  r-qv aitovSd^efrdai, aXXd Kal rrjs yvvai-
a-jrep Kal yr}it6vtp Kal otKery Kal yvvaiKl KtavinSos XStov yevedBai Krrjp.a, kal v-q-
X"hpa, Kal itaiSl avrip, Kal rip (rq>6Spa itlois &s n roiv aBvppidrwv TjSovriv <pe-
avo-fjrep SoKovvrt eXvai wdvra evo-vvoirra peiv. — Cap. iii. torn. i. p. 261. Paris.
Kal fidSia Kara/j.a8e?v, — Tom. ii. p. 5. 1631. Cited by Chamier, Panstrat,
ed. Savil. See Chamier., Panstrat. Catholic, lib. xv. cap. xii. § 13.
Cath., lib. xv. cap. xii. § 19. p. 560. h 'AAA' Xaa> s 4pe7rls, ti p,ev ©em ypa$),
* Num. vii. p. 920. Colon. 1682. Koivi\v re Kal ayeXatav, Kal U-iratri Kar-q-
Chamier, Panstrat. Catholic, lib. xv. pia^evp.ev7]v %x€t T71V Xe£iv. evtrrofieX Se
cap. xii. § 11. p. 560. ri 'EXX-fjvatv Kal Kara-itXovrei rb iir'i-
f Kal oiirio -trdvra icrrl (ra<fyq Kal Si- XaPl> Kct^ vp6s 7^ ro-vrtp rb eienes' <pa-
avyri, Kal ovSev ivdvriov, ovSe Qavdrov p.ev o^iv, l6n yXtirr-n p.ev 'E&patwv eXa-
-napa-JtXoKTJs exov, iv rfj ®ela ypaqrf, &s X-fjB-n ra Upocp-qruv, Kal avrcl Be rel Mw-
ovroL Ttpoipaa-l^ovrai, itovqpa eavrois iirl- (Teas, Xva Kal vjtdpxv yvdpifia p.iKpois
voovvres. — Num. lv. p. 778. Colon. Kal fxeydXois, p.ereTtoii)B-q xf-qvipas, els
1682. Chamier, ut supr. rb rtjs yXdirr-qs evrpifies Kal SvffeipiKTov
E Upwrov rolvvv — iK yap rojv reXev- ixo^o-qs iravreXws ovSev. — Tom. vi. p.
raiav apx&P-eBa — rijs i^erdaecos a-Koiti]- 232. Paris, 1638. This passage is cited
aapev ri}v iitlvoiav, Si' r)s olirtas OKX-qpdv by Whitaker, Controv. i. Quaest. iv.
re Kal aivrovov oiffav r'qv Kar' iperty cap. iv. p. 344. Genev. 1610: and by
TtoXtrelav, rijv re tot p.vtrr-qplmv aiviy- Chamier, ut supra, § 1 5.
p.ari&S-q SiSao-Kaxlav, Kal r'hv art/i^-qriv ' Serm. i. p. 248. Venet 1742. See
re Kal KeKpip.ev-qv SvaeiplKrois Betop-qp.aa-1 Chamier, Panstrat. Catholic, lib. XV.
BeoXoylav, oSras eBx-nrr6v re Kal yXv- cap. xii. § 16. p. 561.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

527

sostomk observes, that when St. Paul says, 2 Cor. iii. 14, chap.
" their senses are blinded in reading the Scriptures ;" he xxvm-
makes the cause to be in the Jews' blindness when they
understand not in the Scriptures.
§ 8. Again, Origen in Matth. Tract, xxv.1, in Rom. iii.m,
St. Basil, Moral. xxvi.n, St. Chrysostom in Psal. xcv.0,
St. Cyril, Catech. iv.p, Rufinus in Symb.% agree in affirming
that whatsoever is taught in Christianity is to be proved by
the Scriptures. St. Hierome, in Mich. i.r Ecclesia autem Christi
qua habitat bene, et in toto orbe Ecclesias possidet, Spiritus
unitate conjuncta est, et habet urbes legis, prophetarum, Evan
gelii, et Apostolorum ,- non est egressa de finibus suis, id est, de
Scripturis Sanctis. " The Church of Christ being well seated,
and having Churches all over the world, is joined in the unity
of the Spirit; and having the cities of the Law, the Prophets,
the Gospel, and the Apostles, goes not out of her bounds,
which are the Holy Scriptures." Optatus, v.s, putting the

k Ovk &pa rov v6fiov Sia&oXr], rb el-
p-qpievov Siffitep ovSe Mtavtreois r6re Ka-
X\nrrop.evov, aAAa rwv ayvoipiivwv 'Iov-
Salwv. iKelvos p.ev yelp exei rk\v oWe'iav
S6£av, oZroi Se aiirfyv ISeTv ovk TjSvvfi-
8-qcrav. — Hom. vii. in 2 Corinth., torn.
iii. p. 586. ed. Savil.
1 Debuemus ergo ad testimonium
omnium verhorum quae proferimus in
doctrina, proferre sensum Scripturae,
quasi connrmantem quem exponimus
sensum. — Tom. iii. p. 842. § 18. ed.
Ben. Chamier., torn. i. lib. viii. cap.
viii. § i. p. 232.
m Post haec vero, ut ei moris est, de
Scripturis Sanctis vult affirmare quod
dixerat : simul et doctoribus Ecclesiae
praebet exemplum, ut ea quae loquun-
tur ad populum, non propriis prae-
sumpta sententiis sed divinis munita
sententiis proferant. Si enim ipse tan-
tus ac talis Apostolus autoritatem dic-
torum suorum sufficere posse non cre
dit, nisi doceat in lege et prophetis
scripta esse quae dicit : quanto magis
nos minimi hoc observare debemus, ut
non nostras cum docemus, sed Sancti
Spiritus sententias proferamus. — Tom.
iv. p. 504. ed. Ben. Chamier., ut supr.
n aOrt Set -wav brip.a, fy itpaypa iriffrov-
aBal -rq piaprvpla rrjs Beoirvevarov ypa-
(pijs els -rX-qpotpoptav prev rajv ayaBuv,
evrpo-Trijv Se rajv ttov-qpiav. — Tom. ii. p.
256. ed. Ben. Chamier., torn. i. lib. viii.
cap. viii. § 8. p. 234.
° OuBev ydp Set Xeyetv ap.dprvpov,

ovSe airb Xoyia-piSiv p.6vov' idv ti yap
&ypatpov Xey-qrai, rj Sidvoia rSiv iKpoa-
rSiv (TKa^el  '6rav Se %yypacpov 7]
praprvp'ia rrj Betas (paivrjs irpoeXBri, Kal
rov Xeyovros rbv xSyov, Kal rov aKov-
ovros r\v Sidvoiav 4/3e/3ttiwire. — Tom.
i. p. 924. ed. Savil. Chamier., torn. i.
§ 11. ut supr. The Homily is spurious.
p Mj]Se 4piol rip ravrd <roi Xeyovri
airXws itiirreiffris, 4iv r^v iir6Sei^tv ratv
KarayyeXXo/xevaiv a-irb ruv Betwv pirj Xa-
fi-ns ypacpajv. % trtar-qpia ydp atir-q rris
iria-reas fipiwv, ovk i£ evpecriXoylas iXX'
e| a-jroSei^ews ruv Be'itav iarl ypatpwv. — ¦
P. 30. Paris. 1640. Chamier., torn. i.
lib. viii. cap. viii. § 25.
i Sed quoniam erga Scripturas tibi
divinas amor et studium subjacet sine
dubio dicis mihi oportere haec magis
evidentibus Scripturae divinae testimo-
niis approbari. Quanto enim magna
sint, quae credenda sunt, tanto idoneis
et indubitatis testibus indigent — In
Sepultus est. Oxoniae, 1468.
' Tom. iii. col. 1503. ed. Ben. Cha
mier, torn. i. lib. viii. cap. vii. § 33.
s Si fuerit inter fratres nota conten-
tio, non itur ad tumulum, sed quaeritur
Testamentum: et qui in tumulo qui-
escit, tacitus de tabulis loquitur. Vi-
vus, cujus est testamentum, in coelo
est : ergo voluntas ejus, velut in testa-
mento, sic in Evangelio requiratur. —
Cap. iii. p. 82. Antwerp. 1702. Cha
mier., torn. i. lib. viii. cap. x. § 65. p.
251.

I.

528 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK case of the Church with the Donatists to be the case of
- children about their father's inheritance, sends them to his
will as the judge of their pretences. And so St. Augustine
also, in Psalmum xxi.'
§ 9. The Constitutions of the Apostles, ii. 19u, Leo, Epist.
xxiii.x, St. Cypr. Epist. lxviii.y, and many more, agree that
the people are to answer for themselves if they follow bad pas
tors. St. Augustine, adversus Maxim., iii. 14.z Nee ego Nice-
num, nee tu debes Ariminense, tanquam prajudicaturus, proferre
concilium  Scripturarum authoritatibus, non quorumque
propriis, sed utrisque communibus testibus, res cum re, causa cum
causa, ratio cum ratione concertet. " Neither am I to produce
the council of Nicaea, nor you that of Ariminum, for a pre
judice  With authorities of the Scriptures, as witnesses
common to both, not proper to either, let matter contend with
matter, reason with reason, cause with cause." De Utilitate
Credendi, vi.a, he saith, the Scripture of the Old Testament,
ita modificata, ut nemo inde haurire non possit quod sibi satis est,
si modo ad hauriendum devote ac pie, ut vera religio poscit, ac-
cedat — "is so tempered, that any man may draw out of it
that which is enough for him, if he come devoutly and piously,
as true religion requires, to draw."
§ 10. Vincentius, Commonit. i.b, confesseth that inveterate
fc Si est adhuc quod dicant nescio ; dotali honore blandiri, qui potuerit in
litigent cum Scripturis, non nobiscum. execrandi sensus impietate convinci. —
Ecce codex ipse, contra ilium certent. Ep. lix. torn. i. col. 976. Venet 1753.
 Qui fecit Testamentum vivit Chamier., ut supr.
in seternum : audit voces nostras, ag- v Nee sibi plebs blandiatur quasi im-
noscit suam. Legamus quid litigamus? munis esse a contagio delicti esse possit,
Ubi inventa fuerit ipsa haereditas, ip- cum sacerdote peccatore communicans,
sam teneamus. Aperi Testamentum. et ad injustum atque illicitum pras-
Lege in primo capite ipsius Psalterii ; positi sui episcopatum consensum suum
Postula a me. — Tom. iv. coll. 101, 102. commodans, quando per Osee prophe-
ed. Ben. Chamier., ut supra. tam comminetur et dicat censura di-
u Xva p.i)Ttore eXirv 6 Xa'lKbs, Sri iy&i vina, ' Sacrificia eorum tanquam panis
irp6fiarov elp.1 Kal oil itoip.-i\v' Kal ovaeva lnctus omnes qui manducant ea con-
x6yov ipiavrov -rte-jtol-qpiai- aAA' 6 Ttoip.-r\v taminabuntur,' docens scilicet et osten-
ovf/erai, Kal avrbs pi6vos elmtpaxB-iSrerai dens omnes omnino ad peccatum con-
TV inrep ipiov SU-qv mtririp yelp ra stringi qui fuerint prophani et injusti
KaAij) -n-oipievi rb pirj aKoXovBovv itp6$a- Sacerdotis sacriflcio contaminati. — P.
rov Xiikois eyKeirai els SiatpBopdv oStw 118. ed. Ben. — Chamier cites a part
rip ttov-qplp -roip.evi rb aKoXovBovv irp6- of this Epistle, but not that cited here.
S-qXov exei rbv Bdvarov, 'An Kararpti^e- * Lib. ii. cap. xiv. § 3. torn. viii. 703.
Tai avr6- Sib ipevKreov anb rav <p6opeav ed. Ben. Chamier., torn. i. lib. viii.
Troip.evav. — Labbei, torn. i. coll. 246, cap. viii. § 21.
247. ed. Venet. Chamier., torn. i. lib. i. a Tom. viii. col. 54. ed. Ben. Cha-
cap. xiii. § 11. pp. 13, 14. mier, torn. i. lib. xv. cap. xii. §. 12.
* Nee quisquam sibi audeat de sacer- » Caeterum dilatatae et inveteratae

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

529

heresies, and Opus imperfectum in Matth., Hom. xlix.c, that chap.
the corruptions of Antichrist, are not to be convinced but by  :
Scripture. The same Vincentius, Commonit. i.d, and Sulpitius
Severus, Hist. ii.e, acknowledge the Arians to have overspread
the greatest part of the Church; therefore Nazianzen, Orat.
advei'sus Arianos1, scorns them that measure the Church by
number. And Liberius in Theodoret, Eccles. Hist. ii. 16 s,
answers Constantius, Ov, Bid to elvai p,e fiovov, 6 ttJ? TrlaTeca
eXaTTOvrac Xoyos. " The cause of the faith hath never a whit
the worse, because I am alone."
§ 11. But truly I know nothing in all antiquity more
peremptory against the infallibility of the Church than that
of Vincentius, Commonit. i.h, denying that the rule of faith
203 can ever increase, or councils do any more in it than deter
mine that expressly and distinctly which was simply held
from the beginning. And St. Augustine, De Unitate Ecclesia,

haereses nequaquam hac via adgredi-
endse sunt, eo quod prolixo temporum
tractu longa iis fruendae veritatis pa-
tuerit occasio. Atque ideo quascunque
illas antiquiores vel schismatum vel
haereseon prophanitates nullo modo nos
oportet nisi aut sola, si opus est, Scrip
turarum auctoritate convincere, aut
certe, jam antiquitus universalibus Sa-
cerdotum Catholicorum conciliis con-
victas damnatasque vitare. — Cap.
xxviii. p. 344. Pedeponti, 1742.
c Et quare jubet in hoc tempore
Christianos omnes conferre se ad Scrip
turas ? Quia in tempore hoc ex quo
obtinuit haeresis illas Ecclesias nulla
probatio potest esse verae Christiani-
tatis neque refugium potest Christiano
rum aliud, volentium cognoscere fidei
veritatem, nisi Scripturae divinae. St.
Chrysostom. Opp. Om., torn. vi. p. cciv.
ed. Ben. Chamier., torn. i. lib. viii.
•cap. ix. § 11. The work has been as
cribed to St Chrysostom, but is not
his. A Namque cum prophana ipsa Ar-
rianorum novitas, velut quaedam Bel-
lona aut furia, capto primo omnium
Imperatore, cuncta deinde palatii cul-
mina legibus novis subjugasset, nequa
quam deinceps destitit universa mis-
cere, atque vexare, privata ac publica,
sacra prophanaque omnia, nullum boni
gerere discrimen, sed quoscunque con-
libuisset, tanquam de loco superiore
percutere. — Cap. v. pp. 303, 304. Pe-
THORNDIKE. M

deponti, 1742.
' Verum ubi permensus est orbem
pene terrarum, maio perfidiae infectum.
— Cap. lx. p. 413. Amstelodami, 1665.
f Tlov -nore eltrlv, ol rrjv irevlav -qpiv
ovelSl^ovres, Kal rbv itXovrov Kop-itd^ov-
res ; ol -irX-f]6ei r*qv 'EKKX-qtriav dpl^ovres,
Kal rb fipdxv Siaitr-vovres -noipviov \ ol
Kal Be6rrjra perpovvres, Kal Xabv o-raB-
p-l^ovres.- — Orat. xxxiii. torn. i. p. 603.
ed. Ben.
8 P. 94. Moguntiae, 1679.
h Christi vero Ecclesia, sedula et
cauta depositorum apud se dogmatum
custos, nihil in his unquam permutat,
nihil minuit, nihil addit, non amputat
necessaria, non apponit superflua, non
amittit sua, non usurpat aliena 
Denique quid unquam aliud conciliorum
decretis enisa est nisi ut quod antea
simpliciter credebatur, hoc idem postea
diligentius crederetur, quod antea len-
tius praedicabatur,  Hoc inquam
semper, neque quicquam praeterea, hae-
reticorum novitatibus excitata, concili
orum suorum decretis Catholica per-
fecit ecclesia, nisi ut quod prius a ma-
joribus sola traditione susceperat, hoc
deinde posteris etiam per scripturae
chirographum consignaret, magnam
rerum summam paucis litteris com-
prehendendo, et plerumque propter in-
telligentiae lucem, non novum fidei sen-
sum novae appellationis proprietate sig-
nando. — Cap. xxiii. p. 336. Pedeponti,
1742.

530

OF THE PRINCIPLES

BOOK I.

cap. xviii.1, challenges the Donatists to demonstrate their
Church out of the Scriptures. St. Ambrose, De Incarnatione,
cap. v.k, St. Hilary, De Trinitate, vi.1, Victor, in Marcum,
cap. iii.m, agree that the faith is the foundation of the
Church, by virtue whereof the gates of hell prevail not
against it. Therefore St. Augustine, De Baptismo contra
Donatistas, ii. 3n, acknowledges that not only particular
councils are corrected by general, but that of general
councils, the latter may and do correct them that went
afore. § 1 2. Again, Irenaeus, iii. 1 °, affirms that the Apostles wrote
what they preached, by the will of God, for the foundation
and pillar of our faith. Tertullian, de Prascript., cap. viii.p
Cum credimus, nihil desideramus ultra credere. Hoc enim prius
credimus, non esse quod ultra credere debeamus. "When we
believe, we desire to believe nothing else. For first we believe

' Remotis ergo omnibus talibus Ec
clesiam suam demonstrent, si possunt,
non in sermonibus et rumoribus Afro-
rum, non in conciliis Episcoporum suo-
rum  sed in praescripto legis, in
prophetarum praedictis, in Psalmorum
cantibus, in ipsius unius pastoris vo
cibus, in Evangelistarum praedicationi-
bus et laboribus, hoc est, in omnibus
canonicis sanctorum librorum auctori-
tatibus. — Tom. ix. col. 371. ed. Ben.
k Fides ergo est Ecclesiae funda-
mentum : non enim de carne Petri,
sed de fide dictum est, quia portae mor
tis ei non praevalebunt : sed confessio
vicit infernum. — Tom. ii. col. 711. ed.
Ben. 1 Haec fides Ecclesiae fundamentum
est ; per hanc 'fidem infirmae adversus
earn sunt portae inferorum. Haec fides
regni coelestis habet claves. Haec fides
quae in terris solverit aut ligaverit, et
ligata in coelis sunt, et soluta. Haec
fides paternae revelationis est munus,
Christum non creaturam ex nihilo
mentiri, sed secundum proprietatis na
turam Dei filium confiteri. — § 37. col.
904. ed. Ben.
"' Quia enim Christus Dominus su
pra Petram, hoc est, supra infractam,
sanamque Petri doctrinam inconcus-
samque ejusdem fidem, Ecclesiam
suam aedificaturus erat, ob id, pro-
phetico spiritu Petrum ilium appellat
— Biblioth. Maxim. Petrum, torn. iv.
p. 377. Lugdun. 1677.

¦ Quis autem nesciat sanctam Scrip-
turam canonicam, tam Veteris quam
Novi Testamenti, certis suis terminis
contineri, eamque omnibus posteriori-
bus Episcoporum litteris ita praeponi, ut
de ilia omnino dubitari et disceptari
non possit, utrum verum vel utrum
rectum sit, quidquid in ea scriptum
esse constiterit : Episcoporum autem
litteras quae post confirmatum cano-
nem vel scriptae sunt vel scribuntur,
et per sermonem forte sapientiorem,
 et per concilia licere repre-
hendi, si quid in eis forte a veritate
deviatum est: et ipsa concilia quae per
singulas regiones vel provincias fiunt,
plenariorum conciliorum auctoritati
quae fiunt ex universo orbe Christi-
ano, sine ullis ambagibus cedere : ip-
saque plenaria saepe priora posteriori-
bus emendari : eum aliquo experi-
mento rerum aperitur quod clausum
erat, et cognoscitur quod latebat —
Tom. ix. col. 98. ed. Ben.
0 Non enim per alios dispositionem
salutis nostrae cognovimus, quam per
eos, per quos Evangelium pervenit ad
nos : quod quidem tunc praeconaverunt,
postea vero per Dei voluntatem in
Scripturis nobis tradiderunt, funda
mentum et columnam fidei nostrae fu-
turum.— P. 173. ed. Ben. Chamier.,
torn. i. lib. ix. cap. vii. § 19. p. 298.
" Pp. 331, 332. ed. Pam. Rothomag.
1662.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 531
that there is nothing further which we ought to believe." So CHAP.
cap. xiv.q xxix.r, contra Hermog. cap. xxii.s An autem de xxvin-
aliqua subjacenti materia facta sint omnia nusquam adhuc legi,
scriptum esse doceat Hermogenis officina. Si non est scriptum,
timeat va illud adjicientibus aut detrahentibus destinatum.
"That the world was made of matter pre-existent, let the
shop of Hermogenes shew it written. If it be not written,
let it fear the woe decreed for them that add or take
away." § 13. Apollinaris, in Eusebius, Eccl. Hist., v. 16*, is afraid
to write lest he should seem to write or enjoin more than the
Gospel, to which nothing is to be added, or taken from it.
St. Basil, de Fidea, says it is plain apostasy to bring in any
thing that is not written. And in Asceticis, Meg. Ixxx. *, proves
i it, because faith is by God's word, and that which is not of
faith is sin. So likewise St. Ambrose, de Paradiso, cap. xii. ?,
alleging Apoc. xxii. 19. St. Augustine, de Bono Viduitatis, i.z
Sancta enim Scriptura doctrines nostra regulam figit. " The
Holy Scripture prescribes a rule to our doctrine." To the
same purpose de Peccatorum Meritis et Remiss, ii. 36 a. St.
Cyril, de Trinitate et Persona ChristP, whose words Damascene
' Fides in regula posita est; habes io-rlv. — Moral. Reg. Ixxx. cap. xxii.
legem, et salutem ex observatione legis; torn. ii. p. 317. ed. Ben. Cha-
 Nihil ultra scire, omnia est. — • mier., torn. i. lib. viii. cap. vii. § 26.
P. 333. ed. Pam. p. 229.
' Ad ejus doctrinae Ecclesiam scrip- y Cited before in chap. xxvi. sect
turn est, immo ipsa doctrina ad Eccle- 1 4. note x.
siam suam scribit — P. 336. ed. Pam. z Tom. vi. col. 369. ed. Ben.
Rothomag. 1662. * Ubi enim de re obscurissima dis-
¦ P. 417. ed. Pam. Rothomag. 1662. putatur, non adjuvantibus divinarum
' Ouk airopia tou SivatrBai iXeyxeiv Scripturarum certis clarisque docu-
pfev rb tyevSos, piaprvpeXv Se rf aXjjBela' mentis, eohibere se debet humana prae-
SeSiiis SI Kal i£evXafSoip.evos, pi-i\ irq sumptio nihil faciens in partem alteram
S6^a rurlv i-n-ia-vyypdrpeiv fi 4iri5iard<r- deelinando. — Tom. x. col. 70. ed. Ben.
trea-Bai rip rijs rov evayyeXlov Kaivrjs Chamier., torn. i. lib. viii. cap. vii. § 41.
SiaBJjK-qs X6yty, $ p.-iyre -itpoaBeivai pi-frr p. 231.
cupeXetv Svvarbv, rip Kari rb evayyeXiov " Tidvra rolvvv ri irapaSeSopieva -q/MV
avrb TToXirevetrffai irpo-np-q/ievip  P. Sid re v6p,ov Kal itpotp-nrav Kal 'Aitoar6-
179. ed. Vales. Chamier., torn. i. lib. Xoiv SexopieBa, Kal yiviliffKopiev, Kal d/io--
viii. cap. vii. § 8. Xoyovuev, oi/Sev itepairepeo roirrtov 4-rri-
° Qavepi eK-ttratris -itlffreas Kal vire- ^-qrovvres. 'ASvvarov yap irapa BeiwSSis
p-qipavlas Kar-qyopia, r) aBereiv ti rav xrttb ra>v Belav Xoylwv ttjj re -iraXaias
yeypapipLevuv, if) 4iteia-dyeiv rmv pt-b ye- Kal Kaivrjs SiafrfiK-qs r\ifiv elp-qp.eva elirelv
ypaftfievav. — Tom. ii. p. 224. ed. Ben. ri irepl ®eov, r) &Xa>s 4vvofiaai. "On p.ev
Chamier., torn. i. lib. viii. cap. vii. § 13. oZv eari @ebs, roXs piev ris ayias Sexo-
x Ei yap irav f> ovk 4k Ttltrreas, apiap- p,evois ypaipis ri]vre iraXaiav Kal Kaiv^v
rla 4arlv, &s qrqtriv 6 'Ait6o-roXos, V Se SiaB-liK-qv tp-qp.1, ovk apupi/SaXXerai, qu5e
itltrns 4% aKorjs, -q Se oiko-)) Sii jiiipiaros roXs rmv 'EXX-lqvav -n-Xeio-rois. — Cap. i.
@eov, Ttav rb ektIs ttjj Beoirveiarov p. 3. Augustae Vindelicorum, 1604.
ypaqrqs ovk 4k Xiffreas %v, apaprla Chamier., ut supra, § 42.
m m 2

532 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK uses de Orthodoxa Fide, i. l.c Theodoret in Leviticum, Quast.
 '-  ix.d, Theophilus, II. Paschalie.
§ 14. St. Hierome in Psal.- xcviii. f Omne quod loquimur de-
bemus qffirmare de Scripturis Sanctis. " Whatsoever we say
we are to prove out of the Holy Scriptures." To the same pur
pose in Matth. xxiii. s, in Haggai. i.h Origen in Matth. Tract.
xxiii.1 That we are to silence gainsayers by the Scriptures,
as our Lord did the Sadducees. Adoro Scriptura plenitudinem,
qua mihi etfactorem manifestat et facta. " I adore the fulness
of the Scripture, which shews me both the Maker and what
He made," saith Tertullian, contra Hermog. cap. xxii.k St.
Augustine, de Peccatorum Meritis et Remiss, ii. 36. ' Rlud tamen
credo quod etiam hinc divinorum eloquiorum clarissima autoritas
esset, si homo id sine dispendio promissa salutis ignorare non
posset. " I believe there would be found some clear authority
of the Word of God for this," the original of man's soul, " if a
man could not be ignorant of it without loss of the salvation
that is promised."
§ 15. In fine, seeing it is acknowledged that the Scripture
is a rule to our faith, on all hands, the saying of St. Chrysos
tom in Phil. iii. Hom. xii. m is not refusable, 6 Kavcav ovre trpoa-
Geaiv, ovtc d<palpeai,v Bk-^eTai, eVet to tcavcov elvat, diroXXvo-i.
" A rule is not capable of adding to or taking from it : for so
it loose th being a rule." For the same reason St. Basil in,
Isai. ii. n and Asceticis, Reg. i.°, condemns all that is done with
out Scripture.
c S. Joan. Dam. Opp., torn. i. pp. cap. viii. § 15. p. 235.
123, 124. Paris, 1712. ° Sed et aliaque absque auctoritate
* Kal pi-qSev aXXSrpiov iireiadyeiv rrj et testimoniis Scripturarum quasi tra-
Bela ypacpfj, aXX' apKeTaSai rfj SiSacrKa- ditione Apostolica sponte reperiunt
Ala rov Tlvei/xaros. — Tom. i. p. 122. atque confingunt, percutet gladius Dei.
Paris, 1642. Chamier., torn. i. lib. viii. — Tom. iii. col. 1690. ed. Ben. Cha-
cap. vii. § 43. mier., ib. § 18.
e Ignorans quod daemoniaci Spiritus i Sicut ergo Salvator verbo doctrinae
esset instinctus, sophismata humana- suae silentium imposuit Sadducaeis, et
rum mentium sequi et aliquid extra falsum dogma quod apud illos Veritas
Scripturarum autoritatem putaret di- putabatur convicit fiducialiter. Sic
vinum. — S. Hieron. Opp., torn. iv. col. facient et Christi imitatores, exemptis
708. Vallarsius says the Benedictine Scripturarum, quibus oportet secun-
editor is not correct in calling this the dum sanam doctrinam omnem vocem
second paschal letter, it should have obmutescere Pharaonis, &c. — Tom. iii.
been the first. — Chamier., torn. i. lib. p. 830. ed. Ben. Chamier., torn. i. lib.
viii. cap. vii. § 44. p. 232. viii. cap. ix. § 9. p. 239.
f Tom. ii. col. 384. ed. Ben. k P. 417. ed. Pam. Rothomag. 1662.
e Hoc quia de Scripturis non habet ' Tom. x. col. 71. ed. Ben.
auctoritatem, eadem facilitate contem- m Tom. iv. p. 70. ed. Savil.
nitur qua probata.— Tom. iv. col. 112. " 'Eire! 5 J Kal ol Kapitol rrjs <jivxvs
ed. Ben. Chamier., torn. i. lib. viii. reKva noXXdKis Xeyovrai, eXiroi av tis

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 533
§ 16. On the other side, in the next place, a greater thing chap.
cannot be said for the Church than that which Tertullian, con- xxvm-
tra Marcionem, iv. 2P, St. Hierome, Epist. lxxxix. q, St. Augus
tine, contra Faustum, xxviii. 4r, have said, that St. Paul's autho
rity depended upon the allowance of the Apostles at Jeru
salem. Tertullian, Denique, ut cum autoribus contulit, et convenit
de regula fidei, dextras miscuere. " In a word, as soon as he had
conferred with men in authority, and agreed about the rule
of faith, they shook hands." St. Hierome, Ostendens, se non
habuisse securitatem pradicandi Evangelii, nisi Petri, et ccetero-
rum Apostolorum qui cum eo erant, fuisset sententia roboratus.
" Shewing that he had not assurance to preach the Gospel,
had it not been confirmed by the sentence of Peter, and the
rest of the Apostles that were with him." St. Augustine, That
the Church would not have believed at all, had not this been
done. § 17. Among the sentences of the fathers which make
St. Peter the rock on which the Church is built, the words
of St. Augustine, in Psalmo contra partem Donatis, are of most
204 appearance ; Ipsa est petra quam non vincunt superbce infero-
rum porta. " This — Church of Rome — is the rock which the
proud gates of hell overcome not.'' St. Hierome is alleged
hereupon consulting Damasus, then Pope, in matters of faith,
as tied to stand to his sentence, Epist. lvii. *, and Apolog. contra
rbv irapi rb &oiX-qp.a rrjs Beias ypatprjs conferendo Evangelium, ejusdem socie-
(TuXXe^dptevov a-nb rwv Z\u>Bev rys Beo- tatis esse appareret, Ecclesia illi om-
a-efieias A6yovs ovx byieXs, Kal itapa- nino non crederet. — Tom. viii. coll.
Se\dp.evov aiirovs t^ reKva aXJv.6<pvXa 44] , 442. ed. Ben. This and the fore-"
-itoieiaBau — Tom. i. p. 435. vers. 6. ed. going passages are referred to by Car-
Ben. The passage cited by Chamier., dinal Bellarmine, De Verbo Dei, lib.
torn. i. lib. viii. cap. xii. § 19. is traaa iii. cap. v.
pXv oZv -xpafys ti -xapi rbv bpBbv x6yov 8 Tom. ix. col. 7. ed. Ben.
ivepyovp.evq, $SeXvypid itsri rip ®e§. — * Ideo mihi cathedram Petri et fidem
Ib. p. 436. Apostolico ore laudatam censui con-
° Et Qeariv t) avpipepei rivl eavrif sulendam,  Quamobrem obtestor
imrpeireiv, Kal -iroieXv ^ \eyeiv a vop.l£et Beatitudinem tuam per Crucifixum,
KaXi aveb rrjs fiaprvplas rSiv Beawvei- mundi salutem per homousuiam Trini-
arwv ypaip&v. tatem ; ut mihi epistolis tuis, sive ta-
 irepl piev rwv yeypaprprevoyv cendarum sive dicendarum hyposta-
oiSepila i^ovata SeSorat koSAXov oiSevl, sewn detur auctoritas. Et ne forte ob-
oiire irovqeal ri rwv KeKuXvpevuv, outc scuritas loci, in quo dego, fallat bajulos
irapaXeXij/ai ri rasv irpoarerayp.eva>v. — litterarum, ad Evagrium presbyterium,
Reg. Brev. Tr.,i. torn. ii. p. 41 4. ed.;Ben. quem optime nosti dignare scripta
P P. 698. ed. Pam. Rothomag. 1662. transmittere ; simul etiam cui apud
i Tom. iv. col. 621. ed. Ben. Antiochiam debeam communicare sig-
1 Cum ipse Apostolus Paulus post nifices. — Tom. iv. coll. 19, 21. ed. Ben.
ascensionem Domini de coelo vocatus, Upon this Cardinal Bellarmine observes
si non invcniret in carne Apostolos, as follows : Nota, Hieronymum fuisse
quibus communicando et cum quibus longe doctiorem Damaso, ut patet ex

534 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK Rufinumu; Scito Romanam fidem, Apostolica voce laudatam,
 ' — istiusmodi prcestigias non recipere ,- etiamsi angelus aliter an-
nunciet quam semel pradicatum est, Petri authoritate munitam,
non posse mutari. " Know that the faith of Rome, commended
by the voice of the Apostle, is not liable to such tricks ; though
an angel preach otherwise than once was preached, that being
fortified by the authority of St. Peter, it cannot be changed."
§ 18. The saying of St. Cyprianx is notorious : Neque enim
aliunde hareses oborta sunt aut nata sunt schismata, quam inde,
quod sacerdoti Dei non obtemperatur, nee unus in Ecclesia ad
tempus sacerdos, et ad tempus judex Christi vice cogitatur ; cui
si secundum magisteria divina obtemperaret fraternitas universa,
nemo adversum sacerdotum collegium quicquam moveret, . . . ,
nemo discidio unitatis Christi Ecclesiam scinderet. " Heresies
spring, and schisms arise from no cause but this; that the
priest of God is not obeyed, that men think not that there is
one priest in the Church, one judge in Christ's stead, for the
time ; whom if the whole brotherhood did obey as God
teacheth, no man would move anything against the college of
priests, or tear the Church with a rent in the unity of it."
§ 19. The authority which the Church giveth to the Scrip
ture is again testified by St. Augustine, contra Epistolam Fun-
damenti, cap. v. y Cui libro necesse est me credere, si credo Evan
gelio; quoniam utramque Scripturam similiter mihi Catholica
commendat auihoritas. " Which book of the Acts I must
needs believe, if I believe the Gospel; Catholic authority
alike commending to me both Scriptures." To the same
purpose contra Faustum, xi. 2Z, xiii. 5% xxii. 19b, xviii. 7C,
xxviii. 2d, xxxiii. ult.e Therefore he warns him that reads
tot quaestionibus Scripturarum, quas • Nostrorum porro librorum aucto-
Hieronymus Damaso explicavit : et ritas", tot gentium consensione, per suc-
tamen cum agitur de judicio fidei, ut cessiones Apostolorum, Episcoporum,
aliquid definiatur, Hieronymus totum conciliorumque roborata, vobis adversa
judicium tribuit Damaso Pontifici. — est. — lb., col. 254.
De verbo Dei, lib. iii. cap. viii. col. 154. b Cur non potius Evangelicae aucto-
Co'on. 1620. ritati, tam fundatae, tam stabilitae, tanta
u Lib. iii. torn. iv. col. 449. ed. Ben. gloria diffamatae, atque ab Apostolorum
* Ep. lv. p. 82. ed. Ben. temporibus usque ad nostra tempora
v Tom. viii. col. 154. ed. Ben. per successiones certissimas commen-
2 Quam libri a te prolati originem, datffi, non te subdis. — lb., col. 461.
quam vetustatem, quam seriem sue- c Non aliam legem, nee alios pro-
cessionis testem citabis ? Nam se hoc phetas, quam eos quos Catholica tenet
facere eonaberis, et nihil valebis: et auctoritas. — lb., col. 312.
vides in hac re quid Ecclesiae Catho- d Continuo dices illam narrationem
licae valeat auctoritas,  —Tom. non esse Matthaei, quam Matthaei esse
viii. col. 219. ed. Ben. dicit universa Ecclesia, ab Apostolicis

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 535
the Scriptures to prefer those books which all Churches chap.
receive, before those which only some. And of them those XXVI1L
which more and greater Churches receive, before those which
fewer and less. So that if more receive some, and greater
others — though the case he thinks doth not fall out — the
authority of them must be the same. And contra Cresconium,
ii. 31 f. Neque enim sine causa tam salubri vigilantia Canon
Ecclesiasticus constitutus est, ad quem certi prophetarum et Apo
stolorum libri pertineant, quos omnino judicare non audeamus.
" For neither was the rule of the Church settled with such
wholesome vigilance without cause, to which certain books of
the Prophets and Apostles might belong, which we should
not dare on any terms to censure." Where manifestly he
ascribeth the difference between canonical Scripture and that
which is not, to an act of the Church settling the same.
§ 20. Of the power of the Church to decide controversies
of faith, all the records of the Church, if that will serve the
turn, do bear plentiful witness. But the evidence for the gift
of infallibility from them seems to consist in this consequence ;
that otherwise there would be no end of controversies, neither
should God have provided sufficiently for His Church. St.
Augustine, contra Cresconium, i.,33g. Quisquis falli metuit hujus
obscuritate quastionis, eandem Epclesiam de ilia consulat, quam
sine ulla ambiguitate Scriptura sacra demonstrat. "Whoso
ever is afraid to be deceived by the darkness of this ques
tion," concerning rebaptizing, "let him consult the Church
about it, which the Holy Scripture demonstrateth without any
ambiguity." St. Bernard, Epist. cxc. <zd Innoc. II. Papam in
Prafat.h Oportet ad vestrum referri Apostolatum pericula
quaque, et scandala emergentia in regno Dei, ea prasertim, qua
de fide contingunt. Dignum namque arbitror, ibi potissimum
resarciri damna fidei, ubi non possit fides sentire defectum.
"All dangers and scandals that appear in the kingdom of
God are to be referred to your Apostleship. For I conceive
sedibus usque ad praesentes Episcopos cessiones Episcoporum, usque ad haec
certa successione perducta. — lb., col. tempora toto orbe terrarum custodita,
440. commendata, clarificata pervenit. — lb.,
e Breviter vos admoneo  ut si coll. 469, 470. ed. Ben.
auctoritatem Scripturarum omnibus f Tom. ix. col. 430. ed. Ben.
praeferendam sequi vultis, earn sequa- * Tom. ix. col. 407. ed. Ben.
mini quae ab ipsius praesentiae Christi il St. Bernard. Opp., torn. ii. col.
temporibus, per dispensationes Aposto- 643. ed. Ben.
lorum et certas ab eorum sedibus sue-

536 OF THE PRINCIPLES
book it fitting that the decays of the faith should there especially
 '- — be repaired where the faith is not subject to fail."
As the § 21. As concerning the matter of traditions1 we are not
ofthe'0113 to forget Irenaeus, iii. 2 — 4k, where he shews that the Gnos-
Church. tjcg^ scomjng b^ Scripture and tradition, as coming from
those that knew not God's mind as they pretended to do —
thence calling themselves Gnostics — may be convinced by
that evidence which the consent of all Churches in the same
faith tenders common sense, for the tradition ofthe Apostles;
which, saith he, we" must have stuck to, had they left us 205
nought in writing, as those Christians then did, which had
not the use of letters.
§ 22. Epiphanius, Har. Ixi.1 dXXd irdvra rd 6eia prf/taTa
ovk dXXrjyopla^ BeiTai, aXXa a>? e%ef decopia? Be Bevrai, et? to
elBevai e/cacrT77? virodeaecos ttjv Bvvap.iv. Set Be Kal irapaBoaei
Ke-xprjaOai. oi yap iravra dirb t/j? 6eia<s ypacbf)<s Bvvarai Xa/x-
ftdveadai' Bib Ta fiev, iv ypaifiais, ra Be, iv irapaBocrei irapeBaKav
ol ayioi 'Attoo-toXoi. " All God's words do not need allegory;
but are to be understood as they are. But they need con
sideration, to know the force of each matter. Tradition also
is to be used : for all is not to be had from God's Scriptures.
For the holy Apostles delivered some things in writing, others
by tradition, as the Apostle saith." So Har. lv.m, lxxv." St.
Hierome, adversus Luciferianos", Malta alia qua per traditionem
in Ecclesiis observantur, auctoritatem sibi scripta legis usurparunt.
Orthod. Non quidem abnuo hanc esse Ecclesiarum consuetudi-
nem,  Sed quale est, ut leges Ecclesia ad haresim trans-
feras ? " Many things that are observed in the Churches by
' See Card. Bellarmine, De Verbo ' Advers. Apostolicos, num. v. p.
Dei, lib. iv. cap. vii. for the following 510. Colon. 1682.
passages from the fathers. "> Kal '6poi ydp ireBricrav qpiXv, Kal
k Cum autem-ad earn iterum tradi- Bep-eXioi, Kal 0!/co5o/i7) rtjs ir'nrreas, Kal
tionem, quae est ab Apostolis, quae per 'A-Jtoo-rdXwv irapaSSffeis, Kal ypatpal
successiones presbyterorum in Eccle- ayiai, Kal SiaSoxal SiSao-KaXlas, Kal ix
siis custoditur, provocamus eos ; ad- TtavraxiBev r) aXiiBeia rov ®eov fatbd-
versantur traditioni, dicentes se non Xiirrai Kal pnjSels aTtardo-Ba KaivoXs pi-
solum presbyteris, sed etiam Apostolis Bois. — Advers. Melchisedec, Num. iii.
existentes sapientiores, sinceram inve- p. 471. Colon. 1682.
nisse v eritatem  — Cap. ii. p. 1 75. n Aei'J as Srt iyypdtpats re Kal aypdcpws
ed. Ben. iSlSaa-Kev, 6 itar^p, rovreariv 6 ®ebs o
Quid autem si neque Apostoli qui- povoyev))s, Kal rb aywv irvevpta- 7) Se
dem Scripturas reliquissent nobis, p-nrbp np&v ii 'EKKX-qcria elxe Betrpiobs
nonne oportebat ordinem sequi tradi- iv avr-g Keipievovs, aXvrovs, /«) 8wa-
tionis, quam tradiderunt iis quibus p.evous' KaraXvBfivat. — Advers. jErium,
committebant Ecclesias ?— Cap. iv. p. num. viii. p. 912. Colon. 1682.
178. ed. Ben. » Tom. iv. coll. 294, 295. ed. Ben.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

537

tradition have usurped to themselves the authority of written
law." The orthodox party answers, " I deny not the custom
of the Church to be such ;  but what a business is it that
you transform the laws of the Church into heresy ?"
§ 23. St. Augustine, Epist. cxviii. p Ilia autem qua non
scripta sed tradita custodimus, qua quidem toto terrarum orbe
servantur, datur intelligi, vel ab ipsis Apostolis, vel plenariis
conciliis, quorum est in Ecclesia saluberrima auctoritas, com-
mendata atque statuta retineri. " But those things which we
observe, though not written but dehvered, being observed all
over the world, we are given to understand that they are held
as recommended and settled either by the Apostles themselves
or by general councils, the authority whereof is very whole
some in the Church." To the same purpose, de Baptismo
contra Donatistas, ii. 7q, iv. 6, 24 r, v. 23 s, de Unitate Ecclesia,
xxii.* contra Cresconium, i. 31 — 33 u.
§ 24. The supposed Dionysius the Areopagite, Ecclesiastica
Hierarchia, cap. i.x mentioneth that instruction which the

CHAP.
XXVIII.

p Tom. ii. Ep. 54. § 1. col. 124. ed.
Ben. i Quam consuetudinem credo ex
Apostolica traditione venientem — sicut
multa quae non inveniuntur in litteris
eorum, neque in conciliis posteriorum,
et tamen quia per universam custodi-
untur Ecclesiam non nisi ab ipsis tra
dita et commendata creduntur. — Tom.
ix. col. 102. ed. Ben.
' Sed ilia consuetudo, quam etiam
tunc homines sursum versus respici-
entes non videbant a posterioribus in-
stitutam, recte ab Apostolis tradita cre
ditur. Et talia multa sunt, quae longum
estrepetere. — lb., col. 126.
Quod universa tenet Ecclesia, nee
conciliis institutum, sed semper reten-
tum est, non nisi auctoritate Apostolica
traditum rectissime creditur. — lb., col.
140. * Sed consuetudo ilia quae oppone-
batur Cypriano, ab eorum traditione
exordium sumsisse credenda est, sicut
sunt multa quae universa tenet Eccle
sia, et ob hoc ab Apostolis praecepta
bene creduntur, quanquam scripta non
reperiantur. — lb., col. 156.
1 Dicat mihi nunc haereticus, Quo-
modo me suscipis ? Cito respondes.
Sicut suscipit Ecclesia, cui Christus
perhibet testimonium. Numquid tu
melius potes esse quomodo suscipiendus

6is, quam Salvator noster medicus vul-
neris tui ? Hie forte dicis, Lege mihi
ergo qnemadmodum Christus 6uscipi
jusserit eos, qui ab haereticis transire
ad Ecclesiam volunt Hoc aperte at
que evidenter, nee ego lego, nee tu. —
Tom. ix. col. 380. ed. Ben.
u Proinde quamvis hujus rei certe
de Scripturis canonicis non proferatur
exemplum : earumdem tamen Scrip
turarum etiam in hac re a nobis tene-
tur Veritas cum hoc facimus quod
universae jam placuit Ecclesiae, quam
ipsarum Scripturarum commendat au-
thoritas, ut quoniam Sancta Scriptura
fallere non potest, quisquis falli me-
tuit, hujus obscuritate quaestionis ean
dem Ecclesiam de ilia consulat, quam ,
sine ulla ambiguitate sancta Scriptura
demonstrat  Tom. ix. coll. 407, 408.
ed. Ben.
* ' AvayKalus ofiv ol irpwroi rrjs KaQ'
iiptas lepapx'ias Ka8-qyepi.6ves, 4k rijs
vwepovo-lov Beapxias, avroi re avairX-q-
trBevres rov lepov St&pov, . . . alcrB-qraXs
eiKuo-i ri virepovpdvta, Kal iroiKiXia Kal
TrXijBei rb avveirrvyp.evov Kal 4v avBpw-
-k'ivois re ri BeXa Kal iv^Xois to &vXa
Kal roXs Kaff Tjp.as ri inrepovo-ia, rais
iyypdipots re avrwv Kal aypaipots
purqffeiri, Kara robs iepoiis 7]p.Xv eSwaav
Beo-povs.—i 5. p. 235. Antverp. 1634.

538 OF THE PRINCIPLES
book Apostles delivered without writing, as a witness of the Church,
 - — though not as a scholar of the Apostles. And Eusebius, de
Demonstratione Evangelica, i. 8y, acknowledgeth unwritten laws
of the Apostles. Concilium Gangrense, in fine, Can. xxi. z ; Kal
nrdvTa crvveXovTai ehrelv ta qrapaSoOevra inrb t&v 6euov ypa<pu>v
Kal twv ' Attoo-toXikojv TrapaBocreav, iv tt) iKKX-rjcriq yivecrOai
evxopeda. " And we desire in sum, that all things delivered
by the Scriptures of God, and the traditions of the Apostles,
be observed in the Church." And Gregory Nazianzen, Orat.
i. adversus Julianum3-, refers those ordinances which I quoted
out of him afore, to the Apostles as authors of them.
§ 25. Some sayings of the fathers are also alleged to shew
that they held the Scriptures obscure. Origen, in Levit.
Hom. v.b allegorizeth the law of burning some part of the
peace-offerings, to signify that some things in the Scriptures
are reserved to God's knowledge, lest we understand them
otherwise than truth requires. The same saith Irenaeus, ii. 47 c,
even in the world to come, that man may always learn, but
God always teach the matters of God. St. Chrysostom, in
Johannem, Hom. xli. d, observes that our Lord bids, Search the
Scriptures ; by digging as for mines, or treasure ; so if they
may be understood with searching, yet it followeth not that
every one is able to take that course in searching them that
is requisite. And Opus imperfectum in Matth., Hom. xliv.e
Ergo non sunt Scriptura clausa : sed obscura quidem, ut cum
labore inveniantur, non autem clausa, ut nullo modo inveniantur.
"Therefore the Scriptures are not shut: dark indeed they
y Tavra avyKarlovres ry rav irXei6- nobis quam se habet Veritas, profe-
vav hrBeveia 7a p.ev Sia ypafipidrav, rd rantur, melius igni ista servamus. —
Sh Si' aypdipwv Beo-pwv ipvXdrreiv -nape- Tom. ii. p. 208. ed. Ben.
SISoo-av.— P. 29. Paris, 1628. ' El Se rwv iv rats ypaipais fyrov-
A.D. 324. Labbei, torn. ii. col. pievwv, SXwv rwv ypaipwv -nvevpiariKwv
432. ed. Venet. ovorwv, evia p.ev iitiXiop.ev Kard xdpi"
a See chap. xvi. seett 50, 51. ®eov, evia Se ivaKelaerai rip ®eip, Kal
b Verumtamen sciendum est, quod ov p.6vov alwvi iv rS> vwl, aXXd Kal iv
ex hostiis quae offeruntur, licet conce- t# pieXXovri ; Xva ael pev 6 ®ebs SiSdo-Kri,
dantur sacerdotibus ad edendum, non &vBpwiros Se Sid -wavrbs piavBdvn irapd
tamen omnia conceduntur : sed pars ®eov.— Cap. xxviii. p. 156 ed. Ben.
ex ipsis aliqua Deo offertur, et altaris •> Oi ydp ehev, ivayiv&dKere rds
lgmbus traditur : ut sciamus etiam nos ypatpds, aXX' ipevvdre rds ypatpds 
quod et si conceditur nobis aliqua ex Sid rovro Kal SiaaKd-wreiv airobs aerd
divinis Scripturis apprehendere et ag- iKpifcias KeXeiei vvv, Xva rd iv rw
noscere, sunt tamen aliqua quae Deo {SdBei Kelpieva Svv-qBwnv e6peXv.—Tom.
reservanda sunt : quae cum intelligen- ii. p. 725. ed. Savil
tiamnostram superent, sensusque eo- e St Chrysost 'oPp., torn. vi. p.
rum supra nos sit, ne forte aliter a clxxxvi. ed Ben

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 539
are, so that they are found with pains : but not shut, so as by chap.
no means to be found." Adding, that as it is for the praise —  -

of them that find them, that they sought, so for the condem
nation of them that seek not, that they understand them not.
§ 26. St. Hierome, ad Algasiam, Quast. viii.f Omnis Epi-
stola ejus ad Romanos nimiis obscuritatibus involuta est. " The
whole epistle to the Romans is involved with marvellous dark
ness." Epist. xlix. ad Paulinums. Hoc autem velamen non
solum in facie Moysi, sed et in evangelistis et in Apostolis posi-
tum est. " This veil is not only in Moses's face, but upon the
evangelists and Apostles." And, Nisi aperta fuerint universa
qua scripta sunt, ab eo, qui habet clavem David, qui aperit, et
nemo claudit; claudit, et nemo aperit, nullo alio referente pan-
dentur. " Unless all things that are written be opened, by
him who hath the key of David, who opens and no man
shuts, who shuts and no man opens, no man else will unlock
206 and lay them forth." Before him, Origen, in Exodum, Hom.
xii.h, is afraid that the evangelists and Apostles, as well as the
prophets, will prove not only veiled, but sealed to us, as the
prophet saith, unless we both study and pray that the Lamb
of the tribe of Judah may open us the seals of it.
§ 27. Here I will advise the parties to consider how they They are
can advantage themselves by those sayings of the fathers Conciied
which contain not the terms of that position which they do ^y '{j"'1"
nothing unless they enforce. Allege they what they can terms
allege out of the fathers, to shew that they acknowledge the they use.
Scriptures both sufficient and perspicuous; I shall not be
troubled at it, but shall willingly concur to acknowledge the
same. I acknowledge the Scriptures to be an instrument of
God, though a moral instrument. And I shall have a care
not to acknowledge that God ever provided or used an in
strument that would not serve His turn.
§ 28. Instrumentum Vetus et Novum, is a term in every man's
' Tom. iv. col. 202. ed. Ben. Unde ostenditur non solum studium
s Tom. iv. col. 567. ed. Ben. nobis adhibendum esse ad discendas
h Videamus ergo ne non solum cum litteras sacras, verum et supplicandum
Moyses legitur, sed et cum Paulus Domino, et diebus ac noctibus obse-
legitur, velamen sit positum super cor crandum, ut veniat agnus ex tribu
nostrum .... Ego autem vereor, ne Juda, et ipse accipiens librum signatum
per nimiam negligentiam et stolidita- dignetur aperire. — Tom. ii. p. 174. ed.
tem cordis, non solum velata sint nobis Ben.
divina volumina, sed et signata: —

540 OF THE PRINCIPLES
book mouth, to signify the Old and New Testament. But there
L  are natural instruments, and there are moral instruments. I
say not that there is no third kind of instruments, for it may
be there are artificial instruments, of a several nature from
both, but my present purpose obliges me not to consider that
difference. § 29. When the substance or frame of the instrument
enables it to serve him that employs it, well may it be called
a natural instrument, as the parts of man's body, or other
creatures, which execute the operations of the soul. When
neither the substance, nor frame of the thing which that sub
stance produces, concurs to the work to the which it is instru
mental, but it is done merely by the consent of man's will —
the reason is the same of God's will, if it be an instrument
between man and God — then is it great reason why it should
be called a moral instrument ; because the force of it lies in
the manners of those who use it to testify those acts which
they do not mean to transgress : such as all civil records are,
in regard of the effect of those contracts or deeds which they
come to witness.
§ 30. The Old and New Testament are the records of two
several treaties, or contracts if you please, that have passed
between God and man. And therefore authentic, because
the writings of those who contracted those treaties. But does
every instrument of a contract contain every thing that is in
force by the said contract ? Surely it is a thing so difficult to
contain in writing every thing that a contract intends, that
many times, if witnesses were not alive, other whiles, if general
laws did not determine the intent of words, in fine, if there
were nothing to help the tenor of such instruments, things
contracted would hardly sort to effect'.
§ 31. Consider now what is alleged on the other side, how
resolutely, how generally, the tradition both of the rule of
faith, and of laws to the Church, is acknowledged even by
those witnesses whose sayings are alleged to argue the suffi
ciency, perfection, and evidence of the Scriptures. Is it civil,
is it reasonable, to say that the writers of the Christian
Church make it their business to contradict themselves;
which no scholar will admit either infidels, pagans, Jews,
' Sortiri effectum.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 541
Mahometans, or heretics to do ? Is it not easy to save them chap.YYVTII
from contradicting themselves, by saying that tradition of-  -

faith containeth nothing that is not in the Scriptures, but
limits the meaning of that which they contain ; tradition of
laws may contain that which is not in the Scriptures, for the
species of fact, but is derived from the Scripture for the
authority from whence it proceeds ? Or is it possible by any
other means reasonably to save them from contradicting
themselves ?
§ 32. These generals premised, freely may we make our The limit-
approaches to the particulars, and by considering the circum- those say-
stance of the places where they lie, make ourselves confident mf^^011
to find some limitation, restraining the generality of their Christian
„ . , . . . , truth to be
words to make them agree, as well with my position, as with contained
themselves. For example ; Epiphanius, Har. lxxvi., Irenaeus, scripture.
ii. 46, iii. 15, Athanasius, Disp. cum Ario\ say, all is clear
in the Scriptures ; meaning that the sense of the Church is
clearly the sense of the Scriptures in the points questioned ;
but not to them who exclude that tradition which themselves
include and presuppose. Observe again that the perspicuity
of the Scriptures is not limited to things necessary to salva
tion in all that hath been alleged, but once in St. Augustine,
2"7 Epist. iii. ; and observe withal that the knowledge of things
necessary proceeds upon supposition of the rule of faith, ac
knowledged and received from the Church in the catechiz
ing of those that were baptized; not determined by every
one's sense of the Scriptures.
§ 33. It is therefore easily granted that the Scriptures were
made for all sorts of people, that they might profit by them ;
always provided that they bring with them the faith of the
Catholic Church, for the rule within the bounds whereof they
may profit by reading them, otherwise they may and they
may not. And therefore those sayings which were alleged to
prove them obscure, convincing that they are not clear to all
understandings, because they require study, and search, and
digging, do necessarily leave him that comes without his
rule not only in doubt of finding the truth, but in danger of
taking error for it.
§ 34. Upon the like supposition St. Augustine affirms, de
k These passages are cited before in seett. 3 — 5.

542 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK Utilitate credendi vi.1, that any man may find enough hi the
—  Old Testament, that seeks as he ought : for to seek humbly
and devoutly is the same thing for him that is no Christian —
for the Manichees, to whom St. Augustine recommends the
Old Testament, in this place, were Christians no further than
the name — as it is for him that is a Christian, to seek like a
Christian, that is, having before his eyes the faith of the
Church. And this is that which St. Augustine means, that
he who is no Christian, so seeking, may find enough to make
him a Christian ; that is, as much as he is to expect from the
Old Testament. And this supposition is expressed by Origen,
contra Celsum vii.m, when he says that the unlearned may
study the Scriptures with profit, after their entrance made :
for this entrance is the rule of faith, which they were taught
when they were baptized. And the catechism of that time,
containing as well the motives as the matter of faith, appears
to the unlearned the way into the deep, that is, the mystical
sense of the Scripture.
§ 35. Upon the same terms may we proceed to grant all
that is alleged to shew that which is not contained in the
Scriptures not to be receivable in point of Christian truth.
For having shewed11 that the rule of faith is wholly contained
in the Scriptures; and nothing contained in the records of
Church writers to be unquestionable but the rule and tradition
of faith ; whatsoever further intelligence and information can
be pretended, either tending to establish the same, or by con
sequence of reason to flow from it, if it cannot be pretended
to come from tradition — because there is no tradition of the
Church concerning that wherein the Church agrees not —
either it must come from the Scripture, or by the like revela
tion as the Scriptures, which no Church writer pretends to
have. For as for that which by consequence of reason is
derived from those things which the Scripture expresseth ;
seeing the words of the Scripture is not the word of God, but
the sense and meaning of them, it were a thing very imper
tinent to question whether or no that be contained in the
Scripture which the true sense of the Scripture by due con
sequence of argument imports.

1 Sect. 9. "' Sect. 4.

" Chap. xxi. sect. 4.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 543
§ 36. But if the question be of laws delivered the Church chap.
by the Apostles, having shewed0 that there may sufficient  -
evidence be made of such, though not recorded in the Scrip
tures, there can no presumption be made, being not found in
the Scriptures, that therefore a law was not first brought into
the Church by the Apostles. And yet it remains grounded
upon the Scriptures, in point of right, because the authority
by which it was brought into the Church is either established
or attested by the Scriptures; matter of fact being compe
tently evidenced by other historical truth besides. And upon
these terms we may proceed to acknowledge the goodness of
an argument drawn negatively from the Scriptures ; that is
to say, inferring this is not in the Scriptures, therefore not
true. § 37. Doth my position then oblige me to deny Irenaeus,
iii. 1, affirming that the Apostles wrote the same that they
preached? Or St. Augustine, in Psalmum xxi., de Unitate
Ecclesia, cap. xvi., and Optatus v. tying the Donatists to be
tried by the Scriptures ? Both parties pretending to be chil
dren of God, are to be tried by their Father's will, that is, by
the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament. But if there
shall fall out any difference about the intent of their father's
will, the meaning of the Old and New Testament, shall I
think that is said in vain which is alleged on the other side
208 out of the same St. Augustine, Contra Cresconium, i. 33, that
if a man would not err in that point, he is to advise with the
Church, which the Scripture evidenceth ? For the question
being about the re-baptizing of heretics — that is, about a law
of the Church — if you will have St. Augustine agree with
St. Augustine, it must be upon the terms of my position,
the practice of the Church giving bounds to the sense of
the Scripture.
§ 38. I can therefore safely agree with the constitutions of
the Apostles p, with St. Cyprian and Leo, and whosoever else
teaches that it is not safe for the people to assure their con
sciences upon the credit of their pastors ; but it is because I
suppose the unity of the Church provided by God for a ground
upon which the people may reasonably presume when they
are to adhere to their pastors, when not; to wit, when they
0 Chap. xxi. seett. 8, 9. P Sect. 9.

