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AN INaUIRY INTO THE GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF
SCRIPTURE- INTERPRETATION, IN
EIGHT SERMONS
PREACHED BEFORE
THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD.
IN THE YEAR MDCCCXIV,
AT THE
LECTURE FOUNDED BY
THE LATE REV. JOHN BAMPTON, M. A.
CANON OF SALISBURY.

BY
WILLIAM VAN MILDERT, D.D.
RE6IUS PROFESSOR OF DIVINITY, CANON OF CHRIST CHURCH^
AND PREACHER TO THE HONOURABLE lOCIETY OF
LINCOLN'S INN.

OXFORD:
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS FOR THE AUTHOR.
SOLD BY MESSRS. PARKER, OXFORD ; BY MESSRS. RIVINGTON3
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH YARD; T. PAYNE, PALL MALL i
AND J. HATGHARD, PICCADILLY, LONDOJT."
181*.

TO
THE RIGHT REVEREND
AND REVEREND
THE HEADS OF COLLEGES
IN THE
UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD,
THE
FOLLOWING SERMONS,
PREACHED BY THEIR APPOINTMENT,
ARE RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED.
Jan. 9, 1S15,

CONTENTS.

SERMON L

Introductory Observations on Religious Contro?
versy . Necessity of adhering to some general
Principles, of Scripture-Interpretation. Plan
of the ensuing Discourses. Titus i. 9.
Holding fast the faithful word, as he hath- been taught,
that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort
and to convince the gainsayers,
SERMON U.
Dispositions and Qualifications previously re
quisite- in the Inter - ' ;\ ;'.\^;*ScriptHTe.
John vifi,;!^"'" /
ijT any man vAll do His will., ^ .<:lia'i:l hww of the doc^
trine j wheth^itoe of God. '
SERMON III.
Authority of Scripture as the Rule of Faith and
the Interpreter of its own Doctrines.
1 Peter iv. 11. ,
If any man Speak, let him speak as the orades of God,

vi CONTENTS.
SERMON IV,
Continuation of the same Subject, with reference
to other means necessary for the Interpretation
of Scripture, in ' subordination to Scripture it-
*elfc ~ 1 Peter iv. ll.
Jfany man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God.
SERMON V.
Analysis of Scripture. Fundamental Truths.
Distinctions respecting the several Dispensa-
. tions of Revealed Religion. Various Subject-
matter of the Sacred Writings. Different Oc
casions and Purposes for which they were
composed. r
2 Timothy ii. 15.
¦' nightly dividing the word of truth.
SERMON VL
Analogy of Faith. Systematic Arrangements of
Scripture-Truth. Attention to Verbal, Histori
cal, and Doctrinal Analogies indispensably ne
cessary. Errors arising from the neglect of
them. 1 Corinthians ii. 13.
Compa/ring spiritual things with spiritual.

CONTENTS. Yii
SERMON VIL
Figurative and mystical Interpretation of Scrip
ture. Its proper Use explained and illustrated.
Parables, Types, and Allegories. Cautions
against its Misapplication, and the danger of
carrying it to Excess.
2 Corinthians iii. 6.
Who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testa
ment ; not of the letter, but of the spirit : for the letter
kilkth, but the spirit giveth life.
SERMON VIII.
Preservation of Scripture-Truth a sacred Charge
cqiumitted to the Church. Inquiry how far
it has hitherto fulfilled that Trust. Con
duct of the Church of England in this respect.
Her Principles of Scripture-Interpretation. Her
Purity and Moderation. Importance of main
taining her Afecendancy, for the general in
terests of Christianity. 1 Timothy iii. 15.
Which is the Cliurch of the living God, the pillar and
ground of the Truth.

EXTRACT

FROM

THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT

OF THE LATE

REV. JOHN BAMPTON,

CANON OF SALISBURY.

 " I give and bequeath my Lands and
*' Eftates to the Chancellor, Mafters, and Scholars
** of the Univerfity of Oxford for ever, to have and
*' to hold all and fingular the faid Lands or Eftates
^' upon truft, and to the intents and purpofes herein-
" after mentioned ; that is to fay, I will and appoint'
" that the Vice-Chancellor of the Univerfity of Ox-
*' ford for the time being fhall take and receive all
" the rents, iflues, and profits thereof, and (after all
*' taxes, reparations, and rieceflary dedudlions made)
" that he pay all the remainder to the endowment
" of eight Divinity Ledlure Sermons, to be efta-'
" bliftied for ever in the faid Univerfity, and to be
" performed in the manner following :
"1 direft and appoint, that, upon the firft Tuef-'
** day in Eafter Term, a Ledlurer be yearly chofea

EXTRACT FROM
" by the Heads of Colleges only, and by no others,
" in the room adjoining to the Printing-Houfe,
" between the hours of ten in the morning and
" two in the afternoon, to preach eight Divinity
" Lecture Sermons, the year following, at St,
" Mary's in Oxfotd, between the commencement
" of the laft month in Lent Term, and the end of
*' the third week in Adl Term.
" Alfo I diredl and tippoint, that the eight Di-
*' vinity Le<fture Sermons Ihall be preached upon
" either of the following SubjecSts — to confirm and
" eftablifh the Chriftian Faith, and to confute all
" heretics and fchifmatics — upon the divine au-
" thority of the holy Scriptures — upon the autho-
" rity of the writings of the primitive Fathers, as
" to the faith and pradlice of the primitive Church
" — upon the Divinity of our Lord and Saviour
*< Jefus Chrift — upon the Divinity of the Holy
" Ghoft — upon the Articles of the Chriftian Faith,
" as comprehended in the Apoftles' and Nicene
« Creeds. " Alfo I direft, that thirty copies of the eight
" Divinity Ledlure Sermons fhall be always printed,
" within two months after they are preached, and
" one copy fhall be given to the Chancellor of the
" Univerfity, and one copy to the Head of every
" College, and one copy to the Mayor of the city
" of Oxford, and one copy to be put into the Bod-
*' leian Library ; and the expence of printing them
" fhall be paid out of the revenue of the Land or
" Eftates given for eftablifhing the Divinity Lee-

CANON BAMPTON'S WILL. ri
« ture Sermons ; and the Preacher fhall not be paid,
" nor be entitled to the revenue, before they are
" printed. *' Alfo I direft and appoint, that no perfon fhall
" be qualified to preach the Divinity Lefture Ser-
" mons, unlefs he hath taken the degree of Mafter
" of Arts at leaft, in one of the two Univerfities
" of Oxford or Cambridge ; and that the fame per-
" fon fhall never preach the Divinity Lecture Ser*
" mons twice."

SERMON I.

TiTus i. 9.

Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been
taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine
both to ewhort and to convince the gain
sayers.
1 0 a person well grounded in the prin
ciples of Revealed Religion, and whose
faith has never yet been shaken by any
«Ettempts to subvert it, matter of astonish
ment and perplex;ity is continually pre
sented, in contemplating the prodigious
diversity of religious opinions which agitate
the Christian world. That Christianity it
self should be opposed by any who have
had sufficient opportunities of examining
its pretensions, is a phenomenon not easily
explained upon the ordinary principles of
human conduct. But still more inexplica-
B ble

2 SERMON I.
ble does it appear, that among those who
professedly agree as to the general truth of
the Gospel, there should be found any ir-
reconcileable difFepence respecting its par
ticular doctrines; and that such a differ
ence should exist even on points acknow
ledged, on all sides, to be of fundamental
importance. It also increases this per
plexity, that the Sacred Writers strenuous
ly urge unanimity, as well as sincerity, in
the profession of the Faith. They exhort
that all dissensions and divisions should be
avoided, although they allow not of any
compromise of truth for the sake of peacfe
and amity. Whence we are naturally led to
ihfer, that truth is certainly attainable by a
right application of the rule of faith which
these inspired Teachers have left us; and
that a disagreement in the application of
it indicates. On the part of some of its in-
tetpretePs, a deviation from the rule itself.
Nevertheless, it is a fact bey<)nd dispute,
that these apt)stOlical injunctions have not
hitherto produced their full effect ; sinCe^
from the earliest ages of the Church to
the present day, heresies anid schisms Have
arisen

SEJIMON I. 3
arisen in rapid succession, baffling every
attempt at their entire extirpation.
This \yould be a circunistance very dis
couraging to the sincere believer in God's
word, had not that same word forewarned
him of the event; giving also directions for
conducting this warfare betwixt truth and
falsehood, and clearly predicting its suc
cessful issue.
Among rnany other instructions to the
same effect, St. Paul, in the words of the
tejct, warns the Christian minister to be
|)repared for the work of controversy. ** To
.*^ exhort ^nd to convince the gainsayers,"
he represents as an indispensable part of
the pastoral office. He represents it ^.l^o
as a duty, for which he is^ to qualify him
self by "sound doctrine;" by doctrine ob-
.tained from the fountain-:head of Scripture
truth, "the faithful word;" that .word,
delivered by holy men inspired of God,
,who exhibited incontrovertible , credentials
of their Divine commission to instruct
mankind. ,. <
No great research is requisite, to shew
the necessity of this admonition, or to
B 2 prove

4 SERMON I.
prove how large a portion of good has,
under Divine Providence, resulted from
the apparent evil which renders it neces
sary. Every day's experience testifies^ that
the truth is more and more illustrated by
that investigation which the perversenfess
of its opponents continually calls forth.
This benefit the Christian Church has a-
bundant reason to acknowledge. What
article of the Faith has not received some
additional confirmation ; nay, what sup
port has not the Faith itself, in general,
received, from the profound and elaborate
disquisitions which its adversaries have pro
voked? So ample, indeed, have been the
contributions thus made to the stores of
theological knowiedge^ that, on many of
its weightiest subjects, more information
perhaps is now to be obtained from po
lemical than from merely didactic treatises.
Of this description were the 'greater part
of the writings of- the 'early Fathers of the
Church ; occasioned by the efforts, either
of Infidels, to subvert the whole fabric of
Christianity, or of Heretics, to despoil it
of its essential doctrines. Nay, the writings of

SERMON I. S
of the Apostles themselves (excepting their
historical narratives) appear to have been,
for the most part, controversial ; written,
not so much for the purpose of elementary
instruction, as for the refutation of errors
which had already crept into the Church.
And who does not know, that, in these
latter times, the most successful promoters
of rehgious truth are to be found among
those who have been challenged to its de
fence, by bold oppugners of the Faith, or
by abettors of specious heresy ?
But while we gratefully acknowledge this
good, to have been eventually derived from
the labours thus called forth, let us not
overlook the positive evils that attend it,
nor forget the awful denunciation of our
blessed Master, *' Woe unto the world be-
" cause of offences*! The offences hereby
occasioned are, indeed, neither light nor
few. The faith of multitudes is shaken ;
of some, entirely overthrown. Many are
confirmed in unbelief The corrupt pas
sions of men are fostered; their preju-
» Matth. xviii. 7.
B 3 dices

6 SERMON L .
dices strengthened; and unchristian acri
mony and bitternefefe too often engendered.
Therefore, " although it must heeds be
*< that offences come," and although the
providence of God 1-enders thein instrii^
tnental to good more than proportionate
to the evil, yet fot- tbat portioil df evil,
whatever it may be, is the assailant of the
truth responsible : — " Woe iinto that man
" by whom the offence cOmeth !"
Religious controversy, then, is not to be
considered as, in itself, indicative of an
unchristian spirit. It is good or evil, ac
cording to the principles which it upholds,
tlie purpose in which it originates, thte ob
ject to which it is applied, and the temper
with which it is conducted. If it spi*ifig
from a mere spirit of contention ; from de
sire of victory, not love of truth ; or from
stubbornness that will not be brought into
captivity to the obedience of Christ; Chris
tianity will not acknowledge it for her Own.
If it be employed on questions unbefitting
human disputation ; questions, inaccessible
to our finite understandings, unnecessary
or unimportant in their issue, and only
tending

SsERJV^lQN L 7
tending to perpetuate strife, or to unsettle
thC; ppjinions and disquiet the minds of
men ; then is. it also unworthy of the
Christian character. Nor is it void of ^ of
fence, when, however sound its principle,
however important its subject, however
irrefragable its argument? it is made the
vehicle of personal malignity; when it, is
carried on with a spirit that rends asunder
the social ties, and exasperates, instead of
endeavouring to soften, the irritable feel
ings which, even in its mildest aspect, it is
but toQ apt to excite.
. But these evil consequences^ which flow
from t the abuse of controversy and from
Causes by no means necessarily connected
with religious discussion, ought not to
deter us froni its proper use, when truth
requires its aid. Controversy is worse than
useless, if it have no better end in view
than a display of mental i^uperiority, or
iJae self-gratification which, to minds of a
certain cast, it appears to afford. For as,
in secular disputes, it is the legitimate end
of warfare to produce peace ; so, in pole-
iniical discussion, the attainment of unani-
B 4 mity

8 SERMON I.
mity ought to be the main object. War is
waged, because peace cannot be obtained
without it. Religious controversy is main
tained, because agreement in the truth is
not otherwise to be effected. When this
necessity is laid upon us, we do but acquit
ourselves of an indispensable duty, in de-^
fending the charge committed to our care^
by the use of those weapons with which
the armoury of the Divine Word supplies
us. Nevertheless, there prevails, in the pre
sent day, a spurious kind of liberality,
which would teach us to regard with equal
complacency almost every diversity of reli^
gibus opinion, liowever irreconcileable with
the tenets which we ourselves believe to
be the unsophisticated doctrine of God's
word. Hence, though that word is made
by many the instrument of spreading re
ligious error, yet, because it is appealed to
for the sanction of error as well as of truth,
we are often called upon to give the right
hand of fellowship even to those by whom
it is thus perverted. As if the time were
already cOme when " the wolf should dwell with

SERMON I. 9
" with the lamb, and the leopard lie down
** with the kid*"," and nothing should
" hurt or destroy in all God's holy moun-
" tain%" many are lulled into security un
der a persuasion that error and falsehood
are harmless in their nature, and will cease
to molest us, if we admit them into our
fold. According to this persuasion. Chris
tian chaiity seems to have lost one of its
distinctive characters, that of " rejoicing
" in the truth '^," and to rejoice rather in
sacrificing the truth for the semblance of
concord. "The bond of peace" is no
longer to be found in " unity of spirit*;"
but diversity and disunion are to work
the happy effect. A boundless latitudi-
narianism is to supply the place of fixed
principles: and to every religionist who
professes to derive his tenets from the
Scriptures, the plea is to be allowed of an
equal adherence to Divine truth; as if the
word of God were responsible for what
ever of confusion or contrariety may be
engfafted upon it by human devices !
^ Isa, xi. 6. <= Isa. xi. 9.
d 1 Cor. "xiii, 6, ' Ephes. iv. 3.
Were

10 SERMON I.
Were these sentiments generally admit
ted, and practically carried to their full
extent, there would indeed be no longer
occasion for the study of controversial Di
vinity. St. Paul's admonition to " hold
" fast the faithful word," for tho purpose
of " exhorting and convincing gainsayers,''
might be regarded as an obsolete precept,
superseded by later discoveries. Error and
Truth might go hand in hand. Credulity
and Incredulity might concur in erecting a
motley fabric, of divers proportions and of
fantastic forms, on the ruins of the solid
and venerable edifice of Christian unani
mity. Every argument, howevei, that can be
urged, to shew the necessity of " contend -
*' ing for the faith," and endeavouring to
" convince the gainsayers," proceeds on
the supposition that there is some acknow
ledged foundation, on which the matter in
discussion rests. It also presupposes some
acknowledged rules or maxims, by which
the discussion is to be regulated. Other
wise, instead of being able to adapt to our
case the Apostle's expressions, "So run I,
" not

((

SERMON 1. 11
not ak Uncertainly; so fight I, not as
one that beateth the air';" we may at
last be found among the number of those
tvhom the same Apostle describes as " ever
" learning, but never able to cOme to the
" knowledge of the truths."
Controversy, therefore, as it respects
professed Christian believers, is but an
other term for maintaining what, on either
side, is supposed to be the true intent and
meaning of the Sacred Word. The right
Interpretation of Scripture is the direct
object of its research. The authenticity,
authority, and truth, of that Word, are as
sumed as axioms or postulates, on which
the whole inquiry is founded. It is pre
sumed also, that truth, and truth only,
can issue from this Divine source of know
ledge : for, as contrary positions in human
science cannot be received as true, so is it
impossible that contrary doctrines in theo
logy should have any real foundation in
Holy Writ. With infidels, indeed, these
postulates are not to be assumed, without
f 1 Cor, ix, 26, s 2 Tim. iii, 7- proof

12 SERMON I.
proof or evidence deduced from some
other principles, admitted both by the un
believer and the Christian. But among
professed believers a mutual agreement on
these points is necessarily implied, and any
departure from them in the course of ar
gument may justly be deemed inadmissi
ble : — a rule, however, not unfrequently
violated in the wantonness of polemical
disputation. It is evident, then, that, for the preser
vation of Christian truth and Christian
unity, there must be a general recognition
of some fixed principles of Scripture in
terpretation ; without which, it is impos
sible that we should " all speak the same
" thing ^" that our Jerusalem should be
" as a city that is at unity in itself'," or
thatj however widely the Scriptures be dif
fused, any security can be had against their
perversion. Men may be conversant with
the Word of Hfe, but read it neither with
the spirit nor with the understanding requi
site to a right apprehension of its contents.
*> 1 Cor. i. 10. i Psal. cxxii, 3,
Nor

SERMON I. 13
if Nor does this view of the subject de
rogate, in any respect, from the suffi
ciency of the Sacred Writings for the pur
pose they were intended to effect. For
though it be most true, that they " are
" able to make us wise unto salvation'',"
yet that implies not that the effect will be
produced without due care and diligence
on the part of those who receive them.
The Scriptures themselves intimate the
contrary, in their admonitions that we be
ware of " corrupting the word of God V'
of being led away by " false teachers™,"
of " handling the word of God deceitful-
** Jy">" and of being "wise in our own
" conceits"." To prevent these evils, the
providence of God hath ordained, that
in this, as in other concerns, the strong
should assist the weak, and they who have
abundance should minister to such as are
in need. Perhaps no man was- ever en
tirely self-instructed in his knowledge of
the Bible : nor do we read of any in-
k 2 Tim, iii, 15, ' 2 Cor, ii'. It.
«" 2 Peter ii, 1, "2 Cor, iv, 2.
<> Row. rii. 16.
K* stances

14 SERMON I.
stances of conversion to Christianity (ex
cept in cases purely miraculous) without
the instrumentality of human teaching.
The Word has never been, either under
the Jewish or the Christian dispepsatipp,
unaccompanied with the ordinance of ^
ministry to promulgate its truth. Never^
theless, the Word itself contains all that
is necessary to , salvation. Provision only
is, to be made, that neither the ignorant
nor the unstable should " wrest it to their
".destruction." For we may affirm, on the
authority of an Apostle, that to such ,a
purposcj, not only " some things ihard to
" be understood*" in St. Paul's writings,
but also " the other Scriptures" are liable
to be perverted.
The proficient in ecclesiastical history
will require no detail of evidence to con
vince him that the Scriptures have thus
oftentimes been forced from their direct
and proper channel, to yield supplies to
error. To a perverse endeavour thus to
obtain a colour of sacred authority for its
P 2 Peter iii, 17, opinions.

SERMON I. 15
opinions, religious error may indeed be
chiefly ascribed. For, does not every sect
or denomination of Christians maintain,
that it has the sanction of Scripture for its
own Creed ? And how could this be, if,
among so many contending parties, some,
at least, did not ground their interpreta
tion of it upon erroneous principles ? The
fact speaks for itself, and shews that what
ever some may dream of the facility of ex
tracting from the Scriptures a correct and
coherent system of Divine truth, this is
liardly to be effected without such quali
fications and attainments as we shall in
vain look for among a very considerable
portion of mankind.
It is a duty, then, which we owe to
that God who caused these Scriptures to
be " written for our learningi," that we
use our best faculties, and resort to the
best helps that can be obtained, for secu^
rity against their misinterpretation. More
especially is this incumbent upon them
wbo are called to the Ministerial Office,

s Rom, XV. 4. An

16 SERMON I.
An awfiil responsibility lies upon them, to
" hold fast the faithful word as they have
" been taught, that they may be able, by
"sound doctrine, both to exhort and to
" convince the gainsayers." A.nd since the
effectual discharge of thig duty demands a
competent acquaintance, not only with the
ordinary rules of criticism, the original lan
guages of the Sacred Writings, and thf
proofs of their Divine . authority, but also
with the leading errors which have from
time to time prevailed, and the sources
from which they have sprung; it will im
mediately be perceived how wide a field of
inquiry presents itself to the sincere and
diligent investigator of Scripture. Truth.
It may, therefore,, be neither unseason
able with respect to the present state of
religious opinions, . nor unsuitable to the
design of the institution which calls forth
these annual labours in the cause of truth,
if an attempt be made to establish some
general rules and principles of Scripture,-
laterpretation, and to shew the necessity
of adhering to them for the preservation of
truth, and the refutation of error. " To
" confirm.

SERMON L 17
" confirm and establish the Christian faith,
" and to confute heretics and schismatics,"
are among the declared purposes which
the pious Founder of this Lecture had in
view ; purposies, to which the proposed in
vestigation cannot 'be deemed irrelevant.
And if any one peripd more than another
may render a discussion of this kind ne
cessary, does it not seem to be when there
prevails, as in the present moment^ an ex
traordinary zeal for the dissemination of
the Scriptures ; a zeal, which, however pure
and laudable in itself, seems to call for a
correspondent care to guard against the
j5efversion, to which even that best gift of
God is liable?
There would, however, be much diffi
culty to encounter, in the course of such
an inquiry, were it necessary to exhibit in
detail the vast mass of matter which the
subject offers to our contemplation. The
field of controversy is of wide extent; and
is so crowded with an intermixture of ob
jects not readily distinguishable from each
other, that a full developement of what i^
comprises would hardly be attainable,
c within

18 SERMON L
within the compass prescribed to the pre
sent undertaking. But to attempt this,
is neither necessary, nor expedient. For,
though Error is multiform. Truth is, for the
most part, simple and undivided : and the
straight line being once ascertained, every
deviation from it will be readily discerned.
Clear and distinct conceptions of the main
points which constitute the system of our
Faith, are, however, indispensable; because,
these being accurately formed, every sub
ordinate or collateral topic will the more
easily be arranged in its proper place ; and
the difficulty will be much diminished, of
shewing its agreement or disagreement
with those essential parts of the system to
which it appears to belong.
That truths thus essential to the system
are to be collected from the Sacred Writ
ings; and that, when established, they form
the proper test of all religious opinions of
minor consideration ; are positions virtu
ally recognized in every Creed or Confes
sion of Faith introduced into the Christian
Church, To regard such formularies as
unwarrantable impositions on Christian li
berty.

SERMON I. 19
berty, is to overlook their obvious utility,
if not necessity, towards the preservation
of sound doctrine, or of any real unani
mity in articles of Faith. And though
a liberty must be allowed of examining
whether any such Creed, compiled by hu
man authority, declares the genuine truths
of Holy Writ ; yet if, upon a fair examina
tion, it be found to preserve the essentials
of the Faith entire and uncorrupted, no
difference of opinion on lesser matters will
warrant the violation of Christian unity.
Were this duly regarded, it might tend to
diminish considerably the number of con
troversial points : many of which would
probably be dismissed as unworthy of se
rious contention ; while others, of greater
magnitude and importance, would be so
much the more prominent to observation,
and, by being disencumbered of extra
neous matter, be so much the more easily
defended against their assailants.
It is important then to ascertain in
what these essentials consist. But this can?
not be done, without deciding upon certain
preliminary questions which affect the whole
c 2 inquiry.

20 SERMON I.
inquiry. To agree in the interpretation of
Scripture, there must be a concurrence in
the general principles of interpretation.
Some variety of opinion may indeed be
expected, notwithstanding such a general
concurrence : but a variation so circum
stanced can hardly involve an error, on
either side, dangerous or incapable of ad
justment. On the other hand, a radical
disagreement concerning these first princi
ples of the subject to be discussed, pre
cludes the hope of bringing men to be
" perfectly joined together in the same
" mind and in the same judgment"."
The method, by which it is intended to
pursue the present inquiry, will be adapted
to this view of the subject. There can be
no necessity for a minute consideration of
rules of criticism common to every species
of writing, and on which scarcely any dif
ference of opinion may be supposed to
exist. These appertain to the interpreter
of Scripture as a general scholar, rather
than as a theologian : and though it be
•; 1 Cor, i, 10.
most

SERMON L 21
most true, that the theologian would be
justly exposed to contempt, who, in his
endeavour to expound the Sacred Word,
should violate any established canon of ordi
nary criticism ; yet if the Scriptures them
selves have a peculiar and extraordinary
character impressed upon them, which takes
them out of the class of ordinary writings,
that character, whatever it be, ought un
questionably to form the basis of his judg
ment respecting the matters which they
contain. The knowledge of Divine truth is in
deed perfectly distinct from human sci
ence, in that it emanates immediately from
the Fountain of infinite wisdom. Yet has
it this in common with human science,
that it is made by its heavenly Author to
flow through the channel of human in
struction. While therefore we " receive
" it not as the word of men, but, as it is
" in truth, the word of God'," we must
nevertheless examine it as it is delivered to
us, clothed in the language of men, and
s 1 Thess, ii. 13,
, c 3 subject

22 SERMON l.
subject to the general rules of human
composition. The deference due to it as a
Divine production does not interfere with
this province of human learning; it only ex
acts submission with respect to the subject-
matter of the revelation, to which the cri
tical investigation is entirely subordinate.
For the fuller developement of these ge
neral principles, it is purposed to consider,
in the first place, the moral qualifications
requisite for a right apprehension of the
Sacred Word *. An inquiry will then be
instituted into the paramount authority of
that Word as the rule of faith, and its own
interpreter " : and, in connection with this,
will follow a consideration of the subsi
diary means by which, subject to that au
thority, its interpretation must be sought ''.
The ground being thus cleared of preli
minary difficulties, and a secure basis laid
for a solid fabric of Scripture truth ; the
question, how the superstructure is to be
raised, will then remain to be considered.
« Lect. II, « Lect, III,
" Lect, IV. This

SERMON I. 23
This will lead to some observations upon
the proper mode of analyzing >' the con
tents of Scripture, and of combining^ them
again into a coherent and harmonious
system. As supplementary also to this
part of the inquiry, some remarks will be
necessary upon the distinction between the
literal and figurative sense of Scripture*;
a distinction, affecting in its result many
important controversies in the Christian
Church. Under these several heads may be in
troduced all that is necessary for a com
pendious view of the subject ; and occa
sion will be given for as much detail of
its particulars, as may suffice for the mere
purpose of illustration. It will also in
cidentally be seen, how far an agreement
on points essential to salvation has hither
to prevailed in the Church Catholic, and
whence have sprung the leading errors
and corruptions, which have from time to
time made inroads on the Faith. The in
quiry may then be closed with a brief
y Lect, V, z Lect, VI, a Lect, VII,
c 4 con-

24 SERMON L
consideration of the sacred charge com
mitted to the Church'', of preserving the
Truth inviolate; accompanied with some
not unseasonable observations on the Con
duct of our own Church in particular, in
this respect ; on its purity in doctrine and
in discipline, its safety as a guide to Scrip
ture truth, and its adherence to those
sound principles of interpretation, which
afford the best security against the " per-
" verse disputings of men of corrupt
" minds %" and can alone prevent us from
being " carried about with every wind of
" doctrine*^." Of the difficulty, as well as the import
ance of these subjects, none ought to be
more sensible than he who attempts to
discuss them. It is only a just sense of
that difficulty, which can induce such a
dispassionate jand sober-minded considera
tion of them, as may be expected to lead
to successful results. They indeed who
have been most conversant with such dis
quisitions, will be the most cautious, and
" Lect. VIIL c 1 Tim. vi. 5. d Ephes. iy. 14.
the

SERMON L 25
the most candid, in forming their deci
sions. " Masters in Israel" will hardly
expect, from a work necessarily so cir
cumscribed in its extent, any considerable
accessions of knowledge on topics already
familiar to their minds. But to less ex
perienced students, nothing is unimportant
which may open a way for pursuing a safe
and satisfactory course of inquiry into re
ligious truth. Knowing by what principles
the Christian scholar is to conduct that
inquiry, and what helps are necessary to
insure its success, they will be better able
to judge of the various matters of contro
versy presented to their view, and better
armed against the errors of an age, un
stable and unwary, prone to follow every
phantom that flits before it, and lightly to
regard the attainments of former times.
The labour will not be lost, if, through
the Divine blessing on the endeavour,
faith be, in any instance, strengthened by
hearing, and hearing lead to a right un
derstanding of the word of God.

SERMON

SERMON II.

John vii. 1^.
If any man will do his will, he shall know of
the doctrine, whether it be of God.
JMANY difficulties present themselves in
attempting the solution of that important
question. Whence comes religious error ?
For, not only are the several species of
error so various and discordant, as to
make it scarcely possible to trace them all
to similar causes ; but no less different are
the dispositions, the habits, and the attain
ments, of those by whom they are up-
holden. On the one hand, we see the
thoughtless and the considerate, the vain
and the modest, the sober and the licen
tious, the illiterate and the scholar, linked
together by some common bond of opi
nions respecting what they deem to be the
truth : on the other hand, we see persons
for the most part similar in their moral and

28 SERMON IL
and intellectual qualities, who, on these
subjects, appear to be irreconcileably at
variance. This anomaly in the human
character it may not be easy to explain.
But of one thing we are certain, that
whatever is repugnant to truth, is repug
nant to the Divine will. That the mer
ciful God and Father of all would " have
" all men to be saved and to come to the
*' knowledge of the truth"," is a maxim
entirely consonant with every notion we
can form of the Divine perfections, as well
as with the declarations of Holy Writ. No
error can be supposed to issue from Divine
wisdom, or to be the object of Divine ap
probation. Its source must be sought else
where ; since the very term error denotes
a deviation from some line of rectitude :
and what but rectitude can proceed from
Him who is the acknowledged Fountain of
perfection ?
Searching the Scriptures for an eluci
dation of this subject, we there find not
only unbelief, but heresy and schism also,
a 1 Tim. ii, 4, ascribed

SERMON IL 29
ascribed partly to human perverseneSs, and
partly to the influence of a spiritual ad
versary operating upon fallen man's pre
disposition to evil. This indeed is the
solution there offered to us of moral evil
in general, as well as of that particular
species of it which leads men to " make
" shipwreck of their faith." The parables
of the sower and of the tares place the
subject in this point of view : and various
apostolical admonitions concur in repre
senting that the will of man, whether yield
ing to its own inward propensities, or to
some evil suggestions from without, is
deeply concerned in every departure from
the truth.
Conformably with this representation,
our Lord frequently charges the Jews with
wilfulness and obstinacy in rejecting his
doctrine. He addresses them as persons
possessing the means of reasonable convic
tion, but not disposed to use them aright.-
He says of them, that they had " no cloke
"for their sin**" in this respect; that
b Johaxy.-22. they

30 SERMON IL
they " would not come to him that they
" might have life';" and that they "loved
" darkness rather than hght, because their
" deeds were eviP." In the words of the
text he virtually conveys a similar reproof;
intimating that their ignorance of the just
ness of his pretensions (if ignorance it might
be called,) proceeded from an indisposition
to do the will of God.
The Jewish Scribes and Pharisees de
spised our Lord for the want of those at
tainments in religious learning, which they
arrogated to themselves ; and they alleged
this supposed deficiency on his part as the
ground of their unbelief: " How knoweth
" this man letters, having never learned''?"
An objection, the same in substance with
that, of which we read in another part of
the Evangelical history, " Is not this the
" carpenter's son ? is not his mother called
" Mary ? and his brethren, James, and
" Joses, and Simon, and Judas ? and his
" sisters, are not they all with us ? Whence
i^ John V. 40, d John iii, 19.
= John vii. 15. " then

SERMON IL 31
" then hath this man all these things'^?"
With such contempt did they regard that
lowly station which seemed to haVe pre
cluded him from the advantages of a su
perior education !
To these cavils our Lord replies, that
his pretensions were not founded on any
such advantages, but depended on testi
monies of a very different description ; on
proofs of a much higher nature, and such
as they were well able to appreciate, if dis
posed to receive them. " My doctrine,"
says he, " is not mine, but his that sent
" me^." " His word was with power*"."
It was accompanied with incontrovertible
evidences of its Divine original : and so clear
were those evidences, that he adds, with
out reserve, " If any man will do his will,"
i. e. the will of God, " he shall know
" of the doctrine, whether it be of God,
" or whether I speak of myself" He then
proceeds to shew their perverseness in sub
mitting to the Law, and to the authority of
f Matth, xiii, 55, 56, S John vii, 16,
h Luke iv, 32,
Moses,

32 SERMON IL
Moses, and yet rejecting His claims, founded
upon similar and even stronger grounds of
acceptance: and he closes the conference
with declaring, that, notwithstanding their
pretended doubts, they " both knew him,
" and knew from whence he came'."
The words of the text, then, were ad
dressed immediately to the Jews, and had
especial reference to their peculiar case.
The Jews had advantages above other per
sons, for trying the vahdity of our Lord's
pretensions and the truth of his doctrine.
To them had been committed the ancient
oracles of God, " the law and the testi
mony"'," which were to form the criterion
of every subsequent revelation. Our Lord
declared, that " not one tittle of that law
" should pass away till all had been ful-
" filled'." ¦ His appeal therefore was made
to their own Scriptures : and had they been
sincerely desirous of conforming to the will
of God, as set forth in those Scriptures,
they would have found nO difficulty in ac
knowledging his claims. But having per-
i John vii. 28, ^ Isaiah viii. 20. ' Matth, v, 18,
versely

SERMON II. 33
versely corrupted their own Law, and being
obstinately prejudiced against every thing
interfering with their secular views, the
light of preceding revelations shone upon
them in vain, and their understandings
were darkened, that they could not dis
cern the truth.
But though this censure was specially
applied to the Jews, it is not to be re
stricted to them alone. It is couched in
general terms, and expressed as if intended
to be taken in a more enlarged significa
tion. It is not said. If ye will do his will,
ye shall know of the doctrine ; but. If any
man will do it ; — any one who investigates
the subject with a disposition to attain to
such knowledge. Whence an inference ap
pears to be deducible, that every error re
specting the Christian Faith proceeds, more
or less, from some perverseness in the mind ;
or, at least, that an earnest desire to know
and to do the will of God, is so far a ne
cessary preparative for a right understand
ing of its doctrines, that without it no pro
ficiency in that respect is reasonably to be
expected. Caution, however, is necessary,
D that

34 SERMON IL
that while we maintain the general import
ance of this maxim, we do not strain it be
yond its probable intent ; lest, in regarding
every deviation from the standard of per
fect truth as chargeable upon the will,
rather than upon the understanding of
man, and ascribing it to an mtentional
disregard of the will of God, we should
seem unmindful of that Christian charity,
which " beareth all things, believeth all
" things, hopeth all things, endureth all
" things™."Endeavouring then to divest ourselves of
any undue bias in this discussion, let us
proceed to a more particular examination
of the text, with reference both to its pre
cise signification, and to the application of
which it is capable to our general subject.
The disposition to do the will of God
appears to be the point on which the great
stress of our Lord's observation is laid : —
eoiv Tl? B-£M, if any man be willing to do the
will of God, " he shall know of the doc-
" trine whether it be of God." This will-
"' 1 Cor. xiii, 7. ingness

SERMON IL 35
ingness relates simply to the Divine autho
rity of the doctrine propounded. It im
plies a readiness to abide by such a know
ledge of God's will as may be obtained
from any well-authenticated revelation. It
is not therefore the general disposition of a
person habitually practising moral and re
ligious duties, which is here intended,
(though this is unquestionably of great im
portance in all inquiries after Sacred truth)
but it is the specific character of a person
free from prejudices unfavourable to the
object of inquiry, and prepared, nay de
sirous, to profit by its researches. To him
whose mind is thus open to conviction, our
Lord holds out the assurance of success ;
prejudice and indisposition to the object of
research being as films and mists to the
sight, which render the objects of vision
obscure and indistinct; whereas, these be
ing removed, whatever is within reach of
the faculty itself, is readily discerned.
The question indeed, how far the un
derstanding is dependent upon the will,
though, abstractedly and metaphysically
considered, it appears to be of a subtle and
D 2 diffi-

36 SERMON IL
difficult kind, is practically easy to be ap
prehended. For, although we are con
scious that the will cannot absolutely con
trol the understanding, so as to make it
believe or disbelieve, contrary to its own
convictions, yet are we equally conscious
that it can indispose it to the reception, or
even to the consideration, of particular
truths ; thus diminishing the force of that
intellectual application which may be re
quisite for the purpose. And whatever be
the motive by which the will is thus
prompted to blind or to mislead the un
derstanding, the effect may be the same.
Whether the bondage be that of igno
rance, of prejudice, or of moral corrup
tion, the mind may be equally debarred of
the free exercise of its powers, and in the
midst of light remain in darkness.
It does not, therefore, necessarily follow,
that because religious error has gained pos
session of the mind, there must be totally
vitiated affections or an incurable depravity
of heart. Neither does it follow, on the
Other hand, that uprightness and sincerity,
accompanied with well-disciplined and pure
inten-

SERMON IL 37
intentions, afford entire security against the
admission of error. As the understanding is
in some measure dependent upon the will,
so the will may be influenced by special
motives and impulses, greatly altering the
complexion of the case with respect to its
moral aspect, although the result be sub
stantially the same. Hence there may not
unfrequently be found a propensity to im
bibe false opinions in religion and a disin
clination to the truth, where it would be
difficult to fix the stain of immorality or
vice. Nevertheless, our Lord's- aphorism is
both just and of universal application. If
there be, from whatever cause, an indispo
sition to do the will of God, there will ever
be a proportionate difficulty in coming to
the knowledge of the truth : and if the
mind be free from adverse prepossessions,
obstacles will be so much the more easily
removed. This we may conceive to be the
full scope and meaning of the text. Let
us now consider how it may b^ applied to
our general subject of Scripture-interpre
tation. d3 At