544 OF THE PRINCIPLES
book are owned, not when they are disowned, by the unity of the
 Church. For though this provision becomes ineffectual,
when this unity is dissolved, yet ought not that to be an argu
ment that the goodness of God never made that provision
which the malice of man may defeat; but that whosoever
concurs to maintain the division, concurs to defeat that pro
vision which God hath made.
§ 39. As safely do I agree with all them who agree that
whatsoever is taught in Christianity is to be proved by the
Scriptures. For if it belong to the rule of faith, it is intended
by the Scriptures, though that intent is evidenced by the
tradition of the Church. If to the laws of the Church, the
authority of it comes from the Scriptures, though the evidence
of it may depend upon common sense, which the practice of
the Church may convince. If over and above both, it is not
receivable, if not contained in the Scriptures. And in this
regard whosoever maintains the whole Scripture to be the
rule of faith, is thoroughly justified by all those testimonies
that have been alleged to that purpose. For though it be not
necessary to the salvation of all Christians to understand the
meaning of all the Scriptures, yet what Scripture soever a man
attains to understand, is as much a rule to his faith as that
which a man cannot be saved if he understand not the sense
of it, whether in and by the Scripture or without it.
§ 40. And though a man may be obliged to believe that
which is not in the Scripture to have been instituted by the
Apostles, yet is he not obliged to observe it but upon that
reason which the Scripture delivcreth. And upon these terms
is the whole Scripture a rule of faith, from which, as nothing
is to be taken away, so is nothing to be added to it, as the
saying of St. Chrysostom, in Phil. iii. Hom. xii.q requireth.
And the saying of St. Basil, in Isai. ii. and Ascet. Reg. i.r, con
demning all that is done without Scripture, takes place upon
no other terms than these.
§ 41. Not as Cartwright3 and our puritans after him ima
gine, that a man is to have a text of Scripture specifying
every thing which he doth, for his warrant ; for as it is in
itself ridiculous to imagine that all cases which fall out can be
« Sect. 15. " See chap. v. sect. 29 ; chap. xx.
r Sect 15. sect. 10.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 545
ruled by express text of Scripture, our Christianity being con- ch a p.
cerned infinite ways, of which it is evident that the Scripture  -
had no occasion to speak ; so if the words of the Scripture be
lodged in a heart where the work of them dwelleth not — a
thing which we see too possible to come to pass — it is the
ready way to make the Word of God a colour for all unright
eousness, not only to others, but to the very heart of him who
hath that cloak for it. It is therefore enough that the reason
of every thing which a Christian doth is to be derived from
that doctrine which the Scripture declareth. And where a
man proceedeth to do that for which he hath not such a rea
son so grounded, as reasonable men use to go by, then cometh
that to pass which St. Basil chargeth, Ascet. Reg. htxx.*, that
" what is not of faith is sin."
§ 42. It is true, according to that sense which hitherto I [the rule
have used, after many Church writers, the rule of faith ex- extendeth
tendeth not to all the Scriptures, but only to that which it is ^,oie of"
necessary to salvation to believe and to know; which every Scripture.]
man knows that all the Scripture is not. For though it be
necessary to salvation to believe that all the Scripture is true,
yet is it not necessary to salvation to know all that the Scrip
ture containeth. And the reason why I use it in this sense
is, to distinguish those things contained in the Scriptures,
which tradition extendeth to, from those to which it extendeth
not ; for upon these terms is the sense of them limitable to the
209 common faith. But I quarrel not therefore [with] the opinion
of them u that maintain the whole Scriptures to be the rule of
faith, acknowledging that whatsoever it containeth is neces
sarily to be believed by all that come to understand it : and
' Sect 13. que ergo fidei regula sit, earn necesse
u Sed ais earn quoque externa media est Dei verbo contineri. Unde efficitur
habere quae tamen a te pauca admo- Dei verbum non nisi ex Dei verbo cog-
dum, eaque imbecilla afferuntur. In nosci, si ex regula fidei cognoscatur.
his primum est regula fidei. Sed nisi Jam vero si verbum Dei scriptum ex
obliquam aliquam et commentitiam non scripto judicari cognoscique possit,
regulam intelligas, idem omnino me- quid ni obsecro ex scripto scriptum
cum statuis. Nam verbum aio esse dijudicari posse existimemus ? At
medium sui cognoscendi. Tu non ex Scriptura etiam, ut verbum non scrip-
verbo cognosci verbum, sed ex regula turn hoc loco mittamus, fidei regula est,
fidei contendis. Potesne autem meli- ideoque Scripturae canonicae nomen in
orem perfectioremque regulam fidei Ecclesia semper obtinuit. Canon enim
quam verbum Dei assignare? Certe regulam significat, et fidei canon est
verbum Dei tam late patet quam regula fidei ipsa regula.— Whitaker. de Au-
fidei, atque ut vobis visum est, etiam thor. Sacr. Scriptur., lib. i. cap. xiii.
traditiones complectitur non scriptas, p. 151. Genevae, 1610.
de quo non pngnabo nunc. Quaecun-
THOItNDIKEj/ N n

546 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK whatsoever it containeth not, though the Scripture alone
—  obligeth not to believe the truth of it, is not necessarily to be
observed for any other reason but that which the Scripture
declareth. § 43. As for St. Basilv making it apostasy to bring that
which is not written into the faith, it is a thing well known,
that the Arians were charged by the Church x for bringing in
words that were not in the Scriptures, saying, fjv otov ovk r)v;
"there was a time when Christ was not;" and, il; ovk ovtuv;
that He was " made of nothing ;" on the other side, after the
council of Nicaea, the Arians charged the Church for bring
ing in the word bp,oovaio^, "ofthe same substance." Where
then lay the difference between the infidelity of the Arians
and the faith of the Church? Theodoret shews it, Hist.
Eccles. i. 8 z, out of Athanasius, Ep. ad Afros Episcopos :
it; dypdtpmv p,eT eucre/3eta? voovp,eva)v Xe^ecov KaTeKpWrjcrav,
saith he ; " they were condemned by unwritten words piously
understood." But how appears this piety? For I suppose
the Arians would not have granted it. He addetha, that the
word bpaova-ioe; had been used by the fathers — which, had it
been inconsistent with the sense of the Church, could not
have been endured in a matter concerning the rule of faith —
v Sect. 13. rwv, pdraios, i£ ay pdipwv ia-e^txavres'
x nota Se ttapi ris ypacpas i<pevp6vres aypaepa Se rb, 4% ovk ivrwv, Kal rb -tiv
XaXovtTiv, 4ffrl ravra. Trore lire ovk ^v' alriwvrai, on ef hypd-
Ovk del 6 ®ebs irar^ip -?jv, aXX' tfv <p(av pier' evaefieias voovfievwv \efeW
ire S ®ebs irarifp ovk 1\v. ovk ael %v S KareKpiB-qtrav. — lb., ad Afros Episco-
rov ®eov x6yos, aXX' e£ ovk ovrwv ye- pos, p. 896.
•yo^ei/- 6 yip &v ®ebs rbv py)} bvra 4k z Pp. 28, 29. Mogunt 1679.
rov p.)} ovros Tteiroi-qKe, Sib Kal ?jv -wore a Oi Se i-jtlffKO-itoi ovx eavroXs eupiv-
Ste ovk -f\v : — Alexandri Epist. Ency- res ras xQeis, aXX' 4k Ttarepwv exovres
clic. ad Episcopos, ap. S. Athanas., r'qv praprvplav ovrws eypatyav. 4-itlaKO-
Opp. torn. i. p. 388. ed. Ben. itoi yip apxaioi -itpb 4rwv iyyvs ttov
y 'AXX' ov yeypatrrai ravra, ipatnv, eKarbv rpidKovra ttjs peyaX-qs 'Pt&p-qs,
Kal ws aypatpovs ris tpwvis iKfiaXXo- Kal r^js 7jp.erepas ir6Xews ypdipovres
p.ev, aXXa Kal rovro ttdXiv -irp6(pao-ts -Qridtravro robs -Jrolrjpia Xeyovras rbv
iariv aliroXs dva'iffxvvros. el yip 4k- vlbv Kal pir/ Sp.ooviriov rip Xlarpl. Kal
fSX-qrea vopri^ovtri to; p>q yeypap.p.4va, rovro iy'ivwtTKev Evaifiios b yevopevos
Sid ti rwv wepl "Apeiov ef iypdipwv iiri- iiriffKoitos tt)J YLaurapeias, itpirepov piv
vo-qa-avrwv rotrovrov frqp.ariwv trvptpe- ctvvrpexwv rf) 'Apeiavrj alpecrei' varepov
rbv, rb ef ovk ivrwv,^ Kal rb ovk Jjv b Se vwoypdtyas iv avrij rij 4v NiKatns av-
vlbs irplv yevv-qB§, Kal ?jv ttore Sre ovk 9jv. v6Sw, eypavj/e roXs ISiois SiaPeQaioipevos,
— St. Athanas., torn. i. de Synodis, pp. Sri Kal rwv iraXaiav rivas Xoytovs Kal
751, 752. ed. Ben. Kal XevKdrepov 4-!tupaveXs iitiaKbtrovs Kal trvyypaipeas,
Xonrbv jtal avvrdpws^ Zypxipav, bpioov- iyvwpev iitl rrjs rov Ttarpbs Kal vlov
o-iov^ rip ttarpl r6v vUv ri yip itpoei- Bedr-qros rip rov bjxoova-'iov xpV<rap-evovs
prjueva ttavra ravrriv ?x« T'V ir-q/xa- 6v4p.ari.—S. Athanas. ad Afros Episc,
o-lav- kol 6 yoyyva-pibs au™j/, on &y- § 6. torn. i. p. 896. ed. Ben.
paipoi elffiv al Xe)-eis, iXeyxerai ivap' av-

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 547
whereas their terms were contrary to that which is found in c h A p.
-, . XXVIII.
the scriptures. 
§ 44. Now St. Basil b acknowledged that he had elsewhere
— dealing with heretics — used terms not found in the Scrip
tures, to exclude their sense contrary to the Scriptures — as you
shall find by the authors alleged, that the council of Nicsea
had done — but to those who desired information with a single
heart, he resolves to rest content with the Scriptures; the
terms whereof, his meaning is, that the heretics did not rest
content with, because they had a mind to depart from the faith.
Upon the same terms Tertullian c pronounces the woe that be
longs to them which add to God's word, upon Hermogenes,
because his error concerned the article of our Creed, that
God made heaven and earth. And St. Augustine d presumes
the reason why there is no clear Scripture for the original of
the soul to be because he presumes that it concerns not the
substance of faith.
§ 45. Besides these observations, some of those passages
which are alleged may concern Christianity rather than the
Scriptures. The word shines upon all, and is hid to none,
saith Clemens e to the Gentiles. But it is enough for his
purpose that they may be convinced of Christianity, whether
the Scriptures contain it clearly to all understandings or not.
Tertullian f prescribe th, that, when once we believe, we are
to believe that we have nothing else to believe ; because the
Gnostics pretended secrets, which our common Christianity,
they confessed, contained not.
b "Ews pev oZv aywvtfretrBat -irpbs ris ircav & iSiSdxB-qv irapi rrjs Beo-nveittrrov
iiravurrapievas Kari Kaipbv alpeaeis ypaeprjs. tpeiS6p.evos p.ev Kal rwv ovopid-
ixpfjv, eit6p.evos rots itpoaeiX-qepdcriv, rwv, Kal p-qpidrwv iKelvwv, a Xe£eo~i piev
aKoXovBov rfyovp/qv rrj Sioapopq. rrjs avrats ovk ipipeperat rij Beta ypaipij,
eiritrireipopev-qs tntb rov Siaf$6Xov aire- Sidvoidv ye p.fyv r)}V iKeivqv iyKeipiev-qv
jSe/as, rats avnBerois (pwvats KwXveiv, rij ypatprj SiatntiZfei. offa Se irpbs rip v\evtp
% Kal avarpeiretv ris 4-irayop.evas j3\a- ttjs Aefewy, eri Kal rbv vovv \evov r\pXv
tnpTjptas, Kal aXX6re aXXais, ws iv -q iireiirdyei, Kal & ovk etrriv vitb rwv
XP^a rwv voirovvrwv Kar-qvdyKaire, Kal aylwv K-qpvtr<x6p.eva ebpeXv, ravra ws
raviais -iroXXaKis aypdipots pev, '6p.ws f eva Kal aXX6rpia rrjs evirefiovs it'itrr ews
8s oZv ovk aire£evwp.evats rjjs Kari 'r)\v itavrdiratri irapairovpievos, — De Fide,
ypaip^v eiure&ovs Siavoias' rov 'Airo- torn. ii. p. 224. ed. Ben.
ardXov -rtoXXaKis Kal eXX-qviKoXs frhpao-i c Sect. 12, above.
Xpfivao-Bai pfy -napair-qtsapevov irpbs rbv d Non quidem magnum doctrinae
XSiov SK0it6v. vvv Se irpbs rbv koi- Christianae arbitror esse detrimentum
vbv i\pwv re Kal vvxiv GKOttbv dppo- istanescire. — De Anim. et ejus Origin.,
%ov iXoyio-dp.-qv, iv aitx6r-qn t5)s byi- torn. x. col. 361. ed. Ben.
aivoia-qs irlarews rb 4irlraypa rrjs vue- e Sect. 3.
repas iv Xpto-rip aydirqs irX-qpwixai, el- f Sect. 12.
Nn 2

548 OF THE PRINCIPLES
book § 46. Claudius Apollinaris s is afraid that our common
Christianity might be thought imperfect if he should write

against Montanus. And do not Christians writing one against
another cast a mark of imperfection upon it, in the opinion
of unbelievers, though Christians ought to know that God is
not tied to prevent offences ? Assuredly, the Gospel of which
he speaks is neither any one Gospel nor all four; nor can
the word Gospel signify either the New Testament alone, or
the Old and New both : nor could he be thought to add to
them by expounding them, and thereby maintaining the
Church. Therefore he infers a good consequence, that
because it is forbidden to add to, or take from the law, there
fore our common Christianity is not imperfect, nor ought we
to do that whereby it may seem imperfect.
Of those § 47. Now as for the sayings alleged out of St. Augustine,
makettie ^at imPor(; as much as the words which we had aforeh; Ego
a" thonty Evangelio non crederem : having shewed what is the effect and
Church intent of them, I shall not be very solicitous to shew how all
of faith, that is said to the same effect is answered. For as there is
no head so hard that cannot distinguish between the authority
of the Church, as it is a visible body of men, that could never
have been cozened into the belief of Christianity upon pre
tended motives — whether sufficient or not — and as it is sup
posed by Christians to be a body founded by God; so is
there no heart so hardened with prejudice, as to refuse this
demand: that the authority of the Church, as the Church
presupposes the truth of Christianity, and therefore proves it
not; and, by consequence, no truth that Christianity either 210
containeth or inferreth.
§ 48. Which being admitted, if any thing be ascribed to
the Church which seems not to suppose any part of Christian
truth, it must be referred to the authority and credit of the
Church as a visible body of men, moving others to embrace
the Christian faith. For though this credit contribute to the
making of those men Christians, which are won to the Church
already settled, and so the Church is the Church before they
are Christians; yet is the ground and reason which makes
the Church a body founded by God, to wit, the profession of
Christianity, more ancient in order of reason and nature than
b Sect 13. h See chap. iii. sect. 28.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 549
the being of the Church. And upon supposition of this ground C H A P.
— that is, that the Church hath true reasons, as well as sufficient, —¦  -
to believe — proceeds all that authority of the Church which
St. Augustine allegeth to the Manichees, upon so high terms,
that he would not believe were he not moved by it to believe.
§ 49. Neither was it the authority of the Church, vested
in the rest of the Apostles, that gave St. Paul the authority
of an Apostle over the Church — though I have said afore1,
that all the authority which the Church can ever have, was
in the Apostles and disciples of our Lord, for the time ; and
though it is manifest that St. Paul could not have had the
authority of an Apostle over the Church, had he not been
owned by the rest of the Apostles — but the authority of our
Lord Christ in the Apostles, of the same effect, in obliging
the Church to receive St. Paul for an Apostle, as to receive
that which they preached for the faith.
§ 50. Nor is the matter much otherwise, in the receiving [and of
of any Scripture for canonical. For neither can any man's 0f scrip-
writing be owned for canonical Scripture, not supposing his ture-J
person owned by the Apostles. And his authority, being so
owned, is necessarily before any authority of the Church, and
the very being of it. That some Scriptures may be received
in some Churches, and not in others, is not because any
Church can have authority to reject that which another is
bound to receive ; but because some Church may not know-
that some Scripture comes from a man so owned by the
Apostles- — though another may know it — and yet be a Church,
and salvation be had in the communion of it, such knowledge
depending merely upon evidence in point of fact; and therefore
the act of the Church in listing the Scripture hafh no authority
but that which the presumption of such evidence createth.
§ 51. As for the rest of that which is alleged for the autho- [Of those
rity of the Church, if St. Hierome k resolve to stand to the which
Church of Rome, it is not because he takes the sentence church16
infallible.]
1 Chap. viii. staseon detur auctoritas ; non timebo
Sect 17. tres hypostases dicere, si jubetis.' Ubi
Hieronymus in Epistola ad Dama- asserit se tute secuturum sententiam
sum de nomine hypostasis, postquam Pontificis, quia novit super ilium Ec-
dixerat ; ' super istam petram aedifica- clesiam esse fundatam, nee posse fieri,
tam Ecclesiam scio.' Subjungit ' ob- ut Ecclesiae fundamentum cadat. —
secro ut mihi litteris tuis sive tacen- Card. Bellarm. de Rom. Pontif., lib.
darum, sive dicendarum trium hypo- iv. cap. iii. col. 809. Colon. 1620.

550 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK thereof to be infallible, but because he had reason to pre-
 sume that it were in vain for an angel in heaven to preach
any other faith to it than that which once had been received.
Nor doth St. Cyprian1 make the not believing the Pope's in
fallibility the source of all heresy and schism, but the neglect
of authority derived from the Apostles, upon the heads of par
ticular Churches, in the consent of whom the visibility of the
true faith and Church both consisteth. For it is mere sleight
of hand to take " the rock which the gates of hell vanquish
not," in St. Augustine™, for the Church of Rome, because he
spoke of it in the words next afore ; being meant of the vine
which he had speech of a little afore that ; to wit, the Chris
tianity which our Lord Christ preacheth. For in St. Ber
nard's11 time, I grant, the style was changed, and it might pass
for good doctrine to say that the faith cannot suffer any failure
in the Church of Rome.
§ 52. As for all those passages of the fathers which are
alleged in recommendation, whether of tradition for the rule
of faith, or of traditions which are the laws of the Church,
they are all mine own ; they cannot serve the turn of any
opinion but that which I pretend ; that the tradition of the
Church — witnessed and evidenced by the continual exercise
and practice of the Church, extant in the records of the
Church, not constituted and created by any express act of
those that have authority in behalf of the Church — as it
giveth bounds to the interpretation of the Scripture, in such
1 Sect 18. dotem. At si couferatur hie locus
Quod autem hoc idem Romano cum superiore, apparebit manifeste,
Episcopo conveniat, declarat idem Cy- loqui Cyprianum de Ecclesia uni-
prianus, lib. i. Ep. .3. ad Cornelium, ubi versa. Nam sicut ibi dixerat, inde
loquens de schismate Novatianorum, nasci haereses, quod non quaeritur ca-
qui non agnoscebant Cornelium Ponti- put; et explicuit caput totius Eccle-
ficem ; sic ait ; ' Neque enim aliunde siae esse Petrum ; ita hie dicit, inde
haereses obortae sunt, aut nata sunt nasci haereses, quod non cogitatur
schismata, quam inde quod Sacerdoti unus in Ecclesia judex vice Christi,
Dei non obtemperatur, nee unus in nimirum Cornelius : nam de eo lo-
Ecclesia ad tempus sacerdos, et ad quitur. Quocirca paulo infra in eadem
tempus judex vice Christi cogitatur. epistola vocat Romanam Ecclesiam,
Cui si secundum magisteria divina ob- Petri sedem, et Ecclesiam principalem
temperaret fraternitas universa, nemo unde unitas sacerdotalis exorta est—
adversus sacerdotum collegium quic- Card. Bellarmin., de Rom. Pont, lib. ii.
quam moveret,' &c. cap. xvi. col. 651. Colon. 1620.
Adversarii quidem respondent, hie m Cited by Cardinal Bellarmine for
loqui Cyprianum de singulis Episco- that purpose immediately after the pas-
pis, et particularibus Ecclesiis, et velle sage from St. Hierome in note k above.
dicere, in qualibet Ecclesia unum de- " Sect. 20.
bere esse ad tempus judicem et sacer-

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 551
things as concern the rule of faith; so.it discovereth what CHAP. XXVIII.
laws the Church received from the Apostles, and, by conse-  ~
quence, what is agreeable and consequent to the intent of
the same in future times, according to the difference between
that and the present state of the Church.
§ 53. Let those things, therefore, which have been pro
duced here, be added to that which I alleged in the begin-
2llning°, to make evidence for the corporation ofthe Church,
from the laws given it by the Apostles. Irenaeus p shall serve
both for the authority of the Scripture antecedent to the
authority of the Church, and for the tradition of the Church
bounding the sense of it. For if the same faith which
first was preached was afterwards committed to writing
by the Apostles — and how should those Christians which had
not the use of letters be saved otherwise ? — then was it the
authority of the Apostles, acknowledged by them that found
themselves tied to be Christians, which made the faith to
oblige, whether delivered by writing or without it ; the con
sent of all Churches, in the same rule of faith, serving for
evidence of the Apostles' act, in delivering the same to the
Churches. Nor can any further reason be demanded why
that knowledge which the Gnostics pretended to have re
ceived by secret ways, should be refused, but the want of this.
And therefore it is in vain to allege q, that, as they scorned
the Scripture, so they alleged tradition for this secret know
ledge ; the tradition which they alleged being secret, and such
as could not be made to appear ; but no less contradictory to
the tradition of the Church than to the Scriptures, both in
fallibly witnessed by the consent of all Churches.
§ 54. And hereupon I leave the sayings of St. Augustiner,
setting aside the authority of the council of Nicsea, and
affirming that former general councils may be corrected by
later, without answer ; as also the sayings of them who affirm3
° Chap, vi sect. 7. bant, negabant, nee se earum authori-
' Sect. 21. tate premi patiebantur, sed traditioni-
^ Ratio vero cur a Scripturis ad tra- bus adhaerescebant, ut jam Papistae.
ditiones Apostolicas provocaret, et hae- Contra tales non posse ex Scripturis
reticos non esse ex Scripturis refellen- disputari recte statuit. — "Whitaker, Con-
dos diceret, haec fuit, quia contra illos trov. i. Quaest. vi. cap. xii. p. 388.
haereticos disputavit, qui Scripturas Genev. 1610.
non esse perfectas contendebant, et r Sect. 11.
calumniabantur : imo qui Scripturas » Quarta restat sententia, quae om-
lacerabant, contemnebant, corrumpe- nium fere Lutheranorum communis

552 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK the faith which our Lord hath taught to be the rock upon
 which the Church is built. For if no building can lay that
foundation upon which it standeth, then cannot the Church
make matter of faith, being founded upon it. And that
authority which may be set aside, or corrected, can be no
infallible ground of faith.
§ 55. It is true it is pleaded, that though in the Church
of Rome there be some that do believe that the Church is
able to make new articles of faith— that is, to make such de
terminations in matters of faith as shall oblige all men to
believe them, as much as they are obliged to believe all that
which comes from our Lord by His Apostles — others, that
do believe only that the Church is able to evidence what the
Apostles delivered to the Church, and that this evidence is
the ground whereon particular persons are to rest that what
soever is so evidenced was indeed so delivered by the Apo
stles; yet both these agree in one and the same reason of
believing, both of them alleging the tradition of the Apostles
to the Church for the ground of their faith.
§ 56. But this is more than any man of reason can believe,
unless we allow him that affirms contradictories to ground
himself upon one part of the contradiction, which the other
part of it destroys. For seeing that there must be but one
reason, one ground upon which we believe all that we believe,
and that it is manifest that those articles of faith which the
determination of the Church creates — being not such by any
thing which that determination supposes — are believed to be
such merely in consideration of the authority of the Church
that determines them ; by consequence, the Scripture, and
whatsoever is held to be of faith, upon any ground which the
authority of the Church createth, is no matter of faith, but by
the authority of the Church determining that it be held for
such.
est, et veterum patrum testimoniis tomus, Hom. 55. in Malthceum. Super
confirmaii posse videtur. Siquidem hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam
Hilarius, lib. vi. de Trinitate ' Super meam, id est, fidem atque confessio-
hanc,' inquit, ' confessionis petram Ec- nem. Eodem modo exponit, Hom. 83.
clesiae aedificatio est.' Item : 'Haec fides in Matthteum. Item Cyrillus, lib. iv.
Ecclesiae est fundamentum, per hanc de Trinitate: 'Petram,' inquit, hunc
fidem infirmae adversus earn sunt portae locum exponens, ' opinor nihil aliud
inferorum : haec fides regni ccelestis quam inconcussam et firmissimam
habet claves,' &c. Ambrosius, lib. discipuli fidem vocavit.' — Bellarm. de
vi. cap. 9. in Luc am : 'Fundamentum,' Rom. Pont, lib. i. cap. x. col. 547.
inquit, 'Ecclesiae fides est.' Chrysos- Colon. 1620.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 553
§ 57. On the other side, he that allows tradition to be the CHAP.
• XXVIH
reason why he believes the Christian faith, necessarily allows  '-
all that he allows to be matter of faith, not only to be true,
but to be matter of faith before ever the Church determine it.
So that, allowing him to say that he holds his faith by tra
dition, he must allow me that he contradicts himself, when
soever he takes upon him to maintain that the Church creates
new articles of faith, which were not so the instant before the
determination of the Church,

212 CHAPTER XXIX.
ANSWKK TO AN OBJECTION, THAT CHOICE OF RELIGION BECOMES DIFFI
CULT UPON THESE TEEMS. THIS RESOLUTION IS FOR THE INTEREST
OF THE REFORMATION. THOSE THAT MAKE THE CHURCH INFALLIBLE
CANNOT, THOSE THAT MAKE THE SCRIPTURE CLEAR AND SUFFICIENT
MAY, OWN TRADITION FOR EVIDENCE TO DETERMINE THE MEANING OF
THE SCRIPTURES, AND CONTROVERSIES OF FAITH. THE INTEREST OF
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. THE PRETENCE OF RICHWORTH's DIA
LOGUES, THAT WE HAVE NO UNQUESTIONABLE SCRIPTURE, AND THAT
THE TRADITION OF THE CHURCH NEVER CHANGES.
As little shall I need to be troubled at any reason that may Answer to
be framed against this resolution, having answered the pre- f^n that"
judice * that seems to sway most men to apprehend that God 4^e cl?0.lce
must have been wanting to His Church if all things neces- becomes
, . . , , , . - , . , „ . difficult
sary to salvation be not clearly laid down in the scriptures, upon these
For it is very manifest that the very same presumption11 pos-
1 Si Scriptura esset ita flexiloqua, ut dicem controversiarum religionis qui
nihil certi ex ea erui posset, Christus cum auctoritate possit et Scripturas
non bene consuluisset iis quos ad Scrip, interpretari, adeoque credenda pro-
turas scrutandas hortabatur, Joh. v. 39, ponere, et causas fidei saltern gravio-
quia sic fine suo frustrarentur. Si res, quas nimirum decisas esse interest
enim ita in varios sensus Scriptura dis- Ecclesiae, dirimere et partes contu-
trahi potest, ut in rebus ad salutem ne- maces ad parendum cogere : cum
cessariis verus non sit manifestos, ni- etiam in quavis politica republica recte
hii tam proclive erit quam deviare, et ordinata, opus sit publico magistratu ;
a vero fine, qui est vita aeterna, deflec- qui possit cum auctoritate leges pro-
tere. Est autem absurdissimum, Chris- ponere ac interpretari et secundum
turn tale proposuisse medium, quod leges jus dicere: neque ullo modo sit
non recta via duceret ad finem obti- credibile communitatem Ecclesiasti-
nendum. — Riveti, lsagog. ad "Script cam minus recte a Deo ordinatam ac
Sacr. cap. xix. § 31. p. 290. Lugdun. dispositam esse, quam communitatem
Batav. 1627. civilem : praesertim quando ipsa ex-
u Necessarium in Ecclesia esse, perientia constat, res fidei in Ecclesia
adeoque etiam re ipsa extare commu- non minus saepe, turn ob humani in-
nem quendam fidei magistrum, et ju- genii imbecilli tatem, turn ob ipsarum

554 OF THE PRINCIPLES
book sesses the minds of the adverse party, that God must needs
—  have provided a visible judge, infallible in deciding all con
troversies of faith ; whether the Church, or any person, or
persons, authorized in behalf of the Church, for the present
all is one.
§ 2. I shall therefore only demand that it be consi
dered, first, that God was no way tied either to send our
Lord Christ, or to give His Gospel ; which, because it comes
of God's free grace, is therefore called the "word of His
grace," and " the covenant of grace." Then, that He hath
not found Himself obliged to provide effectual means to bring
all mankind to the knowledge of it ; resting content to have
provided such as — if men be not wanting to their own salva
tion, and the salvation of the rest of mankind — may be suf
ficient to bring all men to the knowledge of it. And when
it is come to knowledge, all discreet Christians, notwithstand
ing, must acknowledge that the motives thereof fully pro
pounded, though abundantly sufficient to reasonable persons,
yet do not constrain those that are convicted by them, to
proceed according to them, as necessary reasons constrain all
understandings that see them, to judge by them.
§ 3. For how should it be a trial of men's dispositions, if
there were no way to avoid the necessity of those motives
that enforce it ? Now if any knowledge can be had of truth
in matters of faith that become disputable, it must all, of neces
sity, depend upon the sufficiency of those motives which con
vict men to embrace the Christian faith. And if there be any
such skill as that of a divine among Christians, of necessity
all of it proceeds upon supposition of the said motives, which,
not pretending to shew the reason of things which they con
vict men to believe, convict them, notwithstanding, to believe
that they are revealed by God. For what conviction can
rerum obscuritatem, dubias et con- sententia et doctrina 
troversas esse, quam res temporales in Ergo prima ejus rei ratio hunc in
republica. Ut ergo controversiae hujus- modum a divina providentia ducitur;
modi legitime decidantur, opus est nisi talis aliqua extaiet auctoritas, ma-
judice. — Tanner., Disp. de Fide, gistra doctrinae fidei, non satis esset a
Qu. iii. Dub. i. § 4. coll. 118, 119. Deo prospectum hominibus de neces-
Dubitandum non est, quin aliqua sariis rebus ad salutem aeternam com-
extet auctoritas ad judicandurn de parandam. At satis in eo genere illis.
fidei controversiis omnibus, infallibilis, prospectum est. Extat igitur talis
per quam in omni determinata quae- aliqua auctoritas. — Greg, de Valentia,
stione cognoscere fideles omnes com- Analysis Fid. Cath., lib. iii. cap. ii.p. 19-,
mode possint, quae sit Christi verissima Paris. 1610.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

555

there be that this or that is true, unless it may appear to fall chap.
under those motives, as the means which God hath employed  —
so to recommend it.
§ 4. Therefore can it not be reasonable to require a greater [The solu-
evidence to the truth of things disputable among Christians, that diffi-
than God hath allowed Christianity itself; which being sup- ^"f^
posed on all hands, it remains questionable whether this or
that be part of it. Therefore can it not be presumed that
God hath made the Scriptures clear in all points necessary to
salvation to all understandings concerned ; or that He hath
provided a visible judge, infallible in determining controver
sies of faith ; either because originally His goodness requires
it, or because we cannot suppose that men can be obliged to
embrace the Gospel upon other terms. It is sufficient, that,
having given the Scriptures, He hath over and above provided
the communion of the Church, to preserve the rule of faith
and the laws of the Church in the sensible knowledge and
common practice of all Christians ; that the means of salva
tion might be sufficient, and yet men remain subject to trial
whether they would render them ineffectual or not, to them
selves and the rest of mankind.
§5.1 confess indeed, it would be much for the ease of the
parties, and would shorten their work very much, if it might be
admitted for a presumption, that all things necessary are clear
in the Scriptures, or that the Church is an infallible judge in
controversies of faith. For then the superficial sound of the
213 words of Scripture, repeated by rote, in the pulpit or out of
the pulpit, would serve to knock the greatest question on the
head, without any advice what difficulties remain behind, un
decided, upon no less appearances in Scripture ; on the other
side, a decree of the council of Trent would serve to put the
Scripture to silence, without any proffer to satisfy the con
science that is moved with the authority thereof, equally
obliging with our common Christianity, with the sense of the
Church on the same side to boot.
§ 6. Thus much is visible, that they whose business it is, in
England, to reconcile souls to the Church of Rome, find their
work ready done when they have gained this point ; and men
all their lives afore grounded upon contrary reasons, in the
particulars which are the subject of the breach, change their

556 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK profession without any contrary resolution in those particulars,
 that is, their former grounds remaining in force. Surely
nothing were more desirable than a ready and short way to
the truth, in things so concerning. But to pretend it upon a
ground which, if any thing can be demonstrative in this kind,
is demonstratively proved that it cannot be true ; to wit, the
authority of the Church decreeing, without means to derive
that which it decreeth, from the motives that should evidence
it to be revealed by God ; this, I say, to pretend, is no better
than an imposture.
§ 7. And if this be true, I remain secure of that which
every man will object against the resolution which I advance,
that whereas the meaning of the Scripture alone is a thing too
difficult for the most part of men to compass, I require further
that it be assured by the records of the Church, which are
endless, and which no man's industry can attain to know ; so
that the mere despair of finding resolution by the means pro
pounded, will justify to God him tbat follows probabilities x,
as being all one in that case, whether there be no truth, or
whether it cannot appear to those whom it concerns.
% Quandoquidem igitur S. Augus- quidam minus fundamentales vocant;
tino, Hieronymo et aliis Sanctis, ac in sed nunquam perfecte a fundamentali-
Scriptura doctissimis patribus suffe- bus distinguere possunt, adeoque sem-
cerit ad securitatem fidei ; quod essent per conscientia inquieta relinquitur.
in vera Christi Ecclesia et ab ea veri- Secund. Quia asserunt tam concilia
tatem acciperent; imo ab Episcopo generalia, quam nationalia, qualiter-
Romano, tanquam oves a pastore, in cunque sacram Scripturam allegent,
fidei dubiis determinationem postula- in fidei doctrina errare posse. Tert.
verint, hoc ipsum cuilibet Christiano Quod quilibet adhuc de talis concilii
suificere deberet, ut secure in fide Ec- definitionibus ultimate judicare possit
clesiae Catholicae RomanaeDeo serviat: Quart. Fateri debent, et verissimum
quam videt tot modis ex S. Scriptura est; quod pluris facienda sint decreta
et Sanctorum patrum testimoniis esse plurium doctorum et alicujus concilii
demonstratam, et veris notis ac signis quam alicujus privati judicium, eo
a falsis Ecclesiis distinctam. Quicun- quod alicujus privati judicium circa
que ergo in hac Ecclesia est de fide non verba sacrae Scripturae valde incertum
sit solicitus, sed quaestiones circa par- sit, et inde saepe provenit, quod tot
ticulares fidei articulos a sancta matre sint sententiae, quot capita; cum qui-
Ecclesia doctos remittat ad doctiores ; libet pro suo affectu, vel infirmo intel-
sufficit ipsi quod in ea Ecclesia sit, lectu, et captu sibi persuadet se sacram
quam esse invictam et ineffabilem ni- Scripturam clare intelligere ; et sic
mis clare demonstratum est, qui vero iniquitas haeresum mentitur sibi, et
in ilia nondum est, ad illam ut matrem conscientias miserorum, quas serenare
et unicam naviculam Petri, in qua sal- promittit, turpissime involvit, et perdit,
vari possit, humiliter se conferat. Deus misereatur illorum ; illuminet
Videat autem quicunque Acatholi- vultum suum super illos ; et ad gre-
cus, quomodo in sua fide securus esse mium Matris Ecclesiae reducere digne-
possit; cum doceant, primo, quod Ec- tur Amen. — Vetweis, Speculum Verae
clesia universalis etiam vera possit er- Ecclesiae, lib. v. cap. iv. conclus. vi. p.
rare in quibusdam articulis fidei, quos 227-. Colon. 1664.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

557

§ 8. This objection, I say, I do not find so heavy upon me chap.
that I have any cause to mince, but rather to aggravate the ^—r^
difficulty of it, having shewed? that the means provided by God make this
to make evidence of the faith to the consciences of particular ^e^r.]
Christians, is not any gift of infallibility vested in any person,
or persons, on behalf of the whole Church, but the unity of the
whole Church, grounded upon the profession of the same faith
as the condition of it. For in all reason, what unity binds,
that division destroys. And whatsoever unity contributes to
the assurance of a Christian that he is in the way to salvation
so long as he continues in the unity of the Church, that the
division of the Church necessarily derogates from the same
assurance in him that cannot continue in that unity which is
once dissolved, and yet, believing the Scriptures and our com
mon Christianity to be infallibly true, cannot believe the
parties to be infallible, as they are. And what hath he that
desireth the unity of the Church to do, but to aggravate that
difficulty of attaining salvation which the division thereof pro
duceth ? I do therefore grant, and challenge as for mine
own interest, that it is very difficult for unlearned Christians
to discern the truth in those controversies about which a set
tled division is once formed, as now in the western Church;
at least upon so true and so clear grounds as may assure them
that they make their choice upon no other interest than that
of God's truth.
§ 9. But I do not therefore yield to that which this diffi
culty, it seems, hath wrung from Vincentius Lirinensis — with
whom agreeth the Opus imperfectum in Matth., as you have
them quoted afore2 — that there is no means but Scripture to
convince inveterate heresies : the reason whereof the latter of
those authors renders3, because those heresies have their
Churches, their pastors, and the succession of them, and their
communion, as well as Catholic Christians : for he supposeth
pastors lawfully constituted to have fallen away to those
' See chap. xx. seett. 20, 21. Christi in veritate habent et haereses
z Chap, xxviii. sect 10. illae in schismate : similiter ecclesias,
* Antea enim multis modis osten- similiter et ipsas Scripturas divinas,
debatur, quae esset Ecclesia Christi, similiter Episcopos, caeterosque ordines
et quae gentilitas : nunc autem nullo clericorum, similiter, baptismum, aliter
modo cognoscitur, volentibus cognos- Eucharistiam, et caetera omnia, denique
cere, quae sit vera Ecclesia Christi, nisi ipsum Christum. — S. Chrysost Opp.,
tantummodo per Scripturas. Quare ? torn. vi. p. cciv. ed. Ben.
quia omnia ha&c quae sunt proprie

558

OF THE PRINCIPLES

BOOK I.

heresies. And truly the case of this difficulty was putb when
the Arian faction had possessed so great a part of the Church,
that St. Gregory Nazianzen, in the place afore quoted0,
acknowledges that the true Church could not be judged by
numbers ; with whom St. Hilary, libro de SynodisA, agreeth.
§ 10. But if the same Nazianzen scorn them that value
the Church by numbers, Liberius, in the place afore quoted
out of Theodorete, scorns it much more, in saying that the
cause ofthe faith could not suffer, though he were alone. For 214
not only the Scriptures continue always the same, but though
the present Church fail, it follows not that the tradition of the
whole Church must fail with it. So long as the original sense
of the whole Church may be evident, by the agreement
thereof with the Scripture, we may discern what is Catholic
without the sentence of the present Church f. And that

b "But if it be said that the greatest
part must carry it, beside that it is im
possible for us to know which way the
greatest part goes in many questions,
it is not always true that the greater
part is the best, sometimes tbe contrary
is most certain, and it is often very
probable, but it is always possible.
And when paucity of followers was
objected to Liberius, he gave this in
answer, there was a time when but
three children of the captivity resisted
the king's decree. And Athanasius
wrote on purpose against those that
did judge of truth by multitudes, and
indeed it concerned him so to do, when
he alone stood in the gap against the
numerous armies of the Arians." —
Jeremy Taylor's Liberty of Prophesy
ing, § 9. p. 161. London, 1647.
c Chap, xxviii. sect. 10.
d Nihil autem mirum videri vobis
debet, Fratres carissimi, quod tam fre
quenter exponi fides coeptae sunt : ne-
cessitatem hanc furor haereticus impo-
nit Nam tantum Ecclesiarum Orien-
talium periculum est, ut rarum sit
hujus fidei — quae qualis sit, vos judi-
cate — aut sacerdotes aut populum in-
veniri. Male enim per quosdam im
pietati auctoritas data est: ex exiliis,
quorum causam non ignoratis, vires
auctae sunt profanorum. Non pere-
grina loquor, neque ignorata scribo,
audivi ac vidi vitia praesentium ; non
laicorum sed Episcoporum. Nam abs
que Episcopo Eleusis et paucis cum
eo, ex majori parte Asianae decern pro-
vinciae, intra quas consisto, vere Deum

nesciunt. — Cap. xxvii. col. 1186. ed.
Ben. e Chap, xxviii. sect. 10.
' Est igitur traditio in primis ad
salutem Ecclesiae necessaria, atque
adeo magis, quam ipsa Scriptura. Pri
mum, quia Ecclesia legis naturae sine
scriptis libris fuit, non tamen sine doc-
trina fidei, et traditione, quia in Abel,
Noe, et Abraham legimus fidem fuisse,
nihil autem libris consignatum fuisse
invenimus. Deinde Ecclesia Moysis
coaluit, et ex iEgypto egressa est, et
usque ad Pentecosten, hoc est, post
quinquagesimam diem, nihil scriptum
receperat, eo vero die conscendit mon-
tem Moses et accepit legem digito Dei
scriptam. Tertio Novum Testamen
tum per plures annos ante scriptum
fuit in corde, quam in charta, et nemo
negabit tempore Apostolorum ante-
quam quicquam chartis consignarent
veram Dei Ecclesiam fuisse. Quarto
eo tempore, quo sacra Scriptura com-
busta a Chaldaeis fuisse perhibetur, certe
Ecclesia traditione regebatur: et quando
liber Deuteronomii et longo post tem
pore a Josia inventus, certe erat Eccle
sia Dei. Modo etiam si forte Scrip
turae ullo casu occultarentur aut peri-
rent — quod Deus omen avertat — certe
ad traditionem vivam esset recurren-
dum ;  Porro existente Scriptura,
ilia non satis est ad Ecclesiam regen-
dam, sed etiam traditione ad multa est
opus, quam ipsa Scriptura magnopere
commendat. Unde ad earn mittit fili-
um Ecclesiae, ' Interroga,' inquit, ' pa
trem tuum et annuntiabit tibi, majores

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 559
which is not so to be discerned for Catholic, we may presume CHAP.
that our salvation requires us not to believe it.  —
§ 11. And therefore Vincentius and his fellow are so to be
understood, that it is difficult indeed to make evidence to
private Christians of tradition contrary to that which they see
received by heresies ; and therefore that for the convicting of
them in the truth, recourse is to be had to the Scriptures : but
Vincentius, who, as I shewed youg, acknowledges evidence for
tradition, from written records of the Church, need not have
said that there is no means to convince inveterate heresies
but the Scriptures. Be this difficulty then the evidence how
much it concerns the salvation of all Christians that the unity
of the Church be restored ; that the choice of private Chris
tians, in matters concerning their salvation, be not put upon
the sentencing of those disputes, the reasons whereof they are
not able to manage. For being restored upon agreement in
those things which it is sufficient for all Christians to believe,
it will neither be easy for private Christians to frame to them
selves opinions destructive to their particular salvation within
that compass, neither will their fall be imputable to the Church,
but to themselves, if they do.
§ 12. But neither shall this difficulty be so great an incon
venience in our common Christianity, nor so insuperable as it
seems to those that are loath to be too much troubled about
the world to come. For I never found that God pretendeth
to give, or that it is reason He should give those means for
attaining that truth by which we must be saved, which it
should not lie within the malice of man to render difficult for

tuos et dicent tibi, et David,' 'Deus tem necessarium est, quianosnescimus,
auribus nostris audivimus,' &c  quid illi autores sacri scripserint : et
Praeterea in sacris literis praecipitur, licet sciremus, quod tamen adfuerit
ut inferiores audiant suos superiores, semper eis Spiritus Sanctus, non con-
et obediant praepositis suis. Potius staret nobis : et licet constaret et habe-
ergo Scriptura commendat traditionem, remus autographa, qui scire possemus,
quam traditio Scripturam ; et ob id non esse corrupta, et per haereticos de-
magis est necessaria, quia ad illam pravata ad nos non venisse ? Nam etsi
commendandam est Scriptura. Qua demus libro aliquo canonico catalogum
posita adhuc opus est traditione, primo librorum canonicorum consignari, ad-
ad canonizandam Scripturam, id est, hue opus esset traditione, quae traderet
ut a posteriori credamus libros esse nobis librum ejusmodi continentem
divinos, et a Spiritu Sancto conscriptos catalogum, et daret etiam alios incor-
ad partem traditionis Apostolicae com- ruptos, quos ille liber vocaret canoni-
municandam. Nam a priori credimus, cos. — Salmeron. in Ep. Paul., Disp.
quia Deus revelat, ad quod credendum, viii. torn. xiii. p. 215. Colon. 1614.
unctio Dei et fides inclinat. Hoc au- f Chap. vii. seett 20 — 23.

560 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK them to compass whom they concern. I find it abundantly
 '- — enough for His unspeakable goodness, and exactly agreeable
with those means whereby He convicteth the world of the
truth of Christianity, that He give those whom it concerns
such means to discern the truth of things in debate, as being
duly applied, are of themselves sufficient to create a resolution
as certain as the weight of the matter in debate shall require.
§ 13. And such I maintain the Scripture to be, containing
the sense of it within those bounds which the rule of faith, and
the laws given the Church by our Lord and His Apostles, do
limit. For what is more obvious than to discern what the
whole body of the Church hath agreed in, what not, what is
manifestly consequent to the same, what not ? what is agree
able to the ground and end of those laws which the Church
first received from our Lord and His Apostles, what not ? Let
prejudice cast what mists of difficulties it can, before the light*
which God hath given His Church, to discover the truth, he
that stands out of their way shall discern much more art used
to obscure than to discern it. Neither is there any reason
why it is so hard to make it discernible to all that are con
cerned, but the unreasonable prejudices either of the force of
human authority in matter of faith, and the extent of tradition
beyond the rule of faith, or that the consent of the whole
Church may as well come from Antichrist as from the Apo
stles. § 14. If the records of the Church were handled without
these prejudices, less learning than this age shews in other
matters might serve to evidence the consent of the Church
in more controversies than we have, to those that would be
content to rest in the Scripture expounded according to the
same. But if the Churchh, that is, those that have right in
h Aliud Catholicae sententiae hac in tere quam Scripturam, supra ostensum
parte fundamentum esse potest, quod est ; unde etiam hoc quod nunc statu-
Ecclesia non est alhgata ad Scriptu- imus fundamentum satis confirmatum
ram ipsam vel m docendo, vel in regi- esse videri potest. Sed ne vel idem
mine externo ; ut videlicet propterea repetere, vel principium petere vide-
mhil docere vel praescnbere posset nisi amur, ex aliis mediis ostendemus non
quod scriptum sit Alhgata sane est ad esse alligatam ad Scripturas Ecclesiam,
verbum De. quod illi perpetuo dictat quod pro re competissima summit
Spiritus Sanctus ; sed sive id verbum in Protestantes, indeque ostendere conan-
scnpto porngat, sive extra scriptum. tur esse totius fidei sufficientissimam
Nam utnumque facere Spiritum Sane- regulam solam Scripturam. Et sane
turn, ipsumque Dei verbum latius pa- si alligata ad Scripturas esset Ecclesia,

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

561

behalf of the Church, being persuaded of a sacrilegious privi
lege of infallibility, shall take upon them to determine truths
in debate, to limit laws to the Church, without respect to this
rule — which if they respect, they manifestly renounce the
privilege of their infallibility — I marvel not that God suffers
His people to be tried with such difficulties, whose sins I doubt
[not] deserve this trial ; but then I say further, that it is not
the providence of God — that is, the means which He hath pro-

c H A P.
xxix.

consequeretur necessari o quod inferunt.
Nos ergo ex contrario medio contrarium
recte inferimus ; et pro altero funda-
mento hoc medium recte ponimus.
Non esse igitur ad Scripturas alligatam
Ecclesiam evidenti ratione ostenditur.
Primum, quia Ecclesia sine praevia
Scriptura tanquam demonstrationis me
dio, sed solo instinctu Spiritus Sancti
edocta, ipsasmet Scripturas, modo has,
modo illas taxavit, consignavit, suaque
authoritatc approbavit, ut est antea
ostensum; atque ita rem ad fidem
maxime necessariam, sine Scriptura
concludit. Deinde sine alia Scriptura,
ipsas Scripturas saepenumero interpre-
tatur ; ipsumque sensum quem ex-
pressit,necessariocredendumtradit,soloetiam Spiritu Dei ad illud infallibiliter
concludendum instructa, quod et antea
demonstratum est. Praeterea plurima
docuit Ecclesiam Spiritus Sanctus,
etiam post datas Scripturas, absque
Scriptura; id est, absque expresso in
Scripturis mandato ; plurima, inquam,
turn ad cultum, et religionem, turn ad
fidem ipsam pertinentia. Hujus rei
exempla pauca de multis breviter per-
stringam. Docuit nempe Spiritus
Sanctus Judaeos, ex certa religione
nervum non comedere. Docuit Moy-
sem ex consilio Jethro cognati sui in-
stituere seniores super populum, et con-
fringere tabulas illi a Deo datas. Do
cuit Eliam facere Altare de duodecim
lapidibus, et immolare ibidem. Docuit
Rechabitas ex voto non bibere vinum.
Docuit Ezecbiam regem confringere et
demoliri aeneum serpentem, Dei tamen
mandato in Scripturas relato erectum :
dqpuit etiam Pascha celebrare tempore
non suo. Haec et alia permulta in
veteri populo docuit fideles Spiritus
Sanctus, absque ullo Dei mandato in
Scripturis expresso, quibus et Deum
rite colerent et religionis actu Deo
placerent Quin et Christo veniente
docuit idem Spiritus Sanctus absque
ullo in Scripturis mandato, tres Magos
offeree dona Christo; Magdalenam nar-
THORNDIKE. 0 O

do unguenti optimi Christi caput inun-
gere ; Nicodemum aromatibus condire
corpus Christi, Judaeos ferre ramos
palmarum ante Christum ; multaque
similia privata pietatis opera, quae in
Evangelio narrantur. Idem quoque
Spiritus Sanctus etiam in publica doc-
trina et regimine publico. Docuit Apo
stolos instituere diaconos, convocare
concilium, et ibidem praecipere fidelibus
abstinere a sanguine et suffocato. Do
cuit Paulum praescribere foeminis vela
men capitis, facere collectas, ordinare
viduas in ministerium Ecclesiae, decer-
nere de comedendis immolatitiis, ap-
probare dispar conjugium fidelis et in-
fidelis, de virginibus consilium dare —
de qua re diserte dicit, dico ego non
Dominus — cireumdictionem sororum
mulierum, pro re licita venditare, pro-
phetandi in Ecclesia rationem praescri
bere, multaque similia aliis in locis. . . .
Quemadmodum ergo in istis omni
bus, absque ullo verbo scripto multa
docuit veteres justos atque Apostolos
Spiritus Sanctus, multa docet docen-
tem semper Ecclesiam, neque illi in
his omnibus ad solam Scripturam alli-
gari, sed ex Spiritus Sancti instinctu
omnia se facere posse quae Ille dictaret,
non dubitabant ; ad eundera plane mo-
dum, ut idem Spiritus Sanctus absque
scripto verbo multa Ecclesiam olim
docuerit, quae hodie usque per tradi-
tionem Ecclesiasticam retinentur, in-
conveniens non est, nee cum ipsius
Scripti verbi injuria aut nota conjunc-
tum. Nee enim certe vel minor fuit,
aut sufficientia aut majestas scripti
verbi Veteris Instrument^ respectu
veteris populi, quam est Novi Instru
ment! respectu nostro;- vel minus effi-
cax est Spiritus Sanctus in Ecclesia.
nunc quam olim fuit; quum sit in
aeternum datus : imo vero quum multo
eflicacior sit, magisque abunde diffusus
in hoc statu Novi Testamenti quam
antea fuerit — Stapleton. Princip. Fidei,
Controv. vii. lib. xii. cap. iv. pp. 439,
440. Paris. 1582.

562 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK vided to resolve men in debates of Christianity — but it is the
 h  malice of man that makes that means ineffectual which God
hath made sufficient.
Thisreso- § 15. I must now answer an envious objection, that this re- 215
fbi'the8 solution is not according to the positions of those that profess the
Ihereforf reformation with us; to which I will speak as freely as to the
mation. restj having professed myself utterly assoiled of all faction and
respect of men's persons, to sway against the means of finding
the truth, and for that reason divested even the fathers of
the Church of all authority, which their merits from Chris
tianity have purchased, to hear what their testimonies argue
in point of historical truth. I say then, first, that my saying
no way prejudices the intent and interest of the reformation,
whatsoever insufficiency it may charge the expressions of the
reformers with.
§ 16. I know the worst that can be alleged in this point is,
that Luther l, in appealing, from the Pope and council called
by him, to a council that should judge merely by the Scrip
tures, first framed this controversy between the Scriptures and
the Church, which since hath been always in debate ; so that
he which will not be tried by the Scriptures alone, plainly
seems to quit the party and give up the game. Who has this
imagination, though never so apparent, let me desire him to
go a little higher, to the first commencing of the plea about
indulgences. For there can be nothing more manifest than
this, that when those that undertook that cause against Lu
ther, found that the present practice of the Church could not
be derived from any thing recorded in the Scripture, they
were forced to betake themselves to the authority of the
Church, not that which consisteth in testifying the faith once
delivered, but in creating that which never was of force until
the exercise of it.
§ 17. Here let all the world judge — for I am confident the
case is so plain that all the world may judge in it — whether
Luther had any interest to demand that the Scripture alone
should be heard, in opposition to the tradition received from
the beginning by the Church, tending, as I have saidk, to
nothing but to limit the meaning of the Scripture ; or that
' See chap. ii. seett 1, 2. t Chap, xxviii. seett. 27—30.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 563
his interest required him to protest that the truth for which he chap.
stood was not to be liable to the sentence of the present Church. XX1X-
And therefore when, afterwards, he appealed to a council
which should pronounce by the Scriptures alone, if this tend
to exclude those means which are subordinate to the attaining
ofthe meaning of the Scriptures, I do utterly deny that it can
be understood so to be meant by any man that would not de
feat his own enterprise. And therefore that it must be un
derstood to exclude only the authority of the present Church,
so far as it proceeds not upon supposition of those grounds
whereupon the Church is to pronounce.
§ 18. For what hinders the sentence of the Church to be Those that
infallible, not of itself alone, but as it proceeds upon those chufchhi-
means which, duly applied, produce a sentence that is infalli- feeble
lioji i-i i i i cannot,
Die i and truly, were not his plea so to be understood, all his those that
followers, Melancthon, Chemnitius, and others, who have writ- scripture
ten volumes to shew how their profession agrees with that of sclent
the Catholic Church, should have taken pains to commit a may> own
_, _ , , , , tradition
very great inconsequence. For, as I have argued ', that those for evi-
who maintain the infallibility of the present Church do con- determine
tradict themselves, whensoever they have recourse either to ?J® J£et^,~
the Scripture or to any records of the Church to evidence Scripture
, « , . . . and con-
the sense of the Scriptures in that which otherwise they pro- troyersies
fess the authority of the Church alone infallibly to determine ; °
so those that will have the Scripture alone to determine all
controversies of faith, and yet take the pains to bring evidence
of the meaning thereof from that which hath been received in
the Church, may very well be said to take pains to contradict
themselves. § 19. Some of our Scottish Presbyterians1" have ob-
1 Chap, xxviii. sect 49. reformation of England to have been
_ » "After that it pleased God, by the defective, and saith, ' It is easy to ima-
light of His glorious Gospel, to dispel gine of what difficulty it was to reform
the more than Cimmerian darkness of all things at the first, where the most
antichristianism, and by the antidote of part ofthe privy council, ofthe nobility,
reformation to avoid the poison of Bishops, judges, gentry, and people,
popery ; for as much as in England were open or close papists, where few
and Ireland, every noisome weed which or none of any countenance stood for
God's hand had never planted was not religion at the first, but the protector
pulled up, therefore we now see the and Cranmer.' The Church of Scot-
faces of those Churches overgrown with land was blessed with a more glorious
the repullulating twigs and sprigs of and perfect reformation than any of
popish superstition. Mr. Sprint, Repl. our neighbour Churches. The doc-
lo the Answ., p. 269, acknowledgeth the trine, discipline, regiment, and policy
o o 2

564

OF THE PRINCIPLES

book served that the Church of England was reformed by those
--  that had more esteem of Melancthon than of Calvin, and
esttfttiT therefore affected a compliance with the ancient Church.
EngiaCnd?f And truly, it is fit it should be thought that they complied
with him, because he complied with the Catholic Church, for
by that reason they shall comply with the Church, if in any
thing he comply not with it. But it is a great deal too little
for him to say that will say the truth for the Church of Eng
land. For it hath an injunction" which ought still to have
the force of a law, that no interpretation of the Scripture be
alleged, contrary to the consent of the fathers ; which, had it
been observed, the innovations which I dispute against could
have had no pretence.
§ 20. If this be not enough, he that shall take pains to 216
peruse what Dr. Field hath written hereupon, in his work of
the Church, shall find that which I say to be no novelty, either
in the Church of England, or in the best learned doctors be
yond the seas. And sure the reformation was not betrayed
when the Bishop of Sarum" challenged all the Church of

established here by ecclesiastical and
civil laws, and sworn and subscribed
unto by the king's majesty, and several
presbyteries, and parish churches of
the land, as it had the applause of
foreign divines, so was it in all points
agreeable unto the word : neither could
the most rigid Aristarchus of these
times, challenge any irregularity in the
same. But now, alas, even this Church,
which was once so great a praise in the
earth, is deeply corrupted, and hath
turned aside quickly out of the way.
So that this is the Lord's controversy
against Scotland, ' I had planted thee
a noble vine, wholly a right seed, how
then art thou turned into the degene
rate plant of a strange vine unto Me.' "
" It is not this day feared but felt,
that the rotten dregs of popery, which
were never purged away from England
and Ireland, and having once been
spued out with detestation, are licked
up again, in Scotland, prove to be the
unhappy occasions of a woful recidi-
vation." — A Dispute against the Eng
lish Ceremonies obtruded upon the
Church of Scotland, pref., p. 3. A.D.
1637. ° Concionatores modeste et sobrie in
omni vitae parte sese gerent.

Imprimis vero videbunt, ne quid un
quam doceant pro concione, quod a
populo religiose teneri et credi velint,
nisi quod consentaneum sit doctrinae
Veteris aut Novi Testamenti, quodque
ex ilia ipsa doctrina catholici patres et
veteres Episcopi collegerint. — Lib.
Can., edit. A.D. 1573. Wilkins,. Con
cil. Magn. Britann., torn. iv. p. 267.
Londin. 1737.
0 " If any learned man of all our
adversaries, or if all the learned men
that be alive be able to bring any one
sufficient sentence out of any old Catho
lic doctor or father, or out of any old
general council, or out of the Holy
Scriptures of God, or any one example
of the primitive Church, whereby it
may be clearly and plainly proved that
there was any private mass for the
space of 600 years after Christ, or that
there was any, &c 
" If any man alive were able to prove
any of these articles by any one clear
or plain clause or sentence, either of
the Scriptures, or of the old doctors, or
of any old general council, or by any
example of the primitive Church, I
promised them that I would give over
and subscribe unto him." — Bishop
Jewel's Sermon at Paul's Cross in 1560.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 565
Rome, at St. Paul's cross, to make good the points in differ- chap.
ence by the first six hundred years of the Church.  —
§ 21. Always it is easy for me to demonstrate that this reso
lution, that the Scripture, holding the meaning of it by the
tradition of the Church, is the only means to decide contro
versies of faith, is nearer to the common terms, that the Scrip
ture is the only rule of faith, than to that infallibility which is
pretended for the Church of Rome ; having demonstrated that
to depend upon the infallibility of the present, and the tra
dition of the Catholic Church, are things inconsistent, whereas
this cannot be inconsistent with that Scripture which is no
less delivered from age to age than tradition is — though the
one by writing, the other by word of mouth — and serving
chiefly to determine the true meaning of it when it comes in
debate. § 22. And if prejudice and passion carry not men headlong
to the ruin of that Christianity which they profess, it cannot
seem an envious thing to comply with the most learned of the
Church of Rome, who acknowledge not yet any other infalli
bility in the Church than I claim p, rather than with the Soci
nians, the whole interest of whose heresy consists in being
tried by Scripture alone, without bringing the consent of the
Church into consequence, and that, supposing all matter of
faith must be clear in the Scripture to all them that consult
with nothing but Scripture.
§ 23. But I cannot leave this point till I have considered The pre-
a singular conceit advanced in Richworth's Dialogues, for RjCh_
maintaining the infallibility of the Church upon a new ac- S?aioeues
count. The pretence of the book is 1 to establish a certain fhat we
* m i nave no
ground of the choice of religion, by the judgment of common unques-tionable Scripture,
' See chap. iv. sect. 19. non potest, scilicet ut Papa, in deter-
One of them, however, the Arch- minando, etiamsi ut particularis et
bishop of Florence, seems to have de- privata persona possit. Unde magis
serted the opinion of Panormitan, for standum est sententiae Papae de per-
in the 4th part of his Summa, Tit. viii. tinentibus ad fidem, quam in judicio
cap. iii. de Fide quantum ad Actum, we proferret, quam opinioni quorumcum-
read : — Ratio, quare fides Ecclesiae in que sapientum. — S. Antonin. Florent,
generali deficere non potest, est quia a Opp. torn. iv. col. 450. Veronae, 1740.
divina providentia Ecclesia regitur, sci- 1 The title runs thus; The Dialogues
licet a Spiritu Sancto earn dirigente, ut of "William Richworth, or the Judg-
non erret. Et licet Papa in particulari mend of Common Sense in the Choise
errare possit, ut in judicialibus, in qui- of Religion. Printed at Paris by John
bus proceditur per informationem ; alias Mestais, 1640.
in liis, quae pertinent ad fidem, errare

566

OF THE PRINCIPLES

BOOK I.

[Rich-
worth's
argument
for tradi
tion]

[from the
mistakes
of tran
scribers,]

sense, to which purpose I pretend not to speak in this place,
thinking it sufficient if this whole work may enable them
who are moved with it, duly to make that choice for them
selves, and to shew those that depend on them how to do the
like. § 24. But inasmuch as no man will deny the choice of re
ligion to be the choice of truth before falsehood, in those par
ticulars whereof the difference of religion consists ; it is mani
fest that the means of discerning between true and false in
matter of faith, which I pretend, cannot stand with that which
he advancethr. It consists in two points, that the Scripture
is not, and that tradition is, the certain means of deciding this
truth. Which, if no more were said, will not amount to a con
tradiction against that which I resolve. For he that says the
Scripture is not the only means, excluding that tradition which
determines the meaning of it, doth neither deny that tradition
is, nor say that the Scripture is, the certain means of deciding
this kind of truth : but the issue of his reasons will easily shew
upon what terms the contradiction stands.
§ 25. He citeth8 then common sense to witness, that we
cannot rest certain that we have those Scriptures which came,
we agree, by inspiration of God, by reason of the manifold

' " And this we, and we only can
do, for the Church's security riseth out
of this, that she hath another more
forcible ground of her faith, to wit,
tradition, by which being assured what
the trutb is, she can confidently pro
nounce that in this book there is no
thing contrary or prejudicial thereunto,
which no profession that relieth only
upon Scripture can do, because they
must first be assured of the text before
they can judge ofthe doctrine." — Dia
log. 2. p. 249.
s "For let us take a book of 2,000
columns, and let us likewise suppose —
which is very likely — that as many
copies were made in some age of an
hundred years, and let us then put 56
lines to a column, and 6 words to a
line, and so there will be in one column
336 words. And further, may we not
well suppose that there were as many
faults escaped in every copy — one with
another — as there be words in a column,
which being supposed you will find
that the number of all the errors escaped
in all the copies, which have been made

since tbe Apostles' time, will amount
to 15 or 16 times as many as there be
words in the Bible. Wherefore by this
account it would be 15 nr 16 to 1 of
any particular place that it were not
the true text. "Which me thinks can
not be true.
"Uncle. I do not think that you
have taken your proportion too high.

" And to your calculation I will add
another. Suppose there were as many
written copies extant as the number of
your columns, and as much variety in
those which have not been examined,
as in those which have been looked
into; and further, that Sixtus V., for
the setting out of his Bible, caused only
an hundred to be examined, and that
in his Bible the corrections amount-
as it is known they do — to the number
of 2,000, do you not see that the com
putation made of the various lections
of all those copies would make it 20 for
every volume." — Dial. 2. pp. 255—
259.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 567
changes which common sense makes appearance must come to c h a p.
. . . . . XXIX
pass in transcribing, upon such a supposition as this ; that so  -'—
many columns as one book contains, so many copies, at least,
are made every hundred years, and in every copy so many
faults, at least, as words in one column : upon which account
fifteen or sixteen times as many faults having been made in all
copies as there are words, it will be so much odds that we have
no true Scripture in any place, abating only for those faults
that may have fallen out to be the same in several copies.
And if Sixtus V. pope, causing one hundred copies of the
Vulgar Latin to be compared, found two thousand faults, sup
posing two thousand copies extant — which may be supposed
a hundred thousand in any language — what will remain un
questionable ?
§ 26. It is further alleged * that the Scripture is written in [from the
, i-i-i iiiji fact of the
languages now ceased — which some call learned languages, Scriptures
because men learn them to know such books as are written in ^"tln
them — the meaning whereof, hot being subject to sense, de- in the
pendeth upon such a guessing kind of skill, as is subject to langua-
mistake, as experience shews in commenting of all authors ; ge
but especially the Hebrew, and that Greek in which we have
217 the Scriptures; that having originally no vowels to determine
the reading of it, wanting conjunctions and prepositions to de
termine the signification of him that speaks, all the language
extant being contained in the Bible alone — the Jews' language
'" That there ariseth an uncertainty pressed, in the original copies, and
out of this, that the Scripture was therefore only conserved by memory,
written in languages now ceased. For and to memory we must trust for them.
not only the languages in which the  This is likewise augmented by
Holy Scripture was written, do of their the want they have of conjunctions and
own nature, as I told you, breed great prepositions, which not being of a suffi-
ambiguity in the text, but also in this, cient number, make the construction
that those languages are now extinct very equivocal many times. For the
And therefore we see that the know- scarcity of books you may well con-
ledge of them is not common and uni- ceive it, if you do but know that the
versa], but only of some particular men, legitimate Hebrew is wholly contained
and amongst them in most things in the Old Scripture  Forthepro-
mainly controverted."  Dial. 2. pp. perty of the Hebrew's eloquence it con-
292, 293. sisteth chiefly in figures, translations,
" What uncertainty followeth the and number  These, although the
two particular languages of Hebrew prophets use them more perfectly than
and Greek wherein the Scripture was ever any poet or orator did, yet do they
written. First therefore the Hebrew not cause much obscurity, unless it be
hath two properties very considerable, when they are used in dialogue form,
the one that it is thought to be the which where it is used in Scripture, it
shortest language in the world, the is hard to discern." — Dial. 2. pp. 296 —
other that it is the most eloquent  301.
All the vowels are supposed, not ex-

BOOK I.

568 OF THE PRINCIPLES
differing so much as it does from it — the language of the pro
phets consisting of such dark tropes and figures, that no skill
seems to determine what they mean : this u so copious, and
by that means so various in the expressions of it — though want
ing that variety of conjugations by which the Hebrew and
other eastern languages vary the sense — that to determine the
meaning of it is more than any ordinary skill can compass.
§ 27. Add hereunto the manifold equivocations" incident
to whatsoever is expressed by writing, more incident to the
Scripture, as pretending to give us the sense of our Lord's
not the very syllables ; add the uncer
tainties which the multiplicity of translations z must needs pro-

[from the
difficultyof ascer-
tainingthemeaning
of words.] Words — for example y-

" "To the Greek text therefore—
which I will tell you, that the ambi
guity of it is nothing so great as of the
Hebrew, yet hath it two defects. The
one that it wanteth those sense-varying
conjugations whereby the Oriental lan
guages express themselves, the other
that by abundance or rather redundance
of unprofitable varieties, it is both hard
to learn and uncertain in sense, the
same word signifying diversel3r, either
because of divers dialects, or of diverse
applications of authors .... in so much
that mere guess and conjecture must
prevail."— Dial. 2. pp. 304, 305.
* "And let us suppose the writer
himself play the translator: as for ex
ample, that our Saviour Himself having
spoken in Hebrew or Syriac, the holy
writer is to express His words in Greek
or Latin ; and farther, that this which
we have said of translations, be — as
truly it is — grounded in the very na
ture of divers languages, and therefore
unavoidable by any art or industry,
will it not clearly follow, that even in
the original copy written by the evan
gelist's own hand, there is not ill rigour
the true and self-significant words of
our Saviour, but rather a comment or
paraphrase explicating and delivering
the sense thereof. Nay, let him have
written in the same language, and let
him have set down every word and
syllable, yet men conversant in noting
tbe changes of meanings in words, will
tell you that divers accents in the pro
nunciation of them, the turning of the
speaker's head or body this way or that
way, the allusion to some person or to
some precedent discourse, or the like,
may so change the sense of the words,
that they will seem quite different in
writing from what they were in speak

ing. So that you see how, like negligent
men, we commonly use to press words,
as the proper and identical words of our
Saviour, finding them registered in the
Holy Writ, which, in rigour and ex
actly speaking, are but in some sort an
imperfect and equivocal paraphrase or
expression of Christ's own true words,
the weakness of men's speech and ex
pression bearing no greater exactness."
—Dial. 2. § 7. pp. 275—277.
y " Because the Scriptures deliver
other men's words beside our Lord's."
—MSS. 7- " No doubt, cousin, but great un
certainty is sprung from the variety of
translations, whereof we may first sup
pose, that there is no constat of any
infallibility in the translators, no, not
of the Septuaginta themselves, which
the protestants will easily grant 
But we see that even in the Apostles'
time some sought to mend their inter
pretation, as Theodotion and Aquila,
whose translations were nevertheless
accepted of by the Church, and con
served and esteemed .... we may con
clude that it is impossible for a trans
lator to be so exact as that his words
shall be taken for the words of the
author  And if any one of these
translations be substantially different, all
the rest cannot with certainty of evi
dence bear it down, sithence this might
be out of a different copy with which
perhaps agreed more than we* have, so
that we shall still return to our former
non liquet. And hence followeth, that
although a translation in the whole
bulk be morally the same book with
the original, yet metaphysically and
rigorously there is great diversity, and
at least such as in our case maketh all
translations of the Scripture unfit to

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 569
duce, and all this must needs amount to this reckoning; that chap.
God never meant the Bible" for the means to decide contro- XXIX-

versies of faith, the meaning whereof requires many principles
which God alone can procure, because so indefinite. Which
the nature of the book argueth no less, as I observed1", being
written in no method of a law, or a rule, nor having those
decisions that are to oblige distinguished from matter of a far
diverse, and almost impertinent, nature. Upon these premises
it is inferred, as evident to common sense, that the Scripture
produces no distinct resolution of controversies, though, as
infinitely useful for instruction in virtue, so, tending to shew
the truth in matters of faith in gross : and being read rather
to know what is in it, than to judge by it, by the summary
agreement of it with that which is held and practised, con
vincing where the truth is, and on which side, especially if we
content ourselves with what is probable from it, expecting
from tradition what is definite and certain.
§ 28. For supposing so great a congregation as the Church0 and that
to take this for the ground of their faith ; that nothing is to tion of the
be believed for revealed truth, but what thev have received Chu'-uh
' J never
from hand to hand from the Apostles; it must be granted, changes.
decide controversies by them." — Dial, for certain and as a revealed truth, but
2. § 6. pp. 262 — 272. what they have received from their
a "Let us therefore see whether forefathers as a thing delivered by band
these conditions be observed in the to hand from the Apostles: and that
Scripture or no, and if it be manifest whatsoever is not so received is not
that the Scripture hath them not, this immutable, but may be altered if rea-
controversy must needs be at an end, son command, do you think, I say,
sithence it will evidently follow, that that this congregation could, in this our
God never ordained the Scripture for age, have begun to hold this maxim?
any such purpose, but for something or that as they received the rest of
else, and consequently that it were as their doctrine from their forefathers,
ridiculous to seek the decision of con- they must not also have received this
troversies out of Scripture, as to cut tenet ? . .
with beetle or knock with straw  • • • But can you now tell me, cousin,
This, in my judgment, is so evident, whether this congregation, as long as
that if any man of common sense would it adheres to this principle, can receive
but reflect, and really consider what is any thing of this nature and quality,
requisite to determine a litigious con- contrary to what their forefathers de-
troversy betwixt two men passionate of livered unto them upon this same prin-
their own opinions, he would never say ciple : and note, I pray, I do not ask
that Scripture is a book either intended whether they can receive any thing
by Almighty God, or any way fit for but what they apprehend to be so ; but
such a purpose." — Dial. 2. § 11. pp. I ask whether they can receive any
309 — 313. thing as such but that which truly
b Chap v. seett. 17 — 21. is so delivered, that is, whether they
c " Tell me, then, do you think that can be cosened in this question ; whether
if any great congregation of men now their forefathers delivered it unto them
living hold this maxim for their faith so or not". — Dial. 3. § 8. pp. 489, 490.
and religion, that nothing is to be held 496.