38 SERMON IL
At first sight, it may appear that the
position, " If any man will do his will, he
" shall know of the doctrine whether it be
"of God," applies rather to the belief or
disbelief of God's word in general, than to
the interpretation ofits particular doctrines.
We may easily perceive the influence of a
predisposition to conform to the Divine
will, in prevailing upon men to embrace
what is proposed to them as a Divine re
velation ; but we may not so clearly discern
how a right exposition of what is contained
in that revelation depends on such a frame
of mind. The connection between virtue
and faith on the one hand, or vice and in
fidelity on the other, is undoubtedly much
more obvious to common apprehension,
than the connection of a right or wrong
interpretation of the Scriptures with a good
or evil disposition.
For the elucidation then of this point,
let it be observed, that in the pursuit of
every kind of knowledge an earnest desire
to obtain correct views of it, greatly facili
tates the labour, and is necessary to ensure
its success. And if this be true of other
studies,

SERMON IL 39
studies, still more evidently is it so in that
of Revealed Religion. It is a circumstance
which distinguishes this from every other
study, that the knowledge it obtains is de
rived from the authority of an Instructor
whose wisdom is infallible, and whose will
is above control. It is essential to the
sincere inquirer, that he should enter upon
the research with this consideration deeply
engraven upon his mind. Such moral dis
positions as are requisite in other pursuits,
and especially that love of truth which is
the powerful stimulus to improvement of
every kind, are doubtless indispensable also
in the character of the Sacred interpreter.
But to complete that character, something
more is also required. The Bible has pre
tensions exclusively its own. In his inter
pretation of it, the critic must ever bear in
mind, that it is the work of Sacred Penmen,
not of unassisted human powers. There
fore, not only an ordinary sohcitude to
avoid error, but also a readiness to submit,
where the subject requires it, the under
standing and the affections to what is pro
pounded on such authority, becomes the
D 4 duty

40 SERMON IL
duty of the theological student; a duty,
never to be unconditionally exacted, where
the composition is merely human ; never to
be on any pretence dispensed with, where
it is confessedly Divine.
This frame of mind is evidently included
in that faith which the Scriptures repre-r
sent as the proper inlet to spiritual know
ledge. This is the main spring by which
the work of religion operates both upon
the heart and upon the intellect of man.
It opens the eye to see the wonders of the
Divine law : it opens the ear to hear the
voice of heavenly wisdom : it removes
mountains in the way to knowledge : it
invigorates every faculty for the labour it
has to accomplish.
The Scriptures abound in declarations
to this effect. Yet none of these may be
understood to affirm, that faithf however
hvely or sincere, shall enable the inquirer
to comprehend all mysteries and all know
ledge, by giving him powers of discern
ment beyond the reach of man; or that
he shall hence be qualified, without the aid
of human learning, to interpret the Sacred Word

SERMON IL 41
Word aright. On the contrary, a willing
ness to know and to do the will of God,
implies a willingness to resort to all neces
sary helps for advancement in the truth,
and for security against error. The mean
ing therefore of any such passages can
only be, that without faith, without the
disposition to conform to the Divine will,
none will be adequately qualified for the
purpose, however otherwise gifted with
the best natural or acquired endowments.
Hence St. Paul says, " If any man think
" himself wise, let him become a fool that
" he may be wise";" that is, let him re
nounce any pretensions to a wisdom superior
to that which the word of God imparts to
him. Hence also our Lord warned his dis
ciples, that " except they became as little
" children "," they could not enter into his
kingdom ; and gave thanks to his heavenly
Father, that he had " hidden those things
" from the wise and prudent, and revealed
" them unto babesP." In the same sense we
n I Cor. iii. 18, ° Matth, xviii, 3.
P Matth, xi, 25.
may

42 SERMON IL
may also interpret the promise, that " to
" him that hath shall be given, and he
" shall have more abundance i;" implying,
that where that which has been already
communicated is carefully improved, there
will be the greatest proficiency in religious
knowledge. The interpretation of the Sa
cred Word will, doubtless, be most easily
ascertained by those whose dispositions
are most congenial with its character : and
the tendency of all these Scriptural illus
trations is, to shew that the first requisite
in the study of Divine truth (whether with
reference to the general credibility of Re
vealed Religion, Or to the interpretation of
its particular doctrines) is a genuine sin
gleness of heart, which has one main ob
ject in all its researches, that of knowing
and obeying the will of God,
To the case of avowed unbelievers there
cannot be much difficulty in applying this
criterion. For, though there may be many
whose generally virtuous conduct seems to
give them a claim of exemption from the
1 Matth, xiii, 12, charge

SERMON IL 43
charge of intentional disregard of truth ;
yet strong presumptive evidence will al
most always appear of a radical indisposi
tion in the will to a careful investigation of
the subject. Few, if any, manifest a se
rious inclination to "receive with meekness
" the engrafted word," as an authority to
which they owe submission. On the con
trary, some principle repugnant to it, some
root of bitterness that admits not of its
cordial reception, usually betrays itself,
where infidelity has taken fast hold upon
the mind. This it is, which magnifies every
difficulty, generates suspicion and distrust,
and misleads the judgment by presenting
the object of contemplation to the under
standing through a fallacious medium.
Nor is it much more difficult to adapt
this same criterion to those who, profess
ing a general belief of Christianity, main
tain opinions at variance with its essential
doctrines. Want of faith is more or less
discoverable in almost all who depart from
the standard of Scripture truth. Not that
this is rashly to be assumed, in cases where
only slight shades of difference prevail, or
re-

44 SERMON IL
respecting the exposition of doctrines tran
scending the comprehension of the human
intellect and revealed to us only in general
terms. But where a doctrine inseparable
from Christianity itself is either rejected
or misinterpreted, from evident preposses
sions of the mind against it, (for this it is
which properly constitutes heretical pra-
vity,) there we can hardly avoid imputing
that perversity, of the will, which our Lord
teaches us to regard as the proximate
cause of all religious error.
The fact appears to be, that a very
great proportion of the heresies, which
have from time to time sprung up in the
Christian Church, may be traced to some
lurking principle of infidelity operating
upon the mind. A favourite maxim of
false philosophy, or a vain conceit of the
imagination, takes possession of the un
derstanding; and, fully persuaded of the
unanswerable truth of the opinions thus
adopted, yet unwilling entirely to relin
quish the Faith, the slave of prejudices
adverse to Revealed Religion commences
the work of new interpretation, and ex
ercises

SERMON IL 45
ercises his ingenuity in endeavouring to
adapt Scripture to his preconceptions. Do
we ask, then, how it happens that errors,
even of the worst kind, are the fruit of his
labours ? The answer is readily given. He
is regardless of the Divine admonition in
the text. Instead of being willing to abide
by the revealed will of God, he is predis
posed to abide by his own will : and it
being found impracticable to reconcile
these to each other, without wresting the
Scriptures from their obvious meaning,
some more recondite sense is sought for,
and the simplicity of truth is sacrificed at
the shrine of vanity.
The rule, then, that " if any man will
" do his will, he shall know of the doctrine,
" whether it be of God," admits, we may
perceive, of a more special and circum
stantial application than might at first be
^.pprehended : and although it may behove
us to exercise the greatest charity and dis
cretion in judging others by this rule, it
will, in scrutinizing our own opinions, be
necessary to apply it with unsparing free
dom. A suspicion of some wrong bent in
the

46 SERMON IL
the mind ought indeed always to be en
tertained, when we are conscious of a se
cret wish to set aside any doctrine, appa
rently forming a part of that system which,
in its general character, we acknowledge
to proceed from God.
If, however, it should still be asked, how
the concurrence of the will of man with
the will of God can thus facilitate either
the belief or the right interpretation of the
Sacred Word ? — this further answer may
be given.
The mere disposition to concur with the
Divine will we may conceive to be pro
ductive of these results, both by its own
natural efficacy, and by the powerful co
operation of that Divine aid which gives a
blessing to human endeavours.
Its natural and immediate tendency is,
to ensure earnest attention to the subject,
diligent inquiry into proofs and evidences,
perseverance in surmounting difficulties,
deliberation in framing decisions, modesty
in proposing doubts, readiness to retract
error, firmness in adhering to well-ground
ed conviction. The effect of these excel lent

SERMON IL 47
lent qualities, in removing obstacles to the
truth, in disencumbering the judgment of
ynat may impede its progress, and in
creasing the thirst for those acquirements
which enlarge and strengthen the mental
powers, may readily be conceived. Not to
ascribe to them their due share in the ac
quisition of truth, would be to derogate
from the wisdom of that Providence, who,
in bestowing upon man the gifts of under
standing and of free-will, evidently design
ed that the honest application of these ta
lents should largely contribute to produce
the desired effect.
Nor is it less evident, that the inquirer
after religious truth, cultivating this ge
nuine disposition to know and to do the
will of God, niay well confide in that com
munication of heavenly aid, which, if duly
sought for, will not fail to be bestowed, as
a blessing upon his endeavours, by him
who " givefh to all men liberally, and up-
" braideth not'." For, if the Almighty
hath actually imparted his will to man-
' James- i, 5. kindj,

48 SERMON IL
kind, is it not with the intent that they
should thankfully receive it, and dihgently
search its meaning ? And can we doubt
that every indication of such a disposition
will be regarded with special favour by
the great Author and Finisher of our
Faith ? Can we doubt that the grace of
God will assist in perfecting what the
humble aspirant after truth is already
striving to accomplish, by the use of those
means which the providence of God has
placed within his reach ? What further sa*
tisfaction on this point can be requisite,
than that assurance of our blessed Lord
and Master, " Ask, and it shall be given
" you ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock,
" and it shall be opened unto you'?"
In whatever point of view, then, we con
sider the subject, we shall find this position
incontrovertibly established, that the wil-»
ling and ingenuous mind, the free and un
restrained surrender of every thought and
purpose, of every imagination and affec
tion, to the all-perfect will of God, is the
s Matth, vii. 7. first

SERMON IL 49
first principle of religious duty, the germ
of every thing which is afterwards to ex
pand and ripen into action. It is that,
which can alone produce the fruit of sound
Christian knowledge ; and to which, when
duly planted and watered by human in
dustry, the Divine Benefactor will assured
ly give the increase.
Thus we have advanced one step in our
inquiry, by shewing what disposition of
mind is previously requisite in those who
enter upon the interpretation of Holy
Writ. The main source of all contentions
respecting the sense of Scripture, on points
of fundamental importance, may be traced
to a reluctance, on one side or the other,
to renounce prepossessions militating a-
gainst an entire reception of the truth.
Men are led by partiality to their own
opinions, or undue deference to those of
others, not only to irreconcileable dissen
sions among themselves, but eventually to
a departure from the plain and obvious
meaning of the Word of God, It was the
error of the ancient Jews, that they " set
" up idols in their heart," and " put a
E "stumbling

50 SERMON IL
" stumbHng-block before their face*," so
that God would not be inquired of by
them. And so it is with multitudes in the
present day. They are in their hearts de
voted to some favourite object of pursuit,
to some theory or opinion which they can
not relinquish ; and they consequently en
ter upon the research with almost a cer
tainty of failure.
But, perhaps, the force of our Lord's
maxim in the text will be still more sensibly
felt, by considering it in its negative as well
as its affirmative sense; as if it were said,
(which indeed is implied in the terms of
the proposition,) " if any man will, not do
^' his will, he shall not know of the doc-
" trine, whether it be of God."
The moral qualities comprised in the
character of a sound and faithful inter
preter of the Word, have been already
enunierated. The dispositions repugnant
to that character, are carelessness, indif
ference to truth, indolence, rashness, a
spirit of scepticism and self-conceit, perti-
' Ezek, xiv, 4. nacity

SERMON IL 51
nacity in retaining opinions hastily taken
up, love of novelty, and a proneness to
abandon what is sanctioned by long esta
blished authority and well tried experience.
It is easy to perceive how these disposi
tions must operate on the intellectual
powers, in preventing the full and free ex
ercise of the faculties most necessary to be
^ called forth in such disquisitions, and in
diminishing the desire of such attainments
as can give any reasonable hope of success.
In a Word, that which we understand by
the term, docility, or an aptitude to re
ceive instruction, is the first requisite to
wards the acquisition of Scriptural know
ledge. The mind ought to be unbiassed
by any thing that would lead it astray
from the simple truth, and disposed to
" lay aside every weight"" which may re
tard its progress. In this consists the will
ingness, to which is held out the promise
of such a knowledge of the Divine word
as cannot otherwise be obtained.
We are not to wonder, then, if instances
» Heb. xii. i.
E 2 often-

52 SERMON IL
oftentimes occur, where splendid talents
and rare acquirements are employed in the
service of Error, and even in endeavouring
to subvert the fundamental truths of Re
vealed Religion. These are, in themselves,
no security against error. On the con
trary, when not controled by a powerful
sense of duty, they rather incite to bold
and hazardous speculations, by the vanity
and self-confidence they are wont to create.
Caution therefore is necessary, lest we be
dazzled and led astray by genius and
learning thus mischievously employed. For
to this subject is our Lord'^s saying espe
cially applicable, " He that exalteth him-
" self shall be abased, aiid he that hum-
" bleth himself shall be exalted \" That
profound submission, that prostration of
heart and mind, which desires instantly to
receive and obey whatever comes from
God, is the sentiment which best befits
the inquirer after sacred truth. Hence,
both in the general defence of Christianity,^
and in the successful interpretation of its
* Luke xiv. 11. essential

SERMON IL 53
essential doctrines, none have more sig
nally distinguished themselves, than they,
who, to a grasp of intellect above their
fellows, have united the profoundest re
verence and humility, in exploring the
depths of heavenly wisdom.
Caution however is necessary, on the
other hand, that we do not hastily im
pute either moral or intellectual defects,
in every ordinary case of erroneous per
suasion. To lay these to the charge of
the multitudes who are merely followers
of specious heresies, and who, from early
habits of education or other untoward cir
cumstances scarcely under their control,
have pertinaciously adhered to them ; would
be a precipitate, if not uncharitable, cen
sure. Perhaps too it may not unreason
ably be questioned, whether in some in
stances Heresiarchs themselves have not
been rather misled by weak and erroneous
judgment, than by deliberate and inten
tional opposition to the Divine will. The
errors of such persons might, perhaps,
have been rectified, under more auspicious
circumstances. The questions, therefore,
E 3 whether.

54 SERMON IL
whether, in any particular cases, heresy be
wilful, or ignorance invincible, should be
regarded as of too momentous a nature to
be lightly treated, and not always capable
of being peremptorily decided by human
authority. But the more necessary these cautions
may be, respecting particular points of
controversy, or the personal characters of
the parties engaged in them ; the greater
necessity will exist, for vigilance in guard
ing ourselves against any disposition that
tends to darken the understanding and
betray it into error. Here our Lord's ad
monition in the text demands the most
profound consideration, as a fundamental
maxim on which all consistency and cor
rect knowledge of religion must depend.
With Solomon's exhortation to the same
effect, the subject may, therefore, now be
closed. " My son, if thou wilt receive
" my words, and hide my commandments
" with thee, so that thou incline thine
" ear to wisdom, and apply thine heart
" to understanding ; yea, if thou criest
" after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for

SERMON IL 55
" for understanding; if thou seekest her
" as silver, and searchest for her as for hid
"treasures; then shalt thou understand
" the fear of the Lord, and find the know-
" ledge of God y."
y Prov. ii, 1—5.

j: 4 SERMON

SERMON III

1 Peter iv. 11.
If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles
of God.
Ihe necessity of a constant recurrence
to first principles, as a preventive of any
deviation from truth, is in no case more
apparent than in the study of Holy Writ.
For, since the great foundation on which
Revealed Religion is established is an abso
lutely Divine authority, every thing which
tends to displace that its fundamental basis
will endanger the whole system : and the
consequences must be infinitely more in
jurious to the best interests of mankind,
than any similar violation of principles in
matters of human science ; according to
the acknowledged maxims, that the worst
of abuses is the abuse of that which is best in

58 SERMON IIL
in itself, and that no truth can be made
more certain than by sufficient evidence
that it proceeds from God.
The apostohcal injunction in the text
evidently rests upon the supposition of this
supreme authority of Holy Scripture, as
the rule of faith and thc interpreter of its
own doctrine. " If any man speak, let
"him speak as the oracles of God :" let
him, both as to the doctrine and the inter
pretation, be careful to advance nothing
contrary to those Sacred Oracles, nothing
that may bring into competition with them
authority of a different kind.
But however indisputable the principle
may appear on which this injunction is
founded, it.is not only continually violated
through ignorance or inadvertency, but a
very great portion of the errors and cor
ruptions prevalent in the Christian world
evidently spring from systems, virtually, if
not formally, opposed to it; from main
taining the necessity of some ulterior tri
bunal of appeal, for the decision of con
troversies and for framing unerring stand
ards of interpretation. Besides

SERMON IIL 59
Besides the moral dispositions, there
fore, already shewn to be requisite in
the search after spiritual knowledge, it is
necessary to determine this great prelimi
nary question. Whether there be any au
thority paramount or even equivalent to
the Sacred Word, which, either as jointly
connected with it or as its judicial supe
rior, may claim our unreserved obedience ?
If there be any such, the sincere inquirer
after truth must submit to its pretensions.
If there be not, to admit such pretensions
is not only superfluous but dangerous ; as
derogating from the authority which pos
sesses the rightful claim.
Upon this head St. Peter's admonition
might be deemed decisive : and there are
other texts of Scripture which ought to
place it beyond dispute. Nevertheless, they
who argue on the contrary side would
fain allege the sanction of Scripture for
their views of the subject : a circum
stance, which renders it so much the more
necessary to examine their pretensions, lest
we stumble at the very threshold of our
inquiries. And

60 SERMON IIL
And here it will be found, that we have
three distinct parties to contend with ; all
widely differing from each other, yet all
asserting principles injurious to the just
preeminence of Scriptural authority.
The first of these, the Papist, insists on
the necessity of an infallible Judge or In
terpreter of doctrine, in the person of
some visible Head of the Church, from
whom there shall be no appeal. The se
cond, comprising various Sects, contends
that every doctrine of Holy Writ must
bend to the decision of human reason as
the supreme judge in matters of faith.
The third, a multifarious order of Inter
preters, gives supreme sway to a supposed
inward light, or immediate communication
from the Holy Spirit, supplementary to
Scripture, and infallible as well as irresist
ible in its operations. An examination of
the respective pretensions of these different
claimants to assume authority above the
Scriptures, will fully occupy us for the pre
sent. The regard due to them in a sub
sidiary and subordinate capacity must be
made the subject of another Discourse. I. The

SPRMON IIL 61
1. The great points in controversy be
tween Papists and Protestants, as far as
relates to the present question, are the in
fallibility of the Church, and the authority
of unwritten Traditions ; Traditions, sup
posed to have been originally of Apostoli
cal origin, but not recorded in Holy Writ.
In arguing these points, it is presumed,
on both sides, that the Scriptures are the
Word of God, and therefore must be true.
The Romanist, however unguardedly he
may sometimes speak of the written Word,
does not venture openly to contravene this
position. Consequently, no arguments are
admissible in the present discussion, which
oppose what the Scripture itself affirms :
and the debate might be reduced to a sim
ple inquiry, what the Sacred Writings de
clare upon the subject. The infallihility of
the Scriptures is taken for granted : their
sufficiency is the controverted point. If
then it should appear that the Scriptures^
which the Romanist confesses to be in
fallible, assert, either expressly or virtually^
their own sufficiency as the rule of faith,
the matter at issue would be thus far de
cided :

62 SERMON IIL
cided ; and even on his own principles,
the opponent would stand defeated.
The proof, however, of this point is
not so clearly deducible from any parti
cular texts of Scripture declaratory upon
the subject, as from the general scope and
design of these Sacred Records, and the
extraordinary endowments of the writers
themselves. It rests upon the plenary in
spiration of those writers ; upon their exclu
sive authority to declare the Divine will;
and upon the want of satisfactory evi
dence, on the other hand, to prove any
doctrine to be really theirs, which is not
contained in the written Word. These po
sitions being established, the sufficiency of
Scripture for its intended purpose will be
fully made out, and all competition with
its authority effectually precluded.
There are indeed texts both in the Old
and New Testament, which if understood,
as relating to the whole Sacred Canon,
might seem to put the question beyond
dispute. Thus David, speaking of the
Word as it existed under the Jewish dispen
sation, declares it to be " a lamp unto the
" feet

SERMON IIL 63
"feet and a light unto the paths*;" a
" perfect law, converting the soul ; and a
" testimony that is sure, making wise the
" simple*"." St. Paul likewise speaks of
the Scriptures in general, as " able to make
" us wise unto salvation," and " making the
" man of God perfect, thoroughly furnished
" unto all good works''." These expres
sions may be understood not only as ascrib
ing to the Sacred Writings a character
and authority above those of merely hu
man compositions, but also as intimating,
that nothing more was necessary for our
instruction than what the Almighty had
thus been pleased to reveal.
But since every declaration of this kind
(unless we conceive it to have been pro-
leptically delivered) can in strictness have
reference only to the writings extant at the
t^me when it was used; something more
may be thought requisite for our present
argument. And this may be obtained
from the tenor of our Lord's promises to
his Apostles. He declares, that the Com-
» Ps. cxix. 105. " Ps, xix. 7. = 2 Tim. iii. 15, 17.
forter.

64 SERMON IIL
forter, the Holy Spirit, should " guide
" them into all truth and shew them things
" to come**," should " teach them all
" things," " bring all things to their re-
" membrance whatsoever he had said unto
" them*," and " give them a mouth and
" wisdom which all their adversaries should
" not be able to gainsay, nor resist ^" These
promises were strikingly fulfilled in that
preeminent degree of inspiration of which
the Apostles exhibited most convincing
proofs. Nor did they ever intimate that
any other persons (not even those upon
whom, through their ministration, many
excellent and extraordinary gifts were be
stowed) were to succeed them in the spe
cial office of making further revelations of
the Divine will. On the contrary, they
affirm of themselves only, that they spake
by that Spirit which " searcheth all thingsy
^' yea, even the deep things of Gods ;"
that the mystery " of Christ, which in other
ages was not made known unto the sons
d John xvi, 13. ^ John xiv. 26.
f Luke xri, 15. g l Cor. ii. 10. " of

((

SERMON IIL 65
" of men, was revealed unto "them by the
" Spirit*"." They denounce, that if " even
" an Angel from Heaven should preach
" another Gospel than that which they
" had preached, he should be accursed'."
They make adherence to " the Faith once
" delivered to the Saints'*," to be the test
of sound doctrine :-^" We," says St. John,
" are of God : he that knoweth God,
" heareth us ; he that is not of God, hear-
" eth not us : hereby know we the Spirit
" of truth, and the Spirit of error'."
These declarations, with the facts ac
companying them, afford most convincing
proof of the plenary inspiration of the
Apostles. They seem also to establish their
exclusive commission to reveal the will of
God^ and to complete the Sacred Canon,
And upon this ground we may be war
ranted in extending to the whole of that
Canon the threatening which St. John ap
plies to his own Revelations in particular :
" If any man shall add unto these things,
^ Ephes. iii. 4, 5. ' Gal, i. 8.
^ Jude iii. ^ 1 John iv, 6,
F " God

66 SERMON IIL
" God shall add unto him the plagues that
" are written in this book ; and if any man
" shall take away from the words of the
" book of this prophecy, God shall take
" away his part out of the book of life'/'
Against all subsequent pretences to in-
fallibiHty, for the purpose either of making
further revelations of the Divine will, or of
interpreting what is already revealed, these
considerations may be deemed decisive.
For infallibility implies an immediately Di
vine guidance. It is no human attribute,
nor can, withovit flagrant impiety, be as
sumed by any uninspired being. Were the
plea once to be admitted without preterna
tural evidence of the fact, it would be diffi
cult to preclude any claim that might be
grounded upon it to introduce new doctrines
and new revelations. For, who should deny
to acknowledged infallibility, that which
would be conceded without hesitation to any
other miraculous gift ? Or what gift could in
itself be more miraculous, or give surer tes
timony of Divine inspiration ? From infal-
' Rev, xxii, 18, 19. Nihility,

SERMON m. 67
libility, therefore, in interpreting God's
wordj it is but a short step to infallibility
in proposing new Articles of Faith, and new
modes of worship. And Itow readily the
one pretence may succeed to the other, the
practice of the Romish Church has but too
evidently proved.
But the Romanist is not thus to be
driven out of the field. Whatever respect
or deference he may acknowledge to be
due to Holy Writ,*he will have recourse
to a species of reasoning well adapted to
perplex the subject. He will contend that
the Scriptures cannot be deemed an in
fallible rule to the unlearned, who read
them in translations only, and who must,
in that case^ depend on the infallibility of
translators ; whereas translators not unfre
quently disagree in rendering the sense of
the original ; and there is, besides, so much
inherent obscurity in the original itself, as
to require some authoritative, and infallible
interpreter, to render it an unerring stand
ard of truth, •
To this train of reasoning it might be
sufficient to reply, that the proposed ex-
... F 2 lO'c-iiient

68 SERMON IIL
pedient by no means obviates the alleged
difficulty ; inasmuch as the very same im
pediments to a right apprehension of the
rule of faith would still remain. For, how
shall he, whose want of learning precludes
him from distinguishing an infallible trans
lator, be qualified to distinguish an infal
lible interpreter ? The necessity of such an
infallibility would create a necessity for some
infallible criterion, to ascertain where it is
to be found : and it would be impossible,
without the continual intervention of mi
racles, to determine which, out of many
authorities that might advance such pre
tensions, had substantiated its claim to an
implicit faith in its decisions.
But to disentangle the subject from this
sophistry, let us consider the question as
we are wont to do in the case of a work of
merely human authority. Were the pur
pose simply to ascertain the sense of such
a work, that sense (whatever helps might
be found useful for its illustration) would
be sought for in the work itself, and the
book be interpreted^ as far as possible^
in conformity with its own declared prin
ciples.^

SERMON III. 69
eiples. Whether those principles be true
or not, is a matter of distinct inquiry. But
if we admit them to be true, what more is
necessary for the satisfaction of the inter
preter, than to make it evident that he has
elicited the author's meaning ? And how
is that to be made evident, but by an ulti
mate appeal to the writing he undertakes
to expound ; or, if that be possible, to the
author himself? For, the mere interpreter
and the author can never stand upon one
and the same footing of authority : nor
can it be otherwise, than that the work of
interpretation must always lie open to the
censure and revision of other interpreters
competently qualified for the undertaking.
But in this case, an appeal to the Author
from the writing itself, is no less than an
assumption of Divine inspiration ; and this
assumption, whether on the part of the
Church or of any of its individual mem
bers, calls for the same substantial proofs of
the fact assumed, as those which the Sacred
Writers themselves produced, and without
which no such pretensions are admissible.
It is therefore- a mere fallacy, to put the
F 3 Church,

70 SERMON IIL
Church, as the interpreter of Scripture, on
an equality, in point of authority, with the
Scripture itself. Nay, it savours of ha
zardous presumption. For here God is the
Author, and man the interpreter : and
unless the interpreter can produce evidence
of Divine inspiration equal to that pro
duced by them whose writings we receive
as the Word of God ; to allow in both the
same stamp of authority, is, so far, ex
alting the creature to a level with the
Creator. There is moreover a want of faith and
trust in God, as well as of due reverence
towards him, in contending for the ne
cessity of such an expedient to carry on
the work of Divine instruction. What
ground is there for suspecting that the
Apostles failed to commit to writing, for
the benefit of succeeding ages, all that was
necessary to salvation ? Being " guided
" into all truth," is it to be supposed that
they preached any thing essential to the
Christian faith, which is not, in substance
at least, left upon record in their writings ?
If so, might We not reasonably have ex
pected

SERMON IIL 71
pected^ some intimation from them, that
the Scriptures they had drawn up were not
intended as complete instructions for after-
ages; but that their omissions were to be
supplied by the authority, with which the
ruling powers in the Church would after
wards be invested, to add to the Sacred
Word as occasion should require? As our
blessed Saviour said to the Apostles before
his resurrection, " I have many things to
" say unto you, but ye cannot bear them
" now""," would not the Apostles also in
such a case have said to their appointed
successors, " What we now write fpr your
" instruction, is but a part of those saving
" truths which ye are hereafter to promul-
" gate to the world ; when the converts to
" the Faith shall be better able to receive
" them, than, they are to whom we are
" commissioned to make known the will of
" God ?" — But where are any such inti
mations to be found ?
In truth, no reason can be assigned to
justify the expectation of a continued in-
"> John xvi. 12.
r 4 fallibility

72 SERMON IIL
fallibility in the Church, for the purpose of
interpreting the Word of God, or adding
new articles of faith to those therein con
tained, which does not virtually arraign the
perfection or the authority of the Word
itself Nor can the Scriptures be properly
called the Rule of Faith, if such additional
security be necessary. For, whatever be
the authority that assumes a power to de
termine, suo jure, the sense of Scripture, or
to impose articles of belief derived from
any other source; that authority itself, if
its right be admitted, becomes the Rule of
Faith, and virtually supersedes the other.
Here however some further inquiry is
called for, respecting the authority of un
written traditions, which the Romanist
holds to be equal to that of the written
Word. Traditions, in the sense in which the
observance of them is enjoined by the
Apostles, are received by Protestants with
as much reverence as by the Romish Church.
For, according to the apostolical usage of
the word, the traditions enjoined to be
observed, are the doctrines and precepts,
delivered,

SERMON IIL 73
dehvered, whether orally or. in writing, by
the Apostles themselves. " Stand fast,"
says St. Paul to the Thessalonians, " and
" hold the traditions which ye have been
" taught, whether by word or our epi-
" stle" :" that is, whatever has been per
sonally delivered to you by me, either in
preaching or in writing. Protestants do
not question the truth of the position,
that the word of an inspired Apostle,
whether written or unwritten, is to be re
garded with entire deference; since, in what
ever way the Word of God be communi
cated to us, it has the same claim to our
submission, provided we know that it pro
ceeds from Him. But here is the question
from which the Romanist has no escape : —
can after ages have the same kind of as
surance respecting the authenticity of the
written and of the unwritten Word ? We
contend, that there cannot now be suffi
cient evidence of the authenticity of any
such unwritten traditions ; and that, there
fore, on the written Word only we can
n 2 Thess. iii, 15. with

74 SERMON IIL
with safety rely. On this ground, the
Scripture is maintained to be now the
only Rule of Faith : and whatever benefit
may be derived from other writings, re
porting to us, as apostolical traditions, ad
ditional matters illustrative of our faith
and worship ; to them is to be assigned
no more than a secondary rank, as being
subsidiary, not essential, to our Creed.
In thus denying to unwritten traditions
the same authority as to the Scriptures,
no just prerogative of the Church is in
vaded, nor is any injurious reflection cast
on the primitive Fathers, who, on this point,
above all others, are entitled to our espe
cial regard. For it is evident that the go
vernors of the Church never intended such
authority to be assigned to them ; since
they record no intimation given by the
Sacred Writers themselves, that their oral
communications were to be transmitted to
succeeding generations, or promulgated by
the Church as authentic documents. On
this is founded the distinction between
Scripture and unwritten tradition. The
former is a structure, compact, and resting on

SERMON IIL 75
on an immoveable basis ; the latter is com
posed of uncemented materials, and unsup
ported by any solid foundation.
But here the subject is sometimes per
plexed by another sophistical kind of ar
gument. The Romanist will contend that
the authority of the Church is above that
of Scripture, because Scripture itself is re
ceived through the medium of the Church,
from whose declaratory judgment it derives
that stamp of validity by which it is recog
nized as the word of God, The fallacy of
which reasoning consists in not rightly dis
tinguishing between the weight of testi
mony to the authenticity of a writing, and
that of judicial decision upon its authority,
" There is," says an incomparable writer
on this subject ", " no judge of faith, but
^•' God : if the Church were judge of
"faith, it would set her above God,"
The Canon of Scripture was determined by
the Church, upon, evidence of its genuine
ness and authenticity ; and to this the
Church bears witness. The truth of Scrip
ture rests on other grounds ; on the " wit-
° Leslie, " ness

76 SERMON IIL
" ness of God," as well as " the witness
" of men." So is it with respect to Inter
pretation. The Church directs her mem
bers to the right sense and meaning of
Scripture : but that sense does not depend
on her judgment, nor is it imposed arbi
trarily as her own ; but she refers to Scrip
ture itself, for proof that there it is to be
found. Were she to take upon her to be
a judge of faith in a higher sense than
this, she would assume the attributes of
the Author of Holy Writ, rather than the
character of its interpreter.
Respecting traditions, therefore, as well
as infallibility. Scripture must be resorted
to, as the original fountain of authority,
from which the pretensions either of the
Church at large, or of General Councils as
its representative body, or of the Pope as
its supposed visible and universal head,
ought to be derived. And this will follow
from the concessions of the adversary him
self; who, in acknowledging the Scriptures
to be Divine, virtually admits that there
can be no higher jurisdiction to which sub
mission is due. IL We

SERMON IIL 77
II. We are next to consider the contro
versy with those who set up human Rea
son as the supreme arbiter in matters of
faith. Here (since we are contending not with
declared unbelievers, but with those who
profess to receive the Christian Religion
as a Divine revelation) the question seems
to lie between what reason can make
known to us on religious subjects with
out revelation, and what revelation has
actually taught us : — whether the former
be so clear and perfect in its conceptions,
as justly to claim an ascendancy over the
latter, or whether it ought to acknowledge
its inferiority with respect to its means and
sources of information ?
Without intending any depreciation of
reason itself, considered as the gift of God
originally bestowed on man, for his guid
ance to truth and rectitude, it is necessary
to examine, not only its abstract preten
sions, but its comparative claims when
brought into competition with a Divine
revelation. That human reason, as well
as Revealed Religion, partakes of a Divine
authority.