570 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK first, that they had the same persuasion from the beginning;
 L because, having never declared to their successors what are
the particulars they are to receive, either they had from the
beginning this principle, to distinguish matter of faith from
that which is not, or could never introduce it without gross
imposture: and besides, that holding this persuasion, they
could never admit any thing as received from their fore
fathers, which was not so indeed; because whole nations'1
can never agree so to deceive, in a matter subject to sense,
as to say that they received this or that from their fore
fathers, when they did not, the reason being the same in
all ages since Christ as in our own.
§ 29. For the Christian faith being so repeated, so incul
cated by the preaching of the Apostles, how long soever we
suppose the remembrance of their doctrine to have remained
certain in the Church, so long we may infer that age which
had this certain remembrance must convey it as certain, in a
sensible distance of time, and, by the means of such distances,
that it must needs come no less certain to us. Neither can
any breach have been made upon the faith, without contest
ing the common principle of tradition in the first place; and
secondly, the consequence and correspondence which the
articles of Christianity have one with another, by means
whereof he that questioneth one, must needs by conse
quence prejudice others.
§ 30. And religion being a bonde, by observing which
* " First, it is as manifest an impossi- So that whosoever is troubled with this
bility that a change of religion should doubt doth not rightly understand the
be introduced insensibly into any one nature of Christian religion, which is a
country, as that a burning fever should truth ofthe quality of science hanging
for as long a time consume the same all together, whereunto a truth may be
whole country without being taken added and yet remain whole, but if any
notice of, or sought to be prevented, falsity or cross position be admitted, it
sithence as we said nature permits us will not only destroy the position im-
not generally to be sleepy in religion. mediately opposite, but also whatsoever
Secondly, to say it shall pass impercepti- dependeth of it, that is, all indeed but
bly from country to country, and so get chiefly tradition." — Dial. 3. § 8. pp.
possession ofthe whole Christian world, 501 — 503.
is far more impossible, men's natures • " Further you say that religion is
and dispositions being so diverse thatif a method of pleasing those governors,
they were put to wear caps or shoes whereby to get goods, and eschew evils,
alike it could not be effected but by so that the desire of goods and the fear
some public force or command. Thirdly, of evils are the authors and causes of
that this should be for so long a term religion ; we have then hopes and fears
that the contrary practice should be for the will, ignorance and a conceit of
quite forgotten to have been formerly another man's knowledge for the un-
m use and request, is yet beyond both. derstanding, which be the parents of re-

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 571
people are persuaded they shall attain happiness ; the same CHAP.
motives to enter into this bond in general, the same grounds  —

of embracing Christianity in particular remaining, how should
we imagine any part of it should be either lost or changed,
which necessarily must concur to the effect of the whole?
For being dispersed, as from the beginning it hath been, over
so many nations, whose authority can be a sufficient reason
to persuade them all, that which he says to have been re
ceived from the Apostles, not that which they were possessed
of afore ? who is able to move them with hopes and fears,
answerable to those which wrought them to embrace it, either
to silence or to change it ?
§ 31. And yet so long as it can appear that the contrary
was received, so long time must the change require to prevail,
and so much more to leave the truth forgotten, and yet subject
218 to be evidenced by any records that may remain. So that
there is no appearance that the principles, producing such a
change, should so long time prevail as those motives that first
evidenced the truth. And further, upon all this appearance
in point of fact, it is argued a priori, and as it were in point
of right*, that God having provided so many possibilities to
make the preservation of Christianity so easy, the effect must
needs have followed, lest the means should have been pro
vided in vain if no effect should ensue : all possibility being
to no purpose when no effect follows, and no effect but this
answering the means that render it so possible.
ligion. Now think you, cousin, can everlasting continuance being of such
these causes be defective and failing in a nature that it can be but one, it is
any age ? evident that either this effect will fol-
"Neph. Surely they cannot." — Dial. low, or else the possibility is frustrate
3. § 7. p. 465. and put to no end, which in a work of
' " And this follows most clearly in such a moment as that it is the very
our case, for if Almighty God have set aim and end of all God's works, it were
causes which may and can make His more than absurd in common sense to
Church eternal, that is, if He have put grant such a consequence." — Dial. 3.
a power or possibility of eternal dura- § 6. pp. 451, 452.
tion in His Church, this effect, to wit,

572 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK
—  CHAPTER XXX.
THAT THE SCRIPTURES WHICH WE HAVE ARE UNQUESTIONABLE. THAT
MISTAKES IN COPYING ARE NOT CONSIDERABLE TO THE SENSE AND
EFFECT OP THEM. THE MEANING OP THE HEBREW AND GREEK, EVEN
OP THE PROPHETS, DETERMINABLE, TO THE DECIDING OP CONTROVER
SIES. HOW RELIGION DELIVERED BT TRADITION BECOMES SUBJECT TO
BE CORRUPTED.
That the This is the sum of this new account, which, to my under-
wWchvre standing, maintains the infallibility of the present Church
have are Up0n as high terms as those that resolve the reason of their
unques- ...
tionabie. faith into it ; and yet, not upon any gift of infallibility, en
tailed upon any visible act of any persons, however qualified
on behalf of the Church, but upon a pretence of evidence
made to common sense, that those who acknowledge tradition
cannot receive any thing — not only which they believe to be,
but which is indeed — inconsistent with it.
§ 2. Wherein I shall protest, in the first place, that I have
nothing to do with the terms of great error b, or Christianity,
so as to say here, that either Christianity, which he calleth
Christ's lawh, or any part of it, either hath been, or may be,
renounced by them that pretend to admit nothing as revealed
truth, but what they believe was received from the Apostles,
and that so great an error as this may have crept into the
Church. For the present purpose being general — to try how
any thing in debate may be tried, whether agreeable to the
faith or not — I should count it a great impertinence, and the
ruin of all that I design to infer, upon sufficient principles —
which I pretend those which I reject not to be — to be en
gaged to shew how great any error may be, before I have a
ground to infer whether it be an error or not. But if I may
proceed to settle such a ground, I shall make no doubt to
convince all, that remain convict of the truth thereof, how
great the error is which it convicteth.
§ 3. It shall therefore suffice me for the present, to state
the opposition which I make to this pretence upon these
terms ; that the common sense of all Christians determineth
n, e ,t? J1^ seven* Proposition of >> As in the fifth proposition, " That it
the third Dialogue, "That no great is no hard matter that Christ's law
error could creep into the Church of should have descended entire unto us."
God. p. 460. p. 4,23.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 573
that those who pretend to admit nothing as of faith but what chap.
they receive from our Lord and His Apostles, are subject xxx"
nevertheless, under that pretence, to receive things really in
consistent with it, and, which may be discerned so to be, by
the means which we have to decide such questions ; the
Scriptures interpreted by the original and Catholic tradition
of the Church". The evidence of this position necessarily
consists in that which is to be said for Scripture and tradition
jointly, as the only sufficient means to evidence Christian
truths; that is to say, that having shewed the arguments
made against Scripture alone, and for tradition alone, to be
ineffectual and void ; that which remains for the truth will
be this, that the Scripture, with tradition to determine the
meaning of it, do both together make a sufficient means
to determine the truth of any thing questioned concerning
Christianity. § 4. I say, then, in behalf of the Scripture, which this plea
so undervalueth as not to acknowledge any such thing but
in favour to them whom they dispute with, that it is a marvel
to see how the greater difference with common enemies is
forgotten upon less quarrels among ourselves. For if there be
any such men as atheists, that deny the beginning of the
world, and the marks of God's providence expressed in the
! " In the next place we must con- indeed it is most true if tradition can
sider those extrinsecal means of inter- perform these pretensions, and teach
preting Scripture, and determining us plainly and assure us infallibly of
questions, which they most of all con- all truths which they require us to be-
fide in that restrain prophesying with lieve, we can in this case have no rea-
the greatest tyranny. The first and son to disbelieve, and therefore are
principal is tradition, which is pre- certainly heretics if we do, because
tended not only to expound Scripture without a crime, without some human
— Necesse enim est propter tantos tam interest or collateral design, we can-
varii erroris anfractus, ut propheticse et not disbelieve traditive doctrine or tra-
Apostolicte interpretationis linea se- ditive interpretation, if it be infallibly
cundum Ecclesiastici et Catholici sen- proved to us that tradition is an infal-
sus normam dirigatur. — Vincent. Li- lible guide.
rens. in Commonit. — but also to pro- " But here I first consider that tradi-
pound articles upon a distinct stock, tion is no repository of articles of faith,
such articles whereof there is no men- and therefore the not following it is no
tion and proposition in Scripture. And argument of heresy, for beside that I
in this topic, not only the distinct arti- have shewed Scripture in its plain ex-
cles are clear and plain, like as the fun- presses to be an abundant rule of faith
damentals of faith expressed in Scrip- and manners, tradition is a topic as fal-
ture, but also it pretends to expound lible as any other ; so fallible that it
Scripture, and to determine questions cannot be sufficient evidence to any
with so much charity and certainty, man in a matter of faith or question
as there shall neither be error nor of heresy." — Jeremy Taylor's Liberty
doubt remaining, and therefore no dis- of Prophesying, § 5. pp. 83, 84. Lon-
agreeing is here to be endured. And don, 1647.

574

OF THE PRINCIPLES

book government of it — as I would there were none — I demand
—  how they could be more gratified than by making it believed
that we are no more tied to believe Moses's writings, that we
have, to come from God, than we please? For if it be fifteen 219
or sixteen to onek that the words which we have are not from
God, what respect can oblige us to do more? And would
pagans and idolaters think themselves less bound to us, if we
could persuade them that whatsoever is pretended in Scripture
of a covenant made by God with Abraham and his posterity,
to acknowledge and worship Him alone for the true God, may
be denied so far as by saying that no man can say we have
any record of it.
§ 5. As for the Jews, what a favour were it to them, to
quit them all that can be alleged against them out of Moses
and the prophets, by saying that we cannot be assured that
it is their writing1 ? For if it be said that whatsoever the

k See chap. xxix. sect. 25. note s.
1 " Let us therefore see what ambi
guity or question falleth upon the text
itself, by the succession of so many ages,
in which it must needs have been in some
sort conserved to come to our hands.
There be three ways chiefly whereby
the text may have been corrupted. The
first, on set purpose, as the fathers ac
cuse the heretics of their times to have
done, and the Jews also are suspected
of the same. And this kind, though it
extendeth itself but to few corruptions,
yet they come to be inevitable, when
amongst so many copies none can
discern which have been so abused,
which not ; and as it is but in few points
or places, so it is in such as be im
portant and material ones. The second
sort of corruptions may have come by
the negligence of servants, which copied
the Bible, some being mercenary peo
ple that made copies to sell, others
witless people, who, greedy and desirous
to have the Bible out of vanity, hy
pocrisy, or tbe like, cared not for
more than to say they had it, and
a great part of these copyists may
have erred in writing the Bible by the
very defect of nature, which permitteth
not an absolute exactness in anything,
and causeth a man in his weariness,
nay and in his too much wariness also,
to make escapes unwittingly, which
be the more dangerous, by how much
the copies seem more exact, whereby
they sometimes bear down true copies.
The third way of corruption may have

been by half-witted men, who will now
and then undertake to correct copies
by aim and understanding, who for
having lighted right in some one place
will venture confidently to spoil ten.
And of these men it is like before print
ing began, and copies were not so fre
quent, and so a corruption went not far,
it is like, I say, there hath been divers
who when they met with a place they
could not make sense of, and saw that
a little change would make it sense,
such rash men would easily venture to
make such a small, as they thought,
mutation, not knowing, peradventure,
how to come to a better copy than their
own. The Hebrew and Greek Testa
ment have been very subject to the first
sort of these corruptions, the former
being delivered unto us by the pro
fessed enemies of Christ, who, as it is
reported, in the greatest heat of their
hatred to Christianity, sat at Tiberias
to determine all the vowels of the old
Scripture, the which every Hebrician
knoweth, what power it gave them to
change the whole text, and this to men
publicly accused of forgery in that
kind. The Greek, as long as the con
demned heretics held so great power in
those parts, as is publicly known they
did for some ages, was in little less
jeopardy, they being also taxed with
the like impiety. But the other two
ways and means of corruptions are
common to all, and indeed unavoid
able in so great a multitude of copies,
as were in all the three languages, at

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 575
Church hath interest to use against atheists, pagans, and c it a p.
Jews, will be admitted upon tradition, having renounced  —
Scripture ; can it be imagined, that having granted that the
whole narration, upon which Christianity steppeth in, may
have been counterfeited in writing, any man can undertake
to shew the truth of the same, unquestionable, by word of
mouth ?
§ 6. Surely it may well astonish a man void of prejudice [Rieh-
to see it so carefully alleged™ how many ambiguities and argument
equivocations necessarily fall out in expressing men's minds ^"akes
by writing; never considering that the same may fall out in of tran-
whatsoever is dehvered by word of mouth, so much more answered.]
incurably, as a man writes upon more deliberation than he
speaks: and posterity can affirm with more confidence, that
which is delivered by writing to have been said, than that
which is only so reported.
§ 7. For let common sense judge by what is usually done
by men for the preserving of evidence concerning their estates,
whether it be more effectual to have it in writing or only by
word of mouth. For whatsoever can be pretended to come
by tradition from the Apostles, must first have been delivered
in the Hebrew language — at least that language which they
spake, and was so near the Hebrew of the Old Testament that
in the New Testament it is called by that name — thence being
turned into Greek or Latin, it must have come afterwards into
the now vulgar languages of Christendom.
§ 8. Neither can any man imagine how the profession of
Christians should be conveyed by tradition, and not by word
of mouth. Where though they that heard the Apostles cer
tainly understood their meaning — which there can be no
question of, when the intent is familiarly to teach it — yet the
terms wherein it was delivered not remaining upon record, as
much difference may creep in, as there may be difference in
several men's apprehensions, saving that which the communion
of the Church determineth. And will any common sense
allow that the meaning thereof shall be more certain than the
words are11? more certain than the meaning of written words,
least of Greek and Latin." — Rich- " Hoc autem signum primo decla-
worth's Dialogues, 2nd Dialog. § 4. pp. randum est ; deinde quomodo distin-
250 — 254. Paris, 1640. guat a caeteris falsis et incertis, per-
"" See chap. xxix. sect. 27. note x. spiciendum, primum igitur sic proba-

576

OF THE PRINCIPLES

BOOK I.

which are certain, though obscure, and yet not without com
petent means to bring the intent of them to light? But I
must not prefer any thing of this nature before any thing
we have in the Scriptures, so long as both sides acknow
ledge it.
§ 9. I demand then whether the precept of the law, which
enjoined the Israelites to teach it their children, concerned
the written law or not. The prophet David, Psalm lxxviii.
1 — 8, shews the practice of it, and so do other passages of the
Old Testament ; and surely there can be no doubt made that
Moses himself did deliver and inculcate the sense of the pre
cepts to his hearers ; but will any common sense allow that
he forgot his text when he expounded the meaning of it?

tur. Constat Christum ore proprio
Apostolos docuisse, atque illis prae
cepta prsedicandi, docendi doctrinam
suam per universum orbem tradidisse ;
nihil autem de conscribenda evan
gelica doctrina mandasse, quae longe
tempore posterior est, et ab Apostolis,
Apostolicisque viris, eo quod cum tra
ditione Apostolica, conveniret compro-
bata. Est autem prsedicatio, quae viva
voce fit, efficacius organum ad per-
suadendum quam Scriptura : multo
etiam aptius ad docendum, quia hu-
mano cordi proprior est lingua, qua
cor unum in aliud transfundit seip-
sum. At Scriptura non est primum
cordis ipsius signum, vel manifes-
tatio, quia in corde nullum est idio-
ma, nulla vox : Scriptura ergo nobis
vocis speciem refert. Ad haec Apo
stoli dum praedicarent, hoc omnium
Unguis praestiterunt, et copiose et clare,
idemque saepe repetendo, obscura qua2-
que declarando interrogantibus respon-
dendo, et disputantibus faciendo, ut nul-
lus scrupulus maneret in auditoribus.
Qui vero scripserunt, una tantum lin
gua Graeca, praeter Matthaeum, qui,
Hebraicum protulit Evangelium ; et
illi qui scripserunt, ad tempus sane hoc
fecerunl, verbo vero per totam vitam
docuerunt. Nam Act. ii. ubi narratur
tota Petri concio, subditur : 'aliis etiam
verbis plurimis testificatus est.' Et
Paulus, Act. xx. in mediam noctem
sermonem protraxit, et Act. xix. cum
esset Ephesi, per biennium et tres
menses quotidie in schola Tyranni cu-
jusdam docuit, et similia multa dixe-
runt, ac praedicarunt, quae Scripta non
sunt. At Scriptura muta est, non re-

spondet interroganti, non se explicat;
et quivis illam rapit in sensum quem
vult: ut etiam de Aristotele constat,
quem diversi interpretes in diversos
sensus rapiunt : Hinc magno Dei con-
silio factum est, ut viva Evangelii prae
dicatio, et non aliqua Scriptura, esset
principium et origo Ecclesiae, ut prius
viva voce constaret inter omnes gentes,
et linguas fides Evangelica, et confes
sio ejus praeter omnem obscuritatem,
et absque omni sensus diversitate: et
postea Ecclesia scriptum admitteret
Evangelium, et probaret an vera es
sent, quae tot scriptores Evangelii
tractarunt. Praedicatio igitur Scrip
tura ipsa prior est, certior est, quia se
declarat ; et universalior, quia non
omnia scripta.
Nee idcirco haec praedicatio Apo
stolorum periit: turn quia per Spiri
tum Sanctum facta, et per eum digito
suo in cordibus fidelium scripta, atque
servata : turn quia Ecclesia fidelissima
est custos crediti sui depositi; alius
enim portae inferi in earn praevaluis*
sent, nee esset columna et firmamen-
tum veritatis. Haec ergo Evangelical
praedicationis vox praesens, et viva in
ore, corde et auribus fidelium et con
sensus in illam, verum est Ecclesiae
Christi signum, non autem sincera
Evangelii juxta Scripturas praedicatio,
ut haeretici docent ; quia sic sola Scrip
tura esset lumen, regula Ecclesiae.
Hac enim ratione haeretici multos
Scriptura locos proferebant, quos Ca-
tholici retorquebant ; cum Scriptura
tam aperta et perspicua non sit, et
varie interpretari possit. — Salmeron.,
In Ep. Paul. Disp. vi. torn. xiii. p. 207.
Colon. 1614.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 577
Our Lord commands the Jews [St. John v. 39.] to search the CHAP.
Scriptures, He remits Dives in the parable [St. Luke xvi. 31. J _iM^-
to Moses and the prophets. St. Paul [Rom. xv. 4, 2 Tim. iii.
16.] presses that "all things that are written are written for our
learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the Scrip
tures might have hope ;" that "all Scripture inspired from God
is profitable;" and a great deal more to the same effect ; and
shall we open the mouth of atheism with an answer, that this
concerns not us who no way stand convict, that we have the
words of Moses and the prophets, of our Lord and His Apostles?
§ 10. Let this therefore pass for a desperate attempt of
making a breach for" atheism, heathenism, Judaism, to enter
in, provided that the reformation should have nothing to say
against the Church of Rome. But let it be demanded whether
any of those that wrote for the Church against heresies were
masters of the common sense of men or not? And let it be
demanded, when they alleged the Scriptures against them,
220 whether they thought the meaning of them determinable
or not ?
§ 11. It is true" Tertullian prescribed against heretics that [Use ofthe
the Church was not tied to dispute with them out of the f^1^".
Scriptures, and certainly had just reason so to do ; because dition.]
though they admitted the Apostles to have God's Spirit, yet
they admitted not that Spirit to have declared to them the
bottom of the truth as to themselves, and therefore made use
of the Scriptures as the Alcoran doth ; so far only as they
agreed with the traditions of their own masters, whom they
supposed to have the fulness of the truth : whereas it is mani
fest that Christianity admits no dispute from the Scriptures,
but from them that acknowledge no gifts of God's Spirit, that
suppose not Christianity and the Scriptures. Therefore those
that disputed against the heresies that grew up afterwards,
and acknowledged no revelation but that which had brought
on Christianity, what did they dispute upon ? For evidently
they neither had, nor used that prescription, which Tertullian
insisted upon against his heretics.
§ 12. But as Tertullian might — though not bound to so
much— use the Scriptures against such heretics as well as
against Jews and infidels, did they who succeeded only use it
o See chap. vii. seett. 20, 21.
THORNDIKE. P p

578 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK against succeeding heresies that own no further revelation
 ^— than that which Scripture came with, not as necessary, but to

shew the advantage they had? for this they must do, if
nothing but probability is to be had from the Scriptures, but
the peremptory truth is, without Scripture, evident in the
determination of the present Church, which was first visible
in ejecting heretics ? Certainly such a breach upon common
sense cannot be admitted, as for them that have evidence for
the truth to compromise it to a dispute of probabilities.
§ 13. Here therefore I do appeal to the common sense of
all men that see how all the disputes that have been made
from the beginning, for the faith against heresies, do consist
of Scriptures drawn into consequence against them, though in
behalf of that which they professed to hold from the Apostles;
whether all this pains was taken to shew what was probable,
or what was true upon the evidence ofthe true sense of Scrip
ture, falling within the compass of that which they held from
the Apostles.
That mis- § 14. The ground then of that account which pretends that
copying we have no Scripture is very frivolous. For if common sense
consider- ^e value(l by the experience of those that handle written
able to the copies, not by the imagination of them that do not ; the faults
sense and , • , • • , , , , ,
effect of which it is probable all copies carry from their makers, cannot
endanger the truth of the Scripture, but in that one case
which he alloweth to abate his account, that is, when the same
fault falls out in several copies ; which is a rare chance. For
where divers copies agree in the same fault, it behoveth that
there should be some occasion of committing the mistake,
capable to induce several men into the same, the consent of
whose copies may in time create a doubt what is true.
§ 15. But to imagine that a fault committed at large by a
copier P, which it is so great odds that none else shall fall
into — the truth being one, errors infinite — should endanger
the true reading of any writing, is not to appeal to common
sense, but to renounce it. For neither in that one case, where
it is confessed there may be danger, are we left without cure;
the consequence of the sense, either alone, or with the help of
some copy, always outweighing the credit of copies liable to
so many mistakes. P See chap. xxix. sect. 25.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 579
§ 16. He that sees not what benefit all records of learning chap.
have received, even from negligent copies, industriously han  " '.' ¦

died, to the preservation of all records, may pretend ignorance
in this point. But for the Scriptures, as common sense bears
that there is more occasion of making faults than in other
writings, because more multiplying of copies ; so common
sense shewing that there is so much more means of correcting
them, the danger of changing the text is vanished. Which if
all this were not, common sense, that sees the present text of
Scripture make a sense so reasonable, so agreeable, will as
much scorn, as a reasonable man will scorn, to admit that this
beautiful order of the world comes from the casual interfering
of atoms : for is it not the same case, when it is said that so
constant sense arises from the contingence of errors ?
§ 17. And therefore I marvel that the varieties of readings
recorded in Sixtus V.'s Bible should be alleged q to this pur
pose ; which though they are the records of errors, yet they are
221 the arguments of truth ; the true reading, by the credit of them,
overbalancing all mistakes. And truly, he that shall cast up
a just account of the hindrance which the variety of reading
in the Scripture gives the resolution of truth, shall find three
or four texts questionable for their reading by the enemies of
the Trinity. In other things, though diverse readings ques
tionable, yet none of consequence to any point in debate : and
those I speak of so questionable, that either they make no con
sequence, there being evidence sufficient without them, or there
remains evidence enough to weigh the true reading down.
§ 18. Now the ceasing of the languages1, in which the Scrip- Themean-
ture was written, is indeed a difficulty to the attaining of the Hebrew &
sense of them, as it is a difficulty to the attaining of the Ian- g"gn^rfethk'
guage. But either we suppose the skill of the language at- prophets,
tained when it is not, or being attained, we must suppose that nabie to
which we have upon record in it as well understood — to wit, ejding~of
as to the language — as men understand one another in their controver-
° sies.
mother tongue. And therefore the Hebrew and Greek have
hard fortune to lie under contrary charges : as to say that the
Hebrew is obscure because it is scarce, and the Greek is ob
scure because copious, and the Scripture being written in the
one and in the other, is therefore obscure.
' See chap. xxix. sect. 25. note s. r See chap. xxix. sect. 26. note t.
p p 2

580

OF THE PRINCIPLES

BOOK I.

§ 19. Certainly those that spoke Hebrew and those that spoke
Greek had means to understand one another's meaning, or
else those languages were useless to the end of all language ;
and shall we imagine that they determine not the meaning of
the speaker in writing, but when they are spoken, well and
good s ? No. To them that know not the language, there is no
sufficient mark to determine the meaning of what is said in it.
It is no marvel ; in God's name let them learn a little further,
and they may discern the marks whereby the force of signify
ing is stamped upon the languages. And truly, the scarce
ness of that language lies rather in the sloth of learners—
who save a great deal of pains by persuading themselves that
they know that language, when they have learned what is
to be found in the Scriptures — than in want of words to
express all conceits. It is an easy thing to imagine that
the writings of later Jews are not good Hebrew, and indeed
it may appear* that after the captivity the vulgar did not
speak it.
§ 20. But by the traditions whereby they determine the exer-

' "Yesthey do."— MS.
1 Quodilli fatentur de lingua Hebraea
a popularibus suis ignorata, de lingua
Chaldaica multo magis verum est ; de
Talmudica consimiliter ex utraque im
pure' admodum permixta. Cum enim
Talmudici composuerunt Talmud, sive
Hierosolymitanum, sive Babylonicum,
vernacula erat apud eos Babylone lin
gua Chaldaica, et Syriaca Hierosoly-
mis, et in vicinis regionibus. Ideo
legem Babylonii Chaldaice verterunt,
hoc est, vernacula, in plebeium usum.
Hierosolymitani Thargum Hierosoly
mitanum, seu Syriacum, sed impure
admodum, eo quod turn Arabibus om
nia possidentibus, linguae Syriaca? ele-
gantia in Syria et Palestina plurimuin
imminueretur. Idem de Pentateucho
in plebeium usum praestiterunt Sama-
ritani, cujus versionis penes nos duo
sunt exemplaria, quorum unum annis
quadringentis vetuslius est. Judaeorum
vero Talmudici doctores, quibus linguae
ills vernacula? erant, Hebraeam cui
legis studio assuescebant, istis dialectis
permiscentes tertiam quam Talmudi-
cam vocare possumus composuerunt.
Sed uno aut altero saeculo post confec-
tum Talmud, hoc est, post exortam
Mahometis impietatem in Syria, As
syria et Palestina, extinctas fere sunt

linguae illae, in earumque vicem suc-
cessit Arabum dominantium dialectus,
simul cum impietate per orientem in-
valescens. Itaque contigit anno circi-
ter post natum octingentesimo, ut lin
gua? Chaldaica et Talmudica Judaeis
omnibus desinerent esse vernaculae,
ipsisque multo magis barbarae essent,
quam ipsa Hebraea. Licet enim ab
exitu captivitatis Babylonicae Hebraea
lingua fuit illis barbara; quia tamen
in synagogicis precibus et lectionibus
illi assuefiebant, longe familiarior illis
fuit ab eo tempore quam Chaldaica
aut Talmudica. Unde factum est ut
Saadias, Babylonius doctor, et Baby-
lone degens et scribens annum Hegirae
paulo post trecentesimum, legem in
linguam Arabicam transferret non
Chaldaicam, quam popularium nemo
amplius intelligebat. Idem Samaritani
pragstiterunt legem Arabice vertentes
postquam Samaritana seu Syriaca dia
lectus illis desiit esse vernacula, cujus
Arabics versionis exemplar ante annos
quadringentos scriptum nobis mutuo
dedit vir amplissimus, et de litteris
optime meritus D. Perescius in supre-
ma provincial curia senator integerri-
mus. — Morini, Exercit. Biblic, lib. i.
Exer. vi. cap. iv. § 10. pp. 118, 119.
Paris. 1686.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 581
cise of Moses's law — which the Jews of Palestine u, resident CHAP. XXX.

at Tiberias, agreed to put in writing about the emperor An-
toninus's time — it appears plain enough that the language was
preserved alive among the learned, and extends far further
than that which is found only in the Scripture, though with
some little difference, which that excellent master of human
learning, Joseph d' Escale x, seems to me very properly to dis
tinguish by the names of the Hebrew and Jewish languages ;
because this difference may well seem to have begun from the
times of Edras, when the tribe of Judah — with the appurte
nances of it — with the recovery of their ancient inheritance,
took upon them the study of their law. And I appeal to the
common sense of all that have found by reading, with what
ease and property that language serves to express all the con
ceits of their philosophers and divines, how beggarly, how un
able to determine the meaning of man's mind we are to ac
count it,
§ 21. As for the Greek, be it never so defective in those
expressions which the variety of conjugations in eastern lan
guages do produce, he that knows both the one and the other,
shall find the force of those expressions signified by other
means in the Greek and other languages ; be it never so copi
ous otherwise, he that will husband his pains to the learning
of the Scriptures, shall find means enough to attain the mean
ing of them, without undertaking to overcome all that is writ
ten in that language.
§ 22. As for the figurative speech y that is used, especially
by the prophets, and other writings of a poetical style — as the
Psalms, Job, the Canticle, and the like, if you reckon them
not among the prophets — as it is not to be denied that the
style of them is obscure by that means, so when we see the
meaning of them determined by the writings of the Apostles,
" See Rel. Assembl., chap. vii. sect. finibus didicerant, lingua ilia non Cha-
23. Review, chap. iii. sect. 3. Right nana?a, sed Hebraea dicta fuit ; quem-
of the Church, chap. iv. sect. 18. admodum lingua Syriaca, qua Judaei
x Ipsi Chananaei eos, qui ex trans- tempore Christi utebantur, Hebraica
euphratensibus partibus ad illos veni- dicitur, quum tamen non esset Cha-
ebant, Hebrasos, hoc est, itepairas voca- nanaea, sed Assyria. Literae, quae in
bant. Et ita primos Patriarchas, et usu sunt hodie Judasis, Hebraicae nobis
deinceps eorum posteritatem vocatos, dicuntur mendose, quum verbis dice-
et adhuc vocari nemo nescit. Prop- rentur Judaicae. — Josep. Scaliger. Epi-
terea, quia illi non ea lingua, quam ex stolae, ep. 242. ad Rich. Thomson, p.
transeuphratensi regione reportabant, 519. Lugd. Bat. 1627.
utebantur,. sed quam in Chananasorum J See chap. xxix. sect 28.

582

OF THE PRINCIPLES

book we must either grant that means to be sufficient for that effect,
 :  or that the Apostles have alleged them upon no just ground,
to no just purpose. Now that our Lord's and the Apostles'
words are set down in such expressions as the Evangelists and 222
St. Luke thought meetest, I suppose he that hath a due respect
for them, will not think to be any argument that he who hath
the meaning of the penman hath not the meaning of him
that spoke.
§ 23. And if all these be difficulties to the attaining of the
true meaning of the Scriptures, sure the multiplicity of trans
lations — those especially which are the most ancient — by those
who understand them, is duly esteemed a help to that endz,

2 " And now what help is there for
us in the midst of these uncertainties ?
If we follow any one translation, or any
one man's commentary, what rule shall
we have to chuse the right by ? or is
there any one man that hath translated
perfectly, or expounded infallibly ? No
translation challenges such a preroga
tive as to be authentic, but the vulgar
Latin, and yet see with what good suc
cess : for when it was declared authen
tic by the council of Trent, Sixtus put
forth a copy much mended of what it
was, and tied all men to follow that ;
but that did not satisfy ; for Pope Cle
ment reviews and corrects it in many
places, and still the decree remains in
a changed subject. And, secondly,
that translation will be very unapt to
satisfy, in which one of their own men,
Isidore Clarius, a monk of Brescia,
found and mended eight thousand
faults, besides innumerable others
which he found and pretermitted. And
then, thirdly, to shew how little them
selves were satisfied with it, divers
learned men amongst them did new
translate the Bible, and thought
they did God and the Church good
service in it. So that if you take this
for your precedent, you are sure to be
mistaken infinitely. If you take any
other, the authors themselves do not
promise you any security. If you re
solve to follow any one as far only as
you can see cause, then you only do
wrong or right by chance; for you
have certainty just proportionable to
your own skill, to your own infalli
bility. If you resolve to follow any
one whithersoever he leads, we shall
oftentimes come thither, where we shall
see ourselves become ridiculous, ....

"The sum is this; since holy Scrip
ture is the repository of divine truths,
and the great rule of faith, to which all
sects of Christians do appeal for pro
bation of their several opinions, and
since all agree in the articles of the
creed as things clearly and plainly set
down, and as containing all that which
is of simple and prime necessity ; and
since on the other side there are in
Scripture many other mysteries and
matters of question upon which there
is a veil ; since there are so many co
pies with infinite varieties of reading ;
since a various interpunction, a paren
thesis, a letter, an accent may much
alter the sense ; since some places have
divers literal senses, many have spiri
tual, mystical, and allegorical mean
ings ; since there are so many tropes,
metonymies, ironies, hyperboles, pro
prieties, and improprieties of language,
whose understanding depends upon
such circumstances that it is almost
impossible to know its proper inter
pretation ; now that the knowledge of
such circumstances and particular
stories is irrecoverably lost : since
there are some mysteries which at the
best advantage of expression, are not
easy to be apprehended, and whose ex
plication, by reason of our imperfections,
must needs be dark, sometimes weak,
sometimes unintelligible; and lastly,
since those ordinary means of expound
ing Scripture, as searching the originals,
conference of places, parity of reason,
and analogy of faith, are all dubious and
uncertain, and very fallible, he that is
the wisest, and by consequence the
likeliest to expound truest in all pro
bability of reason, will he very far from
confidence, because every one of these

OF christian truth.

583

and not a hindrance. For as the turning of them into so
many languages prevents all errors of copiers, and assures the
true reading, so the comparing of the translations with the
original — shewing how it was understood anciently by those
who were better and nearer acquainted with the matter of
them than we are, who must have it from them — makes up a
commentary of the meaning of the same, and how far it ex
tends. I do, therefore, here appeal to the common sense of
all them that have been at charge, or at pains, to procure and
compass the edition of all translations of the Bible, espe
cially the ancient, in particular the Spanish", Antwerp b, and
Paris0 — which it is hoped is now improved to the same pur
pose here at London d — and do challenge all men to say, first,

c H a p.
xxx.

and many more are like so many de
grees of improbability and uncertainty,
all depressing our certainty of finding
out truth in such mysteries and amidst
so many difficulties. And therefore a
wise man that considers this, would
not willingly be prescribed to by others,
and therefore if he be also a just man,
lie will not impose upon others, for it
is best every man should be left to that
liberty from which no man can justly
take him, unless he could secure him
from error. So that here also there is
a necessity to conserve the liberty of
prophesying and interpreting Scrip
ture ; a necessity derived from the con
sideration of the difficulty of Scripture
in questions controverted, and the un
certainty of any internal medium of in
terpretation." — Jeremy Taylor's Li
berty of Prophesying, § iv. pp. 80—83.
London, 1647.
a " The Complutense was set forth
by the Complutense divines, at the
cbarges of Cardinal Ximenes, Arch
bishop of Toledo, in six volumes, anno
1520, wherein is contained, 1. The Old
Testament Hebrew. 2. The Vulgar
Latin. 3. The Septuagint, Greek and
Latin. 4. The Chaldee Paraphrase by
Onkelos, upon the Pentateuch, with
the Latin translation. 5. The New
Testament, Greek and Latin. 6. An
Apparatus, consisting of an Hebrew
and Chaldean Lexicon, an Hebrew
Grammar, an Index, &c." — Walton's
Prospectus to his Polyglott, cited in
Todd's Memoirs of Brian "Walton, vol.
i. p. 35. London, 1821.
" " The Antwerp Bibles, in eight
great volumes, set forth by Arias Mon-
tanus, and other learned men, at the

charges of the king of Spain, anno
1572; wherein is added to the Com
plutense, 1. The Chaldee Paraphrase,
upon the rest of the Old Testament, by
Jonathan and Joseph Caecus, with the
Latin. 2. The Interlineal translation
of the Old and New Testament. 3.
The Syriac New Testament, in Syriac
and Hebrew characters, with the Latin.
4. An Apparatus, in two volumes, con
taining divers Lexicons and Gram
mars, Hebrew, Syriac, Chaldee, Greek,
with some tracts for better understand
ing the text ; some Idiotisms ; few
various readings, diverse Indices, &c."
— Ibid. * " The Parisian Bibles, in ten large
tomes, anno 1645, set forth by Michael
le Jay, Morinus, Gabriel Sionita, and
others, by authority of the Cardinals
Richelieu and Mazarine, and the
French Bishops, wherein is added the
Antwerp Bible, which — except the Ap
paratus — is herewith reprinted ; 1. The
Old Testament, Syriac and Latin. 2.
The Arabic Old Testament and New,
with the Latin. 3. The Samaritan Pen
tateuch, with the Samaritan and Latin
Versions. But here is no interlineal
or other literal translation of the He
brew into Latin; none ofthe Apparatus
at all, as in the other editions ; no
various readings in any language ; no
index, no idiotisms — the edition being
abruptly put forth by reason of some
difference among the publishers — but
only the text in the several languages,
and those not according to the best
copies." — Ibid.
d Biblia Sacra Polyglotta, complec-
tentia Textus Originales, Hebraicum,
cum Pentateucho Samaritano, Chal-

584 OF THE PRINCIPLES
book whether the design be commendable or not, then, whether it
—  can be commendable, if it contribute not to preserve the true
reading, to determine the true meaning of the Scriptures.
§ 24. As for that which I conceive I have sufficiently in
sisted upon e, in behalf of the truth, that the writings of the
Apostles presuppose a rule of faith, received by those whom
they address, together with certain rules limiting their com
munion in the service of God, upon supposition of that rule ;
I am here to claim the effect of it, that the sense of the Scrip
ture is to be limited to that, which common sense may dis
cover by the records of the Church, to have been the sense
and intent of the same. But that this should argue an intent
in God, not to have given the Scriptures to determine debates
that might arise among Christians concerning the common
faith ; and that upon only the visible profession of the Church,
all arguments to the contrary from the Scriptures, all clamours
of conscience are to be silenced, without reconciling them to
the primitive faith and practice of the Church — to which, it
is evident, that if the Church be not wanting to their duty,
they are reconcileable — this is that which I must and do pro
claim to be utterly brutish and unreasonable.
§ 25. And therefore, to proceed to the next point, I grant
and insist that nothing but that which is received from our
Lord Christ and His Apostles can by any means seem re
ceivable to any Christian ; but whereas it may be received
either by writing alone, or by word of mouth alone, or by
both, I say that the receiving of Christianity by word of mouth
daicum, Gra?cum. Versionumque anti- " The assistance of Mr. Herbert
quarum, Samaritanae, Graecae Septu- Thorndike next solicits our attention.
aginta Interpretum, Chaldaieae, Syri- Dr. Twells, in his Life of Pocock, has
acae, Arabicae, jEthiopicae, Persicae, described Mr. Thorndike and Dr.Wal-
Vulgatae Latinae, quicquid comparari ton maintaining frequent correspond-
poterat. Cum Textuum et Versionum ence upon tbe subject of the Polyglott,
Orientalium translationibus Latinis. with that great orientalist. And the
Ex Vetustissimis MSS. undique con- thanks of Dr. Walton, in his preface,
quisitis, optimisque exemplaribus im- are bestowed upon Thorndike, with
pressis, summa fide collatis. Quae in this distinction of him, linguarum sci-
prioribus editionibus deerant suppleta. entia Celebris. Beside his general atten-
Multa antehac inedita, de novo adjecta. tion to the undertaking, there are in
Omnia eo ordine disposita, ut Textus the sixth volume ofthe Polyglott, par-
cum versionibus uno intuitu conferri ticular proofs of his great diligence
possint. Cum Apparatu, Appendici- and learning in the collection of Pari
bus, Tabuhs, Variis Lectionibus, Anno- antes in Syriaca Versione Veteris Tesla-
tationibus, Indicibus, &c. Opus totum menti Lectiones e Codicibus MSS."—
in sex tomos tributum. Edidit Brianus Todd's Memoirs of Brian Walton, p.
Waltonus, S.T.D. Londini, imprimebat 209. London, 1821.
Thomas Royeroft, 1657. ' Chap. vii.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

585

alone cannot be pretended — the power of the Church to create c H A P.
articles of faith, which was never heard of till the quarrel with XXX'
Luther was on foot, being excluded — but supposing it evident
to common sense that the act of the present Church is the
act of the Catholic Church from the Apostles'; which, so far
as I know, was never heard of till Rushworth's Dialogues
came forth.
§ 26. The Christianity that was from the beginning re
ceived by word of mouth, consists in the profession of believ-
f Probatur nihilominus posita as- ostendimus 
sertio, posteaque secus opinantium ar- Quinto Ecclesia successorum et prae-
gumentis respondebitur. Primum, cum sens, idonea testis est cujuscunque arti-
Ecclesia quae nunc est, quaeque Apo
stolos per singulas astates subsecuta
est, eundem habeat Dei Spiritum, ejus-
que assistentiam quam habuerunt Apo
stoli — ut supra ostensum est — dubitari
non debet, quin aeque certo et mfalli-
biliter de sacris libris judicare possit,
atque ilia Apostolorum Ecclesia. Nam
¦ — quod bene observa — etsi successores
Apostolorum in alio et diverso gradu
Spiritum Dei habeant, neque in tanta
plenitudine, quanta ipsi Apostoli — ut
supra declaratum est — tamen ha?c di-
versitas in illis rebus non consistit,
qua? proxime et necessario ad fidem
pertinet; sed in quadam non minus
circa media quam circa conclusiones
infallibilitate ; ut ibidem ostensum est.
Judicare autem de aliquo libro sacro,
proxime et necessario atl fidem pertinet,
ut per se patet. Debet ergo succedens
et praesens Ecclesia judicandi potestate
et infallibilitate hac in re non secus
valere. Pra?terea, tam inter Catholicos
aliquando dubitatur, quam ab haereticis
pertinaciter saspe contradicitur, de li
bris canonicis. Debet autem in hac
concertatione judex et arbitra esse Ec
clesia praesens, qua? viva voce rem
definiat, non secus quam in aliis con-
troversiis ; ut supra dictum est. Habet
ergo potestatem in tali casu definiendi.
Deus enim Ecclesia? non deficit in
necessariis. Tertio certissimum est
Ecclesiam quae Apostolos aliquot sa?-
culis subsecuta est, de libris canonicis
judicasse, quosdam taxasse et inter
canonicos sua authoritate aliquas Scrip
turas retulisse, quae ipsis Apostolorum
temporibus pro hujusmodi non sunt
habitae, nee adhuc a fidelibus pleno
consensu receptee. Sic enim librum
Judith antea apocryphum primi gene
ris, concilium Nicenum sua authori
tate, ut pro Scriptura eanonica habe-
retur effecit, sicuti supra ex Hieronymo

culi fidei, sive tradendi et sua authoritate
definiendi — casu quo in controversiam
vocetur — sive exponendi et declarandi;
non secusquam ipsa Apostolorum Eccle
sia : sicut frequentia ab eo tempore ha-
bita contra varias haereses concilia, et
quaedam eadem authoritate communi
symbolo adjecta, manifestissime nobis
ostenderunt. Poterit ergo et ilia idonea
testis esse Scripturarum suaque autho
ritate earn approbare. Sexto rationes
omnes qua? Ecclesia? infallibilitatem
circa ea qua? sunt fidei probant et con-
firman t, sive ex principio et fundamento
cui nituntur in docendo ; sive ex fine
propter quem data est, illi haec judicii
infallibilitas ; ilia? petantur ; sive a pro-
missionibus Christi Ecclesiae factis
sumantur; illae,inquam, omnes rationes
non minus Ecclesiae Catholica? pro
quocunque tempore praesenti conveni-
unt, quam Apostolorum Ecclesiae. . . .
Habebit ergo praesens et cujuscunque
temporis Ecclesia, non minorem in hac
re — cum fidei ilia sit, maximeque ad
fidem pertinens — potestatem quam ha
buit ipsa Apostolorum Ecclesia. Sep-
timo et postremo fides fidelium, quae ex
auditu est, audit proprie praesentem
Ecclesiam, et acquiescit testimonio at
que judicio pro tempore docentis et
pascentis Ecclesiae, ut in aliis fidei
dogmatibus, ita in Scripturis canonicis
recipiendis: sicuti proprie et imme
diate subjiciuntur fideles pastoribus pro
tempore existentibus, non eorum ante-
cessoribus : nisi per consequens et
propter eandem fidei unitatem, quae
facit ut pro patribus quidem habeamus
multis ante nos saeculis defunctos Ec
clesiarum pastores et Episcopos, magis
autem proprie Ecclesiae seu Dicecesis
in qua vivimus. — Stapleton, Princip.
Fidei, Controv. v. lib. ix. cap. xii. pp.
347, 348. Paris. 1582.

586 OF THE PRINCIPLES
book ing a certain rule of faith, and undertaking a certain rule of
 life, as the law and condition whereby all Christians hope to

attain everlasting life. Besides, all Christians being, upon this
profession, admitted to communicate with the Church in the
service of God, according to such rules as determine the cir
cumstances thereof, first brought in by the Apostles : these
rules may also be said to be received by word of mouth, be
cause the practice of them holds by custom from age to age,
though the express knowledge and profession of them is not
the means to save particular Christians, further than it is the
means to maintain the service of God in the unity of His
Church, which is the means of it.
[To what § 27. Here are then two heads of things received by word of
dition mouth, which he that will speak expressly in this point must
goodn distinguish. And according to this distinction, I say, that only
the rule of faith, which is the law of attaining everlasting life,
and the communion of the Church, is delivered by word of
mouth ; though when I say so, I understand that the true in
tent and meaning thereof, and what it importeth to common
sense, cannot be excluded. Beside which there is of neces
sity infinite matter of discourse, concerning things consequent, 225
or impertinent, or repugnant to the same, some whereof, ob-.
taining credit in some times, and some parts of Christendom,
comes by tradition of word of mouth, nevertheless, to other
ages and places, which therefore do truly bear the name of
tradition ; though not as delivered from the beginning by the
Apostles, further than as by them the means is delivered,
whereby it may appear which of them is consequent, which
of them repugnant, which of them impertinent, to that which.
they have delivered indeed.
§ 28. As concerning the laws of the Church, so certain and
so manifest as it is, that there were rules delivered by the
Apostles, to have the force of law, in directing the commu-.
nion of Christians in the public service of God, to the unity
of the Church; so certain and manifest is it, first, that the
same laws are not capable to regulate the communion of the
Church in all estates of it, which the change of times should
produce e; and yet secondly, that whatsoever should be
s Atque hoc circa credenda qua? quae quia varia sunt, non possunt semel
semper perstant, minus circa agenda, pro omni tempore definiri, nee sub Apo-

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 587
changed, or taken away, or added to the same, ought to tend CHAP.
to the same intent, which, it is visible, those of the Apostles XXX'
did purpose.
§ 29. Let any understanding, that is capable, but consider
the difference that needs must arise, by the secular power
undertaking the protection of Christianity, between the Church
afore and the Church afterwards ; if he say the same laws will
serve to maintain the communion ofthe Church in both estates
— supposing the society thereof to be the same upon the pre
mises — I shall then confess that it is to no purpose to appeal
to any discourse of reason in this whole dispute. I say
further, that among those who profess that nothing ought to
be received for revealed truth but that which was first de
livered by our Lord and His Apostles, nothing ought to have
the force of law but that which tendeth to the same purpose
with that which they enacted; nothing hindereth things to
be received into belief and practice that are really not only
impertinent to, but inconsistent with, that which indeed they
have delivered to ush. The appeal is to common sense,
therefore let discourse and experience satisfy common sense.
stolis omnia occurrerunt, ut possent ab ' "I consider if the report of tra-
eis omnia decidi, et in alio statu erat ditions in the primitive times so near
Ecclesia sub Apostolis quam sit modo, the ages Apostolical was so uncer-
vel fuerit post ilia tempora. Deinde tain, that they were fain to aim at
natura nostra non omnia simul doceri them by conjectures, and grope as in
potest, sed progressu simul et successu the dark, the uncertainity is much in-
temporis eruditur, nee est capax om- creased since, because there are many
nium simul veritatum. Deus etiam famous writers whose works are lost,
paulatim revelat, et ea quae tempore which yet if they had continued, they
necessitatis occurrunt, melius sapiunt, might have been good records to us,
et melius retinet homo. Unde dixit as Clemens Romanus, Hegesippus,
ad filios Israel, cum Moyses conscen- Nepos, Coracion, Dionysius Areopa-
deret in montem. Habetis Aaron et gita, of Alexandria, of Corinth, Firmi-
Hur vobiscum, si quid natum fuerit qute- lian, and many more. And since we
stionis referetis ad eos : et Dominus ad see pretences have been made without
Apostolos; adhuc multa habeo vobis di- reason, in those ages where they might
cere, sed non potestis portare modo. better have been confuted than now
Hinc variis horis pater-familias mittit they can, it is greater prudence to sus-
operarios in vineam suam. In inju- peet any later pretences, since so many
riam igitur Spiritus Sancti, qui ungit sects have been, so many wars, so many
unctione sua membra Christi, et qui corruptions in authors, so many authors
usque modo operatur, rejicitur quic- lost, so much ignorance hath inter-
quid non est dictum ab Apostolis. vened, and so many interests have been
Qua? ergo mala non sunt, sed utilia et served, that now the rule is to be al-
expedientia, licet olim non essent usi- tered ; and whereas it was of old time
tata, non sunt tamen spernenda. Pos- credible, that that was Apostolical
sunt ergo esse novae traditiones ad whose beginning they knew not, now,
fidem, et mores spectantes, licet ab quite contrary, we cannot safely believe
Apostolis non sint condita? et explicata?. them to be Apostolical unless we do
— Satmeron. Comm., torn. xiii. disp. know their beginning to have been from
.viii. in Epp. Paul. p. 214. Colon. 1614. the Apostles. For this consisting of

588 OF THE PRINCIPLES
book § 30. Religion indeed is a bond, by the condition whereof
—±  we persuade ourselves of peace with God; of attaining the
good and avoiding the ill, which belongs to those that are so
or otherwise. And thus far it is certain, that religion is a
thing bred in man's nature, which it is impossible for him to
shake off or renounce. But is it impossible for him to become
persuaded hereof upon undue terms? Whence, then, comes
all false religion, whether of Jews or Pagans? For we shall
not need here to consider Mahometans, whose religion sup
posed! Christianity, as the corruption of it.
§ 31. Surely he that considers not amiss will find that it
was a great ease to them, that were convinced to acknow
ledge a God above them, to imagine the name and honour of
this God to rest in something of their own choice or devising,
which being set up by themselves, reason would, they should
hope to please, and have propitious, by such obedience and
service as they could allow. Correspondently, God, having
given the Jews a law of such precepts as might be outwardly
performed without inward obedience, whosoever believes the
most difficult point of God's service to be the submission of the
heart, will find it a gain, that he can persuade himself of God's
peace without it, whatsoever trouble, whatsoever cost he be
at, for that persuasion, otherwise.
§ 32. If, then, there be in man's nature a principle of
Paganism and Judaism, notwithstanding that men cannot be
at quiet till, by embracing a religion, they think they are at
peace with God ; is it a strange thing, that they who have
attained the truth of Christianity should entertain a persua
sion of peace with God upon terms really inconsequent to, or
inconsistent with, the true intent of it ? Surely, if we reflect
upon the motives of it, and the nature of them, it cannot
seem strange. I have said, and it is manifest, that the
motives of Christianity, though sufficient, yet were purposely
provided not to be constraining, that the effect of them might
probabilities and particulars, which put of human accidents have been amass-
together make up a moral demonstra- ing together, are now concentered, and
tion, the argument which I now urge are united by way of constipation. Be-
hath been growing these fifteen hun- causeevery age and every great change,
dred years ; and if anciently there was and every heresy, and every interest,
so much as to evacuate the authority of hath increased the difficulty of finding
tradition, much more is there now ab- out true tradition." — Jeremy Taylor,
solutely to destroy it, when all the par- Liberty of Prophesying, § 5. pp. 87,
ticulars which time and infinite variety 88. London, 1647.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 589
be the trial of those dispositions that should be moved there- CHAP.
... xxx.
with. 
§ 33. And is it a marvel that means to persuade those that
have received Christianity, that things inconsistent with that
which was first delivered, are indeed consequent to the same,
should be left among those that profess that they ought to
224 receive nothing but what was first delivered by our Lord and
His Apostles? I say nothing now of renouncing Christianity
while men profess this, for I confess and insist, that while
men do believe that there is a society of men, visible by the
name of the Church, it will not be possible for them to forget
their whole Christianity, or to embrace the contrary of it.
But I say, that notwithstanding the profession of receiving
Christianity from our Lord and His Apostles, the present
Church may admit laws — whether of belief or of communion
— inconsistent with that which they received at first.
§ 34. I allege further, that so long as all parts of the
Church held free intercourse and correspondence with one
another, it was a thing either difficult or altogether impos
sible, to bring such things either into the persuasion or prac
tice of all parts of it, according to the difficulty of bringing
so great a body to agree in any thing against which any
part might protest with effect. And this held not only before
the Church was engrafted into the state of the Roman empire,
but also so long after as this accessory help of Christianity
did not obscure, and in the end extinguish, the original inter
course and correspondence of the Church. For then it grew
both possible and easy for them, who had the secular power
on their side, to make that which the authority thereof was
employed to maintain, to pass for tradition in the Church :
seeing it is manifest, that in the ordinary language of Church
writers, tradition signifies no less that which the Church de
livers to succeeding ages, than that which it received from
the Apostles.
§ 35. Add hereunto the opinion of the authority of the
Church, truly pretended originally, within the true bounds,
but by neglecting the due bounds of the truth of Christianity
which it supposeth, infinitely extended to all states which
power may have interest to introduce. For if it be not im
possible to persuade those who know they have received

590 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK their Christianity upon motives provided by God — to con-
 '¦ — vince the judgments and consciences of all that see them, to
embrace those things to which the witness of them may be
applied — that they are to embrace whatsoever either the
express act, or the silent practice, of the Church enforces,
whether the motives of faith be applicable to them or not;
then is it not impossible to persuade them any thing which
this power shall think to be for their interest to persuade;
for no man's interest it can be to go about to persuade the
world that express contradictories are both true at once.
§ 36. And if it were not impossible that the imaginations
of most of them, that dispute controversies for the Church of
Rome, should be so embroiled with the equivocation of this
word Church, as not to distinguish the infallible authority
thereof, as a multitude of men not to be deceived in testify
ing the truth, from the authority of it, as a body constituted
upon supposition of the same ; shall it not be easy for those
who can obtain a reputation of the world, that their act is to
oblige the whole Church to obtain of the same, to make no
difference between that which is presently decreed, and that
which was originally delivered by the Apostles ; the said dif
ference remaining disputable, not only by any text of Scrip
ture, but by any record of historical truth, testifying the con
trary to have passed for truth in any other age or part of the
Church.
Howreii- § 37. Upon these premises I do appeal to the common
vered by" sense of all men to judge, whether the Church, professing to
tradition ^old nothing but by tradition from the Apostles1, may not
i In hac autem traditione praedi- tasse, nee sibi aut alteri reclamasse.
cationis Apostolicae, quam illi fingunt, Cum tamen haeretici et inter se, et
se ignorare, duo sunt potissimum con- quisque sibi ipsi mirum in modum
sideranda; alterum nunquam aliquid contradixerint, et multa recantaverint ;
in Ecclesia, universali consensu, ut ut testantur antilogiae Lutheriper Joan-
fidei dogma fuisse receptum, quod pos- nem Fabrum scripts, et triplex Sta-
tea sit recantatum, aut mutatum, quia phyli Theologia. Imo ut Georgius
non est Deus quasi homo utmentiatur, Dux Saxoniae, Catholicus dicere soli-
nec ut filius hominis, ut mutetur, Et tus erat, se quidem nosse quid eo anno
ut Apostolus ait, Si quce destruxi, ite- sui crederent, quid autem sequenti
rum hcec recedifico, prccvaricatorem me anno credituri essent, ignorare. Alte-
constituo. Et ut in alio loco testatur, rum est ; Ecclesia etsi contradictionem
Sermo noster qui fuit apud vos, non est in in doctrina fidei non admittat ; admit-
illo est, et non, sed in illo, est. Quod tit tamen additionem, seu explicationem
perinde eslac si dixisset,pra?dicationem in essentialibus fidei mysteriis ; et in
Apostolicam in nullo sibi contradixisse, accidentariis et quae ad substantiam
aut repugnasse, nee aliquem Aposto- non faciunt, etiam mutationem, sive
lum aliquid ex his qua? dixit, recan- abrogationem. Nee haec unitati Ec-

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 591
be induced to admit that as received from the Apostles, chap.
which indeed never was delivered by the Apostles. For r — — ^—
when the Socinians pretend^ that the faith of the Trinity, of subject to
the incarnation and satisfaction of our Lord Christ, not being rupted.
delivered by the Apostles in their writings, crept into the
Church as soon as they were dead, they still maintain that
nothing is to be admitted but what comes from our Lord
and His Apostles ; but upon their supposition that Anti
christ came into the Church as soon as they were dead, are
obliged to renounce all that can be pretended to come by
tradition, and in that very next age.
§ 38. Which, I yield and insist, that whosoever shall con
sider the intercourse and correspondence visibly established
by the Apostles, between all parts of the Church, shall easily
perceive to be a contradiction to common sense. But when
so much difference is visible between the state of the Church
in several ages, and what change hath succeeded in things
225 manifest, to infer what may have succeeded in things dis
putable, he must have his mind well and thoroughly pos
sessed with prejudice, to the utter renouncing of common
sense, that can endure a demand so contrary to all appear
ance, to be imposed upon his common sense.
§ 39. The same I say to the other demands, of certain and
sensible distances of time, which they that see the end of may
be certainly assured what was received at the beginning of
them, and so, by mean distances, this age, what was held by
the Apostles ; of the like time, for blotting out the remem
brance of the truth, as for introducing falsehood. For it is
evidently true, that the motives of Christianity could never
have prevailed to introduce it into the belief and profession
of all Christendom, had they not been true ; but it followeth
not, therefore, that Christianity beisg settled, and a power to
clesia? repugnant, imo earn plurimum Electa est ut sol, in futura? et trium-
illustrant et confirmant. Est enim ut phantis gloria? statu, ubi justi fulge-
Aurora consurgens, pulchra ut luna, bunt, sicut sol, in regno patris eorum.
electa ut sol, terribilis ut castrorum acies Denique terribilis est ut castrorum
ordinata. Est quidem ut Aurora, per acies ordinata, non solum aereis potes-
omnes partes extensa, ut proficiens tatibus, et tyrannis, et eorum organis
majoris augmenti luminis, de qua ait haereticis, quos semper in certamine
Solomon, justorum semita, quasi lux vincit ; sed etiam amabilis bonis ob
splendens, procedit, et crescit usque ad virtutum et charismatum Ecclesiae or-
perfectam diem. Pulchra est ut luna, dinem  Salmeron. Comm., torn. xiii.
qua? a [sole justitia? illustrata noe- Disputat. vi. pp. 207, 208. Colon. 1614.
tem sseculi Evangelica luce illuminat. k See chap, xxiii. sect. 3 .

592 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK conclude the Church lawfully vested in some members of it,
 - — in behalf of the whole, within due bounds ; the act of this
power transgressing the due bounds, shall not be able to pro
duce, in so great a body, an opinion of the like obligation
upon the express act of this power, as upon tradition truly
derived from the Apostles.
§ 40. For the truth of Christianity professed, called in
question men's lives and fortunes, which they were not there
fore so ready to engage upon an imposture. But, if when
sovereigns own the act of that power which concludeth the
Church, he that acknowledges it not, calls in question his
estate and reputation, or whatsoever good of this world the
protection of the Church engageth. Upon this account, then,
it is possible that innovation should come into the Church
without calling in question the common principle, that no
thing is to be admitted which comes not from the Apostles.
Nay, without calling in question other points of Christianity,
so received ; because nothing hinders things inconsistent with,
or at least impertinent to, that which the Apostles have de
livered, to be received, as consequent to that which indeed
they have delivered, though not as expressly contained in the
same. § 41. And because I would not speak without instance in
a business so general, I demand of those that hold this opinion,
whether they believe that the Greek and Latin Church, at such
time as the schism fell out between them, did both believe
tradition as well as Scripture : and when it appears that there
was no visible difference between them in that regard, at that
time, I shall desire them to tell me what they think of their
demand, that all sectaries have always left tradition1 to betake
themselves to Scripture alone. For though I pretend not to
suppose either the one party or the other guilty of schism or
heresy in this place, yet I pretend it visible to common sense,
1 Circa traditiones, haeretici non so- Macedonianos etEunomianosnegantes
lum antiqui sed etiam moderni reji- versiculum: Gloria Patri, quia non
ciunt illas, asserentes ea omnia, quae exprimitur in Scriptura. Ex modernis
spectant ad fidem, et mores, exprimi in nonnulli concedunt tantum traditiones
sacra Scriptura, nihil aliud volentes Ecclesiasticas, Apostolorum vero, seu
admittere, ut videre est apud D. Au- Christi omnino negant. — Bordoni, Sacr.
gustinum, lib. i. contra Maximum Epi- Tribunal., cap. vii. § 19, 20. torn. i. p,
scopum Arianum rejicientem voces 224. Lugduni, 1665,
quae extra Scripturam sunt; et contra

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

593

that they who pretend to receive nothing but from the Apo- chap.
sties, may think that which is not, to be received from the _ — xx
Apostles, unless contradictories may be both true at once.
§ 42. Another instance I will give that learned gentleman,
Thomas White™ — who professeth to put Richworth's Dialogues
into the world as his ward, and an orphan — out of the book
which he hath published of the mean state of souls between
death and the general judgment, to shew that there is a tra
dition of the Church, that the greatest part of the souls of
Christians that are not damned, continue in a state of joy or
grief proportionable to the affection they had to this world
while they were of it, to be purged thereof at the general
judgment, but are not translated, by any prayers of the

" Me opposita in plerisque detinet
sententia. Mortalium a venialibus de-
fectibus actionis humana? dissidentiam
agnosco; solvi quoque lethalem impu-
ritatein imperfecte non inficior: sed
non in eo consistere hanc imperfec-
tionem quod culpa plene sit deleta,
maneant pcenarum reliquia?, sed quod
affectus absolutus in condition atum sit
translatus. Quasi dicas pro volo sub-
stitutum sit, Nolo, sed o si licereL Ex-
istimat itaque talis homo praeferendum
esse aeternum bonum, et hoc vita et
actione perficit: sed ipsum vitandum
adhuc amabile quasi retorto oculo in-
tuetur, et ut vacca? arcam reportantes
ad vitulos domi clausos remugit. Com-
pressus itaque est ad bonum tempora-
rium affectus, non extinctus ; factus
est ex mortali venialis ; mutatus non
penitus ablatus.
Hie ergo cum mortis praelo in spiri
tum subsistentem fuerit expressus, se
cum fert unde torqueatur, sicut et qui
aliis affectibus venialiter detortis ob-
sessus egreditur corpore. Non itaque
locum uspiam tartareis oppletum fer-
culis cogitamus, quibus animae ab ex-
trinseco_ tortore lanienam patiautur,
sed intimam et viscitus ingenitam
affectuum contra rationem rabiem et
furias horrescimus. Hanc peccatis
propterea proportionatam esse, quia ab
iis prognatam : Alioquin indelebilem,
nisi anima iterum, mediante corporis
conjunctione, patiens evadat Hoc in
resurrectione per duplicem ignis ac
tionem in actum perduci ; corporei,
qui corporum materiam ad Angelica
nunisteria et adaptationem corporum
ad unitatem cum spiritibus praeparare
sit idoneus ; et spiritalis, qui est judi-
THORNDIKE. Q

cium Christi seu visio corporea et men-
talis Christi Domini, quae transfert
animarum dispositionem ab ea distor-
sione qua? ex corporeo complexu re-
manserat, in earn qua? sit ad visionem
beatificam congrua praeparatio. Et in
hoc consistere pcenarum vel — ut Scrip
turae loquuntur — peccatorum remis
sionem. Preces porro sanctorum sive
jam Deo fruentium, sive in corpore
aut extra corpus adhuc in aenigmate
peregrinantium, ad hunc effectum va-
lere suo tempore praestandum 
Et in fronte duo evidentissima sacrae
Scripturae testimonia colloco. Pri
mum ex posteriori Macchabaeorum li
bro cap. xii. ubi narratur Judas Mac-
chabaeus misisse Hierosolymam pe-
cunias ad curanda sacrificia pro pecca
tis mortuorum 
Affirmamus itaque nos, evidenfer
convinci ex hoc testimonio, non solvi
pcenis purgatoriis animas ante resur-
rectionem. — Thom. White, de Medio
Animarum Statu, pp. 3 — 5. Paris.
1653. Liberius a Jesu in his Controversies,
speaks as follows of this position of
White's, which also is held by the
Greeks : Errorem hunc una cum plu-
ribus aliis insolenti calamo tutatur
quidam Thomas Anglicus, in libro de
medio statu animarum Londini im-
presso, ubi distinguens morientes in
peccato veniali— quod constituit in
quodam conditionato affectu hactenus
inaudito — a morientibus in mortali,
primos asserit in eo statu medio, qui
purgatorium dicitur, usque ad diem
judicii detentum iri. — Tract, ii. de
Purgatorio, par. ii. Disp. ii. Controv.
iv. torn. i. col. 219. Mediolani, 1743.

594 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK Church, to the kingdom of heaven from purgatory pains.
 l-  For I demand of him that believes this, whether it be re
ceived now or not, how he will defend his ward, that mam-
tains the present tradition to be always the same. For if it
be said that it is not decreed by the Church", though gene
rally believed, and practised accordingly, I will say that my
business is done when the most votes, by so many degrees,
are consenting to that which he maintains is contrary to the
tradition of the Apostles, his vote, and perhaps two or three
more in the communion of the Church of Rome, not hinder
ing that which is received in practice to be a more effectual
law in force than abundance of things enacted in writing
that will never come to effect.
§ 43. A third instance I will give, in the difference between
the reformation and the Church of Rome, concerning the
canon of Scripture ; supposing that the late Scholastical
History" thereof hath made evidence that those books be
longing to the Old Testament, which the council of Trent 226
maketh canonical Scripture, were never received for such
from the Apostles; inasmuch as it is evident that there were,
in all ages of the Church, that did not take them for canonical
Scripture. For, this being supposed, what question can re-
" Sexta haeresis docet, nullam ani- lactus Bulgariae Episcopus, beatus
mam ante diem judicii esse beatam : Bernardus. Nee mirari quisquam de-
quoniam, ut ait, nulla anima ante ilium bet, si tanti viri in tam pestiferum
diem videt Deum. Hujus haeresis auc- errorem sunt lapsi : quoniam — ut bea-
tores sunt Armeni. Eandem etiam tus Jacobus Apostolus cap. iii. ait —
tuentur Graeci. Verum hi — teste Gui- 'Qui non offendit in verbo hie per-
done — multo magis delirant, quoniam fectus est vir. Admonere tamen hie
sicut negant beatitudinem dari justis oportet lectorem, ne putet hunc errorem
ante diem judicii, ita etiam negant aliquid tantorum virorum sanctitati,
poenam dari peccatoribus ante ilium aut doctrina? detrahere ; nam cum illo
diem. Post istos resurrexit Johannes tempore nunquam Ecclesia de hac re
XXII. hujus nominis Pontifex. Sed ne quidquam definisset, nee res ilia fuis-
verbis meis aliquis in hac parte fidem set unquam in quaestionem vocata, nee
deroget, verba Adriani Papae referam, tam expressa fuissent sacrae Scripturae
qui in suo quarto sententiarum in calce pro illius definitione testimonia, ut non
cujusdam quaestionis de Sacramento possent in alium sensum utcumque
confirmationis ita ait : ' Novissime fer- detorqueri : potuerunt eo tempore alter-
tur de Johanne XXII. quod publice utram partem docere, praesertim cum
docuit, declaravit, et ab omnibus teneri non deessent aliqua Scriptura testi-
mandavit, quod animae purgata? ante monia, qua? illis quodammodo favere
finale judicium non habent stolam,qu<e viderentur. — Alfons. k Castro, advers.
est ciara et facialis visio Dei:'  Haeres., lib.- iii. Beatitude, p. 109.
Ha?c Adrianus. Praeter hos sunt ad- Matriti, 1773.
hue alii hujus erroris patroni, viri qui- ° A Scholastical History of the Ca-
dem illustres, sanctitate perinde ac non of the Holy Scripture. By Dr.
scientia clari: Irena?us videlicet beatis- Cosin, Bishop of Durham.' London,
simus pro Christo martyr, Theophy- 1672.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

595

main that this decree cannot be taken to proceed from tra- chap. xxx
dition of the Apostles, but from a mistake in the power of  -
the Church, as grounded upon a gift of infallibility, tied by
God upon the visible act of persons enabled to decree in
council? Otherwise, men of reason would not have taken
upon them to make that canonical Scripture, which there
is evidence that they never received for canonical Scripture.
§ 44. And indeed I, who have no more to demand here,
but that something may be thought by the Church to come
from the Apostles, which, in truth, it never received from the
Apostles, do seek no more by the premises but this ; that no
general presumption from the present Church be receivable
against evidence of historical truth in the records of by-past
ages; that men will not take that for the tradition of the
Catholic Church, which some part of the Church, they see,
hath not owned for such ; that they will abate of the gene
rality of their position, as the particulars, out of which the
induction must rise, may require.
§ 45. I take not upon me to say here, that any foundation
of faith necessary to the salvation of all, hath been, or can
have been, extinguished by tradition of the present Church.
But I say here, that something may be taken by the present
Church to come from the Apostles, which, in truth, comes
not from the Apostles. And so long as that is true, I say
that the choice of religion cannot be prejudged by common
sense, without taking into consideration the weight of those
truths which may appear to be held otherwise by the present
Church than, originally, they have been received from the
Apostles. § 46. Now to that which is saidp, that unless Christianity
continue as it was delivered, the possibilities provided by God
to that end will be in vain ; though it be a dispute as unsea
sonable here, as to little purpose, yet, because it requires no
more than common sense to judge, I say that the ends of
God's creatures and works are none of God's ends. My
meaning is, that it is one thing to say God would have this
to be the end of His creature — happiness, for example, to be
the end of man — another thing to say that He made man to
bring him to happiness ; the difference being the same in the
P See chap. xxix. sect. 31.
Qq 2

596 OF THE PRINCIPLES
book works of His providence, whether it be said that He provided
— :  such means as of their nature tended to propagate the truth
' of Christianity preached by the Apostles to all posterity, or
that He intended thereby to propagate the same ; in a word,
whether it be said to be God's end, or the end of His works.
§ 47. And truly, he that says it was God's end, conse
quently says that God falls short of His end, if it come not
to pass. But he that will speak of God with reverence, must
not imagine that He hath any end but Himself, nor that He
doth any thing to any other end than to exercise and declare
His own perfections. If He do sundry things, which, of their
nature, have necessarily such an end as they attain not, it is
to be said that God's end never fails, insomuch as, by failing
of the end to which they were made, they become the subject
of some other part of that providence wherein His perfections
are exercised and declared.
§ 48. Seeing, then, that all controversies concerning the
faith have visibly their original from some passages of Scrip
ture, which, being presupposed true before the foundation of
the Church, ought to be acknowledged, but cannot be con
stituted by it ; and seeing that no man, that out of the con
science of a Christian hath embraced all that is written, can
deny that which he may have cause to believe to be the sense
of the least part of the Scripture, without ground to take away
that belief, it remains that the way to abate controversies is
to rest content with the means that God hath left us to de
termine the sense of the Scripture, not undertaking to tie
men further to it, than the applying of those means will
infer. § 49. And truly, to imagine that the authority of the
Church, or the dictate of God's Spirit, should satisfy doubts
of that nature, without shewing the means by which other
records of learning are understood, and so resolving those
doubts which the Scriptures necessarily raise in all them that
believe them to be true, and the word of God, is more than 227
huge cart-loads of commentaries upon the Scriptures have
been able to do. Which being written upon supposition of
certain determinations pretended by the Church, or certain
positions, which, tending to reform abuses in the Church,
were taken for testified by God's Spirit, have produced no

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 597
effect, but an utter despair of coming to resolution, or at chap.
least acknowledgment of resolution, in the sense of the Scrip  —
tures. § 50. Whereas, let men capable of understanding, and
managing the means heretofore mentioned, think themselves
free, as indeed they ought to be, of all prejudices which the
partialities on foot in the Church may have prepossessed them
with, and come to determine the meaning thereof by the
means so prescribed, and within those bounds which the con
sent of the Church acknowledges; they shall no sooner dis
cern how the primitive Christianity, which we have from the
Apostles, becomes propagated to us, but they shall no less
clearly discern the same in their writings.
§ 51. And if God have so great a blessing for Christendom, [Divisions
¦ • lead lo
as the grace to look upon what hath been written with this atheism.]
freedom, there hath been so much of the meaning of the
Scripture already discovered by those that have laid aside
such prejudices, and so much of it is in the way to be dis
covered every day, if the means be pursued, as, is well to be
hoped, will and may make partizans think upon the reason
they have to maintain partialities in the Church. If God have
not this blessing in store for Christendom, it remains that
without or against all satisfaction of conscience concerning
the truth of contrary pretences, men give themselves up to
follow and profess that which the protection of secular power
shall shew them means to live and thrive by. In which con
dition, whether there be more of atheism or of Christianity,
I leave to Him who alone sees all men's hearts, to judge.