78 SERMON IIL
authority, is a position j whichj though true
in a hmited sense, does not reach the pre
sent question. For, the gifts, though be
stowed originally by the same hand, may
differ in value and in kind, being adapted
to different purposes, and suited to dif
ferent exigencies : so that the superiority
of the one to the other will depend upon
the evidence to be produced of the degree
of deference required to be paid to them
respectively, by their all-wise and benevo
lent Giver. If reason, whatever were its
original powers, were sufficient, when en
lightened by nature only, why was the
light of revelation superadded ? and if the
hght of revelation has actually been super
added, how can the superior authority of
reason be maintained, without depreciating
the utility of the subsequent gift ?
But it is also to be kept in mind, that
man's reason, however originally perfect
it might have been, is now, we are assured,
in a deteriorated state, and, consequently,
no longer sufficient, by itself, to secure us
against error. Revelation, therefore, being
given to supply its defects, and to impart to

SERMON IIL 79
to it knowledge otherwise unattainable, it
must be the province of reason, with re
spect to the subject-matter of what is thus
revealed, to submit, not to dictate ; to re
ceive the commandment, not to prescribe
the law. The disproportion also between the
subjects on which unenlightened reason ex
ercises its judgment, and those which Reve
lation presents to it, affords another argu
ment to the same effect. Scripture reveals
such things as ',' eye hath not seen, nor
" ear heard, neither have entered into the
" heart of man to conceive"." If it were
otherwise, reason might, with less evident
impropriety, advance pretensions to a co-or
dinate, if not to a supreme authority. But
if reason be a finite power, (and surely none
will deny this of human reason,) it cannot
be a competent judge of infinites. Now,
the Scriptures (those parts of them, espe
cially, which relate to its more myste
rious doctrines, and which are among the
very essentials of its system) affirm many
things of this description ; many truths
a I Cor. ii, 9. concerning

80 SERMON m.
concerning the nature, and attributes, and
counsels of the Godhead, so entirely be
yond the limits , of any natural faculty of
our reason, that they can only be received
upon the credit of the Sacred Oracles,
being, to our apprehensions, incapable of
any thing resembling scientific demonstra
tion. If, therefore, in matters even of this
description, our reason might be allowed
to overrule the written word, where could
we cast anchor in the depths of moral and
metaphysical speculation ? Where would
be our security against errors, however
pernicious, which the devices of human
imagination might suggest, and of which
the capricious standard of every man's
corrupt or fallible judgment would be
made the criterion ?
The dangerous position, (dangerous, that
is, when taken in its broad and unqualified
acceptation) that the authority of Scrip
ture must bend to that of reason, has been
the source of numberless errors and corrup
tions among persons professing the Chris
tian Faith. In the earliest periods of its
history, we find the Gnostics distinguishing themselves

SERMON IIL 81
themselves (as their assumed title implied)
by pretensions to profounder attainments
than those of their fellow Christians, and
boasting of the improvements they were
enabled to engraft upon the Christian re
ligion, by the aid of human philosophy.
Qf some who drew their notions of the
Gospel from these interpreters, it is re
marked by Mosheim that " they looked
" upon it as a noble and glorious task, to
" bring the doctrines of celestial wisdom
" into a certain subjection to the precepts
" of their philosophy, and to make deep
" and profound researches into the inti-
" mate and hidden nature of those truths
" which the Divine Savionr had delivered
" to his disciples." This vain affectation
of a wisdom superior to that which dic
tated the revelation they professed to re
ceive, prepared the way for many a wild
and incoherent system of imaginary truths,
for daring innovations on the Faith, and, in
not a few instances, for an almost entire
desecration of the Sacred Oracles. Many
of the early Heretics rejected large portions
of Holy Writ, and even the whole of the
G Old

82 SERMON IIL
Old Testament, not upon any alleged
ground of their want of autiienticity, but
solely because they found them irrecon
cileable with the philosophical tenets they
had^ espoused, and from the mere wanton*
ness of speculation on matters above the
reach of human conception, Tertullian, Ori-
gen, Augustin, Jerome, and other Fathers of
the Church, Continually charge them with
the rejection, or the mutilation, of TarioUS
parts of Scripturcj for the unwarrantable
purpose of adapting them to their own ex
travagant persuasions.
To the same source may also be traced
most of the errors among pTiilosophizirig
Christians in after times ; especially the
many strange and fantastic theories which
gained acceptance, respecting the doctrine
of the Trinity, and that of the two-fold na
ture of our blessed Saviour. Vain attempts
to explicate points which, to our present
apprehensions, must ever remain enveloped
in a certain degree of mystery, and to make
them conformable to opinions wholly in
capable of proof or evidence, led multi
tudes to " make shipwreck of their Faith." This

SERMON IIL 83
This evil is perhaps inseparable from
the propensity to make Revealed Religion
subservient to philosophical theories, and
from regarding the Scriptures as secondary
to human science. It arises from not
rightly distinguishing between the objects
with which each is exclusively conversant,
and thus assigning to neither its proper
rank and office. As the Scriptures were
not intended to instruct men in human
philosophy, so neither can human philo
sophy instruct them in the matters which
the Scriptures reveal. This, however, is
to be understood of that only which is
properly the subject-matter of Revelation ;
of facts and doctrines which it was its ex
press purpose to make known to mankind ;
not of matters incidentally connected with
it which may be capable of physicqil de
monstration. And surely there are truths
of Revealed Religion sufficiently attested
to us by its general evidences, which it is
not in the power of the human understand
ing to refute, by arguments grounded on
any antecedent principles. Can, for in
stance, the doctrines respecting the essen-
G 2 tial

84 SERMON IIL
tial nature of the Godhead be brought to
any test of human science? Can the mi
raculous conception, the incarnation, the
resurrection, the ascension of our Lord, or
any thing properly miraculous in the Chris
tian dispensatipn, be proved or disproved
otherwise than by competent evidence, on
one side or the other, respecting the alleged
facts ? Or can the doctrines of Atonement
and Grace be established Or invalidated by
any abstract reasoning on their necessity or
expediency ? The utmost that our limited
reasoning faculty may, in such cases, at
tempt is, in the first place, to satisfy itself
of the genuineness of the text and its Di
vine authority, and then so to interpret
the doctrine that Scripture shall not be
made to contradict itself; and, in the next
plkce, to make it harmonize, as far as may
be, with those moral and physical truths,
of which we have, from other sources, clear
and indisputable evidence, and which are
even recognized as true by the general
tenor of Holy Writ.
Nevertheless, in these latter as well as in
former times, Socinians and other sects,
professing

SERMON IIL 85
professing more liberal and enlarged modes
of thinking, are wont to contend if not
overtly, yet by implication, for the su
premacy of the , human understanding in
all matters of Faith ; regarding it as its
undoubted prerogative^ to decide, by its
own natural faculties, upon the truth of
every doctrine of Revealed Religion and
the wisdom and expediency of the Divine
dispensations, as well as the testimony by
which they are supported. It is mani
festly upon this principle, rather than uppn
the ground of any known law. of evi
dence or legitimate canons of criticism,
that considerable and very important por
tions, extending not only to single words
or paragraphs, but even to entire chapters
of the Sacred Writings, are regarded, by
persons of this description, as spurious and
interpolated ; or are made to undergo
such forced and, unnatural exppsitions, as
j^ould hardly occur to the thoughts of per
sons whose judgments were not warped
by some strong prepossessions against their
plain and obvious signification.
In opposition to these or any similar en-
G 3 deavours

86 SERMON IIL
deavours to elevate the uninspired critic
above the divinely-inspired Authors of the
Sacred Oracles, it behoves us to maintain
our ground. Not that it is hereby intended
(as will in the sequel more fully appear) to
countenance the notions of those who would
treat man as altogether incapable of under
standing li^eligious' truths without the im
mediate act of Divdne inspiration ; still
less, to depreciate the value of those attain
ments in human science and literature,
which exalt and dignify our nature, and,
together with that moral culture which is
still more indispensable, prepare tbe soil
for the reception of heavenly wisdom. The
design is, merely to shew that the Word of
Gbd, as such, is not to be submitted to the
human understanding as to a superior
power, or an authoritative judge, in mat
ters which are, frota the very nature of the
subjects, removed out of its reach, and
placed beyond the limits of its proper ju
risdiction. III. It remains now to consider, in the
last place, the pretensions of a Very dif
ferent class of interpreters ; those who hold the

SERMON IIL 87
the necessity of a supposed inward light,
or immediate communication from the
Holy Spirit, as supplementary to Scrip
ture, and, when received, infallible and ir
resistible in its operations.
Here, as in the other cases, the question
may be brought to a ready issue, by ad
hering to the proofs already adduced of
the sufficiency and perfection of the Holy
Scriptures, If these Scriptures are "able
" to make us wise unto salvation ;" if every
man who speaks of Divine things, is to
speak only as those Oracles direct him ; if
our Lord declared that the Holy Spirit
shonld guide his chosen Apostles " into
'^ all truth;" if one Apostle issues an
anathema against those who preach any
other Gospel than that lie preached, and
another Apostle denounces obliteration out
of the book of life on such as shonld add
to or take from his inspired volume; —
what further proof can we desire, that, in
the estimation of these Sacred Writers
themselves, no claim of special illmnination
might be brought into competition with
what was thus attested to be in truth the
G 4 work

88 SERMON IIL
work of God ? But if, on the ground of any
such claim, a new sense may be imposed
upon the Sacred Word ; or if inspired in
terpreters, as well as inspired writers, may
be deemed necessary for Christian edifica
tion ; what security have we against the
setting up of a criterion amenable itself to
no superior authority ; or against the ad
mission of imposture and fanaticism, acting
under no other guidance or control than
their pretended or imaginary obedience to
a heavenly mandate ?
It is easy indeed to perceive, that, by the
admission of such a plea, no less danger
would ensue to liie purity and just pre-;
eminence of Scripture truth, than by al
lowing to the Church itself the claim of
infallibility. For this is, in effect, trans
ferring from the Church to individuals a
privilege of a similar kind. The teacher
who sets up a private spirit of his own for
the introduction either of new doctrines or
new interpretations of doctrine, and who
founds his pretensions to do so on being
specially gifted for the purpose ; — what does
he but assume to himself a Divine commis-r sion,

SERMON IIL 89
sion, and so far virtually lay claim to infal
libility ? A bold pretence to such spiritual
communications with God, like that of
Papal infallibility, throws the authority of
Scripture into the shade, obtruding upon
our notice a new and more attractive claim.
And, when it is beheved that God hath
spoken to the individual who takes upon
him to instruct others, it is hardly to be
expected that deliberate inquiry will be
made into the conformity of his doctrine
with preceding revelations. Whether he
come in the character of a preacher of new
doctrines, or an interpreter of old ones,
implicit deference will be required to his
authority; and the credulous will fear to
oppose it, " lest haply they should be found
^' to fight against God p."
The assurances therefore which we have
of the absolute sufficiency of the Holy
Scriptures, and of the exclusive authority
with which their authors were invested for
the revelation of the truths they contain,
are strenuously to be pleaded in bar of any
P Acts V. 39. subse-

90 SERMON IIL
subsequent pretensions of a similar kind ;
it being manifestly derogatory to those
writings and their authors, to deem any
further communications from above to be
requisite for the instruction of those who
have access themselves to the Sacred Re
cords, and who have, together with the aid
of appointed guides and pastors, such other
means as Divine Providence affords them
of applying these invaluable treasures to
their spiritual improvement.
This hypothesis, indeed, as well as that
of an infallible Interpreter at the head of
the Church, appears to rest on an assump
tion, that the knowledge of Divine truth
cannot be perpetuated, without a continua
tion of the extraordinary and supernatural
means by which it was at first communi
cated to mankind. But by what evidence
or argument is this assumption supported ?
Is it not repugnant to the ordinary deal
ings of the Almighty ; who is never found
to incumber the work of his hands with
unnecessary machinery, or to exert super
fluous powers for the accomplishment of
his purposes ? Varying indeed in their spe cific

SERMON III. 91
cific characters, and wonderfully adapted
to the exigencies of mankind under their
respective circumstances, were the several
Divine dispensations antecedent to our
Lord's coming into the world. But God
having " in these last days spoken unto us
" by his Son''," whose doctrine and in
struction we receive through his Apostles
and Evangelists, no ulterior revelation is
to be expected ; nothing more is to be
looked for in the way of immediate com
munication from above. The Sacred Vo
lume is closed : and with it terminated the
age of special and extraordinary illumina
tions. Such pretensions therefore are now
to be regarded not only with suspicion, but
with dread, from their tendency to weaken
that which is already stamped with the seal
of Divine authority. Nor do they present
themselves under a less formidable aspect,
when advanced for the purpose of giving
weight to particular interpretations of God's
Word. " The Faith once delivered to the
" Saints" was committed to writing by the
q Heb, i. 2. Sacred

92 SERMON III.
Sacred Penmen, that we might believe
" through their word'/' Nothing there
fore is now necessary, but to bring to their
elucidation the best human attainments,
moral and intellectual ; together with those
ordinary aids of the Holy Spirit, which the
great Author and Finisher of our Faith has
promised to them who sincerely seek the
truth. 1
Claims, however, of extraordinary illu
mination, for the purpose of more; fully
revealing the Divine will, have been pro
ductive of some of the most baleful here*-
^es in the Christian Church, As, in its
earliest ages, the various sects who cor
rupted the Faith by false philosophy were
afterwards blended into one mass under the
general denomination of Gnostics ; so a
variety of Enthusiasts, pretending tp spe
cial revelations from God, lost, in proceiss
of time, their specific distinctions, and were
known by the general title of Pneumatics,
or persons affecting to act under the im
mediate influence of the Holy Spirit. The
' John xvii, 20, former

SERMON IIL 93
former arrogated to themselves extraor
dinary intellectual powers, in the discern
ment of heavenly truths : the latter laid
claim to spiritual communications, en
abling them to see farther than others
could do into Divine mysteries. Thus a
door was opened for the reveries of intel
lectual pride on the one hand, and spiritual
pride on the other ; and the followers of
each having once imbibed a persuasion
that more was necessary to be known or
believed, than the Scriptures had revealed,
were disposed to listen to any presump
tuous teachers, and to receive with avidity
dpctrines which could hardly have obtained
an hearing, had not the supreme autho
rity of the Sacred Oracles been first vir
tually done away.
The abettors however of this fanatical
principle are not inexpert in their endea
vours to uphold it by Scriptural authority.
Many texts have been pressed into their
service, whic^h to examine in detail would
lead to a prolix discussion. But the obvious
distinction between the ordinary and ex
traordinary ^fts of the Spirit will, for the
most

94 SERMON IH.
most part, afford an easy solution of the
difficulties with which the subject is usually
embarrassed. And if we bear in mind,
that whatever was once immediately com
municated to the Sacred writers by Divine
inspiration, has been, in effect, mediately
communicated through them to the rest of
mankind, so that they having been " taught
"of God," we also have, by their jnstru-
mentahty, been taught of Him ; we shall
perceive that nothing more is wanting to
the entire fulfilment of His proniises, than
that we should faithfully abide by the writ
ten Word as the exclusive Rule of Faith.
Thus far then may suffice to shew the
radical unsoundness of the chief anti -scrip
tural principles which have contributed to
the dissemination of religious error. Dif
ferent as they appear to be in their specific
characters, there are some striking points
of resemblance between them. They all
pervert that which is good and useful as a
secondary object, by treating it as one that
is primary in importance. They all give
unbounded scope to human invention, to
the disparagement of that which has the
stamp

SERMON IIL 95
stamp of Divine authority. They all pro-
cbed likewise on a supposition that there is
some imperfection or insufficiency in 'the
Scriptures, Ivhich is to be supplied by one
or other of these infallible remedies. In
these false conceptions of the subject,
each is equally reprehensible. Each con
founds, what ought to be carefully dis
tinguished, the obscurity of the doctrines
revealed in Scripture, with the obscurity
of Scripture itself; as if a doctrine might
not be laid down in a clear and distinct
manner, although it be in itself above the
full comprehension of the human faculties.
Each is also equally defective in the remedy
it proposes. For it is not Oral tradition,
nor human infallibility, (if such were to be
found,) nor the utmost perfection of human
reason, nor such illuminations as Enthu
siasts rely upon, that can throw more light
upon the doctrines than the Scriptures have
already shed upon them. The same insur
mountable barriers betwixt Divine and hu
man knowledge will still remain, and by
faith alone will the doctrines be received.
' Still let us not suppose that Church-
authority,

96 SERMON IIL
authority, or reason, or the cooperatioB
of the Holy Spirit, may be hghtly esteemed,
in the work of Scripture-interpretation.
These are all evidently intended by their
Divine Author, to be instrumental to this
great purpose. But a fuller discussion of
their just and proper limits, as helps to tho
knowledge of God's will, must be reserved
for our further continuation of the subject
in the next Discourse. In the mean while,
with reference to the errors we have now
been considering, let us remember that
there are lights which dazzle and mislead ;
which blind the judgment instead of show
ing objects in their true shades and colours.
" Take heed, therefore ;" — it is the empha-
tical warning of the Redeemer himself; —
"Take heed, that the light which is in
" thee be not darkness' !"
& Luke xi, 35,

SERMON

SERMON IV.

1 Peter iv. 11.

If q,ny man speak ^ let him speak as the drpcles
of God.
1 HE general proneness of mankind to
adopt extremes in matters of Religion ren
ders it especially necessary, on the part of a
sincere inquirer after truth, to beware that,
in refuting one error, he give no encou
ragement to another.
To a neglect of this maxim may be at
tributed many prevailing mistakes on points
of great importance. When men, eager to
combat some false and dangerous persua
sion, conceive that the only effectual means
of doing so is to estabhsh the doctrine most
diametrically opposite to it, they not unr
frequently involve themselves in perplexities
scarcely less mischievous than those they
H are

98 SERMON IV.
are solicitous to avoid. Hence disputes are
carried on, wherein both parties confidently
ground the truth of their own opinions on
the overthrow of those of their adversaries;
when probably a moderator in the contro
versy might easily shew, that, although each
was successful in convicting his opponent
of error, each was unsuccessful in establish
ing the truth of his own positions.
To the subjects entered upon in the last
Discourse, this observation will be found
particularly applicable. " If any man
" speak," says the Apostle, " let him
" speak as the oracles of God :" — ^let him
found his doctrine on the Word of God ;
let him search there for what he intends to
dehver as sacred truth ; let his first inquiry
and his last appeal be directed to that
Fountain of heavenly Wisdom. In op
position to this principle, different maxims
have been inculcated by different parties.
If any man speak, says the Papist, let him
speak as the oracles of the Church ; ac
cording to primitive Traditions, to General
Councils, or to the Pope's Decretals ; whose
decisions are infallible, nay, on whose au
thority

SERMON IV. 99
thority the verity of Scripture itself de
pends. '-. "If any man speak," says the
self-called Rationalist, " let him speak as
the oracles of Reason ;— according to the
measure of his own understanding, or the
agreement of what is proposed to him with
the notions he has formed of that which is
most befitting the Divine Wisdom and
Goodness.; If any man speak, says the
Fanatic, let him speak as the oracles of the
INVVARD LIGHT ; — trusting to a special illu
mination of the understanding by the im
mediate agency of the Holy Spirit, be
stowed upon the chosen few, the faithful,
the Elect of God, for their infallible guid
ance and direction.
With these several parties the sound
Scriptural Christian has to contend, in
maintaining the supreme authority of the
oracles of God. Upon the genuine prin
ciples of the Protestant Reformation, un-
debased by any impure admixture infused
into it by mistaken zeal or sceptical indif
ference, he has to establish this main foun
dation of Revealed Religion. He is bound
to shew that no dictates of Church-autho-
H 2 rity,

im SERMON IV-
rity, or of tinenlightened Reason^ or of spi--
ritual Illumination, can Supersede the claims
of these Sacred Writings to the highest
rank ih our estimation. Their sufficiency,
their perfection, their preeminence above
all pretensions of human wisdom or autho
rity, and above all imaginations of preter
natural gifts, are points never to be yielded,
by those who have resolved to keep the
Faith committed to them whole and un
defiled. This then is the first duty of the Chris"
tian expositor. But if, in resisting the
claims of these opponents, he hastily con
clude that all the oracles which they reve
rence are to be despised as nothing worth ;
he will soon find himself oli untenable
ground. To deny to them that secondary.
rank to which they are entitled, and to re
ject them even as auxiharies in the inter
pretation of Scripture, must be injurious
to the truth itself On this head, a species
of enthusiasm occasionally pfevails, which
it is highly necessary to counteract ; many
being inclined to suppose, that the snffi-
ciency and perfection of the Scriptures cannot

SERMON IV. 101
cannot effectually be maintained, without
disallowing any coadjutors in its interpreta
tion ; that it needs no authorized ministry,
no helps of human learning, no Divine
blessing upon the study of it, to enable the
reader to deduce from it an entire and con
sistent body of truth. The affirmative of
which opinion will by no means follow
from the negative of those which it is in
tended to refute. For, though we reject
all pretensions of public or of private
judgment, to supersede the authority of
God's Word ; yet we may, and must, (un
less we yield ourselves to a blind and su
perstitious use of it) call in the^ helps to
its elucidation. Nay, it is evident from
Scripture itself, that these are to be re
garded as subsidiary to the work of spi
ritual instruction.
There are, indeed, texts of Scripture,
which seem to speak in such absolute and
unqualified terms of a certain internal power
and efficacy in the Sacred Writings, that
an undiscerning reader may possibly be led
to suppose, that none of these helps are
necessary for general edification. But when
H 3 the

102 SERMON IV.
the same Scriptures admonish us of the
duty of " obeying them that have the rule
" over us*" in spiritual concerns; — when
they declare, that God gave not only
" Apostles," and " Prophets," and "Evan*
" gelists," but also " Pastors and Teachers,
" for the perfecting of the saints, for the
" work of the ministry, for the edifying of
"the body of Christ'';" — when they ex
hort us to be " men in understanding","
to "be ready always to give a reason of
" the hope that is in us''," and to " prove
" all things, and hold fast that which is
" good^;" — and when they further teach
us, that by " the Spirit of wisdom the eyes
" of our understanding are enlightened^;^' —
these suggestions are undoubtedly to be re
garded as modifications of those texts which
otherwise might appear capable of a more
general and indefinite construction. Nor
is it difficvilt to render these different re
presentations of the subject perfectly con-
» Heb. xiii. Ij. ^ Ephes, iv, 11, 12,
• 1 Cor, xiv, 20, ^ 1 Peter iii, 15.
« 1 Thess. v.,21. * Ephes. i. 17, 18. sistent

SERMON IV. 103
sistent with each other ; the necessity of
such aids in the study of Holy Writ being
in no wise incompatible with the most un
reserved acknowledgment of its absolute
perfection. To regard the Sacred Word as an in
sulated production, entirely unconnected
with human knowledge, is indeed a spe
cies of extravagance, scarcely less preju
dicial to Divine truth, than those anti-
scriptural theories, to which apparently it
stands opposed. Ecclesiastical History bears
witness to the many pernicious errors which
have arisen from this mistaken principle.
In the middle ages especially, there were
men, who, with a zeal very laudable in
itself, opposed the mischievous subtleties
of scholastic Divines ; many of whom they
justly regarded as mere dialecticians in
theology, intent only upon a display of
their talents for disputation, and wholly
negligent of the reverence due to sacred
subjects. These opponents, however, un
happily fell into the other extreme; and
disclaiming altogether the use of human
learning in the investigation of the truth,
H 4 began

104 SERMON IV.
began to speculate on the oracles of God
with uninformed minds and ill-regulated
piety. Of some of them it is recorded, that
assuming to themselves a denomination ex
pressive of their being purely Scriptural Di
vines, they discarded all other studies but
that of the Sacred Writings. And what was
the consequence ? — Their crude concep
tions, their abortive labours, produced
strange and ill-formed theories, betraying
in every feature the want of sound learning
and well-disciplined understandings. From
these sprung a new race of Mystics, far diffe
rent from those who cultivated the philoso
phy of Plato and of Aristotle, but equally, if
not more, injurious to the cause they pro
fessed to uphold. Hence arose intermin
able -disputes between the advocates of
Faith on the one side, and of Reason on
the other ; as if these were necessarily
contrary to each other, and incapable of
being brought to an agreement in the truth.
These again give birth, in succeeding times,
to various enthusiastic sects, entering upon
the study of the Scriptures with a prede
termination to neglect all mental culture, and

SERMON IV. 105
and to submit to no discipline which might
restrain their unruly imaginations. Nor
was even the Protestant Reformation,
though in jtself largely indebted to the re
vival of pure and genuine learning for its
success, wholly unsullied by fanaticism of
this kind : against which however its most
distinguished leaders, Luther, Melancthon,
and others, did not fail most strenuously
to caution their disciples. And can we
say, that our own times (boasting, never
theless, of progressive improvement in every
branch of knowledge) are entirely free from
the same reproach ? Are there not yet
among us those who foster delusions of the
grossest kind, by encouraging the perni
cious notion, that human acquirements are
altogether superseded by the Divine Word,
and that unlettered ignorance is no dis
qualification for the office of the Sacred
Interpreter ?
To guard then against such mistaken
views of the subject, and against any mis
construction of what has already been
advanced in the foregoing Discourse, I
proceed now to consider what deference is

106 SERMON IV.
is justly due to Church-authority, to hu
man Reason, and to the ordinary assistance
of the Holy Spirit ; and what advantages
may be derived from these, in subordina
tion to the authority of Scripture itself
I. On the first of these points. Papists
and Protestants (with the exception of
those among the latter who entirely se
parate from the Church as a visible com
munity) are thus far agreed, that they mu
tually acknowledge the Divine ordinance
of a Ministry, by whom the Sacred Word
is to be promulgated and expounded. But
with respect to the nature and extent of its
anthority, there exists between them this
manifest difference. The Papist looks to
one visible Head of the whole Christian
Church, the universal Arbiter of religious
controversies, infallible in his decisions, and
from whom there is no appeal. The Pro
testant acknowledges no such universal
Head, nor deems the Church itself, acting
even by its legitimate rulers, to be either
gifted with infallibility, or vested with such
authority as may annul the right of its in
dividual members to appeal to Scripture itself.

SERMON IV. 107
itself. The Church, he contends, has no
lawful power to enjoin any doctrine or
observance militating against the written
Word. And the reason is this :— that the
authority of the Church being derived from
Scripture, as the charter by virtue of which
it governs, it cannot with impunity violate
the charter itself. Subject however to this
restriction, the Church may be said to have
a certain judicial power in matters of Faith.
It is the constituted Guardian of the truth ;
and may do whatever the Scripture enjoins
or permits, for the government and edifi
cation of the body at large ; though it
cannot originate, as of its own right, doc
trines or duties really necessary to salva
tion. The difference then between the parties
(it has been well observed) is simply this :— -
" one demands absolute assent and un-
" limited obedience ; the other, only con-
" ditional assent and cautionary obe-
" dience." The Protestant steers a middle
course between superstitious veneration and
lawless contempt of authority. Of the in
jury done to truth by departing from this
golden

108 SERMON IV.
golden mean, the history of the Church
supplies abundant proof. Heresies at first
sprang up, from want of due respect and
subordination to ecclesiastical powers. After
a while, on the depression' of the turbulent
spirits who introduced them, the Romish
Church began to arrogate to herself an
authority above the Sacred Word. And
when this assumption of power received a
sudden check from the counteracting force
of the Protestant Reformation, then again
there arose, among them who renounced
her communion, some who were disposed
to exercise unwarrantable liberties, and
whose disorganizing principles gave occa
sion to the revival of many an exploded
error, not without the addition of novelties
equally detrimental to the purity of the
Faith. The people were taught to spurn
at every attempt to secure the sound ex
position of Scripture by Liturgies, and
Creeds, and Articles; as derogating from
its sacred character. Hence new lights
were continually sought for, and many an
ignis fatuus was pursued by the inconsi
derate and admiring multitude. Such

SERMON IV. 109
Such evils are only to be avoided by
duly considering, that, though the Word
of God is in itself a perfect rule of Faith,
yet to the far greater portion of mankind
it can only become so through some me
dium of human instruction. That medium
the Scripture itself has pointed out to be
the Christian ministry. Though the pri
vate Christian therefore, however unedu
cated, is not bound to rely upon any man,
or upon any body of men, as infallible;
yet is he bound, in prudence and in con
science, to look to such authorized teachers
for necessary information. If he wantonly
or perversely disregard their authority, it is
' at his peril that he does so ; and should the
result be that he fall into error, the fault
can hardly be altogether venial. Nay, even
from persons whose talents and acquirements
give them much higher pretensions, some
deference may reasonably be expected, to
those who claim, upon the ground of insti
tutions, not only long- established and long-
venerated, but even of Divine appointment,
the character of spiritual Guides ; — claims,
which ought at least to be thoroughly and
dlspas-

110 SERMON IV.
dispassionately examined, before they are
set at nought.
The modesty, however, which scruples
to dissent from the highest human autho
rities, may be carried to a culpable excess.
It is carried to that excess in the Romish
Church ; tending to preclude a general ad
vancement in Scriptural knowledge, and
leading to a blindfold acquiescence in tbe
dictates of spiritual rulers. Christian mo
desty does not bind us to such servility.
It warns us, not rashly to gainsay doctrines
declared by the Church to be deduced from
Holy Writ : but it does not require us to
renounce our understandings, or to admit, as
necessary articles of faith, positions which
cannot be proved from the Word of God.
To yield altogether the right of private
judgment, is indeed scarcely practicable:
and if it were practicable, the surrender of
conscience to human authority of any kind,
would be a manifest violation of the; first
of all religious principles, that we are to
" obey God rather than men^." But, on
8 Acts V. 29. the

SERMON IV. IH
the other hand, the same principle obh'ges
every man to obey the Divine will, rather
than follow his own : and if in the Scrip
tures conditional obedience be enjoined to
spiritual rulers, it must be hazardous to
disobey the injunction. In this respect,
private judgment stands upon a similar
footing with Church-authority. Both must
submit to the Word of God ; and neither
may assume a right over the other, con
trary to that Word. The individual may
not conform to the Church in opposition
to Scripture : the Church may not allow
the departure of her members from what
Scripture declares to be necessary to salva
tion. As the obedience required on the
one hand is conditional, so is the right
conferred on the other. Both are limited
by the obedience due to the Supreme
Power; both are equally subject to Him
who "ruleth over all." The responsibility
therefore, on either side, is great : and no
thing but a careful adjustment upon this
principle, of the respective claims of pri
vate conscience and public authority, can
ensure the practical exercise of that great rule

112 SERMON IV.
rule of Christian conduct, " endeavouring:
" to keep the unity of the Spirit in the
' ' bond of peace ^ "
But the question immediately before, us
relates not so much to the authority of the
Church over the private individual, as to
the grounds on which it may presume to
frame Articles of Faith. It is an inquiry,
how far either may avail itself of human
authority, in the work of Scripture -inter
pretation. On this head, much discussion has from
time to time arisen, respecting the de
ference due to the writings of the primitive
Fathers of the Church, and the use and
value of ecclesiastical antiquity ; — ^points of
considerable moment, and deserving of at
tentive examination.
It seems to be indisputable, that the
primitive Fathers are not to be regarded
as Divinely-inspired ; snice otherwise their
writings would necessarily have formed, a
part of the Sacred Canon. The question
therefore is, whether, admitting them to
*> Ephes. iv. 3. have

SERMON IV. 113
have no more than human authority, they
have any special claim to our reverential
regard, which places them on higher ground
than that of their ecclesiastical successors.
And this question is to be determined by a
fair consideration of any peculiar advantages
they might possess, and of their ability and
disposition to turn them to good account.
Against any such deference being paid
to these our spiritual forefathers, it has
been sometimes contended, that their writ
ings now extant are few in number; that
several of them, if not spurious, are adul
terated, through the pious frauds, the si
nister designs, or the ignorance of after-
ages ; that their style and reasoning are
obscure ; that, in their zeal to defeat op
ponents, they occasionally suppress or dis
guise the truth; that they are on certain
points inconsistent with each other, and
with themselves ; and that it is often diffi
cult to ascertain, whether the opinions they
advance are meant to be declaratory of the
judgment of the Church, or delivered only
as their own private interpretations. For
these and similar reasons, it has been al-
I leged,

114 SERMON IV.
leged, that their testimony as genuine wit*
nesses of the Faith may deservedly be im-
Jieached ; and that neither Protestants nor
Papists have hesitated occasionally to de
part from their authority.
But of these charges it has repeatedly
been shewn, that many are greatly exag
gerated; some wholly unfounded; whilst
others affect not their writings, more than
the writings of almost all controversial
authors of ancient date, adverting (as they
must necessarily do) to times, and persons,
and local circumstances, now but imper
fectly known, and which cast a shade of
obscurity over some of their narratives and
their reasonings. These afford no good ar
gument for laying their productions under
a general interdict. Against an implicit
submission to their authority, they are,
doubtless, important considerations : but
agsdnst the use and application of them as
documents of more than ordinary value,
they jnerit but little attention.
In answer therefore to such objections,
it may suffice to observe, that supposing
the primitive Fathers to have been men of
only

SERMON IV. 115
only common discernment and integrity,
their testimony respecting the doctrines
then actually received by the Church, and
maintained against the heresies then pre
vailing, must have peculiar weight. Those
among them who had been personally
conversant with the Apostles, and who de
rived their knowledge of the Christian Faith
from what they continually heard of their
preaching and discourse, as well as froni
their writings, seem to have claim to a re
gard only short of that which was due to
their inspired Preceptors. To place such
men as Clement, Ignatius, and Polycarp,
no higher in the scale of authority, with
respect to the value of their testimony on
these points, than Bishops and Pastors in
later times, betrays an error of judgment,
which on any other subject of investigation
analogous to this, would be deemed pre
posterous. On the part of their immediate
successors, somewhat of the same extraor
dinary claim to acceptance still presents
itself, though with a certain diminution of
its force. Descending still lower in the
scale of history, this authority rapidly di-
I 2 minishes ;

116 SERMON IV,
minishes ; and our judgment in their favour
will be chiefly, if not solely, influenced, by
the internal evidence their writings afford
of some superior qualifications in the au
thors themselves. Yet, until the great
schism between the Eastern and Western
Churches, and the full establishment of
the Papal Usurpation, the Fathers of the
Church appear to have been deeply sen
sible of the obhgation laid upon them to
" contend for the Faith once delivered to
" the saints'," and to guard the sacred
deposit committed to their charge against
every vain imagination which the Heretic
or Schismatic might labour to introduce.
Disclaiming, therefore, any superstitious
reverence towards these venerable men, it
may reasonably be urged, that their pecu
liarly advantageous circumstances demand
especial consideration ; and that unless their
characters, both moral and intellectual,
Could be so successfully impeached as to
prove them wholly unworthy of credit,
their testimony is of the very first import-
i Jude 3. ance

SERMON IV. 117
ance in ascertaining the primitive Faith.
In matters requisite to the formation of
the Church ; in framing Confessions of Faith
more or less explicit according to the errors
it was necessary to discountenance ; and
in adopting means for the perpetuation of
these benefits to the latest ages ; they ap -
pear as having been at first deputed by the
Apostles for purposes the most important,
and as acting under impressions of a most
awful responsibility. To them were also
confided those Sacred Oracles, on which
our Faith now most essentially depends.
Through their ministry we have received
these invaluable treasures : to their zeal
and fidelity, under Providence, we owe the
transmission of the pure Word of God to
these present times : and the charge thus
consigned to our care, we are bound to
deliver unimpaired to succeeding genera
tions. If, in addition to these special grounds
of confidence in the early Fathers, we ad
mit, what has been contended for by learned
and judicious Divines, that the extraordi
nary gifts of the Spirit, (especially that of
I 3 " discern-

118 SERMON IV.
" discerning of spirits '',") were not entirely
withdrawn from the Church till long after
the time of the Apostles; this would give
still stronger confirmation to their claims.
For, though we should not be warranted
in a supposition that even these extraor-*
binary gifts conferred authority for pro
mulgating new articles of Faith, or infring
ing on any exclusive prerogative of the
Sacred Writers ; yet it would go far to
wards establishing interpretations of Cliris-
?tian doctrine thus received and sanctioned,
on a firmer basis, than any on whioh their
less gifted successors can ground their pre
tensions. But, not to insist on any disputable
points, the use and value of ecclesiastical
antiquity in general, and of its earliest pro
ductions in particular, is sufficiently evi
dent, upon the ordinary principles df criti*-
cism and evidence. As works so nearly
contemporary with those of the Sacred
Canon, they illustrate the diction and
phraseology of the inspired Penmen ; they
k' 1 Cor, xii, 10, give

SERMON IV. 119
give an insight into the history of the age
in which the writings of the New Testa
ment were composed ; they explain allu
sions to rites and customs, which otherwise
might be involved in much obscurity ; and,
what is of still more importance, they as
sist in fixing the sense of controverted
texts of Scripture, by the substantial evi
dence they afford of their generally re
ceived interpretation in the primitive ages
of the Church. These advantages are de
rived to us from the public acts of the
Church recorded in the most ancient ec
clesiastical histories ; from the prescribed
formularies of Faith then in genera;l use ;
and from the censures authoritatively passed
upon such as departed from these stand
ards of reputed orthodoxy. Hence we are
assured of the care and solicitude manifest
ed from the beginning by spiritual rulers,
to preserve the truth from corruption : and
when the importance of the doctrines them
selves, as well as the opportunities they en
joyed of tracing them to the fountain-head,
are duly considered ; it can hardly be con
ceived, that they who had the guidance and
I 4 govern-

120 SERMON IV.
government of the primitive Church should
either be universally uninformed as to any
fimdamental truth, or universally embrace
any fundamental error.
It is, therefore, with no common reve
rence that these authorities are to be re
garded : nor can we detract from their just
pretensions without hazard to some of the
main foundations of our Faith. " No
" man," says Bishop Bull, " can oppose
" Catholic consent, but he will at last be
" found to oppose both the Divine Oracles
" and sound Reason." Nevertheless, we
do not claim for them any infallibility, any
commission to make further revelations of
the Divine will, or any absolute authority
as Scripture-interpreters. The appeal still
lies from them, as from all other religious
instructors, to that Word itself, which was
no less their rule of Faith than it is ours :
and the highest 'degree of deference that
can be due to them, may be paid without
any infringement of that inviolable maxim,
" If any man speak, let him speak as the
" oracles of God."
11. We are now to consider, secondly, what

SERMON IV. 121
what degree of deference is due to the au
thority of human Reason in the investiga
tion of Sacred Truth; and what advan
tages may be derived from calling in the
aids of human science.
Whatever may be the inherent weakness
or corruption of human Reason, we are
not warranted in ascribing to it such total
darkness or depravation, as would render
it incapable of assisting us in these re
searches. At a very early period of life,
the human mind discovers an ability to
discern between good and evil, truth and
falsehood, which, when duly cultivated,
becomes a powerful auxiliary in the at
tainment of spiritual knowledge. And the
accuracy of that knowledge which is ob
tained from the investigation of Scripture
itself, may be expected to bear some pro
portion to the degree of cultivation be
stowed upon this natural faculty. But it
is necessary to ascertain what is the proper
sphere of Reason in these inquiries ; since
upon its being occupied within or without
that sphere, will depend the measure of its
actual utility. In

122 SERMON IV.
In searching the Scriptures for spiritual
instruction, ample scope is afforded to the
exercise of every faculty of the human in
tellect. Its powers of simple apprehen
sion, of judgment, of argumentation, and
of arrangement and combination of the se
veral parts pf the subject are continually
called forth, in proving the genuineness of
the text, or the authenticity of the Canon
of Scripture, and in digesting the matter
diffused through the Sacred Volume into
a compact and coherent body of truth.
The well cultivated mind cannot be more
profitably occupied than in the labours
connected with this research ; in solving
doubts, in removing difficulties, in clear
ing up ambiguities, in reconciling what
seems to be at variance, and in illustrating
by human science what it nevertheless re
ceives as grounded upon Divine testimony.
This is the legitimate province of man's
Reason, when engaged in the service of
Revealed Religion. But if it overstep this
boundary; if, instead of the interpreter,
it assume the character of an arbiter and
judge; it may become injurious to the
party

SERMON IV. 123
party in whose service it is employed; it
may darken the subject, instead of throw
ing light upon it ; and by introducing into
the discussion authorities or principles ir
relevant to the matter in hand, it may con
found what ought to be kept distinct, and
perplex what would otherwise be rendered
<;lear and intelligible.
Here, then, care must be taken to dis
tinguish between what can be discerned or
apprehended through faith only, and what
the natural intellect has power to discover
or excogitate from its own external or in
ternal resources. Truths of the latter de
scription, however clear and irrefragable,
are seldom proper criteria of truths pf the
-former class. They have reference to dif
ferent kinds of objects, and depend upon
different kinds of evidence. Yet it is chiefly
by confounding these, and arguing from
one to the other by mistaken analogies,
that bold adventurers in tlieolo^ are led
virtually to assert such a supremacy of
human Reason, as would place it even
-above Divine control. It is also from si
milar confusion or misapprehension, that
men

124 SERMON IV.
men of stronger piety than judgment are
wont to shrink from any exercise of their
mental powers in discussing Scriptural
truth, lest they should seem to derogate
from the Divine authority of Revealed
Religion. But to preserve the medium betwixt these
extremes, and to assign their proper boun
dary to human reason and human science,
is not surely a work of insuperable diffi
culty. The Scriptures comprehend a vast
extent of knowledge, human as well as
divine; and, in the illustration of them,
scarcely any acquisitions of human learn
ing are useless or unimportant. The adept
in ancient languages, in philology, rhe
toric, logic, ethics, metaphysics, geogra
phy, chronology, history ancient and mo
dern, will have a conspicuous advantage in
the study • of the Sacred Writings, over
him who is deficient in these attainments.
Where these are capable of application to
the subject, no competent student need be
fearful of pursuing his inquiries to their
utmost extent. The only just grounds of
apprehension would lie in a slight and su
perficial