CHAPTER XXXI.
THE DISPUTE CONCERNING THE CANON OP SCRIPTURE, AND THE TRANSLA
TIONS THEREOF, IN TWO QUESTIONS. THERE CAN BE NO TRADITION FOR
THOSE BOOKS THAT WERE WRITTEN SINCE PROPHECY CEASED. WHERE
IN THE EXCELLENCY OF THEM ABOVE OTHER BOOKS LIES. THE CHIEF
OBJECTIONS AGAINST THEM ARE QUESTIONABLE. IN THOSE PARCELS OF
THE NEW TESTAMENT THAT HAVE BEEN QUESTIONED THE CASE IS NOT
THE SAME. THE SENSE OF THE CHURCH.
Having thus resolved the main point in doubt, it cannot The dis-
be denied, notwithstanding, that there are some parts or ap- cerning

598 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK purtenances of the question that remain as yet undecided.
 For as long as it is only said that the Scripture, interpreted
of Scrip-" by the consent of the Church, is a sufficient mean to deter-
the6trans- mine any thinS controverted in matter of Christian truth,
lations there is nothing said, till it appear what these Scriptures are,
in two ' and in what records they are contained. And truly it is
questions. p]ajn tjjat ^ere remains a controversy q concerning the credit
of some part of those writings, which have been indifferently
copied and printed for the Old Testament, commonly marked
in our English Bibles by the title of Apocrypha, and no less
concerning the credit of the copies wherein they are recorded.
§ 2. For though it is certain and evident that the Old Tes
tament hath been derived from the Hebrew, the New from
the Greek, in which at first they were delivered to the
Church ; yet seeing it appeareth not of itself impossible —
such changes may have succeeded in the copies — -that the
copies which the Jews now use of the Old Testament, are
further from that which was first delivered than the vulgar
Latin, as also the copies of the Greek Testament now extant ;
it is a very plain case, that, this doubt remaining, it is not yet
resolved what are the principles, what the means to determine
the truth in matters questionable concerning Christianity.
§ 3. I must further distinguish two questions that may be
made in both these points before I go further ; for it is evi
dently one thing to demand whether those writings which I
said remain questionable, are to be counted part of the Old

•• Seponuntur capita quaedam cano- etiam nee ex lectis Chronicorum gene-
nica in Leiturgia Anglicana, substi- alogiis, Ezechielis templi architecto-
tutis quibusdam ex hisce Apocryphis, nicis, aut Johannis Apocalypsi, rudiores
ut publice legantur in Ecclesia, ergo multum proficerent.
videntur aequalis saltern nobis, si non Ob. 7. Compinguntur etiam cum
maj oris, esse cum canonicis authori- Bibliis a nostris ut partes integrantes,
tatis. ergo videntur esse ejusdem momenti.
Solutio. In lectione publica non Solutio. Non urgenda sunt haec ab
semper illud proponitur, quod in se illis tam ferociter in Apocrypha, qui
est pra?stantius, sed quod auditorum marginalia sua annotamenta textui tam
a?dificationi magis inserviat. 1 Corinth. libere adjiciunt. Ne conciones ipso-
xiv. 26. Non asquantur igitur Apo- rum nonnullae, inveniantur esse non
crypha canonicis, dum sic leguntur, canonica?. Sat fit cordatis, titulis ista
sed ut instituta quaedam facilia inter- distingui, quae eodem coha?rent volu-
ponuntur, quae ad canonica amplec- mine, ut non pro canonicis illi habe-
tenda — ut bomiliae et conciones — tar- antur libri, qui leguntur sub titulo
diores excitent. Sie Geneseos quae- Apocryphorum. — Prideaux, Fascicu-
dam capita et Salomonis canticum lus Controv. Theolog. de Scriptura, p.
Judaei non legunt in synagogis, ut cap- 17. Oxon. 1619.
tui populari minus accommodata. Sic

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 599
Testament or not ; another, whether they are to be read by C H A P.
Christians, either for particular information, or for public edi  —
fication at the assemblies of the Church. And likewise, as
concerning the other point, it is one thing to demand what
228 copy is to be held for authentic, another thing to dispute how
every copy is to be used and frequented in the Church ; to
wit, whether translations in mother languages are to be had,
and into what credit they are to be received.
§ 4. For it is manifest that the one sense of both questions
demands what the body of the Church either may do, or ought
to do, in proposing or prohibiting the said writings or copies,
to be used by the members thereof, for their edification in
Christian piety ; but the other, what credit they have in them
selves upon such grounds as are, in nature and reason, more
ancient than the authority of the Church, and which the
being and constitution thereof presupposeth. And as mani
fest as it is that these are two questions, so manifest must it
needs remain that the one of them, to wit, that which con
cerns the authority of the Church, and the effect of it, does
not belong to this place, nor come to be decided, but upon
supposition of all the means God hath given His Church to
be resolved of any truth that becomes questionable.
§ 5. As for the other part of both questions, though it hath
been, and may be, among them that will not understand the
difference between principles and conclusions — because it is
for their turn that differences in religion should be everlast
ing — the subject of great volumes written for and against;
yea, to them that are content to set aside that which cannot
here be decided, I am confident there remains so little to be
said, that the resolution of them will appear to be mere con-
sectaries and inferences from that truth which hitherto hath
been premised. For supposing that which common sense is
able to inform, that the writings which we call Apocrypha
are more ancient than the Church of Christ; and that
whether they were written by inspiration from God, as we
believe the law and the prophets to have been, the Church
never had any express revelation, beside the credit upon
which it received them from the synagogue ; it remains that
whether they were received by the synagogue as inspired by
God, is all that can remain questionable; seeing it is not

600 OF THE PRINCIPLES
book within the compass of common sense to imagine, that being
 '¦  not inspired by God at the beginning when they were penned,
they can become inspired by God by virtue of any act of the
Church, inducing them to be received for such.
There can § 6. Here then is to be seen the use of that distinction
dition which was made between the Church, as a society of men
books that visible to common sense, and the same Church as a society of
tensinee1" men f°unded by God, and visible only to the faith of Chris-
prophecy tians. For the belief of this latter presupposes the truth of
Christianity, the motives whereof, without more ado, must
evidence the truth of the Scriptures : and so this question
must be decided by such means as are more evident than the
being of the Church in this latter sense, to wit, by the being
thereof in the former sense. And this is that which I said,
that the testimony of the synagogue in matters of this nature,
is every whit of as much force as the testimony of the Church ;
both of them proceeding upon the same evidence, which the
visible consent of such a company of men advanceth to com
mon sense.
§ 7. In fine, if it may appearthat the writings in question were
from the beginning admitted by the synagogue in the nature
of writings inspired by God, there will remain no cause why
they should not be received into the same credit with other
writings, whereof the Old and New Testament consisteth ; if
it may appear to the contrary, it will be utterly in vain to
allege any act of the Church to enforce that which is as evi
dently beyond the power of the Church, as it is evident that
there is such a thing as the Church. Neither can there be any
question whether these writings were ever received by the
synagogue in this nature, seeing it is evident that they do not
receive any prophets after Malachi. I will not undertake that
they do not believe that any body after that time was in
spired by God to foretell things to come, for that is not all
that belongs to those whose writings are to be received as
inspired by God.
§ 8. It must appear further that they are sent by God to His
people with commission to declare His will to them ; there
must be evidence that they are moved to speak by the Holy
Ghost, and, by consequence, the people of God, to whom they
are moved to speak, obliged to receive them : how else should

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 601
the gifts of God's Spirit, and the commission upon which they CHAP.
229 that have it are sent, challenge of duty the acknowledgment r  -

of God's people ? I read in Josephus B of divers things foretold
with truth after this time ', nor do I find myself obliged to
maintain that the motions were not from God. But inasmuch
as they were not furnished with such means as God appoints,
to manifest unto His people, whom He sends on His message,
they are not to receive them as sent from God, whatsoever His
secret purpose may be in sending such motions ; but shall
always remain obliged to govern themselves according to His
will otherwise declared.
§ 9. Now there is nothing more manifest than the declara
tion of Josephus11, contra Apion. i., intending to acquaint the
Gentile's with the faith and laws of the Jews ; that until the time
of Artaxerxes that succeeded Xerxes — being, in his opinion,
the time whereof I speak — the prophets had written the relation
of their own times : but after that time things were written in
deed, but not with the like credit, because there was no suc
cession of prophets. And what can be more agreeable to the
conclusion of the prophet Malachi, iv. 4 — 6, where, having
warned them to give heed to the law of Moses, the statutes
and ordinances which God by him had given Israel, "Be
hold," saith he, "I send you Elias the prophet, before the
great and terrible day of the Lord come, and he shall turn the
hearts of the fathers to the children, and of the children to the
fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse :" which
the Gospel tells us was fulfilled in sending John the Baptist
to make way for the Christ, the chief and end of all the pro
phets, Luke i. 17, Matt. xi. 14, xvii. 11, 12, according to the
saying of the ancient Jews, that the Christ is to be anointed,
that is, solemnly invested in his office by Elias.
§ 10. And for this reason, when Judas Maccabeus purged
the temple, and the question was, what should be done with
r " To be acknowledged by God's ypavpav ev rpial Kal SeKa fiifiXiois' al
people." — MS. Se Xoiiral reiro-apes vp.vovs els rbv
" See Right of the Church, Review, ®ebv Kal roXs avBpdnrois vitoB-i]Kas rov
chap. ii. sect. 10. $iov -nepiexovmv' airb Se 'Apra£ep£ov
1 " After the time of ceasing of pro- P-expl rov KaB' rjpas xp&v°v yeypanrat
phecy." — MS. pev eKaara- irlarews Se ovx bpoias
" 'Anb Se rrjs Wlwiiaews reXevrijs f]£lwrai rots irp^i avrwv, Sii rb pirj
p-expl rrjs 'Apra£ep£ov rov peri Uep^ijv yeveaBai r^v rwv irpotp-qrwv aKpifiij
Tleptrwv &a<riXews ipxvs ol p.eriMwva-ijv SiaSox-hv, — P* 1333. ed. Hudson. Oxon.
irpoipTJrai ri Kar' avrovs -npaBevra awe- 1720.

602 OF THE PRINCIPLES
book the stones ofthe altar that had been polluted, it is said, 1 Mace.
 -  iv. 46, " And they laid up the stones in a fit place, in the
mount of the temple, until a prophet should come and give
answer concerning them." And speaking of the persecution
after the death of Judas, it is said, 1 Mace. ix. 27, " And there
fell out so great tribulation in Israel as had not been from
the day that no prophet had been seen in Israel." And this
time it is whereof it is either said or prophesied, Psalm lxxiv.
10, " We see not our tokens, there is no prophet any more,
neither any that understandeth any thing." Now it is mani
fest that in the Scriptures, as well as in the Jews' writings,
the name of prophet is not understood only of foretelling
things to come, but of uttering things unknown to human
understanding. And so the law and the prophets contain
all the Scriptures of the Old Testament.
§ 11. If therefore there were no prophecy from those times
to the coming of our Lord and John the Baptist, it followeth
that there is no Scripture inspired by God left us by those
times, according to the words of Eusebius in his Chronicle at
the thirty-second" year of this Artaxerxes: Hucusque Hebraorum
divina Scriptura, annales temporum continent, " Hitherto the
divine Scriptures of the Hebrews contain the annals of the
times." And the synagogue in St. Hierome, in Isaia. cap. xlix.
lib. xiii.?, Post Aggaum, et Zachariam, et Malachiam, nullos
alios prophetas usque ad Joannem Baptistam videram. " From
Haggai, Zachary, and Malachy to John the Baptist, I had seen
no other prophets." And so St. Augustine de Civ. Dei, xvii.
24 z, Toto autem illo tempore ex quo redierunt de Babylonia, post
Malachiam, Aggaum, et Zachariam, qui tunc prophetaverunt,
et Esdram, non habuerunt prophetas usque ad Salvatoris adven-
tum. " All that time from their return from Babylonia, after
Haggai, Zachary, and Malachy, who then prophesied, and Es-
dras, they had no prophets till the Saviour's coming :" except
ing those whom we find mentioned in the Gospels.
§ 12. And truly it is manifest by historical truth, that there
* Roncallius, in his edition of the Nisi alium Zachariam patrem Jo-
Chromcles, places this at the twentieth hannis et Elisabet ejus uxorem, Christi
year of Artaxerxes. — Vetust. Lat. nativitate jam proxima, et eo jam nato
Chron., p. 343. Patav. 1787. Simeonem senem, et Annam viduam
I „om- "?.¦ col- 35f: ed. Ben. jamque grandaevam, et ipsum Johan-
1 Tom. vu. col, 487. ed. Ben. He nem novissimum.
goes on as follows : —

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 603
was a part of that nation that gave themselves to use the chap.
. . XXXI
Greek language in their dispersions, whereas those that re — — — —
turned into the land of promise, as well as those that re
mained in Babylonia, had learned the language of that coun
try, being very near their own, which was retained only
amongst the book-learned. Seeing then that it is manifest
that these books were committed to writing in the Greek,
for the most part at least, it cannot in reason be imagined
that the whole nation acknowledged them as Scriptures in
spired by God must have been acknowledged ; which no man
can say that ever they came generally to be used by the whole
230 nation, or could come to be used, being only in Greek.
§ 13. We shall not find much of them translated for the
use of them that conversed in the Hebrew, unless it be Tobit.
For Ecclesiasticus it is true was first written in Hebrew, and
but translated into Greek; when the Old Testament was
translated into Greek, then, and among them that used it, were
they added to the writings of the prophets, and so received by
the Church, that received those Scriptures from them in Greek,
in the same nature, and upon the like credit, as it was visible
they held them from the time that first they were received.
§ 14. It is now no marvel to see some men ", upon the wherein
truth of these reasons, quite renounce all the advantage which iencyXof "
Christianity hath, by the witness which these writings, being *em
impartial, as uttered before it came into the world, do render other
it; because they are unduly advanced by others to the rank
of those that are inspired by God. For the spirit of contra
diction naturally carries weak men to oversee, to destroy their
own interest, so they may be far enough from those whom.
they desire to bear down. So we are content to yield the
Socinians all the advantage which the consent of the Church
gives us against them, upon condition that the differences we
have with the Church of Rome may be decided by Scripture
alone ; and so are we content to betray the Church to fight
* Ex his aliisque hujusmodi innu- translationem Gra?cam Septuaginta in-
meris concludi potest, aut hanc Grae- terpretum. Illam enim quam habuit,
cam versionem, quae ad nostra tempora corruptam vitiosamque esse sa?pe in
pervenit, non illam esse quam Septua- commentariis conqueritur. — Whitaker.
ginta Judaici seniores ediderunt, aut Controv. i. Quaest. ii. cap. iii. p. 280.
esse tam infinite fcedeque depravatam, Geneva?, 1610. See also Dr. John
ut authoritatis perexiguae nunc sit. Owen's Divine Original  of the
Nam ne ipse Hieronymus puram habuit Scriptures, pp. 314 — 316. Oxford, 1659.

604

OF THE PRINCIPLES

[Ot the
books of
Macca bees. ]

BOOK without the arms that are to be had out of these books, that
 L  we may be free of them when they seem to cross some pre
judice wherein we have engaged ourselves.
§ 15. But if that which hath been saidb ofthe fulfilling ofthe
prophets in the literal sense, at this time, between the return
from captivity and the coming of our Lord, be not premised
amiss, without doubt all the world could not recompense the
loss of the books of Maccabees, and the use of them to the
understanding of the prophets, so inestimable is the benefit of
them to that purpose. And truly I should not stick to the
reasons which I have premised if I should not observe here,
that when that people began to be persecuted for their religion
by the Gentiles, it pleased God so to order the matter, that
for their comfort and resolution in adhering to it, the truth of
the resurrection and judgment, and the world to come, should
be openly and clearly received and professed ; which, though
never questioned, yet had been sparingly and darkly preached
by the prophets themselves.
§ 16. We see it in the exhortations ofthe mother ofthe Mac
cabees to her children, 2 Mace. vii. 27 — 29, and in their own
protestations, according to the words of the Apostle, Heb. xi.
35, 36, that they suffered in consideration of the world to
come. And it is as well to be seen in those visions whereby
the resurrection is figured out to the prophets Daniel and
Ezekiel, for in their time began the persecution of God's
people. And as in their time those revelations were granted,
so by their doctrine, and the doctrine of the prophets their
successors, were the people of God fortified against apostasy
by the assurance of the resurrection and the world to come.
§ 17. And by this means also, and upon this ground, that
inward and spiritual obedience which the mystical intent of
the law requireth in order to everlasting life, is so clearly and
so plentifully expressed in those moral writings of the Wisdom
of Solomon and Ecclesiasticus, that it is a great marvel to
see those c who are so eager to persuade Christian people to
be informed in the law of Moses and the prophets — though
many times not knowing the reason upon which the obliga
tion of the law ceaseth, they are not only scandalized thereby

[Ofthe
books of
Wisdom
and Eccle
siasticus.]

Chap. xiii.
Reading the Apocrypha in Church

was an offence to the Puritans.
Rel. Assembl., chap. x. sect. 92.

See

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 605
with Jewish opinions, but lost, and seduced to be circumcised d CHAP.
— so violent to prohibit them the information which from  —
hence they may have in their Christianity.
§ 18. For so sure as the Apostle, in the eleventh to the
Hebrews, shews that all the fathers were saved upon the same
terms as Christians are ; so sure as the fathers of the Church,
as I have elsewhere alleged e, convince the Jews that the
fathers before the law were saved as Christians and not as
Jews, so sure an advantage hath Christianity from all that is
written before it came in force. Whether because it could
not have been received by the synagogue, had it contained
things contrary to that rule of piety and means of salvation,
which in the synagogue — within which it is acknowledged on
all sides that means of salvation was found — was in force ; or
231 whether because being written by the immediate successors of
the prophets, they had, as it were, the sound of that doctrine
still in their ears which they had received from them by word
of mouth. For he that would make a question that the doc
trine of the world to come is more plentifully and clearly de
livered in these writings than in the Scriptures of the Old
Testament inspired by God, and, by consequence, that in
ward and spiritual obedience, which becomes due in order to
the same, more plentifully here described ; hath no more to
do but to turn over the books and compare them, which will
not fail to justify what I affirm.
§ 19. As for the book of Judith — though perhaps ignorant [Of the
people may scandalize themselves at it — yet I shall profess J0^.^
to think it no disparagement to the credit, or to the right and
due use thereof, if the conceit which Grotius f hath published

d See chap. xxi. sect. 13. note a. dasam gentem nemo negaverit. Be-
e Chap. xii. seett 10 — 15. thulia est templum. Gladius hide
' Multi viri sudant ut qua? hoc libro egrediens est preces Sanctorum. Na-
continentur, quae ipsi revera ita gesta buchodonosor Hebra?is saepe diabolum
putant, concilient cum historiis non significat, et Assyria fastum, ut nota-
dubitatis, quae sunt aut in sacris aut turn et Hieronymo. Diaboli instru-
in Graecorum literis. Puto diu suda- mentum Antiochus qui hie tecto nomine
turos priusquam aut aliis aut sibi satis- Holophernes — id est, Lector Serpentis,
faciant ; veriusque esse, ea qua? sunt in Chaldaice, id est, ut jam diximus
hoc libro esse alviypiardiS-q. Scriptum minister diaboli — Juda?am formosam
librum cum primum Antiochus Illus- quidem — nam propterea apud Dani-
tris in Judaeam venisset, Templo non- elem decus dicitur — sed viduam, id est
dum per idolum polluto, in hoc ut ab omni auxilio desertam, subigere
Judaei spe Divina? liberationis confir- volebat. — Grot. Comm. ad Judith,
marentur. Nam Jehudith esse Ju- torn. i. p. 578. Londini, 1679.

606 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK and confirmed by several circumstances observed in the tenor
 L  . ofthe book, should hold, both in it and in the book of Tobit;
to wit, that it was not written for a history, nor requireth his
torical faith that such a thing was ever done, but as an alle
gory, or figure, described by way of romance, to express the
malice of Satan under the shadow of Nebuchadnezzar against
Jewry, signified by Judith, a widow and fair, exercised by his
deputy Holofernes, in the person of Antiochus Epiphanes, but
trusting in God for deliverance ; the rest serving to fill up the
relation.
LOf the § 20. I will not say so much of the book of Tobit, because
Tobit.0/ it is so far from creating any difficulty in point of time, that
it helps very much to dissolve those difficulties which are
made otherwise. But this I will confidently say, that sup
posing it to be a mere parable, relating what happened to a
true Israelite, in whom was no guile, continuing faithful to
God and to His people in a difficult time of persecution, it
will be of no less consequence to the animating of Christians
in the like course, than supposing the thing related to have
come to pass. As for the history of Susanna, what pains
Origen hath taken to persuade the learned Julius Africanus
— for to him, as we learn by St. Hierome in Catalogoe, his
letter of this subject is directed — that it is a true story, every
man that will take the pains to peruse that letter may see.
[Ofthe § 21. Some say that th« Jews have the same story h, differ-
Susanna.] ing in the relation of it, in that they make the two elders to
be punished by Nebuchadnezzar, not by their own people.
And though Origen1 is witness that the Jews had the power of
E Hujus est Epistola ad Origenem esse lapidatos : hie vero scriptum est,
super qua?stione Susanna?, eo quod quod frixerit eos rex Babylonis in igne.
dicat in Hebraeo hanc fabulam non Unde et a plerisque ac pene omnibus
haberi, nee convenire cum Hebraica Hebraeis, ipsa quasi fabula non recipi-
etymologia, airb rov axivov cxiaai, Kal tur, nee legitur in synagogis eorum.
aitb rov ttpivov itpitrai : contra quem Qui enim, inquiunt, fieri poterat, ut
doctam Epistolam scribit Origenes. — captivi lapidandi principes et prophe-
Tom. iv. col. 118. ed. Ben. tas suos haberent potestatem? Et ma-
h Aiunt Hebrasi hos esse presbyteros, gis hoc esse verum affirmant, quod
qui fecerint stultitiam in Israel, et scribit Jeremias, convictos quidem esse
mcechati sunt uxores civium suorum ; presbyteros a Daniele : sed latam in
quorum uni loquitur Daniel, ' Invete- eos sententiam a rege Babylonis, qui
rate dierum malorum :' et alteri ' Se- in captivos ut victor et dominus habe-
men Chanaan,' &c. . . . Sed illud quod bat imperium. — St. Hieron. Comm.
in pra?sentiarum dicitur: 'quos frixit in Jerem., lib. v. cap. xxix. torn. iii.
rex Babylonis in igne,' videtur Danie- col. 668. ed. Ben.
lis historia? contraire. Ille enim asserit i AeKreov S' Sri ovSev -n-apdSo^ov,
eos ad sententiam Danielis a populo pieydXwv 4Bvwv 6-iroxeiplwv yevop.e-

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

607

the sword sometimes in their dispersions ; yet under the Chal- chap.
deans, when they were lately transplanted, it is like enough 
they had it not. For these two elders the Jews will have to
be Ahab and Zedekiah, of whom you read, Jer. xxix. 21.
And truly there is appearance that this relation, being de
livered from hand to hand among the Jews, was at length
penned by some of them that used the Greek, and so added
to the Greek Bible ; for you have in the Great Bible two
several editions of it in the Syriac, much differing one from
the other in little circumstances, though one of them gives
the two elders other names than the Jews do. Which, as it
will not allow the writing to be inspired by God, so will it
enforce as much edification from it, not detracting from the
truth of it.
§ 22. For what doth it detract, that he that wrote it useth
an allusion from the names of trees under which they accuse
her to have committed uncleanness, which the Greek only
bears ? Daniel answering to him that saw her under a holm
tree, in Greek, -rrplvo^, trpiuei ere b ©eo?; to him that said,
under a mastic tree, cr^iVo?, (ryicrei ere b ©eo?; this is indeed
an argument, that he who penned it in Greek, was willing to
bring in a figure to set forth a conceit which the Hebrew
would not bear — for Origenk cannot persuade me that there
can have been those names for these trees in the Hebrew,
though now unknown to us, which hold the same allusion;
a chance of ten thousand to one — but is the writing of ever
the less effect and consequence to the encouraging and warn
ing of God's people to walk in His law ?
§ 23. I will here add the consideration of that which I ob
serve to be common to many of them, and, in my opinion,
serves to shew how much there is in them of the sense of the
vwv, irpbs fiairiXews ervyKexwprprBai roXs ovra' Kal rovro 4v rij x&Pr T0^ eBvovs
oiKeiois v6p.ois xprjirQai rovs alxp-aXtJii- iroXvv Siarpivpavres XP&V0V pepaB^jKaplev
rovs, Kal roXs SiKaar-qplois' Kal vvv Kal ireirX-qpoqiopi)peBa. — Ep. ad Afri-
7oBv Viipalwv $airiXev6vrav, Kal 'lov- can., § 14. torn. i. pp. 27, 28. ed. Ben.
Saiwv rb SISpaxjwv avrois reXo6vrwv, k Kal rovro Se p-iKpov SeXv eXa&e pe
Stra ffvyxwpovvros Kalffapos 6 'EBvdpx-qs avayKaXov irapareB-qvai irepl rov irptvov
trap' avroXs Svvarat, ws p.7}Sev Siaipepetv irpia-eiv Kal axlvov axitreiv, Srt Kal iv
$airtXevovros rov eBvovs- Xtrpiev ol ire- rats 7iperepais ypaipaXs KeXvrai rives
ireipapevoi. ytverai Se Kal Kpir-fjpia Xe- olovel irvpoXoylal alrives irapi piev
X-qB6rws Kari rbv vbpov Kal KaraSi- 'E$palois o'iKeiws exova-i, irapi Sc i\p.Xv
Kd^ovral rives rty iirl rip Bavdrw. ollre oi>x bpoiws. — Epist. ad African., § 12.
fieri rrjs irdvr-q els rovro iraffl-q<rlas, torn. i. p. 25. ed. Ben.
oijre peri rov Xav&dveiv rbv fiatriXev-

608

OF THE PRINCIPLES

.BOOK I.

New Testament, and of the doctrine of our Lord and His
Apostles. This consideration rises thus. St. Hierome1, in
his preface to the books of Solomon, saith that some ancient
Church writers ascribe the book of Wisdom to Philo the Jew:
not meaning — as he expressly addeth1" — that Philo that lived
under Caligula, whose works we have, but another, that lived 232
under Onias the high-priest. Therefore, whatsoever may have
been said since St. Hierome of the author of this book, cannot
make it to be of the age of Caligula".
§ 24. St. Augustine, de Civ. Dei, xvii. 20 °, saith that Ec
clesiasticus and it both have been ascribed to Solomon — as
St. Hierome also, in Dan. ix.p, saith that Ecclesiasticus was
then called Solomon's Wisdom — propter eloquii nonnullam
similitudinem ,¦ "because there is some resemblance between
the frame of Solomon's style" and that which they use.

1 Fertur et iravdperos Jesu filii Si-
rach liber, et alius vpevSeiriypaipos, qui
Sapientia Salomonis inscribitur. Quo
rum priorem, Hebraicum reperi: non
Ecclesiasticum, ut apud Latinos, sed
parabolas praenotatum, cui juncti erant
Ecclesiastes et Canticum Canticorum,
ut similitudinem Salomonis non solum
librorum numero, sed etiam materi-
arum genere coaequaret. Secundus
apud Hebraeos nusquam est, quia et
ipse stylus Graecam eloquentiam redo-
let: et nonnulli Scriptorum veterum
hunc esse Judaei Philonis affirmant.
Sicut ergo Judith et Tqbi et Maccha-
baeorum libros legit quidem Ecclesia,
sed inter canonicas Scripturas non re-
cipit : sic et haec duo volumina legat
ad aedificationem plebis non ad aucto-
ritatem Ecclesiasticorum dogmatum
confirmandam. — S. Hieron. Opp., torn.
i. coll. 938, 939. ed. Ben.
m See note p below.
¦' Veteres plerique librum a Philone
quodam scriptum esse statuunt, qui
certe nee Propheta fuit, nee librum
canonicum Veteris Testamenti conscri-
bere potuit. Vixit enim post Christum
tempore Caligula?, apud quem eele-
brem illam pro Juda?is legationem
obiit. Sed jam veteris testamenti trans-
ierat et Christus ait, Lex et propheta?
ad Johannem Baptistam. Nam quod
alium quendam Philonem Juda?um
fuisse aliqui suspicantur, ut Bellar-
minus, id nullo antiquitatis testimonio
nititur, et a Sixto Senensi rejicitur.
Lib. 8. Haer. 9. et cum communi doc-

torum opinione pugnat. Sic enim
Bonaventura scribit in Comm. in hunc
librum ' Prima causa efficiens per mo-
dum compilantis fuit Philo sapientis-
simus Judaeorum.' Ita a Philone non
Salomone scriptum esse statuit. Sed
a quo Philone ? num alio quodam
quam eo, qui post Christum floruit, et
tam multa scripsit eloquentissime ? de
quo est illud cujusdam, J) UXdruv
fpiXwvi^ei, r) $lXwv irXarwvi^ei. Sub-
jungit Bonaventura, Qui temporibus
Apostolorum fuit. Quem ergo hi Phi
lonem hujus libri authorem esse sen-
serit, perspicuum est, nam alium Phi
lonem non agnovit. — Whitaker, Con
trov. i. Qua?st. i. cap. xii. p. 273. Ge-
nev. 1610.
° Tom. vii. col. 483. ed. Ben.
p Post Oniam praefuit Judaeis Pon
tifex Eleazarus. Quo tempore Sep-
tuaginta Interpretes Scripturas Sanctas
Alexandriae dicuntur in Graecum ver-
tisse sermonem : post quem alter Onias,
cui successit Simon : quo regente po
pulum, Jesus filius Sirach scripsit li
brum qui Graece iravdperos appellatur:
et a plerisque Salomonis falso dicitur.
Cui successit in Pontificatum alius
Onias quo tempore Antiochus Judaeos
diis gentium immolare cogebat. — Tom.
iii. col. 1112. ed. Ben.
St. Hierome quotes it himself as
Solomon's in his commentary on Ec
clesiastes, cap. x. Siquidem et alibi
ipse Solomon ait : ' Qui statuet laqueum
capietur in illo.' Eccles. xxvii. 29.—
Tom. ii. col. 772. ed. Ben.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 609
Which as it is most true, so is it manifest that there is no chap. XXXI.
manner of resemblance between the style of them and of our  —
Philo. As for the matter of the work, the address which he
maketh to the " kings and princes, and judges of the earth,"
i. 1, vi. 1, 2 — 10, 22, manifesteth that it is intended for an
exhortation to the Gentiles, under whose power God's people
was, not to persecute them for serving the only true God, but
rather to learn the knowledge and worship of Him themselves.
§ 25. This is the occasion of setting forth the wisdom of
God, from whence the law — in which the wisdom of the
nation consisted according to Moses, Deut. iv. 6, 7 — came, and
which dwelt afterwards, as in Solomon, so in the rest of the
prophets and patriarchs from Adam downwards, as you may
see from that sixth chapter, in the process of the book. This
is the intent of that which is said concerning the wisdom of
that people coming from God, in the book of Baruch, iii. 12 —
37. For intending to exhort them to stick fast to God, and
not to fall away to the idols of the nations, in the captivity,
as the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah had done — which is the
cause why it is ascribed to Baruch — he puts them in mind
that it was none but God that could discover that way of
wisdom which the law taught Israel ; which wisdom, saith he,
" afterwards was seen on earth, and conversed among men :"
for so I construe the words, not to mean that God was seen on
earth and conversed among men — not because it is not true,
but because it is not so plainly said in the writings of the
prophets — but the wisdom of God "was seen on earth, and
conversed among men ;" to wit, in the prophets, who spoke
by the word and wisdom of God.
§ 26. In like manner, when the three esquires ofthe body [Ofthe
to King Darius undertook to plead what is of most force ; the Esdras.]
third, having named women to be the strongest, addeth, that
"truth prevaileth over all;" meaning that the truth which
God, by His law, had declared to His people, should prevail
over all that is strong in this world; and so encouraging
the king to protect it by countenancing the building of the
temple : as you may see in the third of Esdras, iv. 34 — 41,
which I suppose here to be a piece that comes from the
Egyptian Jews, being first read in the Greek Bible, and not
in any record of the Jews otherwise.
THORNDIKE. R f

610 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK § 27. Finally, Ecclesiasticus, commending the wisdom which
' he pretendeth to teach, and, for the matter of his commenda-

siasticus.]" tion, having recourse to the original of it, descants indeed
upon Solomon's plain song in the eighth and ninth of the
Proverbs — and therefore delivers no new revelations, but the
right intent of that prophet's doctrine — but recommends the
wisdom of his nation far beyond all that can be said of any
wisdom of the Gentiles, as coming from that wisdom by which
God made the world, and governs it ever since, Ecclesias
ticus i. xxiv., from which also the law and the prophets came.
Now Ecclesiasticus, though first penned in Hebrew, yet was
translated into Greek in Egypt, as the preface witnesses.
§ 28. Supposing, then, the interest of Christianity against
Judaism to consist in that which the fathers of the Church
do plead; that the same word and wisdom of God, which
first dealt with the patriarchs, which gave the law to Moses,
and afterwards spoke by the prophets, in after time dwelt in
our Lord Christ Jesus and delivered the Gospel ; I demand,
what could have been said, more to the purpose of Chris
tianity against Judaism, by those that lived under Moses's
law?
[Of pas- § 29. There is a question, whether the Apostle'' St. Paul,
from these anc^ whosoever it was that wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews, do
th°°Nm a^eSe these books, and allow them for their authors, when
Testa- they call our Lord Christ "the image of God," 2 Cor. iv. 4;
" the image of the invisible God," Col. i. 15 ; " the resplen
dence of the glory of God, and the express image of His sub
stance," Heb. i. 3 ; " the power of God, and the wisdom of
God," 1 Cor. i. 24. When they say, that "all things in
heaven and earth were created by Him, and to Him, and 233
subsist through Him, as the first-born of the whole creature,"
Col. i. 16, 17; "that the world was made by Him, and
that He sustaineth and moveth all things by His powerful
word," Heb. i. 2, 3. For how like are these things to those
i Quod autem sapientia Salomonis, manos ii. et ad Hebraeos xi. ex capp.
et sapientia Jesu filii Sirach, qua? Ec- ix. vi. et iv. Sapientia?, sententias alle-
clesiasticus dicitur, suit in can one gat: et Petrus et Jacobus uterque i.
sanctarum Scripturarum recepta?, de- cap. suarum Epistolarum ex xiv.
monstratur Novi Testamenti attesta- Ecclesiastici testimonia proferunt —
tione, Ecclesia; auctoritate, conciliorum Sixti Senensis, Bibliothec. Sanct., lib.
determmatione, etvetustissimorumPa- viii. Hares. 9. torn. ii. p 1077 Neapol
trum testimonio. Paulus enim ad Ro- 1742. '

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 611
which we read in Ecclesiasticus, i. 1. 4; "All wisdom cometh CH£.P-
from the Lord, and is with Him for everlasting. Wisdom 
was made before all things, and the understanding of pru
dence from everlasting." And xxiv. 9 ; JJpb tov ala>vo<; air dp-
vij? eKTure pie, Kal ei»? alo)vo<; oi pi-i) iicXiTrai. " Before the
world, from the beginning He made me, and for ever I fail
not." Having said, in the beginning of the chapter, accord
ing to the Latin copy, Ego ex ore Altissimi prodivi, prirn.o-
genita ante omnem creaturam. " I came forth of the mouth of
the Most High, the first-born before every creature."
§ 30. And again, Ecclesiasticus i. 9, 10; "The Lord Him
self made her, and saw, and numbered her, and poured her
upon all His works. With all flesh she is, according to His
gift, and He furnisheth her to them that love Him." And
xxiv. 3 — 6 ; " I came out from the Most High, and covered
the earth like a mist. I dwell in the Highest, and my throne
is in the pillar of cloud. I alone compass the circumference
of heaven, and walk in the bottom of the deep. In the waves
of the sea, and in all the earth, in every people and nation is
my inheritance ;" adding, that seeking rest among men, she
found it nowhere but in Israel.
§ 31. And in the book of Wisdom, vii. 22 — 27; for there
is in wisdom " an understanding spirit, holy, only begotten,
manifold, subtle, thin, nimble, perspicuous, undefiled, plain
to be understood, inviolable, loving goodness, quick, not to
be hindered, beneficent, loving to men, firm, sure, not solicit
ous, that can do any thing, that surveyeth all things, and
passeth through the purest and finest understanding spirits.
For wisdom is nimbler than all motions, and attaineth and
passeth through all things because of her pureness : for it is
a vapour of the power of God, and a sincere effluence of the
glory of the Almighty, therefore no pollution can happen to
it. For it is the resplendence of the everlasting light, the
unspotted mirror of God's working, and the image of His
goodness : which being one, can do all things, and remaining
in herself, reneweth all things, and passing into pious souls in
all ages, makes them friends of God, and prophets." And
ix. 9 — 11; "And with Thee is wisdom that knoweth Thy
works, and was present when Thou madest the world, and
knoweth what is pleasing in Thine eyes, and right in Thy
r r 2

g^g OF THE PRINCIPLES
book commands. Send her from Thy holy heavens and from the
L throne of Thy glory, that she may assist and labour with me,
and I may know what is pleasing before Thee. For she
knoweth and understandeth all things, and will guide me
wisely in my doings, and keep me in her glory."
& 32 Can any man read these things and not remember
the beginning of St. John's Gospel; "In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things
were made by it, and without it was nothing made that was
made?" Can any man conceive that the Apostles should call
our Lord Christ "the Word, the Power, and the Wisdom of
God, that made all things in heaven and in earth, itself being
brought forth before all creatures, supporting and moving all
things, which was with God from everlasting ; that He is the
image of God, the shine of His glory, the character of His
substance ;" that the successors of the prophets should de
scribe the wisdom of God to be the word of God that dwelt
in the prophets, and the power of God that made all things,
being itself brought forth before all things, that sustaineth and
governeth all things ; to dwell by the throne of God, as the
shine of His light, the mirror of His works, the breath and
vapour of His power and glory, and from thence to come and
take possession ofthe souls of prophets; and not acknowledge
all this to come from the same fountain ? especially, being per
suaded afore, as all that are not Jews must be persuaded, that
the same Spirit and Word of God— qualified as Wisdom de-
scribeth it — which, possessing the souls of righteous men, in
that measure whereof each of them was capable, made them
God's prophets ; dwelt in Christ without measure, according
to the fulness of the Godhead, as the Apostles have told and
said, John i. 14, 16 ; iii. 34; Col. ii. 9, 10.
§ 33. Truly, if any man say, as I know it is saidr, that the
r Adversarii praeter argumenta com- scribitur Hebr. i. 3. . . . sumptum esse
munia, de quibus jam sa?pe respondi- ex cap. vii. hujus libri. Respondeo,
mus, unum hujus libri, qui Sapientia de primo loco, Apostolus non ait se
Salomonis dicitur proprium habent. testimonium aliquid citare, non enim
Paulum enim Apostolum hujus libri sequitur, similia istis verba in hoc loco
testimonio usum esse, Rom. xi. 34. reperiuntur, ergo Apostolus hunc locum
 ha?c verba sumpta esse ex cap. citavit: etsi Apostolus Scripturae pro-
ix. hujus libri, in quo sic loquitur phetica? verba recitavit, aut ad Scrip-
Salomon : Quis hominum poterit scire turam aliquam allusit, non tamen id
consilium Dei ? . . . . similiter quod de hoc loco Sapientiae necessario statu-

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 613
same sense may be derived by the Apostles from "the glory chap.
of God" in Ezek. i. 28 ; from the attributes of the Messias,  '—
Ps. ii. 7, 2 Sam. vii. 14, Isa. ix. 6 ; from the making of the
4 world by God's wisdom, recorded Ps. xxxiii. 6, cxxxvi. 5,
Jer. li. 15, x. 12; especially from that which Solomon hath
written of wisdom being present with God from everlasting,
and doing all His works, Prov. viii. 11 — 31 : I will not con
tend with him about it ; though in my own judgment, seeing
it cannot reasonably be denied that these writings, being
extant long afore, went then with the rest of the Greek
Bible ; and seeing the texts that are alleged do not direct us
to understand how the Word, and Spirit, and Wisdom of
God, by which the law and the prophets spoke, dwelleth for
ever in our Lord Christ, as these passages of their successors
do, I do firmly believe that they signify their allowance of
them whose doctrine they use.
§ 34. But it is enough that it may hereby appear, as it
must needs appear, that they give us good and sound com
mentaries upon so high a point of the prophets' doctrine, their
predecessors, when the Apostles, that follow them, hold such
correspondence with them in it. Only hereupon I will from
hence draw the reason why the inward obedience to God
in Spirit and truth, which the Gospel requireth, is so plen
tifully preached in all those writings which we call Apocry-
endum erit Nam eadem sententia dom, or no, which for aught we know
apudlsaiam invenitur, cap. xl. 13. his was not extant before his time, nor
verbis, Quis erudivit Spiritum Domini 1 compiled by any other author than
&c— Whitaker, Controv. i. Quaest. i. Philo the Hellenist Jew of Alexandria,
cap. xii. p. 272. Genev. 1610. so there be several expressions in the
" In the first place, for the canon- undoubted Scriptures, concerning the
izing of the Book of Wisdom, they pro- representation, the splendour, the wis-
duce St Paul, and say that Rom. xi. dom, and the glory of God, whereunto
3*  is taken out of Wisdom ix. 13. he might allude in this his epistle to
.' .^retser is somewhat ashamed of the Hebrews, as he had done before in
this instance ; and our answer to it is, his epistle to the Colossians, and in his
that the sentence which St. Paul citeth second epistle to the Corinthians, set-
is clearly taken out of Is. xl. 13, where ting forth Christ there to be the image
both the sense and the words — in that of the invisible God, and the first
translation which the Apostle followed born of every creature, by whom all
— are altogether the same, as in the things were created, and do still con-
book they are not. Secondly, as much sist ; the substance and ground whereof
may we say to what they note upon may be found in Ezek. i. 28, Is. ix. 6,
Hebr. i. 3, where Christ is called the andlx. 1, Psalm ii. 7, cxxxvi. 5, 2 Sam.
brightness of His Father's glory, allu- vii. 14, Jer. li. 15, x. 12, to some of
ding to Sap. vii. 26, where wisdom is which places the Apostle himself refers
called the brightness ofthe everlasting in this place to the Hebrews." — Cosin's
light ; fpr as it is not certain whether Schol. Hist, of the Canon, Num.
St. Paul ever saw that Book of "Wis- xxxvi. pp. 23, 24. London, 1672.

614 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK pha; whereas, in our Saviour's and His Apostles' time, and
 much more afterwards, they promised themselves the king
dom of heaven, upon the righteousness of the scribes and
pharisees ; that is, upon the outward and carnal observation
of Moses's law, and preciseness in all those little niceties
which their masters had fenced it with.
§ 35. For it is no marvel that they who, under persecu
tion, promised themselves a part in the resurrection of the
righteous, cleaving to God and His law, should find them
selves tied to that obedience, in spirit and truth, which God,
who is a Spirit, sees and allows. But less marvel it is, that,
having attained the carnal promises of the law in the pos
session of the land of promise, they should fall away from the
like zeal, and yet promise themselves the world to come,
upon that form of godliness which they observed, being de
stitute of the force and power of it.
[Catechu- § 36. As an argument that this consideration is well
taught out grounded and true, I will here add the authority and prac-
of these ^jce 0f ^he primitive Church, prescribing these books to be
read by the Catechumeni, or those that professed to believe
the truth of Christianity, and offered themselves to be in
structed in the matter of it in order to baptism, and being
made Christians. For seeing these might be as well Jews as
Gentiles, this signifies that the doctrine of them was held by
the Church a fit instruction towards Christianity, even for
those that were already acquainted with the doctrine of the
prophets. St. Athanasius then, in Synopsi5, testifieth that
these books were read to the Catechumeni. To the same
purpose it is read in the Constitutions of the Apostles',
8 'EKrbs Se ro-ljrwv elerl irdXiv erepa Statpdpov rd^iv' irpovolas elppbv, vopo-
fiifiXia, rrjs aurrjs iraXaids SiaBr)K-qs, ov Beffias SioKp6pov SiKaiwr-fipia' iraiSeveaBw
Kavovi£6p.eva p.ev, avay ivwa-KdpevaSe p.6- Siari K6o-pios yeyove, Kal SC S KOtrpo-
vov roXs Karr/xovpevois, ravra' Soipla iroXir-qs 6 HvBpwiros Kareffr-q' 4iriyivw-
"XaXopwvos. — St. Athanas., Opp. torn. ii. ffKerw r-^v eavrov (bvaiv ota ris virdpxei'
p. 128. ed. Ben. iratSevetrBw Sitws o ®ebs robs irovqpovs
' The editor has not found direct 4K6Xairev vSan Kal irvpl, robs S' ayiovs
mention of the Book of Wisdom in the 4S6£aae KaB' eKdar-qv yevedv Aeyw Sri
Constitutions : it is possible that the rbv SijB, rbv 'Evils, rbv 'Evibx, rbv Nwe,
following passage refers to Wisd. x. rbv 'A/3paip, Kal robs 4Ky6vovs avrov,
'O peXXwv rolvvv Kar-qxeXaBal rbv rbv MeXxio-eSeK, Kal rbv 'Ii>$, Kal rbv
x6yov rrjs evo-efleias, iraiSeieoSa irpb Mwo-ea, 'l-qerovv re Kal rbv XaXeP Kal
roi Pairrio-p.aros tV irepl rov 'Ayevvfj- Givees rbv 'lepea, Kal robs KaB" eKaarty
rov yvwa-tv, r\v irepl TioO povoyevovs ^ej/tic btriovs. — Const. Apost., lib. vii.
4irlyvwo-iv, r^v irepl rov 'Ayiov Tlvevpa- cap. xl. Labbei, torn. i. col. 444, 445.
rosirX-qpo<popiav pavBaverw S-qpiovpyias ed. Venet.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

615

though the place is not at hand at present. And that which CHAP.
the last canon of the Apostlesu prescribes, that beside the  '—
canonical Scriptures, the book of Ecclesiasticus be read by
the youth, seems to tend to the same purpose. To the same
purpose Dionysius, de Div. Norn., cap. iv.x, calls the book of
Wisdom an introduction to the divine oracles.
§ 37. But let no man think to infer that the Apostles took
these books for Scripture inspired by God, because I grant
that they borrowed from them in their writings ; Origen hath
met with this objection, Prolog, in Cantic.Y, where he observeth,
that the Apostles have borrowed some things out of apocry
phal Scriptures — as St. Jude out of the books of Enoch, and
the departure of Moses — and yet adds that we are not to give
way to the reading of them, because we must not transgress
the bounds which our fathers have fixed. Where, you see,
he distinguisheth those books which the Church did not allow
to be read, under the name of Apocrypha, from those which it
did allow to be read, and are therefore more properly called
Ecclesiastical Scriptures — which name hath particularly stuck,
by way of excellence, upon the Wisdom of the son of Sirach
— though I contend not about names, when we call them
Apocrypha, because I see that St. Hierome2 hath sometimes
done it. And if St. Paul have alleged* Aratus, Menander,
u "E^wBev Se irpoirrropelaBw vpiv, pav- tanta Spiritus abundantia. — Origen.
Bdveiv u/j.wir robs veovs ri]V trotpiav rov Opp., torn. iii. p. 36. ed. Ben.
iroXvpaBovs 2ipdx. — Labbei, torn. i. z Tu vigilans dormis, et dormiens
col. 44, ed. Venet. scribis : et proponis mihi librum apo-
^Kal 4v rats irpoeiffaywydts tow Ao- cryphum, qui sub nomine Esdrae a te
ylwv, evpi)a-eis nvi Xeyovra irepl rrjs et similibus tui legitur : ubi scriptum
Belas aorbias. 'Epatrrfys 4yev6p.-qv rov est, quod post mortem nullus pro aliis
KdXXovs avrrjs. — [Sap. viii. 2.] p. 565. audeat deprecari : quem ego librum
Antwerp, 1634. nunquam legi  Adv. Vigilant., torn.
r Illud tamen palam est multa vel iv. col. 283. ed. Ben.
ab Apostolis vel ab Evangelistis exem- " Licet ergo Apostolus Judas duo
pla esse prolata, et Novo Testamento ilia ex Apocryphis libris citaverit testi-
inserta, quae in his Scripturis quas monia, non sequitur tamen quae citata,
canonicas habemus, nunquam legimus, esse apocrypha, vel falsa, quia multa
in Apocryphis tamen inveniuntur, et in falsis historiis continentur, quae sunt
evidenter ex ipsis ostenduntur assump- verissima, quaeque sancti auctores quasi
ta. Sed ne sic quidem locus apocry- margaritas ex Iuto collegerunt, et auro
phis dandus est: non enim transeundi inseruerunt. Esset igitur Jeremia? pro-
sunt termini quos statuerunt patres phetia apocrypha, quia in ea citatur
nostri. Potuit enim fieri, ut Apostoli liber constitutionum Jonadab filii Re
vel Evangelistae Sancto Spiritu repleti chab. Epistola quoque ad Titum, in
sciverint quid assumendum ex illis qua producitur apocryphus liber Epi-
esset Scripturis, quidve refutandum: menidis, in libro quoque Actorum cita-
nobis autem non est absque periculo tur Aratus poeta, et ibidem ara ilia
aliquid tale praesumere, quibus non est Atheniensium Ignoti Dei memoratur.-

616 OF THE PRINCIPLES
book and Epimenides, heathen poets, he did not thereby b intend
—  to allow the authors, but the matter which he allegeth.
[Danger § 38. If these things be so, I shall not desire to abridge any
ag5ngs'tmg man's liberty, from arguing against the matter of these books,
boofe t0 prove them not inspired by God, because not agreeing with 235
fr°tt *hfir th0^ which we know and agree to have been inspired by God:
but I shall warn them that take upon them thus to argue, first
to look about them, that they bring not the unquestionable
parts of Scripture into an undue suspicion, for agreeing in
something for which they have conceived a prejudice, that
these books are not to be received. The design of Judith,
and her proceeding in the execution of it, is charged not to
agree with Christianity0, neither is it my purpose here to
maintain that it doth. But I am more than afraid that those
who object this, do not know how to distinguish it from the
fact of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite, in the book of
Judges, which the Spirit of God in Deborah the prophetess
so highly extolleth.
[Ofthe § 39. The like is to be said of the like passages questioned
Tobit and m t^e book of Tobitd and the Maccabees e, and, namely, the
beesT ^act °^ Razias killing himself lest he should fall into the hands
of persecutors, which seemeth to be related with much appro
bation, 2 Mace. xiv. 41 — 46. For to distinguish this fact from
Item 1 Cor. xv. ex Menandro profertur suorum mendaciorum prosperum ex-
illa sententia itum. Quinetiam iisdem preeibus, sibi
Corrumpunt mores bonos colloquia proponit tanquam opus eximium lau-
mala. dandum atque divinum, id quod tam
— Salmeron. Disp. in Jud., torn. xvi. aperte Scriptura canonica damnat tan-
p. 337. Colon. 1615. quam impium et sceleratum : nempe
b Ca?terum, ut Hieronymus in caput caedem Sichemitarum a Simeone pa-
primum ad Titum, et Augustinus lib. tratam Gen. xxxiv. quam crudelitatem
xv. de Civitate Dei, cap. xxiii. et lib. cum perfidia junctam, et sacrilegio
xviii. cap. xxxviii. dicunt, etiam in Jacob vehementer execratur, Gen. xlix.
Apocryphis esse aliquid veri, et hoc — Chamier., Panst. Cath., lib. v. cap.
Judam protulisse, nee tamen propterea iv. § 3. p. 111. Genev. 1626.
totum librum approbasse: sicut etiam d See sect. 41. below.
Paulus, Act. xvii., 1 Corinth, xv., et e Gretserus: Mirum est Augusti-
ad Titum i. profert testimonia ex Eth- num hoc perfugio nunquam usum, ut
nicis poetis, Arato, Menandro et Epi- diceret Maccabaeorum libros esse Apo-
menide; nee tamen idcirco poetas illos cryphos  Deinde omnis garriendi
consecravit. — Card. Bellarm. de Verbo facultas eriperetur, si quis diceret,
Dei, lib. i. cap. xviii. col. 61. Colon. Raziam id fecisse, ut olim Sampso-
1620. . . . nem, peculiari impulsu Spiritus Sancti.
c Judith inducitur non solum multa Atqui Augustinus hac ipsa exceptione
mentiens apud Holofernem : sed etiam, usus est.
quod horrendum dicta est, in Graeco  Inspiratum autem a Deo Ra-
contextu, Deum in haec verba precans, ziam sibi manus intulisse blasphemia
irarat,ov SoiiXov 4k xeiXewv iirdr-qs prov: est.— Chamier., Panst. Cath., lib. v.
quibus verbis audet a Deo postulare cap. iv. § 13, 15. p. 112. Genev. 1626.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 617
Samson's, it will not serve the turn to sav that Samson did it chap.
. XXXI.
by inspiration of God's Spirit, supposing afore that it was con-  ~
trary to God's declared law to do it; the difficulty being
greater in saying that the declared law of God is violated by
the motion of God's Spirit, when the Spirit of God is not
granted to any man but upon supposition of acknowledging
God's declared law. For howsoever Saul, or Caiaphas, or
Balaam may be moved by the Spirit of God to speak such
things, as by the Scriptures inspired by God we learn that
they did speak ; yet, that God should employ upon His own
commission — as the judges, of whom it is said that " the Spirit
of God came upon them,'7 were manifestly employed by God
— whom He favoured not, is a thing which cannot agree with
the presumption which all Christians have of the salvation of
the fathers.
§ 40. As for the passage of Eccles., xlvi. 20/ which seems to [The his-
say that it was the soul of Samuel the prophet, and not an g^,uei jn
evil spirit assuming his habit, that foretold the death of Saul ; Ecciesias-
I do not understand why all this may not be said according
to appearance, not according to truth : for it will still make for
the honour of Samuel, that the king, whatsoever opinion he
had of this means of foreknowledge, should desire to see
Samuel, as him whom in his lifetime he found so unquestion
able. But if it be said that this cannot satisfy the letter of the
Scripture, yet can it not be said that as Saul, a wicked man,
did believe that he might see Samuel, so a good man at that
time might not have the same : being then no part of the
truth which true piety obliged all men to acknowledge.
§ 41. In the book of Tobit there are several things besides
questionable. But they that imagines conjuring in the liver of
a fish to drive away an unclean spirit, do not consider those ex
orcisms, whereby it is evident both by the Gospels and Acts of
the Apostles, beside divers of the most ancient fathers of the
Church, that the Jews, both in our Lord's times and after, did
1 Hie liber continet falsa, ergo non £ Rursus idem Angelus cap. vi. re-
est canonicus. Probatur antecedens medium quoddam docet adversus vim
cap. xlvi. 20. Samuel dicitur prophe- daemonum ex corde et hepate eujus-
tasse post mortem. At ex Samuelis i. dam piscis : quod quantulum distat a
cap. xxviii. constat non fuisse ilium magia ? . . . qua? si non sint supersti-
verum Samuelem, qui resurgens pro- tiose ficta, undenam esse possunt? —
phetavit, sed diabolicum potius spec- Chamier., Panst. Cath., lib. v. cap. iv.
trum— Scharpii Cursus Theol., p. 23. § 2. p. 111. Genev. 1626.
Genevae, 1620.

618 OF THE PRINCIPLES
book cast out unclean spirits. For what force could they have but
—  from the appointment of God, from whom at first they were
delivered, for a testimony of His residence among His people ?
which makes me stick to condemn that relation of the Jews in
the Talmud, extant also in Suidas h, that there were admirable
remedies delivered by Solomon, which he caused to be written
upon the walls of the temple : though they commend King
Ezekias for causing them to be done out, when it appeared
that the virtue of them was such that the people forgot their
recourse to and dependence upon God, because they knew so
ready help elsewhere.
[State § 42. And truly it is nothing strange1 to me that the Jews,
Persian living under the Persian empire, and seeing that there were
throne.] seven chief princes which had the great credit in it next the
king, the successors of the seven p,ayo(p6voi — that is, those
seven that killed him that usurped after the death of Cam-
byses, as sometimes I have conceived ; who having the privi
lege of perpetual access to the king, as Herodotus k testifieth,
are therefore said to "see the king's face," Esther i. 10 — 14;
vii. 14. I say it seems not strange, that expressing and think
ing of God as of a great prince — as doth the whole Scripture*
speaking in those terms that men are most apt to conceive —
they should attribute unto Him the like attendance of seven
angels as His principal ministers, the book de Mundo1 under
h $eperai Se ri Kal roiovrov. ?jv Xwv, 8jc. Hebraeorum Rabbini hos ocu-
SoXopwvos pifiXos lapdrwv irdBovs nav- Ios Dei vocant, ut videre est in libro
rbs 4yKeKoXap.pev-q rij rov vaov <f>Xi§. cui titulus, Principium Sapientia? breve.
ravr-nv 4t,tK&Xa-i/ev 'Efe/cfas, ov rtpoae- — Grot. Com. in S. Matth. xviii. 10. pp.
Xovros rov Xaov rip ®eqi, Sii rb ris 174, 175. Londini, 1679.
Bepairelas rwv iraBwv 4vBevSe robs ltd- k The seven conspirators agreed
(Txovras avrobs Kopi^eo-Bai irepiopwvras among themselves, irapievat is Ta fiar
alreXv rbv ®e6v. — Suidae Lexic. in voce criX-fi'ia irdvra rbv fiovXdpevov rwv eirri
'Et^eKids. . aveb iirayyeXeos. — Lib. iii. cap. 84.
i Sic et apud reges et principes qui p. 151. ed. Baehr. 1832.
intimae sunt admissionis dicuntur 1 KpeXrrov oSv viroXa$eXv, b Kal irpe-
irpoeo-rr)K6res Deut. i. 16 ; 1 Sam. irov iarl Kal ®eif paXicrra appofrv, ws
xxii. 6 ; xxv. 27. Denique discrimen r) iv obpavqi Sivapis ISpvpev-q Kal roXs
hoc Angelorum celebre fuisse apud itXeXtrrov avpeo-rrjKOiriv, wv evi ye elireXv,
Judaeos, multa ipsorum scripta evin- Kal o-iipiraai alrla yiverai awr-qpias, . . .
cunt. Inter hos primores Angelos aXX' olov Itrropetro Kapr&iaov Hepfrv
septem eminere credebantur ; quod ip- re Kal Aapeiov npiaxqpa, els aepvir-q-
sum quoque credo profectum ex aula ros Kal virepoxrjs Sxj/os p.eyaXoirpeitws
Persica, quam imitata? aulae minores. SieKeK6crp-qro. aiirbs p.ev yip, ws x6yos,
Vide Jerem. Iii. 25. Est eorum septem XSpvro 4v Soioois, % 'EK&ardvois, iravrl
mentio apud Chaldaeum Paraphrasten adparos, Bavpiatrrbv 4irexwv fiaalXeiov
Gen. xi. 7, apud Jachiaden ad Dan. oIkov, Kal irepi&oXov XP"°>- • • ¦ ""P-1--
x. 13, apud Tobiae Scriptorem, cui areov Si) r'qv rov pieyaXov QaaiXews
Raphael dicitur unus rwv eirri a77e- inrfpoxqv irpbs rijv toS rbv K&ap.ov i-ne-

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 619
Aristotle's name, comparing Him also with the king of Persia, chap.
236 And yet I will not grantm that "the seven spirits" before  —
the throne of God in the Revelation, i. 4, iv. 5, v. 6, are
those seven angels, because there are seven virtues of God's
Spirit recounted in Esay xi. 2, 3, which the seven spirits be
fore God's throne may well serve to express ; the seven angels
that blow the seven trumpets, Revel, viii. 2, being only that
number of angels — whether the principal of God's ministers
or not— who appear seven, to represent the plagues of the
trumpets and vials in seven, as the seals of the book afore.
§ 43. Neither is there any hope or fear that any matter of
historical truth can be discovered in them, which may justly
charge them with imposture ; as if the authors of them could
be thought ignorant of the state of God's people, living as they
did so high in time. In vain it is to imagine n that when
Judith, viii. 6, is said to have kept not only the Sabbaths,
new moons, and festivals of the law, but also the days afore,
which by the Talmud doctors we know were afterwards in use
among the dispersions of the Jews, he who wrote this book
forges when he says they were so anciently in use ; for either
he must prophesy, or they must have been in use when the book
was written. And whether in use or not when the story is said
to have come to pass, will be of no consequence to him that
believes it to be of no consequence whether a parable or not.
§ 44. As for the pretence of superstition0, which the credit
thereof may be said thereby to maintain, if it be no super-
%ovros ®eov roaovrov KaraSeetrrepav summo orbis gubematore. — Cornel. 4
Saov rrjs eKelvov r))v rov ipavXordruv Lapide Comm. in Apoc. 1. 4. p. 17.
re Kal acBeveirrdrov £tpov, liiare elirep Antwerp, 1681.
Hureprvov -/jv avrip avrbv SoKeXv Uiptfqv " Ha?c nos mendacia collegimus in-
avrovpyeiv airavra Kal iirireXeXv a /3o6- signiora. Sunt enim et alia minutiora
Xoiro Kal iqmrrdpevov SioiKeXv, iroXb per singulas sententias, qua? poterunt
pJdXXov airpeires iv eX-q Betp. — Tom. i. p. alii considerare per otium. Unum
398. ed. Bekker. Berolin. 1831. addam ex capite viii. de Judith mori-
m Dico, hosce septem Spiritus esse bus, 'jejunabat omnibus diebus vita?
septem primarios Angelos, qui assis- suae pra?ter Sabbata, et neomenias et
tunt Deo, quasi stipatores ac primores festa domus Israel.' Capite xii. 'bapti-
regni ipsius, parati ad omne imperium zabat se in fonte aqua?.' Quae pleno
Dei, vel per se, vel per alios inferiores ore superstitionem redolent Pharisaeo-
Angelos exequendum, praesertim in rum, et Hemerobaptistarum, traduc-
cura et administratione hominum. Hi tam Mattha?i ix. et Joannis ii. atque
enimvocantur et sunt Spiritus admi- alibi: nee habent quicquam veteris
nistratorii, Hebr. i. illius pietatis, quae in Juda?is non cor-
Id ita esse patet ; . . . . quia Tobiae, ruptis exercebatur. — Chamier., Panstr.
xii. 15. ait Raphael, ' ego sum unus ex Cath., lib. v. cap. vii. § 76. torn. i. p.
septem, qui astamus ante Dominum,' 127. Genev. 1626.
scilicet proxime, quasi primi a rege et ° See the foregoing note.