SERMON IV. 125
perficial knowledge, enough to discover
difficulties, but not enough to remove
them; or in attempting to stretch even
the best attainments to points beyond their
reach. But the value of solid acquire
ments of this kind, soberly and discreetly
applied, is fully proved by the signal be
nefits which the Christian Faith has ac
tually derived from the various improve
ments and discoveries of modern times in
literature and science, tending to corrobo
rate many important truths in the Sacred
Records, and enabling us to retort upon
the sceptic and the scoffer many a for
midable blow, aimed at it in the vain con
fidence of irresistible strength.
There are indeed, in every branch of
human knowledge, certain principles, and
certain facts, so clearly and indubitably
established, as to make it incredible that
any system of Divine truth, rightly under
stood, should be found to contradict them;
and by such a test, many a false inter
pretation of Scripture has been detected
and exposed. But to apply this test suc
cessfully, is not the work of a rash or un
skilful

126 SERMON IV.
skilful hand. Every principle and every
fact resting upon human authority only,
must be placed beyond the reach of con
troversy, before it can here be admitted as
evidence : nor may even such evidence be
admitted, if it be not strictly applicable to
the subject under discussion. And since,
in this respect, considerable doubts and
difficulties may occasionally arise, it will
well become the man of science, rather to
mistrust his own judgment in the case,
than hastily to infer that reason and re
velation are irreconcileably at variance.
Subject to these restrictions, we need
not hesitate to give to human reason and
science their full share in the interpreta
tion of the Sacred Oracles. To apply to
this purpose every intellectual endowment
which God has bestowed upon us, is so far
effectually to fulfil his will ; remembering,
however, the infinite disparity between
ourselves and Him. The energies of the
human mind may thus be brought suc
cessfully to lend their aid in the acquisi
tion of spiritual knowledge. Though in
competent in themselves to the discovery of

SERMON IV. 127
of that knowledge, yet, when discovered,
they are competent to discern, to examine,
to compare, to illustrate, and to confirm
it, by means similar to those which, in
every other pursuit, lead most certainly to
iimprovement and perfection.
III. It now only remains, to add a few
observations respecting the ordinary as
sistance of the Holy Spirit, promised to
individuals for their advancement in reli
gious knowledge; and the reliance which
may be placed upon it, in subordination
to the authority of Scripture.
No devout believer in the Scriptures will
be regardless of St. Paul's declaration, that
" our sufficiency is of God'." Nor need
we hesitate to affirm, that the ablest as
well as safest expositors of Holy Writ are
generally to be found among those who
have been most distinguished by the dis
positions emphatically called in Scripture,
" the fruit of the Spirit""."" Among the
opposite characteristics, " the works of the
flesh ""," the Apostle enumerates " va-
1 2 Cor, iii. i. » Gal, v, 22, 23,
" Gal, V, 19, 20, 21. " riance.

ii

128 SERMON IV.
"riance, strife, and heresies:" and they
who wantonly separate from the Church
are declared to be " sensual, having not
"the Spirit"." We are, therefore, war
ranted in maintaining, that in the work of
interpreting Scripture, as well as in other
Christian duties, " every good and every
" perfect gift is from above, and cometh
" down from the Father of lights p."
But this truth is of a general nature
only, applicable to this subject in com
mon with whatever appertains to the cha
racter of a faithful disciple of Christ.
Whether engaged in the study of the
Scriptures, or in any other means of
working out his salvation, the devout
Christian acknowledges that " it is God
" who worketh in him both to will and to
" do of his good pleasure'","^ and that for
every degree of light and information of
which he' is conscious, he is to give God
the glory. This assurance, however, of
Divine help to further his own exertions,
he knows, is not to be expected as a spe-
o Jude 19. p James i. 1?.
1 Phil. ii. 13, cial

SERMON IV. 129
cial or extraordinary gift; much less as in
tended to supersede the use of any other
helps or means, with which the providence
of God has blessed him. In the infancy
of the Church, there were " diversities
'.' of gifts," proceeding from " the same
" Spirit '^," for the great work of spreading
the Gospel far and wide, and for the im
mediate edification of those who could not
have bec^n brought, without such extraor
dinary means, to the knowledge and ac
ceptance of the Gospel. These gifts ap
pear to have been limited to persons hold
ing official stations in the Church, and to
have continued no longer than the exi
gencies of the Church required. In pro
cess of time, they were gradually with
drawn : and their place is now to; be sup
plied, by the use of the Holy Scriptures,
accompanied with such attainments as th^
Ught of human learning, bearing some
faint analogy to the light of inspiration,
enables us to bring to the inquiry. Upon
the diligent application of these, and the
' 1 Cor. xii. 4.
PL ordinary

130 SERMON IV.
ordinary imperceptible aids of Divine grace
to render them efficient, we are now to
rely. While therefore we entirely reject pre
tensions to special illumination of the un
derstanding, as a warrant for obtruding un
authorized interpretations of Holy Writ ; —
while we acknowledge that the age of ex
traordinary inspiration, as well as that of
miracles and prophecy, has long since
passed away ; — while we strenuously insist
upon the danger of neglecting the ordinary
means of improvement which the Provi
dence of God affords us, from a vain ex
pectation of more than ordinary gifts of
Grace ; — we, nevertheless, are far from de
preciating the value of that spiritual aid,
which is the assured privilege of every
faithful member of Christ, and to which
the Scriptures themselves invariably direct
us to ascribe whatever proficiency we make
in wisdom and in knowledge.
The dispositions, indeed, implied in a
sober and well-regulated confidence in this
aid, cannot but greatly facilitate the at
tainment of the object : and to the want of

SERMON IV. 131
of these we may ascribe much heterodox
exposition of Holy Writ, as well as much
of that infidelity, which is to be found
in Christian countries. And, doubtless,
(as has been already more fully noticed)
there is the promise of an especial blessing
annexed to such dispositions. For, " God
" resisteth the proud, but giveth grace
" to the humble'," What wonder then,
if they who trust only to human sagacity,
and to ingenuity rendered more conspi
cuous, perhaps," in distorting than in sim
plifying the truth, should exemplify what
the Prophet affirms of such as " made
" them crooked paths," — " We wait for
" light, but behold obscurity ; for briglit-
" ness, but we walk in darkness' ?" — What
wonder, if the ^Mc^icm/ consequences of rash
and unhallowed attempts at Scripture-in
terpretation, by those who are regardless
of the ordinary and appointed means of
attaining to it, should be that " strong
" delusion," which, the Apostle warns us,
may be sent upon them who " receive not
" the love of the truth"' ?"
s James iv. 6. » Isaiah lix, 8, 9. *» 2 Thess. ii. 10, 11.^
K2 The

132 SERMON IV.
The distinction, then, between the Fana
tic and the sober-minded Christian in this
respect is manifest. The former presumes
upon the aid of the Spirit, to the neglect
of human acquirements : the latter avails
himself of both. The former despises the
natural gifts of which he is in possession ;
expecting preternatural gifts, of which he
has no reasonable assurance : the latter
diligently cultivates every talent bestowed
upon him ; relying, at the same time, for
help from above to perfect his endeavours.
For this blessing on his labours, he con
fidently trusts in God ; knowing that " who-
" soever thus believeth in Him shall not
" be ashamed ^"
Thus we have brought to a termination
the first general division of our subject,
respecting those great leading principles,
by which all inquiries into the truths of
Revealed Religion, and every specific rule
of Scripture-interpretation, are to be re
gulated and adjusted. We have seen,
on the one hand, the errors of those who
^ Rom. X, 11, would

Sermon iv. 133
would set up authorities of their own de
vising above thkt of the Oracles of God ;
and the errors of those, on the other hand,
who would reject the means, which the Pro
vidence of God has placed in their hands,
of guarding the Sacred Word against per
version and misinterpretation. It is to one
or other of these extremes, that the Church
may justly .attribute some of the worst
corruptions of the Christian Faith. By
the undue elevation of ecclesiastical au
thority, of human philosophy, or of ima
ginary inspiration ; sacerdotal, intellectual,
and spiritual Pride, have, in their turns,
domineered over the faith of mankind,
and " taught for doctrines of God the
" commandments of men''." By vilifying
all these ; by spurning at restraint of every
kind ; and by closing up all the avenues
to wholesome instruction and mental im
provement; ignorance, licentiousness, and
irreligious apathy, have rendered the Scrip
tures themselves instrumental to delusion.
These prime sources of error being re-
^ Matth, XV, 9,
K 3 movedj

134 SERMON IV.
moved, the inquirer will come to the
investigation of Scripture truth, with a
mind free from dangerous prepossessions,
and better able to profit by the re
search, " Other foundation can no man lay,
" than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ^."
— He is " Head over all things to the
" Church ^"— His Word " giveth light
" and understanding to the simple*." —
His Grace " is sufficient for us"'." These
are first principles, invariably to be ad
hered to, and to which every other rule
is secondary and subordinate. But in the
application of these principles to the pur
poses of spiritual instruction and improve
ment, our own cooperation is made re
quisite by Him who is " the Author and
" Finisher of our Faith '^." He hath taught
us that whatever talents, natural or spi
ritual, are bestowed upon us, must be
used in His service; and that with them

y I Cor. iii. 11, z Ephes, i. 22,
a Ps, cxix. 130. b 2 Cor. xii. 9.
«= Heb. xii. 2,
we

SERMON IV. 135
we are to " occupy till He come''." . For,
" of Him, and through Him, and to Him,
" are all things ; to whom be glory for
" ever. Amen*."
d Luke xix. 13. « Rom, ri. 36,

K 4

SERMON

SERMON V.

2 Timothy ii. 15.

Rightly dividing the word of truth.
In the course of the inquiry already in
stituted into the subject of Scripture-inter
pretation, those points have chiefly been
discussed, which relate to certain primary
principles necessarily affecting every sub
ordinate rule, and indispensably requisite
towards the attainment of a clear and con
sistent view of the Christian system. These
principle? being established, it remains to
consider how we may most securely build
on such foundations. And here we may
select, in the first place, as a topic of main
importance, the admonition in the text,
given by St. Paul to Timothy, that he
should " study to shew himself approved
" of God, a workman that needeth not to
" be ashamed, rightly dividing the
^' WORD OF TRUTH." The

138 SERMON V.
The Apostle, in giving this direction to
him whom he calls his " own son in the
" Faith," undoubtedly intended the edifi
cation, not of Timothy only, but also of
all who, after him, should succeed to the
Office of the Ministry ; since upon a right
division, or distribution, of the truth into
its respective parts, by the Preacher of the
Word, would depend the clear conception
of it by the people committed to their
charge, and their security against any
counterfeit representations which false Or
ignorant teachers might attempt to impose
upon them. And although it concerns
not the plain unlettered Christian to be
an adept in the arts of controversy, or
to be able to unravel every perplexity in
which minute inquirers may seek to en
tangle him ; yet is it highly important,
that he should not, either through his own
misapprehension, or that of his appointed
instructors, be led to hold opinions sub
versive of " the hope that is in him ;" — a
hope, intended to* be " an anchor of the
*' soul, both sure and stedfast ^"
» Heb. vi. 19.
What

SERMON V. 139
What then is the purport of the Apostle's
injunction, " rightly to divide the word of
" truth ?"
On the critic9,l meaning of the word
o^B-aTof^tSvTo,, here rendered " rightly divid-
" ing," it is unnecessary to dilate. What
ever metaphorical signification we assign
to it, (for it is capable of more than one,)
its application in this passage will be nearly
the same. It- denotes a judicious distribu
tion or arrangement of the subject-matter
of Holy Writ ; such an analysis of its com
ponent parts, as may enable the reader to
judge of their respective purposes, and
their connection with the general design.
This cannot but be requisite in a work so
multifarious in its contents, composed by
various authors, treating on various sub
jects, referring to various times, persons,
and occurrences, and yet manifesting one
uniform and consistent purpose, in which
all mankind are equally concerned. It is
also the more necessary, because, for ob
vious reasons, the Scriptures themselves
are not presented to us in a systematic
form- The several dispensations of Re
vealed

140 SERMON V.
vealed Religion had reference to the special
exigencies of mankind at certain periods,
as well as to the general purpose of Divine
Revelation. The Sacred Writings, there
fore, were particularly adapted to the im
provement of those to whom they were at
first addressed, whilst they at the same time
shed a light intended to be universally be
neficial. Hence they admit a somewhat
diversified mode in the airangement or
classification of their contents, although
the truths they deliver are substantially
the same. But, whatever be the method
pursued, the same leading principles must
be adhered to, and the same accuracy of
discrimination will be requisite, in examin
ing the constituent parts of so stupendous
a work. In discoursing then upon the injunction
in the text, we may consider it as com
prising, in general terms, whatever is ne
cessary for the clear analysis of Scripture
truth. " Rightly to divide the truth," is
rightly to separate what ought to be kept
distinct. And how important this rule is,
to a correct interpretation of Holy Writ, may

SERMON y. 141
may be evidenced by a brief examination
of the following points:^ — First, the general
distinction between what is properly fun-
damental in Scripture truth, and what is
not so ; — Secondly, the specific distinc
tions to be observed in the several dis
pensations of Revealed Religion, by which,
at different periods, the Almighty saw fit
to communicate his will to mankind; —
Thirdly, the variety of suhject -matter con
tained in the Sacred Writings, and con
nected with these particular dispensations ;
— Fourthly, the immediate occasions and
purposes, whether general or special, for
which certain boOks or portions of Holy
Writ appear to have been composed.
I. First then, we are to consider the
general distinction, as far as it can be
made, between what is properly funda
mental in Scripture truth, and what is
not so.
It is not every truth clearly deducible
from Scripture, or manifestly necessary
to be believed, that can with propriety be
called fundamental. For though no man
may safely deny any doctrine proved from
Scripture ;

142 SERMON V.
Scripture; yet all truths, however certain
and indisputable, are not to be placed on
the same level with respect to their essen
tial importance. Some it is the direct
purpose of Scripture to reveal to us :
others it recognizes only as truths already
received, or collaterally connected with its
design : and greater stress is evidently laid
upon some of these points than upon
others. Hence we find reiterated injunc
tions respecting particular doctrines and
duties, as if almost the whole of religion
consisted in these; and many compendious
rules of faith and practice, which, if taken
in the abstract only, might seem to pre
clude the necessity of inquiring farther
into what we are to believe or to do.
But though truths thus urged may
justly claim especial consideration, yet the
number of those which are to be regarded
as fundamental will be too much circum
scribed, if we attempt thus to reduce them
to one or two comprehensive articles. It
seems indeed impracticable to frame ar
ticles so comprehensive as some desire to
have them, without giving latitude to a
great

SERMON V. 143
great diversity and even contrariety of opi
nions which may be engrafted upon them.
If, for instance, from St. Paul's general
maxim, " Other foundation can no man
" lay, than that is laid, which is Jesus
" Christ'"," it were inferred that the bare
acknowledgment of this one truth, " Jesus
" is the Christ," is sufficient in itself as
a creed in which all may conscientiously
unite ; what security could be had against
a multitude of erroneous tenets respect
ing the various points virtually included
in that general proposition ? or what diffi
culty would be found, even by men hold
ing the most opposite opinions on those
points, in acceding to so broad and in
definite a rule of Faith ? Yet, is it not evi
dent, that the several specific truths in
separable from that proposition are no
less essential to a right profession of the
Faith, than the proposition itself? For,
when the Apostle speaks of Jesus Christ as
the foundation of our Faith, must we not
infer, that whatever necessarily belongs to
»• 1 Cor. iii. 11. it

144 SERMON V.
it becomes, in effect, a fundamental ar
ticle of Behef? The question, therefore,
what is fundamental, still remains open ^to
inquiry; and the answer is to be sought
for in the developement of the Apostle's
aphorism. The aphorism itself may con
tain all that is necessary to be believed,
and may afford a clue to the discovery of
such contents : — but it does not itself give
the definitive answer. It only cuts , off
every pretence for establishing any oppo
site principle of religion to that which
rests on faith in Christ ; by declaring the
authority of the Christian Revelation to
be that to which every other must bow
and obey.
In like manner, wherever compendious
texts occur in Scripture, which seem to
comprise in one single proposition all that
is necessary in faith or practice, they are
to be considered either as combining se
veral essential truths, or as intended to be
taken in conjunction with others, no less
essential, dispersed through the Sacred
Writings. Scripture indeed no where
sets before us a synopsis, or collective view.

SERMON V. 145
view, of such essentials. This is left to be
done by those whose charge it is to feed
the flock of Christ : and in this the skill of
the judicious interpreter will be most pro
fitably displayed.
The desire, however, of simplifying, as
much as possible, the truths of the Chris
tian Faith, and of cutting off' occasions of
disputation, seems to have led many to at
tempts at generalizing its system, more
than is consistent with a distinct delinea
tion of its design. Thus it has been af
firmed, that nothing is fundamentally ne
cessary to be believed, but that Jesus is
the Messiah; or that those articles alone
are fundamental, on which all Christians
are agreed ; or, again, that what is essen
tial to the Faith is to be determined solely
by its practical tendency and effect : — all
which are but ambiguous or defective cri
teria of a right belief; affording no direct
evidence of the specific articles which con
stitute the faith itself, much Tess of the
sense in which they are to be received, so
as not to be rendered inconsistent with
each other. Such indefinite views of the
L subject

146 SERMON V.
subject tend indeed to create indifference
to correct apprehensions of the truth, and
to shelter dangerous errors under the cover
of alatitudinarianism specious, but delusive.
Among the many directions, therefore,
which have been given for our guidance in
this respect, none, perhaps, is so entirely
unexceptionable, as the rule laid down by
an eminent Divine of our Church", that
" whatever verities are found to be plainly
" and directly essential to the doctrine of
" the Gospel^ Covenant, they are funda-
" mental verities ; and whatever errors are
" plainly and directly subversive of it,
" they 2iXe fundamental errws."
That such fundamental truths are dis
cernible in the Holy Scriptures, may be
inferred from the purpose for which those
Scriptures were written. Every thing in the
Sacred Volutae tends to one great central
point, the Covenant of God \Vith man
fbr his final justificjition and acceptance.
Whatever inseparably 'appertains tP this, is
fundamental in its kind, and indispensable
to a saving faith. Whatever is reptignant to
« br, Waterland. this,

SERMON V. 147
this, is an error that endangers salvation.
Numberless other truths there may be,
consequent upon these, or collaterally con
nected with them, or even entirely dis
tinct from them, which, as Scripture-ve-'
rities, we are also bound to beheve. But
those only are strictly fundamental in the
^stem, which immediately affect that great
charter of our salvation, the Christian Co
venant. And what these are, the nature
and the terms of the Covenant will suffi
ciently ascertain.
The Gospel presupposes, not only the
existence of God, but the mode of his
existence as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
and those essential attributes by which
he was moved to bestow this inestimable
blessing upon mankind. It also presup
poses the contraction of actual guilt on
the part of man ; whence arose the neces
sity of this merciful interposition of the
Almighty, to save him from destruction.
It further assumes, that man has freedom
erf will to accept or reject the proffered mer
cy, and that it is the indisputable right of
his Divine Benefactor to prescribe the sti-
L 2 pulations.

148 SERMON V.
pulations, or conditions, on which its be
nefits shall depend.
The points thus assumed are therefore
to be regarded as forming the basis of the
Chris"tian system, and, consequently, as
fundamental doctrines. They involve the
truth and the validity of the whole scheme
of religion deduced from revelation. Hence
it is our first concern, to form correct opi
nions on these topics. To know God, and
to know in what relation we stand to Him
under this gracious dispensation, are es-
Jsential to a right apprehension of the dis
pensation itself, as well as to the profitable
application of it to ourselves. Contrariety
of sentiment on such leading questions
must not only preclude accommodation as
to many lesser points, but will make each
party appear to the other as virtually re
nouncing Christianity itself
For similar reasons, the acknowledg
ment of our Lord Jesus Christ as the
Mediator between God and man, com
bining in his person the twofold nature,
human and Divine, must, if the doctrine -
be true, be essential to the Covenant ; and,
therefore.

SERMON V. 149
therefore, to err on this point, is to err
fundamentally. Inseparably connected with
this, is the doctrine also of Atonement
through the Redeemer ; according to our
belief or disbelief of which, Christianity as
sumes a totally different character ; dif
ferent in kind and in substance, not merely
in form and circumstance.
The same may be said respecting the
conditions of salvation through Christ.
A Covenant without conditions seems to
be a contradiction in terms. If the Gos
pel were simply a Promise of salvation, it
might be absolute and unrestricted. But
as a Covenant, it is necessarily conditional.
Therefore, though it originated in God's
free Grace, and is founded entirely on His
Promises, which are " yea and amen," and
which he might have withholden or not,
at his good pleasure; yet these Promises
being delivered under the form, and sub
stance, and denomination of a Covenant,
they must be regarded in that light : and
to represent the Almighty as making this
offer irrespectively and unconditionally, is
to undermine the very foundations of the
L 3 Gospel.

150 SERMON V.
Gospel. It cannot, therefore, but be matter
of importance, to determine whether we will
admit the necessity of Repentance and Obe
dience in conjunction with Faith; or, so rely
on Faith only, as virtually to supersede that
necessity : — whether we imagine Christ to
have done all for vis, and that nothing more
is requisite than to lay hold on him by Faith ;
or admit, that there is, on our part, some
thing to be done, as well as to be believed,
that we may attain to eternal life.
Nor is the doctrine we hold concerning
the nature and operations of the Holy
Spirit, and its efficacy in the work of our
Sanctification, less strongly marked as to
its fundamental character. If we doubt
*' whether there be any Holy Ghost," any
Divine Person so denominated, the Spirit
of God and of Christ, by whom " the
" whole body of the Church is governed
" and sanctified;" it may well be asked,
" Unto what then were we baptized''?" —
And again, as to the mode of its opera
tion ; — whether we persuade ourselves that
this Spirit works in us irresistibly, and by
^ Acts xix. 3. its

SERMON V. 151
its perceptible operations gives us au in
ward assurance of its saving effects ; or be
lieve that our own cooperation with it is
indispensable, and that its presence with
us is apprehended by faith, not by sensible
perception ;; — these cannot be questions of
.secondary importance. In their results
they affect the very vitals of Christianity.
Truth concerning them must be radical
truth : error concerning them must vitiate
the whole mass of our Creed.
Perhaps, too, we shall be well warrant
ed, in placing among these fundaniental
articles, a due estimation of the Christian
Sacraments, and the Cliristian Priesthooci.
The question, whether these are essential,
or not, to our actual reception of the be
nefits of the Covenant, involves, on the
one hand, our safety in placing any re
liance upon them ; and, on the other, our
danger in disregarding them, if necessary
to ensure our acceptance with God. If
the Sacraments be not only signs or em
blems of spiritual benefits, but the insti
tuted means of conveying those benefits; —
and if the ministration of the Priesthood,
L 4 as

152 SERMON V.
as a Divine ordinance, be necessary to
give the Sacraments their validity and ef
fect; — then are these interwoven into the
very substance of Christianity, and in
separable from its general design. So
much, indeed, is said in Scripture of the
Church of God, as a spiritual society, sub
sisting under a visible government, and ad
ministered by means of these ordinances ;
that to treat the consideration of these
points as of little weight, appears to be
depreciating, if not the system of Chris
tianity itself, yet the mode which infinite
Wisdom has ordained of carrying it into
effect. Here, therefore, as in other fun
damental points, errors, whether of excess
or of defect, may be attended with most
momentous consequences.
Thus it appears, that whatever relates
generally to the Divine nature and attri
butes ; — to the Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, by whom we are created, redeem
ed, and sanctified; — ^whatever specially ap
pertains to the personal dignity and office
of the Son as Mediator of the Covenant
between God and man, or of the Holy
Spirit

SERMON V. 163
Spirit as rendering us meet to become
partakers of that Covenant; — whatever
conditions are to be fulfilled on our part,
to entitle us to the benefits of the Co
venant ; — and whatever means are ordain
ed for carrying this gracious purpose of
the Almighty into effect; — ^may be con
sidered as Fundamentals of the Chris
tian Faith. To these our attention is
to be primarily directed : and in carefully
discriminating between them and points
not so distinctly revealed; or concerning
which diversity of opinion may be enter
tained without affecting the hope of salva
tion ; will be shewn, in the first place,
our adherence to the Apostolical maxim,
" rightly dividing the word of truth."
II. But, secondly, besides this general
distinction, bearing reference to the one
great purpose for which the whole system
was revealed ; there are also specific dis
tinctions to be observed, respecting the se
veral Dispensations of Revealed Religion,
by which, at different periods, the Al
mighty saw fit to communicate His Will
to mankind. These

154 SERMON V.
These Dispensations may be classed, either
according to the order of time in which they
took place, or according to some peculiar
and essential characteristics in the Cove
nants with which they were accompanied.
Respecting the Covenants entered into
by the Almighty with mankind, these also
may be somewhat differently .classed or
subdivided, according as we view them in
their general or specific characters. Some
speak of two Covenants only ; — the Co
venant before the Fall, and the Covenant
after it : — the former, bestowing the pro
mise of Eternal Life on condition of man's
continuing in a state of innocence and
obedience ; which, by the help of Divine
Grace, he was rendered able to do ; — the
latter, in which, after man had by trans
gression incurred the forfeiture of eternal
life, new terms and conditions were offered
for his restoration to it. According to this
division of the subject, every intermediate
Dispensation between the Fall of man and
the end of the world, forms a part only of
the second Covenant preparatory to its
final completion. Others

SERMON V. 155
Others adopt the same twofold division
of the subject, under different denomina
tions ; — such as the Covenants of Nature
and of Grace ; — of Incorruptibility and the
Resurrection ; — of Works and of Faith ; —
all which distinctions, though not each ex
pressed, perhaps, with equal accuracy, evi
dently relate to the general state of man
before and after the Fall; without refer
ence to any particular modifications of the
latter Covenant, intervening between the
first promise of a Redeemer, and the full
accomplishment of the promise, in the
person of the Messiah.
Now although these distinctions, rightly
and clearly defined, may suffice for a ge
neral view of the design of Revealed Reli
gion ; yet, to prevent misconception in
judging of the several parts of so vast a
design, it is necessary that other distinc
tions, more specific, but equally important,
should be constantly kept in view. For,
with respect to the state of mankind since
the Fall, it is manifest that the Almighty,
in progressively carrying on the one great
purpose of Divine Revelation, has, " at
" sundry

156 SERMON V.
" sundry times and in divers manners","
adapted his proceedings to the various exi
gencies of those for whose benefit it was
intended. With these circumstantial dif
ferences, therefore, the Scripture-critic
ought to be well acquainted. Their occa
sions, their results, their separate purposes,
and their instrumentality to the whole de
sign, must be borne in mind, to enable
hira " rightly to divide the Word of
" Truth," and fully to apprehend the
scope and intention of the Sacred Writers.
For the attainment of this object, how
ever, it will suffice to mark the simple
chronological order of the Divine transac
tions with mankind, as they occur in Holy
Writ, under the Paradisiacal, the Patri
archal, the Mosaic, and the Christian Dis
pensations ; — an arrangement, the most
obvious and convenient to the ordinary
reader, while it combines every advantage
of a more elaborate investigation. For,
hence we shall readily perceive both the
specific and the general characters of these
Dispensations. We shall perceive that the
« Heb. i, i. Para-

SERMON V. 157
Paradisiacal stands alone, comprehending
the first general Covenant with man, and
applicable only to that state of innocence
and perfection in which he was at first
created. We shall perceive also, that the
Gospel, the second general Covenant made
with man, did not commence at the time
of our Lord's actual appearance upon earth,
but was, in effect, coeval with the Fall;
having its beginning in the promise made
to our first parents, that " the seed of
" the woman should bruise the serpent's
" head''." The Patriarchal Religion there
fore was that of the Gospel, in promise or
expectation. The Mosaic was that of the
Gospel, in Type and Prophecy. The
Christian was the completion of both.
These are distinctions necessary to be well
understood, that we may be enabled to
enter into the true spirit and meaning of
many of the Apostolical writings, where
arguments are continually addressed to
Jews, or Gentiles, or Christian Believers,
grounded entirely upon these important
considerations. III. But, thirdly, the Scripture-inter-
* Gen. iii, 15, preter

158 SERMON V.
preter will find it also expedient, to Con
duct his inquiries with reference to the
great variety of subject-matter contained
in the Sacred Writings, and connected
with these several Dispensations.
The order, in which the books of the
Old and New Testaments are canonically
arranged, affords one general clue to a
classification of their contents. Another
of a more comprehensive cast, is the divi
sion of the Old Testament into the Penta
teuch, the Historical Books, the Hagio
grapha, and the Prophecies ; and of the
New Testament into the Gospels, the Acts
of the Apostles, the Epistles, and the
Apocalypse. But whatever distribution we
adopt, it is to be observed, that no one
book is unconnected with the rest. And
hence, (as well as to characterize it, by
way of eminence, the Book above all
others to be received and reverenced,)
probably, these Writings have collectively
obtained their appropriate appellation, the
Bible ; denoting that they constitute one
entire work, notwithstanding the diversity
of authors whose names they bear, and the
variety of subjects on which they treat ; a
work.

SERMON V. 159
work, singular in its kind, whether consi
dered with respect to its authority, its de
sign, or its known effects wherever it has
been introduced.
Nevertheless, while we affix this charac
ter to the Bible in its collective form, re
gard must be had to the particular subject
of each separate work it contains. And
here the skill and attainments of the ex
positor will continually be brought to the
test, '
In the Historical books special atten
tion is necessary to the immediate scope
and purpose of the narrative; lest more
should be expected from it than that
purpose requires, or attempts be made to
deduce from the history what it will not
clearly warrant. Much in these records ii^
left untcdd, which is either Unnecessary tp
be known, or which, if necessary, must be
supplied from other sources. Here the
aids of geography, chronology, and pro
fane history may be successfully employed,
in the adjustment of questionable points,
and in connecting events and circum
stances which the Sacred Writers have but
cursorily

160 SERMON V.
cursorily or incidentally noticed. The labours
of our best Commentators shew how va
luable in this respect are the acquirements
of extensive information and diligent, re
search ; while the rash and ill-digested ca
vils of sceptical critics no less clearly prove
the necessity of the greatest care and cir
cumspection, in comparing sacred with
pVofane history, and in employing the one
for the elucidation of the other. That
which has affectedly been called the Pyr
rhonism of history, (at best but a low and
groveling species of criticism,) is never so
misplaced as when sitting in judgment on
these Divine Oracles ; whose credit no
thing may be allowed to impeach, but ir-.
^econcileable contradiction to facts and
authorities estabUshed upon testimony the
most indubitable, nay, which it is impos
sible to set aside. To an investigation
whether they really exhibit any such con
tradiction, we may confidently challenge
inquiry. But while the general evidence
of their authenticity and of their Divine
inspiration stands unshaken, they are not
to be made the sport of wanton surmise or
irreverent

SERMON V. 161
irreverent suspicion, as if they rested on
no firmer grounds than the effusions of
poetic fiction and legendary credulity.
From criticism however of this description,
it were well if all who are classed among
Christian Commentators could be entirely
exculpated !
To the interpreter of the Prophetical
books of Scripture, such cautions are of
still higher moment. In the study of
these, a greater reach of erudition and
judgment will be requisite. A knowledge
of the time, the country, and the condi
tion of the' Prophet himself; and an ac
quaintance not only with those circum
stances with which the Holy Seer was per
sonally conversant, but with those of other
times and countries far remote from his;
will oftentimes be necessary, for the eluci
dation of these obscurer portions of Sacred
Writ. Nor will less regard be due to the
characteristic style of their respective au
thors; to their highly figurative diction,
their parabolical illustrations, and (still
more difficult to decypher) their enigma
tical actions and demeanour, in awakening
M attention

162 SERMON V.
attention to the awful purposes of their
mission. And to this must be added the
care necessary in fixing the accomplish
ment of Prophecy; whether it be sought
for in the events which the Prophet him
self lived to see; or in some subsequent
though not distant period ; or in that
" fulness of time" when Messiah appear
ed ; or in still later ages, when various
events, preparatory to our Lord's final
coming, have successively verified the pre
tensions of these faithful Messengers of
the Most High. In the discussion of these
points, more than an ordinary portion of
discernment, as well as of sound learning,
will be requisite, to avoid rash and mis
chievous interpretations, such as ignorance,
fanaticism, and party spirit, are continually
obtruding upon the Christian world.
Respecting those entire books, or por
tions, of Holy Writ, which are purely
doctrinal or practical, although the labour
of interpretation may seem to be, in some
respects, less arduous, yeit is it, in others,
attended with its peculiar difficulties ; and,
in its results, it may be productive of con
sequences

SERMON V. 163
sequences still more important. This in
deed is a branch of Scripture-criticism,
with which the points of distinction al
ready noticed will be found to have a
close connection. The distinction between
points really fundamental, or not so, is
here often necessary, to guide us in the
exposition of particular articles of faith,
and of particular rules of conduct. That
between the respective Dispensations, or
Covenants of the Almighty with his crea
tures, will frequently assist us in determin
ing to what times, and persons, and cir
cumstances, any of these related ; and how
far they concern mankind in general, or
ourselves in particular. The professed sub
ject also of any book of Scripture will af
ford some clue to the proper application
of its instructions in matters of faith and
practice, and to their necessary limitation
or extension.
IV. These observations, however, as well
as those which preceded them, may be
still further strengthened, by considering,
in the last place, the several other occa
sions and purposes, whether general or
M 2 special,

164 SERMON V.
special, for which different books or por
tions of Holy Writ appear to have been
composed. Whatever be the subject of investiga
tion, whether Prophecy, History, matters
of Faith and Practice, or the nature of the
different Dispensations of Revealed Re
ligion ; we shall be exposed to continual
difficulty, if we labour under misapprehen
sion respecting the immediate scope and
intention which the writer had in view.
Though the Bible therefore is capable, for
the most part, and perhaps throughout,
of an application both to general and spe
cial purposes ; yet these must not be con
founded with each other : and to the want
x)f due discrimination in this respect, may
be attributed many errors of considerable
magnitude. Perhaps indeed the far greater part of
tiiat obscurity in the Scriptural Writings,
which has often been made the ground of
unreasonable complaint, might be removed
if this were more carefully considered. It
is not however to be expected that the
system of Revealed Religion should, in all
i|t$

SERMON V. 165
fts parts and circumstances, be equally
clear and intelUgible to persons living in
different ages of the world, and under dif
ferent dispensations of the Divine will. It
appears to have been the design of the
Almighty, that the disclosure of what re
lated to this vast design should be gradual
and progressive. Some of its particulars
therefore would, of necessity, be better
understood at one period than at an
other. The Patriarchs cannot be supposed
to have had so distinct a view of the mys
tery of redemption, as that which is vouch
safed to the Christian world; nor could
the Jewish prophecies be so intelligible to
those who hved at the time of their deh-
very, as to them who have seen their com
pletion. On the other hand, many circum
stances respecting the types, and ceremo
nies, and sacrifices under the Jewish and
Patriarchal dispensations, being specially
adapted to the habits, and sentiments,
and conditions of those periods, might
then be better understood than in these
latter ages, when their use and necessity
are done away. Still the general utility of
M 3 the

166 SERMON V.
the Scriptures is the same. As much may
be known by all, as it is necessary for all
to know : and the fact, that special situa
tions afford special advantages for the
elucidation of certain obscurities in the
Sacred Writings, cannot justly be alleged
as detracting from their universally bene
ficial tendency. It only proves how ne
cessary it is to investigate them with re
ference to this fact ; and not to expect sa
tisfactory and consistent interpretations of
them, without regard to these local or oc
casional purposes, as well as to their ge
neral design.
In illustration of this, so far as it re
spects a right apprehension of doctrinal
points, we may observe that the Gospel of
St. John in particular, and almost all the
Epistles in the New Testament, were evi
dentiy written to meet the particular exi
gencies of the faithful in those times, and
with direct reference to the religious opi
nions then prevailing. There is abundant
evidence to shew that St, John wrote his
Gospel when the gross errors of Cerinthus
and his followers were gaining ground; and

SERMON V. 167
and that the introductory part of it, re
specting the Divinity of the Logos, was
composed with an especial view to their
refutation. Other heresies had also sprung
up during the Apostolic age : and to these
the Sacred Writers found it needful to
supply an antidote. The full force, there
fore, and the characteristic excellence of
some of the most important portions of
the New Testament, will be in a great mea
sure lost upon the reader who is unap
prised or regardless of these circumstances.
The respective prejudices and preposses
sions of the Jewish and the Gentile con
verts were another fruitful source of diffi'-
culty to the first Preachers of the Gospel,
and called for the utmost discretion and
judgment in their endeavours to coun
teract them. Accordingly, it was an ac
knowledged principle with St. Paul, and
we have no reason to doubt its being so
with the rest of the Apostles, to " become
" all things unto all men^;" that is, to
adapt their mode of reasoning, as well as
their personal conduct, to the attainments,
f 1 Cor, ix. 22,
M 4 cha-

168 SERMON V.
characters, cpnditions, and opinions of
those to whom their instructions were ad
dressed. In discoursing, at one time, with
Jews; at another, with Greeks; at an
other, with Infidels or Heretics; at an
other, with those who received the word
with sincerity and singleness of heart ; it is
not to be conceived that one uniform me
thod of instruction would equally avail.
The strain of the argument would some
times be simply didactic ; at other times,
profoundly argumentative and polemical;
the persons concerned in the discussion, as
well as the subject-matter of the discus-;
sion, necessarily requiring such discrimina
tion. And although it be unquestionable,
that, even on such special occasions, no
thing would come from the pen of an in
spired Apostle, which might not, in the
exposition of Scripture-doctrine, be made
generally and universally instructive ; yet
is it no less obvious, that to render such
portions of Scripture thus edifying, it is
necessary to regard them in connection
with these occasional purposes. Continual
misapplication may otherwise be made of
positions

SERMON V. 169
positions and arguments separated from
the concomitant circumstances which give
the clue to their proper interpretation, and
applied to topics irrelevant to the design
of the authors themselves.
To matters of practical concern also, as
well as to doctrinal points, this rule must
be extended. In consulting the records of
the Old Testament, unless regard be had
to the state of manners, civilization, cus
toms, and local peculiarities of the times
to which they relate; we shall be perpe
tually liable to dangerous errors of judg
ment, both with respect to the characters
set before us, and the lessons they afford
for the regulation of our own conduct.
Nor is this caution less necessary in the
interpretation even of the moral precepts
of the New Testament. Many of our
Lord's injunctions and prohibitions, as well
as those of his Apostles, had reference to
the existing circumstances of his personal
followers. Some concerned only the Pas
tors and Ministers of the Church ; others,
the Apostles in particular; others, the per
secuted flock of Christ, hourly exposed to
perils

170 SERMON V.
perils and temptations not of ordinary oc
currences; others, to the special exigencies
of an infant Church, struggUng with po
verty and reproach. To apply these to
every succeeding age, or to a state of so
ciety altogether different from that of the
primitive Christians, may lead, and indeed
often has led, to mischievous consequences.
It has induced men of eccentric minds to
attempt strange fantastic modes of life,
generally impracticable, or, if practicable,
entirely subversive of the social character.
Still, again it must be urged, there are
no actual precepts or doctrines of Re
vealed Religion, which may not, when re
garded under their necessary modifica
tions, afford universal as well as particular
instruction : nor may we venture to affirm,
of any single portion of Holy Writ, that
to believers in any age or country it is of
no concern. But there are doubtless many
portions, of which the proper application
to other persons and to other times, must
depend on a right understanding of their
intended application to those persons and
times for which they were immediately written.

SERMON V. 171
written. It is thus that directions the most
special and personal may afford general
information to the rest of mankind. They
teach them how to act when similarly cir
cumstanced. They serve, either as speci
fications of general rules, or as limitations
of those which are elsewhere more indefi
nitely expressed, or as enlargements of
such as appear to be of a more limited
and restricted nature. In all cases, they
suggest what, cceteris paribus, or mutatis
mutandis, is the proper test of obedience
to the Divine Will. And thus the Chris
tian becomes more thoroughly acquainted
with his duty in special cases and under
particular trials, as well as with its general
principles. Where these however are con
founded together, or substituted the one
for the other, inconsistency and error will
be the natural result. And, but for such
perversion as this, the world had probably
never heard of the follies of Christian De
votees and Anchorites; of the refusal of
certain sects, to cooperate with the civil
magistrate by the use of oaths or by the
sword ; or of the atrocities which blind
Fanatics

172 SERMON V.
Fanatics have occasionally wrought, under
a persuasion or a pretext of propagating
the pure Religion of the Gospel.
Such a detail as would be necessary for
the full developement of these subjects,
the extent of the present undertaking does
not allow. But enough may have been
said, to shew the importance of " rightly"
analysing, or " dividing the Word of
" truth ;" and to trace some leading fea
tures of the system, most requisite to be
distinctly borne in mind, if we would form
clear conceptions of the whole as well as
of its constituent parts ; or would attain to
accurate notions of it, either as a rule of
faith or of conduct.
These points being carefully secured,
(subject to that first and greatest prin
ciple, the supreme authority of the Word
itself, investing it with a dignity to which
no human composition may pretend,) the
work of interpretation may then be prose
cuted with the same ardour of inquiry, the
same exercise of the mental faculties, and
the same freedom of sound and legiti
mate criticism, which ordinarily ensure pro-

SERMON V. 173
proficiency in other pursuits. These too
will be the critic's best security against
any vain and ostentatious display of learn
ing, for the support of a fanciful theory,
or for giving a colour to opinions which
cannot be maintained without some per
version of the Sacred Word from its
plain and genuine meaning. This indeed
is an exercise of talents, here worse than
misplaced; it is " handling the Word of
" God deceitfully s." Yet without some
such disingenuous dealing, what erro
neous system of Theology could maintain
its ground ? <
But cautions of this kind belong rather
to the moral, than to the critical depart
ment: nor perhaps will any rules of cri
ticism suffice to secure the interpreter of
Holy Writ against errors, however palpa
ble, unless his mind be first thoroughly
imbued with those sentiments of profound
veneration for the subject, which will
"bring into captivity every thought to
" the obedience of Christ •"."
" Who," then, " is sufficient for these
t 2 Cor, iv. 2, h 2 Cor, x. 5.
' "things?"

174 SERMON V.
" things ?"-— Not the careless, not the in
dolent, not the superficial, not the un
lettered mind. The sound Expositor will
ever be distinguished from the vain, though
learned. Sceptic, on the one hand ; and
from the ignorant, though not less con
ceited. Enthusiast, on the other ; by unit
ing the attainments of sound learning and
sober judgment, to those of the profound
est reverence for the Sacred Word. With
out these qualifications of the heart and
the understanding, neither the utmost zeal
for the dissemination of the Scriptures,
nor the most overweening confidence on
the part of the Expositor himself, will
make him " thoroughly furnished" unto
the work he takes in hand. That which
by Divine inspiration was " written afore-
" time for our learning'," is now, by God's
blessing on human labour and diligence,
to be made effective to that end. Like
every other gift, it is bestowed for our
cultivation and improvement ; and in pro
portion to the labour, it is promised shall
be the recompence. For, " Unto every
i Rom. xv. 4. " one

SERMON V. 175
" one that hath, shall be given, and he
" shall have abundance : but from him
" that hath not, shall be taken away
" even that which he seemeth to have''."
k Matth. xiii. 12. xxv, 29. and Luke viii, 18.

SERMON

SERMON VL

I Corinthians ii. 13.
Comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
Ihe farther we advance in the investi
gation of Scripture truth, the more clearly
shall we perceive that a right interpre
tation of it depends principally upon a
due reverence for Scripture itself, as the
work of Divine Inspiration. Whatever
aids we may collect from other sources,
they are subordinate, in point of autho
rity, to the work on which thty are em
ployed. Hence arises, independently of
other considerations, the importance of
the rule given in the text, that of " com-
i' paring spiritual things with spiritual."
The design of the Apostle in laying
down this maxim, is discpverable from the
context. Throughout the chapter he la-
N hours

178 SERMON VL
hours to convince the Corinthians, that if
they would rightly appreciate his doctrine,
they must not judge of it by " the spirit
'^' of the world %" nor reduce it to -the
standard of " man's wisdom"';" — ^that is,
they were not to suppose the extent of
Divine Revelation to be limited by what
the mind of man is naturally able to
discern ;¦ — but were to regard what was
preached, as proceeding from the Foun
tain of infinite Wisdom, and relating to
truths, which could not " have entered
" into the heart of man"," unless super-
naturally imparted to him. Hence he in
fers, that whatever difficulties might pre
sent themselves respecting detached parts
of this Divine system, they were to be ob
viated, not so much by reference to what
is known independently of Revelation, as
by what may be collected from the Sacred
Word. " The natural man," says he,
" receiveth not the things of the Spiirit of
" God; for they are foolishness unto him*
"neither can he know them, because they
» 1 Cor. ii, 12. » 1 Cor. ii. 13,
= 1 Cor. ii, 9. " are

SIIRMON VL 179
"are spiritually discerned''.'^ Not that
the mind of man is physically incapable
of apprehending such truths, wlien pro
pounded to him ; nor that it requires some
special illumination of the understanding
to enable him to discern the terms of the
propositions laid before him in Holy Writ ;
—-but that these truths are not natnrally
to be discovered, even by the greatest ex
ertion of his intellectual faculties- They
cannot be known until revealed by the
Spirit of God : nor will they perhaps even
then be fully and readily received^ but by
the effect of the same Spirit in subduing
the p^de and the corrupt affections of the
hnman heart.
Upon the same grounds, we ,may also
argue, that the full and clear Interpreta
tion of these truths dpes not so m4ch de
pend upon principles unconnected with
the subjects of Revealed Religion, or not
recognized in Sacred Writ, as upon rea
soning from Scripture itself, the prime
source of intelligence respecting the mat
ters of which it treats. It is tp be ob-
* 1 Cor. ii, 14,
N 2, tained,

180 SERMON VL
tained, by faithfully comparing together
whatever the Word of God has made
known to us concerning " spiritual things;"
things above the reach of our natural facul
ties, and of which we can otherwise obtain
no certain or satisfactory information.
, This principle of interpreting Scripture
by Scripture, is what Theologians call the
Analogy of Faith ; an expression borrow
ed perhaps from a passage in St. Paul's
Epistle to the Romans, where he exhorts
those who "prophesy" in the Church,
(that isj those who exercise the office of
authoritatively expounding the Scriptures,)
to " prophesy according to the propor-
" tion," or, as the word is in the original,
the analogy " of Faith*." To the same
effect many Commentators interpret St,
Peter's maxim, that " no Prophecy of the
" Scripture is of any private interpreta-
" tion';" implying that the sense of any
Prophecy is not to be determined by an
abstract consideration of the passage it
self, but by taking it in conjunction with
other portions of Scripture relating to the
e Rom, xii, 6, , ' 2 Peter i, 20,
subject :

SERMON VL 181
subject : — a rule, which though it be espe
cially applicable to the Prophetical Writ
ings, is also of general importance in the
exposition of the Sacred Volume,
Having then already urged the necessity
of a careful analysis of Scripture, or, as the
Apostle expresses it, of " rightly dividing
" the Word of truth ;" — it now remains
to consider the counterpart of the sub
ject, that of combining its respective por
tions, thus assorted or arranged, into a
systematic form : — without which the work
of interpretation will be but imperfectly
performed. Systems of Divinity, judi
ciously framed upon this principle, and
constructed with the aids of sound learn
ing and critical skill, are among the most
useful labours of the Theologian, Nor is
it a mean instance of the wisdom and
goodness of the great "Author and Fi-
" nisher of our faith," that this exercise
of the human understanding should be
made ihstrumentally efficacious to the at
tainment of Divine truth. For, thus the
best natural talents of man are called forth
in the service of his Creator : and, by
N 3 means

182 SERMON VL
fiieans similar to those wMidh are foimd
successful in the investigation of humart
science, he is taught tP prosebute his re
searches into " the Wisdoih that is froni
" abbvtfe," So truly is learning the hand
maid to Religion : dtid so admirably do
the ways of Nature and pf Grace, or ra
ther the ways df GoD in both, correspbnd
with each Other ! And thus are we taught,
though we become children in simplicity,
yet " in understanding to be men ^."
But, in pursuing the Subject imme
diately before us, three chief points may
be considered, as comprised in the Apo
stolical rule, " comparing spiritual things
" with spiritual :'' — FirSt, the Verbal Ana
logy of Scripture, or the collation of pa
rallel texts illustrative of its characteristic
diction and phraseology : — Secondly, the
Historical Analogy, or collation of parallel
events and circumstances for the elucida
tion of facts : — Thirdly, the Doctrinal
Analogy, or collation of parallel instruc
tions relative to matters of Fdith and
Practibe, — Upon each of these, a few ob-
5 1 Cor. xiv, 20. servations

SERMON VL t88
servations may be requisite, followed by
the illustration of them in some specific
examples. I. The first of these comprehends all
that appertains to the department of Sa
cred Philology.
In the Holy Scriptures, as in other com
positions, it may be presumed that the
style of the several writers is distinguish
able by some characteristic peculiarities.
There is no reason to suppose, that the
Holy Spirit, in suggesting to the Sacred
Penmen the matter and substance of what
they wrote, or even, occasionally, the very
terms in vy^hich it should be expressed,
should so entirely overrule their natural
faculties as to bring them all to one
standard in this respect. To suppose this,
were to derogate from that Omniscience,
which knows how to render every in
strument subservient to its purpose, with
out destroying the character and pro
perties of the instrument itself Nay, it
were contradictory to the internal evi
dence of Scripture ; which sufficiently ma
nifests, to the discerning critic, a consi-
N 4 derable

184 SERMON VI.
derable diversity of diction, and man
ner, and whatever constitutes peculiarity
of style, in its several productions. To
this point, therefore, especial attention will
be , necessary , where doubt and difficulties
arise, respecting the meaning of particular
texts. But, notwithstanding any specific diver
sities of style in the Sacred Canon, there is
a general cast of character and expression
in the entire Work, eminently distinguish
ing it from all other productions. This is
to be ascribed, partly to the supernatural
endowments of the writer, partly to the
exalted nature of the subjects presented to
his contemplation : either of which would
give to his thoughts and expressions an
elevation beyond their ordinary reach.
Hence that peculiar energy, that sublimity
and grandeur, which the best judges of
excellence in composition have universally
ascribed to the Sacred Writings ; and to
which might not unaptly be applied St.
Paul's forcible expressions, that " the
" Word of God is quick, and powerful,
" and sharper than any two-edged sword,
" piercing

SERMON VL 185
"piercing even to the dividing asunder of
" soul and spirit''."
This its general character, therefore, as
well as the appropriate style and man
ner of its various writers, must be taken
into account by the Scripture Critic.
Otherwise his philological inquiries, how
ever marked by acuteness or ingenuity,
will fail of a successful issue. Nor is
this exacting any superstitious reverence
for Holy Writ, or a greater labour of in
vestigation than every scholar knows to
be requisite in other branches of litera
ture. The sense of all writers, indeed, in
spired or uninspired, must necessarily be
determined by regard to special circum
stances, as well as by general rules. A ge
neral knowledge of the principles of gram
mar and criticism, and an acquaintance
with the idioms of the language in which
any work is written, are, in every instance,
indispensable. But the correct interpreta
tion of any particular author will depend
also upon an historical,, as well as critical,
knowledge of the language. It must be
h Heb. iv. 12. deduced

186 SERMON VL
deduced from the work of the writer hjim-
self, from the nature of bis subject, and
from the common acceptation of the terms
he uses among his contemporaries. For,
what author has not something appro
priate in his manner of expression ? What
work does not receive a certain tincture of
character, from the age, or country, or
condition and circumstances of the writer?
And what, for the most part, are the la
bours of commentators upon all compo-
stions of ancient date, but inquiries into
these particulars, on which their elucida
tion so much depends ?
Conformably with these principle^, it is
chiefly by attention to the Verbal Analogy
of Scripture, that the Biblical is to be dis
tinguished from the merely Classical Critic.
Here his labours must begin : and the aid
must be sought of a competent apparatus
for the purpose; of Concordances, Scrip
ture Lexicons, and other helps of a simi
lar kind, which the industry and skill of
the learned who have gone before have
abundantiy suppUed, to facilitate such re
searches. II. But,

SERMON VL 187
II. But, secondly, the Historical Ana
logy of Scripture, or collation of its cir
cumstances and events, is further neces
sary for its accurate interpretation.
Some occurrences are but incidentally
noticed in the Sacred Writings; others
are more fully detailed ; others are re
lated by different Writers, varying, in par
ticular circumstances, according to their
ri^spective views of the subject, — Here the
work of the faithful Interpreter is to bring
together such passages of Scripture as
have any connection with the event or fact
to be examined ; and so to expound each
separ&,te portion of the history, that no
seeming incongruity in its parts may deface
the whole. Incalculable is the value of la
bours of this description, in supplying ma
terials for the vindication of Revealed Re
ligion, against the cavils of Sceptics and Un
believers, By the help of these, the general
evidences of Christianity have often been
admirably illustrated and defended ; and
the Scoffer has been defeated with his own
weapons : while the research necessary fbr
this purpose has had the effect, not only of
dis-

188 SERMON VL
discomfiting the adversary, but also of de
veloping many admirable proofs of the
Divine Wisdom and Goodness in the mo
ral govemment of the world, which might
otherwise have passed unheeded or un
known, f
' Superior knowledge and discernment,
however, may Sometimes be requisite, suc
cessfully to execute this branch of the
Interpreter's office. But here again the
storehouse of Theology is amply furnished
with supplies for the diligent and inquisi
tive. As Verbal Analogy is aided by the
use of Concordances and Lexicons ; so is
Historical, by Harmonies of the Sacred
Writings, exhibiting in a connected series
the ma,tters which lie scattered in their
different narratives ; and presenting the
readiest means of collating Scripture facts.
Thus Scripture becomes its own Inter
preter. Farther help, where necessary,
must be obtained from stpdying the con
nections of Sacred with Profane History ;
from the testimonies of Jewish and Hea
then writers to the records of the Old and
New Testament ; and from such informa tion

SERMON VI. 189
tion as the more recent discoveries of the
learned have afforded, respecting the times
and countries to which the narratives of
the Sacred Historians relate.
III. But, thirdly, still more important,
with respect to its immediate subject, is
the Doctrinal Analogy of Scripture, or
collation of its parallel instructions rela
tive to matters of Faith or Practice. To
this indeed both the others must be
considered as chiefly instrumental ; so
that in all questions respecting matters
of verbal or historical discussion, such a
solution is to be sought for as shall not
violate any certain article of Christian
Doctrine. Here also we shall find it necessary to
proceed on principles to a certain degree
recognized in the exposition of other writ
ings. When in any ordinary composition
a passage occurs of doubtful meaning, with
respect to the sentiment or doctrine it
conveys, the obvious course of proceeding
is, to examine what the author himself
has in other parts of his work delivered
upon the same subject ; to weigh well the
force

1^0 SERMON VL
force of any particular expressions he is
accustomed to use; and to inquire what
there might be in the occasion or circum
stances under which he wrote, tending to
throw further light upon the immediate
object he had in view. This is only to
render common justice to the writer; it
is necessary, both for the discovery of his
real meaning, and to secure him against
any wanton charge of error or inconsist
ency. Now, if this may justly be required
in any ordinary work of uninspired com
position ; how much more indispensable
must it be, when we sit in judgment upon
the Sacred Volume ; in which (if we ac
knowledge its Divine original) it is impos
sible even to imagine a failure, either in
judgment or in integrity. How exact and
scrupulous a care in these respects may
reasonably be expected from the Scripture
Critic ; lest, through any inadvertency on
his part, " the way pf truth should be evil
" spoken of!"
A reputed saying of Rabbinical writers,
that "there is no difficulty in their Law,
i 2 Pet. ii, 2, "of

SERMON VL 191
" of which the Law itself does not afford
" a solution," is applicable to the Scrip
tures in general, both of the Old and New
Testament : — and the maxim of human
jurisprudence, that " no particular Law
" is to be judged of, without taking the
" whole Law into consideration," is still
more indispensable where the Law pro
ceeds from a Divine Legislator. Difficul
ties, therefore, are to be removed, in the
first place, by the help of Scripture itself
Detached texts may be rendered clearer by
a Collation Avith those analogous to them,
either in verbal expression or in general
sentiment. What in one is wrapped up
in obscurer terms, may in anotber be
more explicitly developed. Even slight va
riations will oftentimes serve for the pur
pose of reciprocal illustration. This will
be more or less perceptible, according to
the subject of investigation : but in almost
every instance it will amply remunerate tbe
labour. Where the subjects of the pas
sages compared are correlative ; — as in the
case of Type and Antitype, or Prophecy
and the Fulfilment of Prophecy ; — its ad
vantages

192 SERMON VL
vantages will be instantly perceived. In
certain cases, the benefit may arise from
the effect of, contrast only : in others, from
the connection of subordinate points with
those which are of higher moment. But,
whatever mode of comparison be institut
ed, additional light cannot fail to be thrown
on the point to be examined.
Respecting these rules for the Colla
tion of Scripture, or " comparing spiritual
" things with spiritual," it will readily be
perceived, that they presuppose a due at
tention to those already suggested for its
Analysis, or " rightly dividing the Word
" of truth," The great leading distinction
between points of doctrine fundamental
or non-fundamental ; and the subordinate
distinctions, between the several Dispensa
tions, or Covenants, of Revealed Religion,
the various subjects of the Sacred Writ
ings, and the general or special purposes
for which they were composed; — these
must lay the foundation for every syste
matic arrangement of Scripture truth. As,
in the investigation of any subject of hu
man science, we first endeavour by Ana lysis

SERMON VI. 193
lysis to resolve it into its elementary prin
ciples or constituent parts; and then, by
a synthetic process, proceed from these
simple truths to a comprehensive view of
the whole; — so, in the study of Revealed
Religion, a clear apprehension of its pri
mary and essential truths prepares the way
for combining into a coherent and well-
digested system the entire doctrine of
Holy Writ. Regarding these as connected
in unity of purpose and in effect, though
distinct in character and in operation ;
every portion of Scripture derives addi
tional interest from being thus made to
accord with the rest: and the work of In
terpretation proceeds with the best assur
ance that human fallibihty may pretend to,
of a successful result.
These several Analogies, then, are in
tended to cooperate in explaining obscure
passages by those which are clearer, in
confirming those of a doubtful character
by such as are beyond all question, and
in regulating those of minor consideration
by the great leading principles of the
Christian Covenant. Their joint effect Avill
be, to exhibit in a compendious view the
o entire

194 SERMON VL
entire Analogy of the Faith, such as we
meet with in well-digested Bodies of Di
vinity ; or such as in earlier times was
comprised in those shorter summaries of
Christian Doctrine to which we may con
ceive St. Paul to refer, when he says to
Timothy, " Hold fast the form of sound
" words, which thou hast heard of me, in
"faith and love that is in Christ Jesus.
" That good thing which was committed
" tin to thee, keep by the Holy Ghost,
" which dwelleth in you''."
II. 1 proceed now to illustrate these
observations by some specific examples.
And first, the doctrine of Regeneration
presents itself, as a subject of radical im
portance in the Christian system, and on
which a due regard to all these Analogies
appears to be indispensable for the pre
vention of error.
The determinate sense of the word Re
generation depends upon the subject to
which it relates. Abstractedly, it denotes
an entrance upon any new state of being ;
a state, essentially different from that in
k 2 Tim, i, l.'J, 14, which

SERMON VL 195
which existence had already taken place.
Thence it is taken to denote any thing
new in the mode or condition of being.
But what that newly modified state or
condition may be, can only be ascertained
by reference to the subject and the pur
pose, to which the term is applied. Here
the aid of Verbal Analogy is called for. In
the Scriptures, terms of similar import with
Regeneration, sucli as new Birth, a new
Creature, born again, and created anew,
are frequently used. These are to be com
pared with each other, and with the se
veral contexts of the passages where they
occur; in order to discover the significa
tion ordinarily attached to them by the
Author. And when we find, that they are
almost invariably employed to distinguish
the state of a person admitted into the
Christian Covenant, from that of one who
is not so admitted ; we shall beware of
adopting any interpretation irrelevant to
that view of the subject. We shall perceive,
that the word Regeneration, in the Scrip
tural usage of it, means only our initiation,
or entrance, by Baptism, into that Cove-
o 2 nant.

196 SERMON VL
nant, which gives us new privileges, new
hopes, and a new principle of spiritual life ;
placing us in a totally different state from
that, to which by nature only we could ever
attain. The expression therefore cannot,
without a direct violation of the verbal
analogy of Scripture, be applied to any
operation that takes place subsequent to
that Baptismal change, with which alone
it perfectly corresponds.
In like manner. Historical Analogy may
be applied to this particular point. Had
the Sacred. Writers used the term Regene
ration, and the expressions synonymous
with it, in a sense, not only peculiar to
themselves, but dissimilar to any in which
they had before been used ; still, having
expressed themselves so clearly upon the
subject to which the terms are applied,
there could be little difficulty in determin
ing the acceptation in which those terms
ought to, be taken. But we have further
evidence than this. Our Lprd, in dis
coursing with Nicodemus on the neces
sity of being " born again," reproves this
" master of Israel" for not already " know- "ing

SERMON VL 197
" ing these things':" that is, for not rea
dily perceiving the force and propriety of
a figure of speech, which ought to have
been familiar to a Jewish teacher. And
that this reproof was justly merited, we
collect from the best writers on Jewish
antiquities ; from whom it appears, that
terms of similar import were in frequent
use among the Jews, to describe those
Gentiles who had been converted from
Heathenism, and admitted into the Jewish
"Church, Here then is historical evidence,
strongly confirming that which is adduced
from verbal analogy. This directs us to
the sense in which such expressions would
naturally be interpreted by those who
heard them ; and, consequently, to that in
which it is most probable that the Sacred
Writers intended them to be understood.
But if any doubt should yet remain
upon this point, a still stronger confirma
tion is obtained from Doctrinal Analogy,
or what is more largely called the Analogy
of Faith. Regeneration is represented, by
a certain class of interpreters, as an in-
1 John iii, 10.
o 3 stantaneous.

198 SERMON VL
stantaneous, perceptible, and irresistible
pperation of the Holy Spirit upon the
heart and mind ; which, whether the per
son have been baptized or not, affords
the only certain evidence of his conver
sion to a saving and justifying Faith. By
others, it is regarded as a continued and
progressive work of the Spirit ; or as a
state, commencing in Baptism, but not
completed until, by perseverance to the
end, the individual has " finished his
" course"""," and is about to enter upoii
his final reward. Others, again, sepa
rating what the Scriptures state to be
joined together in the work of the new
birth, maintain a distinction between Bap
tismal and Spiritual Regeneration'; — the
former taking place in the Sacrament of
Baptism; — the latter subsequent to it, and,
whether progressive or instantaneous in its
operation, equally necessary with Baptism
to a state of salvation.
But here the Analogy of Faith seems to
be violated throughout. For, how can
any of these views of Regeneration consist
¦" 2 Tim, iv, 7, with

SERMON VL 199
with the plain and simple notion of it as
an entrance upon a new state, or a sacra
mental initiation into the Christian Co
venant? Nay, how can they consist with
the terms and conditions of the Covenant
itself? — If the Gospel be a Covenant, ad
mission into which, on the terms of Faith
and Repentance, gives an immediate title
to its present privileges, with an assurance
of the spiritual helps necessary for the at
tainment of salvation ; — and if Baptism be
the divinely-appointed means of admission
into that Covenant, and of a participation
in those privileges ; — is not the person so ad
mitted actually brought into a new state ?
Has he not obtained " that thing which by
" nature he cannot have""?" And being thus
" regenerate and born anew of water and
" of the Holy Ghost"," to what subsequent
part of his Christian life can a term so pecu
liarly expressive of his first entrance upon it
be with propriety applied ? Moreover, must
he not, after this, fulfil the conditions of
the Covenant he has entered into, in order
to obtain its final rewards ? Must he not
" Office of Baptism, ° Ibid.
o 4 continue

200 SERMON VL
continue in that state unto his fife's end j
endeavouring, by further supplies of God's
grace, to perfect, or to renew, his Repent
ances, his Faith, and his Obedience ? But
if Regeneration, or the new Birth, imply
the completion as well as the commence
ment of his spiritual life ; how is he ever
to be assured of its having actuaUy taken
place, so long as his Christian course re
mains unfinished?
On the other hand, see how the sense, as
deduced from Verbal and Historical Ana
logy, harmonizes with the general rule of
Faith, By identifying Regeneration with
the initiatory sacrament of Baptism, its
full importance is assigned to it, as the in
strument of Grace and Salvation, indis
pensable for admission to the privileges of
the Covenant, and conferring spiritual aid
to perform its conditions. It is by entitling
him to these benefits, that it makes the
partaker " a new creature," " born of
" God," and " an heir of Eternal Life."
Thenceforth he continues to be in a state
of salvation, or salvable state, notwith
standing the errors and defections to which he

SERMON VL 201
he is liable. He " may depart from grace
" given, and fall into sin ; and by the
" grace of God may rise again, and
" amend his lifeP," He may entirely for
feit his hopes and privileges by impeni-
tency or unbelief : or he may recover them
by repentance and renewal of faith. His
spiritual birtii, his Regeneration, is the be
ginning of his Christian life : his growtli in
grace, and his perseverance to the end,
will be the result of a right use of those
further supplies from above, which minister
to his spiritual support and nourishment,
and to which this first admission into the
Covenant gives him a title and a claim.
Here every thing is found to accord with
the general design and purpose of the
Christian Dispensation : and, having thus
secured the concurrent evidence of sound
verbal criticism, of historical testimony,
and of doctrinal analogy, we need not
doubt that the interpretation is that which
conveys the genuine and unsophisticated
meaning of the word of God.
It is necessary, however, that in ad-
P Article XVI. justing

202 SERMON VL
justing this Analogy of Faith, special at
tention be paid to the comparative im
portance of the doctrines under considera
tion, and to the comparative clearness with
which they are revealed. Primary and fun
damental truths afford the proper standard
of exposition, for such as are only se
condary and subordinate ; and doctrines
obscurely or incidentally revealed, must be
rendered conformable with those which
admit of no misconstruction, and which it
is the express purpose of Revelation to
make known. Thus the questions of Pre
destination and the Divine Decrees, and
of the Salvability of those who have never
been admitted into the Christian Cove
nant, are dark and mysterious points ; re
specting which it does not appear to have
been the purpose of Holy Writ, to giVe
direct and explicit information : they are
among " the secret things belonging unto
" the Lord our Godi." But the Univer
sality of man's Redemption, and the Con
ditions of the Covenant through which it
is to be obtained, are traced as with a
1 Deut. xxix, 29, sun-

SERMON VL 203
sun -beam throughout the Sacred Vo
lume, They are the foundations on
which the whole Evangelical Dispensation
rests. Whatever relates, therefore, to the
former subjects, must be so explained, as
to preserve the latter inviolate : these being
among the things distinctly " revealed,"
which " belong unto us and unto our
" children for ever',"
Upon the same principle, where several
doctrines of equal importance are pro
posed, and revealed with equal clearness ;
we must be careful to give to each its full
and equal weight. Thus, that we are saVed
by the free Grace of God, and through
Faith in Christ, is a doctrine too plainly
affirmed by the Sacred Writers, to be set
aside by any contravening position : for it
is said, " By grace ye are saved through
, " Faith ; and that not of yourselves : it is
" the gift of God'," But so, on the other
hand, are the doctrines of Repentance unto
life, and of Obedience unto salvation : for,
again, it is said, " Repent and be con-
" verted, that your sins may be blotted
r Deut, xxix. 29. ' Ephes. ii. 8.
" out,"

204 SERMON VL
" out*," and, " If ye will enter into Hfe,
" keep the commandments"." To set ei
ther of these truths at variance with the
others, would be to frustrate the declared
purpose of the Gospel, and to make it of
none effect. Points thus clearly estabUsh
ed and, from their very nature, indispens
able, must be made to correspond with
each other : and the exposition which
best preserves them unimpaired and un
diminished, wiU, in any case, be a safe
interpretation, and, most probably, the
true one. The Analogy of Faith wiU
thus be kept entire, and will approve
itself, in every respect, as becoming its
Divine Author, and " worthy of all ac-
" ceptation,"Instances, however, of dangerPus errors,
originating in a disregard of these obvious
maxims, have occurred in almost every
age of the Christian Church,
On the first preaching of the Gospel,
the Jewish converts were slow of belief, and
prone to misinterpret its truths, from pre
judices which indisposed them to ^per-
t Acts iii, 19. u Matth. xix. 17. ceive

SERMON VI. 205
ceive the connection between the several
Covenants or Dispensations which God
had entered into with mankind, from the
Creation and FaU of Adam to the coming
of Christ. They imagined, that the whole
purpose of Revealed Religion centered in
the Mosaic Dispensation : and, for the
most part, they neither expected nor de
sired any tiling beyond its extension and
advancement. The analogy of their own
Scriptures with the doctrines preached by
our blessed Saviour and by St. Paul, and
the real correspondence which subsisted
between the Jewish and Christian Dispen
sations, they obstinately refused to ac
knowledge ; notwithstanding the distinct
and luminous reasoning in which these
were set before them. Their own method
of interpreting the Law and the Prophets
had, indeed, a directly contrary object in
view. It aimed at proving the Religion of
Moses and of Christ to be irreconcileable
with each other, " Even unto this day,"
says St. Paul, " when Moses is read, the
" vail is upon their heart '^." The great
'f 2 Cor. iii, 15, question,

206 SERMON VL
question, " Wherefore then serveth the
" Law^?" — (that Law to which they ne
vertheless so pertinaciously adhered,) they
were themselves unable to solve : nor would
they receive its true solution, though com
ing from one of its most zealous advocates
brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, when,
inspired with more than human wisdom,
he shewed them its completion in the per
son of Christ, and the great purpose it had
served in the oeconomy of man's Redemp
tion, It is notorious also, that many early
Heretics, of different denominations, de
rived a portion of their unscriptural tenets
from errors similar to those of the unbe
lieving Jews and the Judaizing Christians
of the Apostolic age. Nor is it less re
markable, that, in several instances, the
same species of misapprehension led to
heresies the most opposite to each other.
While some were desirous of engrafting
upon the Gospel Jewish laws and ordi
nances, altogether done away by the
Christian Dispensation ; others cherished
* Gal, iii, 19, such

SERMON VI. 207
such an antipathy against every part of
the Mosaic Institute, as entirely to reject
the Scriptures of the Old Testament, and
to ascribe them to the inspiration of an
evil spirit. Monstrous as these opinions
appear to us, they afford a striking illus
tration of the mischief arising from dis
connected views of the Sacred Writings;
from not carefully " comparing spiritual
" things with spiritual," so as to evince
their mutual dependance upon each o-
ther. Nor are modern times wholly free from
the leaven of these pernicious principles.
Too many are still wont to depreciate
Judaism, as a system unimportant to us,
both in its moral and religious purpose;
and even as inculcating a spirit diametri
cally opposite to that of the Christian Re
ligion, Because the Gospel superseded
the use of the Jewish Ritual, they are led
to regard all external ordinances as mere
beggarly elements of Religion, unworthy
of the evangelical and spiritualized be
liever. To this partial and erroneous view
of the two Dispensations may partly be
attributed

208 SERMON VL
attributed the contempt which some Sects
entertain for the Christian Sacraments and
Priesthood, and their hostility even to any
constitution of an external visible Church.
Similar misapprehensions appear to have
given rise to the narrow and circumscribed
notions which others entertain of the Re
demption through Christ. To the general
privileges of the Gospel, and to the terms
on which it holds out the offer of salva
tion, are applied arguments or expres
sions, relating solely to the Jewish (Eco
nomy as contrasted with that of the Gos
pel. Interpreting wliat St, Paul says of
the calling of the Gentiles and the rejec
tion of the Jews, as if it related to the
personal election and reprobation of in
dividuals under the Christian Dispensa
tion; — or, at other times, applying what
is said of the special privileges of the Jews
as a peculiar people, to the spiritual cir
cumstances of a favoured few among
Christian Believers, supposed to be ex
clusively ordained to eternal life ; — these
Expositors impute to the Almighty a sys
tem of arbitrary and absolute decrees re
specting

SERMON VL 209
specting men's salvation, repugnant to the
general tenor of the Gospel, and even di
rectly at variance with the purpose of those
Writings, from which their conclusions are
so precipitately drawn.
These latter instances particularly shew
the danger of disregarding Historical Ana
logy. Others may be adduced relating
chiefly to the neglect of Analogies Verbal
and Doctrinal, The violation of both these
is strikingly exemplified in some of the
contradictory errors which have prevailed
respecting the doctrines of the Trinity and
the Incarnation.
The Unity of the Godhead is a doctrine
expressly and repeatedly declared in Holy
Writ. The co-existence and co-equality
of the Son and the Holy Spirit with the
Father are also doctrines standing upon
the same ground of irrefragable testimony.
Again; the human nature of our Lord is
indisputably proved from the history of
his life. His Divine nature is declared
and proved by the very same authority
which records his actions as a human
being. So firmly are these doctrines es-
p tablished.