620 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK stition for the people to whom our Lord preached to observe
1 all that the Scribes and Pharisees enjoined them, because they
sat in Moses's chair, much less shall it be superstition for
Judith, or for those that lived when the book of Judith was
penned, to have served God two days by the appointment of
those that sat in Moses's chair, when God's law named but
one. And so when the history of Susanna saith that the Jews
were allowed in their dispersions to judge matters of life and
death among themselves ; though this perhaps was otherwise
under the Chaldeans, and that he who penned it mistook in
that circumstance; yet justly and certainly might it have
been presumed — though Origen p had never interposed to
justify a thing which upon better, because ancienter credit of
this author, had been justified before — that such a power had
been exercised at some times by the Jews in their dispersions.
In those § 45. Before I go further it will be requisite to answer an
theNewf objection' which I must confess to be material, but withal
Testament apprehended for more dangerous than it need ; to wit, that
been ques- some part now received for Scripture of the New Testa-
casTfs'n^t ment— the Epistle to the Hebrews and that of St. James, by
the same. name tlle Revelation of St. John, and some other small
pieces — have been sometimes questioned, and since are re
ceived in that nature. And what then should hinder those
p See sect. 21, above. ideoque ab Apostolis non confirmatos,
' Deinde die obsecro, quia Apostolo- recensent, hos quoque Novi Testamenti
rum temporibus canonici Scripturarum libros recitatos, inter apocryphos et
libri confirmati sunt, qui fit ut libros diu dubios ideoque ab Apostolis non
Novi Testamenti quos receotiora ilia — confirmatos, similiter recensent, aut
ut vocas concilia — in canonem recepe- igitur utrisque fidem adhibe, aut utris-
runt, vos nihilominus pro canonicis re- que deroga, aut tam Novi quam Vete-
cipiatis ? Cur, inquam, Sapientiam, ris Testamenti apocryphos, ut ab Apo-
Ecclesiasticum, Tobiam, Judith et alios stolis non confirmatos sed posterius in
Veteris Testamenti libros Apostolorum canonem receptos rejiciendos affirma:
temporibus non confirmatos, sed a pos- aut tam Veteris, quam Novi Testa-
terioribus conciliis in canonem receptos, menti apocryphos, utcunque Appsto-
tu, eo nomine hoc loco rejiciendos affir- lorum temporibus, necdum confirmatos
mas : Epistolam vero Jacobi, Petri se- a posterioribus tamen conciliis receptos,
cundam, Johannis secundam et ter- pari fide et obedientia recipiendos
tiam, Juda?, ad Hebraeos, et Apoca- agnosce. Tu vero, ut non Ecclesiae
lypsin Apostolorum temporibus simili- authoritas, sed tuus tibi animus author
ter non confirmatos, sed a posterioribus sit quid credas, quid non credas, Vete-
conciliis in canonem receptos, tu, eodem ris quidem Testamenti apocryphos pro
quoque nomine non rejicis, sed pro tua libertate haeretica respuis et asper-
canonicis nobiscum agnoscis 1 An hos naris, Novi vero Testamenti apocry-
Novi Testamenti apocryphos Aposto- phos pro tuo beneplacito admittis et
lorum temporibus confirmatos, esse probas. — Stapleton., Authorit. Eccles.
dices? Atqui eadem antiquitatis testi- Defens., lib. ii. cap. iv. pp. 959, 960.
monia, qua? illos Veteris Testamenti Paris. 1620.
libros, inter apocryphos et diu dubios,

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 621
books that sometimes have been questioned, whether of the C H A P.
Old Testament or not, to be now received for such upon the  —
decree ofthe council of Trent?
& 46. I say then that it is manifest to him that will take the
pains to consider it, that the writings of the Apostles were
first deposited with those parts of the Church, upon occasion
and for use whereof they were first penned ; as for the pur
pose, their Epistles with those Churches to which they were
sent — where Tertullian r, in his Prescription against Heretics,
testifies that the authentics and originals of them were extant
— and the Revelation of St. John with the seven Churches.
Neither is it to be imagined that the collection which now
we call the New Testament, was then anywhere extant. Nay,
it is manifest by the beginning of St. Luke, there went
about certain Gospels which Origen3, and St. Ambrose' upon
that place, following him, says, were afterwards disallowed.
Adding that the gift of discerning spirits, mentioned by
St. Paul, 1 Cor. xii. 10, was then extant in the Church — as
in the synagogue, when it was to be discerned whether true
prophets or not — that the Church might rest assured of the
writings of those whose commission had been so verified.
§ 47. It is therefore reasonable to think that those writings
that had been received by some Churches, upon the credit of
their authors, known to have been inspired by the Holy
Ghost, gave others an umbrage of something not agreeable
with Christianity — as the Epistle to the Hebrews11, of refusing
' Age jam qui voles curiositatem et tradita ecclesiis, ex ipso prooemio
melius exercere in negotio salutis tua?, quod ita contexitur, cognoscamus. —
percurre Ecclesias Apostolicas, apud Tom. iii. pp. 932, 933. ed. Ben.
quas ipsa? adhuc Cathedrae Apostolo- » Nam sicut multi in illo populo
rum suis locis praesidentur, apud quas divino infusi Spiritu prophetarunt : alii
ipso? authenticae litterae eorum recitan- autem prophetare se pollicebantur, et
tur, sonantes vocem et reprsesentantes professionem destituebant mendacio —
faciem uniuscujusque. — Cap. xxxvi. erant enim pseudoprophetae potius
p. 338. ed. Pam. Rothomag. 1662. quam propheta?, sicut Ananias filius
¦ Sicut olim in populo Judaeorum Azor — erat autem populi gratia dis-
multi prophetiam pollicebantur, et qui- cernere spiritus, ut cognosceret quos
dam erant pseudoprophetae, e quibus referre deberet in numerum propheta-
unus fuit Ananias filius Azor : alii vero rum ; quos autem quasi bonus num-
prophetae et erat gratia in populo dis- mularius improbaret, in quibus materia
cernendorum spirituum, per quem alii magis corrupta sorderet, quam veri
inter prophetas recipiebantur, nonnulli splendor luminis resultaret : sic etnunc
quasi ab exercitatissimis trapezitis re- in Novo Testamento multi Evangelia
probabantur : ita et nunc in novo Tes- scribere conati sunt, quae boni nummu-
tamento multi conati sunt scribere larii non probarunt. — S. Ambros. Opp.,
evangelia, sed plurima esse conscripta, torn. i. col. 1265. ed. Ben.
e quibus haec qua? habemus electa sunt, • See chap. ix. sect. 14.

622

OF THE PRINCIPLES

3 O 0 K penance, the revelation of the kingdom of a thousand years — 237
—  when they came first to know them, which from the begin
ning they had not done, much less the doubt, whether in
spired by God or not. Neither is the case otherwise, except
ing terms of scorn which may have been used, either in
Luther's x refusing St. James's Epistle, or when the Epistle
to the Hebrews is questioned by Erasmusy, or cardinal Caje-
tanz ; as that of St. Jude of late by Salmasius a. But there is
always means to redress any part of the Church, or any doctor
of it, in any such mistake, so long as there remain means to
certify them from what hand they have been received, to wit,
from persons in whom the Church was certified that the Holy
Ghost spoke. Which being certified, reason would, that not
only particular persons, but Churches, lay down their jea
lousies, by understanding such words as cause jealousies, so
as they may best agree with the common Christianity.
§ 48. But what is all this to the writings of those who can
by no means be supposed to have written by the Holy Ghost ?

1 Luther, in his Preface to the
Epistle of St. James, says of it: %(\)t
(c§ fur feeinea ^Ipostel atfjrifft. The
expression "epistle of straw" attri
buted to him is denied by Whitaker in
his Responsio ad decern Rationes Ed
mundi Campiani, saying of it, Falsis-
simum : Lutherus enim hanc episto-
lam valde probat, nee unquam vel con-
tentiosam, vel tumidam, vel aridam, vel
stramineam vocavit. p. 5. Geneva?, 1610.
Further on, p. 7, he says, At ubi ista
scripsit Lutherus, quae tu nunc com-
memoras ? profer nobis locum, ut tuam
fidem exploremus. Praefationem sci
licet quandam designas in epistolam
Jacobi, quarn ego non admodum mul
tis notam esse existimo : nusquam
enim inter ipsa Lutheri opera reperi-
tur, in istam tamen praefationem incidi
forte eamque integram perlegi, in qua
prorsus nihil horum inest. But Gret-
ser, in his Defensio Bellarmini, cap.
xvii. lib. i. cap. xviii., asserts it not
withstanding this denial; — An non
Lutherus nominavit Epistolam S. Ja
cobi ein rechte Stroerne Epistel, vere
stramineam epistolam comparatione
Evangelii S. Johannis et Epistola?
primae ejusdem, ut Apostolico spiritu
destitutam 1 An non haec verba ex
tant in antiquis Bibliorum Lutherano-
rum versionibus ? — Opp., torn. viii.
p. 167. Ratisbona?, 1736.

y Petrus epistolas scribit Juda?is po-
tissimum, ita, Lucam Evangelium po-
tissimum scripsisse gentibus, nimirum
discipulum Pauli, qui ut doctor erat
gentium, ita ad gentes scripsit omnes
epistolas pra?ter unam ad Hebra?os,
de cujus autore semper est dubitatum.
¦ — Praefat. ad Henric. Angl. Reg. pre
fixed to the Paraphrase of St. Luke.
Erasm. Opp., torn. vii. p. 274. Basil.
1541. z Qua? omnia ideo attulerim, ut ex
his et aliis Hieronymi verbis alibi pru-
dens lector advertat Hieronymum non
fuisse omnino certum de authore hujus
epistola?. Et quoniam Hieronymum
sortiti sumus regulam ne erremus in
discretione librorum canonicorum —
nam quos ille canonicos tradidit, ca-
nonicos habemus : et quos ille a canoni
cis discrevit, extra canonem habemus
— ideo dubio apud Hieronymum au
thore hujus epistolae existente, dubia
quaeque redditur epistola : quoniam
nisi sit Pauli, non perspicuum est
canonicam esse. Quo fit ut ex sola
hujus epistola? authoritate non possit,
si quod dubium in fine accideret, de-
terminari. Ecce quantum parit malum
liber sine authoris titulo. — Comm. in
Ep. ad Hebr., torn. v. p. 329. Lugdun.
1639. a The editor has not been able to
meet with this elsewhere.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 623
Shall any act, any decree of the Church, create them the chap.
credit of writings inspired by God's Spirit, which before that XXXL
act they had not? And therefore the case is not the same
with the writings which we know never could, nor can, be
received, standing the evidence, that no evidence can ever
be made that they were inspired by God's Spirit, or that the
authors thereof ever spoke by the same. And with this
resolution the testimonies of ecclesiastical writers will agree
well enough, if we consider, that to prove them to have the
testimony of the Church, to be inspired by God, it is not
enough to allege6 either the word or the deed, either of
writers or councils, alleging the authority of them, or calling
them holy, divine, or canonical Scriptures ; nothing but uni
versal consent making good this testimony, which the dissent
of any part creates an exception against. For if those to
whom any thing is said to be delivered, agree not in it, how
can it be said to be delivered to them who protest not to have
received it ?
§ 49. Wherefore having settled this afore c, that no decree The sense
of the Church enforceth more than the reason of preserving church.
unity in the Church can require ; we must, by consequence,
say, that if the credit of divine inspiration be denied them by
such authors as the Church approveth, no decree ofthe Church
can oblige to believe them for such ; though how far it may
oblige to use them I dispute not here. It shall therefore
serve my turn to name St. Hierome in this cause. Not as if
Athanasius in Synopsi6-, Melito of Sardis in Eusebius6, St.
b Jam haec tria in his libris decla- d na<ra ypaiprj r)p,wv xpt(rrtai/&v Be6-
randis canonicis Ecclesia observavit. irvevaris iariv . . . Kal eari rrjs ita-
Primum enim habuit de singulis vete- Xatas SiaBi)K-qs, ravra. He then gives
rum testimonia. Etsi enim non habe- their names as follows : Genesis, Exo-
antur testimonia a synagoga Judaeo- dus, &c, reckoning among them the
rum, tamen habentur ab Ecclesia Apo- first and second book of Esdras : among
stolica, et hoc sufficit. Apostoli enim the books not of the canon, he names,
poterant sine aliis testimoniis declarare Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Esther, Ju-
libros illos esse canonicos, quod et fe- dith, and Tobit. In this catalogue
cerunt ; alioqui nunquam Cyprianus et the first book of Esdras is that begin-
Clemens et alii, quos citabimus, tam ning, "And Josias held the feast of the
constanter dixissent illos esse divinos. passover." The second is the book of
Deinde viderunt esse conformes aliis. Ezra. The books of the New Testa-
Denique observarunt istos libros paula- ment are those commonly received. —
tim ab omnibus Christianis pro canoni- St.Athanas.,Opp. torn. ii. pp. 126 — 129.
eis receptos, quod argumentum habere ed. Ben.
non poterant, qui in prima Ecclesia « He enumerates the books of the
fuerunt. — Bellarm. de Verbo Dei, lib. i. Old Testament only; the last being
cap. x. col. 34. Colon. 1620. "Esdras." None of the other books,
c Chap. xxi. sect. 24. nor are those of the New Testament

624 OF THE PRINCIPLES
book Gregory Nazianzen f, abundance of others, both of the most
 ancient writers of the Church, and of others more modern,
who justly prefer St. Hierome in this cause, did not reject all
those parts, or most of them, which the Church of England
rejecteth : but because, were St. Hierome alone in it, there
could be no tradition of the Church for that, which St. Hie
rome, not only a member, but so received a doctor of the
Church, refuseth. For it will not serve the turn to sayB that
he wrote when the Church had decreed nothing in it; who,
had he lived after the council of Trent, would have written
otherwise : the reasons of his opinion standing, for which no
council could decree otherwise. He would therefore have
obeyed the Church in using those books which it should pre
scribe; but his belief, whether inspired by God or not, he
would have built upon such grounds, the truth whereof the
very being of the Church presupposeth.
§ 50. Nor will I stand to scan the sayings of ecclesiastical
writers, or the acts of councils, concerning the authority of all
and every one of these books, any further in this place. There
is extant of late h, "A Scholastical History of the Canon ofthe
Scripture," in which this is exactly done ; and upon that I will
discharge myself in this point, referring my reader for the
consent of the Church unto it. And what importeth it, I
beseech you, that they are called sacred or canonical Scrip
tures? as if all such writings were not holy which serve to
settle the holy faith of Christians. And though it is now re
ceived' that they are called canonical because they contain
the rule of our faith and manners, and perhaps are so called

mentioned. — Hist. Eccles., lib. iv. cap. vel quod ipsa canon sit et norma seu
xxvi. p. 149. ed. Vales. regula fidei, cui benefaeiamus atten-
f St. Gregory enumerates those dentes, quasi lucernae lucenti in caligi-
books only that are usually called noso loco 2 Petr. i. 19, vel quod ejus
canonical. Among the books of the libri canone ecclesiastico notati et de-
New Testament, the Apocalypse is not scripti sint ; ut praeter Athanasium in
mentioned. — S. Greg. Nazian., Opp. Synopsi notavit Sanctus Augustinus
torn. ii. Carm. xii. p. 260. ed. Ben. pluribus locis, speciatim de sermone
& Admitto igitur Hieronymum in ea Domine in monte, lib. i. cap. 20. [torn.
fuisse opinione, quia nondum generale iii. col. 194. ed. Ben.] et lib. xv. de
concilium de his libris aliquid statuerat, Civit. Dei, cap. 23. [torn. vii. col. 408.]
excepto libro Judith, quem etiam Hie- et lib. xviii. cap. 38. [col. 520.] et
ronymus postea recepit — Bellarm. de contra Faustum, lib. xxii. cap. 79.
Verb. Dei, lib. i. cap. x. col. 34. Colon. [torn. viii. col. 410.] ubi ait, Scriptura?,
1620. quas canon Ecclesiasticus respuit. —
j1 See chap. xxx. sect. 43. Tanner, Disp. i. de Fide, Qu. v. Dub.
1 Dicitur etiam Scriptura canonica; i. § 5. col. 295. Ingolstadt. 1623.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

625

in this notion by St. Augustinej, and other fathers of the chap.
Church ; yet if we go to the most ancient use of this word _^?^i-
canon, from which the attribute of canonical Scripture de-
scendeth, it will easily appear that it signifieth no more than
the list or catalogue of Scriptures received by the Church.
238 For who should make or settle the list of Scriptures receivable,
but the Church that receiveth the same? it being manifest
that they who wrote the particulars knew not what the whole
should contain.
§ 51. And truly, as I said afore k, that the Church of Rome
itself doth not, by any act of the force of law, challenge that
the decrees of the Church are infallible ; so is it to be ac
knowledged, that in this point, of all other, it doth most really
use in effect that power, wdiich formally and expressly it no
where challengeth; proceeding to order1 those books to be
received " with the like affection of piety as those which are
agreed to be inspired by God," which it is evident, by express
testimonies of Church writers, were not so received from the
beginning by the Churchm. So that they who made the decree,

^ See the foregoing note.
k Chap. iv. sect. 21.
1 Sacrosancta cecumenica et gene-
ralis Tridentina synodus, in Spiritu
Sancto legitime congregata, praesident-
ibus in ea eisdem tribus Apostolica?
sedis legatis, hoc sibi perpetuo ante
oculos proponens, ut sublatis erroribus,
puritas ipsa evangelii in Ecclesia con-
servetur ; . . . perspiciensque hanc ve
ritatem et disciplinam contineri in li
bris scriptis, et sine scripto traditioni-
bus, qua? ex ipsius Christi ore ab
Apostolis acceptae, aut ab ipsis Apo
stolis Spiritu Sancto dictante, quasi per
manus tradita?, ad nos usque pervene-
runt : orthodoxorum patrum exempla
secuta, omnes libros tam Veteris quam
Novi Testamenti, cum utriusque unus
Deus sit auctor, nee non traditiones
ipsas, turn ad fidem, turn ad mores
pertinentes, tanquam vel ore tenus a
Christo, vel a Spiritu Sancto, dictatas,
et continua successione in Ecclesia
Catholica conservatas, pari pietatis
afFectu ac reverentia suscipit ac vene
rator. ....
Si qnis autem libros ipsos integros
cum omnibus suis partibus, prout in
Ecclesia Catholica legi consueverunt,
et in Veteri Vulgata Latina editione
habentur, pro sacris et canonicis non
THORNDIKE. S

susceperit, et traditiones praedictas
sciens et prudens contempserit, ana
thema sit. — Concil. Trident. Sess. iv.
A.D. 1546. Labbei, torn. xx. col. 22.
ed. Venet.
m Fatendum est tamen extare de-
creta, quorum autoritatem tota occi-
dentis Ecclesia, secuta sit, quibus, pio
canonicis haberi jubentur, qua? Triden-
tino decreto, pari pietatis affectu cum
eis qui canonici utrinque habentur,
jubentur haberi. Nimirum Innocentii
P. i. decreto 27. et canon codicis Afri-
cani 24. eosdem libros pro canonicis
recensent, quos decretum Tridentinum.
Constat autem utrumque decretum, in
codicem canonum Ecclesia? Romana?
receptum, per totum occidentem ob-
tinuisse. Africanum etiam per orien
tem, in censum canonicum, post syno-
dum in Trullo receptum. Eosdem re
censent et synodus Romana sub Gela-
sio I. Pontifice, et Toletana iv. Atqui
quantumvis probatam, occidentalis
Ecclesiae doctoribus, S. Hieronymi in
censendis Scripturis auctoritatem con-
tendi possit, manifestum est, ab ho-
rum auctoritate decretorum, Hie
ronymi causa, nee potuisse eos desci-
scere, nee voluisse. Itaque rem sibi
factam putant, qui Judaeorum canonem
ab Ecclesia? canone distinguendum au-
S

626 OF THE PRINCIPLES
book renouncing all pretence of revelation to themselves in com-
 :  mon, or to every one in particular, can give no account how
they came to know that which they decree to be true. So
great inconveniences the not duly limiting the power of the
Church contrives even them into, that think themselves,
therefore, free from mistake in managing of it, not because
they think they know what they do, but because they think
they cannot do amiss.
§ 52. It remaineth, therefore, that standing to the proper
sense of this decree, importing that we are to believe these
books, as inspired by God, neither can they maintain nor we
receive itn : but if it shall be condescended to abate the proper
and native meaning of it, so as to signify only the same affec
tion of piety moving to receive them, not the same object,
obliging Christian piety to the esteem of them ; it will remain
then determinable, by that which shall be said, to prove how
these books may or ought to be recommended or enjoined by
the Church, or received of and from the Church.
CHAPTER XXXII.
ONLY THE ORIGINAL COPY CAN BE AUTHENTIC BUT THE TRUTH THEREOF
MAT AS WELL BE FOUND IN THE TRANSLATIONS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
AS IN THE JEWS' COPIES. THE JEWS HAVE NOT FALSIFIED THEM OF
MALICE. THE POINTS COME NEITHER FROM MOSES NOR ESDRAS, BUT
FROM THE TALMUD JEWS.
As to the other point, it is, by consequence, manifest that
the Church hath nothing to do to enjoin any copy of the
tumant; et satis eis factum, qui Veteris die. de Ratione ac jure finiendi Con-
Testamenti libros 22. pro numero lit- trov., cap. xxviii. pp. 556, 557. Lon-
terarum Hebraicarum, recensent, si eos dini, 1670.
Judaeorum recensere voluisse dicatur. " " If the sense of the decree be
Id autem non obstare, quo minus auc- abated, so that it be understood to re-
tior habeatur canon Ecclesiae ; adjectis, quire them to be received with an aflbc-
ad eos, qui ab Esdra recensiti fuerant, tion of the same piety — for truly I who
eis quos Esdrae posthumos appellant esteem them not canonical esteem them
Nam si canonici habendi sint, quos for Christian piety's sake — though not
synagoga recepit, multo potiori jure esteeming them inspired by God, which
habendos canonicos putant quas Ec- is the reason of the esteem the canoni-
clesia agnoscat, et pro canonicis legi cal Scripture hath, and which is not
jubeat. Et sane negari non potest, the same in these; which I therefore
multis multorum vetustorumque utri- hold not the same, obliging my Chris-
usque Ecclesia? patrum locis, divinas, tian piety to esteem them in the words
sacras, sanctas, canonicas, denique of the decree, pari pietatis affectu,
Scripturas diei, qua? cum Scripturae though not so properly because re-
tantum dicuntur, non minus intelli- jected with affectu," — MSS.
gendum esse, manifestum sit. — Thorn-

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 627
Scripture to be received as authentic, but that which itself chap.
originally received, because it is what it is before the Church ' h

receive it. Therefore, seeing the Scripture of the Old original
Testament was penned first, and delivered in the Hebrew beauSien-
tongue — for I need not here except that little part oftic'
Esdras and rDaniel, which is in the Chaldee, the same reason
holding in both — that of the New in the Greek ; there is
no question to be made but those are the authentic copies.
Neither can the decree of the council of Trent0 bear any dis
pute, to them who have admitted the premises, if it be taken
to import that the Church thereby settleth the credit of Scrip
ture, inspired by God, upon the copy which itself advanceth,
taking the same away from the copy which the author penned ;
that credit depending merely upon the commission of God
and His Spirit, upon the which the very being of the Church
equally dependeth.
§ 2. But it is manifest that it cannot be said that the said [Meaning
decree necessarily importeth so much ; because it is at at this decree of
day free for every one to maintain that the original Hebrew rent'-'
and Greek are the authentic copies, the vulgar Latin only
enjoined not to be refused in act of dispute or question;
which hindereth no recourse to the originals for the deter
mining of the meaning which it importeth. He that will see
this tried need go no further than a little book of a Sorbonne
doctor, called Valerianus de Flavignyv, professor of the Hebrew
0 Insuper eadem sacrosancta syno- nibus esse necessariam, si modo Scrip-
dus considerans, non parum utilitatis turas sacras feliciter evolvere cupiunt,
accedere posse, Ecclesiae Dei, si ex etinoffensopededecurrere. — ProSacro-
omnibus Latinis editionibus, qua? eir- sancto Ed. Hebr. authentica Veritate,
cumferuntur sacrorum librorum, quae- Oratio, pp. 21, 22. Paris, 1646.
nam pro authentica habenda sit, inno- And in his letter to Abraham Echel-
tescat ; statuit et declarat, ut hasc ipsa lensis, he says ; — Accipe igitur quod
vetus et Vulgata editio, qua? longo toto ego sentio, ut tu tandem calumniari
saeculorum usu in ipsa Ecclesia pro- desinas. Primariam authoritatem de-
bata est in publicis lectionibus, dispu- fero sacrosanctis voluminibus Hebrai-
tationibus, praedicationibus, et exposi- eis, sed non omnem, ita ut editio
tionibus, pro authentica habeatur, ut Vulgata nullam prorsus habeat. Inio
nemo illam rejicere quovis praelextu hanc ubique consulendam admittimus
audeat vel praesumat — Concil. Trident ex omnibus Latinis editionibus, uti con-
Sess. iv. A D. 1546. Labbei, torn. xx. cilium Tridentinum declaravit; inde
coll. 22, 23. ed. Venet. etiam fidei dogmata repetenda; etsi
p Sed quid opus pluribus? audient constantissime pernegemus, earn esse
novi illi ac recentes theologi, quos Hebraeis fontibus aut aliis textibus
pejor avis haec a?tas tulit, ut sacro- primigeniis anteponendam. — Ep. iv.
Sanctis voluminibus Hebraicis detra- p. 160. Paris, 1648. He then quotes,
herent, atque etiam, si Deus dederit, p. 164, in his favour, Julius Rugerius,
exaudient, Linguam Hebraicam sacro- Lamularum Abbas et Secretarius Apo-
rum voluminum clavem theologis om- stolicus; p. 165, Alphonsus Salmeron,
SS 2

628 of the principles

book in the University, of Paris, written in opposition to an opinion

vented in the preface i to the Great Bible lately published there,
in disparagement of the Hebrew copy of the Old Testament.
Where he shall see that opinion refuted with that eagerness,
and the contrary attested by the opinions of so many divines,
of so great note in the Church of Rome since that council,
that no man that sees them can deny, that notwithstanding
the decree, it is free for every man to maintain the original 239
copies to be authentic.
§ 3. And truly, he that should affirm the credit of the
Scripture to stand upon the decree of the present Church,
or upon the testimony of the Spirit, must, by consequence,
have recourse to the same visible decree, or to the same in
visible dictate, whensoever it shall be necessary to accept or
refuse the reading of any text of Scripture, with that faith,
which if it be false, the whole truth of Christianity will be for
feit. What Richworth and his possession would do, to evi
dence what reading of the Scripture is indeed authentic,
when as it doth not appear what is the reading which the
Church is truly in possession of, let him advise. For in that
case he must expressly avow the consequence of his position,
that the Scripture is not considerable in resolving controver
sies of faith : because the Church is not in possession of the
certain reading of any Scripture.
§ 4. For if he say he hath made short work in that ques
tion, having discharged the Scripture of being necessary to
the Church, and therefore acquitted himself of any necessity
to shew how we may come by true Scripture ; and instead
thereof, and all other means of deciding controversies in
the Church, established the tradition presently in possession.
unus e decern primis sodalibus socie- nisi evangelistas etiam ipsos, Aposto-
tatis Nominis Jesu; p. 167, Philippus Ios, et priscos omnes nascentis Eccle-
Gammachaeus, doctor ac socius Sorbo- sia? patres, simul audeat reprehendere,
nicus, .... vir, siquis unquam alius, qui propalaturi per orbem Evangelium,
vere Catholicus et integra? doctrina?. ccelestemque doctrinam sparsuri ex 70
i Pro certo igitur atque indubitato potius interpretum versione, quos turn
apud nos esse debet, Vulgatam editio- ecclesia sequebatur, quam ex Hebraeo
nem, qua? communi Catholicae Eccle- fonte, licet stante adhuc veteri syna-
sia? lingua circumfertur, verum esse, goga, testimonia sua, et sacrarum auto-
ac genuinum sacra? Scriptura? fontem ; ritatum monimenta repetierunt. . . And
hanc consulendam ubique ; inde fidei a little before it is observed . . Verum
dogmata repetenda. Quod vero Hebra?o non ita valuit ejusdem non cautio, quin
aliisque contextibus minus quam Vul- tandem sacri codices ex gentis illius
gata? versioni ducimus deferendum, ruina, aliquam in se mutationis labem
nemo equidem nos erroris redarguat, sustinuerint. — Lutet. Paris. 1645.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 629
First, it will be easier for me to verify the short rule of CHAP.
. XXXII.
faith by the Scriptures interpreted according to that which,  -
by records, may appear to have been, from the beginning, of
force in the Church, than it will be for him to shew what is
the tradition which the Church is in possession of at present :
and that, this being shewed, I shall not need to fear any great
danger that he may object, from the variety of reading which
may be found in several copies, the necessity of salvation
being secured. And then, in the next place, to say that the
Scripture is not necessary, though not for the salvation of
every Christian, yet for the salvation of the body of Chris
tians, which is the Church ; though that faction which sepa
ration engenders will suffer no opinion to be plausible but
those which are in extremes, yet I hope the malice of Satan
hath not yet debauched the ears of Christians to endure. And
thus, as afore it was settled r, that the whole Scripture is re
ceived for the word of God upon the credit of tradition ; so,
of every part and parcel of it, wherein the credit of several
copies consisteth, it is consequently to be said that nothing
can oblige the faith of a Christian to receive it unquestion
ably for the word of God, the tradition whereof is not un
questionable. § 5. But this much being settled, that what was originally But the
delivered in Greek and Hebrew is to be received for the thereof
authentic word of God ; what was originally delivered in ™*j^ ™
Greek and Hebrew may still remain questionable. That is found in
tii6 trsns—
to say, this being agreed, it may still remain questionable lations of
what copies they are that do contain that which was origi- Testament
nally delivered in Greek and Hebrew. How probable it is ]}|^.the
I need not yet say, but any man of common sense must say copies.
that it is possible, through the changes that time is able to
produce, that the translations shall prove better than the
originals3, and that the Scriptures shall be truer read among
r Chap. iii. sect. 19. course with the consideration of that
" "Because it is the judgment of pretence.
some that yet other objections may be " The great and signal use of various
raised against the thesis pleaded for, translations, which hitherto we have
from wliat is affirmed in the Prolego- esteemed them for, was the help afforded
mena about gathering various lections by them in expositions of the Scrip-
by the help of translations, and the in- ture. To have represented to us in one
stances of that good work given us in view the several apprehensions and
the Appendix, I shall close this dis- judgments of so many worthy and

630 OF THE PRINCIPLES
book those that have received, than among those that delivered
 :  them. And this is indeed the true state of the question,
which is now come to be disputed, upon due terms, as it
seems; to wit, whether the Hebrew copies which now we
have from the Jews, and the Greek copies of the New Testa
ment now extant, contain that Scripture which all Christians
are bound to receive upon their Christianity, not only in
opposition to the vulgar Latin, which the council of Trent en-
joineth, and to the authority of the present Church — think
ing that it is concluded in that decree — but in opposition to
that tradition which other ancient copies, either original or
translated, may and do contain the evidence.
§ 6. In which point I shall in the first place profess, as con
cerning the Old Testament, that I find it no inconvenience,
but a great deal of reason, to grant that at what time those
books were made up into a body, and consigned unto the
synagogue, the reading which we have received from them
was not delivered as unquestionable — so that it should be any
prejudice to the law of God to suspect it — but as the most
probable, and by admitting whereof no prejudice to the said
law could follow. And the safety of this position, both Jews
and Christians will witness with me.
§ 7. For if the Jews truly acknowledge and insist that 240
their Judaism is sufficiently grounded and witnessed by
the letter of the Old Testament which we have ; the Chris
tians that their Christianity is as sufficiently to be evi-
learned men as were the authors of old there were sundry copies of the Old
these translations, upon the original Testament differing in many things,
words of the Scripture, is a signal help words, and sentences, from those we now
and advantage unto men enquiring into enjoy. Out of these copies some of
the mind and will of God in His word, the ancient translations have been
That translations were of any other use made. In their translations they ex-
formerly,was not apprehended. Theyare press the sense and meaning of the
of late presented unto us under another copies they made use of. Hence by
notion : namely, as means and helps of considering what they deliver, where
correcting the original, and finding out they differ from our present copies, we
the corruptions that are in our present may find out — that is, learned men who
copies, shewing that the copies which are expert at conjectures may do so —
their authors used, did really differ how they read in theirs. Thus may
from those which we now enjoy and we come to a further discovery of the
use. For this rare invention we are, various corruptions that are crept into
as for the former, chiefly beholding to the Hebrew text, and by the help of
the learned and most diligent Cappel- those translations amend them. Thus
lus, who is followed, as in sundry in- Cappellus." — Dr. Owen, Divine Ori-
stances himself declares, by the no less ginal, part 2. chap. vii. pp. 310—31 2.
learned Grotius. To this purpose the Oxford, 1659.
scene is thus laid. It is supposed of

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 631
denced by the copies we have, as Christianity was intended CHAP.
to be delivered by the Scriptures of the Old Testament;  -
is it possible that it should be a matter of jealousy' for
me to admit that in that body of the Old Testament which
the Christians have received from the Jews, there may be
found some passages, the reading whereof was not received
as unquestionable when the body of the Old Testament was
consigned to the synagogue, from whence the Church receiveth
it ? I say not when this time was, nor would I have that
which I affirm here to stand upon a circumstance so dispu
table. I do believe the Jews when they tell usu of the men of
the great synagogue, after the return from the captivity ; from
whom, and by whom, the Scriptures, they believe, were settled,
and delivered to their posterity. I do also believe that this
assembly might and did endure, whilst the grace of prophets
had vogue and was in force among God's people.
§ 8. For if I believe them when they tell me that there was
such a company of men, I cannot disbelieve them that the
prophets Haggai, Zachary, and Malachi, the scribe Esdras —
the same with Malachi x, as they tell us, for any thing I
' " What use hath been made, and vinae prorsus auctoritatis, cum in isto
is as yet made in the world, of this Synedrio essent non tantum Esdras,
supposition, that corruptions have be- sed et prophetarum ultimi Haggaeus,
fallen the originals of the Scripture, Zacharias, Malachias, et, ut quibus-
which those various lections at first dam videtur, Daniel : qui omnes par-
view seem to intimate, I need not de- tem canonis ab ipsis sanciti instinctu
clare. It is in brief the foundation divino prius scripserant. — Bibl. Polygl.,
of Mahometism, Alcor. Azoar. 5 : the Prol. iv. § 2. p. 30. Londini, 1657.
chiefest and principal prop of popery, * Ille fuit Malachias ; sic priscis
the only pretence of fanatical anti- Hebra?orum quibusdam creditum, unde
scripturists, and the root of much hid- Jonathan paraphrastes Chaldaeus, Mal.
den atheism in the world." — Dr. John i. 1. transfert, ' per manum Malachiae,
Owen's Divine Original, p. 147. Ox- cujus nomen vocatur Esra Scriba.' Et
ford, 1659. Rabbi David hoc loco scribit: ' Rab-
" Prima et maxime Celebris libro- bini nostri, bonae memoriae, aiunt, Ma-
rum Veteris Testamenti editio, erat lachiam esse Esram.' AtAbbenEsra:
ilia Esdra? — quem alterum Mosem vo- ' Quidam dicunt, eum esse Esram, sed
cant Judaei — et Synedrii Magni, sive juxta meam sententiam nomen ejus est
virorum Magnae Synagogae, post redi- sicut scribitur.' Hinc Malachias ....
turn a Babylone. Nam cum toto cap- juxta Eliam similis fuit Angelo minis-
tivitatis tempore negligenter servata tratorio, quem Deus administrandae
fuerint Sacra Volumina, quia nee erat hominum saluti ex regno Babylonia?
templum nee tabernaculum, ubi au- in terram Israelis emisit Venit eo ut
thentica exemplaria erant deposita ; Ecclesia? Judaica? in Babylonia cor-
codices ex variis locis collegerunt, ordi- ruptae, et sacra? Scripturae in captivi-
narunt, et in unum corpus redegerunt tate neglectae, opem ferret. Sic fuit
Esdras et socii : quae vitiata erant, re- scribarum et legis divina? peritorum
purgarunt, et integritati suae restitu- pater. — Buxtorf. Tiberias, cap. ii. p.
erunt : et sic canonem constituerunt. ii. Basileae Rauracorum, 1620.
Erat vero haec ipsorum constitutio di-

632 OF THE PRINCIPLES
:OOK know; for why should I not believe Malachi, being appella-
— '¦ — tive, and signifying ' my messenger,' to be Esdras's surname,
given him from that which is prophesied Mal. iii. 1 ? — Mor
decai, Nehemias, Joshua the son of Josedech, and many others
of that time were of it. But shall I believe that their pro
phetical grace was employed to decide the true reading of the
Scripture ? shall I believe that a new revelation was given, to
notify how every letter and syllable was to be read, when
neither the consequence of the matter required it, and suffi
cient means had been given to certify common sense how to
proceed? I know the good father St. Irenseusy was made to
believe that the Scriptures were quite lost during the captivity
of Babylonia, and that the copies we have contain only that
which Esdras, by inspiration of God's Spirit, wrote anew for
the books of the Old Testament. I doubt not there are
enough that find this unreasonable, which cannot hear without
a great grain of jealousy, that Esdras — supposing him the man
that made up and consigned the body of the Old Testament
to the synagogue — should deliver any thing, but upon such
credit, that if any syllable of it should be admitted question
able, the law of God itself must become questionable; to
wit, because Esdras is supposed to have been endowed with
God's Spirit, though it cannot be supposed to what purpose.
For, otherwise, why should it seem so dangerous to believe that
there are faults in the reading of the Jews' copies of the Old
Testament which we use ?
§ 9. That excellent humanist, Joseph Scaliger z, hath main
tained that there are corrupt readings in the copies that we
use, more ancient than Esdras. Ludovicus Cappellu s % atthis

y Kal ovSev ye Bavp.a<nbv, rbv ®ebv * "But we must not, it seems, rest
rovro 4v-qpy-qKevai, Ss ye Kal iv rrj iirl here ; within a few years after, to make
NaQovxoSoitdo-op alxpraXwo-la rov Xaov way for another design which then he
SiacpBapeio-wv rwv ypa<f>wv, Kal peri e/i- had conceived, Ludovicus Cappellus
Sop-f}Kovra er-q rwv 'lovSalwv aveXB6vrwv published a discourse in defence of the
els rrjv x^Pay avrwv, iireiri 4v roXs opinion of Elias — at least so far as con-
Xpdvois 'Apra£ep£ov rov Xieptrav fiao-t- cerned the rise of the punctuation — ¦
Xews iveirveva-ev''Ea-Spa rip lepeX ix rrjs under the title of Arcanum Punctationis
ipvXrjs Aevl, robs rwv -trpoyeyovirwv Revelatum. The book was published
irpotp-qrwv irdvras avara£do-8ai Xiyovs, by Erpenius without the name of the
«al airoKarao-rrjo-ai rip Xaip r^v Sia M»- author. But the person was suffi-
trews vopoBeo-lav. — Lib, iii. cap. xxi. ciently known, and Rivetus not long
§ 2. p. 216. ed. Ben. after took notice of him, and saith he
* The Editor has not been able to was his friend, but concealed his name,
find the place alluded to. Isag. ad Script, i. cap. viii. This new

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

633

day maintained^ that the Hebrew copies may be mended not
only by other texts of the Old and New Testament, but by
the translations which have been made before those corrup
tions might prevail. I can neither pretend here to maintain
nor to destroy that which either of them hath said. I will
say further to the same purpose. The Syriac of the Old Tes
tament, which is a translation made by Christians out of the
original Hebrew, seemeth to have followed another reading

CHAP. xxxii.

attempt immediately pleaseth some.
Among others, our learned professor,
Dr. Prideaux, reads a public lecture in
the vespers of our comitia on that sub
ject ; wherein, though he prefaceth his
discourse with an observation of the
advantage the Papists make of that
opinion of the novelty of the points,
and the danger of it, yet upon the mat
ter he falls in wholly with Cappellus,
though he name him not. Among the
large encomiums of himself and his
work, printed by Cappellus in the close
of his Critica Sacra, there are two let
ters from one Mr. Eyre here in Eng
land, in one whereof he tells him, that
without doubt the doctor read on that
subject by the help of his book ; as in
deed he useth his arguments, and quotes
his treatise,, under the name of Lud
Hanisebhoth Hanaegalah. But that,
I say, which seems to me most admir
able in the doctor's discourse, that
whereas he had prefaced it with the
weight of the controversy he had in
hand, by the advantage the Papists
make of the opinion of the novelty of
the points, citing their words to that
purpose, himself in the body of his
exercitations falls in with them, and
speaks the very things which he seemed
before to have blamed. And by this
means this opinion tending so greatly
to the disparagement of the authority
of the originals, is crept in amongst
Protestants also. Ofthe stop put unto
its progress by the full and learned
answer of Buxtorfius the younger —
who alone in this learning, in this age
seems to answer his father's worth — ¦
unto Cappellus, in his discourse de Ori
gine et Antiquitate Punctorum, I
shall speak more afterwards. How
ever, it is not amiss fallen out that the
masters of this new persuasion are not
at all agreed among themselves ; Cap
pellus would have it easy to understand
the Hebrew text, and every word,
though not absolutely by itself, yet as

it lies in its contexture, though there
were no points at all. Morinus would
make the language altogether unintel
ligible on that account ; the one saith
that the points are a late invention of
the Rabbins, and the other that without
them the understanding of the Hebrew
is ev rwv aSiWro?*' : yet though they
look diverse ways, there is a firebrand
between them. But we have this brand
brought yet nearer to the Church's bread
corn in the Prolegomena to the Biblia
Polyglotta, lately printed at London."
— Dr. Owen's Epist. Dedicatory to the
Divine Original of the Scriptures.
London, 1659.
b Nee si quis demonstrare posset*
alicubi in hodierno textu Graeco et
Hebraeo lectionem esse aliquam quae
sensum necessario parit — falsum et ab-
surdum, continuo inde efficeretur fontes
istos esse absolute et in universum re
jiciendos, ac hujus vel illius transla
tionis rivulos, fontium illorum loco,
esse consectandos. Hoc tantum effi
ceretur iis in locis hodiernam textus
Gra?ci aut Hebraici lectionem esse de-
serendam, eamque esse ejus loco se-
quendam, qua? vel ex conjectura, vel
ex antiquis translationibus deprehen-
deretur veriorem et convenientiorem
gignere sensum, essetquelectionis illius
vitium ex reliqua Scripturae compage,
atque harmonia plane admirabili, emen-
dandum atque emaculandum.
Quod si mendum aliquod et vitium
in fontes istos, toties a tot saeculis de-
scriptos, ex scribarum incuria, atque
afSXe-tyiq et inscitia illabi passus est
Deus  quae est omnium omnino libro
rum sors et conditio, nee alia horum
esse potuit sine stupendo, ubi saepe
diximus, miraculo — idem tamen simul
providit ut vitium illud — si quod est — ¦
deprehendi, corrigi, et emendari,ex re
liqua totius Scripturarum corporis com
page atque contextura possit. — Critic.
Sacr., lib. vi. cap. iii. § 6, 8. p. 390.
Paris, 1640.

634 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK than that which we find in our Hebrew copies, and that many
 :  times considerable.
§ 10. I will give you a few instances. Gen. ii. 2 : it hath
been thought so strange, that God should finish the work that
He had made upon the seventh day, who is said elsewhere to
have made heaven and earth in six days ; that the Jews have
reported that the Greek translates it the sixth day, lest the
Gentiles should stumble at it. But when we see the Samari
tan and the Syriac follow the Greek, shall not the credit of
them balance the credit of the Hebrew copies? Gen. xliii. 18;
" we are brought in that he may roll himself upon us,'' or " fall
upon us," ^Q3nr6 is read many times in the sense of ' casting
down a man's self prostrate.' That it can signify simply
'falling,' I do not believe any Hebrew can justify. Read but
with the Syriac bD3nri7, changing only a into 3, and the sense
will be as proper as the Hebrew, ' to put tricks upon us.'
Num. xxxi. 28 — 47, according to the Hebrew, the spoil being 241
divided in two, the army are commanded to consecrate one of
five hundred to God, the congregation one of fifty; in the
Syriac, both one of fifty. And the numbers specified after
wards differ accordingly. Now whereas these are consecrated
to God as the first-fruits of the spoil, it is manifest that one of
fifty was the legal rate of first-fruits, which any man might
exceed, but no man was to go less: as St. Hieromec upon
Ezekiel, agreeing with the Talmud, witnesseth. Which is
the reason why I must account this reading considerable, not
withstanding the Hebrew.
§ 11. 1 Sam. xvii. 12 : " And the man went among men for
an old man, in the days of Saul." Translate ; " And the man
in the days of Saul was old and stricken in years;" reading
with the Syriac D^EO K3, not with the Hebrew CWJfO N3;
and then let any man that understands Hebrew and sense tell
me which is the more proper Hebrew, which is the more
proper sense. 2 Kings x. 1 : " Jehu wrote and sent letters to
Samaria, to the princes of Jezreel, the elders, and to those
that brought up Ahab's children." Here is a great question,
which all that maintain the Hebrew to be without fault will
have much ado to answer; how should Jehu, sending to
Samaria, send to the elders of Jezreel ? And the Syriac
c See Right ofthe Church, chap. iv. sect. 50.

OF, CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 635
assoils it not, according to the Paris copy. But in the read- chap.
ings of the Great Bible it is noted that our copies read it -XXX1L-
notd. And truly, he that would say that we are to read the
elders of Israel for the elders of Jezreel, might have much to
say for himself. But that the elders of Samaria should be the
elders of Jezreel cannot be reasonable.
§ 12. 2 Kings xviii. 27 : Rabshakeh said unto them, "Hath
my master sent me to speak these words to thy master and to
thee, or to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat
their dung and drink their piss with you?" So we read it.
But in conscience, were it not far better sense to read it with
the Syriac; "that they may not eat their dung and drink
their piss with you?" For how could he have said a fitter
reason to make the people mutiny, than by telling them that
his master had sent them that good counsel, that they might
not by standing out the siege be put to eat their own dung and
drink their own piss with Hezekiah and his council ? I might
have brought more than these, but it is a work by itself for
him that would try what that translation would afford, and
this may serve for an essay. And therefore to me it seemeth
far safer to yield that it may be so, than utterly to ruin the
credit of God's law in the opinion of those men, who being
told that no tittle thereof can be questionable, without grant
ing that it came not from God, do nevertheless find sensible
reason to doubt of the reading of some passage.
§ 13. This being said, in the next place I shall as freely The Jews
profess that I find no reason in the world to suspecte that the falsified them of
malice.
d Bibl. Polyglott. Var. Lectt. Syr., stolorum et 70 interpretum, alius plane
torn. vi. p. 25. London, 1660. erat sensus in illis in locis ipsorum
e Suflicit enim ad avBevrtav versionis aetate, quam postea deprehensus est, et
qua versio est, a sensu qui continetur nunc deprehendatur. Saltern igitur
in origine nihil discrepare. Verum in Judaeorum exscribentium hallucina-
textu Hebraeo aliter omnino se res ha- tione, oscitantia, ignorantia illis in lo-
bet. Ut enim omittam in nonnullis eis mutatus est textus Hebra?us. Sed
locis de quibus agitur manifestissimas mutatio ilia, concesso nullum continere
textus neoterici depravationes quas S. errorem, facta est in deteriorem par-
Hieronymus vel ex 70 interpretum tem ; de sensu scilicet divino, quem
translatione, vel ex Hebraeorum codi- primum scripserat autor in humanum
cum comparatione, vel denique Spiritu qui hallucinatione scribae invectus est.
Sancto dictante, vertendo correxit, in Jure igitur, meritoque diei potest levior
Hebraeo textu mutatio revera facta est : ista textus Hebraei mutatio, depra-
nec ullus tam effrons hoc inficiari po- vatio, et corruptio. Cogita nunc apud
terit, quin statim temeraria? et men- te, et recogita quid de mutationibus
dacis assertionis apertissime convin- dicendum sit, quae aliquid falsi, ab-
catur. Nam ut demonstratum est auto- surdi, aut male cohaerentis in textum
ritate Domini nostri Jesu Christi, Apo- inferunt. Universalius dicam, textus

636

OF THE PRINCIPLES

BOOK Hebrew copies which we now have from the synagogue are
 :  maliciously corrupted and falsified by the Jews. I grant f
that precious saint of God, Justin the Martyr, did so believe,
and so charges them, Dial, cum Try phone* ; and Eusebius,
Eccl. Hist. iv. 18h, is bold to pronounce that the Jews were
convinced by him in this point. But without disparagement
to the great merit wherewith that blessed martyr hath obliged
Christ's Church, it may and must be yielded, which I said
before', that a person so curious in all things which he could

divinus ab homine cum sensus muta-
tione nullomodo mutari potest, quin
ilia irepiKoir^j saltern fiat humana, ac
consequenter quin textus ilia pars sit
depravata, utpote a sensu divinitus
vero in sensum humanitus verum de-
generans. De versionibus authenticis
licet, ex ejusmodi textu factae sint,
nihil horum diei potest, ut demon-
stravimus : nam sensus humanus au-
toritate Ecclesia? in propheticum et
Apostolicum mutatus est, et pristina?
dignitati restitutus : deinde a primi-
genia interpretis scriptione nihil dege-
neravit textus neotericus. Nulla igitur
ratione aut praetextu textum vulgata?
esse depravatum ex argumentis istis
colligitur. — Morini, Exercit. Biblic,
lib. i. exerc. vi. cap. xiii. § 8. pp. 159,
160. Paris. 1686.
1 Quae hactenus disputata sunt, de
variis Hebraei textus lectionibus, quo?
in translationibus S. Hieronymi, et 70
interpretum, varios sed sacros sensus
nobis pepererunt, praxi Ecclesiae illus-
trata et confirmata fidem, et autorita-
tem apud omnes Catholicos longe ma-
jorem consequeutur. Res ista quidem
extra omnem falsitatis aleam hoc prin
cipio constituta est, quod a sanctissi-
mis patribus, Ecclesiaque universa va-
rietates illae lecta?, approbatae, et com-
mentariis illustratae fuerint. Verun-
tamen selectis quibusdam exemplis,
quae diximus, evidentiora fient, etillus-
triora. Dico igitur non tantum varias
lectiones, quibus nihil est additum, sub-
latum, aut commutatum, quo religioni
Christiana? injuria, aut periculum
creetur, ab Ecclesia sanctisque patri
bus confirmatas esse Kal KavovitrBeitras;
sed etiam nonnullas longe alterius ge
neris, quarum scilicet immutatio Ec
clesia? injuriam facere videtur, firmis-
simaque religionis Christianae argu-
menta eludere, ac e manibus nostris
excutere; non quidem falsum expri-
mendo ; nihil eniin ejusmodi approbat

Ecclesia, sed multa qua? vera sunt, et
a prophetis scripta, resectione aut com-
mutatione supprimendo.
Hujus generis una habetur Psal.
xcv. 10. 'Dicite in gentibus, quia Do
minus reguavit' Antiqua omnium
patrum traditio addit huic versiculo, 'a
ligno,' atque inde validissimum pro
crucifixione Christi promit argumen-
tum  Contendit multis Justinus
Martyr adversus Tryphonem Judaeum a
propheta scriptum esse, ' Dominus reg-
navit a ligno,' et Judaeos has dictiones
"aligno"maligneabrasisse,nehoctesti-monio adversus eosuteremur. Quicquid
sit de malignitate Judaeorum, certum est
verba ista non amplius reperiri, neque
apud Hebrasos, neque in editione 70
interpretum, neque in vulgata S. Hie
ronymi, atque admodum antiquam
esse resectionem illam. — Morini, Ex
ercit. Biblic, lib. i. exerc. vi. cap. xiv.
§ 1, 2. p. 160. Paris. 1685.
E 'AXX' oi/xl roXs SiSaaKaXtols vpw-
itelBopai, pb] avvreBeiprevois KaXws e\-qv
yeXcBai ri iiirb rwv irapi TlroXepralw rip
Alyvirriwv yevoprevip fiatrtXeX e&S6p.-q-
Kovra ivpeafSvrepwv' aXX' avrol i^-qyeX-
irBai ireipwvrai. Kal Sn iroXJvis ypatpis
reXeov irepieXXov airb rwv 4£-qy-f]0-etvv
rwv yeyevnpevwv xmb rwv irapi HtoAe-
p.atip yeyevqpevwv irpefffivrepwv, 4£ 3>v
Stap'^S-qv otros avrbs b cravpwBels, Sn
®ebs, Kal dvBpwrros, Kal ffravpovpevos,
Kal airoBvfio-Kwv KeK-qpvypevos diroSeiK-
vvrat, elSevai v/xds @o6Xopai 
Kal 6 Tpvtpwv etire- irpwrov a£iovp.ev
elireXv ffe ijptv Kai nvas ZiV Xeyeis re
Xeov irapayeypdipBai ypatpwv.
Kiyih elirov' ws vpftv (pixovs irpd£w. —
cap. lxxi. p. 169. ed. Ben.
Kal prjrwv Se rivwv rrpoty-qriKwv
p.v-qp.ovebei, SieXeyxwv rbv Tpvrpwva ws
iv irepiKOVj-dvrwv avri 'lovSttiwv arrb rrjs
ypcuprjs. — P. 140. ed. Vales.
1 Chap. xxii. sect. 12. See also
chap, xxxiii. sect. 2.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 637
enquire out tending to the advantage of Christianity, hath chap. xxxii.

suffered himself to be imposed upon in divers particulars of
historical truth concerning that purpose.
§ 14. And that this is one of them, I shall for proof need
no more but to send them to the place, and desire them to
consider whether those passages which he alleges to have
been falsified by the Jews, were indeed so read as he recites
them in the true Greek copies of the Old Testament at that
time : or whether he was imposed upon to believe that they
were true copies which read them as he does, though indeed
they were not. Neither do I find that the Christians after
him have thought themselves obliged to follow that reading,
which he, as falsified by the Jews, professeth to restore. And
truly, though — in regard of the bloody hatred of the Jews,
which the Christians, at that time, when their departure was
fresh, might justly impute the greatest persecutions to, that
they endured — no suspicion upon them but may seem just;
yet I would have this limited, so far as there appears reason
242 to believe that it may be true. For from the time that the
study of God's law was in request among them, that is, as I
conceive, from the return from captivity, — where it seems
they were settled in a deep detestation of idols, and took in
hand the teaching and learning of the law, as God had com
manded in it — I say, from that time they seem to have been
possessed with a disease on the other hand of a superstitious
esteem of the very letters and tittles of it. Which renders it
a thing no way credible that they should make it their design
to falsify those which they held in so superstitious a reverence.
§ 15. And truly, he that considers how necessary the pre
serving of the Old Testament entire must needs be to the
propagation of Christianity which God had designed, will
easily say that this perverse zeal of adhering to the letter
of the law was purposely employed by the providence
of God, to work His Gospel the freer passage, by pre
suming the letter of the law unquestionable. St. Augustinek
therefore calleth the Jews capsarios Ecclesia, as those that
keep the records, and carry those books for the Christians
k ' Major serviet minori,' modo im- sunt, studentibus nobis codices portant.
pletum est: modo, Fratres, nobis ser- -^S. Augustin. in Psalm, xi. torn. iv.
viunt Judaei, tanquam capsarii nostri col. 353. ed. Ben.

658 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK which serve to cut their own throat. And had it been their
 '¦ — design to falsify the Scriptures, would any reason allow that
they should practise it in such places as concerned Chris
tianity little or nothing, rather than in those which they
challenge most interest in ? For without doubt it is hard to
name any place controverted between the Jews and Christians,
for the reading of it, that is of consequence to the truth of
Christianity. § 16. I confess the reading of the Christians, Ps. xxii. 17,
1"0 is true, and not that of the Jews nto ; for what good sense
can they make of it? But I do not therefore see they in
tended to falsify the true reading of it, who have, of them
selves, set a mark of a doubtful reading upon the place. So
in Esay ix. 6, the modern Hebrew reads IDK' K"W, the Latin
seems to have read iDt£> Vp'l : but any man that knows the
Hebrew will allow me that the first reading will bear the
sense of the latter, "and his name shall be called:" so far
there is no evidence of falsifying, as the end of it appears not
to be obtained by admitting that reading which you pretend
forged. How far it concerns either the credit of St. Paul, or
the truth of Christianity, that Psalm xix. 5. be read D^lp, as
Rom. x. 18, not as we have it this day in our copies Dip, I am
willing to refer unto judgment; knowing that whatsoever be
decreed will not be of force to conclude so great a presump
tion as we have in debate.
§ 17. For, suppose we that they had never so much mind
to do such a wickedness ; and consider, on the other side, that
the separation of Christians from Jews was not made in a
moment, but that so long as there was hope to win the Jews,
they conformed themselves to serve God with them, and, with
out doubt, carried a greater or a less party in all synagogues
where Christianity found entrance — which, how soon it found
entrance into the whole empire, the very writings of the Apostles
may serve to assure us — I say supposing all this, we cannot doubt
that at the separation the Christians were possessed of copies
which the Jews warranted, in so many parts of the empire.
And will any common sense allow that it should be possible
for them to corrupt their own copies, whether in Hebrew or
in Greek, and the Christians not convict them of it ? knowing
them both able, and willing, and obliged so to do.

The points
come nei
ther from nor

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 639
§ 18. Seeing then we must conclude that what fault soever c HAP.
may have come into the copies which the Jews at present A '"XM*
send us, it cannot be presumed to have come upon prepensed
malice, but upon such casualties as the propagating of all j^ses
records is subject to ; it will be fit, as a further step to our f™m ,Es,
r dras, but
proceeding, to enquire in the next place, whether the points, from the
signifying the vowels whereby the sense ofthe Old Testament jewT."
is now determined, are from the Spirit of God, or invented by
man, and allowed by the synagogue. A conceit as eagerly
maintained by some1, that would magnify their profession of
the Hebrew, as if the credit of the Scripture, and by conse
quence of Christianity, were to stand or fall with every jot or
tittle of the Jews' copies, as of the law our Saviour saith it
doth. Which he that considereth the intent of the Old Testa
ment to serve principally for a motive to introduce Chris
tianity — but, to determine the matter of it, no otherwise than
2*3 first the meaning thereof shall be determined by the New —
will never grant ; though freely allowing the utmost of our
Saviour's meaning, that every tittle of the law continues in
force under the Gospel, to the effect whereto it was intended,
not of the letter, but of the Spirit.
§ 19. Those that would have these points to carry the [Jewish
credit of God's word, do faintly maintain"1 that which the theorigin

1 "The uncontrolled reception of them Oxford, 1659.
absolutely, without the least opposition m " The Jews generally believe these
all the world over, by Jews and Chris- points to have been from mount Sinai,
tians ; the very nature of the punctu- and so downward by Moses and the
ation itself following the genius of the prophets ; at least from Ezra and his
language, not arising or flowing from companions, the men of the great
any artificial rules; the impossibility synagogue, not denying that the use
of assigning any author to it since the and the knowledge of them received a
days of Ezra, but only by such loose great reviving by the Gemarists and
conjectures and imaginations as ought Massorites, when they had been much
not to be admitted to any plea and disused, ....
place in this weighty cause ; all at- " Had it been otherwise, surely men
tended with that great uncertainty, stupendously superstitious in inquiring
which without their owing these points after the traditions of their fathers,
to be of divine original, we shall be left would have found some footsteps of
unto in all translations and expositions their rise and progress.
of the Scripture. " It is not my design to give in argu-
 Nor let men please them- ments for the divine original of the pre-
selves with the pretended facility of sent Hebrew punctuation, neither do I
learning the Hebrew language without judge it necessary for any one so to do,
points and accents, and not only the whilst the learned Buxtorf's Discourse,
language but the true and proper read- de Origine et Antiquitate Punctorum, lies
ing and distinction of it in the Bible." unanswered." — Dr. Owen's Integrity
— Dr. Owen's Integrity of the Hebrew ofthe Hebrew Text, chap. ix. § 17, 19,
Text, chap. v. § 16. pp. 291—294. pp. 247, 252. Oxford, 1659.

ofthe
points.]

640 OF THE PRINCIPLES
book Jews as familiarly affirm, as they do believe all their Consti-
 '- — tutions to be God's law by word of mouth ; to wit, that they
were delivered to Moses in mount Sinai. But they seem to
insist peremptorily", that if not delivered by Moses, at least
they were settled by Esdras, and his companions of the great
synagogue or assembly, which I spoke of so lately. And
truly, there is no question to be made, but this must have
been done while the Spirit of God was among them; but
this being granted, he that should thereupon presume that
the Spirit was given to this effect, of settling the meaning of
the Scriptures, must demand it gratis, or rather for less than
nought, considering what appearance I have made that the
copies were settled not by inspiration of the Holy Ghost but
by tradition of historical truth.
§ 20. Yet not insisting upon this, I must profess I cannot
but marvel what probability any man can imagine that this
method of determining the reading and sense of the Hebrew
of the Old Testament, which, according to the nature and
custom of the Eastern languages, originally consists of con
sonants only, should be as ancient as Esdras's time. I make
no question that there must be a certain method of reading
things written by consonants only, otherwise they had not, in
that estate, means to understand one another in writing. But
this, in matters of common sense and effect, the mere use of
speaking would easily furnish all that had practice of writing
and reading with. For what great difficulty could remain in
reading that which was of itself understood? The necessity
of this method in writing is the difficulty of understanding;
that is to say, a capacity of being determined to several senses
in those writings to which it is applied.
§ 21. Suppose, now, that to be true which I shewed afore0
to be probable, that from the captivity the study of the law
came in request according to the law ; from that time it must
be known amongst them how the Scriptures were to be read.
And truly, from that time the scribes .were much more in
" "And as I shall not oppose them great synagogue, Ezra and his compa-
who maintain that they are coaevous nions, guided therein by the infallible
with the letters, which are not a few of direction of the Spirit of God." — Dr.
the most learned Jews and Christians ; Owen's Integrity of the Hebrew Text,
so I no ways doubt, but that as we now chap. iv. § 1. pp. 210, 211. Oxford,
enjoy them, we shall yet manifest that 1659.
they were completed by the men ofthe ° Sect. 14. above.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 641
request, though I have shewed elsewhere p that their profes- CHAP. XXXII.

sion began under the prophets, being nothing else but their
disciples, which we read of in their writings. I have also
shewed5 that the profession extended from the judges of the
great consistory to schoolmasters that taught children to read,
and notaries that wrote contracts. These men's profession con
sisting in nothing else but the Scriptures — for what learning
had they in writing besides ? — is it strange that children could
be taught by tradition to read it, though the vulgar language
was somewhat changed? This supposition indeed will infer
that the reading could not be so precisely determined for all
to agree in the same ; but it will also infer that the more the
study was in use, the more precise determination they must
needs attain.
§ 22. Now I desire the indifferent reader to consider two
points, both of them certain, and resolved in the tradition of
the Jews ; the first, that this method of points is part of the
law delivered by word of mouth, as appears by the tradition
in the Gemara, that he that hath sworn that such a one shall
never be the better for him, may teach him the Scriptures,
because that they may be done for hire, but he may not teach
him the points, because the law by word of mouth must not
be taught for hire. The second, that it was never held lawful
to commit this oral law to writing r till the time of R. Juda3,
that first wrote their Misnaioth, or repetitions of the law, upon
a resolution taken by the nation, that the preservation of the
P Rel. Assembl., chap. iii. Basil. 1648.
q Rel. Assembl., chap. iii. s Buxtorf quotes the following from
* Primus qui e Talmud producitur Arugas Habbosem, cap. 26  quod
locus, est Tract, de Votis, cap. 4. sec- puncta et accentus creaverit Rex
tione 3. Ubi in Misnam — quae tradit mundi una cum ipsa lingua, fuerintque
docendum esse gratis Midras, Halacas, penes ipsum veluti alumnus apud eos
et Haggadas, ac non docendum esse qui digni erant lege nostra sancta,
gratis .... textum Biblicum — R. Jo- donee data fuerunt Mosi in monte
hannes in Gemara commentatur, licere Sinai in figura et forma sua, una cum
accipere mercedem distinctionis accen- reliqua lege orali, ut non permissum
tuum. Unde concludunt punctorum fuerit scripto earn propalare. Cum
patroni, accentus in textu Biblico, vero concessum fuit scripto compre-
tempore R. illius Johannis, apponi so- hendere legem oralem, necessitate
litos esse. — Cappell. Arcan. Punct. Re- nempe temporis sic requirente, permis-
vel., lib. ii. cap. 4. p. 758. Amstel., sum quoque fuit, ob eandem rationem
1689. To which Buxtorf replies, Quis docere figuras punctorum et accentuum
dixit Revelatori, Non licere Judaeis per Scripturam, quas antea praeceptor
mercedem accipere pro labore docendi discipulum suum docebat ore, dicendo
legem scriptam ? Hoc nee Misohna lineola transversa sub littera vocatur
nee Gemara expresse docet. — De Pathech, &c  De Punct. Antiq., par,
Punct. Antiquit, par. i. cap. vi. p. 90. i. cap. iv. p. 42. Basil, 1648.
THORNDIKE. T t

642 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK law in their dispersions did necessarily require that it should
 '- — be committed to writing, as Maimoni4, the key to the Talmud,
in the beginning, and divers others of the Jews do witness.
§ 23. He that would see more to justify both these points,
let him look in Buxtorfius's" answer to Cappellus, i. 6, where
he hath shewed sufficient reason to resolve against his own
opinion ; that all the Jews say of the points delivered to Moses
in Mount Sinai, is to be understood of the right reading and
sense of the law, which must be delivered from hand to hand,
but was unlawful to be committed to writing before the be- 244
ginning of the Talmud by R. Juda : to wit, with authority ;
for it was lawful for scholars to keep notes of their lessons.
Upon these premises I infer that there were no points written
in the Jews' Bibles before this time, and that upon this de
cree they began to busy themselves in finding a method by
points, and applying the same to the Scripture, though it is
most agreeable to reason, that it should have been some ages
before it was settled and received by a nation so dispersed as
they were. And herewith agreeth all the evidence which the
records of that nation can make. Though I repeat not here
the testimonies in which it consisteth, having been so effec
tually done already in books for the purpose.