210 SERMON VL
tabUshed, that the Infidel grounds his
general disbelief of Christianity upon the
incredibility of these particular articles ;
while the Sceptic, who dares not renounce
the whole, is perplexed how to discard
either of these doctrines without rejecting
some portion of Scripture itself To a
plain, unprejudiced reader they are all
indeed so evidently contained in Scrip
ture, that, were they not accompanied
with acknowledged difficulties in reconcil
ing them with each other, they would,
probably, be Universally received. What
then is the course which the Sacred Inter
preter has to pursue ?
The Analogy of Faith requires, as I have
already stated, that aU its articles should
be received as equally true ; and that in
the interpretation of each, such a sense
should be imposed as will not necessarily
destroy or impair the rest. It has ac
cordingly been the labour of the Christian
Church, from its earliest to its latest pe
riods, to guard these great and important
truths, against the subtie attacks of their
opponents, by affixing to each a meaning not

SERMON VL 211
not contradictory to those with which it is
connected. Whatever might be the diffi
culty pf the task, the Church, as the faith
ful Expositor of Scripture, felt this to be
its paramount duty. While the truth was
strengthened on one side, it was not neg
lected on the other : and the balance was
steadily held between contending parties.
Hence, no Creeds or Articles of Faith,
ancient or modern, appear to have been
more elaborately or carefully drawn out,
than those which relate to these particular
doctrines. But what is the course pursued by the
impugners of these doctrines ? The labours
of Sabellians, Macedonians, Arians, and
Socinians, to what purpose do they gencr
rally tend, but to set these truths in oppor
sition to each other, and to estabUsh one
by the overthrow of another ? The distinc
tion of the several Persons in the Godhead
is assumed to be irreconcileable with the
Divine Unity. The union of the Divine
and human nature in one person, is re
jected upon a similar assumption. Thence
forth, Scripture is " divided against it-
p 2 " self;"

212 15ERMON VI. .
" self;" and every proof of one of its
truths is brought to bear against the other.
Thus we may account for the strange
phenomenon of opposite heresies, deduced
from the same premises ; equally irrecon
cileable with Scripture truth and with each
other. Some have " confounded the Per-
" sons" of the Godhead; others have " di-\
" vided the substance." Some have reject
ed the Godhead of Christ, because it was
impossible to deny his Manhood ; others,
seeing his Divinity too plainly to doubt of
it, have denied his liuhian nature. In either
case, the Analogy of Faith is violated ; a
part only of what is revealed in Scripture
being received as truth, to the exchlsion. of
the rest : and by thus offending against one
essential article of Faith, the authority of
all the others receives a dangerous blow.
In the process also of such perverted cri
ticism, liberties are sometimes taken, not
to be reconciled with principles of strict
integrity. Texts are examined, as if for
the purpose of distorting them, by a cer
tain dexterous ingenuity, from their ac
customed signification, rather than of es
tablishing

SE^RMON VL 213
tablishing their plain and obvious mean
ing. New Versions too of the' Scriptures
are brought forward, marked with a simi-
lar perverseness of character, when it is
found that the renderings generally re
ceived will not admit of a ready accom
modation to heretical views. And thus is
the simplicity of truth discarded, to make
way for the subtleties of a false and mis
chievous refinement.
The inquiry might easily be extended to
much greater length, were we to enter
up6n an examination of the " divers and
" strange doctrines^," which a disregard
of true and legitimate principles of criti
cism has introduced into the Christian
world. But even these, perhaps, are not
so totally out of the reach of correc
tion as those which proceed from a wild
and disorderly Fanaticism, relying upon
imaginary inspiration, and treating with
contempt the sober application of reason
ing and judgment to the Scriptures. By
persons labouring under such a fatal de-
y Heb. xiii. 9.
p 3 lusion,

214 SERMON VL
lusion, the injunction to " tomph^k spi-
" ritual things with spiritual," seems to be
regarded as implying nothing more than
heaping together a multiplicity of texts,
forcibly disjoined from their contexts, and
unconnected by any proper Analogy.
Hence the multitiade are continually mis
led by teachers more conversant with the
words than with the «ense of Scripture ;
who conceive their point, whatever it may
be, to have the sanction of Divine autho
rity, when, by separating what ought tP
be united, or combining what ought to
be kept distinct, they have made the word
of 'God seem to bear testimony to their
own crude conceptions.
Thus far we have carried on the inqtuiry
into the internal helps which the Scrip
tures afford for their own interpretation.
These at the same time point to the ex
ternal aids necessary to give them their
full effect. Commentators, Harmonists,
Philologists, all must be caUed in to enable
us thoroughly to analyse or to combine,
rightly to divide or to compare, spiritual
truths : and to neglect these, is virtually to

SERMON VL 215
to neglect the means of profiting by the
Bible itself
But, since every aid that can be ob
tained, internal or external, is liable to
misapplication; even these rules for " di-
" viding the word of truth" and " com-
^' paring spiritual things with spiritual,"
must be accompanied with certain cau
tions. Care is to be taken, not to con
found seeming with real analogies; — ^not
to rely upon merely verbal resemblances,
when the sense may require a different ap
plication ; — not to interpret what is paral
lel only in one respect, as if it were so in
all ;^— not to give to any paraUel passages
so absolute a sway in our decisions, as to
overrule the clear and evident meaning of
the text under consideration ; — and, above
all, not to suffer our eagerness in multiply
ing proofs of this kind, to betray us into a
neglect of the immediate context of the
passage in question, upon which its signifi
cation must principally depend. — The sim
plest mode of proceeding is, indeed, the
safest. Every difficult or doubtful text is
first to be considered by itself; — then,
p 4 with

216 SERMON VL
with its context; — ^then, with other pas
sages of Scripture parallel to it in any re
spect; — and then, by tliCj additional light
of such extraneous illustrations as can be
brought to it fronpi the stores of human
knowledge. By due attention to these principles, ac
companied with the great moral requisites
already shewn to be indispensable, and
with humble supplications to the throne
of Grace for a blessing on his labours,
the diligent inquirer after Scripture truth
may confidently hope for success. The
design of every portion of Holy Writ, its
harmony with the rest, and the Divine
perfection of the whole, will more and
more fully be displayed. And thus will
he be led, with increasing veneration and
gratitude, to adore Him, to whom every
Sacred Book bears witness and every Di
vine Dispensation led the way ; — even
Him, who is " Alpha and Omega, the
" First and the Last%" " Jesus Christ, the
" same yesterday, to day, and for ever\"
¦'¦ Rev. i, 2. » Heb. xiii, 8.
SERMON

SERMON VII.

2 Corinthians iii. 6.

Who also hath made us able ministers of the
New Testament ; not of the letter, but of the
spirit ; for the letter killeth, but the spirit
giveth life.
In suggesting rules to assist the ordinary
reader of Scripture in the work of Inter
pretation, care is requisite, that we neither
magnify nor diminish, beyond their just
proportion, the difficulties to be encoun
tered. From either extreme evil conse
quences may ensue : from the one, care
lessness or presumption ; from the other,
blind submission to spiritual guides, or a
morbid indisposition to rational inquiry.
In either case also, encouragement will be
given to the dissemination of error. Thus,
in magnifying these difficulties, the Church
of Rome finds an argument for withhold ing

218 SERMON VIL
ing the Word of Life from the greater
portion of her members. In diminishing
them, the Fanatic discovers a pretence for
assuming the office of a sacred Teacher,
without any previous instruction, any pre
paratory acquirements.
Tbat the truth lies betwixt these ex
tremes, they who are most conversant
with the Scriptures will be the most ready
to allow. They wiU perceive that the
Bible, though often profound and mys
terious in its subject, does, for the most
part, propose its truths in terms adapted
to general appretiension ; while, on the
Other hand, 1)hough it derives its authority
purely from a Divine source, yet, in the
exposition of it, it calls forth the exercise
of the best faculties and attainments of the
human mind. It is a mine of invaluable
treasure ; upon which the greater the la
bour and skill that are employed, the
richer and more abundant will be the re
turn. While, therefore, we give every en
couragement to the humblest inquirer into
'spiritual truths ; we are bound to admo
nish the adventurous and uninstructed, that no

SERMON VIL 219
no rash experiments may here be aUowed.
We are bound to warn him, that in this,
iaeyond all other branches of knowledge,
caution and sound judgment are requisite ;
that sometiaing may here be expected
transcending the reach even of the most
cultivated minds ; and that, both as to the
subject and the expres^n, many things
may occEisionally occur " hard to be un-
" derstood^" by persons of inferior attain
ments. The words of the text direct our atten
tion to one important branch of Scripture-
criticism, presenting difficulties of a pecu
liar kind ; and which, though it may have
been incidentally touched upon in the pre
ceding inquiry, seems to call for distinct
consideration. St. Paul in this Epistle vindicates his
anthority as an inspired Teacher, against
the cavils of those who endeavoured to
«0W dissension in the Church of Corinth.
From the course of his argumerrt it may
be inferred, that the Judaizing converts
were among his chief opponents. After
» 2 Peter iii. 16. reminding

220 SERMON VIL
reminding the Corinthians that the suc
cess of his ministry bore convincing testi
mony to the Divine blessing with Which it
was accompanied, he proceeds to state in
what respects the New Testament, preach
ed by him, was superior to the Old. He
distinguishes the two Dispensations by the
terms Letter and Spirit; intimating, that
the Law of Moses, in its literal accepta
tion, was fulfilled by the Gospel, in its spi
ritual sense ; and that the former con
tained not in itself the power of delivering
from sin and death, but pointed to the
latter as bestowing life and immortality.
By these remarkable expressions, the Apo
stle has been supposed to direct us to the
contemplation of the Scriptures in a light
which might not otherwise be sufficient
ly regarded ; opening to the Interpreter
a new field of research, into the mystical
intent of many parts of the Sacred Writ
ings. And since St. Paul himself occa
sionally has recourse to expositions of this
kind, there is especial reason for investi
gating this as a distinct department of
Theological inquiry. Dis-

SERMON VIL 221
Dismissing, therefore, any farther con
sideration of this particular text, I shall
proceed to a more comprehensive view of
the subject ; endeavouring to shew, in the
first place, the proper Use of this mode of
interpretation, and the errors arising from
its neglect ; secondly, in what the Abuse of
it consists, and the errors arising from car-r
rying it to excess.
But here it may be expedient to premise
some few observations upon the terms,
literal, figurative, spiritual, and mystical.
Literal and figurative are terms which
relate principally, if not exclusively, to
modes of verbal expression. The literal
sense is that which the words signify in
their natural and proper acceptation. The
figurative is that which they do not natu
rally denote, but which they nevertheless
intend, under some figure or form of
speech. These, therefore, thus explained,
are terms purely of grammatical or rheto
rical investigation ; having no reference to
any supposed occult or ulterior sense, in
the writer's contemplation. They simply
belong to the verbal signification ; which, with

222 SERMON VIL
with respect to the sense, may be virtually
the same, whether or not expressed by
trope and figure. Thus, when hardness k
applied to iron or stone, the expression is
used literally, in its proper and natural
signification :-— when it is applied to the
heart, it is used figuratively, or in an im
proper acceptation. Yet the sense, al
lowing for the change of subject, is vir
tually the same ; its application being only
transferred from a physical to a moral qua
Uty. The terms spiritual and mystical stand
in contradistinction to both these. They
import that, besides the direct or imme
diate signification of the passage, whether
literally or figuratively expressed, there is
attached to it a more remote or recondite
sense; a sense founded, not on a transfer
of words from one signification to another,
but on the entire appUcation of the mat
ter itself to a different subject. This is the
foundation of all fictitious modes of in
struction, such as fables, apologues, and
allegories, used as vehicles of moral and
religious instruction ; where the hidden sense

SERMON VIL 223
sense is a distinct subject of inquiry from
that of the diction in which it is clothed.
It is to be observed, however, that the
term figurative is not unfrequently used,
(especially when appUed to Scripture,) in
the same sense with the terms spiritual
and myMical, though not perhaps with
strict propriety.
Again ; there are other terms relating
to the subject, which may require expla
nation. Emblematical and symbolical are
terms relating to what is here meant by
spiritual and mystical interpretation, not
to merely verbal expression. They imply,
as the words mystical and mysticism do^
an occult or hidden sense intended by the
writer, besides that which is open and ma
nifest. The term mysterious, on the other
hand, has no reference to this mode of
interpretation. A doctrine may be myste
rious, (that is, above our comprehension,)
which is nevertheless expressed in the plain
est language, and conveyed in the literal
sense of the words. But mystic denotes an
other sense superadded to that which the
words in their obvious signification convey. The

224 SERMON VIL
The importance of these distinctions,
with reference to the Interpretation of
Scripture, may be iUustrated by their ap
pUcation to some chief controversial points
respecting the nature and design of the
Holy Eucharist.
The words of our Lord, in the institution
of this Sacrament, may be made to convey
a very different meaning, according as they
are literally or figuratively interpreted. The
Romanist, taking them strictly in the literal
sense, grounds upon them the monstrous
doctrine of Transubstantiation ; a doctrine,
not only repugnant to the evidence of our
senses and to every principle of reasoning
founded upon such evidence, but also to
Scripture itself; nay, even to the very
words of the institution, when taken in
connection with the circumstances under
which they were delivered. For our Lord,
in using these words, did not actually give
his Body or his Blood to the Disciples;
but gave them Bread and Wine as their
Symbols. The plain inference is, that he
did not intend his words to be understood
in their literal sense. And this is further
evident.

SERMON VIL 225
evident, from the conduct of the disciples
themselves ; who appear not to have testi
fied any offence or surprise at so extraor
dinary a mode of expression, which they
now rightly apprehended to be figuratively
used ; although on a former occasion
they were shocked at the mention of our
Lord's giving his flesh and blood to be
meat and, drink; conceiving him, at that
time, to have spoken in the gross and literal
sense of the terms. The figurative there-'
fore must here be the true verbal sense :
and the literal may, without hesitation, be
rejected. But the figurative interpretation thus
estabUshed leads to a further inquiry,
whether, beyond the mere signification of
the words, there be not also a hidden or
spiritual intent in the action itself. This
relates to the mystical sense : and here
there is room for further diversity of opi
nion. The Socinian, always soUcitous to
divest Christianity of every thing myste
rious, regards the Eucharist as a bare com
memorative act of devotion. He thus ef-;
fectually removes the absurdity of the literal
Q sense '.

226 SERMON VIL
sense : but, at tbe same time, he reduces
the figurative sense almost to a nullity, by
setting aside the sacramental meaning of
the institution, which consists in a right
apprehension of what the symbols them
selves were intended to represent. The
Fanatic also equally admits the figura
tive and rejects the literal sense of the
expressions ; but by attributing all vital
Religion to the immediate agency of the
Holy Spirit upon the soul of man, he be
trays a similar misapprehension of the true
force and meaning of these symbols, and
alike depreciates their value ; acknowledg
ing no actual efficacy ih the Eucharist, as
the means of imparting to the communi
cant the benefits of our Lord's death and
passion. By both these the spiritual or
mystical application of our Lord's words
is overlooked ; the ordinance being re
duced to a bare commemorative act, or
a sign unaccompanied with the benefits of
tiie thing signified. But since it is of the
nature of every sacramental ordinance, to
represent by an outward sign or token
some inward benefit conveyed ; the fuU
sense

SERMON VIL 227
sense of the words of the Institution is un
doubtedly mystical ; that is, it has reference
to sorae deeper signification than the
words abstractedly import. Interpreted,
therefore, with due regard to its conco
mitant circumstances, to the known use
of symbols araong the Jews, and to the
general analogy of Scripture language and
doctrine, the passage may thus be para
phrased : — " This Bread represents my
" Body, and this Wine represents my
" Blood : and this act of receiving Bread
*' and Wine, according to my Institution
" and by virtue of its efficacy through Me,
" is, to the faithful communicant, the act
" of spiritually receiving my Body and
" Bipod ; that is, of receiving the benefits
" of the sacrifice which I am about to
*' offer, in giving my Body, and shed-
" ding my Blood, for the remission of
" sins." Thus far towards explaining the distinct
meaning of the terms used in this inquiry.
Let us now take a more general and com
prehensive view of the proper Use of spi
ritual or mystical interpretation of Scrip-
Q 2 ture,

228 SERMON VIL
ture, and of the errors arising from its
neglect. 1. Great prejudices are frequently en
tertained against any tendency to this
species of interpretation : but it is in vain
to reason a priori for its total rejection, if
the Scriptures themselves manifestly point
to it as the clue to their full signification.
The utUity, indeed, if not necessity, of thus
Goraraunicating spiritual truths appears,
partly from the natural effect of imagery
in arresting the attention and engaging the
affections of mankind in general, partly
from the nature of the truths themselves,
which perhaps are not capable of being
imparted to the human mind without the
aid of figurative and symbolical expres
sions. Be that as it may, the frequent
recurrence of such expressions in Holy
Writ is unquestionable. And this being
the case, an indiscriminate prejudice a-
gainst attempts to discover a spiritual
sense beyond that which the letter con
veys, may sometimes operate to prevent
our discerning some of the nipst important
matters it was intended to reveal to us. There

SERMON VIL 229
There is moreover abundant evidence,
that the Jews not only delighted, as other
oriental nations did, in highly figurative
modes of speech ; but also, that, from the
peculiar character of the Mosaic Ritual,
they were habituated to mystical researches,
and deemed them necessary to a right ex
position of the Law and the Prophets.
And although it be true that this species
of interpretation was, on their part, often
carried to a culpable excess, and in after
times degenerated into absurdities worse
than frivolous and contemptible ; yet it
can hardly be denied, that much of the
elucidation of the prophecies in the Old
Testament respecting the Messiah, and of
their accorapUshraent in the New, depends
upon the judicious application of this kind
of evidence ; — a consideration in itself suf
ficient to warrant an attentive inquiry re
specting this department of Scripture^
criticism. In determining the extent however of
this species of interpretation, there is con
siderable difficulty. Some would confine
it entirely to the expositions already given
Q 3 by

230 SERMON VIL
by our Lord and his Apostles. Others
regard those expositions as ensamples only
of what we are to apply universally to the
Sacred Writings. The former, by too rigid
a limitation of the rule, may possibly de
prive us of many typical and prophetical
adumbrations of the Gospel, not expressly
interpreted as such by the writers of the
New Testament. The latter, by ^ving too
great latitude to the interpreter, seem to
open a door to every extravagance of the
human imagination. What middle course
then presents itself to our acceptance ?
The best writers on this subject seera to
be agreed, that, before a figurative or a
mystical interpretation be admitted, some
urgent reason, even something like neces
sity, should be produced, either for reced
ing from the literal meaning of the words,
or for engrafting upon the words them
selves, whether literally or figuratively un
derstood, a higher sense than they naturally
and immediately convey. If the literal
meaning of the words be such as would
derogate from the Divine perfections; as
when bodily organs or human passions are
attributed

SERMON VIL 231
attributed to the Almighty : — if, though
their literal acceptation be not absolutely
unworthy of the subject, yet the figurative
be manifestly better adapted to its dignity
and importance : — if, on the other hand,
the expressions be of so elevated a cast,
that to apply thera literally would be al-
•tOgether extravagant and absurd : — or if,
with respect to the general intent and
meaning of the whole passage, what is
Uterally applicable to one event in Sacred
History be so clearly applicable in its
figurative sense, to sorae other event of
subsequent date, that the coincidence can
not be overlooked :— in all such cases, the
internal evidence of Scripture itself, with
out giving undue scope to conjectural in
genuity, requires that the spiritual, or
mystical interpretation be adopted. Again ;
if the inspired writers themselves, either
expressly or by implication, direct us to
such an interpretation, when otherwise we
might not perceive its necessity ; then we
have an absolute authority for the expo
sition, which supersedes our own conjec
tures : and we are not only safe in abiding
Q 4 by

232 SERMON VIL
by that authority, but should be unwar
ranted in its rejection.
But though these rules may assist in de
termining whether, or not, the text require
a mystical interpretation ; it is another
question, how that interpretation is to be
regulated. Here the general principles already laid
down must be taken into consideration.
Every mystical portion of Scripture, and
every figurative expression also, is to be
explained consistently with other portions,
or single expressions, whether figurative or
not ; and especially with those whose literal
meaning is too plain to be misunderstood,
or too important to be disregarded. The
elucidation therefore of any mystical or
figurative passage will depend upon an
accurate examination of its subject, and
upon a careful collation of its parallel pas
sages. It wiU depend also upon care in
applying either the metaphorical or em
blematical sense so far, and so far only, as
the case absolutely requires. For, it may
be laid down as a maxim, that no funda
mental article of faith, or necessary rule of

SERMON VIL 233
of practice, depends upon texts which
are doubtful or obscure. Such texts may,
when judiciously applied, be rendered ser
viceable in illustration of the raost es
sential points. But whatever is generally
necessary to salvation is, doubtless, some
where propounded in Holy Writ, in terms
sufficiently clear to preclude the necessity
of searching for it in passages of abstruse
and recondite meaning. Never therefore
are we to interpret what is wrapped up in
figure or imagery, in a sense irreconcileable
with truths more siraply expressed. And
let the Coramentator beware, that in ex
ercising his ingenuity upon texts of such a
description, he do not advance opinions
unsupported by more substantial proofs.
But, perhaps, these observations will be
better understood, by reference to the se
veral kinds of mystical or embleraatical
writing which occur in the Holy Scrip
tures ; and of which the chief raay be con
sidered under the distinct heads of Para
ble, Type, and Allegory.
Parables forra a very important part of
the Sacred Writings. Our Lord not only
took

234 SERMON VIL
took frequent occasion to introduce them,
but by his own exposition of sorae, taught
us how to expound others. According to
the Scriptural usage of the terra, a Parable
denotes a fictitious, but probable, narrative,
illustrating certain matters of fact or doc
trine, to which it bears resemblance. There
is therefore in every Parable a twofold
sense, the literal and the mystical, coincid
ing in signification. For example ; the
Parable of the Unforgiving Servant repre
sents literally, that his Lord forgave him a
debt of ten thousand talents : — mystically,
that God remits to the penitent the pu
nishment of innumerable offences. Lite
rally it states, that this servant, on his re
fusal to exercise forbearance towards his
fellow- servant, was delivered over to the
torraentors : — mystically^ that God wiU in
flict the sevea-est judgments on all who do
not forgive to others their trespasses. The
unity of sense in both interpretations is
instantly perceptible. The literal is the
external sense ; the mystical, the internal.
The literal must therefore be first ex
plained ; that the correspondence between it

SERMON VIL 235
it and the mystical may be more readily
percdlved. This coirespondence, however,
does not necessarily extend beyond the
general purport of the similitude and its
leading circumstances : nor is it always
expedient to aim at tracing 'the parallel in
^very minute particular. Thus ; in the
Parable of the Ten Virgins, the main de-
, sign is to shew the necessity of vigilance
and circumspection in preparing for Our
entrance into eternal life. T^^is the nar
rative very fully illustrates, by the different
txjnduct of the wise and foolish in these
respects. But the mystical signification of
the lamps, and the oil, and other adventi
tious circurastances, as it is less evident, so
is it coraparatively uniraportant ; these
being rather incidental to the narrative,
than essential to its purpose. Generally,
indeed, the raore exactly the mystical ex
position can be made to accord with the
literal, the more perfect the Parable will
appear to be : and therefore, though we
ought carefully to distinguish between es
sential and merely circumstantial resera-
blances, yet where the latter admit of an
easy

236 SERMON VlL
easy and natural application, they are by
no means to be overlooked : and it is ob
servable, that in those Parables which our
Lord himself interpreted to his Disciples,
few, if any, of the circumstantial points are
unapplied. But here great judgment is
often necessary, neither to do too little,
nor to attempt too ranch. Attention is
principally requisite to the immediate de
sign of the Parable ; which, for the most
part, is declared either at its beginning or
its conclusion, or is sufficiently evident
from the occasion on which it was de
livered. Some Parables, indeed, are evi
dently prophetical, and are to be explained
by the same rules to which Prophecies, in
general are "subject. Others serve to illus
trate important points of doctrine. Others
have the force of moral precepts. A com
petent knowledge, therefore, of this branch
of mystical instruction is of very extensive
importance. Types form another conspicuous part of
the Divine plan for the instruction of man^
kind. By pointing out some connection
between persons, or events, remote from each

SERMON VIL 237
each other and apparently unconnected,
they often become explanatory of the de
signs of the Almighty in the several Dis
pensations of Revealed Religion. A Type
is a prefigurative action or occurrence, in
which one event, person, or circumstance,
is intended to represent another, similar to
it in certain respects, but future and dis
tant. It differs therefore from a Parable,
in being grounded pn a matter of fact, not
on fictitious narrative. St. Peter speaks of
the Ark in which Noah and his family were
saved, as a Type of Baptism. St. Paul
applies the passage of the Israelites through
the Red Sea to the same purpose. The
Rock, from which they were miraculously
supplied with water, he also mentions as a
Type of Christ : and our Lord refers to
the Brazen Serpent and to Jonah, as
Types of his Death and Resurrection. In
these several instances the similitude arises
out of an historical fact : and the coinci
dences we must suppose to have been pre
ordained by Divine wisdom, and brought
to pass by a special Providence. Some
times, indeed, the Type differs no other wise

238 SERMON VIL
wise from a simple Prophecy, than in its
being delivered by significant actions or
gestures, instead of words; as in Jere
miah's yokes and bonds, Agabus's binding
his own hands with Paul's girdle, and many
sirailar instances recorded in the propheti
cal books. The Teraple-service of the
Jews and the whole Ceremonial Law of
Moses, according to St. Paul's exposition
of them in his Epistle to the Hebrews, raay
also be regarded as of a typical character,
so far as respects their general design. But
here, as in Parables and all figurative por
tions of Scripture, the parallel between the
literal and raystical sense must not be too
minutely extended; an error, into which
fanciful Expositors are prone to faU, and
hy which the Sacred Writings have often
been subjected to the ridicule of the undisi-
cerning and the profane. Such Types,
however, carry with them intrinsic evi
dence of their Divine original; and are
not to be treated as mere casual coin
cidences, or ingenious accommodations of
Scripture, where, though some resemblance
may exist, yet no actual parallel was pre
ordained

SERMON VIL 239
ordained. It is, indeed, essential to a
Type, in the Scriptural acceptation of the
term, that there should be competent evi
dence of the Divine intention in the cor
respondence between it and the Antitype ;
a matter, not left to the imagination of the
Expositor to discover, but resting on some
solid proof from Scripture itself, that this
was really the case.
Similar observations are applicable to
those other figurative portions of Holy
Writ, which fall under the general deno
mination of Allegory. Parables and Types
partake of the nature of allegorical repre
sentations ; it being the character of every
species of Allegory, that it represents one
thing by the delineation of another. But
though every Type or Parable is of an
allegorical character; yet every Allegory
is not a Type or Parable. Some historical
facts of the Old Testament appear to be
allegorized in the New, (that is, a spiritual
application is given to them over and above
their literal meaning,) although they can
not strictly be denominated Types. St.
Paul, in applying the History of Sarah and
Hagar

240 SERMON VIL
Hagar to' the Jewish and Christian Cove
nants, does not call it a Type ; but only
says, that in giving it such an appUcation,
he had allegorized the history. Such alle
gorical interpretations seera to form a dis
tinct class. So, again, do Symbols. The
symbolical language - of the Prophets is
almost a science in itself None can fully
comprehend the depth, sublimity, and force
of their writings, who are not thoroughly ac
quainted with the peculiar and appropriate
imagery they were wont to use. This is the
main key to many of the Prophecies : and
without knowing how to apply it, the In
terpreter will often in vain essay to discover
their hidden treasures, t; <
The , importance then, of figurative and
mystical interpretation can hardly be called
in question. The eptire neglect of it must,
in many cases, greatly vitiate expositions,
however otherwise valuable for their erudi
tion and judgment, In explaining the Pro
phetical Writings and the Mosaic Ordi
nances, this defect will be raost striking ;
since, in consequence of it, not only the
spirit and force of many passages wiU
almost

SERMON VII. 241
dmost wholly evaporate, but erroneous
conceptions may be formed of their real
purport and intention.
II. But we are now to consider, on the
other hand, the Misapplication or Abuse of
this kind of Interpretation, and the errors
which arise from carrying it to excess.
The raost flagrant species of Abuse, is
when it is made to militate against the
plain and literal sense, or even to exclude
it, although that sense involves no ab
surdity or falsehood, nor is contraidictory
to the rest of Scripture. Of this fault
those Expositors are manifestly guilty,
who, in their attempts to allegorize his
torical facts, virtuaUy, if not expressly, re
ject the facts themselves. This is done
by some, for the evident purpose of dis
crediting the Sacred History ; by others,
without any such sinister purpose, and
purely frora fondness for such interpreta-!
tions, or frora a persuasion that they af
ford the readiest means of repelling infidel
objections. Hence many attempts have
been made to substitute allegorical expla
nations of the Creation and Fall of man,
R and

242 SERMON VIL
and of several other narratives of the Old
Testament, for the simple historical state
ments. That Unbelievers should have re-
Course to this, as the most plausible and
specious mode of assailing the credibility
of Holy Writ, is not surprising: and it is
well known that two distinguished writers
of this class, in the last century, adopted
this allegorizing scheme ; the one, to de
stroy the credit of Prophecy, the other, of
Miracles. Others of like persuasion have,
more or less systematically, attempted the
same thing; well knowing that nothing
could more effectually shake the whole
fabric of Revealed Religion, than thus
converting its history into fable and its
realities into fiction. For if the narratives
most usually selected for the purpose may
thus be explained away ; what part of the
Sacred History will be secure against si
milar treatment? Nay, what doctrines,
even those the most essential to Chris
tianity, might not thus be undermined?
For are not those doctrines dependent
upon the facts recorded in Scripture, for
the evidence of their truth ? Does not, for
instance.

SERMON vn. 243
instance, the whole system of our Redemp
tion presuppose the reality of the Fall as
an historical fact ? And do not the proofs
of the Divine authority of the whole, rest
upon the verification of its Prophecies and
Miracles, as events which have actually
taken place ? Allegory thus misapplied is,
therefore, worse than frivolous or useless :
it strikes a deadly blow at the very vitals
of the Christian Faith.
It is natural however to the human
mind to deUght in„ Imagery: and the
Sacred Writings so often administer occa
sions of gratifying this propensity, that
men of ardent minds and luxuriant fancies
may be led, without any suspicion of harm
or danger, to extend Interpretations of
this kind farther than a sound and sober
judgment can approve. The supposed
discovery of meanings deeply hidden and
veiled from vulgar observation, gratifies the
curiosity or flatters the vanity of the In
terpreter; who will, in consequence, often
satisfy himself with very slight evidence, or
even with the mere semblance of corre-
-spondence between his own conception?
R 2 and

244 SERMON VIL
and those of the inspired writer. Hence
the danger of great abuse and perversion
of a talent of this kind, even where there is
no intention to make way for the mystical
sense by superseding the literal.
The practice of thus incautiously spi
ritualizing historical facts, and of indiscri
minately applying to almost every part of
Scripture some hidden and mysterious sig
nification, appears to have owed its pre
valence in the Christian Church, partly to
Heathens, and partly to Jews.
When Christianity raade such progress
in the Roraan erapire as to threaten the
total subversion of Pagahisra, and the ab
surdities of the Gentile superstition were
in danger of falling into universal con-
temptj the advocates of the latter found it
necessary to have recourse to allegorical,
expositions of its legendary fictions ; that^i
by throwing over thera the veil of raystic
piety and wisdom, their deformities raight
be concealed^ And surely they were
.^'' wise in their generation." For, what
could render such gross and monstrous
fictions palatable to a discerning mind but

SERMON VIL 245
but this mystic art ? On the other hand,
when these same ingenious advocates of a
hopeless cause endeavoured to retaliate
upon Revealed Religion by attacking the
credibility of its historical records ; Chris
tian writers too readily fell into the prac
tice of vindicating their own belief by
this precarious mode of defence. When
pressed with difficulties respecting the li
teral sense of certain Scripture narratives,
they appear to have deemed it sufficient
to shew that thesfe, as well as Heathen
legends, were capable of a satisfactory al
legorical interpretation, to which the Hea
then opponent could not consistently ob
ject. And in thus attempting to combat
the adversary with his own weapons, they
not unfrequently pushed the argument so
far as to put to hazard the credit of the
facts theraselves.
The Jews also were instruraental to this
evil. Their ancient Targuras abounded
with such interpretations. Philo delighted
in thera : and, in after times, other Jew
ish writers engrafted upon them the innu-
nierable absurdities of the Cabalistic Theo-
R3 logy;

246 SERMON VIL
logy ; affecting the discovery of profound
mysteries in alraost every word, syllable,
or letter Of the Sacred Oracles, and over
looking, in pursuit of these, the more solid
and substantial matter.
From such corrupt sour(5es sorae Chris
tian Commentators appear to have un
guardedly drawn their supplies. To these
may be ascribed many strange reveries
among the earliest heretics, and many
mystic extravagancies which in later times
have disgraced the annals of the Church ;
giting occasion of triumph to the scorner
and the enthusiast, while the reverential be
liever has trembled for the cause of Truth
confided to such injudicious hands.
This mode of interpretation may not,
indeed, be safely intrusted even to the most
learned or well-intentioned Expositor, un
less he be content to circurascribe it within
the liraits of such necessary rules as those
which have been here suggested. No facul
ty of the human mind requires to be kept
under stricter discipline, than the Imagina
tion ; none being more difficult to con
trol, none more eccentric or capricious when

SERMON VIL 247
when suffered to act without restraint.
Nothing therefore may be deemed admis
sible in this branch of Scripture-criticism,
which is not warranted either by the ne
cessity of the case, or by clear Analogy
from Scripture, or by the authority of.spme
inspired Interpreter. Spiritual improve
ments (as they, are, soraetiraes called) of
particular passages of Scripture ;— that is,
deducing from them spiritual instructions
for the practical edification of the reader ; —
whether or not they flow directly and na
turally from the subject, may at least be
.harmless. But when brought forward for
the purpose of Interpretation properly so
called, they are to be viewed with caution
and even with mistrust. For scarcely is
there a favourite opinion which a fertile
imagination may npt thus extract from
some portion of Scripture : and very dif
ferent, nay, contrary interpretations of this
kind have often been made of the very
same texts, according to men's various
fancies or inventions^
Nor is it a slight objection to the indis
criminate appUcation of this species of ex-
R 4 position.

248 SERMON VII.
position, that it renders the Scriptures ia
general too deep and mysterious for po
pular apprehension. Almost every mysti
cal Expositor airas at novelty. His object
is to raake discoveries in spiritual know
ledge. He sets out with a persuasion that
a great portion of the Scriptures has
hitherto been, as it were, a sealed Book,
not fully understood, except by a chosen
few, gifted with extraordinary powers to
penetrate its interior, and to disclose its
precious treasures. He adopts, moreover,
a principle, which makes it scarcely pos
sible to deterraine, when the whole truth
is actually laid before us. For, if so ex
cursive and volatile a faculty as the Iraagi-
nation be perraitted to range ad libitum
in its airy regions, who shaU say when it
has arrived at the conclusion of its la
bours ? What errors too in religious opi
nions raay not receive a plausible appear
ance by the aid of a mode of interpretation
so lax and flexible in itself, and affording
such facilities for a perversion of the truth?
The advocates, however, for carrying
this system to an unbounded extent, are
wont

SERMON VIL 249
wont to urge on its behalf St. Paul's dis
tinction between " milk for babes who are
" unskilful in the word of righteousness,"
and " strong meat for thera that are of full
" age^ ;" as implying that the literal sense
is fit only for novices in the Faith, and that
the spiritual sense is the proper nourish
ment for more advanced Christians. But
this appears to be a misapprehension of the
Apostle's raeaning. He reproaches those
who, after having been taught " the first
" principles of the oracles of God," faith,
repentance, and the like, did not " go on
" unto perfection," but had " need to be
" taught thera again'^," and who, in con
sequence, were both indisposed and un
qualified to enter into his more profound
disquisitions respecting the connection be
tween the Christian, the Mosaic, and the
Patriarchal Dispensations. His censure
falls upon those who, though they ought
to have been theraselves qualified to be-
corae teachers of the elementary doctrines
of Christianity, had need to be instructed
a Heb. T. 13, 14. K Heb..v.. 12. and vi,, 1, 2, in

250 SERMON VIL
in what every ordinary disciple might be
supposed to understand. But what is this
to the question before us ? Or, even if it
did relate to it, how does it prove that
greater importance is attached to deep and
mystical subjects than to the simple rudi
ments, or first principles, which constitute
the very foundation of our Faith ?
Whatever then may be said by the ad
mirers of Allegory and Mysticism, respect
ing the transcendent excellence of such
expositions, ought to be deemed of little
weight; unless they can be shewn to have
the sanction of Holy Writ. Without that
sanction, the experiment is generally ha
zardous : and a due reverence for the Sa
cred Word will always incline us to hesi
tate in setting forth as the suggestions of
Divine wisdom, what raay eventually prove^
to be nothing more than human invention.
Nor will it avail to argue, from some par
ticular instances in Scripture of this mode
of interpretation, to the application of it as
an universal rule. No such universal rule
is to be found in Scripture. It is no where
laid down as a maxim, that there is in
every

SERMON VIL 2S1
every part of the Sacred Writings, nor
even in the greater part, a hidden spiritual
sense, besides that which the Uteral expres
sion conveys. The cases where it is ex
emplified are for the most part such as
evidently require, or readily admit such an
interpretation. And though we may find
others also which appear to require or
admit the same, yet great caution is to be
used in its application ; nor should it ever
be regarded as of real necessity, where
truth and sound doctrine can be obtained
without it. To comprise all in a few short
maxims : — figurative and mystical inter
pretations are never to be so appUed as to
destroy or supersede the literal sense, when
that sense is sufficiently clear and intel
ligible;^ — they are never to be far-fetched,
or pressed beyond the obvious meaning of
the text ; — they must be such as elucidate,
not obscure or perplex the subject ; — they
are not to be made the foundation of arti
cles of Faith, but adduced only for the il
lustration or confirmation of what is else
where more plainly revealed ;-^nor are they
to be sought after in matters of little mo
ment,

252 SERMON VIL
ment, or raade the chief object of investi
gation. To proceed farther into this vast and
alraost boundless field of inquiry would be
productive of little benefit, unless the re
search were accompanied with such a de
tail of examples frora Holy Writ as would
forra a very extensive coramentary on the
Bible. It is also the less necessary on the
present occasion, because whatever has
been now advanced must be considered as
having reference to what has been already
suggested respecting the Analysis and the
Collation of Scripture truths. Nor has it
been intended, in this or any other part of
the discussion, to dograatize on religious
opinions, or to prejudge any particular in
terpretations of the Sacred Word. The
sole object has been to shew on what gCr
neral principles every disputed or disput
able point in Revealed Religion ought to
be argued ; and thus to prevent that per
plexity or indecision, which, in every science
as well as in Theology, will arise from
not having clear conceptions of the data
or postulata on which the entire systera.
depends.

SERMON VIL 253
depends. As want of knowledge in these
respects makes Sciolists and Sophists in
human learning ; so does it give birth to
strange and monstrous opinions in matters
of Faith. And as well might the labourer
attempt to make bricks without straw, or
to erect a solid edifice on the sand, as the
Theologian undertake to frame a substan
tial and consistent Creed without first lay
ing his foundations deep in principles that
will support his fabric, and acquainting
himself with the necessary rules for raising
a superstructure of just and congruous
proportions. In every department of Sacred Criticism,
it is, indeed, of the first importance, that
we " be not wise in our own conceits'';"
that we take heed neither to add to nor to
diminish from the Word of God ; and that
we beware of confounding with His un
erring wisdom the wanderings of our own
wayward fancies. In no case are these
cautions more necessary than with refe
rence to the subject now before us. For
here it is, that oftentimes the best disposed
d Rom, xii, 16, are

254 SERMON VIL
are in the greatest danger of being led
astray. Eager to explore the depths of
Divine knowledge, wrapped up in adraira-
tion of what he imagines he has discovered
through some new channel of information,
and reljring implicitly on the Divine ac
ceptance of his pious labours, the Mystic
proceeds fearlessly, nor easily brooks re
straint in the ardour of his pursuit. But
let hira take heed : if Reason may not
usurp authority over the Written Word ; —
if the Church, ordained by its heavenly
Lord and Master for the preservation of
the truth, must bow to that authority ; —
if neither public nor private Judgment may
overstep its boundaries; — far less may such
an unstable power as the human Ima
gination be allowed any absolute sWay.
Nevertheless, let not the dry and spiritless
Critic conceive that he is shewing his su
perior wisdom, in fastidiously slighting any
source of real information which that Word
opens to him, whether conveyed in mystic
terms or in those of plain and literal signi;
fication. From the danger of either extreme due
humility

SERMON VIL 255
humility and reverence will be the Inter
preter's best security. They will teach him,
on the one hand, to " receive with meek-
" ness the engrafted Word%" thankfully
imbibing the Spirit as well as the Letter
of its instructions. They will teach him,
on the other hand, to beware of any at
tempts to become wise above that which
is written, or of searching after new and
unauthorized interpretations. They will
admonish him not to " forsake the foun-
" tain of Uving waters," nor to " hew
" him out cisterns, broken cisterns, which
" can hold no water ^;" but to " draw
" waters out of the wells of Salvation?,"
unadulterated by any admixture of human
invention. And, " blessed are they who
" thus hunger and thirst after righteous-
" ness; for they shaU,be filled''," .
^ James i, 21, ^ Jer, ii, 13,
8 Isa. rii, 3. *> Matth, v, 6,

SERMON

SERMON VIII.

1 Timothy iii, 15.

Which is the Church of the living God, the
pillar and ground of the Truth.
Upon a general review of the history of
Revealed Religion, every intelligent ob
server may perceive, that it has not been
left to human wisdom only to provide the
means of communicating and perpetuating
its blessings to mankind. Human instru
mentality has been employed ; but under
the control of special laws and ordinances
from above. Human learning has been made
necessary for a right knowledge of its in
structions ; but in subserviency to the rule
of Faith. Human authority has been or
dained to administer its laws, and to dis
pense its privileges ; but with no power to
alter one tittle of its charter. The Wisdom
which foresees and plans every thing frora
s the

258 SERMON VIIL
the beginning, and the Power which car
ries on and accomplishes whatever that
Wisdom had devised, have clearly mani
fested a Divine superintendence of the
whole : while the agency of man has been
no less conspicuous in those various cir
cumstances and events, which, without any
miraculous interpositions of the Almighty,
have contributed to its extension and com
pletion. ,In the words of the text the Apostle ad
verts to one special instance, in which this
joint cooperation of divine and human
powers is eminently conspicuous ; the In
stitution of the Church for the preserva
tion of the Christian Faith : — " the Church
" of th^ Uving God, the pillar and ground
" of the Truth."
Some difficulties , have been raised (re
specting the precise meaning of these
terms ;.^ difficulties created rather, perhaps,
by the views of interpreters to their own
particular systems, than by any ambiguity
or obscurity in the text itself Papists have
endeavoured to ground upon this passage
of Scripture an argunient.for the infallibi lity

SERMON VIII. 259
lity of the Church : to overthrow which,
some Would apply it, not to the visible
Church known by its authorized governors
and pastors, but to the invisible, known
only to God, and consisting exclusively of
those pure and faithful members of Christ,
who shall finally be made partakers of his
everlasting kingdom. Others regard it as
a personal exhortation to Timothy to shew
himself "a pillar of the Truth" in the
house or Church of God. Others, again,
(not without some perplexity in the gram
matical construction) refer these expres
sions to " the mystery of godliness^' de
scribed by the Apostle in the subsequent
verse.•ft|i<But the more obvious application of the
text to the universal C^wrcA, administered
under an external and visible form of "go -
vernraent, best accords with the context,
and is liable to no solid objections. The
words immediately follow a 'series of in
structions to Timothy, how he in the office
of a Bishop, and others in the inferior or
ders of the ministry, were to conduct them
selves in the house of God ; " which,"
s 2 adds

260 SERMON VIIL
adds the Apostie, " is the Church of the
" Uving God, the pillar and ground of the
^' Truth." His design is evidently to give
additional weight to those preceding in
structions, by suggesting the high and im
portant purpose for which the Church was
instituted ; and thence to shew how neces
sary it was that they who were ordained to
the SaCred Office of her ministers should
" take heed unto themselves, and unto
"their doctrine'." Ih no other way can
the passage be so easily and consistently
explained. The Apostle, then, being understood to
affirm of the Church Catholic, the Visible
Church here on earth, that it was ordained
by the Divine "Author and Finisher of
" our Faith," to be the instrument of pre
serving that Faith in its genuine purity,
and of upholding it for the general in
struction of mankind ; it becomes a matter
of important inquiry, closely connected
with4hose principles of Scripture-Interpre
tation which have formed the stibject of
» 1 Tim. iv. 16. the

SERMON VIIJ. 261
the preceding Discourses, how far this
great purpose appears to have been at
tained. And here these questions natu
rally occur : — First, What farther insight
do the Scriptures afford us into the Divine
intentions in this respect ? Secondly, What
evidence have we, that the Church in ge
neral has been thus instrumental to the
preservation of Truth, and to the preven
tion or removal of Error ? Thirdly, What
benefits of this .kind are owing to our own
Church in particular, that branch of the
true Vine under the shelter of which the
good Providence of God hath placed us,
and which we beUeve His own right hand
to have planted ? These inquiries may not
unaptly conclude the design which has
been taken in hand, and raay furnish ma
terials for grateful contemplation,
I, In the first places what further insight
do the Scriptures afford us into the Divine
intentions in this respect ?
In so stupendous a work as that of
man's Salvation, designed for the universal
good of mankind, and extending from age
to age, it is not to be supposed, that means
s a would

262 SERMON VIIL
would be unprovided, ordinary or extra
ordinary, for carrying it on from its first
commencement to its final close. The
Church, indeed, in the largest and fullest
acceptation of the term, did not originate
with our blessed Saviour and his Apostles ;
but included all the faithful, under every
dispensation of Revealed Religion, antece
dent as well as subsequent to the coming
of Our Lord. But its formation and con
tinuance under the Christian dispensation
are the points with which we are more im
mediately concerned, and in which the
providential caje of the Almighty is most
fuUy displayed.
The design of the Christian Church,
both with respect to its first institution and
the means ordained for its perpetuity, are
thus stated by St. Paul, in his Epistle to
the Ephesians. " He gave some Apostles ;
"and some. Prophets ; and some, Evan-
" gelists; and some, Pastors and Teach-
" ers ; for the perfecting of the Saints, for
<< the work of the Ministry, for the edify-
" ing of the body of Christ; till we aU
" corae, in the unity of the Faith, and of
the

SERMON VIIL 263
" the knowledge of the Son of God, unto
" a perfect man, unto the measure of the
*' stature of the fulness of Christ : that we
" henceforth be no more children, tossed
"to and fro, and carried about with every
"wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men,
" and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie
^' in wait to deceive; but, speaking the
*' truth in love, may grow up into Him, in
" all things, which is the Head, even
" Christ : — from whom, the whole Body
" fitly joined together, and compacted by
'I that which every joint supplietb, accord-
" ing to the effectual working in the mea-
" sure of every part, maketh increase of
" the Body, unto the edifying of itself in
" love''." Here we have not only a statement of
the general purpose for which the Church
was constituted, but an enumeration of the
several offices appointed for the fuller ex
tension of its benefits. In the time of the
Apostles, the difficulties being extraordi
nary, extraordinary powers were bestowed.
b Jlphes. iv, 11 — 16.
s 4 A great

264 SERMON VIU.
A great variety of preternatural gifts dis
tinguished those who were first caUed of
God to minister in sacred things, to enable
them to spread the knowledge of the Gos
pel, and to interpret its heavenly truths.
And thus the intended effect was rapidly
produced, that of bringing persons ofaU
nations, and kindreds, and tongues, to an
acknowledgment of the truth, and to a
participation in the proffered blessing.
After this, the system, of which the Apo
stles had laid the foundation, was to be
carried on through succeeding generations ;
but with a gradual diminution of that ex
traordinary aid, which the circumstances
of the case rendered no longer necessary.
Truth, once revealed by competent autho
rity, once proved by satisfactory evidence
to have come frora God, ceased to stand in
need of those supernatural powers, which
were at first requisite to verify its preten
sions, and to coraraand. the attention of
mankind. Human talents, learning, and
authority, accompanied only with that or
dinary assistance of Divine Grace, which is
requisite in every thing relating to man's
spiritual

SERMON VIII. 265
spiritual improvement, were theneefbrth
sufficient. Yet since the object to be at
tained was not temporary, but to continue
from age to age ; the mode, tiie form, and
the instruments to be employed, were still
to be conformable to the primitive institu
tion. Accordingly the Apostles ordained
successors to themselves, and took mea
sures for perpetuating in the Church a
standing ministry of divers orders and gra
dations. In so doing they shewed in what
sense we are to interpret our Lord's assur
ance, that he would "be with thera al-
" ways, even unto the end of the world."
They shewed also, that, in the work of
bringing men to the knowledge of the
Truth, and into the way of everlasting life,
not -only the Scriptures were to be set be
fore them, but also Pastors and Teachers
were to be duly appointed to serve as
guides to the flock, and to supply them,
from the ample stores of the Word of
God, with spiritual food and sustenance.
IL But, secondly, what evidence have
we, that the Church in general has been
thus instrumental to the preservation of
Truth.

266 SERMON VIIL
Truth, and to the prevention or reraoval
of Error ?
The evidences from the best historical
records, to the simple fact that a visible
Church of this description has actually
subsisted from the tirae of our Lord and
his Apostles to this moment, are too well
knov^'n to require a detail. Nor is there
any defect of sirailar evidence to shew
that, whatever errors or corruptions may
have occasionally found admittance into
it, the Church itself has proved a success
ful instrument, in the hands of Provi
dence, both of transmitting the unadul
terated Word of God from generation to
generation, and also of promulgating and
maintaining all its great fundamental
truths ; nay, perhaps, of preserving even
the very name as well as substance of
Christianity, which, huraanly speaking,
would probably have been long since ex
tinct, had it not been nurtured and che
rished by this its appointed Guardian and
Protector. Here however it is to be observed, that
in describing the Church as so erainently instru-

SERMON VIIL 267
instruraental to the preservation of Scrip
ture-truth, and even of Christianity itself,
it is spoken of as existing under that Apo
stolical form of government which from
the date of its first institution it has in
variably exhibited in the far greater part
of the Christian world. It is the Church
episcopally constituted, which forms our
present subject of investigation ; not any
of those various modes of professing Chris
tianity which may be found in Commu
nions of other kinds. For without entering
into controversy with those who deny the
Divine origin of Episcopacy, it can hardly
be disputed, that this form of Ecclesiasti
cal PoUty has so generally prevailed, that,
in every age from the tirae of the Apostles
untU the separations which in some in
stances unhappily took place at the period
of the Protestant Reformation, the Catho
lic or Universal Church, properly so call
ed; comprising many e particular or na
tional Churches, was known and dis
tinguished by its episcopal constitution,
Speakingtherefore historically only, (which
is all that is required for our present pur
pose,)

268 SERMON VIIL
pose,) we are warranted in thus defining
the Church : and the question now before
us is. How far the Church, thus defined,
has hitherto proved itself to be " the pil-
" lar and ground of the Truth,''* or, ac
cording to the interpretation of a distin
guished Commentator, " that Pillar, on a
" basis, by which the Truth is supported?"
Many writers, whether hostile or not to
Christianity itself, take a very unfavourable
and unjust view of this subject, by direct
ing; their whole attention to thevcorrupt
doctrines or practices too often engrafted
upon the Faith by particular Churches;
overlooking the many great and funda
mental errors which the Church, consi
dered in its general and collective charac
ter, has been the occasion of preventing or
removing. But, with respect to Articles
of Faith, those only ought to be consi
dered as sanctioned by Church-authority,
which are stamped with the concurring
testiraony of the Church, exhibited, either
in the decisions of General Councils con
vened for the purpose, or in the various
Creeds or Confessionals framed by different
Churches.

SERMON vm. • 269
Churches. According to this criterion, if
a candid investigation be made of the
points generally agreed upon by the
Church Universal, it will probably be
found, that at no period of its history has
Wiiy fundamental or essential Truth of the
Gospel h^en authoritatively disowned. Par
ticular Churches may have added many
superstitious observances, and raany erro
neous tenets, to these essential truths : and
in every Church, particular indfVidualsj
or congregations of individuals, may have
tainted large portions of the Christian Com
munity with pestilential heresies. But as
far as the Church Catholic can be deemed
responsible, the substance of sound doc
trine still remains undestroyed at least, if
not unimpaired.
Let us take, for instance, those Articles
of Faith which have already been shewn to
he essential to the Christian Covenant:—^
the Doctrines of the Trinity, of our Lord'?
Divinity and Incarnation, of his AtPtafe*
ment and Intercession, of our Sanctificav
tion by the Holy Spirit, of the terms of
Acceptance, and the Ordinances of the
Christian

270 SERMON VIIL
Christian Sacraments and Priesthood. At
what period of the Church have these doc
trines, or either of them, been by any pubUc
act disowned, or called in question ? We
are speaking now, it wiU be recollected, of
what in the language of Ecclesiastical His
tory is emphatically called the Church;
that, which has from age to age borne
rule, upon the ground of its pretensions to
Apostolical succession. And to this our
inquiry*is necessarily restricted.
If then it should be said that Arianism
(whose claims in this respect are perhaps
more plausible than those of any other
heresy,) was for a time favoured by the
hierarchical powers ; let it be remerabered
that it owed its temporary intrusion and
ascendency rather to the unwarrantable
interference pf secular power, than to any
authoritative sanction on the part of the
Church itself From the most distinguished
defenders and governors of the Church,
Hilary, Basil, the two Gregorys, AmbrcKse,
and Athanasius, it met with determined
resistance, although fostered by Imperial
favour. It stands therefore upon record, not

SERMON VIIL 271
not as an evidence of versatility or indeci
sion among the venerable Pastors of the
Christian fold ; but rather of the untoward
and embarrassing circumstances to which
they were often subjected, by the over
weening influence of the temporal powers
and the turbulence of ungovernable fac
tions. Subsequently to that period, even
in the darkest tiraes of. Popery, and amidst
the barbarism and corruptions of the middle
ages, however the primitive Faith and Wor
ship raight be defaced by " teaching for
" doctrines the comraandments of men","
and by greatly invalidating the very terms
of acceptance under the Gospel Dispensa
tion, yet we find no actual renunciation of
those doctrines which are interwoven, as it
were, with the substance of Christianity
itself. The pure metal was still existing in
the ore, though obscured by extraneous
matter : and when by the work of Re
formation it was cleared of its superincum
bent droSs, the truth came forth, undi
minished in sterling value, and with lustre
unabated. = Matth. XV. 9. But

272 SERMON VIII.
But view now, on the other hand, the
labours of those who endeavoured to sub
vert any of these fundamental truths. Ob
serve the parties with whom they origi
nated, and the estimation in which they
were holden. No age of the Church has
ever been entirely free from attempts to
spread pernicious errors. Yet at what pe
riod have they ever received its authorita
tive sanction ? Did the Church in primitive
times yield one iota of essential doctrine to
the Gnostic Heretics? Did it afterward®
adopt either the Sabellian, the Arian, or
the Macedonian tenets ? Did the wild en
thusiasm of Manes, or Montanus, and
their followers, in any respect influence its
Creed ? And in later times, when and
where have the Socinian notions been re
cognized by any legitimate authority ? Or,
what proof can even the disciple of Calvin
produce, that his doctrine of arbitrary and
irrespective Decrees was ever the received
persuasion of the Catholic Church? To
say nothing of the multitude of lesser di
visions of religious opinion ; or of those
ephemeral productions, ofeaeh of which, as of

SERMON VIIL 2^3
of theiar authors it might be said, " in the
" morning it* flonrisheth arid grttWeth Up,
" in the evening it is cut down an^d Wijther-
" eth''^" ¦ ' «^ '•=! ¦*' **
- Surely here is something tP arrest at-
isdntfeswasj something to awaken reflection ;
som^tfeiitgi which they who sincerely prb-
fitjss Ch^istiahity, and are tenacions of thfe
inviolabiUty of its' doctrines, must' fcont^flfi-
plate with sentimehts of awe and ven^'ai-
tiou'. i ! For ]*l!m«^r a Sceptic mayiconteifld
that itiinis: species ' of s CA'iddice does not
amount tP la direct andldi^mfOHstriiiLtive
piKDof of *be truth of the doctrisnfes ; ye*
lif they be not t true, how shall we accoomt
for^.their haTOB^been so uninterruptedly
?firaiasmitted to these latter times ? H®w
'have they withstood the assaults of 6on-
li^ed opponents? opponents. Wanting
¦ae&ther talents nor inclination to j effect
their overthrow ? If these considefktions
be fdeemed insufficient, let the Adversary
fjidint :out;by what surer tokens' we shkll
diseoper any Christian community, • diily
>ts * ^ Ps. xc. 6.
«)?bi T answering

274 SERMON VIIL
answering the Apostle's description, that
it is " built upon the foundation of the
" Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ
^* himself being the chief corner-stone' ?"
Nor is this aU. Our admiration is height
ened, and our conviction' strengthened/ by
observing that the Church has not only, in
her general professions of Faith, preserved
entire the substance of its fundamental
truths; but has also shewn an unceasing
solicitude to maintain accurate and con
sistent expositions of them, against the
perverse interpretations of conflicting par
ties. In this respect, many venerable re
mains of Ecclesiastical Antiquity are of
pecuUar value. Those public documents
of the Church which, in the form of Creeds
or Confessions of Faith, not only obtained
general currency '^ at the time when they
were composed, but haVe served as models
to after ages, afford, on many leading
doctrines, the most perfect tests of a sound
belief. The chief variations to be found in
thera are such as arise from a greater or
« Ephes. ii, 20, less

SERMON vm. 275
less extent of detail respecting sorae par
ticular points : several of these forraularieS'
having been progressively enlarged, or re-
consta-ucted, according to the prevalence
of certain errors which it became necessary
to counteract. This appears to have been
the case with what is called the Athanasian
Creed : in which the respective errors of
SabeUianism, Tritheism, and Arianism^ are
distinctly opposed by explanatory and cau
tionary clauses. These, though they may
now appear to us- unnecessarily minute and
controversial, vCQuld not but be of great
importance in discountenancing the here
sies then in existence; and, doubtless, very
much contributed to check the growing
evU. Independently, therefore, of any apr
plication of which they may be capable to
more, recent, tiraes, they are highly valu
able for the testimony they bear to the
primitive Faith. But they are also in
themselves of intrinsic worth- For with
respect to this Creed in particular, how
ever Ughtly it may be regarded by persons
of Uttle discernment, or tinctured with false
notions of liberaUty on religious subjects ;
T 2 it

276 SERMON VIIL
it is in truth a composition, which (to
them especially who are conversant with
the history of opinions in former times)
furnishes . matter of admiration, from the
extraordinary acourady and precision with
which it is framed, and . by which the doe-
trine it . contains is guarded on aU sides
against misinterpretation. «.
IIL But dismissing any further inquiry
into these remoter ages, let us consider,
thirdlyj what obligatiobs of this kind we
GweXioourown Church in particular; and
more especially with reference to the prin
ciples w^ich it has been^he object of this
series of Discourses to elucidate.
::. It may be safely affirraed, that no Church
now in existence has better estabUshed* its
character for moderation in doctrine and in
disciplirie, than our own ; — raoderation, in
its pure ia«d genuine sense ; not denoting
an indulgence to Error or an indifference
to Truthi but a Soiind and correct judg-
raent, carefuUy \ steering betwixt opposite
errors. By the confession, indeed, of her
Jtdkersaries, the Church of England is emi
nent in this respect : some having candidly acknow-

I^ERMONrVDL 277
acknowledged this, as an honourjustly due
to her ;."iwhile others endeavour to turn it
to her reproach, as if it indicated her luke-
warmness in maintaining the truth.
. But, confining our observations' at pre
sent to such topics as have already been
discussed, it will be fbund, in the 4rst
place, that our Church on 'every occasion
makes the fullest and most unreserved de-
clai^tions of her submission to the para
mount authority of the 'Holy Scriptgmes.
By establishing this as a^ fundamental prin
ciple^" she avoids with equal care the error
of those who would 'add to the Scriptures,
and of those who would take away from
them :— of those who would call in some
liigher authority, to which ajipeal shall be
miade; and of tbos^ who would admit of
no extraneous help for i the , expositipn of
their contents. She does not with the Ro
manist, or with .the sectarian Fanatic, vir
tually, supersede > the preeminent claims of
Stcnrijjture by; the arbitrary dictates of the
Church, or the no less arbitrary suggestions
®f a private Spirit ; but expressly' declares
ih her sixth Article, that "Holy Scripture
T 3 *' con-

278 SERMON VIIL
**containeth all things necessary to Salva-
" tion : so that whatsoever is not read
" therein, nor 'hiay be proved thereby, is
*' not to be required of any man, that it
" shonld be beUeved as^ an Article of the
"^ Faith, or , be thought requisite or ne-
" Cessary to Salvation:" — and again, in
her twentieth Article, that " although the
"Church be a Witness and a Keeper of
".Holy Writ, yet as it ought hot to decree
" any thing against the same, so besides
" the, same ought it not to enforce any
" thing, to be believed for necessity of Sal-
" vation." Nevertheless, as she exemplifies
in her own public documents, so she incul
cates also upon the Clergy and Laity of
her Communion, the necessity of resorting
to the aids of human learning in fixing its
interpretation, and of r^a,soning out of the
Sacred Word, in order to attain to a clear
arid correct apprehension of its instructions,
in matters either of Faith or Practice.
But while our Church is thus careful not
to set up her authority as an unerring stand
ard of truth, she oraits not to testify her
deference to the judgmetit of the Church
Catholic,

SERMON vm. 279
Catholic, when it can be duly obtained.
She every where shews her readiness to
abide by that judgment, and to reverence
it in proportion to the evidence of its an
tiquity, and its uninterrupted continuance.
She assumes to herself no more than to be
regarded as a true branch of the Univer
sal Church j not denying that particular
Churches may err ; nor asserting any claim
of infallibility, either for herself or others.
Conformably with these principles, her
Clergy are admonish,ed in the Ordination
Service, to be " diligent" not only " in
" prayer and in reading of the Holy Scrip-
" tures," but also, "in such studies as
" help to the knowledge of the same."
Her Articles, Liturgy, and Homilies, evi
dently suppose the necessity of a previous
cultivation of the human understanding, to
qualify those who undertake the exposition
of Scriptural truth. Equally discounte
nancing dogmatical arrogance, intellectual
pride, and enthusiastic pretences to spi
ritual illumination, she inculcates that the
Divine blessing is only to be expected upon
the joint operation of Faith in God's Word,
T 4 sound

280 S,E|IMC>>>^ VUL
^on/jj^ learning, ^n^ c|u^ deference|,^Q ^o-
c)esiastic^l aut|iprity. ,]„ . y„\^f , .,(
y^ ^Asj^ ^^\^iifj:|J^- Expps,i,tor of Qpd'Ss i^prd;,
h§r (?|i[u^ipn and judgnient are; evinc^ bpth
i\y,;j^j^gfy^}^g and cp^qf.i^, ^,the,,truiit^§i of
-Jlply JWrit-yr The^Aaftter rajlejofinterpi:^^-
4pf!i, is recognized in J^^rtjiYe^tig^h Ailticle,
Yjhich 4?clajFes it tOi,hf> not lawful "Jsojto
,'jVexppHnd pne place of ,^<pript,nrei,. tiiat; it
" ;b§(!re.pugnant to anotheE," Uer atifien-
tipn toiithei ferroer appears in her aidoption
oltfe<S?^[ CreedSi only into, her pubUc for-
jji^ular^s^ which Ijay dpwn nothing .aS ab-
solntely n^cesS^ry, to salvation, but th,e ac
knowledgment of fundt^ment^^l Arti<?les of
F^thj Of; the renunciation of fundaniental
errors : whence the Romfeh Church, who
herself insists upon many doubtful and un
necessary, as ^eU (as err^anec^us mat^Bs^
accuses us of having a merely negative 'R^-
ligiota; because nothing which is not eit^ew-
tial to the Faith is obtruded into oujf; terms
qf Communion., ;* . ;),;,; .-iH^r..^
Again ; as an Interpreter, of Scripfeurei,
pur Chnrch .carefuUy distiiaguishei between
jiie Jewish .anftd Christian Dispensations^,
: ; - and

SERMON VIII. 281
and between the general and special pur
poses, to which the several arguments and
injunctions of the Sacred Writers appear
to have been directed. She teaches in her
seventh Article, that "the Old Testament
<•' is not contrary to the New, since both
^< in the Old and New Testament everlast-
" ing' life is offered to mankind by Christ :"
and ^ then pjroceeds to state,, that although
the ritual or ceremonial Law of Moses does
not bind Christians, yet no Christian is free
from obedience to its moral comraand
ments. Thus, while she recognizes the
inseparable connection between the two
Dispensations,, she "points out also the es
sential distinctions betvs^een them ; virtually
conderaning those who, either by confound
ing them together, or riegarding them as at
variance with each other, frequently mis
apply the reasoning of the Sacred Writers,
and especially of St. Paul in some of his
Epistles, on points immediately connected
with these inquiries.
'^ FurtherV her three last Articles contain
a distinct disavowal and'censUre of opi
nions, 'contradictory to those regulations of
Civil

282 SERMON VIIL
Civil Society, without which neither the
authority of the Magistrate to coerce the
evil doer, nor of the State to repel external
violence, could be carried into effect:—
errors, which chiefly originate in the neg
lect of comparing the precepts of Scripture
with each other, or in regarding as of per
petual and universal obligation, what was
only of a temporary, local, or personal de
scription. Another instance of the sound discretion
and moderation of our Church, appears in
her care to discriminate rightly between the
literal and mystical sense of Scripture. Of
this, her doctrine of the Sacraments, as
contained in her twenty- seventh and twenty-
eighth Articles, affords satisfactory evidence.
Baptism she holds to be " not only a sign
" of profession, and mark of difference,
" whereby Christian raen are discerned
" frora others that be not christened ; but
" also a sign of Regeneration, or New
" Birth, whereby, as by an instrument,
" they that receive Baptism rightly, are
" grafted into the Church ; the promises
" of forgiveness of sin, and of our adoption "to

SERMON VIIL 283
"to be the sons of God by the Holy
" Ghost, are visibly signed and sealed." —
In the other Sacrament, she rejects Tran
substantiation, because "it is repugnant
" to the plain words of Scripture, and
" overthroweth the nature of a Sacra-
" ment;" maintaining, however, that " to
" such as rightly, worthily, and with Faith
"receive it, the Bread is a partaking of
" the Body of Christ, and the Cup a par-
" taking of the Blood of Christ;" — ^which
are taken, " only after an heavenly and
" spiritual manner." These expressions,
again, are exactly conforraable with her
general definition of Sacraments, that they
are " effectual signs of Grace, by which
" God worketh invisibly in us, and doth
" not only quicken, but also strengthen
" and confirm our Faith." Accordingly,
in her Communion Office, although the
very words of Scripture are adhered to in
the Consecration and the Administration
of the Eleraents, yet they are so applied in
other parts of the Service, as to make it
impossible to understaind them in any
other than a metaphorical sense : and while the

284 SERMON VIII.
the doctrines of Transubstantiation and
Consubstantiation are virtually disclaimed,
that'^of the real Presence, spiritually, mys
tically, and sacraraentally understood, is
no less clearly implied.
But notwithstanding this care to avoid
Error on her own^ part, arid to discounte
nance it in others, no uncharitable invec
tives, no bitter anathemas are fulminated
against those who separate from' her Com
munion : nor is any unwillingness mani-
fesited to give the right hand of feUoWship
to any ptfeer Churches with whom it is
possible to hold lawful Communion, Her
thirty-fourth Article declares, " it is not
" necessary that Traditions and Cere-
" raonies be in all places one, and utterly
" alike; for at all' times they have been
" diverse, and may be changed according
" to the diversities of countries, times," and
" men's manners, so that nothing be or-
" dained against God's Word." Such dif
ferences, therefore, are not allowed by her
to break the bond of Christian Unity.
Great, too, have been her concessions to
wards those who have stirred up dissensions among

SERM'ON'VIIL 285
among her members : concessipns, not made
for tiie sake of popularity, or to enlarge
her pale for the-adniission pf them who are
unsound in? the Faith, but that Separatists
might hereby be rendered more willing tp
listen to her instructions upon, essent^al
points, and tp^ examine with ;9a^dour the
lesser matters on which such differences
existed. Utterly disclaiming, therefore, the
notion that " every man shall be saved by
'f the Law or Sect which he prpfesseth ;"
she nevertheless shews a disposition to ap
proximate, as nearly as truth, and sincerity
will aUow, to tenets not, entirely accordant
with, her own. .To this disposition has been
attributed that caution and forbearance in
framing her Articles, which still leaves room
for slighti shades, of, difference as to their
interpretation : and hence she has been
regarded, even by those not of her own
Coramunion, as the fit raedium of recon-
ciUation between other; Churches. .It is
well known,; indeed, that some of h^r most
distinguished merabershave expressly .g-inaed
at. forraing, upon the model of her consti-
tutipn, some plan of nni on, which, withouf a sa-

286 SERMON VIIL
A sacrifice of fundamental principles, might
unite foreign Churches with our own, and
bring contending parties to something like
mutual agreement. But the failure, hither
to, of every such attempt, only serves to
shew the impracticability of the thing ; and
may teach us to be so much the less san
guine in our expectations that the purpose
vrill ever be accomplished.
If then the appellation of Catholic could
without a solecism be applied to any na
tional or particular Church, our own might
perhaps lay better claim to it than any that
has appeared since the first establishment
of Christianity, She is Catholic in her
actual comraunion with every pure and
genuine branch of the Christian Church,
and in her desire to extend that union
wherever it can be done without a viola
tion of essential principles. She is CathoUc
in the soundness of her Creed, and in the
care she has taken to restore, audi to pre
serve uncorrupted, " the Faith once de-
*' Uvered to the Saints." She is Catholic
also in the real liberality of her sentiments
towards those who refuse to unite with her; ali-

SERMON VIII, 287
a UberaUty shewing itself, not in* affected
indifference to the truths she has espoused,
nor in an unworthy suppression of her own
belief; but in disclaiming any external co
ercion to compel assent, and in forbearing
harsh or offensive conduct towards the
members of other Churches, or of other
Congregations, at variance with herself
The contrast, indeed, in this respect,
betwixt our Church and some of her most
irreconcileable opponents, is very striking.
From Romish bigotry, and from Sectarian
virulence, she has alike experienced the
effects of an intolerant spirit; and has been
severely taught how necessary it is, in any
attempts at conciliation with such adver
saries, to unite the wisdom of the serpent
with the innocence of the dove. She has
been taught likewise another important les
son : that, in proportion as these adver
saries recede from her pure and moderate
principles, they appear, though without any
specific bond of union betwixt themselves,
to assimilate, in some respects, as to their
general ground of dissent. Thus while the
Church of England maintains inviolate the
supremacy

288 SERM.ON VUL
supremacy of Scriptural authority ; Papists,
Libertines, and Enthusiasts, agree in set
ting up e^qh some other authority, above
that^of the Written Word. They agree jjn
arrogating pretensions to something like
infallibility. They agree in exacting from
their disciples an almost implicit , Faith in
their leaders. .And they agree in magnify
ing their Own special privileges, to the ex
clusion of all who aire not of their own per
suasion. Whatever discordance therefore
may be found between their respective opi
nions, they are in general equally separated
from ourselves, by one . strong Une of de
marcation not easily to. be mistaken., r
In retracing; then the, extensive ground
which has been gone over! in the course of
this inquiry, it is gratifying to havifei oome
to this . conclusipin, , that between thosfe
principles of Scrij^tiire-interpretation which
it has been the object of these Lectures to
establish, and those, on > which our own
Church grounds her Faitht and Praotifiei,
tiiere appears to be the most entire corr
respondence. And we may regard it as an
undoubted; token of the Divine; favorir,>th!a!t this

SERMON vm. 289
this our Zion has hitherto been preserved
to us, through innumerable perils and
difficulties, and through severe trials and
temptations, under which any Church less
free from, error, or less tenacious of the
Truth, must probably have sunk.
But our trust in the continuance of this
blessing is still to be regarded as dependent
upon our own earheSt endeavours to pre
serve it unimpaired. The purity of our
Church in doctrine, discipline, and wor
ship ; its exemplatry moderation ; its faith
fulness as a guide to Scripture ; these well
entitle it to be regarded as a sound portion
of " the Church of the Uving Qod, the
" pillar and ground of the Truth," If to
" hold fast the faithful Word ^;"— if to be
" wiUing to do the WiU of God^," and to
" speak as the Oracles of God*";"- — if
" rightly to divide the Word of Truth',"
" comparing spiritual things with spiri-
" tual''," and having due regard both to
the " letter" and the " spirit'" of its Di-
f Titus i, 9, S John vii. If.
h 1 Peter iv, ll. "2 Tim. ii. 15.
k 1 Cor. ii. 13. ' 2 Cor, iii, 6.
IT

290 SERMON vm.
vine ihstructions ; — if these be sure charac
teristics of the Interpreter on whom we raay
raost safely rely; — then is it Our bounden
duty to, uphold tiie venei'able Church + of
which we are merabers, and by means of
Which, with t^e blessing of^he Alraighty,
we may secure to ourselves, and extend to
others, these invaluable benefits. ^c^J
5- It would discover, indeed, a great want
of due reverence for the Wprd of God it
self, could we betray so sacred a trust.??' It
has evidently been the design of the Al^
mighty, that; from the very first promulga-;
tion of the Gospel, the Word and the Mi
nistry should Cooperate for the edification
of mankind. Both were ordained of God.
Both have hitherto been wonderfully pre
served by His protecting providence. And
since He who said, " Heaven and e$rth
" shaU |)ass away, but ray Word shall not
" pass away'"," said also to His Apostles,
" Lo, I am w4th you always, even unto
"the end of the world'';" we have the
same assurance that both shall be perpe
tual. It is not, therefore, for us to sepa-
«> Matth, xxiv, 35- " Matth. xxviii. 20, rate

SERMON vm. 291
rate what God hath thus united, unless it
eould be clearly proved, that the particular
Church to which we belong has been un
faithful to her trust. Let not the cla
mours of'party spirit, nor the fluctuations of
popular opinion, be suffered to prevail over
sober judgment and integrity of principle.
Let it not be said, that we know not
" whom we have believed"," or that we
are heedless " how" and " what we hear?."
These are cautions which concern the
Fold, as well as the Pastors of Christ's
flock. Bnt to those who are here prepar
ing for the SaCred Office, by which they
are to become Expositors of the Word of
God, and to dispense the knowledge of it
to others ; Something additional, in the way
of exhortation, may be aUowed.
If there be any sentiment which, from
their connection with this seat of Religion
and Learning, may be expected to pre
dominate in their affections ; it is surely
that of filial reverence towards the Church
in which they have been bred up and nur
tured, and of which, we trust, they are
• 2 Tim. i. 12. P Mark iv. 24. Luke viii. 18. '
3 J 6,8 u 2 soon

292 SERMON VIIL
soon to go forth the support and orna
ment. This sentiment they are bound to
cherish, in subordination only to that sub
mission which is due to Scripture itself.
Amidst the variety of conflicting* opinions
which on every side beset them, it is doubt
less first of all necessary to be well grounded
in the knowledge of the Sacred Writings,
But for the attainraent of this knowledge,
slight and perfunctory endeavours will not
suffice. It requires the best preparations
of the heart and of the understanding ;^ dis
positions conforraable to the Divine will ;
acquirements suited to the weight and im
portance of the research. It presupposes
an unreserved submission to the Word
of God, the only infallible Oracle from
which there is no appeal ; accompanied
with the use of all subsidiary means for its
right interpretation. Among these means,
the authority of the Church, bmlding her
Faith upon the Scriptures, and professing
to be the Keeper and Witness of Holy
Writ, claims our chief regard. No inquiry
therefore can be more important, than that
which is to ascertain whether our own
Church

SERMON vm. 29^
Church has in this respect faithfully dis
charged her duty. And here we confi
dently challenge inquiry. We contend,
that her moderation is no less conspicuous
than her fideUty and firmness ; that her
Doctrine is Scriptural; her DiscipUne A-
postolical ; her Worship pure and primi
tive, s With unceasing care she trains her
children in the true faith and fear of God,
¦and " has no greater joy than to hear that
" they walk in the truth ''." Her authority
is parental, not despotic. She seeks not
to "have' dominion over their Faith, but
" to be helpers of their joy ^"
Shall we not then be wanting in grati
tude to God for so great a blessing, and in
due regard for the best interests of our
selves and others, if we shrink from main
taining the just ascendancy of this our ve
nerable Parent ? May we not endanger,
rather than promote the cause of Sacred
Truth, if, in our desire to disseminate it
far and wide, we neglect that model of
sobriety and sound discretion in the work
of spiritual instruction, which is set before
q 3 John 4. f 2 Gor, i, 24,
u 3 US

294 SERMON VIIL
us in her Creeds, her Articles, her Liturgy,
and all her public Formularies ? When we
look around us, and see how widely tlie
seeds of error and disunion are scattered;
cmd what pernicious fruits they continually
bring forth ; can we require a stronger ar
gument to shew the necessity of bler^^ding
with our zeal for the unlimited circulation
of the Scriptures, an equal zeal for guard
ing so sacred a deposit from perversion and
abuse ? And where shall we find a more
unexceptionable pattern for bur guidance,
in administering to the spiritual exigencies
of mankind, and feeding them with the
bread of life ?
- If these considerations be of any weight,
they will lead us uniformly to acquit our
selves as stedfast merabers of the Cora
munion to which we belong; desirous to
perpetuate its blessings in this our highly-
favoured land, willing to communicate its
benefits to others, and vigilant to protect
its ancient and well-estabUshed foundations
against all who would endeavour its over
throw, either by open violence, or by un
dermining subtlety. This vigilance and this
fideUty

SERMON VIIL 295
fidelity we shall best evince, by thoroughly
examining wherein the strength of our for
tress lies, and on what support. Divine a,nd
human, it principally depends ; by cau
tiously guarding against specious plans of
union or alliance, where the true principles
of union are wanting ; and by acting up
to the full measure of our duty as faithful
soldiers and servants under the great Cap
tain of our Salvation.
" Walk about Sion" then, and go round
" about her, and tell the towers thereof
" Mark well her bulwarks, set up her
" houses, that ye may tell them that come
" after. For this God is our God for ever
" and ever : He shall be our guide unto
" death'."
" Ps. xlviii. 11, 12, 13,

U 4

APPENDIX.