CHAPTER XXXIII.
OF THE MOST ANCIENT TRANSLATIONS OF THE B1BI.E INTO GREEK FIRST ;
WITH THE AUTHORS AND AUTHORITY OF THE SAME ; THEN INTO THE
CHALDEE, SYRIAC, AND LATIN. EXCEPTIONS AGAINST THE GREEK, AND
THE SAMARITAN PENTATEUCH. THEY ARE HELPS NEVERTHELESS TO
ASSURE THE TRUE READING OF THE SCRIPTURES, THOUGH WITH OTHER
COPIES j WHETHER JEWISH OR CHRISTIAN. THOUGH THE VULGAR LATIN
WERE BETTER THAN THE PRESENT GREEK, YET MUST BOTH DEPEND
UPON THE ORIGINAL GREEK OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. NO DANGER TO
CHRISTIANITY BY THE DIFFERENCES REMAINING IN THE BIBLE.
Ofthe The first turning of the Bible into Greek, the common
ancient opinion saith, was done by the authority of the high-priest
tlons of an(i heads of that people resident at Jerusalem, and by men
the Bible sent on pUrp0se — six of every tribe, in all seventy-two, called
4 Porta Mosis, pp. 35 — 37, ed. Po- Hum et Accentuum Origine. Basil,
cock. Oxon, 1655. 1648.
11 Tractatus de Punctorum, Voca-

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 643
therefore by the round number for brevity's sake, the seventy chap.
translators— to Ptolemy Philadelphus. But this relation suffers XXXI11,
many difficulties that have been made of late years*, and in- first; "*
deed seems to come from a writing pretending the name of
Arista?asy, a minister of the said prince, from whence Philo2
and Josephus a seem to have received the credit of it; who,
being of those Jews that used the Greek tongue, may very
well be thought to cherish that report which makes for the
reputation of their law with them that spoke it.
§ 2. Josephus, we know, in other points hath related legends
or romances for historical truth, as that of the acts and death
of Mosesb, and that of the third of Esdras, concerning the
dispute of the three squires of the body to king Darius0.
As for Philo, we have St. Hierome d, who hath made sport of
the legend he tells of this business; to wit, how that being-
shut up every man in a several room, at the end of so many
days they gave up every man his copy, translated all in the
same words to a tittle. Which rooms Justin the Martyr,
cozened by the Jews of Alexandria, reports were extant in
his time, and that he had seen them; in his Cohortation to
the Gentilese. But the particulars are too many to find room
in this abridgment. Those that would be further informed
in this point, may see what Scaligerf hath said against this
* Habet quidem fabula ha?c uni- d Et nescio quis primus auctor Sep-
versae antiquitatis favorem atque suf- tuaginta cellulas Alexandria? mendacio
fragia, crediderunt earn tot saeculorum suoextruxerit,quibusdivisieademscrip-
patres, Jud3?orum doctores, ipsiusque titarent, quum Aristaeus ejusdem Pto-
Talmudis autores: credidit earn ipse leimei virepao-iria-riis, et multo post tem-
CI. Is. Vossius, Br. Waltonus, cum pore Josephus, nihil tale retulerint: sed
pluribus aliis magnis et eruditionis in una basilica congregatos, pontulisse
laude clarissimis viris. Primus ta- scribant ; non prophetasse. — Prolog, in
men praeterito sasculo, Lud. Vives, ad Genesim, torn. i. ed. Ben.
August, de Civit. Dei, lib. xviii. cap. e Tavraov pvBosvpuv Si uvSpes"EXX-q-
42. [torn. ii. pp. 441, 442.] fabulam ves, ovSe ireirXao-pievas lo-ropias 4iray-
hanc in dubium vocare ccepit, qui mox, yeXXopev aXX' avrol 4v rij 'AXe£av-
inter innumeros sectatores Jos. Just. Spela yev6pevoi, Kal ri Xxy-q rwv o'ikI-
Scaligerum acerrimum sua? causa? otkwv ev rrj <j>dpw ewpaK6res en irw^6-
defensorem nactus est ad Euseb. Chron. p-eva, Kal irapi rwv eKeX, ws tcI: irdrpia
num. 1735. — Rogal, Thuribulum, § 3. irapeiX-qipdrwv, aK-qKo6res, ravra a7ray-
apud Ugolini Thes. Ant. Sacr., torn. xi. yeXXopev, a Se irap' erepwv ei,eanv bpTiv
col. 753. Venet. 1750. pravBdveiv, Kal paXia-ra irap' avrwv rwv
y Aristeae, de Legis Divinae ex He- 7repl rovrwv laroprirrdvrwv, trotpwv Kal
braica Lingua in Graecam Transla- SoKip-wv avSpwv, $iXwv6s re Kal 'iwirr)'
tione per 70 Interpretes. Basil, 1561. irov, Kal erepwv irXei6vwv. — § 13. p. 17.
2 De Vita Mosis, lib. ii. pp. 658 — ed. Ben.
660. Paris, 1640. ' Nam et 72 cellas commenti sunt,
* Antiq. Jud., lib. xii. cap. ii. quarum non meminit ille Aristaeas,
b Antiq. Jud., lib. iv. cap. viii. § 48. meminit autem Justinus, deridet Hie-
' Antiq. Jud., lib. xi. cap. iii. § 2 — 8. ronymus, et merito. Quid quae ad
Tt 2

644

OF THE PRINCIPLES

BOOK I.

tradition in his Annotations upon Eusebius's Chronicle, and
what Morinuss and others have said for it.
§ 3. But though we grant the book of Aristseas to be a
true history, not a romance, which few will do that read it —
for the roughness of the Greek makes it rather the language
of some obscure legendary than of a courtier at Alexandria —
though we grant that there were seventy-two sent from Jeru
salem to Philadelphus, and did translate him the law; be
cause, beside the agreement of all other Jews and Christians,
Aristobulus, a learned Jew of Alexandria, writing to Ptolemy
Philometor — in Eusebius de Praparatione Evangelica, xiii. 12.h
— an exposition of the law some hundred and thirty years after
avers it; yet will not that serve the turn, to make this copy

fastidium reparoXoyeX Philon, et inter
alia ex Chaldaismo conversasScripturas
ait ? Quis non videt multa et apud
ipsum Philonem affectata esse, et ad
captandam admirationem excogitata ?
Quis nescit Judaeorum commenta?
Sed qui ha?c admirantur tanquam ve-
rissima, sciant hanc translationem
Alexandrinam adeo Judaeis Hierosoly-
mitanis execratam fuisse, ut solenne
jejunium et angariam instituerint 8 die
Tebeth, propter legem in prophanum
sermonem conversam, et ex ilia, ut
ipsi putant, Alexandrinorum audacia
tridui tenebras per universum orbem
incubuisse fabulentur 
Propter hanc interpretation em nun
quam inter Hebraeos et Hellenistas
bene convenit: et sane quamvis qui-
dam ex utroque Judaeorum genere
nomen Christo dedissent, et ex illo
Christiana? charitatis vinculo eorum
animos coalescere, simultates veteres
sopiri oportuerat, tamen fieri non po-
tuit, quin inter 'EXX-qvia-ras et Hebraeos
secundum priscam consuetudinem dis-
sensiones orirentur. — Scaliger. Ani-
madv.adann.l734.p.l34. Amstel.1658.
E Philonem Juda?um Alexandrinum
mutis istis autoribus iterum oppono.
Christo Domino nostro, ejusque Apo
stolis coeetaneus erat, atque ubi mira-
culum perpetratum est, vixit et scrip
sit. Ita autem de eo loquitur libro
secundo de vita Mosis, ut non modo
translationis miraculum ex omnium
confessione praedicet; sed etiam spe-
ciale hoc, interpretum a se invicem
. separatim habitantium consonam etiam
Kari Xe£iv interpretationem .... Aut
jlla concors non modo sententiarum,

sed etiam verborum interpretatio con-
tigit ipsis simul consultantibus et rem
discutientibus, aut ipsis seorsim trans
lationem elaborantibus. Si prius, nul
lum prorsus est miraculum, nulla pro-
phetia? necessitas : fit enim hoc quoti-
die, ut plures judices in eandem sen
tentiam sensu et verbis consentiant,
pluresque interpretes in eandem inter
pretationem, aut interpretationis cor-
rectionem hoc modo conveniant : ut
Lovanienses, Genevenses et alii. Pos-
terius igitur intellexit Philo, deinde
finge omnes rem discutientes ; non
omnes sane simul loquebantur : quale
hoc fuisset chaos, vocumque confusio,
licet eadem omnes verba pronuntias-
sent. Hoc vero si concedamus, majus
erit miraculum, quam in cellulis sepa-
ratis verborum et sententiarum uni-
formitas. At sic miraculum fuisset
inordinatum, translatioque secessu et
meditatione non indiguisset. Hos duos
translationis modos se abnuas, quoquo
te vertas, quicquid fingas, et miracu
lum toiles, et verbis Philonis nunquam
satisfacies. Translationem autem illam
cum extraordinario quodam miraculo
factam fuisse evidenter praeterea testa-
tur, quod addit Philo, ab illo tempore
ad suum usque tempus Judaeorum
aliarumque gentium magnum quotan-
nis ad insulam Pharum concursum
fieri, ut ibi pro translationis beneficio
Deo gratias agant, diemque festum
conviviis ibidem laute praeparatis, in
tanta? rei memoriam, cum amicis so-
lenniter admodum celebrent. — Exercit.
Biblic, lib. i. exer. viii. cap. 1. § 6.
p. 183. Paris. 1686.
* P. 663, Paris, 1628.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 645
which we have their work. Because the same Aristobulus', chap.
XXXIII
together with Josephus^ and Philo1, the Talmud Jewsm be  '-
sides, and St. Hierome n among the Christians, do agree that
those seventy-two that came from Jerusalem translated only
the five books of Moses, as you may see them alleged in a
late discourse of the late lord primate of Ireland, de Septua-
ginta Interpretum Versione, cap. 1.
§ 4. Now it is most evident that the copy which we have [The Sep-
245 is all of one hand, and that it can by no means be thought verSon
that the five books of Moses, which are part of it, were trans- ™ade hJ
r Alexan-
lated by any body but by him that translated the rest. There- drian
fore we are as much to seek for the author of this translation,
as if we did not grant that ever the law was translated by
seventy-two persons sent from Jerusalem to Philadelphus.
And therefore I make no difficulty to grant that this transla
tion — which cannot be ascribed to those seventy-two — was
made hy the Jews of Alexandria or Egypt, where the Jews
enjoyed great liberties from the first Ptolemy's time, flourishing
in learning, and neglecting their own language for the Greek,
whereupon they were called 'EXXrjvio-Tal, that is to say, Jews
that spoke Greek. But I say withal, that I do not understand
why the reputation of this translation should be ever a whit
the worse than if it had been made by seventy-two sent from
Jerusalem to Alexandria on purpose, supposing it to have
been done by the Jews of Alexandria.
§ 5. The reasons why I think it was made by the Jews With the
of Alexandria, supposing the translating of the law by the andautho-
' 'H Se oX-q epp-qveia t5i/ Sii v6pov lib. ii. p. 658. Paris. 1640.
irdvrav iitl rov irpoo-ayopevBevros 4>iA.a- m Nam a Juda?orum Schola quinque
SeXtpov /DairiXews, aov be irpoyivov, itpoa- tantum Mosis libros fuisse hie intel-
eveyKapevov pei^ova (piXoriplav Arjp-q- lectos, ex utraque Gemara, tam Hiero-
rpiov rov QaX-qpews Kal rrpayparevaa- solymitana quam Babylonica, in trac-
pevov to irepl roirwv. — Apud Euseb. tatu Megilleh, cap. i. manifestum est.
Pra?par. Evangel., lib. xiii. cap. xii. Usser. de 70 Interp. Vers. cap. i. p. 4.
p. 664. Paris. 1628. Londini, 1655.
k OuSe yap iraaav 4KeXvos e<p8-q Xa- n Interpretatio Septuaginta — si ta-
$eXv rrjv avaypaipijv, aXX' avri pr6va ™ men septuaginta est, Josephus enim
rov vdpov irapeSoaav ol ireprrpBevres 4irl scribit, et Hebraei tradunt, quinque
riiv itfiy-qaiv els rbv ' AXe^avSpeiav. — tantum libros legis Moy si ab eis trans-
p. 2. ed. Hudson. Oxon. 1720. latos, et Ptolemaeo regi traditos — tan-
' 'O Sri roiovros IfijXov Kal rr&Bov Xa- turn discordat in pra?senti loco ab
fl&iv rrjs vopoBerrias rjpwv, els 'EXXaSa Hebraica veritate : ut nee capita pos-
TA.Sttcu' tV xaM>a'Kh>/ p.e8app.6%eaBai simus ex aequo ponere, nee eorum
SievoeXro- Kal irpeafieis eiiBbs it,eirepire simul sententias explicare. — Comm. in
irpbsrbv rfjs'lovSalasapxiepeaKalPaa-i- Mich., cap. ii. 9. torn. iii. col. 1510,
Xea. S yip aiirbs ?iv. — de Vita Mosis, 1511. ed. Ben.

646 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK seventy, I confess are but probabilities, but which, finding
r — Xr~ the truth balanced by the difficulties premised, seem to weigh
same. down on that side. First in Caninius's Hellenismus" , at the
imperfect tense, stvittov, Bceotice et Chalcidice iTViTToaav. Qua
forma septuaginta interpretibus frequens. Nam Asianis etiam
vernacula. Lycophron, v. 21, ia-^d^oaay. "For ervirTov, the
Bceotic and Chalcidic saith irvTrToaav, which form the seventy
translators frequent. For it is the Asiatics' mother language.
Lycophron uses ia^d'Cpo-av" That which he saith of the
Asiatic Greeks I have not yet found. All that use this dia
lect, so far as I have observed, are the Greek Bible, the
books we call Apocrypha, and Epiphanius ; excepting Lyco
phron, who was born at Chalcis in Eubcea, standing upon the
confines of Boeotia, but lived at Alexandria; and therefore,
I conceive, Caninius should have counted it Alexandrian, and
not Boeotic or Chalcidic. The like, I say, when for ervrrov
in the second aorist, or indefinite tense, hep makes the Boeotic
to say iTinroo-av, eiBoaav, ip,ddoaav, r/XOocrav. For in the same
authors, namely, the Greek Bible, the Apocrypha, Epiphanius,
and Lycophron, you shall find the like, and in some of them,
if my memory fail me not, i-rutyaa-av for eTv^rav, and Tv-^rai-
aav for Ti/yfraiev, which dialect Caninius also alleges out of
some grammarians. Now I have not found this Greek used
by any author that lived in Palestine, where Epiphanius,
though he conversed much, yet cannot well be thought to
have learned his Greek. And therefore it is to me a mark
that an Alexandrian rather than a Palestine Jew should
make it.
§ 6. Secondly, whereas by Josephus, Antiq. iii. 9% by
St. HieromeT, Hesychius8, and many others, it is manifest
0 P. 252. Lugd. Bat. 1700. pro vt'ikXos. ^lyXai autem, quas iviina
P Canin. Hellenismus, p. 264. Lugd. et inaures vocat, ut et triyXov et cr'tKXai
Bat. 1700. et <riyXo<p6povs, eunuchos, qui tales
1 'O 5e ^IkXos, vdpio-pa 'Eftpatwv tiv, inaures gestant, unde ris KaraKXeXSas
'ArrtKis Sexerai Spaxpias retraapas, rwv ivwriwv triyXas (baal vocari, ol Se
cap.viii. p. Il7. ed. Hudson. Oxon. 1720. avri ri iviina. Has ego siglas non a
r Siclus enim viginti obolos habet : siclo Hebraeorum derivandas crederem,
et quarta pars sicli quinque sunt oboli. sed a siglis Latinorum fluxisse: siglae
— Comment, in Micha?, lib. i. cap. iv. autem a sigillis ; sigillum a signo. At
torn. iii. col. 1520. ed. Ben. quoniam sigla? vocabulum ante Justi-
8 Sed et ex Hesychio monebimus, niani tempora non legitur, vix quid
apud eum extare aiyXov, et aiyXos et ai- dicam habeo de siglis notis, siglis in-
kXos, ubi addit quod sit fidpfiapos rr'iKos. auribus, siglis mensuris, a siclis enim
Quid sit ctIkos non explicavit, nisi vo- nummis vix deducere licet, nee sicili-
luit dicere, barbaros pronunciare o-'ikos cos. Phavorinus qui Lexicon suum

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

647

that the Jews' shekel was equal to the Attic tetradrachm, or c H A P.
piece of four drachms, it is always translated by them BI- xxxm-
Bpa-ypov, or piece of two drachms. A thing which hath bred
strange opinions in some men's fancies, and caused whole
books to be written', that the Jews used two shekels; and
that the shekel of the sanctuary was double the vulgar.
Whereas all this difficulty vanishes, if we sayu that they
translate it BlBpa-^/xov, by the Alexandrian drachma, because
that was indeed double the Attic. For first, Julius Pollux,
Onomast. ix. 6X, affirmeth that the talent of every Greek
state consisted of six thousand drachms of the same coin,
as the Attic talent contained six thousand Attic drachms.
Then Festusy, in the word Talentorum, saith that the Alex-

sub Leone X. scripsit, et Hesychii
omnia de siclo transcripsit, hoc solum
addit, o-'lkXos rerrapes bfioXoi. Unde
hoc hauserit, non indicavit, aut ubi
siclus hoc pondere consideratus fuerit.
Ultima est sicli mentio apud Amoz
prophetam, qui 800 circiter annis ante
Christum scripsit, A.M. 3145. sed et
centum ante Christum annis sicli in
Macchabasorum historia, lib. i. cap. x.
40, 42. repetuntur, postea evanuerunt,
nee in sacris pronuntur. — Othon. Sper-
lingii, Dissert, de Nummis non Cusis,
cap. xii. apud Ugolin. Thes.Antiq. Sacr.,
torn, xxviii. col. 296. Venet. 1765.
1 Etiam quinto paradoxo expedito
nihil superest, quam ut de sexto non-
nihil agamus. Est autem illud : Unum
duntaxat fuisse sicli genus, non vero
alium siclum sacrum alium profanum
 Etsi vero priora quinque pro-
nunciata mea magis quam hoc ablu-
dant a communi sententia etiam hoc
tamen paucos habet adstipulatores,
longe plures autem sentiunt plane
aliud. Etenim Judaei quidem forte
omnes, et Christianos inter Ecclesia?
veteris reverendi nobis et sancti patres
Hieronymus, Epiphanius, Isidorus re-
centiorura quoque Scriptorum longe
doctissimi "Waserus, Kircherus, Gisep-
sius, Buxtorfius, Cappellus aliique ad-
versantur. — Herman. Conringii, Para-
doxa, de Nummis Hebraeorum, cap. x.
ap. Ugolini Thes. Antiq. Sacr., torn.
xxviii. p. 576. Venet. 1765.
u Nam in iEgypto ortam fuisse in-
terpretationem istam, et ilia ipsa verba
ex fine libri Esthera? producta non ob
scure innuunt ; et ex eo colligunt alii,
quod siclum Hebraicum tetradrachmo
Attico aequalem, — ut in libro iii. Antiq.

cap. 9. Joseph et alii indicant — per
Alexandrinum didrachmum interpres
exprimere soleat, quod Attici duplum
fuisse apparet. Cum enim talentum
quodque 6,000 haberet drachmas ejus
loci proprias, cujus talentum esset, ut
ex Julio Polluce constat: talentum
Alexandrinum 12,000 drachmas Atti-
cas continuisse, Festus Pompeius con-
firmat. Ex jEgypto deinde paulatim
versionis hujus usus ad reliquas omnes
Judaeos qui inter Graecos erant dis-
persi, manavit; in quorum synagogis
pars aliqua legis simul et prophetarum
singulis Sabbatis praelegebatur : quod
de Hellenistis Antiochiensibus Pisidia?,
in Act. xiii. 15. speciatim habetur an-
notatum. — Usser. de Edit. 70 Interpret.
cap. iii. pp. 23, 24. Londini, 1655.
* Tovro ye p^v ovk &naipov, on rb
pev 'ArriKbv rdxavrov e£aKttrxLXias iS6-
varo Spaxp-ds 'Arnlids' rb Se BafSvXib-
viov eirraKltTxiXias ' r6 Se Aiyivatov p.v-
pias' rb Se S,vpwv irevraKotrias Kal rerpa-
KiaxiXlas' rb Se KtXlKwvrpiirxiXias' rb Se
Alyvirriwv irevraKoaias Kal ^lAtas, ws
irpbs rbvrr/s 'ArriKijs Spaxprjs Xoytrrpbv,
fcrrirep odv Kal ris pvds ris 'ArriKas' rb
pev ' Arr iKbv e^KOvra pvas e?xe" rb 8e
BafivXdiviov, efSSop-tiKOvra- rb Se Alyi-
vaXov, eKarbv, Kari avdXoyov, 'H pv a Se
Sis irap' 'AB-qvaiois eKarbv e?%e Spaxpds
'ArriKis oijrw Kal irapi rots ixXXois ris
imxwpiovs Svvapevas irpbs x6yov rov
irap' eKatrrois raXdrroo Kari re irporr-
BiiK-qv, Kal vcpaipeinv. — § 86. pp. 1067,
1068. Amstelcedami, 1706.
y Talentorum non unum genus.
Atticum est sex millium denarium.
Rhodium et cistophorum, quatuor mil
lium quingentorum denarium. Alexan
drinum, duodecim millium denarium.

648 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK andrian talent contained twelve thousand Attic drachms.
 '  Which cannot otherwise be true, unless the Alexandrian
drachm be double the Attic. Now it is no less improbable,
that Palestine Jews, though translating at Alexandria, should
translate according to the value of that coin which was current
at Alexandria — all other writers testifying that in Palestine
they accounted otherwise — than it is probable that Alexan
drian Jews should do it.
§ 7. So long, then, as I am peremptorily barred from be
lieving2 the translation which we use to be the work of any
seventy-two sent from Jerusalem, I shall accept of these ink
lings of historical truth that entitle the Egyptian Jews, who
first took up the Greek, to it. For as for the difference of
copies, which, I grant, is very great in the Greek Bible, I
suppose no man in his right senses will argue that it is de
rived from any other copies than one, which by the wanton
ness of copyists having suffered some change in less matters, 246
discovers the same plain song by variety of descants that are
framed upon it.
Excep- § 8. As for the credit of this translation, why should it be
against the thought ever a whit the worse, coming from the Egyptian
ibeeeskamad Jews> ttian those of Palestine ? My reason is ; I demand what
ritanPen- there is to be found in all the writings of that nation since
the prophets, of like consequence to Christianity with that
which the Jews of Egypt have transmitted to us : why the
Greek Bible should not be as well thought of, coming from
them, as if it came from seventy-two men sent from the high-
priest at Jerusalem. For here I set aside all prejudicate fan
cies and reports of inspiration a, by which it is said that these
Neapolitanum sex denarium. Syracu- exemplaria, antiquis illis corruptis at-
sanumtrium denarium. RheginumVic- que violatis, merito se hanc curam sus-
toriati. — Sexti Pompeii Festi, de Verb. cepisse indicat. Sed principaliter ipsa
Signif., lib. xviii. p. 558. Amstelodami, versionis vitiositate hoc evinco, quam
1699. si quis tam venerandis, et ex universo
* Inde jam ultro consequetur, Grae- Dei populo selectissimis senibus, per
cos prophetas et Hagiographa falso ipsis omnem a?tatem in hoc solo studio exer-
attribui. Sed nee vulgarem legis ver- citatissimis impingit, nae is insigni et
sionem quam hodie tenemus, illorum plusquam forensi eos afficit injuria ....
esse genuinam, nunc ulterius probabo. clarissime patet, hodiernam versio-
Non lantum Hieronymi testimonio, qui nem Graecam falso 72 senibus attri-
in Praefat. super libros Paralip. He- bui, genuinam vero et antiquam illam
braea se volumina superflue translatu- 19 saeculorum decursu dudum amis-
rum fuisse ait, si 70 Interpretum pura, sam esse, Quod erat demonstrandum. —
et ut ab eis in Graecum versa est, editio Schickardi, Bechinath Happeruschim,
permansisset. Nunc vero cum pro Disp. iii. pp. 39 — 41. Tubinga?, 1624.
varietate regionum diversa ferantur * In ipsis autem interpretationibus

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

649

seventy-two all translated the law in the same words, as mere
fables. I go to issue upon evidence of that which appears in
this translation, compared both with the present Jews' copy,
and other translations which the Church useth of many ages.
Only I question why it should not be of as good credit,
coming from the Jews of Alexandria, as from seventy-two
sent from Jerusalem.
§ 9. The prejudice that is alleged* against it is an addition to

CHAP.
XXXIII.

Itala ca?teris praeferatur : nam est ver
borum tenacior cum perspicuitate sen
tentia?. Et Latinis quibuslibet emen-
dandis, Graeci adhibeantur, in quibus
70 interpretum, quod ad vetus Testa
mentum attinet, excellit auctoritas :
qui jam per omnes peritiores Ecclesias
tanta pra?sentia Sancti Spiritus inter
pretari esse dicuntur, ut os unum tot
hominum fuerit. Qui si, ut fertur,
multique non indigni fide predicant,
singuli cellis etiam singulis separati
cum interpretari essent, nihil in alicu
jus eorum codice inventum est, quod
non iisdem verbis eodemque ver
borum ordine inveniretur in caeteris,
quis huic auctoritati conferre aliquid,
nedum pra?ferre audeat ? Si autem
contulerunt ut una omnium communi
tractatu judicioque vox fieret, nee sic
quidem quenquam unum hominem
qualibet peritia, ad emendandum tot
seniorum doctorumque consensum ad-
spirare oportet aut decet. Quamobrem
etiamsi aliquid aliter in Hebrasis exem-
plaribus invenitur quam isti posuerunt,
cedendum esse arbitror divinae dispen
sation!, qua? per eos facta est, ut libri
quos gens Judaea caeteris populis, vel
religione vel invidia, prodere nolebat,
credituris per Dominum gentibus mi-
nistra regis Ptolemaei potestate tanto
ante proderentur. Itaque fieri potest,
ut sic illi interpretari sint, quemadmo-
dum congruere gentibus ille qui eos
regebat, et qui unum os omnibus fece-
rat, Spiritus Sanctus judicavit. Sed
tamen, ut superius dixi, horum quoque
interpretum qui verbis tenacius inhas-
serunt, collatio non est inutilis ad ex-
planandam saepe sententiam. Latini
ergo, ut dicere cceperam, codices veteris
Testamenti, si necesse fuerit, Graeco-
rum auctoritate emendandi sunt, et
eorum potissimum qui cum 70 essent,
ore uno interpretati esse perhibentur.
Libros autem Novi Testamenti, si quid
in Latinis varietatibus titubat, Graecis
cedere oportere non dubium est, et
maxime qui apud Ecclesias doetiores

et diligentiores reperiuntur. — S. Augus
tin. de Doctrina Christiana, lib. ii.
Cap. xv. torn. iii. coll. 27, 28. ed.
Ben. b Hanc vero totius Veteris Instru
ment! traductionem, ut ante ilium
Euergeta? 38. ita post Philometoris
fratris ipsius 4 annum in periodi
Juliana? annum 4537, ante aeram
Christianam 1 77 incidentem, in lucem
esse editam ; ex historica ilia nota, ad
calcem libri Estherae, in editione vul
gata Graeca, apposita colligimus, — here
follows the passage in the text. Neque
enim alius rex intelligitur, ut a Pererio
recte est observatum, quam Philome-
tor ille Ptolemaeus : cujus ut et Cleo-
patrae uxoris ejus et Dosithei, apud
Josephum, in 2 contra Apionemlibro, —
here follows the passage cited in note
u. Quem Oniam sacerdotem post
egregiam Philometori et Cleopatra?
navatam in bellis operam, eorum per-
missu in agro Heliopolitano templum
Hierosolymitani a?mulum extruxisse,
in lihro 13 Antiq. cap. vi. idem Jose
phus narrat : hoc etiam ibidem addito,
— here follows part of the passage cited
in note d. Post quartum igitur ilium
Philometoris Ptolema?i annum, ut gen
tium curiositati, Judaica sacra penitius
intelligere desiderantium, aliquo modo
satisfieret, a Judaeo aliquo opus hoc
peractum fuisse videtur; eandem sibi
licentiam in tota Vetere Scriptura, ad-
ditionibus, detractionibus et mutationi-
bus suis vitianda permittente, quam
ejus aemulatus exemplum Dositheus
Samaritanus in ipso originali Penta-
teuchi Mosaici textu interpolando Apo
stolorum postea temporibus usurpavit:
.... Cumque haec prima universaa
Scripturae Veteris Graeca edita fuisset
interpretatio : in novum primum Onia?
templum quoque hujus Scripturae in eo
praelegendae formam inductam fuisse
veri fit simillimum ; sacerdotibus et
Levitis, qui profani templi ministerio
se addicere nihil sunt veriti, de versio-
nibus non admodum laborantibus. —

650 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK the book of Esther in the Greek, which says thus ; "Etou? TeTap-
¦  '  tow, pSaaiXevovToi; IlToXep.aiov Kal K.XeoirdTpa<;, eiarjveyKe Ao-
cri6eo<i, o? 'iijyr) elvai lepevs Kal XevlTTjs, Kal IlToXep.aiO'} v'tos av-
tov Trjv Trpo/ceifievnv iTTiaToXrjv tcov $>povpai, r\v ecf>aa-av eivai Kai
r)pp,evevKevai Avalp,a~^ov H.ToXep,aiov tov iv ' IepovaaXrjp,. " In
the fourth year of the reign of Ptolemy and Cleopatra, Dosi-
theus, calling himself a priest and Levite, and Ptolemy his
son, brought the foresaid letter of Phrurim — which you have
in the Greek Bible, after Esther viii. 12 — translated, as they
said, by Lysimachus, son of Ptolemy, of Jerusalem." This
Ptolemy and Cleopatra are those by whose permission Onias
and Dositheus — whether he that is here named, or another
of that name — Jews, having faithfully served them in their
wars, built a like temple to that of Jerusalem in the country of
Heliopolis in Egypt, as Josephus, contr. Apion. ii. c, and Antiq.
xiii. 6d, testifieth; incurring thereby the like crime of schism
as the Samaritans had committed, in setting up their temple
on mount Gerizim, and undertaking to serve God there after
Jerusalem was lawfully chosen for the place to which the law
confined God's service. And so this translation is supposed
to come from the Jews of Egypt, when they were under
that schism, and the sacrilege of it.
§ 10. To which I answer, that neither it doth appear by
this addition to Esther — which in one of these two copies,
which the late lord primate of Ireland e hath published out of
the earl of Arundel's library, appeareth not at all — that there
fore the whole translation was made then, when it saith this
letter came ; nor that, if it were then made, it had any re
lation to, or dependance upon their schism, or the sacrilege
of it. For though Josephus f says that Onias found priests
and Levites of his mind to serve God there ; and though he
Usserii de 70 Interpretum Versione, Oxon. 1720.
cap. iii. pp. 22, 23. Londini, 1655. e Libri Esther, editiones Graeca?
' 'O Se iiXop-firwp UroXepaXos Kal r\ duae, ex Arundelliana Bibliotheca pro-
yvv-h avrov KXeoirdrpa, r^]v fiatriXe'iav ducta? ; Alexandrini quoque et Romani
6Xr\v rr\v eavrwv 'lovSaiois irriarevtrav exemplaris, in capp. vi. et xviii. Libri
Kal trrpar-qyol irdtr-qs rrjs Svvdpews $aav, Judicum, discrepante lectione adjecta.
'Ovlas Kal AocrlBeos. wv ' Airiwv (TKWirrei ad Caleem De Graeca 70 Interpretum
t& bv6para- — p. 1365. ed. Hudson. Versione Syntagm. Londini, 1655.
Oxon. 1720. f Evpe Se 'Ovlas Kal 'lovSaiovs nvis
d Aafiibv odvrbv rSirov 6 'Ovlas, ieare- Spoiovs avrip, Kal lepeXs Kal Aeviras,
ffKevaffev '\epbv Kal fiwpbv rip ®eip, Spotov robs iKeX Bp-qo-Kevovras. — Antiq. Jud.,
rip ev 'lepocoXvpois, piKp6repov Se Kal lib. xiii. cap. iii. p. 563. ed. Hudson.
irevixpirepov. — p. 563. ed. Hudson. Oxon. 1720.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 651
says elsewhere, that Onias did this out of contention, which chap.
he had with the Jews at Jerusalem, having banished him ; XXX1IT-.
thinking to draw the multitude from them to the temple
which he had built, de Bello Jud., vii. 30 e, yet these are
rather arguments that the body of the Jews at Alexan
dria did not submit to his pretences, whatsoever his credit
with the king might oblige them to permit particular men
to do. And Josephus, Ant. xiii. 6h, immediately after the
building of this temple, telleth us of a trial between the
Samaritans and Alexandrian Jews, before the same Philo-
metor, whether the temple at Jerusalem or that on mount
Gerizim were according to God's law. And that those Jews
were so zealous in the cause, that they consented what side
were cast, those that pleaded for it to be put to death ; which
accordingly was executed upon Sabbseus and Theodosius,
that pleaded for the Samaritans.
§11. Now though Josephus say not that this, which he
relateth presently after the building of the temple, came to
pass after it in time, yet it is utterly incredible that those
who had shewed such zeal for the temple at Jerusalem, should,
the next day as it were, that is, in the same king's reign, run
into the same crime whereof they had convicted the Samari
tans. Certainly, when the addition to Esther saith that the
letter which he had inserted was translated into Greek by
Lysimachus, son of Ptolemy, a Jew of Jerusalem, it is no
247 sign that there was any pretence of schism, between the Jews
of Jerusalem and those of Alexandria, on foot. And there
fore this aspersion takes away nothing from the credit of the
Greek Bible.
§ 12. I am further confirmed in this opinion, by consider
ing the writings of Philo the Alexandrian Jew, though I am
B Ov p^v 'Ovlas i£ vyiovs yvwp.-qs ravra vipovs ipKoSoprja-Bai rb iv 'lepoaoXvurois,
inparrev, iXX' i\v avrip (plXovemia irpbs rwv Se S,ap.apewv, rb ev Tapitfeiv. irape-
robs iv roXs 'lepocroXipois 'lovSaiovs bp- KaXeaav ovv abv roXs tpiXois KaBlaavra
y^v rrjs <J>u7ljs drropv-qpovevovri- Kal rbv [iaaiXea, robs irepl rovrwv aKOvtrai
rovro lepbv iv6p.l£e KaraaKevatras els Xiyovs, Kal robs rjrrr\Bevras ^ Bavarw
avrb irepunrdo-eiv air' iKeivwv rb irXijBos. %-qpiwaai. rbv pev oZv virep rwv 2a/ia-
— P. 1326. ed. Hudson. Oxon. 1720. pewv x6yov 2aP@aXos iiroi-qtraro, Kal
h Tobs S' iv 'AXe^avSpela 'lovSaiovs ®eoS6<rios- .... raSra Ae'ywj- 'AvSp6vi-
Kal SapapeXs, olrb ivTapitfeiv opeiirpoa- kos Kal itoXXi roirois opoia, iteiBei rbv
eKvvovv lepbv o'lKoSop-qBev Kari robs $a<riXea KpXvai pev Kari robs ^ Mwvirews
'AXe^dvSpov xptvovs, <rvve$-q araaidaai v6povs o'iKoSop.-qBrivai rb^ 4v 'lepoaoXv-
irpbs aXXi\Xovs, Kal irepl tSi' lepwv in pois lepbv, airoKreXvai Se 2a/3/3a7oi< Kal
avrov nroXep.aiov SieKpivovro. TtSc pev ®eoS6ixiov. —Try. 563, 564. ed. Hudson.
'lovSaiwv Xeydvrwv Kara robs Mwvtrettis Oxon. 1/20.

652

OF THE PRINCIPLES

BOOK not moved by them to think he was a Christian, but only to
 '- — conclude that he cannot be convinced to be no Christian.
Three things I allege out of him, as steps which he hath
made, beyond the rest of the Jews, towards a Christian. The
first, that he hath followed the Gospels in reproving the
tradition of the elders, for which they neglected to honour
their parents, as the law commandeth. The tradition was this,
as we find by him in his book Trepl rcov Aeica Aoytcov1: if a
man vow that his father or mother shall never be the better
for any thing that is his, it shall not be lawful for him to
maintain them out of his goods. For korban signifies ana
thema, and he that said, "be it korban, whatsoever thou
mayst be the better for of mine," in his anger, to father or
mother, said in effect, be it anathema : that is, be he accursed
that touches it. In this point, then, Philo follows the doctrine
of Christ, against the tradition of their elders.
§ 13. The second is his exposition of Deut. xxviii. 46,
" the stranger that is within thee shall get above thee more
and more, and thou shalt come under him more and more ; "

' VHS^ fxev odv rtves rij erepa [xepiSi
7rpo(TK\7]pdocravT€S avroits eSo^avrr/s ere-
pas oKvywpeiv. aKparov yap 4fx<popr]o~d-
ftevoi rrjs eixre&eias ir68ov} troWa ^at-
peiv (ppdffavres reus &A\ais irpaypia-
reiais, '6\ov a.ve8eaav rbv oIkslov fiiov
8epaireia 0eoO* ot 8' ovfiev e|tw rwv irpbs
avdptibirovs diKaiwfidrwv aya8bv inroro-
irrfo'dvres elvat, \x.6vf\v rfyv irpbs av6pd>-
irovs 6fxi\iav fyairdaavro rwv re ayadwv
rfyv y_pr\<Tw e£ t<rov irao~i irapexovres Sta
Kotvwvias 'tfiepov, /cal ra Setvct, Karh 8y-
va.}J.w eiriKov<pl£eiv a^iovvres. rovrovs
fiev oZv <f>i\av8pd>irovs, rovs Se irporepovs
<pi\o8eovs 4vSIkws tiv etirot ris ijfureAeis
rfyv aperijv. b\6khr)poi yhp, ol nap* a/j,-
tporepois evSoKifiovvres' Ho'ot 5e \xiyr iv
rots irpbs avdp&irovs i^erd^ovrai, avvrj-
S6(xevoi /xev eirl rois kolvols ctrya8o?s,
o~vva\yovvres S1 iirl rots ivavrlois, jU7)t'
ev<rej3etas Kal do~t6rr]ros irepiexovraiy
fiera^e^KijKevat S6^aiev av els rfyv rwv
drjpiwv <(>{iiTtv, wv rrjs aypiSryros oXffov-
rai rh itpwrela ol yovewv a\oyovvres,
enarepas fieptSos ovres i^Opol, ttaX rrjs
irpbs Sebv, teal rrjs irpbs &v6ptit>irovs. ev
Svalv oZv StKatrrrjplois, & 5^ fxSva ia'rl
ri) <\>vo~ei ju^ ayvooii/j.eva, icrwo'av eahw-
tcdres, avefHeias fxev, iv rqi ®eiop, Si6ri,
tous 4k rod fify 6vros eis rb eiva irapa-
yay6vras, Kal Kara, rovro fUfj.Tio'aiJ.evovs
8ebv} ov irepieirovo't. fiio~av8pairlas 8'

£vrq> nar* avdp&irovs. riva yap erepov
e3 iroi'fjo'ovo'iv ol rwv o'vyyeveo'rdrwv
Kal rhs fxeyiaras irape(rx7]fievwv Swpeas
bkiywpovvres, wv eviai 5t' virepfiohfyv, ot>5'
afxaifHas ivhexovrat' irws yhp &v 6 yev-
vr}8els avriyevvrjcrai S6vairo robs criret-
pavras, KArjpov e^aiperov rrjs tyvo'ews
XctpiaafxevTis irpbs iralBas yovevo'iv, els
avri$oo~w i\8e7v ov Swd/xevov. odev Kal
o'<p68pa irpoariKev ayavaKre7vt el /ATjSe
irdvra fieWovres avrixapifreadatt fi^Be
ra KOv<p6rara 48e\'i}o~ovo'iv ....
TlaiSwv yhp ovBev VSiov, b fify yovewv
io'rlv, fy otKoBev eirt8e$Q)K6rwv, ^ ras
airias rrjs KT-f}<reajs eirtirapao-xo/J.evwv.
evo~e{5eiav Se Kal dtnSrrjra r&s rS>v ape-
rwv r\y e/iovldas, Spa y1 evrbs opwv exovai
rwv \pvx&v> virepoptovs fiev ohv e\r\\d-
Kaa-t Kal ire<pvyaZevKao-i. ©eou yhp
virrjperat irpbs reKVWv ffiropav ot yovets,
6 5' vmjperrjv arifxd^wvj o~uvartfj.d£ei. Kal
rbv kpxovra. Twv S' evro\fj.orepwv airo-
aefivtivovres rb yovewv ftvofLa, tpaal rives
ws &pa irarfyp Kal IJ-rjrrjp efupaveh elffl
Geol, fitfiotifievoi rbv hyevvryrov ev rtp
^woirXaareiv' aJKka. rbv (xev elvat rod
k6c/.iov &ebv, rovs 5e fi6vwv wv 4yevvr\-
aav. afjL,f)xaV0J/ & evoFef$e?<rdaL rbv b\6pa-
rov virb rwv els robs i^.<pave1s Kal iyyhs
6vras ao-efSovvrwv. — Liber deDecalogo,
pp. 760, 761. Paris. 1640.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 653
in his book irepl 'AptbvK 'O p,h> eirr)\v<; avco rat? evTv~)(lai<; p,e- CHAP.
T6t»p05 dpffek, weplfiXeTTTOS eaTai, 6avp,a£,6p,evo<; Kal p.aKapi.^6-  -
fievos iirl Bvcrl rot? koXXio-tok, ra ra avTop,oXrjaai 7rpo? ®ebv,
Kal tS> yepae; Xafieiv oUeiOTaTov, t-tjv iv ovpava> Ta^iv Be/3aiav,
fjv oi 8ip,i<; elqreiv b 8' einraTpiBrji;, TrapaKO-^ra<i to vop,ia-p,a t???
evyeveias vTroavprjaeTai KaTunaToa, 7rpo? avTov TapTapov Kal
BaOv ctkoto? ive-)(]6el$, "va Tama opaWe? to, TtapaBeiyp.aTa
TravTe<; dvdpanroi ao3<f)povl^a>VTai, p,avddvovTe$ oti ttjv e'/c Bvaye-
veias d,peTt)v <f)vop,evr]v 0eb<i daird^eTai, Ta? p,ev pi^as iaiv
yalpeiv, to Be (TTeXe-)(o6ev epvo<;, oti pieTeBaXev rjp,epa)6ev Trpbs
evKapiriav diroBe^bp.evo'i ; " the stranger truly, lifted aloft with
good success, shall be gazed at, as admired and counted happy
for two the greatest excellencies ; that having turned to God,
he hath received the most proper reward, a firm rank in
heaven, not lawful to be expressed ; but the right born, debas
ing and counterfeiting the coin of his birth, shall slide down
till he come to the very depth of darkness; that all men,
seeing these examples, may grow sober, considering how God
accepts that virtue which springs from an enemy-stock, bidding
the root farewell, but the shoot welcome, that is grown to a
stock, because, by tillage, it is changed to bear good fruit."
For how would a Christian expound this text against the
Jews, in the mystical sense, but by making the Christian the
stranger, whom this text prophesieth of, that he shall have the
upper hand of the Jew, as Origen1, more than once, if my
memory fail me not, out of this place of Philo, hath done ?
§ 14. The third consists of those things which he hath saidm
k De Execratione, pp. 934, 935. tionibus Legis. — Thorndic. de Ratione
Paris, 1640. ac Jure Finiendi Controversias Eccle-
1 Sed quod Philo, ad mentem Moysi, siae, cap. iv. p. 73. Londini, 1670. — Vid.
Deut. xxviii. 42, 43. interpretandam Origen. Select, in Psalm., torn. ii. p.
adducit, id Origenes, plus semel, ad 569. ed. Ben.
stabiliendum Christianisrnum ; non m Airrbs yip b A6yos, iv re rip
posse intelligi proselytum, qui Judseo -iravrl, Kal iv avBpwirov tpvirei- Kara
superior futurus sit ; quod Philo di- p.ev rb irdv, S, re irepl rwv acrwp.drwv
serte praedictum a Moyse contendit ; Kal rrapaSeiypariKwv ISewv, e| wv 6 vo-q-
alium a populo Christiano. Nam pro- rbs iirdy-q Kbtrpos, Kal 6 irepl rwv bparwv,
selytum propterea, superiorem futurum & S)j p.ipi]para, Kal aireiKovitrpara rwv
Israele Philo exponit, quod ad Deum ISewv iKeivwv iirrlv wv b alaB-qrbs ovros
verum se recipiens, ad sortem in coe- airereXeXro' iv avBpiinrw S' b pev itrriv
lis ineffabilem evectus sit ; degenere 4vSidBeros, b Se irpoipopiKbs, Kal 6 pev
Israelita, neglecta Dei lege, ad imas ola ris ir-qyij, b Se yeywvbs, art' iKeivov
Tartari tenebras subsidente. Prosely- fieav Kal rov pev ian x<*Pa ro rjyepo-
tus autem qui veram Dei legem sequa- viKbv, rov Se Kari irpotpopiv, yXwrra
tur, post fidem a Domino Christo pro- Kal txrbpa Kal r\ aXX-q irdaa (pwvrfs bpya-
ditam, solus intelligi potest Christia- votroiia . . . . 3, re yap rrjs (pbaews xi-
nus. Vide Philonem, libro de maledic- 70s aX-qBfys Kal S-qXwriKbs trdvrwv, S, re

654 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK in so many places concerning the word of God, agreeable to
 '  those passages of the Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, and
Baruch, which I compared afore n with the doctrine of the
Apostles, concerning that wisdom of God which is His word ;
of which you have enough in Grotius's annotations upon
those texts, but much more might be produced. For whoso
ever compares them together, shall find that he who said them
was not far from the Christian faith. For if it be objected
and said that there is no evidence that ever this Philo pro
fessed Christianity, without which he cannot be counted a
Christian ; it may reasonably be answered that, during the
time when the synagogue was at a bay, whether to receive
Christianity or not — at what time, it is plain, they did not
persecute it — nothing can be said why it might not be pro
fessed by any Jew of those synagogues which stood so affected
to it ; not only without any mark of apostasy upon him among
his fellows, but even with that trust which we know this Philo
had among the Jews of Alexandria, being deputed by them
to Caligula0, in business concerning their whole subsistence.
For if those who were baptized by John the Baptist were not
thought to depart from the law, why should those who were
baptized into Christ — whether the effect of both baptisms were
the same or divers — the law continuing in practice long after
that time ?
§ 15. I must therefore profess to allow the opinion of those
that will have this work to have been done by the Jews of 248
Alexandria, of which we know there was a very great body,
from the time of the first Ptolemy, who having taken up the
Greek instead of their mother tongue, necessarily required
that they should have the Scriptures in it. It is then agreeable
rov troQou pipodpevos iKeXvov, bcpelXei avpiras b Kbo-pos 4S-qpnovpyeXro. — Phi-
rrpoo-qKbvrws atpevSeffrarbs re elvai ti Ion. de Monarch., lib. ii. p. 823. Paris.
pwv aX-f)Beiav, Kal p-qSev (pBbvw o-vaKid- 1640.
tfeiv, Siv r) prjvvais wtpeX-fjaei robs ai/a- n Chap. xxxi. seett. 29 — 31.
SiSaxBevras' ov pr)v aXXi Kal Svul x6- ° Aiunt hunc sub Caio Caligula
yois rots KaB' eKaarov rjpwv, rip re rtpo- Romas periclitatum, quo legatus gentis
(popiKip Kal ivSia&erw, Svo aperis arrevei- suae missus fuerat. Quum secunda
pav o'tKelas- rip pev irpotpopiKip S-hXwaiv, vice venisset ad Claudium, in eadem
Try 8e Kari Stdvotav, aX-ft6eiav- app.6£ei urbe locutum esse cum Apostolo Petro,
yap Siavoia. pev p-qSev trapaSexeaBai ejusque habuisse amicitias, et ob hanc
vpevSos, eppi]veia Se prjSev ipnroS't^eiv rwv causam, Marci, discipuli Petri, apud
els r\v aKpifieardr-qv SrjXwaiv. — Philon. Alexandriam sectatores ornasse laudi-
de Vita Mosis, lib. iii. p. 672. Paris. bus suis. — S. Hieron. Catalog. Scrip-
1640. torum Ecclesiasticorum, § 9. torn. iv.
Abyos Se itrriv e'lKwv ®cov, St ov col. 106. ed. Ben.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

655

to reason, that this translation being made so soon after the
study of the law came in request, and so far from Jerusalem,
should acknowledge more difference of sense, arising from the
divers ways of determining those words that are written with
out vowels, than those that are of a later date, when the
reading was better determined by custom and practice.
Which, accordingly, we see is come to pass.
§ 16. For the translations into the Greek that were made
after the time of our Lord, by Aquila p, Symmachusq, and
Theodotionr — no Christians — and the Chaldee of Onke-

CHAP.
XXXIII.

Then into
the Greek,
Syriac,and
Latin.

P Nulla itaque extitit alia ante Chris
tum versio Graeca praeter illam ray 6 ¦¦
post Christum vero, seculo secundo et
tertio, variae fuerunt Graecae ex He
braeo fonte traductae, ex quibus Tetra-
pla, Hexapla, et Octapla sua contexuit
Origenes : quarum nulla ab Ecclesia
publice probata fuit : at in privatis
doctorum manibus extiterunt, qui in
eommentariis et expositionibus suis iis
usi sunt : Unde est quod omnes perie-
rint : nee de iis aliquid hodie extat
praeter fragmenta, quae in scriptorum
veterum libris hie illic dispersa repe-
riuntur ; quae quantum per industriam
virorum doctorum fieri potuit, in unum
collecta, in ultimo nostro tomo exhibe-
mus. Sola ilia Tiiy 6, ut quas in usu
publico erat, tam in Synagogis, quam
Ecclesiis; et adhuc sola in Ecclesiis
Greecorum legitur, hodie mansit.
Prima post Christum fuit Aquila?,
gente Pontici, urbe Sinopaei : quem
male confundunt quidam cum Onke-
loso paraphraste Chaldaeo. Aquila
enim longe post urbis excidium vixit,
et sub Adriano imperatore versionem
suam fecit, circa annum Christi 130,
teste Epiphanio de Ponderibus et Men-
suris. Onkelosum vero ante calamita-
tem istam mortuum esse plerique affir
mant. Fuit vero Aquila proselytus,
ex Christiano factus Judaeus, et R.
Akibae, Christian! nominis hostis in-
fensissimi, discipulus  Hie gen-
tilis primo, postea ad fidem conversus,
cum astrologise et genethliacae nimium
deditus esset, et post monitionem non
resipiscens ejectus esset ex Ecclesia,
a fide Christiana deficiens fit apostata
Judaeus : et cum linguam Hebraeam
didicerat, interpretationem Graecam
aggressus est, in qua ex odio Christi
anas religionis testimonia de Christo,
quantum potuit, pervertit et corrupit,
teste Epiphanio loco citato. — Walton.
Proleg. ix. § 19. p. 61. Londini, 1657.

' Secundaerat Symmachi sub Severo
imperatore, testibus eodem Epiphanio
et Athanasio in Synopsi. Alii vero non
sub Severo, sed sub Lucio vero Sym-
machum transtulisse volunt : unde
eum ante Theodotionem ponunt, qui
sub Commodo scripsit. Ideo mendum
suspicantur in Epiphanio, Severo pro
Lucio Vero per errorem scribae posito :
quod tamen legente Epiphanium vix
probabile videbitur. Fuit Symmachus,
natione Samaritanus, postea Judaeus et
circumcisus, deinde Christianus, pos-
tremo Ebionita haereticus, ut ex Epi
phanio liquet. Unde Hieronymus,
praef. priore in Job. vocat Symmachum
et Theodotionem, judaizantes hsereti-
cos, alibi etiam ipsum laudat, quod non
verbum e verbo ut Aquila, sed sensum
ex sensu expressit. — Walton. Proleg.
ix. § 19. p. 62. Londini, 1657.
' Tertia erat Theodotionis, qui Com
modo imperante suam conflavit, testi
bus iisdem Epiphanio, et Athanasio.
Multum enim errant, qui Theodotio
nem eundem esse dicunt cum Jona-
thane paraphraste Chaldaeo; cum inter
eos intercesserint anni plus minus 200.
Hie natione Ponticus, vel, ut alii, Ephe-
sius; postquam ad fidem conversus
erat, ad Ebionis et Marcionis hsereses
prolapsus, tandem proselytus et apo
stata Judasus factus. Unde ab Hiero-
nymo, procem. ad Danielem, vocatur
incredulus et Ebionita, et Ep. 89. ad
August, homo Judaeus et blasphemus.
.... De auctoritate vel usu harum
versionum si quis quaerat, respondeo ;
quod in iis quas ad Christum et Chris-
tianae religionis mysteria spectant, et
de iis vaticinia, nullam fidem merentur
cum ex odio Christianae religionis factae
fuerint, ut ex dictis patet. Unde ab
Hieronymo judaizantes haeretici di-
cuntur, qui multa mysteria Salvatoris
subdola interpretatione celarunt, Praef.
priore in Job. In reliquis, ut ex iis

656

OF THE PRINCIPLES

BOOK I.

Ios s and Jonathan4, who, whatsoever time they were made in,
are later than so ; though we cannot say that they do always

quae supersunt fragmentis liquet, ad
verum sensum eliciendum, et versionis
Septuaginta sinceritatem demonstran-
dam, non parum prosunt : unde ab
Origene in Hexaplis descriptae, et ab
Hieronymo in Commentariis, aliisque
veteribus scriptoribus ecclesiasticis,
saepius citatae. Hieronymus etiam turn
in versione ejus Latina, turn alibi, cum
a Septuaginta discedit, eos pro se
adfert, et ut supra indicavimus saepe
laudat. — Walton. Proleg. ix. § 19. p.
62. Londini, 1657.
* De Onkelo, vel Onkeloso, primo
videndum. Hie pentateuchum Chal-
daice vertit : de authore autem duplex
vertitur quaestio, dum alii eundem
faciunt cum alio ab Akila, qui teste
Schickardo Bechin., dis. 2. et Helv.,
c. 2. aliud Targum confecit in prophe
tas et hagiographa : quod, ut diximus,
hodie non extat; alii eundem cum
Aquila qui primo Christianus, postea
Judaeus apostata, Vetus Testamentum
in Graecum sermonem contentiose
transtulit, ut affirmat Hieronymus,
i. e. ut versioni Septuaginta quod tunc
temporis apud Christianos in magno
honore fuit, derogaret ; cum tamen
hie ab utrisque diversus esse videatur.
Non fuit idem cum Akila illo sub
Eleazare, licet uterque proselytus fue
rit ; nam primo nomina Akilas et On-
kelos multum differunt: deinde variis
temporibus vixerunt, Onkelos tempore
Hillelis senioris ante Christum annis
circa 40 sub Hircano, et coaetaneus
erat Jonathani, alteri paraphrastae,
teste R. Asar in Meor Enajem, c. 45.
aliisque Rabbinis ab aliis adductis.
Hie vero quem faciunt Titi imperato-
ris ex sorore nepotem, post excidium
urbis vixit, et sub Adriano imperatore.
Ille scripsit in pentateuchum, hie in
hagiographa et prophetas : Aquilas
vero qui versionem Graecam confecit,
de quo quaedam diximus, Prolegom.
de 70 interpretibus, post utrosque vixit:
floruit enim circa annum Christi 130.
teste Theodoreto et aliis, nee tantum
legem, vel sola hagiographa et prophe
tas, sed universam veterem Scripturam
vertit, adeo ut multum fallantur Bel-
larm. de Verbo Dei, ii. 3. Serarius,
Proleg. de Rabb., et alii qui Onkelo-
sum cum Aquila interprete Graeeo
confundunt, nee non Rabbi David
aliique Rabbinorum qui Akilam eun
dem faciunt cum eodem Aquila. Huic
vero Onkeli Targum merito primas

deferunt Judaei, turn quod textum
Hebraeum ad verbum magis exprimat,
ita ut sub iisdem accentibus Hebraeo-
rum instar ipsius textus authentic!
decantari possit, ut annotat Schick-
ardus, exceptis quibusdam verbis per
Maccaph conjunctis a Rabbinis, ut
Genes, i. 2. ut hoc modo accentuum
series inviolata servaretur, ubi liberius
expatiatur, turn quod reliquis facilior
et discentibus utilior. — -Walton. Proleg.
xii. § 9. p. 83. Londini, 1657.
t Onkeloso proximus est Jonathan
Ben Uziel, qui prophetas priores et
posteriores — exceptoDaniele — transtu
lit, de quo non ita litigant authores ac
de Onkeloso. Fuit hie Jonathan dis-
cipulus Hillelis, senis illius celeber-
rimi qui post reditum e Babylone aeta-
tis anno 40 erat doctor Academiae
Hierosolymitanae, et iterum per 40 an
nos rector collegiorum ejusdem aca
demiae, si vera sunt quae de eo narrant
Judaei. Jonathanis vero condiscipulum
faciunt plerique Simonem Justum,
quem Christum infantem ulnis exce-
pisse memorat Evangelista, et Gama-
lielem Sancti Pauli praeceptorem. Ut
vero Onkelum quidam eundem fece-
runt cum Aquila, interprete Graeco,
sic Jonathanem eundem faciunt alii
cum Theodotione illo qui itidem in
Graecum sermonem Scripturam vertit,
argumento a nomine ducto, quia sci
licet utriusque nomen Dei donum sig
nificat, quod sane sublestae fidei est
argumentum, cum eadem ratione, ut
acute arguit Schickardus, probare pos-
sent eundem esse cum Theodosio im
peratore cujus nomen idem habet sig-
nificatum. Floruit hie centum annis
ante templi secundi vastationem, ut
habetur in Talmude, Tract, de Sab-
bato, cap. i. Hujus item collega erat
Shammaius, sive Shimeon, ut in eodem
loco legitur. Shimeon hie primus erat
Hillelis filius, Gamaliel Shimeonis
filius, Hillelis nepos, Shimeon secun
dus Gamalielis filius ab nepos Hillelis,
qui in excidio urbis et templi peremp-
tus fuit Gorionades, lib. v. fiistoriae
suae, scribit quod Herodes honoravit
supra modum Hillelem seniorem,
principem Pharisaeorum, et Sammaium
discipulum ejus, illi enim primi fue-
runt qui suaserunt populo electionem
Herodis regis. Fuerunt itaque Onke
los et Jonathan aiyxpovoi Hillelis
senioris et Sammai inter quos erat
contentio cum Sammai Hilleli contra-

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

657

and in all things agree, either with one another or with the
Hebrew copies which we use ; yet must we needs say that
there is a great deal more agreement between them visible,
than there is between the Greek of the seventy and any of
them, judging of Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, by the
remains of them recorded by the fathers of the Church. As
for the Syriac11 and vulgar Latin, both made by the Christians,
and the former justly challenging as great antiquity — and
therefore as great credit — as the early coming of those parts

CHAP.
XXXIII.

diceret, unde adagium ' esto humilis ut
Hille], et non iracundus ut Sammaius.'
—Walton. Proleg. xii. § 10. pp. 83,
84. Londini, 1657.
u Ut vero de tempore et authoribus
quando vel a quibus factae fuerunt ver-
siones istae dicamus, veterem sive sim
plicem Veteris Testamenti contendunt
Syri factam ex parte, tempore Salomo
nis in gratiam Hirami regis Tyri, vide
licet, Pentateuchi, Josuae, Judicum,
Ruth, Samuelis, Paralipomenon, Pro
verbiorum, Cantici Canticorum, et Job,
reliquos libros tam Veteris quam Novi
conversos tempore Abgari regis Syriae,
cura et solicitudine Thaddaei aliorum-
que Apostolorum. Sic Sionita, Praef.
in Psalm. Syr. ex Soadedo quodam Epi
scopo Hadethiensi antiquo apud Syros
scriptore. Fatetur tamen ibidem Si
onita quorundam Syrorum sententiam
esse, totam Veteris et Novi Testamenti
versionem factam fuisse tempore S.
Thaddaei — quem Addaeum vocant — et
regis Abgari ; priorem vero sententiam
probabiliorem judicat, quae mihi multo
improbabilior videtur. Nam primo
Tyri et Phenices incolae communem
habebant cum Judaeis linguam, He-
braeam scilicet, ut supra ostendimus.
Guorsum ita versionem desideraret
Hiramus librorum in linguam sibi ver-
naculam cum in eadem extarent. Si
enim aliqua esset differentia inter Ty-
riorum linguam et Judaeorum, dialecto
tantum discrepabant. Deinde nulla
extabat versio librorum Veteris Testa
menti ante natum Christum praeter
Graecam rwv 6 ut satis, ni fallor, suo
loco planum fecimus, praeter illas Jona-
thanis et Onkeli in Judaeorum gratiam
factas ; nee aliarum ulla extat apud
Judaeos memoria: si haec Tyriorum
extitisset non esset tam altum de ea
silentium apud antiquiores Judaeorum
scriptores quos latere non potuit ; imo
quantum de hac per Salomonem facta
versione gloriarentur Judaei, qui qua

libet capta occasione nihil non fingunt
quod ad gentis suae gloriam faciat.
Praeterea apud quosnam servata fuit
haec antiqua Salomonis versio? non
apud Judaeos qui earn non agnoscunt,
nee apud Christianos, quorum nomen
multis post saeculis inauditum. An vero
Tyriorum tanta esset cura de libris sa
cris Judaeorum servandis ? Tandem dia-
lectus qua extant Biblia Syriaca aperte
clamat multis saeculis post Salomonis
tempora hanc versionem ortam esse,
imo post Christi tempora. Lingua enim
Judaeorum, ut et Syrorum vicinorum
erat pura Hebraica ante captivitatem
Babylonicam, at haec versio scripta est
lingua ex Chaldaea et Hebraea mixta,
quae et Syriaca communiter dicta est,
et Judaeis circa Christi tempora verna
cula fuit ; imo una eademque dialecto
omnes libri in hac versione Veteris et
Novi Testamenti scripti sunt, non qui
dem alii lingua Tyriorum sed omnes
Syriaca quae eadem est cum ilia Judae
orum ....
Ab Apostolorum aliquo factam hand
facile concesserim, sic enim divinam et
parem cum reliquis libris sacris haberet
autoritatem, quod nemo hactenus affir-
mavit: ab Apostolieis vero viris factam
concedo, quod praeter traditionem ge-
neralem Ecclesiarum Orientalium, cui
multum in hoc tribuendum, cum nulla
ratio ciara in contrarium affertur, etiam
ex insitis argumentis probatur in ipsa
versione quae magnam ejus antiquita-
tem testantur 
De versione Syriaca testatur Sionita,
quod ut semper in summa veneratione
et authoritate habita erat apud omnes
populos qui Chaldaica sive Syriaca
utuntur lingua, sic publice in omnibus
eorum Ecclesiis antiquissimis, consti-
tutis in Syria, Mesopotamia, Chaldaea,
jEgypto et denique in universis Ori-
entis partibus dispersis ac disseminatis
accepta et lecta fuit. — Walton. Proleg.
xiii. § 15, 18. pp. 90, 91. Londini, 165.7.

THORNDIKE.

u u

658 OF THE PRINCIPLES
book to Christianity — and thereupon the necessity of having the
 '-  Scriptures — enforces ; it is manifest that they were translated
out of copies which were had from the Jews, and yet that the
sense was not determined in those copies, as it is by the
vowels determined in the Hebrew copies we use.
§ 17. Whether that in St. Hierome's time, the method of
points was not complete, and written into their books, or
whether they would not suffer such copies to go out of their
hands for the use of Christians, I confess I have met with a
passage in the Gemara, Berachoth cap. ult.*, that seems to
argue the contrary. It is reported there that R. Akiba — about
Adrian the emperor's time — decreed, that they were not —
saving your presence — to wipe the backside with the right
hand, "because it shews the accents of the law," min '•DJJD.
For if there were then accents to be shewed, certainly there
were vowels. But the gloss of It. Solomon Jarchi clears the
meaning of the passage to be no more than this ; that by
holding the right hand up or down, they signified how the
lessons of the law were to be sung, according to that, whether
music or howling, which still, it seems, they use in their syna
gogues.
[Excep- § 18. Now to come to the resolution of the point pro-
againstthe pounded, I think it not unfit to divide from the rest the Greek
Penta"1*" an^ Samaritan copies, because a reason is pretended y why
teuch.] 1 R. Akiva disait ; une fois j'ai suivi. to what is vulgarly known of them
R. Jehochua dans une maison de la from the Scripture and Josephus ; in
chaise, et j'ai appris de lui trois choses; a word, an idolatrous, superstitious,
j'ai appris qu'on n'&vacue pas vers wicked people they were, before they
l'orient ou vers 1' Occident ; mais vers were subdued by Hyrcanus, afterwards
le septentrion ou le midi ; j'ai appris they continued in the separation from
qu'on ne se de'couvre pas fitant debout, the true Church of God, and upon the
mais lorsqu' on est assis; et j'ai appris testimony of our Saviour had not sal-
qu' on ne se torche pas avec la main vation among them. When they re-
droite, mais avec la gaudie  ceived their Pentateuch is uncertain ;
Pourquoi done ne se torche-t-on uncertain also how long they kept it ;
pas avec la droite, mais seulement avec that they corrupted it whilst they had
la gauche? . . . R. Jehochua dit: c'est it, is not uncertain ; they are charged
a cause que l'on ecrit avec elle; R. to have done so by the Jews in the Tal-
Akiva dit : c'est k cause que l'on mud, and the instance they give abides
montre avec elle les accgns de la loi. — to this day ; Deut. xi. 30. They have
Chiarini, Le Talmud de Babylone, added Sichem to the text, to give coun-
tom. ii. pp. 333, 339. Leipzic, 1831. tenance to their abominations. And
y " Of the Samaritan Pentateuch, openly in Deut. xxvii. 4, where God
both original and translation, we shall gives a command that an altar should
not need to add much. What the peo- be set up on Mount Ebal, they have
pie from whom it hath its denomination wickedly and nefariously corrupted the
were, is known; nor have the enquiries text, and put in Gerizim. Now one
of Scaliger, or Morinus, added anything -such voluntary corruption made on set

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 659
they should never be taken into consideration when there is chap.
any question of the true reading of the Old Testament, what- xxxm-
soever account is to be had of the rest. By the Scripture of
2 Kings xvii, we understand that the Samaritans, at their first
planting, were idolaters, and worshipped God as the God of
that country, not as the one true God that made heaven and
earth ; in which worship there must needs be as much idolatry
as in the Athenians' worshipping the "unknown God," among
innumerable idols: though that title yielded St. Paul an
argument against idols. When the temple and city came to
be restored under Esdras and Nehemias, they offered them
selves to assist the work, pretending that then they worshipped
the true God only, Ezra iv. 2. And what reason can we have
to doubt that they said true in it ? For when, in opposition
to the Jews, they had built themselves a temple upon mount
Gerizim, and sacrificed there, as the ten tribes did at Bethel
and Dan from Jeroboam's time, there can no question be
made but that they sacrificed to the true God, though not,
according to the true intent of His law, at Jerusalem, but, as
schismatics, where they pleased themselves.
§ 19. Whatsoever then was the reason why, under Esdras
and Nehemias, they were not admitted to build the city and
temple with the Jews — as just there might be, and no doubt
was, though we suppose them not to have been idolaters —
from the time that they were thus rejected, I make account,
purpose to countenance a sin and false tradition of their fathers continued to
worship, is enough to lay low the autho- the days of our Saviour, and their
rity of any copy whatever." — Dr. hatred to the people of God, John iv.
Owen's Purity of the Hebrew Text, When, by whom, in what character
chap. vii. § 10. pp. 327, 328. Oxford, they first received the Pentateuch, is
1659. most uncertain; not likely by the
" This is not a plaoe to speak at priest sent to them ; for notwithstand-
large of the Samaritans, their Penta- ing his instructions they continued in
teuch, and its translation.. The origi- open idolatry ; which evidences that
nal of that nation is known from the they had not so much as seen the book
Scripture, as also their worship of God, of the law. Probably this was done
2 Kings xvii. ; their solemn excommu- when they were conquered by Hyr-
nication and casting out from any in- canus, and their temple razed after it
terest among the people of God, is also had stood 200 years. So also did the
recorded, Ezra ix. , Nehem. vi. and xiii. Edomites. What diligence they used
Their continuance in their abomina- in the preservation of it, being never
tions after the closing of the canon of committed to them by God, we shall
the Scripture is reported by Josephus, see afterwards. That there are any of
Antiq. xi. 8. In the days of the Mac- them remaining at this day, or have
chabees they were conquered by Hyr- been this thousand years past, is un-
canus, and brought into subjection by known." — Dr. Owen, ib. chap. v. § 2.
the Jews, Joseph. Antiq. xiii. 17. Yet pp. 260—262.
their will- worship upon the credit of the
u u 2

660

OF THE PRINCIPLES

B oo k we may clearly say that they have been and are schismatical
 '-  Jews, professing the law, but according to a copy of their
own, which, for a rare monument of antiquity, is printed in 249
the great Paris Bibles, and so extolled, by those z that pretend
to oblige the Christian world by publishing the same, as if it
were the true copy of Moses. As for the rest of the Old
Testament, seeing it cannot be said that ever they admitted
either the writings of the prophets or the resurrection and
world to come, which under thema was more and more de
clared, I leave to those of better skill to consider whether
this were not the reason why they were refused the commu
nion of the Jews under Ezra and Nehemias.
§ 20. This is the original credit of this copy of Moses's
law, which cannot be greater than the credit of those that use
it ; but it is alleged5, over and above, out of an extract from

2 His igitur omnibus praetermissis,
Christiane lector, duorum tantum te
commonefacere necessarium duximus.
Prius, quales fuerint codices Samari-
tani quorum ectypa hoc volumine con-
spicis, atque unde eos nacti sumus :
posterius quid in eis cudendis praestite-
rimus. Cum enim Pentateuchi duplicis
memoriam tot saeculis intermortuam
suscitemus, eumque ab oblivione ho
minum in qua tamdiu jacuerat, vindi-
cemus, resque ilia sit, %ns aKovbvretTvTi
vewrdr-q apupiireX-qrai, Ne tam inau-
dita rei novitas scrupulum tibi injiciat,
utrumque hoc ob oculos tuos paucis
exponemus. Est in Bibliotheca Pres-
byterorum Oratorii Parisiensis Penta-
teuchus MSS. Hebraeo-Samariticus, in
teger, pulcherrimis litteris nulla cum
litura in charta vitulina descriptus.
,55ra temporis non est adscripta : nota-
tur tamen in fine Genesis et Exodi ad
duos successive Samaritanorum sacer-
dotes pertinuisse, eorumque alterum
abhinc ducentos triginta et aliquot an
nos Damasci quadringentis argenteis
ilium sibi comparasse. Hunc codicem
curavit erui sibi Damasci doctissimus
et illustrissimus Episcopus Maclovien-
sis, Achilles Harlaeus, cum antequam
Ecclesiae nomen daret, Constantinopoli
apud Turcarum imperatorem legatione
pro rege Christianissimo fungeretur.
Hunc codicem cum permultis omnis
generis Rabbinicis libris cusis et MSS.
Oratorianae Bibliothecae donavit erudi-
tissimus ille praesul, quo nobilissimo so-
dali et symmysta gloriatur nostra con-

gregatio. Hie est ille codex quem in
editione nostra fideliter et ad amussim
expressimus, quemque, ut vides, latini-
tate donavimus. — Morini Praef. in Bibl.
Polyglott. Paris, 1645.
a " Prophets."— MS.
b Ad Samaritanam Pentateuchi edi-
tionem jam accedo : quam vel primus,
vel certe inter primos, nostris tempori
bus in occidentem ipse intuli. Cum enim
Christianae pietatis homines paulo hac
in re negligentiores hactenus fuisse, ex
Scaligero didicissem : non prius destiti
quam ex Syria et Palaestina quinque vel
sex illius exemplaria — una cum Ara-
bicae versione textus illius parte magna
et Arabici in eundem commentariifrag-
mento — mihicomparavissem. Cumque
ab Eusebio Caesariensi, Diodoro Tar-
sensi, Hieronymo Stridonensi, Cyrillo
Alexandrino, Procopio Gazaeo et aliis,
citatum invenissem ; apud Photium in
Bibliotheca cod. 230. decreti synodici
Eulogii Patriarchae Alexandrini in
Samaritanos editi argumentum expo-
nentem, tandem reperi, librorum Mo-
saicorum a Samaritis receptorum de-
pravatorem fuisse Dositheum ilium
cujus in libro i. contra Celsum Origenes
ita meminit. Post Jesu tempora Dosi-
theus Samarita persuadere Samaritis
voluit se esse Christum ilium a Mose
praenuntiatum, et visus est nonnullos
doctrina sua cepisse ! Et in Maltlueum,
Tract. 27, ' Sicut manifestat historia lec-
tionum, non multi fuerunt homines in
tempore Apostolorum, qui Christos se
esse dixerunt: nisi forte Dositheus

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

661

Eulogius, Patriarch of Alexandria, in Photius, that this copy CHAP.
was falsified by Dositheus, a doctor of such credit among the XXXIIT"
Samaritans, that Origen upon St. Matthew xxiv.0 informs us
that he pretended to be the Messias whom the Samaritans,
as Jews, did expect. As for the Greek of the seventy, it is
allegedd that by comparing it with the original — which is the
most effectual conviction of common sense — -it may appear
that they who made it never intended to translate the He
brew which they had before them, but to enlarge, abridge,
and change the sense and matter of it, as best pleased their
own fancies, though to what purpose it is hard to affirm. This
is alleged to be visible in the book of Job, the Proverbs,
Esther, and I know not whether any other parts of the Old
Testament. § 21. Supposing these exceptions made to those two, the

Samareus, unde etDositheani dicuntur,
et Simon de quo referunt Actus Apo
stolorum.' Synodum vero illam ab Eulogio co-
actam docet Photius occasione contro-
versiae inter Samaritas Alexandrinos de
loco illo Mosis ortae. Deuter. xviii. 15.
'Prophetam tibi suscitabit Dominus,'
&c, quem eorum alii Jesum Nave,
sive Josuam filium Nunis proximum
Mosis successorem, fuisse contende-
bant; alii Dosthen, sive Dositheum,
genere Samaritanum et Simoni Mago
aequalem, — trvvaKfidtravra Kari robs
Xpbvovs Stpwvi rip Mdyqi — a cujus no
mine Dostheni cognominati sunt. De
quo et postea hoc habetur additum :
prvplats Kal iroiKiXais aXXats voBeiais rfyv
Mw(raiKr)v rrevrdrevxov — ea enim vox
pro oKrarevxw in Photio est reponenda
—KaraKif5S-!qXevo~as Kal erepa nvd trvy-
ypdp.pa.ra. pwpd re Kal aXXbKOra Kal
airevdvria irvevpiartKrjs vop,oBeo~ias aw-
reraxws rois ireiBopevots KareXlire.
[Phot. Bibl. p. 285. Berolin. 1824.]—
Usser. Ep. ad Lud. Cappellum, pp.
215, 216. Londini, 1655.
c Origen, torn. ii. p. 851. ed. Ben.
The passage is cited in the preceding
note from Ussher.
d Sed nihil editionis illius anthori-
tatem magis minuit, quam multiplex
ilia tot assumentorum ad sacram He-
braicae veritatis purpuram audacissime
facta additio : quae aliquando non
versiculorum tantum aliquot, sed inte-
grorum etiam est capitum. Harum
addjtionum, ab Origine in epistola ad
Julium Africanum, ex Jobi et Estherae

libris producta habentur exempla. Et
de libro Estherae agnoscis ipse ' multa
fuisse addita et omissa ad libitum in
terprets ; qui non fuit accuratus in
vertendo, sed studuit tantum utcunque
sensum reddere.' Sed ut sensum ut
cunque ille redderet; tam multa a textu
demere, tam multa aliena in eum in-
trudere, quid attinebat ? et qui minus
accuratus ille fuit in hoc quam in pro-
pheticis libris? in quibus vel ille vel
illi interpretes, ut tu quoque fateris
' passim vocum genus, numerum, sta-
tum, tempus, modum, conjugationem
et personam immutarunt pene pro ar-
bitrio ; ut sensum aliquem, uti ipsis
videbatur, commodum exculperent iis
in locis, in quibus alioqui sensus non
videbatur ipsis elici posse aptus et
accommodatus.' Qui vero in uno libro ad libitum
multa addunt, et omittunt, in aliis ita
commutant omnia pene pro arbitrio,
non aequi sane habendi sunt Hebraicae
lectionis arbitri. Praesertim quum in
Daniele complura illi capitula Hebraeo
textui addiderint, quae ob hanc ipsam
causam Eusebius et Apollinarius,
Porphyrii calumniis respondentes, ut
legitimam Scripturae partem defendere
recusabant ; sed etiam reliquae prophe-
tiae faciem universam ita immutave-
runt, ut Christianae Ecclesiae, in aliis
libris eorum versionem secutae, hie
earn repudiare atque in ejus locum
Theodotionis editionem coactae fuerint
substituere. — Usser. Epist ad Ludo-
vicum Cappellum, pp. 207, 208. Lon
dini, 1655,

662

OF THE PRINCIPLES

BOOK most ancient copies — beside the Hebrew — that the world
 '¦  has, I will not enter into the dispute concerning the true
copy of the seventy, which every man knows what difficulties
it becomes liable to, by the diligence and industry of Origen6;
who, that it might appear at one view what the difference was
between the Greek and Hebrew copies, first set a mark upon
every word which the Greek of the seventy had expressed,
more than the Hebrew contained ; then, under another mark,
added to the same copy that which, being found in the He
brew, was not found translated in the Greek of the seventy.
For those marks being afterwards left out by the negligence
of copyists, there came into the common use of the Church,
a mixed copy of the Greek according to the seventy, and
that which the Hebrew had more than the Greek, according
to Theodotion, whom Origen had stuck to in that busi-

<" Nemo enim Christianorum post
70 ante Hieronymum novam ex He
braeo versionem Graecam tentavit.
Prima erat Origenis ; quem propter
magnos labores Adamantium vocarunt;
et ob multiplicem doctrinam, post
Apostolos Ecclesiarum magistrum
dixerunt veteres : quod neminem nisi
ignorantem negare posse, affirmavit
Hieronymus. Hie cum in editionem
quae tunc vulgata et communis diceba-
tur errata quaedam irrepsisse advertis-
set, ex Alexandrina Bibliotheca ubi
genuinum Cleopatrae exemplar — et ut
quidam sentiunt Ptolemaei autogra-
phon — asservatum erat, versionem
Graecam rwv b descripsit, et collatis
plurimis optimisque exemplaribus,
magno labore puram 70 editionem ex-
hibuit : in qua nihil ad textum Grae
cum adjecit, nihil ademit ; sed quan
tum potuit, ab omni corruptela et mix-
tura puram et integritate suae restitu-
tam vindicavit : quam in Tetraplis et
Hexaplis posuit : et haec ab omnibus
veteribus pro sincera et genuina — etiam
ab ipso Hieronymo — semper agnita
fuit. Et ut ex aliorum versionum
collatione plus utilitatis ad Ecclesiam
redundaret, primo tres illas, Aquilae,
Symmachi, et Theodotionis, una cum
ilia Tw.f b per columnas singulis pagi-
nis disposuit, ita ut uno intuitu lector
omnes conspiceret, easque conferre
posset : quae volumina propter quatuor
columnas et versiones, Tetrapla appel-
lavit. In Threnis tamen, teste Origene
in Catena Graeca, editio Aquilae et
Theodotionis nusquam apparet, Sed

solius Symmachi et 70. Postquam
enim linguae Hebraicae cognitionem
assecutus esset, textum Hebraeum,
characteribus turn Hebraicis, turn Grae-
cis addidit : unde Hexapla nominata.
Tandem post repertam quintam et sex
tain versionem, et ipsas cum reliquis
disposuit, et Octapla nominavit. Hoc
ejus opus ita omnibus probatum erat,
ut opus Ecclesiae nominaretur, propter
multiplicem ejus usum, quod olim
praestabat, et adhuc, si extaret, prae-
staret. Nam ex illo, textus Veteris
Testamenti ejusque sensus verus illus-
trari, et sinceritas demonstrari posset ;
multaeque controversiae hodiernae, de
ejus integritate, ut et de litteris, punc-
tis vocalibus, vera lectione, et recta
pronuntiatione, determinari possent.
Unde inexcusabilis est Graecorum
negligentia, qui nobilissimum et in-
comparabilem hunc thesaurum antise
rum 
Idem Origenes, cum omnium non
esset magna haec volumina comparare,
aliam editionem elaboravit solius ver
sionis 70, cui asteriscos, et obelos appo-
suit. Quae enim in textu Hebraeo
erant, et in Graeco deerant, supplevit
ex Theodotione plerumque ; ut qui
prae reliquis propius ad versionem 70
accederet, apposito asterisco, ne addi-
tamentum hoc cum textu rwv 6 con-
funderetur ; quae vero in Graeco erant,
et non in Hebraeo, non expunxit, nee
d'elevit, sed obelo notavit ; non ut quic
quam in textu 70 mutaret — Walton.
Proleg. ix. § 21 , 22. p. 62. Londini,
1657.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

663

ness. Whereby, and by several copies corrected and or- CHAP.
dered by Lucian f, Hesychius8, and others, to set a period  -
to this disorder, it is become impossible to say what is the
true Greek of the seventy, or Alexandrian Jews, in abundance
of places.
§ 22. But this dispute, I conceive, I shall not need to enter
into, having nothing to do here to say how well or how ill the
Church hath been served by the multiplying of several copies,
which is a far divers point, that may come to hand in due
place ; but only supposing things to be as they are, what
means we have to assure ourselves of unquestionable Scrip
ture, in order to the deciding of difficulties in matter of re-

' Tertia editio fuit Luciani presby-
teri Alexandrini et sanctissimi mar-
tyris qui, teste Eusebio Hist., lib. viii.
' editionem 70 cum codicibus Hebraicis
contulit et recensuit.' De hac Euthy-
mius Prtef. in Psalmos, ' Haec cum 70
translatione consentit, et quae ab aliis
depravata fuerunt, reprobat.' De Lu
ciano etiam et Hesychio affirmat Hie
ronymus, Prtzf. in 4 Evang., ' Eos nee
in toto Veteri Testamento post 70 in-
terpretes emendare licuisse, nee in
Novo emendasse profuit.' Hie itaque
emendavit, non de novo transtulit. Et
ut idem Hieronymus, Ep. 135. ad Su-
niam et Fretelam, ( Eadem fuit cum
Vulgata, ita ut koiv^i sive Vulgata a
plerisque AovKiavbs diceretur;' unde
iterum patet, novam versionem non
fuisse, sed Vulgatam emendatam. Fla-
minius Nobilius Prcef. ad editionem
Romanam Latinam dicit, quod in
1 Apollinario reprehendit Hieronymus
quod 70 interpretum dictiones mutavit
saepe, ac pro ipsis Symmachi vel alte-
rius, vel etiam suas substitueret.' Lu-
cianus martyr in eodem fortasse insti-
tuto, verecundior tamen videtur fuisse.
Hujus enim interpretationem, memoriae
proditum est, cum 70 interpretatione,
rejectis iis quae ab aliis depravata erant,
consensisse. Hinc fluxit ilia quam
multi septimam nominarunt. Haec
Luciani editio, ejus manu scripta, teste
Athanasio in Synopsi, post ipsius cer-
tamen sub Maximiano Nicomediae in-
venta est. — Walton. Proleg. ix. § 25.
p. 63. Londini, 1657.
k Quarta fuit Hesychii Episcopi
.52gyptii,in eadem persecutione decima
martyrio coronati : de quo Eusebius,
lib. viii. cap. xiv. Hie veterem trans
lationem recognovit ; quae teste Hiero-
nymo per jEgyptum et Alexandriam

Celebris erat : novam non cudit. Hujus
editionis habemus antiquissimum ex
emplar, quod ex Alexandria allatum
fuit; cujus discrepantias a codice Va-
ticano, in hac Bibliorum editione ex-
cudi curavimus, De his editionibus scri
bit Hieronymus in Epistola ad Chromat.
quae in libros Paralipomenon est Prae-
fatio 1. quod 'Alexandria et jEgyptus
in 70 suis Hesychium laudant aucto-
rem, Constantinopolis usque ad Antio-
chiam Luciani martyris exemplaria
probent. Mediae inter has provinciae
Palaestinos codices legunt, quos ab
Origene elaboratos Eusebius et Pam
philus evulgaverunt : totusque orbis
inter se hac trifaria varietate compug-
nat.' Quicquid vero scripserit Hiero
nymus de harum editionum discrepan-
tiis, qui omnes ingenii nervos intendit,
ut versionem rwv b deprimeret, et ut
suam Latinam, ex Hebraeo noviter fac
tam, in ejus locum in Occidentis Ec
clesias introduceret : varietates tamen
istas haud magni momenti fuisse, patet :
turn ex scriptis et commentariis eorum,
qui eisdem locis, ubi editiones istae
vigebant, claruerunt, in quibus magna
est concordia — ita ut nemo praeter
Hieronymum alicujus fere differentiae
inter istas editiones meminerit — et ex
ipsis discrepantiis, quae ab Hieronymo
afferuntur, ep. ad Suniam et Fretelam,
quae nullius momenti sunt; turn ex
praecipuis exemplaribus, et editionibus
antiquis et recentibus, eorumque colla-
tione : maxime vero ex Psalterio Vulg.
Latino, quod ex Luciani editione esse,
Hieronymus omnesque alii fatentur:
inter quod et illud quod ex Graeco 70 in
nostris Bibliis imprimitur vix aliquod
discrimen observatur. Sed de his post-
hac plura,— Walton. Proleg. ix. § 25.
p. 63. Londini, 1657.

664 OF THE PRINCIPLES
i oo k ligion, which not only ordinarily, but universally, have their
—  beginning from some uncertainty in the meaning of the same.
But supposing the Greek and Samaritan liable to these ex
ceptions, supposing that we have a very ancient translation
of the Old Testament into that language which the Jews from
the captivity used — for what can be the reason why the Jews
should turn it into Chaldee, but for the vulgar use of their
people? — that we have the vulgar Latin, and that ancient
and worthy Christian translation into the Syriac, is there any
body will undertake to say, either, that having these helps,
we cannot assure ourselves of the Scripture which God de
livered to the Church, so far as the necessity of the Church
requireth to be assured of it; or that nothing but the copyh
which now we have from the Jews is to be regarded, God
having provided us so many helps over and above ?
§ 23. For suppose the Samaritan copy of the law to have
been falsified by Dositheus, must it not needs have been
falsified upon some certain design? And will one certain
design require, or will it endure that all should be falsified,
whether it concerned that design or not? So suppose those
Jews of Alexandria who turned the Old Testament into
Greek, gave themselves liberty to make the book of Job,
the Proverbs, more of the Old Testament, if more can be
¦> "We add that the whole Scripture up an altar of our own by tbe'altar of
entire, as given out from God, without God, and to make equal the wisdom,
any loss, is preserved in the copies of care, skill, and diligence of men, with
the originals yet remaining ; what the wisdom, care, and providence of
varieties there are among the copies God Himself. It is a foolish conjec-
themselves shall be afterwards de- ture of Morinus from some words of
clared ; in them all we say is every Epiphanius, that Origen, in his Octapla,
letter and tittle of the word of God. placed the translation of the seventy
These copies we say are the rule, in the midst, to be the rule of all the
standard, and touchstone of all trans- rest, even of the Hebrew itself, that was
lations, ancient and modern, by which to be regulated and amended by it —
they are in all things to be examined, Media igitur omnium Catholica editio
tried, corrected, amended, and them- collocata erat, ut ad earn Hebraeae cae-
selves only by themselves. Transla- teraeque editiones exigerentur et emen-
tions contain the word of God, and are darentur, Exercit. lib. i. cap. iii. p. 35.
the word of God, perfectly or imper- [Paris, 1633.] — the truth is, he placed
fectly according as they express the the Hebrew in Hebrew characters in
words, sense, and meaning of those the first place, as the rule and standard
originals. To advance any, all trans- of all the rest ; the same in Greek cha-
lations concurring into an equality racters in the next place, then that of
with the originals, so to set them by Aquila, then that of Symmachus, after
it, as to set them up with it, on even which in the fifth place followed that
terms, much more to propose and use ofthe seventy,mixed with that of Theo-
them as means of castigating, amend- dotion." — Dr. Owen, Integrity of the
ing, altering anything in them, gather- Hebrew Text, chap. ii. § 7. Oxford,
ing various lections by them, is to set 1659.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 665
alleged, not what the original contained, but what them- chap.
• XXXT1T
250 selves fancied would be handsome ; shall we therefore say  1
the whole work is not a translation but a romance, which we
see stick so close to the original in the most of the Scripture ?
Surely the very great antiquity of both copies, and the ex
perience which all that study the Scriptures with an intent
to clear the meaning of them have, of the great advantage
which the comparing of the Greek advances more and more
every day to that design, will no way endure that it should
be counted no translation of the Old Testament : or that
though a man pretend not to build upon the credit of either
of those copies alone, in opposition to the Hebrew which we
now use ; yet the agreement of them with other copies, to
gether with the reason and consequence, or pertinence of
sense enforced by the text of the Scripture, may give him
just ground to assure himself and the Church of the true
reading of the Scripture, yea, though the present Hebrew
should not agree with others.
§ 24. For I shall not here need to say what or how great They are
faults may be found in our Hebrew copies, who had rather neverthe-
be assured that there were none at all to be found, greater or 1^° the
less ; but that we — who neither rely upon the dictate of the t'ue read-
' ii in" "' ' e
Spirit to them that are able to conclude the Church, nor Scrip-
much less to particular persons for assuring the true reading though
of Scripture— are not bound to resolve our faith in it into ™p1?e°'her
the present tradition of the synagogue, having, over and Jeh^*e^.
above, so considerable helps to the verifying of the same. Christian.
§ 25. For, magnifying first the providence of God, in that
the Jews, having Christians in utter hatred, should neverthe
less, neither be willing for their interest, nor able for their
malice, to falsify those things in their own books which bear
witness against themselves ; seeing God hath given the Church
that most ancient Greek translation, which is commonly
ascribed to seventy interpreters sent from Jerusalem, but
more justly to the Jews of Alexandria, beside that copy of
the law which the Samaritans still use ; since we have con
siderable remains of those Greek translations made by Aquila,
Symmachus, and Theodotion, the bodies whereof, to the great
loss of the Church, have perished with the worthy labours of
Origen, in joining them in columns to the Hebrew ; since we

666 OF THE PRINCIPLES
BOOK have those ancient translations into the Chaldee, which the
 Jews make so much esteem of; since we have the Syriac
and vulgar Latin made by Christians — to say nothing of the
Arabic, whether made by Jews or Christians, or of any other
though ancient translations, which have not had the like use
and credit in the Church — so far am I from giving way to
that unreasonable demand, so destructive to the being of
Christianity, that we cannot assure ourselves that we have
any Scripture ; that in all that I have to say, or shall have
said, concerning the dispute on foot in England about reli
gion, I shall either undertake to assure men that will be con
tent with reason, that I allege nothing for Scripture which I
cannot justify so to be, or else, undertake to resolve that
which shall come in debate, without the help of that which
I cannot assure to be such.
§ 26. Not intending, in that which follows, to allege any
more evidence hereof in the particulars than I have done in
the premises; but building myself upon the resolution pre
mised, and intending that there shall be nothing to be ob
jected, from the true means of questioning and settling the
true reading of the Scriptures, that may breed any consider
able scruple concerning the truth^jf those Scriptures which I
shall employ to my purpose.
Though § 27 . As for that part of the difficulty which remains, con-
Latinwfre cerning the true reading of the New Testament, it is in vain
thaifthe to maintain the decree of the council of Trent, by pretend-
present ingv that the Greek copy out of which the vulgar Latin was
Greek, yet e> fJ o
1 Respondeo, negari non posse, quin et sensu quidem per omnia et in omni-
sint fontes Scripturarum anteponendi bus locis concordem esse cum editione
rivulis versionum, quando constat, ilia, quae primum ab ipsis sacris scrip-
fontes non esse turbatos : nunc autem toribus Deo dictante conscripta est ;
fontes multis in locis turbidos fluere neque audiendos esse illos, qui fas esse
jam ante ostendimus, et certe vix dubi- putant vulgatam versionem Latinam,
tari potest, quin sicut Latina Ecclesia etiam ubide genuinaejus lectione con-
constantior fuit in fide retinenda, quam stet, ex Graeco aut Hebraico textu, si
Graeca : ita etiam vigilantior fuerit in quandoque ab iis dissentiat, corrigere.
suis codicibus corruptione defendendis. ¦ — Tanner, Disp. de Fide, Qu. v. Dub.
Quod enim olim Hieronymus scripsit ii. n. 77. torn. iii. p. 316.
ad Damasum in epistola de nomine Nee in hoc rejecit textus Hebraeos
hypostasis, nunc maxime habet locum, et Graecos veros et originales, sed po-
videlicet, profligato a Graecis patrimo- tius probavit eosdem, quod vulgata
nio, apud Latinos tantum incorruptajn editio cum illis conveniat, vel saltern
patrum haereditatem servari. — Card, tempore divi Hieronymi, Augustini et
Bellarm. de Verbo Dei, lib. ii. cap. xi. aliorum gravissimorum patrum conve-
col. 99. Colon. 1620. nerit et quod credendum sit, quod
Ex quibus colligitur editionem nos- sancti patres qui in primitiva Ecclesia
tram vulgatam vere authepticam esse, ex Hebraeis et Graecis Latina fecerunt,

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

667

translated, was more entire and of better credit than the c h a p.
Greek copies now extant : understanding that decree to make XXXIn-
that copy authentic in point of faith, by virtue of any gift of defend"11
infallibility entailed upon the decrees of the present Church. "P°n the
t-. •/¦ • i 1 i i . original
hov lt lt be only made authentic because the use and credit Greek of
of it is not allowed to be questioned in the Church1', it is Testa-6"

ment.

puriores et emendatiores codices He
braeos et Graecos habuerint, quam illi
sint, qui per tot saecula ad nos per
varios scriptores devenerunt, vel in
manibus Graecorum schismaticorum
postea extiterunt  Vetweis, Specul.
Vers Ecclesiae, lib. ii. cap. vi. a. iv.
p. 44. Colon. 1664.
Quia tamen de fontibus Hebraicis
et Graecis dupliciter loqui possumus ;
uno modo, ut in sui puritate olim edi-
tis, vel suae nativae puritati olim resti-
tutis ; alio modo de illis, ut in aliquo
vel aliquibus locis, temporum injuria
vel oscitantia exscriptorum turbatis ; si
de iis primo modo sermo sit, non
solum eos non exclusit, sed nee eis
Vulgatam praetulit ; quis enim prudens
suo fonti rivum praeferret, qui quid-
quid habet ex fonte hausit ? Potius
ergo Vulgata authentica declarata fuit,
quia earn cum Graecis et Hebraeis fon
tibus concordare patres Tridentini cre-
diderunt. E contra autem, si de illis,
ut in aliqua parte a sua puritate detur-
batis, sermo sit, quis illos ausit prae-
ferre ? Quia tamen publicae pacis per-
turbatores opponebant, hunc vel ilium
locum non recte fuisse e suo fonte
translatum, concilium prudenter se
gerens, potius voluit credere fontem in
illo fuisse turbatum, quam Ecclesiam
et patres, qui tanto consensu, et tanto
saeculorum tractu, vulgatam transla
tionem usu et probatione consecrave-
rant, fuisse deceptos, et errorem suo
calculo comprobasse. Quare in hoc
sensu caenosis fontibus rivum purum
praeferens, permisit quidem fontes con-
sulere, sed vetuit, ex iisdem fontibus,
Vulgatam in eo, in quo ab illis discor-
dat emendari. — Gotti, Verit. Rel.
Christ., Tract, iii. cap. viii. § 1. torn. i.
p. 149. Venet. 1750.
k Patres Tridentini declararunt Vul
gatam authenticam, non faciendo au-
thenticam, quae authentica in se non
esset, sed solum declarando, earn esse
versionem fidelem, et fonti suo conso-
nam, in eaque non esse mendas, vel
si quae sunt, non esse fidei ac bonis mo
ribus repugnantes. Assertum hoc con
stat, sicut enim declarando librum

esse divinum et canonicum, non facit,
sed supponit esse talem, et solum ilium
talem proponit, ne quis de illo dubitet,
et tanquam talem haberi praecepit :
ita et declarando versionem aliquam
esse authenticam, non facit earn esse
conformem suo originali, sed illam esse
talem supponit, et talem esse omnibus
proponit, et ut talis habeatur omnibus
praecipit, atque ut tali ab omnibus fides
adhibeatur mandat. Quid enim est
authenticum ? apud Jurisperitos est :
1 Scriptum aliquod quod ex se fidem
facit in judicio, et supremae est autho-
ritatis, ut a nullo rejici, vel in quae-
stionem vocari queat.' Ita Julianus ju-
risconsultus, tract, de Fide Instrumen-
torum. Hanc ergo vocem a jurisperitis
mutuati Theologi, codices Veteris et
Novi Testamenti eos authenticos di-
cunt, qui fidem divinam faciunt, ut a
nullo rejici, nee in quaestionem vocari
queant : hinc etiam dicta sunt authen
tica instrumenta, quae certam fidem et
infallibilem faciunt.
Observandum tamen est, duobus ali
quid diei posse authenticum : primo
per se ; et hoc modo authentica sunt
autographa, sive originaria scripta. Sic
enim originaria principum edicta, et
scripta proprie et per se authentica di-
cuntur. Secundo authenticum diei
potest per illud, cui est conforme ; et
sic omnia exemplaria,1 sive exscripta
authentica dicuntur, quatenus cum
autographo conveniunt, quae conveni-
entia sigillo, aut testimoniis probanda
est. Sic ergo in casu praesenti discur-
rendum est ; ipsa namque prophetarum
et Apostolorum autographa, propriis
eorum manibus descripta, vel eorum
voce dictata, secundum propriissimam
hujus vocis significationem, et per se
authentica sunt, ut quae a Spiritu
Sancto dictata, apographa vero inde
exscripta proprie quidem, non tamen
primario et per se, authentica sunt, sed
quatenus conformia sunt, et fideliter
referenda secum autographum. Rursus
autem versiones, quae autographa, sive
apographa in alias linguas transferunt,
in latiori quadam signification authen-
ticae dicuntur, quatenus cum textihus

668

OF THE PRINCIPLES

BOOK I.

another question, as I have said already1, which I pretend
not to touch in this place. For supposing the copy from
which the vulgar Latin was translated to have been better
than any Greek copy now extant, the credit of the vulgar
Latin is not to be ascribed to the decree of the council that 251
decrees this, any more than the fundamental laws of this
kingdom of England were the fundamental laws thereof
by virtue of any act of parliament, by which they were
not constituted, but declared and acknowledged to be
such. § 28. And if the credit of the vulgar Latin be derived
from the Greek copy out of which it was translated, then is it
no further authentic m than as it expresseth the authentic read
ing which then was found in the Greek out of which it was
translated. And so the whole credit of the Scripture is re-

primitivis, ex quibus sunt traductae,
conveniunt, ac fideliter eos referunt,
ita ut absque ulla haesitatione in causis
fidei eis sit adbibenda fides ac si foret
textus ipse primigenius. Esse autem
textui originario conformia sic, ut apud
omnes firmam fidem faciant, ad quem
pertinet judicare, nisi ad Ecclesiam,
cujus testimonium sit, tanquam sigil-
lum, quod illi appensum sive impres-
sum sit, omnibus suae authenticae indu-
bium argumentum ? Hoc ergo tertio
sensu authenticam esse dicimus Lati
nam vulgatam, quia prae omnibus La
tinis versionibus, earn textui originario
conformem et fideliter ipsum referen-
tem statuit, ac probavit Ecclesia Ca
tholica. Primo quidem usu, secundo
autem speciali decreto. Usu quidem ;
nam ea tot saeculorum decursu usa est,
ante Hieronymum enim utebatur vul
gata veteri, seu communi, quam Au
gustinus vocat Italam, post Hierony
mum autem processu temporis uti cce-
pit vulgata Hieronymi, quae vel Hie-
ronymi solius est, vel saltern mixta ex
antiqua et Hieronymi versione, ut su
pra ostendimus. Hanc omnes patres
subsequentes probavere prae caeteris,
quia earn solam explanandam suscepe-
runt, in concionibus populis proposue-
runt, ea ad fidem tuendam, et confir-
mandam usi sunt in conciliis ; quod
evidens signum est, earn tacito con
sensu fuisse ut authenticam ab Ec
clesia probatam. Decreto tandem,
quia ex hac generali Ecclesia appro-
batione, non verbo sed facto, nempe
usu et consuetudine, novissime con-

cilio Tridentino suum decretum tan
quam sigillum apponens, earn ut au
thenticam declaravit, et ut talem ha-
bendam praecepit. — Gotti, Verit. Rel.
Christianae, torn. i. tract, iii. cap. vii,
§ 2. p. 146. Venet. 1750.
1 Chap, xxxii. sect. 2.
m At certe tanta encomia a tantis
viris huic editioni tributa ; tanta item
existimatio, quanta nullius alterius
editionis fuit, satis indicant, patres et
ipsos communiter fideles habuisse hanc
interpretationem pro tali, quae Spiritus
Sancti sententiam ubique assequatur,
quod ad doctrinam et mores attinet :
nee tamen hoc ipso praefertur a nobis
aut a patribus ipsi fonti Hebraeo et
Graeco ; sed exaequatur ; si quidem
Hebraei ac Graeci fontes cum Latina
vulgata editione consentiant. Sufficit
nobis exaequatio ; non postulatur prae-
latio. At si quod ad dogmata fidei vel
morum attinet, Graeci et Hebraei fontes
a vulgata versione discrepent, intrepide
earn hujusmodi fontibus praeferimus,
utpote corruptis ; quia decretum Ec
clesiae habemus, vulgatam editionem
nusquam a mente Spiritus Sancti de-
viare, quoad dogmata fidei et morum ;
non habemus autem hujusmodi decre
tum de textibus Hebraeo et Graeco,
prout hodie extant. Fuerunt quidem
et sunt authentici, quis neget ? sed
ubi cum editione vulgata concordant;
nam si alicubi discordent, ibi authen
tica vi praeditos esse negamus. — Gret-
seri, Defensionis Bellarmini, cap. x.
lib. ii. Opp. torn. viii. p. 283. Ratisbonae,
1736.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

669

solved into the credit of the originals, whereof we stand pos
sessed in the translations of them that remain, in whatsoever
language. So that the question comes to be the very same
that remained before, concerning the authentic copy of the
Old Testament, and the resolution clear that the original
Greek is the authentic", the reading thereof being first assured,
neither by the dictate of God's Spirit, to any persons enabled
to oblige the Church by their decrees, nor to any never so
good Christian, much less by the tradition of any particular
copy which the Church stands possessed of, but by that tradi
tion which is justified and assured by all copies wherein the
letter of the Scripture is recorded to the Church.
§ 29. For though I do for disputation sake suppose, yet do
I not grant for a truth that the copy out of which the vulgar
Latin was translated, is to be held of better credit0 than that
out of which that excellent translation into the Syriac, which,
to the great benefit of Christianity, these last ages have
brought into Europe5, was made. The antiquity of this

CHAP.
XXXIII.

n Dico tertio : textus Hebraeus, etsi
a Judaeis non fuerit corruptus, adhuc
tamen pro authentico habendus non
est. Hoc asserto non est mihi in animo
contendere, textus originarios Hebrai-
cum et Graecum non esse absolute, et
in se, seu revera authenticos, quales
dictati a Spiritu Sancto, descripti fuere
a prophetis et Apostolis; forte enim
tales in se sunt ; forte mendae, quae in
eis deprehenduntur tales non sunt,
quae eis eripiant auctoritatem ; ideoque
non tollunt, quin ex eis sumi possit
regula certa pro fide et moribus. Con-
tendo solum, a nobis non esse habendos
ut positive authenticos, quia cum Ec
clesia eos ut tales non recognoverit in
concilio Tridentino, nee suo decreto
eos tanquam tales fidelibus proposuerit,
sed ut dicebamus, illos prietermiserit,
ac solum de versionibus Latinis ser
monem fecerit, inter omnes Vulgatam
declarando authenticam ; non est, cur
nos textus Hebraeum et Graecum au
thenticos pronunciemus, quos Ecclesia
tales nondum pronunciavit. Sicut
enim ut Scriptura aliqua humana, seu
apographuin aliquod habeatur ut au
thenticum, non suflicit, ut sit suo auto-
grapho conforme, sed insuper requiri-
tur, ut hoc constet publica Notarii, vel
alterius publicam fidem facientis attes-
tatione, sine qua publicam fidem in
judicio non faciet, poteritque rationabi-

liter negari, ita divina Scriptura, ut
authentica, id est, firmam fidem faciens,
baberi non poterit, nisi accedat Eccle
siae universalis testimonium, quod circa
textus Hebraeum et Graecum hactenus
non habemus. — Gotti, Verit. Rel.
Christ., Tract, iii. cap. viii. § 3. torn. i.
p. 151. Venet. 1750.
0 Quod vero subjungit, nos nolle
nostram versionem ad fontes examinari,
per fontes intelligens eos codices He-
braicos et Graecos, qui modo habentur,
jure id facimus. Non enim constat,
eos, cum suis fontibus, id est, primis
exemplaribus convenire : quibus ta
men conformem esse nostram versio
nem, nos certos facit Ecclesia: itaque
sicubi exemplaria Hebraea aut Graeca
discrepant a Latina vulgata editione,
quod attinet ad fidei et morum dog
mata, ea potius ad Latinam versionem,
quam istam ad ilia comparandam et
conferendam esse dicimus : et quid,
oro, tandem isti cum sua collatione
versionis Latinae ad fontes Hebraeos
aut Graecos efficiunt? Tot jam con-
tulerunt, et adhuc conferunt, et ex
Haebraeo Grsecoque prorsus disparatas
editiones nobis procuderunt. — Gretseri,
Defens. Bellarm., cap. x. lib. ii. Opp.
torn. viii. p. 286. Ratisbonae, 1736.
P Primus qui Novum Testamentum
Syriacis typis edidit erat Johannes Ab-
bertus Widmanstadius jurisconsultus,

670

OF THE PRINCIPLES

BOOK latter, and the eminent helps which it hath contributed
 '¦  toward the understanding of the New Testament, being so
great, as the vulgar Latin, though very learned, and therefore
very helpful, can never outshine. And yet will I never grant
that either or both of them, and that with the help of the
Arabics and other the most ancient translations which the
Church beside may have, are not to give account to the con
sent of many copies now extant, nay, to the credit of some
one, if it should so fall out in any passage, that the sense of

et provinciae Austriae Orientalis Can-
cellarius, auspiciis Ferdinandi impe-
ratoris, Viennae anno 1555, vir lingua-
rum Orientalium peritus. Cum enim
quidam Moses Meridinaeus ex Mesopo
tamia sacerdos ab Iguatio Patriarcha
Jacobitarum Antiocheno, turn ob alias
causas, turn ut Novum Testamentum,
cujus exemplar MSS. secum attulit
arte typograpbica — cujus usu in Ori-
ente destituuntur — multiplicatum in
usum Ecclesiarum suarum, quae libro
rum inopia laborabant, reportaret, et
frustra Venetiis ac Romae laborasset,
neminemque qui opus hoc arduum et
difficile aggredi vellet invenisset, tan
dem ad Widmanstadium profectus est
qui jussu imperatoris Ferdinandi illud
typis nitidissimis imprimi curavit;
primus certe liber qui excusus charac-
teribus Syriacis in Europa lucem vi-
derit, cujus ad duo vetustissima exem-
plaria collati et impressi numerum
magnum, ad patriarcham Antiochenum
Christiani regiique muneris loco, mitti
curavit Ferdinandus imperator religio-
sus. Quamprimum vero in lucem
prodiit, summo doctorum applausu
tanquam Keip-ftXtov divinum et mag-
nus Orientis thesaurus approbatus,
variis formis, variisque locis, et a variis
latinitate donatus, ut per Immanuelem
Tremellium, Fabricium Boderianum,
Trostium, characteribus Syriacis et
Hebraicis cum punctis et sine punctis
saepe cusus et recusus est. Post No
vum Testamentum psalmos etiam edi-
dit sine punctis Erpenius, cum punctis
Gabriel Sionita, ejusdem versionis quae
in Bibliis Parisiensibus et in nostri&
exhibetur, videlicet, antiquae sive sim-
plicis, in cujus editione habuimus, prae
ter impressum Psalmorum Parisiense
exemplar, aliud MS. Rev. Usserii, dico
quoque Pocockiana, unum Jacobita
rum alterum Nestorianorum, quae cum
priori conveniunt. — Walton. Proleg.
xiii. § 8. p. 88. Londini, 1657.
i Quoad versionem Arabicam, non

illam dico Pentateuchi versionem, quae
juxta Vulgatam concinnata est, et
Romae edita, sed illas quae Arabum
propriae sunt, quibusque Arabes utun
tur. In genere ergo loquendo, Ara-
bicae versiones non magna sunt aucto-
ritatis, quia non multum veteres, et
pleraeque etiam juxta Syriacas non
multum diligenter adornatae. Quae
cunque Arabicae versiones occurrunt,
coepere tantum, ex quo a Saracenis
Oriente domito, Arabica lingua inva-
luit ; antea enim'Syri omnes, Maronitae,
Jacobitae, aut Nestoriani Syra lingua
libros suos habebant ; sua quoque lin
gua Christiani iEgyptii, sive Coptae,
versiones legitabant; et forte adhuc
supersunt. Cum ergo Saraceni Ara
bicam linguam, in populos, quos do-
muerant, diffudissent, paucique su-
peressent, qui priscarum linguarum
notitiam conservassent, necesse fuit,
novas novae linguae, jam factae com
munis, versiones sacrae Scripturae, imo
et maxime partis liturgiarum, concin-
narent. Sic ergo Syria suas Arabicas
versiones fecere, alteram juxta He
braeum, id est, juxta Veterem Syri-
acam, quae ex Hebraeo sumpta erat ;
alteram juxta 70. Syri enim dupli-
cem versionem Syriacam habebant,
unam ex Hebraeo fonte ; alteram ex 70
versione. Prima versio et antiquior,
quae lingua Arabica comparuit, edita
fuit circa annum Christi nongentesi-
mum a Rabbi Saadia, ut vulgo creditur ;
et haec ex Hebraeo textu facta est, ser-
vato Hebraico charactere, quamvis ali-
cubi Qnkelosum sequatur, et para-
phrasis pctius sit, quam versio, ut ob-
servarunt eruditi. At caeterae Arabicae
versiones posteriori tempore editae, et
Arabicis characteribus exaratae opus
fuit Christianorum, et immediate ex
70, interpretum textu Graeco creduntur
expressae : de his Waltonus, Prole-
gom. xiv. — Gotti, Verit. Rel. Christ.,
Tract iii. cap. iii. § 14. torn. i. pp. 125,
126. Venet. 1750.

OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH. 671
the Scripture, which cannot be made out by the rest, is clear CHAP.
to common reason, according to that one: whether such a XXXIIL
case do ever fall out in any part of the Scripture or not ; the
assurance of Christianity not standing in this, that either this
or that is, or must needs be true, but in this, that the Church
is assured in all cases. But by this it may appear how inno
cent the resolution of the authentic original of the Old Tes
tament which I have premised is, and how safely I ground
myself, not upon the credit of the Jews' copy, but upon all
the records whereby the Church assureth the tradition of the
Scripture ; in that it is freely confessed that the difference of
reading which can become questionable, notwithstanding the
superstitious diligence of the Jews in preserving their copy, is
neither so frequent, nor any thing so weighty, as in the New :
which, how much more considerable it is towards the uphold
ing of our common Christianity, is plain enough to him that
shall have perused but the premises.
§ 30. And surely, were it not true, as hath been premised T, No danger
that a certain rule of faith was, from the beginning, delivered an;ty by
to the Church, it would seem strange that we cannot deny ences're*'
that there have considerable differences crept into the reading; maining
, . m the
of the New Testament, so much more nearly concerning our Bible.
salvation than the Old, in the reading whereof, through the
diligence ofthe Jews, there remains no considerable difference.
But if we remember that St. Paul makes the ministry of
preaching the Gospel to be the " ministry of the Spirit," in
opposition to the ministry of Moses in giving the law, which
was the "ministry ofthe letter," we shall find that faith, the
receiving whereof qualified Christians to be endowed with the
Holy Ghost, to be of such sufficiency, that, remaining entire,
we need not think the Church disparaged if the records
thereof suffer decay, so long as the effect of them remains
written by the Holy Ghost in the hearts and lives of Chris
tians. § 31. Always, it being unquestionable that there are con
siderable differences remaining in the reading of the New
Testament, it will be a very great impertinence to forecast
any danger in granting that some question may be made to
the Jews' copy of the Old Testament, though neither so fre-
r Chap. vii.

672

OF THE PRINCIPLES OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH.

BOOK I.

quent nor so considerable. And all that hath been said hath
issue in this consequence, to justify and to recommend to the 252
world, the usefulness of the design lately set on foot in
London8, for printing the Bible with the most ancient and
learned translations in columns ; most agreeably to the design
of Origen, in his Tetrapla, Hexapla, and Octapla, that is, Old
Testament of four, six, and eight columns, according to the
several numbers of translations or columns whereof his several
editions consisted. For in a word, this furniture, and that
which serves to the same purpose — for who will undertake
that one book shall contain all ? — is the instrument I appeal
to for evidence of the Scripture which we have. And further,
here is the original means of determining the sense of the
same, though, besides this, I have claimed many other helps
to be requisite to that purpose.

s " Whereas the ground of faith is
the word of God, contained in the
Scriptures, it must needs be a work of
highest consequence to preserve those
sacred oracles in their original purity,
freed as much as may be from all pos
sibility of error that may arise, either
by the negligence of scribes, and injury
of times, or by the wilful corruption of
sectaries and heretics, which, as was
foretold, abound in these latter times,
and so to transmit them to posterity.
" To this end nothing can more con
duce than the publishing of the original
text, according to the best copies and
editions, with the most ancient trans
lations, which have been of greatest
authority in the Church, especially
those of the eastern languages ; which

in regard of their affinity and nearness
to the original, are fittest to express,
and in regard of their antiquity and
general use, in the first and purest ages,
are the truest glasses to represent that
sense, and reading, which was then
generally received into the Church of
Christ, to whose care the custody of
the Scriptures is committed ; the com
paring of which together hath always
been accounted one of the best means
to attain the true sense in places doubt
ful, and to find out and restore the
true reading of the text where any
variety appears." — Prospectus of Wal
ton's Biblia Polyglotta, in Todd'8 Life
of Walton, chap. ii. pp. 32, 33. Lon
don, 1821. See note d, chap. xxx.
sect. 23.

THE END OF THE FIRST BOOK.

LAUS DEO.

INDEX.

A.

B.

Abomination of desolation, 253.
Absolution, 360.
Adam, expulsion of, from Paradise, a
type of excommunication, 323.
Alexandria, succession there, 142.
Alexandrian .lews, translated the Bible
into Greek, 647, 648.
Allegories, 243. 246. to be argued from,
325.
Alliacensis, 73.
Alphonsus, king, 451.
Ananias and Sappliira, 305.
Anathema, 335—337. 494. does not
mean cursing, 338.
Andronicus, excommunicated, 175.
Antichrist, 68. 482.
Antiochin, succession there, 142.
Antiochus Epiphanes, 129. 23S. 254. 443.
Antitheos, 10.
Antoninus, 73.
Apocrypha, the, 59S. its value, 603.
danger of arguing against it, 616.
Apostasy, 380.
Apostles, reservation in their preach
ing, 87. delivered a summary of doc
trine, 111. were the first governors
of tli e Church, 140.
Appeals to secular powers, 213.
Aquila, version of, 655.
Arabic version, 670.
Aratus, quoted by St. Paul, 615.
Aristmas, 643.
Alius, his excommunication, 184.
Arnobius, 40. character of, 42S.
Augustine, St., why he received the
Gospels, 52. 5-l-s!
Aun-lian, emperor, defends the Church
against Tanl of Samosata, 183. 214.
312.
Authentic, what it means, 667.
Authority of the Church, 51. not to be
taken for granted, 63. Councils,
evidence for it, 146. must be in
some individuals, 355.
Airrrot-s, 50.

Baptism, certain classes excluded from
it, 160, 161. type of, 247. disre
garded by some, 126. delayed, 454.
458.
Baton, Dr., 74.
Barrow's replies to Thorndike, notes,
105. 108. 111. 114. 134. 145. 146.
166. 172. 1S5. 317.
Basilidcs, 169. 173.
Baxter, his censure of Grotius, 10.
Bellarmine, Cardinal, history of some
of his writings, 207.
Beneans, the, 95. 495.
Bibles, copies of, furnished by Con
stantine, 313. editions of, 583.
Binding and loosing, 197. 200. 349.
352. is tile same as giving laws to
the Church, 353. subject of, 354.
Bishop, ordination of, 144.
Bishops, deposed, how dealt with, 185.
Blood, eating of, 467. prohibition of,
ceased, 470.
Bulla Ccciiir Domini, 339.

C.
Caiaphas, prophecy of, 39. 77.
Cajetanus, questions the epistle to the
Hebrews, 622.
Canon, of Scripture, 549. 597.
Canonical, its meaning, 624.
Canons, of the Apostles, 134. collec
tions of, 135. obligation of, 2 IS.
293. their subject matter, 298. cha
racter of their authority, 407.
Cappellus, Lud,, considers the Hebrew
text may be mended, 632.
Capsarios Ecclesite, 637.
Cartwright' s argument, 93. 544. an
swered, 97. 505.
Catechumens, 117. taught out of the
book of Wisdom, 614.
Cerdon, 169.

THORNDIKE.

X X

674

INDEX.

Cerinthus, 169. 173
Chiliasts, 266. 431.
Christendom in one Church, 107. 141.
147.
Christianity, endangered by divisions,
173.
Christians originally confounded with
Jews, 196.
Chrysostom, his order about cursing,
339.
Church, her gift of infallibility, 21.
64. her authority, 52, 53. supposeth
Christianity true, 61. whether before
the Scriptures, 62. effect of her de
crees, 22. 66. texts for her infalli
bility, 66, 67. considered, 68, 69.
arguments for it from the Old Testa
ment, 70. her unity the only evi
dence of Christianity, 102. was al
ways a corporation in point of fact,
103. meaning of the word, 105.
how used hy Independents, 107. is
the Spiritual Israel, 140. 278. not
bound to call councils, 149. inflicts
no civil penalties, 209. founded
on the power given to the Apostles,
291. must have a present authority,
295. Jurisdiction of, 345. a new
kingdom, 350. a visible body, 400.
determines controversies, 462. limits
Apostolic traditions, 471. is always
to be obeyed, 510. evidence of her
power, 535.
Circle, arguing in a, 33. 49. 54.
Claudius, edict of, 195. 332. 441.
Clave non err ante, 519.
Clemangis, 74.
Clemens Alexandrinus, 429.
 Romanus, writes to the Co
rinthians, 189. 308.
Communion of the Church, wherein it
consists, 293.
Confederation of Christians, 363. 367.
Constantine, his liberality, 312.
Controversies, 9. how to be solved, 15.
21. judge of, 22. to be decided by
the Church, 382.
Corinthian Church, dissensions of, 307.
their causes, 485.
Cornelius, ordination of, 145.
Corporations, divers kinds of, 104. that
of the Church, divine, 365.
Cosin, Dr., his Scholastical History of
the Canon, 594. 624.
Councils, 146. origin of, 147. ground
of their authority, 149. not to be
called by the state, 215. difficulty
of executing their decrees, 150. may
be corrected by succeeding ones,
530.
Coveting, its meaning in the law, 230.
Creed, the, 118.
Crellius, 411.
Cusanus, 73,

D.
Damasus, Pope, his consent to the se
cond General Council, 180.
Dead, oblations for the, 131.
Decretals, the, 138.
Directory, the, 4.
Disciples, the seventy, 140. 279.
Dispensations, 419.
Divisions, 5. mischief of, 6. how to be
cured, 19. destroy Christianity, 173,
and the evidence for the faith, 401.
557. lead to atheism, 597.
Donatists, had a Church in Rome, 144.
136. argument against them, 150.
Dositheus, 661.

Easter, controversy of, 178.
Eastern, the, Church, denies the in
fallibility ofthe Pope, 71—73.
Ecclesiasticus, book of, 604. 608. 610.
Eckius, 20.
'EKKX-qcria, 105. 270.
'EXX-qviaral, 645.
Epimenides, quoted by St. Paul, 616.
Epiphanius, troubled by the epistle to
the Hebrews, 163.
Erasmus, disallows the epistle to the
Hebrews, 622.
Erastus, 29. 31. denies excommunica
tion, 194. 351.
Esdras, book of, 609.
 , his recension of the Hebrew
text, 631.
Essenes, 303.
Eucharist, celebration of, 418. daily,
307. 464.
Evidence, Jewish theory of, 43. matter
of, 46—48.
Excommunication, 158. ground of, 160.
practised by the Apostles, 165. not
a civil penalty, 208. 327. not founded
on the law, 319. typified in paradise,
323. among the Jews, 327. difference
between Christian and Jewish, 341.
attended with mourning, 345. by
private persons, 359.
Exorcisms, 617. F.
Fact, matters of, not to be always jus
tified, 362.
Faith, 15. motives of, 16. matter of, 17.
questions of, how decided, ib. reso
lution of, 18. motives of, ground of
believing the Scriptures, 45. not of
necessity committed to writing, 65.
 , Rule of, 110. delivered by the
Apostles, 112. See Rule.
 , implicit, 486.

INDEX.

675

Fathers, consent of, 412. authority of,
424. 427. passages from them re
lating to the Scriptures, chap, xxviii.
Field, Dr., 564.
Flavigny, Valerianus de, 627.

G.
Ghost, Holy, given only to Christians,
34—37. Gifts of, 37. 617.
Gnostics, the, 128. 154. 168. their opi
nions, 169. practices of, 447.
Good-Friday, prayers on, 339.
Goods, community of, 302.
Grace, 37, 38.
Gratian, 138.
Grotius, 10. his exposition of St. Matt.
xvi. 18, 19., 69. his Annotations, 250.
his account of the book of Judith,
605.

H.
Hebrew, ceased to be spoken, 580. 603.
Hebrews, Epistle to the, why once dis
allowed, 163. objected to by Eras
mus and Cajetanus, 622.
Hegesippus, passage of, explained, 447.
Heliopolis, temple of, 650.
Herbert, Lord, his Life of Henry VIII.,
325.
Heresies, how far they resemble the
reformation, 153.
Heresy, 477.
Heretics, excluded, 173. 274. how to be
dealt with, 187.
Hesychius, 663.
Hobbes, see Leviathan, denied the ne
cessity of baptism, 126. his revival
of a Gnostic principle, 129. gives to
the secular power the whole spiritual
authority, 201. admits but of two
kinds of law, 203, 204. considers
excommunication to be no penalty,
208. gives all authority to the sove
reign power, 26. 379.
Honorius, Pope, 72.
Hours, canonical, 417.

I.

Idolatry ceased among the Jews, 637.
Independents, theirnotion of the Church,
107. of the authority of the Apo
stles, 141. novelty of, 402. teach a
new Christianity, 403.
Indulgences, origin of, 343. granted by
St. Paul, 344.
Infants, communion of, 432. not uni
versal, 453.
Instrumentum, Fetus et Novum, 539.

Ireneeus, St., passage of concerning
Rome, explained, 143, 144. per
suades Victor to tolerate the Orien
tals, 178. believed the Scriptures
to have been lost in the captivity,
632.
Isidorus Mercator, 137.
Ivo Carnotensis, 137.

Jerusalem contained all Christendom,
107. 141. succession there, 142.
Jewel, Bp., 564.
Jews were the first Christians, 195.
their supposed state had they been
all converted, 289—291. did not re
cognise the distinction of spiritual
and secular power, 321. their notions
of a millennium, 450. have not cor
rupted the Scriptures, 635.
John, St., banished, 440.
Jonathan, 656.
Judaism, propagated, 416.
Judas, 347.
Judge of controversies, 21, 22.
Judicature, Jewish courts of, 276.
Judith, 605.
Julian, scheme of, to destroy Chris
tianity, 318.
Julius, Pope, 179.
Jura majestatis, 104. 214.
Jurisdiction, 213. 405. ofthe Churchill
civil matters, 392.
Justin, the Martyr, character of, 429.
charges the Jews with having cor
rupted the Scriptures, 636.

K.
Keys, the, not a proof of infallibility,
69. involve excommunication, 157.
exercised in baptism, 160. power of,
197. Selden' s notion of, 288. power
of depends not on personal holiness,
393.
Kings, Christian, have no authority in
the Church, 372. 383. their function,
381.
KXrjpos, 304.

Lactantius, character of, 428.
Law, the, what it covenanted for, 217.
233. did not promise everlasting life,
219. its purpose, 223. secret of, 231.
its precepts, 231, 232. its relation to
the Gospel, 257. giveth light, 499.
Laws ofthe Church, 413. 543.
Leo Isaurus, 212.

676

INDEX.

Letters, communicatory, 185.
Leviathan, the, 26. refuted, 55. its one
article of faith, 28. considered, 83.
127. what it says of tire power ofthe
Church, 199. opinion of the kingdom
of God, 261. destroys Christianity,
265.
Liberius, Pope, 72.
Lucian, 663.
Luther, 20. 562. disallows St. James's
Epistle, 622.

M.
Maccabees, .604. 616.
Macchiavel, 382.
Mayotpbvoi, 618.
Malachi, said to be Esdras, 631.
Manes, 58.
Maranatha. 335—337.
Marcion, 169.171. excommunicated, 173.
his history, 310.
Marcus, the heretic, 169.
Marinaro, the Carmelite, 78.
Martinus Bracarensis, 136.
Meletians, case of the, 191.
Menander, quoted by St. Paul, 615.
Methodius wrote against Origen, 431.
Millennium, not a Catholic opinion,
448.
Miracles, 43.
Mirandula, 74.
Missa, Catechurmenorum; fidelium, 1 17.
Montanus, his heresy, 162. 465. ex
communicated, 176.
Mordecai, 229.
Moulin, du, his work, 210. principles
of, 212. 385—391. his notions of the
Church, 387. 395.
Mourning,ior the excommunicated, 343.

N.
Notius natura, nobis, 49, 50.
Novatianus, 145. 165.

Obscurity of the Scriptures, 88.
Ockham, 73.
o'lKovopia, 240.
Onias, 650.
Onkelos, 655.
Orationis signaculum, 188.
Ordination, among the Jews, 288 . Chris
tian, 289.
Origen, his error, 245. rejected by the
Church, 251. 255. his writings, 429.
Owen, Dr., his censure of Grotius, 10.
250. his notion of schism, 481. and
of the Church, 483.

P.
Peedagogus, of Clemens, design of, 118.
Panormitan, 73.
Paulus Samosatenus, 182. 191. 214.
312.
Pelagius, 259.
Penance, under the Apostles, 162. 370.
465.
Pentapolis, depended on Alexandria,
184.
Perron du, Cardinal, 427.
Persecution, 404.
Philo, 608. mentions the Abyos, 651.
Points, their origin, 639. 642.
Polycarpus, 170.
Pope, the, 69. his decrees, 72. his in
fallibility denied by the East, 71—73.
argument against it, 74. his temporal
power, 207.
Popinarii, 314.
Power, ecclesiastical, derided by Selden,
81. in the Apostles, 140. transmitted
by them, 141, 142. through the suc
cession of Bishops, 143. visible in
Rome, 143. Africa, 152. all derived
from the Apostles, 157. how founded
on the law, 275. cannot ibe in kings,
372.
Praxeas, 177.
Prayer,not commanded in the law, 236.
Prierias, Silvester, 20.
Priesthood, royal, 268.
Prophets, their authority, 276. 280,
281.
Tlpwrov tyevSos, 39.
Purgatory, 593. R.
Rebaptizing, .dispute of, JS1.
Religion, varieties of, in England, 7.
Resurrection, announced by the prophets,
237.
Revelation, book of, interpreted, 435 —
441.
Revelations, given only to Christians,
39. 59.
Richworth's Dialogues, 565.
Rivetus, 10.
Rome, succession there, 142. authority
of, 143. sayings of St. Augustine and
St. Hierome, 533.
Rule of faith, evidence for, 116. what it
contained, 118. how in Scripture^
120. proof of it from the exclusion of
heretics, 1 23. what it is, 410. extends
not to .the whole Scripture, 545.

S.
Sacramentum, 368.
Sadducees, jseot of, 236.

INDEX.

677

Salmasius, his explanation of " Tell the
Church," 358. disallows the Epistle
of St. Jude, 622.
Samaritans, 659.
Satan, delivery to, 392.
Saturninus, 169. 173.
Scaliger, disallows the story of the
Seventy, 643.
Schism, denied to be a sin, 25. ridi
culed, 476. what it is, 479.
Scriptures, judge of controversies, 22.
why we receive them, 32. 45. not
because of private inspiration, 40. 55.
but consent of Christians, 45. how be
lieved for themselves, 46. are a law,
55. how they become civil law, 57.
whether before the Church, 62. con
tain not clearly all necessary truth,
76. 94. proved by particulars, 79.
this does not derogate from their suf
ficiency, 87. 497. why obscure, 88.
not clear to those who have God's
Spirit, 96. typical sense of, 243. is a
defence against Judaism, 248. and
to be made good always, 249.
Selden, 29. derides ecclesiastical autho
rity, 31. considers Paul of Samosata
to have been excommunicated by the
secular power, 183. his arguments
against the power ofthe Church, 193.
205. his account of ordination, 285 —
288. of the power of the keys, 288.
his History of Tithes, 305.
Septuagint version, the, 643. by whom
made, 645.
Simon Magus, 158. pretends to be
Christ, 169.
Socinus, 83.
Soter, Pope, 177.
State, absorbs the Church, 377. cannot
decide controversies, 382. 405. can do
no ecclesiastical act, 407.
Succession, an argument of truth, 150.
how far, 156. at Rome, 190. with
heretics, 557.
tvvaywyr], 105. 270.
Sunday, 414.
Susannah, history of, 606.
%varaTiKal, 187.
Symmachus, version of, 655.
Synesius, excommunicates Andronicus,
175.
Syriac version, 657. when brought into
Europe, 669.

Tertullian, objected to, 131. his reasons
against heresy, 152. he becomes a
Montanist, 164. 177. his' writings,
429. would have baptism delayed,
454.

Tessera, 186.
Testament, the New, veiled in the Old,
96.
Theodosius, the younger, excommuni
cation of, 360.
Theodotion, version of, 655.
Theology, has principles, 15.
Tithes, 297. how due, 316.
Titles, 313.
Tobit, book of, 616.
Tradition, controversy of, 20 — 22. effect
of its denial, 23. the rule of inter
preting Scripture, 100. for the rule
of faith, iii. evidence for out of
Scriptures, 114. limits the interpre
tation of Scripture, 409. 422. argu
ment of, 577. to what extent it holds,
586.
Traditions, observed, 130 — 133. Apo
stolic, variable, 139. theory of, 422.
how far they bind, 463. limitable by
the Church, 470.
Translatitias, 8. 214.
Treasury of the Church, 307. acknow
ledged by the empire, 370.
Types, 81.
Tyrannus, 334.

U.

Unity of the Church, shewn from the
succession of Bishops, 145. the cor
respondence of its members, 150.
necessity of, 173. evidence of, 176.
274. 391. maintained by communi
catory letters, 185. is part of Chris
tianity, 191. 315. in what sense vo
luntary, 367. requires submission,
396.
Ussher, his objections to the Greek
Bible, 649.

V.
Valentinus, heretic, 169. 173.
Vane, Sir Henry, 25.
Victor, Pope, 178.
Vigilius, Pope, 72. W.
White, Thomas, 593.
Wickliffism, 393.
World, end ofthe, 513.
ws 4v rvirw, 250.

Z.

Zephyrinus, 177.

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LIBRARY OF ANGLO-CATHOLIC THEOLOGY.

LIST OF AUTHORS.

Bishop Andrewes.
Archbishop Bancroft.
Bishop Beveridge.
Archbishop Bramhall.
Brett, Thomas.
Brevint.Brown, Thomas,
Bishop Buckeridge.
Bishop Bull.
Burscough. Cave.Bishop Cosin.
Dodwell, H.
Farindon, A.
Bishop Feme.
Bishop Gunning.
Bishop Hall.
Hammond. Heylin.
Hiekes. Hyde, Dr. Edward.
Inett.
Johnson, John.
Kettlewell.
Archbishop Laud.
Leslie, Charles.
L'Estrange's Alliance.
Bishop Lloyd.

Marshall's Penl. Disc.
Mason, Fr.
Maurice, H.
Bishop Montague.
Bishop Morton.
Bishop Nicholson (Gloucester)
Bishop Overall.
Bishop Patrick.
Bishop Pearson.
Prideaux on English Ordina
tions.
Rogers's, John, Vis. Church.
Bishop Sage.
Sail, Dr.
Archbishop Sancroft.
Bishop Sanderson.
Say well.
Spelman, Sir H.
Scrivener, Matt.
Bishop Stillingfleet.
Bishop Taylor, Jer.
Thorndike.Walker, William, on Baptism.
Bishop Webb.
Wharton, H.
Bishop White, Fr. (Ely).
Wilkins's Concilia.
Bishop Wilson.

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Order. Vol. I. In the Press.
CRAKANTHORP, DEFENSIO ECCLESLE ANGLICANiE.
Ed. Chr. Wordsworth, D.D.
BULL'S DEFENCE OF THE NICENE CREED, a new translation.
HAMMOND'S PRACTICAL CATECHISM.
BISHOP WILSON'S WORKS. Ed. Rev. J. Keble, M.A.
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LIBRARY OF ANGLO-CATHOLIC THEOLOGY.
©ommfttcc.
Rev. R. S. Barter, D.C.L. Warden of Winchester College.
Rev. Edw. Churton, M.A. Crayke, Durham.
Rev. W. J. Copeland, M.A. Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford.
Rev. William Gresley, M.A. Prebendary of Lichfield.
Rev. W. F. Hook, D.D. Vicar of Leeds.
Rev. R. W. Jelf, D.D. Canon of Christ Church.
Rev. John Keble, M.A. Vicar of Hursley.
Ven. Henry Manning, M.A. Archdeacon of Chichester.
Rev. W. H. Mill, D.D. Christian Advocate, Cambridge ; Chaplain
to the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury.
Rev. G. Moberly, D.C.L. Head Master of Winchester School.
Rev. E. B. Pusey, D.D. Regius Professor of Hebrew, and Canon
of Christ Church.
Ven. Robert I. Wilberforce, M.A. Archdeacon of the West" Riding
of Yorkshire.
Rev. Christopher Wordsworth, D.D. Prebendary of Westminster.
Superintending Editor — Rev. W. F. Audland, M.A. Fellow of
Queen's College, Oxford.
Treasurer and Secretary — Charles Crawley, Esq., Littlemore, near
Oxford.
Publisher — Mr. John Henry Parker, Oxford.

The following gentlemen have consented to act as Secretaries
in their respective districts.
Cambridge . . Rev. W. C. Mathison, Fellow of
Trinity College.
Bath .. .. Rev. W. Bliss.
Birmingham . . Rev. T. Nunns.
Exeter . . . . Rev. C. Bartholomew.
Kirkby Lonsdale Rev. J. H. F. Kendall.
Northampton . . Rev. T. V. Barlow.
Armagh . . . . Rev. R. Allot.
Limerick . . Rev. C. Monsell

SUBSCRIBERS.

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* His Grace the Lord Archbishop of York
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•Aberdeen Diocesan Library
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•Abrams, Mr. Oxford
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land-street, Edinburgh
•Alford, Rev. H. Vicar of Wimeswold,
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•Allen, Rev. J. C.
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land
•Allies, Rev. T. W. Launton, Bicester
* Allott, Rev. R. Precentor of Armagh
*Amphlett, Rev. M. Lichfield
•Anderdon, John L. Esq. 22, Tavis-
tock-square
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•Andrews, Rev. W. N. Bulwer, near
Sudbury
•Anson, Rev. G. H. Leeds
•Anson, Rev. T. A. Billingford Rectory,
Elmham, Norfolk
•Anstey, Rev. A. Rock House, Mil-
verton, Somerset
•Antrobus, Miss, 146, Piccadily

LIBRARY OF ANGLO-CATHOLIC THEOLOGY.

•Appleton, Rev. R. Liverpool
•Archer, C. Esq. Exeter Coll. Oxford
•Arden, Rev. G. Powderham
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* Armstrong, Rev. John, Dinder, Wells
•Armstrong, Rev. J. H. Dublin
•Arnold, Rev. T. K. Lyndon, Rutland
•Ashby de la Zouch Theological Li
brary
Ashworth, Rev. A. H. Mitcham, Sur
rey
•Ashworth, Rev. J. H. Eastwoodhay,
Newbury, Berks
•Ashworth, Rev. I. A. Brasenose Coll.,
Oxford
Astley, Sir F. D. Everleigh, Wilts
•Atlay, Rev. J. Warsop, Notts
•Atkinson, Rev.G. Stow, Gainsborough
•Atkinson, Rev.M. A. Trinity College,
Cambridge
•Atkinson, Rev. Miles, Gloucester
•Audland, Rev.W.F. Queen's College,
Oxford
•Austin, E. Esq. Queen's Coll. Oxford
•Ayling, Rev. W. Tillington, near Pet
worth

•Babb, G. Esq. Theol. Coll. Wells
•Bacon, Rev. R. W. King's Coll. Camb.
Badham, Rev. C.
•Bagge, Rev. P. Burton Agnes, Drif
field
•Bagot, G. T. Esq. Ex. Coll. Oxford
•Bagot, Hon. and Rev. H. AU Souls
College, Oxford
•Baillie, Rev. E. Panton, Lincolnshire
Baker, Bev. F. W. Bath
•Baker, Rev. T. T. Tovil, Maidstone
•Baker, Rev. H. W. Trinity College,
Cambridge
•Ball, Rev. T. J. Methwold, Norfolk
•Ballard, Edward, Rev. Cavendish-
crescent, Bath
•Barclay, Rev. J. Ch. Ch. Oxford
Bardin, Rev. Dr.
•Barker, Rev. C. R.
•Barker, Rev. Ralph, M. A. Colling-
ham, Hull
•Barker, Rev. H. Raymond, Dagliug-
worth, Gloucestershire
••Barker, Rev. F. R. Oriel Coll. Oxford

•Barlow, Rev. T. M. Shrewsbury
* Barlow, Rev. T. W. Little Bowden
Northampton
•Barnes, Rev. J. W. Kendal, West
moreland
?Barnwell, C. F. Esq. 44, Woburn
Place, Russell- Square
•Barnwell, R*v. E. L. Ruthin
•Barrow, Rev. J. Queen's Coll. Oxford
•Barter, Rev. Dr. Winchester
•Bartholomew, Rev. C. C. Lympston e
Devon
Bartholomew, Rev. J. Morchard, Cre-
diton
•Basevi, N. Esq. Fitzroy Farm, High-
gate
•Bates, Rev. W. M.A. Christ's Coll.
•Bathurst, Rev. S. Merton College
•Bathurst, A. Esq. New Coll.
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Baxter, Rev. Arthur, Croydon, Surrey
Baxter, Rev. R. W. Kingsthorpe
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•Bayldon, Rev. J. Thiving, Bridlington
Bayley, Rev. W. H. Ricketts, Stapleton
Bayley, W. R. Esq. Bath
•Bayliff, Rev. T. L. Stratford, Essex
•Bayne, Rev. T. V. Broughton, Man
chester
•Bazely, Rev. T. T. Rectory, Poplar,
London
•Beadon, Miss, 3, Litfield Place, Clif
ton, Bristol
•Beadon, Rev. H. W. Latton, Cricklade
•Beatty, Rev. J. Conroy, Raphoe
•Beaufort, Rev. D. A. 11, Gloucester-
Place, London
•Beaumont, Rev. J. A. St.Mary's, Leeds
•Beck, Rev. James, Great Stanhope-
street, Mayfair, London
Beckett, Rev. H. F. Woodsome Hall,
Huddersfield
•Beckwith, Rev. H. W. Monkwear-
mouth, Sunderland
•Bedford, Rev. Henry, Dunton Bassett,
Leicestershire
•Bedford, Rev. F. J. Willesford, Aw-
liscombe
•Beggars, Mr. D.
•Belany, Rev. Mr.
•Belgrave, Rev. T., North-Kilworth,
Leicestershire

SUBSCRIBERS.

Bell, Rev. John, Oulton, near Leeds
•Bell, T. Esq. Exeter College, Oxford
•Bellamy, Rev. Dr.
•Bellas, Rev. S. Aldermarlow, Reading
Bellasis, E. Esq. 17, Bedford Square
•Benn, Rev. W. H. Lutterworth
•Bennet, Rev. A. M. South Cadbury,
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shire
•Benning, Messrs. 8c Co., Booksellers,
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town Rectory, Dundalk, Ireland
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•Besly, Rev. Dr. Long Benton, Nor
thumberland
•Bethune, Rev. A. N., D.D., Coburgh,
Upper Canada
•Bevan, Beckford, Esq. 16, Devon
shire-place
•Beven, James J. Esq. 16, Devonshire
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•Biber, Rev. Dr. Alburton Lodge,
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•Bickmore, Rev. C. Berkswell Hall,
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•Biggar, Douglas, Esq. 66, Aldersgate
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•Bigge, Rev. H. J. Staverton, East
Haddon, Northampton
•Biggs, Rev. Michael, King's Col
lege, London
•Birchinall, Thos. Esq. Macclesfield
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Kelverdon, Essex
•Birley, H. H. Esq. Manchester
•Biron, Rev. Edwin, Vicar of Lympne
Hythe, Kent
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•Biscoe, Rev. F. Turk Dean, North-
leach
•Bishop, Rev. W. H. C.C.C. Camb.
•Bisset, Rev. C. Wigan
•Bisset, Rev. Thomas, Eastlndia Col
lege, Addiscombe
•Black, Rev. A. W. York

•Blackburn & Whalley Clerical Society
•Blakiston, Rev. Robert, Ashington,
near Petworth
Blathwayte, Rev. C. Langridge
*Blew,Rev.W. J.Milton, next Gravesend
•Bliss, Rev. James, Marden
•Bliss, Rev. W. Bath
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•Bloxam, M. H. Esq. Rugby
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Wansford, Northamptonshire
* Boodle, Rev. R. G. Compton Dando,
near Bath
• Booker, Rev. John, Vicar of Killurin,
Ireland
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•Bowdler, Rev. T.
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Boyce, Rev. E. J. Vicarage, Godalming
•Boyle, Hon. G. T. Edinburgh
Bradley, Rev. C. R. M.A. Grantham,
Lincolnshire
•Bradshaw, Job, Esq. Secretary to the
Englishman's Library, Nottingham
•Braithwaite, Rev.W. Bideford, Devon
•Braithwaite, Rev. F. St. Marylebone,
London
•Bramston, Rev. John, Witham, Essex
•Brandreth, Rev. W. H. Standish
•Branker, Rev. Henry, Padgate, War
rington
•Bray, Dr. Associates of, 5 copies
Bremridge, Rev. J. P. Buckerell, near
Honiton, Devon
Brett, Rev. Mr. Stamford, Lincoln
shire
•Brett, Mr. Newington Green
•Brewin, Rev. George, Wortley, near
Sheffield

LIBRARY OF ANGLO-CATHOLIC THEOLOGY.

•Brewster, Rev. W. Hawarden, near
Chester
•Bridges, Rev. A B. Beddington
•Bright, Wm. Esq. University Col
lege, Oxford
•Brine, Rev. J. G. East Knoyle, Hin-
don, Wilts
•Briscoe, Rev. T. Jesus Coll. Oxford
•Broadley, Rev. A. Bridport, Dorset
•Brodie, W. Esq.
••Brodrick, J.REsq.M.A. 16Lowndes
Square, London
•Brooks, W. Esq. Trinity •
*Browell,Rev. W.Beaumont, Colchester
Brown, Rev. Felix, Stopham Rectory,
Petworth
•Brown, Rev. H. St. James's, Shore
ditch, London
•Brown, Rev. John Cave, Pratt Street,
Lambeth
•Brown, Rev. J. J. Beaumaris, Anglesea
•Brown, Rev. E. G. Bawdsey, Wood-
bridge
•Brown, Rev. I. L. 4, Blandford-
place, Regent's Park
Brown, Rev. Meredith
Browne, Rev. J. M. Vicar of Standish
•Browne, Rev. John, Rectory, Kirkby
Thore, Westmoreland
•Browne, Rev.R. W.King'sColl. London
•Browne, Rev. S. Vicarage, Westbury,
Wilts
•Browne, E.G. Esq. St. David's Coll.,
Lampeter
•Bruce, Rev. H. L. Knight, Abbots-
ham, Bideford, Devon
•Bruce, Rev. W. St. Nicholas, Cardiff
Brymer, Ven. Archdeacon, Bath
Bubb, Rev. Henry Bagendon, Ciren
cester
•Buck, Rev. R. H. Vicar of Launcells,
Cornwall
•Buckerfield, Rev. T. H. Little
Bedwyn, Wilts
•Buckland, J. R. Esq. Ch. Ch. Oxford
•Buckle, W. H. Esq.
?Buckley, W. E. Esq. Brasenose Col
lege, Oxford
•Buckley, Rev. J. Badminton, Glouces
tershire
•Buller, Rev. A. Tavistock
•Bulley, Rev. F. Magd. Coll. Oxford

•Bullock, Rev. G. M. St. John's Coil.
Oxford
•Bullock, W. Esq. Kilburn, Middlesex
•Bumpstead, Rev. J. J. King's College,
Cambridge
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Winslow, Bucks
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•Burnett, J. W. Esq. St. John's Coll.
Cambridge
•Burney, E. K. Esq.
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Halsted, Essex
•Burns, Mr. 17, Portman-street, London
•Burr, Rev. J. H. Scudamore, Tiden-
ham Vicarage, Chepstow
•Burton, Rev. R. C. York Terrace,
Peckham
••Butler, Rev. D. Clergy Orphan
School, St. John's Wood
•Butler, Rev. R. Brasenose College
•Butlor, Rev. James, Grammar School,
Burnley, Lancashire
•Butt, Rev. P. J. Hampstead
•Buttefield, Rev. J. Bradford, Yorkshire
•Butterworth, G. Esq. Balliol Coll. Oxf.
•Byrne, Mrs. Henry, Worcester
•Byron, Rev. J. Killingholme, Barton-
on-Humber

•Calcutta, Bishop's College
•Calley, C. B. Esq.Worcester Coll. Oxf.
•Caiman, J. J. Esq. Worcester Col
lege, Oxford
•Calvert, Rev. T. Norwich
•Cameron, Rev. Charles
Campbell, Rev. C. Weasenham,
Rougham, Norfolk
•Campbell, Rev. J. J. Great Tew
Vicarage, Enstone, Oxfordshire
•Camden, Viscount, Gainsborough
House
•Canham, A. J. Esq. Summer-hill,
Teuterden, Kent
•Canterbury Clerical Book Society
•Caparn, Rev. W. B. Horbury, Wake
field
•Capper, S. J. Esq. Leyton, Essex
•Carey, Rev. Hewitt

SUBSCRIBERS.

•Carey, Tupper, Esq.
•Carpenter, Rev. G.
•Carshove, Rev. Jos. James, Cawn-
pore, Bengal
Carter, Rev. J. Frenchay, Bristol
•Caiter, Rev. T. T. Clewer Rectory,
Windsor
•Carter, Rev. W. A. Eton College
•Carter, W. E. D. Esq. New Coll. Oxf.
•Carthew, Rev. James, Trengelos,
Launceston
•Cartwright, Rev. W. H. Dudley
•Case, Rev. T. Horton
•Case, G. Esq. Brasenose College
•Cather, Rev. John, Wrexham
•Cattley, Rev. S. R. Fulham
•Cattley, R. Esq. Worcester Coll. Oxf.
Cavendish, Hon. and Rev. A.
•Cavendish, Hon. R. Belgrave- square
•Cavendish, C. Esq. Trin. Coll. Camb.
• Chaffers, Rev.T. BrasenoseC oil. Oxford
Chamberlain, Rev. T. Ch. Ch. Oxford
• Chambers, Rev. J. C. Emmanuel Coll.
Cambridge
•Chambers, J. D. Esq. 7, Connaught
Square, London
•Chambers, Rev. O. L. 9, Church Row,
Leeds
•Champernowne, H. Esq. Trinity Coll.
Oxford
•Champernowne, Rev. R. Ch. Ch., Oxf.
•Champneys, Rev. H. S. Mucklestone,
Staffordshire
•Chanter, Rev. J. M. Ilfracombe
••Chapman, Rev. R. Coventry. Pre
sented by a few of the parishioners of
St. Michael's
Cheere, Rev. F. Papworth S. Everard
•Chermside, R. Seymour, Esq. Exeter
College, Oxford
•Chesshyre, Rev. I. T. St. Martin's,
Canterbury
• Chester, Rev. A. Chichely Hall
•Chester, Harry, Esq. Highgate
•Chichester, Very Rev.theDean of
Christie, Rev. J. F. Badgworth, Chel
tenham
•Christ's College Library, Cambridge
•Chunder, Rev. Gopel Mittre, Bishop's
College, Calcutta
•Church, Rev. R. W. Oriel Coll. Oxford
•Churton, Rev. E. Crayke, Durham

•Clark, Rev. Fran. F. Hartshill Parson
age, Newcastle
Clark, Rev. H. D. Exeter Coll. Oxford
• Clark, Rev. John, Grove Villa,
Hunslet, Leeds
•Clark, Rev. F. F.
•Clark, Rev. Dr. Professor of Anatomy,
Cambridge
•Clarke, L. S. Esq. New Coll., Oxford
• Clarke, Rev. W. H. Yarmouth, Norfolk
•Clarke, S.,Esq. St. John's Coll. Oxford
•Clark, J. Esq. Lanesfield, Evesham
•Clayton, Rev. J. H. Farnborough
Rectory, Hants
• Cleather, Rev. G. P. Chirton, Devizes
•Clements, Rev. J.Upton St. Leonard's,
near Gloucester
Clerical Society, Newcastle-on-Tyne
•Clerical Society of the Deanery of
Droxford, Hants
•Clerke, Venerable C. C. Archdeacon
of Oxford
*Cleugh, Rev. J. Malta
•Coates, Rev. R. P. 13, Gibraltar
Place, Chatham
•Cobbe, Rev. H. Kilmore, Armagh
•Cobham, Rev. I. B. Edwinstone Rec
tory, Nottingham
•Cockin, Rev. M. Norton, Gloucester
•Cocks, Rev. Somers, Shevioch, Corn
wall
•Codd, Rev. E. T. Eccleshall, Stafford
shire
fCole.Rev.M. S. Wootton-under-Edge
•Cole, Rev. G. E. Dorchester, Dorset
•Coleridge, Hon. Mr. Justice
•Coleridge, Rev. E. Eton College
•Coleridge, Rev. T. Rector of All-
hallows, Exeter
Coles, Rev. G. Croydon
•Coley, Rev. J.
•Collier, C. I.Esq. Magd. Hall, Oxford
Collings, Rev. William
•Collingwood, Miss A. Dissington Hall
•Collins, Rev.R.Maize Hill, Greenwich
Collinson, Rev. R. Holme Cultram
•Collis, Rev. J. D.Worcester Coll. Oxf.
•Colls, Rev. I. F.
•CoByns, Rev. C. H. Ch. Ch. Oxford
•Coltman,Rev. G. Stickney, near Boston
Col umbo, The Right Rev. the Lord
Bishop of

LIBRARY OF ANGLO-CATHOLIC THEOLOGY.

•Colville, Rev. F. L.
Compton, Rev. J. Minstead Rectory,
Lyndhurst
•Connop, Newell, Esq. Whitehall
•Conway, W. F. Esq. Dublin
Coope, Rev. H. G. Clunn, Shropshire
•Cooper, Rev. E. P. Burford, Oxon.
•Copeland, Rev. W. J. Trinity College,
Oxford
•Cornish, Rev. C. L. Exeter College,
Oxford
•Cornish, Rev. S. W. D.D. Ottery
St. Mary, Devon
* Cornthwaite, Rev. T. Hornsey
•Cosens, Rev. R. Dorchester
* Cotton, Rev. W. C.
•Cotton, Alexander, Esq. Hildersham
HaU, Cambridgeshire
•Courtenay, Lord, Powderham Castle
•Courtenay, Rev. F. Exeter
* Cox, Miss F. Spondon Hall, near Derby
•Cox, Rev. I. Edm. 6, Oliver Terrace,
Mile End Road
fCox, Rev. J. Walgrave, Northampton
•Coxon, Rev. M. Heswell, Cheshire
Crawley, Rev. C. Stowe, near Weedon
•Crawley, C. Esq. Littlemore, near
Oxford
•Crawley, G. A. Esq. Highgate
• Crawley, Rev. R. Steeple Ashton
Trowbridge
• Crewkeme Deanery Clerical Society
•Cripps, Rev. J. M. Great Yeldham
Rectory, near Halstead, Essex.
Crompton, Rev. B. Unsworth, near
Bury, Lancashire
*Croome,Rev.T. B.Rendcomb Rectory,
Cirencester
•Crossley, James, Esq. Manchester
•Crossley, Mr. John S. Leicester
•Crosthwaite, Rev. J. C. Rectory, St.
Mary at Hill, London
•Crosthwaite, Rev. C. Lackagh Monas-
terevan, Ireland
•Cuppage, R. J. Esq., Middleton Hall,
Manchester
•Currie, Rev. James, Tittleworth, Pet
worth, Sussex
•Currie, Miss, Slanlake, Maidenhead
•Currie, Rev. H. G.
Cust, Hon. and Rev. H. C. Cockayne
Hatley

•Dakeyne, Rev. J. Osmond, Boxmoor,
Herts
Dale, Rev. Henry, Bristol
•Dalton, Rev. C. B. Lincoln's Inn
•Dalton, Rev. W. Kelvedon, Essex
•Dalton, Mr. W. H. Cockspur St.
•Dance, H. A. Esq. Queen's College,
Oxford
•Dand, Rev. T. Queen's Coll. Oxford
•Daniell, Rev. George Fred. Denning-
ton, near Chichester
•Darby, Rev. J. Curate of Acton,
Ireland
•Darling, Mr. Little Queen Street,
London
••Darnell, Rev. W. N. Stanhope,
Durham
Darnell, Rev. W. Bambrough, North
umberland
•Dartmouth, the Earl of, Sandwell,
near Birmingham
*Darton& Co. Messrs. 58, Holborn Hill
•Daukes, Henry, Esq, Caius College,
Cambridge
•Davenport, Rev. Arthur, Hobart Town,
Van Diemen's Land
•Davidson, L. Esq. Rutland Square,
Edinburgh
* Davie, Rev. George J. Brasted, Kent
•Dawson, Rev. J. Arran Villa, Lea
mington
•Day, Mr. John, Bookseller, Melton
•Dayman, Rev. A. J. Curate of Was-
perton, Warwickshire
•Dayman, Rev. L.
•Deacon, Rev. G. E. Rawmarsh,
Rotheram, Yorkshire
•Dean, Rev. E. B. Lewknor, Tetsworth
•Dean, Rev. T. Warton, Lancaster
Deane, J. W. Esq.
• Dearden, Mr. W. Nottingham
Deedes, Rev. Gordon, Netherhury,
Dorsetshire
De Gruchy, Rev. G. 2, Providence
Row, Cambridge Heath, Hackney
•Deighton, Messrs. J. & J.J. Cambridge
•Demerara Clerical Library
*Denton,Rev. R. A. King's Coll. Camb.
De Porre, Rev. W. Modbury, Devon
•De Sausmarez, Rev. H. Pembroke
College, Oxford
•De Vere, Sir Aubrey, Currah Chase

SUBSCRIBERS.

••Dickinson, F. H. Esq. M.P. Upper
Harley-street, London
•Diocesan Library, Wells, Somerset
* Disney, Rev. E. O. Armagh, Ireland
•Distin, Rev. H. L. Bythorne, near
Thrapstone, Northamptonshire
•Distin, Rev, J. W. High Harrogate,
Yorkshire
•Dixon, Rev. James, Thome's Parson
age, near Wakefield
Dixon, Rev. J. J. Abrams, near Man
chester
•Dobson, B. Esq. Bolton
•Dolben, Rev. C. Ipsley, Warwickshire
•Donaldson, Rev. J. W. Bury St.
Edmund's
•Donne, J.
Dornford, Rev. J. Plymptree, Devon
Douglas, Rev. H. College, Durham
•Douglas, Rev. S. Ashling, Chichester
•Dowding, Rev.W. Grimley, Worcester
•Dowding, T. W. Esq. The Close
Salisbury
•Downe, Rev. G. E. Rushden Rectory,
Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire
•Drake, Rev. Richard, Stourmouth,
Kent
•Drummond, Col. E. Brighton
•Dry, Rev. T. Walthamstow, Essex
•Dudman, Rev. L. S. Charlton
* Duffield, Rev. R. Frating, Colchester
*Dugard, Rev. G. Manchester
•Duncombe, Hon. and Rev. Aug.
Lustleigh Rectory, South Bovey
Dundas, W. Pitt, Esq. Edinburgh
*Dungamion, Viscount, Brynkinalt,
Chirk
•Dunlap, Rev. A. P. St. John's Coll.Oxf.
* Dunraven, the Earl of, Adare, Limerick
•Dunwell, Rev. F. H. Brigg, Lincoln
shire
* Dupuis, Rev. H. Eton College
•Durnford, Rev. Francis, Eton College
•Du Sautoy, Rev. W. S. O. Frome
Selwood, Somerset
•Dwarris, Rev. B. E. Durham
•Dyke, Rev. W. Cradley, Malvern
•Dymock, J. B. Esq. St. Mary Hall
• Dyne, Rev. J. B. Highgate
•Dyson, Rev. C. Dogmersfield, Hart
ford Bridge
• Ede, Mrs.

Edinburgh, The Scottish Episcopal
Church Library
•Eamonson, Rev. B. Collingham
•Eaton, W. Esq. Merton Coll. Oxford
Eaton and Son, Worcester
Ebsworth, Rev. Geo. Searle
•Eddie, Rev. R. Barton on Humter,
Lincolnshire
•Eddrup, E. P. Esq. 4, Tonbridge
Place, Euston Square, London
•Eden, Rev. R. Legh, Rochford
•Edmondstone, Sir Archibald, Bart.
•Edouart, Rev. A. G. St. Paul's Church,
Blackburn
Egerton, Rev. T. Dunnington, Yorkshire
*E. H. T.
•Eland, Rev. H. G. Bedminster, Bristol
•Elder, Rev. E. Master ofthe Grammar
School, Durham
•Eldridge, Rev. J. A. Bridlington,
Yorkshire
•Elliot, J. E. Esq. Catherine Hall,
Cambridge
•Ellicott, Rev. C. J. St. John's Col
lege, Cambridge
•Ellis, Conyngham, Esq. 4, Fitzwilliam
Place, Dublin
•Ellison, H. Esq. University College,
Oxford
•Elmhirst, Rev. Edward, Shawell, Lei
cestershire
* Elrington, Rev. H. P. Precentor of
Ferns, Ireland
•Elwes, J. M. Esq. Bossington, Stock-
bridge
•Ensor, Rev. F. 24, Arlington Street,
London
• Ethelston, Rev. C. W. Lyme Regis,
Dorset
•Evans, Rev. A. B. D.D. Market Bos
worth
Evans, Rev. E. C. Ingham
•Evans, Herbert N. Esq. Hampstead
•Evans, Rev. L. Wadham College,
Oxford; Hendon, London
Evans, Rev. T. Gloucester
•Evans, Rev. T. Simpson
•Evetts, T. Esq. C. C. C. Oxford
•Ewing, Rev. W. Alburgh, near
Harleston, Norfolk
•Eyre, Charles, .Esq. Welford Park,
Newbury

LIBRARY OF ANGLO-CATHOLIC THEOLOGY.

* Fagan, Rev. G. H.
•Falkner, T. A. Esq. St. John's Col
lege, Oxford
•Fallow, Rev. T. M. All Souls, London
•Fanshawe, Rev.F. Exeter Coll. Oxford
•Farebrother, Rev. T. Aston, Birming
ham
•Farley, Rev. T. Ducklington
•Farquharson, Rev. R. Langton Rec
tory, Blandford
• Fearnley, Rev. I. King's Coll. London
•Fearon, Rev. W. C. Grimston, Lynn,
Norfolk
•Feetham, Rev. T.O.Eggesford, Devon
•Fellowes, Rev. T. L. Cantley Rec
tory, Acle, Norfolk
•Fenwicke, Rev. G. O. Aston, Birming
ham
•Fenwicke, Rev. M. G. Ballyshannon
•Fernley, J. Esq. Manchester
•Few, Mr. Robert, 2, Henrietta Street
Covent Garden, London
•Field, Rev. S. P. High Beech, Lough-
ton, Essex
•Finch, Miss Charlotte
•Fitzgerald, Rev. A. O. Fledborough,
near Tuxford
•Flemyng, Rev. W. Redcross, County
of Wicklow
•Fletcher, T. W. Esq. F.R.S. Dudley,
Worcestershire
•Fletcher, Rev. William, Collegiate
School, Southwell
•Fletcher, Rev. W. K. Bombay
•Floyer, Rev. Ayscoghe, Louth, Lin
colnshire
•Foley, H. Esq. Worcester
••Forbes, G. H. Esq. Edinburgh
•Forbes, I. S. Esq. 3, Fitzroy Square,
London
•Forbes, Right Hon. Lord
•Forbes, Sir John Stuart
•Ford, H. Esq. Manchestei
Ford, Rev. J. Exeter
•Ford, W. Esq. Milbrook House,
Kentish Town
•Formby, Rev. H. Brasenose Coll. Oxf.
•Forster, Rev. H.B.Stratton,Cirencester
•Fortescue, Rev. H. R. Newton Ferrers,
Yealmpton, Devon
•Foster, Rev. John, West Sudbury,
Suffolk

•Foster, Rev. J. S. Ilchester
•Foulkes, Rev. H. P. Buckby Moun
tain, Flintshire
•Fowler, Rev. C. A. Walliscote House,
near Reading
•Fox, Rev. C. J. Cranham Lodge,
near Upminster, Essex
Foxe, Rev. O. Worcester
*France, Rev. G. 88, Cadogan-place
•Francis, Rev. J. 50, Great Ormond-
street, London
Franklin, Rev. —
* Fraser, Rev. R. Stedmarsh,Canterhury
•Freeland, E. Esq. Chichester
•Freeman, Rev. H. Folksworth, near
Stilton
•Freeman, Rev. P. St Peter's College,
Cambridge
•Freeth, Frederic Harvey, Esq. 80,
Coleshill Street, Eaton-sq., London
•Frome Clerical Library
•Frost, Rev. I. L. Bradford
Frost, Rev. R. M. Lewes, Sussex
•Frost, Rev. P. St. John's Coll. Camb.
•Froude, W. Esq. Collumpton, Devon
Fulford, Rev. F. Trowbridge
Fyler, Rev. S. CornhiU, Durham

•Gace, Rev. F. A.
•Galton, Rev. John L. Leamington
•Garhett, Rev. J. Clayton, Brighton
•Gardiner, Rev. W. Rochford
Garvey, Rev. Richard, Wakefield
•Gibbings, Rev. R. Myragh Glebe,
Dunfanaghy, co. Donegal
•Gibbons, Sir John, Balliol College,
Oxford
• Gibbs, G. Esq. Belmont, near Bristol
•Gibbs, H. Esq. Bedford Sq. London
• Gibbs, W. Esq. 13, Hyde- Park Street,
London
•Gibson, Rev. W. Rectory,. Fawley
•Gibson, J. Esq. Jesus College, Cam
bridge
•Gibson, Rev. Edward, Alley, near
Coventry
•Gidley, J. Esq. Exeter
•Giffard, Rev. W. Molesey, near King
ston
Gilbertson, Rev. Lewis, Llangorwen,
near Aberystwith

SUBSCRIBERS.

•Gildea, Rev. George Robert, New
port, county of Mayo
••Gillett, Rev. G. E. Waltham, Melton
Mowbray
•Gillett, E. Markshall, near Norwich
Gladstone, Rev. John, Liverpool
•Gladstone, Right Hon. W. E. M.P.
•Glaister, Rev. W. Beckley Rectory,
Sussex
•Glanville, Rev. E. F. Wheatfield
•Gooch, Rev. I. H. Head Master of
Heath School, Halifax
•Gooch, Rev. John, Second Master of
the Grammar School, Wolverhamp
ton
•Goodchild, Rev. C. W., A.M., Free-
Grammar School, Sutton Valence,
Kent
• Goodford, C. O. Esq. Eton
•Goodlake, Rev. T. W. Manor House,
Swindon
Goodwin, Rev. H. G. Caius College,
Cambridge
*Gordon,Rev.H.Colwich, near Rugeley
•Gordon, Rev. O. Ch. Ch. Oxford
*Gore, Rev. H. J. Horsham
•Gough, Rev. H. Carlisle
•Gough, Rev. B. Londonderry
Goulburn, H. Esq.
Gould, Rev. Edward, Sproughton,
Ipswich
•Gower, Rev. S. Wandsworth, Surrey
•Gray, Rev. R. Vicar of Stockton-on-
Tees, near Durham
•Gray, Rev. R. H. Ch. Ch. Oxford
•Graham, Mr. W. Oxford
•Graham, W. T. Esq. 17, Upper Buck
ingham Street, Dublin
Grant, R. and Son, Edinburgh
•Grantham Clerical Society
•Green, J. Esq. Woburn
Green, Mr. T. W. Leeds
•Greene, Rev. H.B. Vicar of Longparish,
Winchester
•Greene, R. Esq. Lichfield
•Greenly, Rev.I.P. Burlestone Rectory,
Blandford
•Greenwell, Rev. W. University Coll.
Durham
• Gregory, Rev. R C.C.C. Oxford
• Gregson, H. Esq. Lordlym, North
umberland

Gresley, Richard, Esq.
Gresley, Rev. William, Lichfield
•Gresley, Rev. J. M. Over Seile,
Leicestershire
••Greswell, Rev. R. Worcester Coll.
••Greswell, Rev. W. Kilve Rectory,
Somersetshire
•Grey, Hon. and Rev. Francis, Buxton
•Grey, Rev. W. Arlington, Salisbury
•Grieve, Rev. John, Bainham Rec
tory, Thetford, Norfolk
•Griffiths, Rev. John, Wadham Coll.
Oxford
•Griffith, Rev. C. A. Commoners, Win
chester
• Grueber, Rev. C. S.Clapham Common
•Guildford Theological Library
Guillemard, Rev. H. P. Trinity Coll.
Oxford
Gunner, Rev. W. H. Winchester
•Gutch, Rev. Rt. Segrave, Leicester
•Guyon, Rev. G. G.

•Hackman, Rev. A. Ch. Ch. Oxford
•Haddan, Rev. A. W. Trinity College,
Oxford
•Haig, Rev. Robt. Armagh
Haigh, Rev. Daniel, Great Marlow
Haines, Mrs. Hampstead
*Hali, Rev. W. Manchester
•Hallen, Rev. George, Rushock, Me-
doute, Upper Canada
•Hallen, Rev. William, Wribbenhall,
Worcestershire
•Halton, Rev. T. 20, Great George
Square, Liverpool
Hamilton, Rev. J. Great Baddow, Essex
•Hamson, W. H. Esq. New York
•Hanham, Rev. P. Wimborne, Dorset
•Harcourt, Rev. L. V. Midhurst
Harcourt, Rev. R. Cirencester
••Harding, Rev. G. S. Brasenose Col
lege, Oxford
•Harding, J. Esq. 52, Park Street,
Grosvenor Square
••Hare, Venerable Archdeacon
•Harington, Rev. Rd. D.D. Principal of
Brasenose College, Oxford
•Harison, W. H. Esq. New York
•Harper, Rev. T. N. Queen's College,
Oxford

LIBRARY OF ANGLO-CATHOLIC THEOLOGY.

•Harper, Rev. A. Inverary, Aberdeen
shire
•Harper, Rev. G. Manor House, Ton-
bridge Wells
•Harpur, Rev. E. Lower Broughton,
Manchester
• Harris, Hon. and Rev. C. Wilton,
Salisbury
•Harris, Rev. J.
Harrison, Rev. B. Domestic Chaplain
to the Lord Archbishop of Canter
bury
•Harrison, Rev. H. Gondhurst
Harrison, Rev. T. Trinity Church,
Maidstone
•Harrison, Rev. W. Christ's Hospital,
London
•Harrow School Library, the
•Hartley, L. L. Esq. Middleton Lodge,
Richmond, Yorkshire
•Hartnell, E. G. Esq. Trinity College,
Cambridge
•Hartshome, Rev. Joseph
•Harvey, Rev. H. Preb. of Bristol,
Bradford, Wilts
•Harward, J. Esq. Stourbridge
•Haslehurst, Rev. R. Haywood,
Rugeley
•Hassells, Rev. C. S. Fox Earth, near
Newcastle
•Hatchard and Son, Piccadilly, London
•Hathaway, Rev. F. Shadwell, near
Leeds
Hawkins, Rev. E. Secretary to the So
ciety for the Propagation of the
Gospel
•Hawkins, Herbert S. Esq. Jesus Coll.
Oxford
•Hawkins, E. Esq. British Museum
*Hawkins,Rev.E.Newport,Monmouth- shire
Hawkins, Rev. W. B. L. 23, Great
Marlborough- street, London
•Hawtrey, Rev. Dr. Eton College
Hayes, Rev. I. Warren, Arborfield
Rectory, Berks
•Heale, S. W. Esq. Queen's College
•Heath, W. M. Esq. Exeter Coll.
Oxford
•Hecker, Rev. H. T. Seven Oaks, Kent
•Hedley, Rev. T. A. Gloucester

•Henderson, W. G. Esq. Magd. Coll.
Oxford
•Henderson, Peter, Esq, Macclesfield
•Henderson, Rev. T. Messing, Kel-
Aedon
•Henn, Rev. W. Burton Agnes, Hull
•Herbert, Hon. Algernon, Ickleton,
Saffron Walden
•Heslop, Anchem, Esq. Trinity College,
Cambridge
•Hessey, Rev. F. St. John's College,
Oxford
•Hessey, Rev. J. A. St. John's College,
Oxford
Hewetson, Rev. J. S. Curate of Killeary,
Ireland
•Hewett, J. W. Esq. Exeter
•Hewitt, Rev. T. S. Fairburn, near
Ferrybridge
•Heygate, Miss, Southend, Essex
•Hichens, R. Esq. Threadneedle-street,
London
•Hildyard, Rev. J. Christ's College,
Cambridge
•Hill, Rev. E. Ch. Ch. Oxford
Hill, Rev. G. Leeds
•Hillyard, Rev. Temple, Wormleighton,
Southam
•Hilton, A. D. Esq. Wadham College,
Oxford
Hinde, Rev. T. Liverpool
Hinde, W. H. F. Esq. University Col
lege, Oxford
•Hine, Rev. H. T. C. Bury St. Ed
munds
•Hingiston, James Ansley, Esq.
48, Finsbury Circus, London
••Hippesley, H. Esq. Lambourne
Place, Berks
•Hippisley, Rev. R. W. Stow-on-the-
Wold
•Hobhouse, Rev. E. Merton Coll. Oxf.
**Hodges,lateRev.T. S.(Executors of)
•Hodgkinson, Rev. G. C. Droitwich,
near Worcester
•Hodgson, Rev. I. F. Horsham
•Hodgson, Rev. G. St. Peter's, Isle of
Thanet
Hodgson, Rev. H. St. Martin's, London
•Hodgson, Mr. James, Trinity Coll.
Cambridge

SUBSCRIBERS.

•Hodson, Rev. J. Saunderstead, Croy- .
don, Surrey
•Hogan, Rev. J.
Holden, Rev. W. R. Worcester
•Holden, Mr. A. Bookseller, Exeter
•Holden, Rev. H. Upminster, Essex
•Hole, Rev. J. R. Caunton Manor,
Newark
•Hole, Rev. W. B. Woolfardisworthy,
Crediton
•Hollinshead, H. B. Esq. Hollinshead
•Holme, Hon. Mrs. A. C.
••Hook, Rev. W. F. D.D. Vicar of
Leeds. Presented by a few of his
younger parishioners
••Hope, A. J. B. Esq. M.P. 1, Con
naught Place, London
•Hope, W. Esq. Catherine Hall, Cam
bridge
•Hopkins, Rev. J. O. Uffington, Salop
•Hopkinson, C. Esq. M.A. 31, Eaton
Place, Belgrave Square, London
•Hopper, Rev. A. M. M.A. Fellow of
St. John's College, Cambridge
•Hopton, Mrs. Kemerton Court,
Tewkesbury
•Hopwood, Rev. F. G. Knowsley,
Prescot, Lancashire
Hopwood, Rev. H. Bothel, Morpeth
•Hornby, Rev. Edward, Vicarage,
Ormskirk, near Liverpool
•Hornby, Rev. R. W. Flaxton Lodge,
near York
Hornby, Rev. T. Liverpool
•Horner, Rev. Josh. Everton, Biggles
wade, Bedfordshire
•Horsfall, Rev. A. Litchurch
•Horsfall, John, Esq. Standard Hill,
Nettingham
•Hocking, R. Esq. Penzance
•Hotham, W. F. Esq. Ch. Ch. Oxford
•Houblon, Rev. T. A. Peasemore,
Newbury, Berks
Houghton, Rev. John, Matching, near
Harlow, Essex
•Howard, Hon. and Rev. H. E. J.
D.D. Dean of Lichfield
Howard, Col. Ashstead Park, Epsom
•Howard, Rev. R. D.D. Llanrhaiadr,
near Denbigh
•Howard, Hon. and Rev. W. Fareham
•Howard, Rev. N. A. Plymouth

•Howard, Hon. and Rev. H.
•Howe, J. Esq. Trinity Coll. Cambridge
•Howell, Rev.Hinds, Shobrooke, Devon
*Howorth, Rev. W., March, Isle of Ely,
Cambridgeshire
•Hue, Dr., 9, Bedford Square, London
Huff, Rev. E. Butterwick, near Boston
•Hughes, Rev. H.
•Hughes, Rev. J. B. Hadley, near
Barnet
•Hughes, Rev. A. B. Coventry
•Hullah, T. Esq.
•Hunt, Rev. R. S. Taddington Vicarage,
Bakewell
•Hunt, Rev. G. Vicarage, Buckland,
Plymouth
•Hunter, Rev. A. Alveclmrch
•Hunter, Rev. W. Lurgurshall, near
Godalming
Huntingford, Rev. G. W. Winchester
Hussey, Rev. W. L. Witham, Essex
Hutchinson, Rev. C. Chichester
•Hutchinson, Rev. T. Lymm, Cheshire
•Hutchinson, R. Esq. Mersey Court,
Liverpool
•Hutton, Rev. G. B. Gainsborough
•Hutton, Rev. T. Loughborough,
Leicestershire
• Hyde and Crewe, Newcastle, Stafford
shire
••Inge, Rev. I. R.
Inner Temple, the Hon. Society of
the, London
•Irving, Rev. J. Kendall
Jackson, Rev. T. St. Peter's, Stepney
•Jackson, Rev. W. Dealtry, Ch. Ch.
Hoxton
•Jackson, Rev. J. J. Mullantaine,
Stewartstown, Ireland
•Jackson, G. Esq.
•Jackson, Rev. J. Islington
Jackson, Rev. J. Farley, near Bath
James, Rev. J. D.D. Prebendary of
Peterborough
* James, Sir Walter, Bart, M. P.
11, Whitehall Place, London
•James, Rev. T. Sibbestoft, near Wel
ford, Northamptonshire
•James, Rev. J.
•Janvrin, J. H. Esq. Oriel Coll. Oxford

LIBRARY OF ANGLO-CATHOLIC THEOLOGY.

* Jeffr ay, Rev. L. W. Ashton Parsonage,
Preston
•Jelf, Rev. Dr. Canon of Ch. Ch. Oxford
.Jelf, Rev. W. E. Ch. Ch. Oxford
•Jellott, Rev. H. Trinity Coll. Dublin
•Jenkins, Rev. J.
•Jenner, Rev. C. H. Frampton, Glou
cestershire
•Jennings, Rev. M. J. Chaplain to the
Hon. East India Company
•Jerrard, Rev. F. W. H. Long Stratton,
Norfolk
•Jersey,The Very Rev. theDean of
Jeune, Rev. F. D.D. Master of Pem
broke College, Oxford
Jew, Mr. Thomas, Gloucester
•Johnson, W. Esq. King's Coll. Camb.
•Johnson, Rev. W. C. Diptford, Devon
•Johnson, Rev. W. H. Witham on the
Hill, Lincolnshire
•Jones, E. K. Esq. 28, Mark-lane
•Jones, Rev. D. E. Stamford
•Jones, Rev. J. S. Armagh, Ireland
•Jones, Rev. R. Branxton, Coldstream
•Jones, Rev. W. H. Alderley, Congle
ton, Cheshire
Jones, Rev. R. W. L. Newcastle-on-
Tyne
•Jones, B. Esq. Lowestoft
•Joy, Rev. W. Hill Park, Wester
ham, Kent
Karslake, Rev. T. W. Cnlmstock, near
Wellington
•Keble, Rev. J. Hursley, Winchester
•Keith, Mr. J. Bookseller, Glasgow
•Kelly, A. Esq. Kelly House, Laun
ceston
Kemp, Mr. John, Beverley
Kempe, Rev. J. C. Morchard Bishop's,
Devon
•Ken Society, Leeds
•Kendall, Rev. J. H. F. Guiseley, near
Leeds
•Kennard, John P. Esq. 4, Lombard-
Street, London
•Kenrick, Rev. Jarvis, Horsham, Sussex
•Kent, jun. Rev. G. D. Sudbrook, near
Lincoln
•Kenyan, Dr.
•Kenyon, Lord, 9, Portman Square,
London

•Keppell, Hon. and Rev. T. Wells,
Norfolk
**Kerby, Rev. C. L. Stoke Talmage,
near Tetsworth
•Kerr, Rev. Lord H. Dittisham
•Kerr, James, Esq. Coventry
•Kershaw, Rev. G. W. St. Nicholas,
Worcester
•Key, H. C. Esq. Peluston Rectory,
near Ross
•Keymes, Rev. N. Christ's Hospital,
Hertford
•Kildare, Ven. Archdeacon of
Kilvert, Rev. F. Bath
King, Rev. Bryan, Rector of St.
George's-in-the-East, London
King, Mr. H. S. Brighton
•King, T. H. Esq. Exeter College,
Oxford
King, Rev. W. Smyth, Ireland
•King's College, Frederick Town, New
Brunswick
Kingdom, Rev. G. T. Trinity Col
lege, Cambridge
•Kingsford, B. Esq. Exeter College,
Oxford
•Kingsmill, Rev. H. Buxted, near
Uckfield, Sussex
•Kingsmill, William, Esq. Sidmonton
House, Hants
••Kirby, R. H. Esq. St. John's CoU.
Cambridge
Kirrier, Clerical Society, Cornwall
•Kirwan, Rev. J. H. Bath
•Kitson, Rev. J. F. Exeter College,
Oxford
•Knight, Rev. J. W. Free School, Co
ventry
•Knott, J. W. Esq. Magdalene Hall,
Oxford
•Knowles, J. L. Esq. Pembroke Col
lege, Oxford
•Knowles, Edward H. Esq. St. Bees
Grammar School, Whitehaven
Knox, Rev. H. B. Monk's Cleigh,
Hadleigh, Suffolk
•Knox, Rev. Spencer, Vicar- General of
the Diocese of Kerry
Knox, Rev. R. Lee House, Limerick
•Kyle, Rev. John T. Cork
Kynnersley, T. C. Esq. Loxley Park,
Uttoxeter

SUBSCRIBERS.

Lakin, Rev. J. M. Offenham, near
Evesham
Lamotte, Rev. F. L. Scarborough
•Landon, Rev. E. H.
Lane, Rev. E. Gloucester
•Langbridge, Mr. Birmingham
Langdon, A. Esq. Coldharbour House,
Tonbridge
•Langley, Rev. T. Landogo, Monmouth
•Langmore, Dr.
••Laprimaudaye, Rev. C. J. Leyton,
Essex
Latouche, Rev. J. Rathfornham, co.
Dublin
•Lawrell, Rev. J. Cove, Bagshot
•Lawrence, F. J. R. Esq. Exeter Coll.
Oxford
•Lawson, Rev. R.
•Lawson, Rev. W. D. Magd. College,
Cambridge
•Lawson, Rev. G. West Grimstead,
Salisbury
•La Zouche, J. Esq. Dublin
•Lee, Rev. Sackville, Exeter
•Lee, Rev. William, Fellow of Trinity
College, Dublin
•Lee, Rev. M. Dawlish, Devon
•Lefroy, Rev. A. C.
• Legge, Rev. W. Ashstead, Epsom
•Legge, Hon. and Rev. Henry, Black
heath, Kent
• Leighton, Rev. F. K. All Souls Coll.
Oxford
Leighton, Rev. W. A. Shrewsbury
•Leman, Rev. T. Brampton Rectory,
Beccles
•Le Mesurier, J. Esq. Christ Church,
Oxford
•Leonard, Rev. R.W. Aynho, Banbury
Leslie, Mr. Great Queen Street, Lon
don
•Leslie, Rev. C. Kilmore, Cavan, Ire
land
•Lethbridge, Ambrose, Esq. All Souls,
Oxford
•Lewis, Rev. D. Jesus College, Oxford
•Lewthwaite, Rev. W. H. Clifford, near
Tadcaster
••Ley, Rev. Jacob, Christ Church,
Oxford
•Ley, Rev. John, Exeter College,
Oxford

•Lichfield Cathedral, the Dean and
Chapter of
*Liddon, H. Esq. Taunton
•Lindsay, Hon. C. Trinity College,
Cambridge
*Lingard,E.A. Esq. Runcorn, Cheshire
•Linsdedt, F. W. Esq. Calcutta
Linzee, Rev. Edw. Hood
•Linzee, R. G. Esq. Christ Church,
Oxford
LinzeU, Rev. B. H.
•Litler, Rev. Robert, Poynton Par
sonage, near Macclesfield
•Lloyd, Rev. F. L. L. Wilnecote,
Farelay
Lloyd, Rev. F. T. Curate of Kilmore,
Dioc. Armagh
•Lloyd, Rev. C. Great Hampden Rec
tory, Missenden, Bucks
•Lloyd, Rev. H. W. Jesus College,
Oxford
•Lockyer, E. L. Esq. Emmanuel Coll.
Cambridge
Lodge, Rev. Barton
•London Library, PaUMall
•Long, W. Esq. Bath
•Lott, H. J. Esq. Hornton, Devon
•Lott, H. B. Esq. Tracy House, Awlis-
combe
•Low, I. L. Esq.
•Lowder, Rev. C. F. Welton, Glaston
bury
•Lowe, Rev. J. M. Vicarage, Abbot's
Bromley
?Lowe, Rev. R. F. Madeira
•Lowe, Rev. R. H. Abascragh, co.
Galway
•Lowndes, Rev. C. Hartwell Rectory,
near Aylesbury
•Lukis, Rev. W. C. Bradford, Wilts
Lund, Rev. T. B.D. St. John's College,
Cambridge
fLurgan, Lord
•Lush, Rev. Vicesimus
•Lush A. Esq.
•Lusk, John, Esq. Glasgow
Lutwyche, A. I. P. Esq. Middle Temple
•Luxmoore, Rev. J. H. M. Marchweil,
Wrexham
•Lyttleton, The Right Hon. Lord
•Lyttleton, Hon. and Rev. W. H.
Kettering, Northamptonshire

LIBRARY OF ANGLO-CATHOLIC THEOLOGY.

•Maherly, Rev.T. A. Cuckfield, Sussex
•M'c All, Rev. Edward, Brixton, Isle
of Wight
•M'c Ewen, Rev. A. Semington, near
Melksham, Wilts
•Macfarfane, W. C. Esq. Birmingham
•Machlachlan, Rev. A. N. Campbell,
Kelvedon, Essex
•Mackenzie, A. C. Esq. St.] John's
College, Oxford
Mackenzie, Lewis M. Esq. Exeter
College, Oxford
•Mackonochie^A. H. Esq. Edinburgh
•Maclean, Rev. H. Coventry
•Maclean, Rev. W. Prebendary of
Tynan, Armagh
Macmullen, Rev. R. G. Corpus Christi
College, Oxford
•Madox, Wm. Esq. 61, York Terrace,
Regent's' Park
•Major, Rev. I. R. D.D. King's Coll.
London
•Malcolm, H. Esq. Eckington, Ches
terfield
•Malcolm, Rev. Gilbert, Toddenham
*Malcolm, W. E. Esq. Bumfoot Lang
holm, Dumfriesshire
•Malins, Mr. G. W. R. Kelsford
•Mangin, Rev. Edw. N. South Cerney,
Gloucestershire
•Mann, Rev. W. M. Thomthwaite
Keswick, Cumberland
•Manning, Rev. F. J. Lincoln College,
Oxford
•Manson, Rev. A. T. G.
•Mapleton, Rev. R. J. St. John's Coll.
Oxford
Mapperton, Rev. C. Fox
•Markland, J. H. Esq. Bath
•Marriott, Rev. C. Oriel Coll. Oxford
•Marriott, Rev. J. Bradfield, Reading
•Marshall, Rev. S. Eton
•Marshall, Rev. E. Deene Rectory,
Wansford
•Martin, Rev. F. Trin. Coll. Camb.
•Martin, Rev. John, Orford, near
Woodbridge
Martin, Rev. G. Exeter
•Martin, Rev. Wm. Fellow of Corpus
Christi College, Cambridge
•Martineau, Rev. A.Whitkirk Vicar
age, Leeds

•Martyn, Rev. J. W. Exeter
•Mason, Rev. J. Great Malvern
•Mason, Rev. A. W. Booking, Essex
•Mason, Rev. H. B. Head Master of
Brewood School, Staffordshire
Mason, Mr. W. H. Chichester
Mathison, Rev. W. C. M.A. Trinity
College, Cambridge
•Matthews, Rev. R. M. Great Bowdler,
Market Harborough
•Maule, Rev. G. Huntingdon
•Maynard, Rev. John
•Maynard, Rev. R. Wormleighton,
Southam
•Mayo, A. F. Esq. Oriel College,
Oxford
•Mayor, Rev. C. Weasingham, Suffolk
•Mease, Rev. J. Fresford
•Meason, Rev. Henry, Exeter
•Melton Mowbray Clerical Society
Mence, Rev. J. W. Ilkley, Otley,
Yorkshire
•Menet, J. Esq. Exeter Coll. Oxford
Meredith, Rev. R. F. Halstock, Dor
chester
•Merriman, H. G. Esq. New College,
Oxford
•Merry, Rev. R. M.A. Jesus College,
Cambridge
•Mesham, Rev. A. B. Wotton, near
Canterbury
•Metcalf, Rev. W. L. Scarborough
•Metcalfe, Rev. Wallace, Reddendall,
Harlestone, Norfolk
•Middleton, Rev. J. E.
Milburne, Rev. W. Wolsingham, Dur
ham,
•Mill, Rev. Dr. Christian Advocate,
Cambridge
Miller, Rev. I. R. Walkeringham,
Bawtry, Yorkshire
•Mills, Rev. R. T. Magdalene College,
Oxford
•Minster, Rev. T. Farmley Tyas
•Moberly, Rev. J. A. Crickfield
•Moberly, Rev. Dr. Winchester
•Money Kyrle, Rev. E. A. Clun, near
Ludlow
•Monro, Rev. E. Oriel Coll. Oxford
•Monsell, Rev. C. H. Limerick, Ireland
•Monsell, Rev. J. S. Limerick, Ireland
*Monsell, W. Esq. Limerick, Ireland

SUBSCRIBERS.

•Montagu, J. E. Esq. Exeter College
•Moore, A. P. Esq. Trinity College,
Cambridge
•Moore, Rev. Edward
•Moore, Rev. J. W. Hordley, Ellesmere
•Moorsom, Rev. R. Seaham Vicarage,
Durham
•MorreU, F.J. Esq. St. Giles's, Oxford
•Morrice, Rev. W. D. Clovelly, near
Bideford, Devon
•Morris, Rev. J. B. Exeter College,
Oxford
•Morris, Rev. T. E. Ch. Ch. Oxford
•Morrison, Rev. A. Eton College
Morton, Mr. Boston
•Morton, Rev. M. C. Newcastle on
Tyne
•Mould, Rev. R. A. Rectory, Cheadle,
Staffordshire
Moultrie, Rev. J. Rugby
Mount, Rev. C. M. Prebendary of Wells
*Mountain,Rev.G.R. Rector of Havant
Mountain, Rev. H. B. Prebendary of
Lincoln
•Mountain, J. G. Esq. Eton Coll. Eton
•Mozley, Rev. J. B. Magdalene College,
Oxford
•Mules, Rev. P. Exeter Coll. Oxford
•Munn, Rev. G. Worcester
•Murray, Rev. A. Clapham, Surrey
•Murray, F. Esq. Ch. Ch. Oxford
• Muskett, Mr. C. Norwich

Neale, Rev. J. M. Trinity Coll. Camb.
•Neeld, J. Esq. M.P. Grittleton House,
Chippenham
•Nelson, Earl, Bricknorth House, near
Salisbury
•Nelson, Rev. H. Romford
•Nevins, Rev. W. Martin, near Horn-
castle
New, Rev. F. T. Ch. Ch. St. Pancras,
London
•New York Theological Seminary
Newland, Rev. Dr. Ferns
•Newland, Rev. Thomas, Dublin
•Newman, Rev. W. S. Warwick
•Newmarsh, Rev. C. F. Pilham Rec
tory, Gainsborough
•Newton, Mr. C. Croydon
• New- York-Society Library

Nicholl, Rev. J. R. Rectory, Streatham,
Surrey
Nicholls, Rev. W. L. Bristol
•Nicholson, Rev. W. Wickliam House,
Welford, Berks
•Nicholson, Rev. W. Rector of St
Maurice, Winchester
•Nicoll, Rev. Charles, Stratford, Essex
•Noott, Rev. E. H. L. Dudley, Wor
cestershire
•North, Rev. Jacob, Blackheath, Kent
•Northcote, Rev. G. B.
•Norwich Clerical Society
•Nunns, Rev. T. Birmingham
•Nutt, Rev. Charles Theston, Bath
Nutt, Mr. D. Fleet Street
•O'Brien, Mr. E. Dublin
•O'Brien, Rev. H. Killegar, Ireland
*0'Brien, Mrs. 108, George Street,
Limerick
•Ogle and Son, Booksellers, Glasgow
•Oldershaw, R. Esq. Islington
Oldham, Rev. J. R. East Dulwich
Grove, Peckham Rye, near London
•Oldham, George A. Esq. Brunswick
Place, Brighton
•Oldknow, Rev. Joseph, Bordesley,
Birmingham
•Oliver, Rev. J. Rothwell, North
amptonshire
•Oliverson, R. Esq. 14 Portland Place,
London
•Orr, James, Esq. Oriel College, Oxford
* Osborn, Rev. G. Manchester
•Ostell, Messrs. T. & Co. booksellers,
London
• Ouvry, Rev. P. T. Oxford Terrace,
London
Owen, H. Esq. Worksop, Notts
• Owen, Rev. R.'Llanrhaiade, near Den
bigh
• Oxenham, Rev. Nutcombe, Modbury,
Totness
•Packe, C. W. Esq. M.P. Great Glen,
Leicestershire
•Pagan, Rev. S. Level-bridge, Bolton-
le-Moors
Page, Rev. C. Westminster Abbey
• Page, Rev. L. F. Woolpit, Bury St.
Edmund's

LIBRARY OF ANGLO-CATHOLIC THEOLOGY.

Page, R. jun. Esq.
•Page, Rev. Vernon, Ch. Ch. Oxford
•Paget, Rev. F. E. Elford, Lichfield
•Paine, Cornelius, Esq. 2, Mountford
House, Bamsbury Square, Islington
•Palmer, Roundell, Esq.
•Palmer, Rev. W. Magdalen College,
Oxford
•Pantin, J. Esq. Pembroke Coll. Oxford
•Pardoe, Rev. J. Leyton, Stone, Essex
•Parker, C. Esq. Upper BedfordPlace,
London
•Parker, Rev. E. Bahia, South America
•Parker, Rev. R. Welton, Spilsby,
Lincolnshire
Parkinson, Mrs. Holywell
•Parkinson, Rev. J, P. Magdalene Coll.
Oxford
•Parr, Rev. W. H. Halifax
•Partington, Rev. Matthew^ Feltwell,
Norfolk
Parsons, Rev. C. A. St. Mary's,
Southampton
•Pascoe, Rev. T. St. Hilary, Marazion,
Cornwall
fPATTEsoN, Hon. Mr. Justice
•Paul, G. W. Esq. Magdalene Coll.
Oxford
•Payne, R. jun. Esq. Magdalene Hall
•Paynsent, F. A. Esq., Antigua,
West Indies
•Pedder, Rev. W. St. Cuthbert, Wells
•Pedder, Rev. E. Lancaster
•Peed, Rev. J. Kiltennel Glebe, Con-
stown Harbour, co. Wexford
•Pelly, Rev. T. Harroweald, Stanmore
•Pengelly, Rev. J. C.
•Pennefather, Rev. William, Grange,
Armagh
t Penney, Rev. E. St. Andrew's, Canter
bury
•Penny, C. B. Esq. Theol. Coll., Wells
•ferceval, Hon. and Rev. A. P. East
Horsley, Surrey
•Perceval, Captain E. A. Bindon
House, Milverton, Somerset
•Percival, Ernest A. Esq. Bindon
House, Milverton, Somerset
•Perram, Rev. J. G. Harrogate
•Perry, Rev. A. Bettesworth, Pre
centor's Vicar of St Caniees Cathe
dral, Kilkenny

•Perry, T. W. Esq. 20, Steward- street,
Spitalfields
•Perry, G. Esq. Churchill, near Bristol
•Petty, T. E. Esq. Trinity College,
Cambridge
•Phelps, Rev. Dr. Master of Sidney
Sussex College, Cambridge
•Phelps, Rev. T. P. Ridley, Seven
Oaks, Kent
•Phelps, Rev. H. D. Tarrington, near
Ledbury, Hereford
•Philips, G. H. Esq. Belle Vue,
Liverpool
•Phillips, Rev. E. Surbiton, Kingston-
on-Thames
•Phillipps, R. B. Esq. Longworth, near
Ledbury
•Philpott, Rev. Other, Willand Vicar
age, Upton-on-Severn, Worcester
shire
•Philpott, Rev. T. Maddresfield, Wor
cester
•Pickering, Rev. H. Great Henney,
Sudbury
•Pickwood, Rev. John
•Piercy, Rev. J. W. Wimeswold
•Pigott, Rev. A. J. Newport, Salop
•Pigott, Rev. George, Bombay
•Pigott, Rev. H. Brasenose College
•Pinder, Rev. J. H. Precentor of
Wells
•Piatt, J. P. Esq. 39, Tavistock-square,
London
••Pocock, Rev. N. Queen's College,
Oxford
Pocock, Mr. W. Bath
•Pogson, Rev. E. J. St. John's College,
Oxford
•Ponsonby, Hon. Walter
•Pope, Rev. T. A. Jesus College,
Cambridge
•Pope, W. Esq. Christ's College, Cam
bridge
•Popham, Rev. W. Heywood, West
bury, Wilts
•Porter, Rev. C. Aughnamullen Rec
tory, Ballilay, Ireland
•Portman, Rev. F. Staple Fitzpaine
•Pountney, Rev. H. St John's, Wolver
hampton
••Powell, A. Esq. Carey Street, Lon
don

SUBSCRIBERS.
A. Caldeeote, near

••Powell, Rev. E.
Cambridge
Powell, Rev. H. T. Stretton
•Powell, Rev. J. C.
Powell, Rev. Richard, Bury, near
Arundel, Sussex
Powell, Rev. T. Turnarton, near Peter
Church
•Powell, Rev. R. Worcester College,
Oxford
•Powell, Rev. Richmond, Bury, near
Arundel, Sussex
•Power, Rev. J. P. Vicarage, Honing-
ton, Shipston-on-Stour
•Power, Rev. J., Fellow of Pembroke
CoUege, Cambridge
•Powles, Rev. R. C. Exeter College
•Pownall, Rev. C. C. B. Milton
Ernest, Bedfordshire
•Pownall, Rev. W. L. St. John's CoU.
Cambridge
•Powys, Hon. and Rev. Horace, War
rington
Poynder, Rev. F.
•Prater, Rev. T. Hardwicke, near
Bicester
•Prescott, Rev. I. P. StMary'sChapel,
Portsmouth
•Preston, Rev. Plunket, Prebendary of
Edermine, Ferns, Ireland
•Prevost, Rev. Sir George, Bart Stinch-
combe, Dursley
•Price, Rev. B. Pembroke College
•Price, E. H. Esq. St John's College,
Cambridge
•Prichard, Rev. R. Newbold Rectory,
Shipston- on-Stour
•Pridden, Rev. W. Broxted, Dunmow
•Prosser, Rev. S. Blackheath Park
•Prothero, G. Esq. Brasenose College
•Pryor, Rev. R. Spelsbury
•Pulling, Rev. W. Hereford
••Pusey, Rev. Dr. Canon of Ch. Ch.
Oxford
•Pusey, Rev. W. B. Maidstone
Pym, Rev. F.

•Radford, Rev. J. A. Down St. Mary,
near Crediton
• Raffles, Rev.W. C. Flint

•Raikes, R. Esq. Welton, near Hull
•Ramsbotham, Rev. T. Wakefield
Randolph, Rev. E. J. Tring
•Randolph, Rev. W. Newington, near
Folkstone
•Randolph, Rev. W. C. Hawkesbury
Vicarage
Raven, Rev. V. 11, Crescent-place,
Burton-crescent
•Raven, Rev. J.
•Rawle, Rev. R. Cheadle, Staffordshire
•Redfern, Rev. W. I. Taunton, So
merset
•Reed, Rev. C. Chirton House, Tyne
mouth
•Reed, Rev. J. Harold's Cross, Dublin
•Reeve, Mr. W. Leamington
•Reid, Rev. C. J. 42, Frederick- street,
Edinburgh
•Rew, Rev. Charles, Maidstone
Rhides, M. T. Esq. Stanmoor Hall,
Middlesex
•Richards, Edw. Priest, Esq. Cardiff
•Richards, Rev. Edw. Tew, Farlington
Rectory, Havant
•Richards, Rev.W. Upton, 169, Albany
Street, London
•Richards, Rev. H. M. Christ Church,
Oxford
Rickards, Rev. F. Stowlangtoft, Suffolk
•Rickards, E. P. Esq.
•Riddell, Rev. J. C. B. Harrietsham
•Riddle, John B. Esq. 2, Seymour
Place, Bristol
•Ridgway, Josh. jun. Esq.Wallsuches,
near Bolton
•Ridley, Rev.W. H. Hambledon
•Ridley, N. J. Esq. Ch. Ch. Oxford
•Ritson, J. Esq. Jesus CoUege, Cam
bridge
•Rivaz, C. Esq. Great St. Helen's
London
Roberts, Rev. J. W. CwmcynfeUn,
Aberystwith
• Roberts, Rev. H. Wanstrow Rectory,
near Frome, Somerset
•Roberts, Rev. L. Slaidbum, near
Clitheroe, Yorkshire
•Robertson, Dr. Doctors' Commons,
London
•Robertson, Rev. J. C. Beakesbourne,
Canterbury

LIBRARY OF ANGLO-CATHOLIC THEOLOGY.

•Robertson, Rev. J. C. Cheddington
Hemel Hempstead, Bucks
•Robertson, Rev. G. S. Esq. Exeter
College, Oxford
•Robertson, Rev. J. Gateshead Fell,
Durham
•Robin, Rev. P.R.Itchen, Southampton
•Robins, Rev. Sanderson, Shaftsbury,
Dorsetshire
•Robinson, Rev. Sir George, Bart.
Cranford, Northamptonshire
•Robinson, Rev. Christr. Kirknewton,
near Wooler, Northumberland
•Robinson, Rev. R. B. Lytham, near
Preston
•Rodmell, Rev. J.
•Rodwell, Rev. J. M. St Peter's,
Saffion Hill, 7, Park Terrace,
Barnsbury Park
•Rodwell, Rev. R. M. Curate of Wi
tham, Essex
•Rogers, Edward, Esq. Eliot Place,
Blackheath, Kent
Rooke, Seton, Esq. Oriel College,
Oxford
•Roper, Rev. C. Rector of St Olave's
Rose, Rev. H. H. Erdington
•Ross, Rev. I. L. Fyfield, near Burford
••Ross and Argyll, Diocesan Library of
••Routh, Rev. Dr. President of Magd.
College, Oxford
*Routledge,Rev.W.Ilminster,Somerset •Rowlandson, Rev. J. Mansergh, near
Kirby Lonsdale
•Rowsell, Rev. T. J.
•Rudd, Rev. L. H. Reading
•* Russell, D. Watts, Esq. Biggin Hall,
Oundle
** Russell, I. Watts, Esq. Ham Hall,
Ashbourn, Derbyshire
•Russell, Rev. S. Printing House Sq.,
London
•Ryde, J. G. Esq. St. John's College,
Oxford

Samler, Rev. J. H. Bampton, Oxon
Sandford, Rev. G.B.Minshull, Cheshire
Sandford, Rev. John, Dunchurch, near
Rugby
•Sandford, Frederick, Esq.

•Sandham, Rev. James
•Sandham, C. Esq. Caius College,
Cambridge
•Sandilands, Hon. and Rev. J. Coston
Rectory, Melton Mowbray
•Sandon, Lord, 39, Grosvenor-square,
London
Sankey, P. Esq. St. John's Coll. Oxford
•Sargeant, Rev. R. Worcester
Saunders, Rev. A. P. D.D. Master of
the Charter House
•Saunders, Rev. C. Tarrant, Hurton
•Savage, Rev. W. Queen's CoU. Oxford
•Savory, J. S. Esq. 16, Somerset Place,
Bath
Scarth, Rev. H. Bathwick, Bath
•Schofield, Rich. L. Esq. 20, Coleshill
Street, Eaton Square
••Scott, Rev. R. Duloe, Cornwall
• Scott, Rev. W. Ch. Ch. Hoxton
•Scougall, H. B. Esq. Corpus Christi
College, Cambridge
•Scudamore, Rev. W. E. Ditchingham,
Bungay
•Scudding, Rev. H. Downing College
•Selwyn, Rev. W. Canon of Ely
Sewell, Rev. W. Exeter Coll. Oxford
•Seymour, E. W. Esq. Porthmawr,
Breconshire
Seymour, Rev. Sir J. Hobart, Bart.,
Prebendary of Gloucester
•Seymour,Rev. R. Kinwarton, Alcester
•Shairp, John C. Esq. Balliol Coll.,
Oxford
•Sharpe, Rev, W, C. M.A.
•Sharpe, Mr. M. 0. Bookseller, 4,
Berkeley Square
•Sharpies, Rev. James Hool, War
rington
•Shaw, Mrs. George, Fen Drayton,
St. Ives
•Shaw, Rev. John, Stoke, Slough, Bucks
Shaw, Rev. M. Hawkhurst, Kent
•Shea, Rev. Robert Francis Jones,
Churton Heath, Chester
•Shedden, Rev. S. Pembroke College
•Shelley, Rev. John, Kingsby Rectory,
Cheadle, Staffordshire
•Shepherd, Rev. S. North Somercote,
near Louth, Lincolnshire
•Sheppard, J. H. Esq. Queen's College,
Oxford

SUBSCRIBERS.

•Sheppard, Rev. J. G. Repton Priory,
Burton-on-Trent
•Sheppard, Rev. F. M.A. Clare Hall,
Cambridge
Shield, Rev. W. T. Durham
•Shilieto, Rev. Richard, M.A. King's
CoUege, Cambridge
•Shilieto, Rev. W. York
Shillibeer, Rev. J. Oundle
•Shipston-on-Stour Theological Book
Society
•Shipton, Rev. J. N. Othery, near
Bridgewater
•Shirreff, Rev. S. B. Birkwell Minden,
Warwick
•Shirreff, Rev. R. St. John, Blackheath
•Shortland, Rev. H. Rector of Twin-
stead
•Short, Rev. A. Ravensthorpe
Shuttleworth, Rev. E.
•Sidgwick, C. Esq. Skipton, Yorkshire
•Sillifant, J. W. Esq. Exeter College,
Oxford
•Simes, G. F. Esq.
•Simms, Rev. E. Bath
Simpson, Rev. H. BexhiU
•Simpson, Rev. W. H. Louth, Lincoln
shire
•Simpson, R. Esq.
•Singer, Rev. Dr. I. H., S.F.T.C.D.
* Singleton, Rev. R. C. Warden of
St, Columba's College, Stackallan,
Ireland
•Sion College Library
•Skeffington, Hon. H. R. Worcester
College, Oxford
•Skeffington, Hon. T. C. F. Worcester
College, Oxford
•Skinner, Fitzowen, Esq. 23, Keppel
Street, RusseU Square
*Skinner, Rev. J. Windsor
•Skrine, Rev. Harcourt, Sunbury,
Middlesex
•Slade, Rev. James, Bolton
•Sladen, Rev. E. H. M. Bockleton
••Slatter, Rev. John
•Slight, Rev. H. S. Corpus Christi
College, Oxford
•SmaU, Rev. Nath.P. Market Bosworth,
Hinckley
•Smirke, Sir Robert, London, 5, Strat
ford Place, Oxford-street, London

•Smith, Rev. J. Campbell, Dawlish,
Devon
•Smith, Rev. Edw.
Smith, Rev. G. Garvagh, Ireland
•Smith, Rev. H. T. Queen's College'
Oxford
•Smith, Rev. J. Trinity College, Oxford
•Smith, Rev. W. Great Cauford, Wim
borne
•Smith, H. W. Esq.
•Smith, R. P. Esq. Pembroke College
Smith, Rev. H. Sennicotts, Chichester
•Smith, Rev. E. Forgue
•Smyth, Rev. H. Fenner, Glebe, Johns
town
* Smy thies, Rev. E. Sheepstead, Lough
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Snare, Mr. John, Reading
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lege, Oxford
•Steel, H. W. Esq. Mathune, near
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••Stert, Rev. A. R. 33, Connaught
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•Street, W. F. Esq. 13, Austin Friars,
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