APPENDIX.

SERMON I.
X AGE 3, 1, 3, TTiis would be a circumstance very dis
couraging, &c,] To the objections against Christianity
grounded on these divisions among professed believers,
satisfactory answers have been given, both by ancient
and modern Apologists, Such objections, indeed, come
with a somewhat ill grace from the opponents of our
Religion, who are generally strenuous advocates for al
lowing the utmost latitude and diversity of opinion, and
are jealous of every attempt to restrict mankind in this
respect. Nor do such persons seem to be aware, that
the very existence of these divisions removes one ob
jection of a more formidable kind, which cavillers might
otherwise allege against it. For, it has been well ob
served, " the different opinions which have at all times
obtained in the Church are a direct and full confuta
tion of that foul aspersion cast upon us by our adversa
ries, that a Christian is in his belief merely passive :
they are a proof that the doctrines of our Religion are
examined, sifted, and canvassed by its professors ; that
they make use of their understanding ; aod though, like
other men, liable to prejudices, do not give their as
sent without consulting the Reason with which God
has, for this purpose, endued every man," Bandinel's
Bampt. Lect. p, 210, Respecting the great argument
from the declarations of Scripture itself, the same Au
thor observes, " the writings of the Evangelists and
Apostles abound with exhortations to unity and con
cord, the spirit of Christianity breathes nothing but
love, peace, and charity : yet the Author of our Re
ligion,

300 APPENDIX.
ligion, by his prophetic spirit, declared that he was
not come to give peace on earth, but rather division.
The doctrines of Christianity are laid down in Scrip
ture with a plainness and perspicuity, sufficient and
satisfactory to. every well-disposed mind: yet we are
every where cautioned against false doctrines and fake
prophets who were to arise against men of corrupt minds,
who raise perverse disputings. These disputings and
divisions in a Religion whose doctrines and precepts
are so averse to them, are surely proofs of the Divine
inspiration of those who foretold them; and therefore
so far from being an objection against their Religion,
they are, on the contrary, a strong confirmation of its
truth and Divine original." Ibid. p. 212.
To tlie same effect are the rernarks of Fabricius.
"Neque vero desunt vei apud Ethnicos, vei in com-
munione et religione aliqua quacunque, multiplices
pugnae, vitio humani ingenii animique corruptione: —
nee Philosophi,, nee ipsi Athei aut Sceptici inter se
conveniunt. Itaque cum inter Christianos etiani zi-
zania vitiorum reperiantur, quid mirum si ¦ inter eos
,haec quoque opera carnis;, haereses et schismata, Sij^o-
(TTacriai, IpiSef, /ia;^a(, proveniant ? Neque culpa haec est
eorum, qui constanter, ut debent, resistupt erroribus
et abusibus, contra disertam formulam sanorum ver-
horum stylo Prophetico et Apostolico conceptam, Ec-
clesiae et Christianorum saluti minantibus ; sed vero
eorum qui, per xunotpoivlcn; suas et perversae doctrinae
pertinacieun, pacem Ecclesiae turban t, atque ita crimen
committunt vix martyrii sanguine, ut ait Chrysosto-
mus, expiandum. Quod autem scandalum hoc Chris-
tianse Religionis veritati obesse non possit, vei inde
,pa.tet, quod a Christo et Apostolis praedictum fuit, et
ab eo ut sibi 'caverent saepius commoniti' sunt Chris-
tiani, Mattlx. xxiv, 5, id. 2^, 24, 1 Cor, xi. 16.. Jtaqiue
Tertullian us ; Nonoportet Jtos mirari super heeresesy^e
quia sunt, future enim preBnunciabantur : sive quia fidem
qmi-undam subvertant, ad hoc enim sunt, utjides, habeiddo
tentationem, habeat etiam probationem." J, A, Fabricius
deVer,Rel, Chr. p. 672, .
.Respecting the answers given by ancient Apolo
gists to this ohjection, see a variety >.of authorities quoted

APPENDIX, 301
quoted by Lardner in his Hist, of Heretics, book i.
sect, 14,
P. 4, 1. 18, More information perhaps is now to be
obtained from polemical than from merely didactic trea
tises.] — ^Theology owes most of its valuable stores to the
labours of controversial writers ; especially in the earlier
ages of Christianity. Elementary or didactic treatises
were then almost unknown. Even the inspired Writers do
not appear to have framed such treatises ; and for their
expositions of Christian doctrine we are chiefly indebted
to the exertions they were compelled to make in dis^
pelling error. In its .mode of publication, Christianity
itself may be regarded as an unceasing controversy with
Jewish and Gentile prejudices, with moral corruption
and intellectual pride. Every Apostolical Epistle indi
cates more or less of this intention. The same necessity
for thus unfolding the truths of the Gospel continued ,
long afterwards ; nor was it till its doctrines had thus
undergone the most ample discussion between contend
ing parties, that systematic views of Theology were ge
nerally introdiuced. And may we not suppose this to
have been providentially designed by the Divine Author
of our Religion ; that, the minds of men being thus in
cited to a more diligent examination of its contents, and
of the purpose for which it was revealed, permanent be
nefit might be derived from such dissensions, far more
than commensurate to the temporary evils they pro-»
duced ?
To assist in forming our judgment on this point, let
us call to mind some of the chief controversies which
have, from time to time, engaged the attention of the
Christian world.
The points in dispute, to which the Apostles chiefly
directed their labours, were such as concerned either
fundamental articles of Faith, or the terms of Salvation
and Acceptance, St, Paul opposed the proud self-
righteousness of both Jew and Greek : — St. James, the
Solifidian and Antinomian Heretics; — St. John, the
oppugners of our Lord's twofold nature, Divine and
human. In the two succeeding centuries, the various
sects of Gnostics, with the heresies of Marcion, Praxeas,
Sabellius, and others, and the enthusiastic notions of
Montanus

302 APPENDIX.
Montanus and his followers, gave occasion to very full
discussions of points on which the whole system of the
Gospel is founded. In the three next centuries were
carried on the great contests with Manicheans," Arians,'
Macedonians, and Pelagians ; involving likewise the vefy
essentials of Christian doctrine. After this, the rage of
controversy, on points of such magnitude, abated. But
during the long interval which ensued, of cessation from
thesfe disputes, little of real value was added' to the
stores of theological knowledge. Systems were formed
elaborate, subtle, and voluminous : but for what they
contained of sterling worth, they were chiefly indebted
to the works which had preceded them. And for want
of better occupation, new and frivolous topics of dis
putation were started ; corruptions innumerable were
engrafted upon the pure and simple Faith ; and the hu
man mind retrograded rather than advanced in its know
ledge of Sacred truth. With the Reformation, revived
again the spirit of inquiry. The advocate of truth had
fresh provocations from Error and Falsehood, (from?
bigotry and corruption on the one hand, and from false
Philosophy, Fanaticism, or Imposture on the other) to
buckle on his armour and take the field. Papal Scho-i
lastics were to be driven from the strong holds, in
which they had entrenched themselves, of Church"
authority. Christian Worship was to be purged ofidola^
tries and superstitions scarcely exceeded by Pagan abo
minations. The great fundamental points of the suffi.*
ciency of Scripture as the Rule of Faith, of Original Siti,
of Free-will and Grace, of Faith and Works, and of the
nature and efficacy of the Sacraments, were to be cleared
on the one side from many of the grossest errors, and
guairded on the other side against the efforts of perverse
disputers entirely to overthrow them. Here commenced
the labours of the wise and good, the learned and the
pious, to restore the truth to its primitive lustre, and to
retrace the ground already gone over by its first defend
ders. To the light thus continually shed upon Scrip
ture-doctrine, we of the present day are chiefly indebted^
for whatever of more accurate or more extensive in
formation we may have obtained. And were we to dis
miss from the mass of our theological stores that por tion

APPENDIX, 303
tion of it only which -is purely controversial inform and
substance, so great would be the defalcation, that its
loss could not but be instantly felt as a general calamity.
To say nothing of the Sacred Writers themselves, we
should sacrifice, of ancient times, all or many of the
best works of Justin, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria,
Irenaeus, Origen, Cyprian, Gregory Nazianzen, Au
gustin, Jerome, and Cyril ;r— in the beginning of the
Reformation, those of Luther, Melancthon, with a host
of powerful associates; — and in more recent times the
labours of Stillingfleet, Leslie, Waterland, Law, and
Horsley, Where is the student who would be content
to forego these treasures ?
In speaking therefore of Polemical Divinity, Dr, Hey
very justly observes, " the right method of conducting
debates or controversies seems to be one of the sub
jects which every man should attend to, who means
to study all things useful for a Divine, Suppose him
never to engage in controversy himself, yet in reading
with a mere view to acquiring knowledge, he must
peruse many controversial writers. But if he at any
time engages in the defence of religious truth (what
he thinks such) against error and heresy, he will want
right notions of controversy still more: without them,
he will be sure to hurt the general interests of Reli
gion, if not the particular interests of that cause which
he undertakes to defend," Divinity Lect. Vol. i.
p.390. ^' If," says Dr, Powell, " the objections: of Infidels
have called forth the- best defences of Religion, the
errors of Christians have produced the best explica
tions of it. Whilst its doctrines are variously inter
preted, every interpretation is curiously examined. Thus
a strict search into the genuine sense of Holy Writ
has arisen from our divisions and contests," See his
CJnarge on Religious Controversies, in. his volume of
Discourses, p, 296, See also Bandiners Bamp, Lect.
Serm, VI, p, 205^212, and indeed the whole Discourse
on 1 Cor, xi, 19.
P, 6, 1, 17, If it spring from a mere spirit of con
tention, &c,] " Sunt quos sola eaque pervicax contmi-
dendi libido in arenam protrahit, quorum inquies. ani mus

304 ARP'ENDIX.
Hiius primum, et jugiter ipsos, vexat, inde et aiios :
qiiod hlc quidem, eo perniciosius, quo conscientjas ho-
minum et religionem turbafe, res pst pessiaii «c-
empJU., . Atque T^inft immensa : illfi undequaque seges,
non loblata sed ipdagata et mult?, vi protracta. Ne
nihil agerent homines, quaesierunt . de tehus futilibus,
non in scholis literatorum tantum, — • sed in scholis
quoqwe Theologorum hujusmodi : ubi quanta curiosi-
tate SfilnQlflstici qui vulgo appellantur se immiserint in
quBBstiones multum inutilgs, audaces, ave^epsuvviTou;, om
nibus ncituni. Ind© iU^ quas Apostolus nominal (3e-
§ri>^ou;..^evo^mm,i- Tim. vi.,20. et ejusdem cap^ vers. 4.
qui languent isrep) ^riTtiasis, xai AoyOj«.«;^ia5,"-r-.'SMagni
re.fert in disputatione, praeterquam ad retn, attendire
etiam , ad disputantis anitnum ; quo animo sua ag^jl:,
quid respiciat, quo coUimat ; ssepeque diaeernenti ap-
parebit, unam thesin ab illo teneri, non adpo propter
se ac propter aljam. Unde diicrimen cointrpversi^irum
sequitur, in primarias et secund&rias, vei, pr-incipalegijet
consequentes, quae ex praecedentjbus obo.Miwtiiri."-r-
" Deind§. ex illis sequitur aliud hlc etiam; discrimen
observandum, inter ccxntroversimn et ejus momentimi ; il-
lic qualitas, hie controversiae quantitas attenditur. Nam
prout grave aut. leve est momentum, itsi controsversia
aestimatur, et vei incit3.nda est vei remittenda, Pro.ve-
ritate ut respondeatur, ipsa exigit :. sed quantum re-
sponderi debeat, ex ejus dijudicandum est, m,omento»j
praesertim quando veritati vindicandae jam facturq, satjs
videri queat, et observari ultra debeig ne a charit^^c: la-
tius quam a veritate discedatur." — ffoornbeck Sanjwtffl
CoJiirot), i?e%, 12mo, 1653, p, 28— 31,
p. 8. 1. 3. Religious, controixersy is maintained,, be
cause agreement, in fli^ truth is not otherwise td be ef-
fe^tedi.] -n" Ppstquam eo tandem religionis res deve-
nere, ut disputationibus, praecipue agi yideatur, peciiir
liare et, non minimum Theologici , studii argumenti}m
fujt hoc quod in tractandis ejus occupatuj: contrpwers^.
Siquidem. non instituere jam solvm, pt, tradere 4f^g-
matica Theologiae, vei solam praxin prapscribere, pnout
nunc res sunt, sufficit ; nisi et in singulis .etiafn Theo
logiae capitjbus adversarios .denotemus, et. movere coa-
troyersjain aufe discutere, . dispi^tajti we© instituere,, et
vei

APPENDIX, 305
vei corroborare argnmentis veritatem, vei felSitatem et
errores redarguere etiam, atque diluere queamus." Hdorn-
beck, ut mipra, p, 2, ' '
"Occasions," says Bishop Horsley, "will from time
to time arise, when the truth must not only be taught,
but defended. The stubborn Infidel will raise ob
jections against the first principles of our Falith : and
objections must be answered. The restless spirit of
Scepticism will suggest difficulties in the system, and
create doubts about the particula's of the Christian
doctrine : difiiculties must be removed, and doubts
must be satisfied. But above all, the scruples must be
composed, which the refinements of a false Philoso
phy, patronized as they are in the present age by men
DO less amiable for the general purity of their manners
than distinguished by their scientific attainments, will
be too apt to raise in the minds of their weaker
brethren. And this is the service to which they, whom
the indulgence of Providence hath released from the
more laborious offices of the Priesthood, stand plecu-
liarly engaged. To them their more occupied brethren
have a right to look up, in these emergencies, for sup
port and succour in the common cause. It is for them
to stafld forth the chatnpions of the common faith, and
the advocates of their order. It is for them to wipe
off tbe aspersions injuriously cast upon the sons of the
Establishment, as uninformed in the true grounds of
the doctrine which they teach, or insincere in the be
lief of it. To this duty they are indispensably obliged,
&c," See Tracts in Controversy uith Ik. Priestley, pp.
4, 5,
Ibid. 1, 12, Nevertheless, tiiere prevails, iii tlie pre
sent day, a spurious kind of liberality, Stc.'] — A disposi
tion of this kind has, indeed, been manifested in former
ages of the Church, as well as in the preseftt. "All
agree," says Dr. Puller, " that Moderation is an ex
cellent virtue : as they said of Hercules, Who evfer
dispraised him ? — St. Austin tells us, (cotitra Gauden-
tium, 1. 2.) that the Donatists, though both they and
the CircuiWCellions were intolerably Severe to the Ca
tholics when they had poMfer, yet were great advo
cates for liberty of eoftscience in the free practice of
X it:

306 APPENDIX.
it : which because Julian the Apostate granted theiB>
in crafty design to confound Christianity, how did
they magnify him as a mighty moderate Prince, and
set up his image ? And Ecclesiastic History abounds
with instances of Heretics^ who invaded the Church
;by this serpentine way of insinuatioti, entering in by
All supple accommodation to the inriocence and mild
ness of the Dove : but afterwards they appeared of
another spirit." See Moderation of the Ch. of England,
p. 3—7.
Dr. Jackson has also shrewdly observed, that " itwai
^hen men grew weary of the religious buoils and dis
sensions in the primitive Church, and became, in con
sequence, slothful in the search of the Scriptures,
that Satan himself, who had sown the seeds of the
former dissensions, was content to turn peace-maker
•for his own advantage ; and laid the foundation of
that modern Babel, the Church of Rome^ which was
ready to incorporate itself with barbarous Heresies,
Heathenish rites, and several kinds of Paganisms, to
please the g^oss palates of the Goths, Vandals, Huns>
Alans, Franks, and Saxons ; whp all were content to
embrace this mixture or new coiifused mass."—*' And
to speak properly," says he, " that Unity whereof the
adversary so much boasts, since that flourishing ag;e
pf Fathers, wherein contentions were so rife, and the
Roman Church no better esteemed than some of her
Sisters, was not a positive consent in the sincere
truth, .wrought by the Spirit of God, (as a perfect
homogeneal mixture by true and lively heat,) but ra
ther a bare negation of actual dissension, caused by
a dull confusion of the dregs- of -Error, coagulated and
congealed together by igndrance, carelessness, sloth,
negligence, and w;?int of zeal for the truth." Jackson's
Works, voh i, p. 278,
Hoornbeck too has remarked, that no persons are
more impatient of opposition to their own opinicms,
than those who clamour most for peace and concord
with all Christian Sects : — " Verum ita videmuS yalgo,
nuilos magis homines impotentius ferre dissentientes
a se, et suis reprehensoribus inclementius dicere^ quam
qui pacem damitant cum omnibus sect-is ihter Chris tianos

APPENDIX. 307
tianos ineundam, nuUasque hlc dlssentiones spectandas
invieem esse," Siimma Con.tr. Ret. p, 430.
With respect to the prevalence of this lukewarm
spirit in our own times, the following animated passage
occurs in Whitaker's Origin of Arianism, It was pub
lished in 1792, but is not inapplicable to the present
time.— ^".In this kingdom, and at this period, we may
mark a rising aversion to theological controversy. We
see it stealing' upon the minds of scholars, and giving
a tincture to their sentiments. It is only beginning
at present. It carries, therefore, a faint and dubious
appearance with it. But it is beginning. And the
operations of it, if not checked, will speedily shew
themselves in a frigid apathy of moderation, concern
ing all the fundamental articles of our Religion,
."This new and dangerous sort of Stoicism may be
dttribnited perhaps by some, to the surfeit which the
nation ihas taken of such controversy ; from the long
and sharp dispute!?, that have been maintained among
as for more than a century past. The human mioad
is very apt, in its weakness, to be influenced' by acci
dents;, to catch tSie colour of the objects passing be
side it, and to reflect them back in its practice.: But
this is evidently not the cause of that aversion - to
thecdogical ' controversy, which is beginning to shoot
up in the nation, at present. The disputes about
civil points during the same period of time, have befen
as sharp and as long, as concerning articles of Theo
logy. Liberty, in particular, has been even more ear
nestly contended for, by the three or foiur last ge-
nei!ations of Britons, than rniy one doctrine in the
creed of Christianity. lYet we can discover no aver
sion to such disputes, starting up • in the mind of the
nation, and. preparing to betray the cause it has iso
firmly supported. We see indeed the very reverse.
The flame of liberty, whioh has burned so.fierxiely in
tjiei bosom of this kingdom, still keeps up its ardours
there; while the warmth for the -leading doctrines: of
Religion is gradually cooling in the heart. And: this
striking contrast, in theiitivo parts of the national
character, scarves strongly ito shew us the real reason
for the latter. Religion is losing its weight, in the
X 2 scale

308 APPENDIX.
scale of the public opinions. A rectitude of sentiment in
Religion, therefore, is no longer considereid of so much
importance as it was. Where the substance is sinking
in its efficacy npon the heart, the incidents must ne
cessarily fall off in their consequence with the mind.
And political objects still appear momentous in the
eyes of our people, still agitate their understandings,
and inflame their spirits; because temporal inters
ests still retain their original hold upon their affec
tions. "While there is any life of Religion actuating the
great body of this island, there must and will be
controversies in Theology, While the grand code of
Christianity exercises the attention, and fastens^ upon
the passions of our people, there will be weakness of
irttellect to be set right, and perverseness of conduct
to be corrected, by the Clergy, These are to stand
around the altars of the"- Gospel, to -keep up the
fire of Religion there in all its power, and to:mainr
tain it in all its purity. Nor will they be found un-r
faithful to their charge, while there is any spring of
theological activity in the clerical mind, and while
there are any energies of religious zeal in the clerical
heart. When they come to nod beside the altar; to
slumber over the dying flame ; or to look on with a
stupid unconcern, while wretched men are heaping
false and unhallowed fuel upon it ; then irreligion has
finished its course among us. A spiritual frost has
spread its influence through the body. It has be
numbed the extremities. It is come to the heart.
And, like a poor man stretched out upon the snows
of the Alps, the nation will then be angry at those,
who disturb its rest in order to save it; will then
beg to be allowed a little longer repose upon its bed
of ice ; and feel a kind of pleasing serenity, gliding
gradually through all its veins, stopping up -one: by
one all the avenues of life, and hastening on to quenci^
the last spark of vitality, by seemingly lulling it into
a gentle sleep." P. 1 — 4. See also anotherr splen^
did passage on the special duties of the Clergy in thi*
respect, in Bp. Horsley's Tracts in Controversy wijii
Priestley, p. 72 — 75.- ,.. v , _
P. 2L

APPENDIX, 309
.n P. 21. 1. 22, We must nevertheless examine it, as it is
deUvered to us, dothed in the language of men, ^c]
Dr, Waterland observes, "When we say that Scripture
is perfect, we mean generally as to the matter of it,
which is full and complete to be a rule of life and
manners, without taking' in any additional rule to join
with it. But if we speak of Scripture being perjhet
in regard to words or style, we C9,n mean only that
it is as iperfect as words can be, and words, to us now,
of a dead, language. Whatever imperfection neces
sarily goes along with all languages, must of course
go along with Scripfetre-language ; which though dic
tated from Heaven, and conducted by the Spirit of
God, is yet adapted to the manner of men, and must
take its construction from the common rules of inter
pretation agreed upon among men," Importance of the
Trinity, p, 397.
On the general subject of this Discourse, the reader
is referred to the following works: — Hey's Divinity
Lectures, b. ii, c, 1, 2^ 5, Powell's Charge on Reli
gious Controversy, in his Volume of Sermons. Puller's
Moderation of the Church of England), 1679, chap, 1, 2.
Brett's Sermon on True Moderation, 1714, Clagett's
Sermons, 1699, vol. i. Serm, ii, iii, viii, Bandinel's
Hampton Lectures, Serm. vi. Hoornbeck, Summa
Controversiarum, 12mo. 1653, Dissertatio prooemialis-,
p, 1 — 58. Hoornbeck, Sooinianismus confutatus, 4to.
1650, tom.i. Apparatus ad Controversiam,

SERMON II.

P, 33, 1. 8, But though this censure wast
applied to the Jews, it is not to be restricted io them
alone.] " The proiiiise is universal in respect to the
object, being inade to all. If any man will do His mlV;
ho man who is capable of being siilcere and honest is
excluded. It is also universal in respect of the matter
of it ;— fte shall know of the doctrine, i. e, of the whole
X 3 doctrine.

sto APPENDIX.
doctrine, whatsoever is necessary or greatly profitible
to the end of knowledge. He shall not therefiwe bVily
learn in general that the doctrine of Christianity is: <if
God, but the particular d6ctrines that are so: so Hke^
•wise he shall know the same things better than he
•did before," Ctagett's Sermm^, vol, ii, pi 272, ed, 1699,
.Dr, South also observes, " Our Lord states thewhole
argument upon this issue, that tfie arguments by
which his doctrine addressed itself to the minds of
men were proper^ adequate, and .sufficient to compass
their respective ends in persuadSirg or convincing the
persons to whom they were proposed; and raori^over
.that tlMre. was no suchidefed; in the natural light of
man's understanding, or knowing faculty, but that,
-considered in itself, it would be apt enough to close
With and yield its assent to the evidence of those' ar
guments duly offered to and laid before, it. And yei,
ithatiiafter all this, the event proved otherwite, and
j(^at' notwithstanding both the weight and fitness of
.the arguments to persuade, and the light of man's
intellect to meet this persuasive evidence with a suit-
.ab.le assent, no tissent followed, nor were men thereby
ractually persuaded, he charges it wholly upon the cor-
juption, the perverseness, and the vitiosity of man's
will, as the only cause that rendered all the argu
ments his doctrine came clothed with unsuccessful.
And consequently he affirms here in the text, that
men must love the truth before they thoroughly be
lieve it; and that the Gospel has then only a free
admission into the assent of the understanding, when
it brings a passport from a rightly-disposed will^ as
being the great faculty of dominion that commands
all, that shuts out and lets in what objects it pleases,
and, in a word, keeps the keys of the whole soul."
South' s Sermons, vol. i. p, 217, 218,
P. 35. 1, 2, If implies a readiness to alfide b^ sueh a
knowledge.^ "It was a custom generally rejeeived in
t^e schools of, the ancient Philosophers, .to speriij
some time in trying and examining the genius and
disposition of their scholars before they admitted them
tq their .axpoafjixrct, the more abstruse and sublimer
parts of their philosophy; and the Platonists parti
cularly

APPENDIX, SU
culariy laid down several rules for the purgation of
tbe soul, for refining and purifying it from the con
tagion of the body, then infection it might have con
tracted from the sensitive life, in order to fit and
-prepare it for the contemplation of intellectual and
abs-tracted truths: and in like manner our Lord and
Master here instructs his disciples and followers, what
frame and temper of mind to bring along with them
when they apply themselves to the study of His most
excellent Philosophy. They must live in conformity
to the will of God so far as it is made known to them,
walk according t» their present light, and be ready and
willing to improve in their obedience in proportion to
the knowledge they shall have of what He requires of
them." Dr. W. Pearson's Serm. p, 227, 228, ed,
1718.
. P. 48, 1, 15, ./4sk and ye shall have, &c.] Dr, Pear
son, after quoting other texts to the same purpose, ob
serves, ^' Though these promises of supernatural assist
ance made to: good men do not reach to an exemption
'from all errors, or give them any assurance of a se-
• curity from making ¦ any mistakes in matters of Re-
- ligion ; yet this they may be assured of, that while
. they continue so, they shall not fall into any such
errors as shall be destructive of their Salvatioti, FOr
supposing that they believe the Scriptures to be the
Word of God ^nd the infallible rule of Faith; that
the sense of them which Gpd intended is certainly
'true, whatever it is; and that they use their best en-
rdeavours to find out that true sense, and live and prac
tise according to the light and knowledge they have ; —
we may safely conclude, first, that it is impossible but
that they should believe all those things which relate
to the Covenant between God and man in Christ Je
sus ; because they are so plainly delivered and so fre-
-ijuently inculcated, that men of the meanest capa-
•cities,. with. their own care and diligence, in conjunc
tion with the aids and assistances that God hath ap
pointed, and in the due use of them may attain to a
sufficient knowledge thereof: — And secondly, as for
those Scripture verities which are not so intrinsecaHy
I necessary in theijaselves, but to be believed upon' the
; X 4 account

312 APPEIVFDIX.
account of God's veracity because they are revealed ;
I, think we may likewise safely conclude, that if any
good Christian,. after heihas used his best endeavours,
i„ Cnhasi.takemvsuch pains and: care as ordinary ^pru
dence and diseretion shall advise him to in a matter iof
the /highest importance, to find out the true sense of
them, fail, notwithstanding all this, of attaining to it ;
either God in his Providence will find out some way
to convince him of his error, and bring him to the ac
knowledgment of the Truth, or else that error will
not be fatal to him. , . . For, God can never be sup
posed to punish any good man eternally, that is de
sirous above all things to -do His will, for suoh mis-
takes: as, with all his care and diligB'tice, he could not
perceive or discover to be so." Serm. ut. supra, p. 237,
239, ,
P, 49. 1, 13. TTfe main source of all contentions . . .
may be traced to sorne reluctance to renounce prepossess
sions.] '* Alius sequitur [sc. morbus,] cujus conta^
gium et longe latius serpit et multo funestiorem stra-
giem. in re exegetica edit, prceconceptarum opinkmum
lues.} Haec uti in veritate invenienda deterrimas intel-
leetui tenebras offundit, ita: quin ad eandem e sacris
Uteris eruendam ineptissimum reddat animum, nemo
ad rem attentior pernegabit. Is enim demum, ut recte
judicat Hilarius, pib. ii de Trin, p, xi, ed. Par. 1652.]
optimus Saipturce lector (adde et interpres) est, qui die*
torum intelligentiam exspectet potius ex dictis, quam ini-
pmit; et retulerit magis, quam attulerit ; neque hoc co-
gUi videri dictis contineri, quod ante lettkmem prcBSump-
serat intelligendum. At enimvero Jn contraria po
tius quaevis abripitur interpres praejudicatis opinioni-
bvis occaecatus. Non ilie Spiritus Sancti mentem e
verbis eruere et in apricum proferre satagit, «ed suam
potius alior umve clarorum : virorum sententiam in Scrip-
turi& quaerit, quasque jam antea mente conceperat
ideas, ex oraculorum caelestium verbis extundit. Quo
-vitio num quid inveniri queat quod magis interpretis
muneri adversetur, ipsi judicent prudentiores," Ram-
bathii Exerc. Hermeneut. p, 10, 11. ed, Jenae, 12mQ.
17^8: p. 50, 1., 23.1 Rashness.] *' Neque tamen minus absit

APPENDIX. .*ii3
absit intempestive sedula temeritas, omnisque in de-
finiendo dictorum sensu pj-cecipitantia % foecunda pra-
varum interpretationum mater, Recte. Comicus, ra
woA*M ¦.¦ToXjj.av, ttoAA' df^apravstv ttoieJ. Qui multa audet,
multa >peccat.. Quod qui ad interpretem temerarium
applicaverit, nihil dixerit, cui experientia refragetur/'
Ibid. p. 31, n - , -
¦Ibid. 1, 24, Self-conceit.] "Ante omnia, fertilis
iste radixj arrogantia et vanee ghrice cupido, ex animo
- interpretis extirpanda, imisque, si pote, fibris refel-
lenda est. Ilia enim ilium ubi semel in transversum
egit, -dici non potest quanta malorum, ineptiarumque
seges inde efflorescat, Neque enim de eo amplius so-
licitus, erit ut genuinumicujuslibet loci sensum et re-
periat ipse et repertum aliis ostendat ; sed ut ex doc-
tis suis ingeniosisque scripturarum expositionibus lau-
dem ac gloriam aucupetur, Hinc molitur interpreta-
tiones de quibus ante ipsum ne per, somnium quidem
quisquam unquam cogitavit, Praetervehitur ea loca ex
quibus maxima ad se aliosque pervenire utilitas queat :
ad obseptos difficultatibus nodos, ad dubia vexatay ad
cruces criticorum, arrogantiae stimulis impulsus, pro-
vehitur, Nunquam aut tu ab ipso, aut ipse sl se
impetrare poterit, ut se non omnia pernoscere, verum
hinc inde haerere nihilque certi definire posse fatea-
tur, . Nihil est in Scripturis quod nesciat, &c," Ibid,
p, .36— ,38.
P, 51. 1, 24, We are not to wonder then, &c,]. " Pos-
citur hie simplex et humilis animus. Vis in doctrina
Christi proficere ? primam hujus lectionem bene im
bibe et in succum et sanguinem converte, IHscite d,
me, quia sum mitis et humilis corde. Nullus hie ad ju-
dicandum aptior est, quam simplidtpie et humilitate
puerulis similis; ingenuis illis puerulis, sine artificio,
sine fastu,) Nullus aptior, quam qui omnem altitMdi-
nem, extollentem se adversus sdentiam DEI, . in-, cap-
tivitatem redigere didicit, omnemque intellectum in ob-
sequium Christi. Sed ista herba num in doctorum prae-
? -P|:2ecipitantia ilj^a ex variis causis oritur, ut ex philautia, ex im-
patfenti'a liiboris, ex animo novaturiente, ex ambitione et famw cu-
piditate, ex pudore illegitimo, ex vivaciore ingenio gratia divina noii-
dum siibactoy ex rerurh denique qua similes videntur confiisione; cipue

314 APPENDIX,
eipue hortulis crescit ? Inter eoSj quos pleriimque sd-
enlia infiat? Inter ilia gloriae animalia, ad quae potis-
simum directa sunt verba^ Quomodo vos potestis cre
dere, cum gloriam alii ab aliis captetis, et gloriam ilhrn
qutje a soh DEO 'profidsmtur non quceratis ? Quotks
hujns ordinis hominibus eontingit, quod Augustinus
sibi in lectione S, Scripturae contigisse confiteturj Tu
mor meus, inquit, refugiebat modum ejus, et ades' mea
non penetrabat interiora ejus. Verumtamen iUa er-at gwa
cresceret cum parvuUs. Sed ego dedignabar esse par-
Kuhis, et turgidms fastu mihi grandis videbar. Confess,
lib, iii. casp. 5, Adde, quod tumor ilie, qui plerumque
ex sublimi de sapientia sua Opinione oritur, necesssirio
plurimorum errorum causa sit. Reddit enim homines
in judicando praecipites, in deeidendo audaces, in seg-
-tentia semel lata immobil^s, in ea aliis pbtrudenda
wiolentos, rationes aliorum superbe fastidientes, ad eo
rum monita surdos, monitoribus asper-os, in erroribus
-deoique vitandis incautos, et, sicubi errarunt, corrigi
nesoios," Werenfelsii Opusc. tom, i, p. 29, 30. ed.'Lugd,
Bat. 4to, 1772.
P, 53. 1, 2, They who, to a grasp of intellect above
thdr fellows, hme united- the profoundest humility, and
reverence, in exploring the depths of heavenly unsdpi».]
There is an admirable passage in Bp, Horsley's Letters
in. Controversy with Dr,. Priestley, where he relates the
progress of his own inquiries into the doctrine of the
Trinity, It occurs in the seventeenth Letter, from p, 276
to .296, and affords a striking instance of the happy
effect, produced upon a manly and ingenuous miod en
dowed with uncommon powers, by the iafluence of those
principles and sentiments by which every investiga^tion
of Revealed Religion ought to be directed. This : the
following extracts will sufficiently evince, *' I believe.
Sir, that few have thought so much upon these suh-
j^pcts as you and I have done, who have not at first
wavered. Perhaps, nothing but the uneasiness of doubt,
added to a just sense of the importance of the ques
tion, could engage any man in the toil of the in
quiry. For my own part, f shall not hesitate to cog-
fess, lJ>ftt J set out w^th great 5Cf.uples,. But the jpro-
gress of roy mind has been the very reverse of yowr'-s. it

APPENDIX, 315
It -was at fifst my principle, as it is still your's, that
all appearance of difficulty in the doctrine of the Gos-
pd mnst arise from misinterpretation; and I was fond
Of tbe expedient of getting rid of mystery by sup
posing a figure in the language. The harshness ef
the figures wMch I sometimes had occasion to sup
pose,' and: the obvious uncertainty of all figurative in
terpretations,, soon gave me a distrust of this methotd
of expounding ; and B-utlfcr's Analogy cured me of
the folly of looking for riothing iriysteriOu.s in the true
,seBSe of li Divine Revelation, By this cure I was pre-
¦pAted to become an easy convert to the doctrine of
Atonement and Satisfaction ; which seemed to furnish
tncSHtivestO piety that no other doctrine could supply,
I soon perceived how the value of the Atonement was
heightened, and what a sublimity accrued to the whole
doctrine of Redemption, by the notion, clearly con
veyed in the Scriptures literally taken, of a Redeemer
descending from a previous state of glory, to become
our Teacher, and to make the expiation. Thus I was
brought to a full persuasion of our Lord's pre^^existent
dignity. Having once admitted his pre-existence in
tiii exalted sta-te, I saw the necessity of placing him at
the head of the creation  Being thus convinced that
our Lord Jesus Christ is indeed the Maker of all things ;
I found that I could not rest satisfied with the notion of
a Maker of the universe not God. I saw that all the
errors of the Gnostics hung upon that one principle:
and I could have little opinion of the truth of a princi
ple, which seemed so big with mischief. I then set my
self to consider, whether I knew enough of the Divine
Unity, to pronounce the Triirity an infringement of it.
Upon this point, the Platonists, whose acquaintance I
.BoW began to cultivate, soon brought me to a right
mind." p. 279 — 281. Contending, nevertheless, for a
free exercise of the reasoning powers, unfettered by im-
pHcit deference to human auf?hority, he proceeds, "There
is in most men a culpable timidity ; you and I perhaps
¦have overcome that general infirmity ; but there is in
most men a culpable timidity, which inclines them to
be easily overawed by the authority of great names : and
-Biach as we talk Of the freedom and liberality of think ing

316 APPENDIX.
ing and inquiry, it is this slavish principle, not, as it is
pretended, any freedom of original thought, which
makes converts to infidelity atid heresy. Fools ima
gine, that the greatest authorities are always on the
side of new and singular opinions ; and that, by sidopt-
ing them, they get themselves into better company
than they have naturally any right to keep: and thus
they are seci-etly worshippers of authority in that- very
act in which they pretend tO fly in the face of it. They
worship private authority, while they fly in the face^of
universal. They deride an old and general tradition,
because they have not sagacity to trace the connection
of its parts, and to perceive the force of the entire evi
dence : and while they thus trample on tfie accumu
lated authority of ages, with an ideot simplicity th^
suffer themselves to be led by the mere name of the
Writer of the day, a Bolingbroke, a Voltaire, a Gibbon>
or a Priestley ; as if they thought to become wise and
learned, by taking a share and an interest in the follies,
or the party views, of men of abilities and learning.
And where a secret consciousness of ignorance is not
accompanied with the vain ambition of being thought
wise, still an undue deference to private authority in
prejudice of established opinion, seems tO be the side
upon which even modest men are liable to err. Inso
much that every man may be supposed to partake of
this infirmity, in subjects in which he feels himself un
learned," P, 282, 283.
Ibid. 1. 21. Rather misled by weak and erroneous judg
ment,- titan by deliberate and intentional oppositfoii to tlie
Divine will.] " I am hopeful," says Bishop Horsley,
" that there is more folly in the world than malignity;
more ignorance than positive' infidelity ; more error
than heretical perverseness." Ut supra, p. 284, ' It
deserves however to be considered, that heresy and
schism may be more dangerous, in one respect, than
sins of moraf turpitude ; because the latter have a ten
dency,'- as soon as -they are reflected upoti, to awaken
shame and humiliation ; while the former are wont to
inflate the mind with pride and self-sufficiency, and
thus operate to preclude any di'sposition to relinquish
them, " It is sometimes pleaded," says Dr, Water- land,

APPENDIX, 317
land,/' that a ipieked life, is the worst heresy,; intimating
as if breaches made in our most holy /Faith were of
slight consideration, so long as a man lives a good
moral life in other respects. I readily allow that a
wicked life is the worst thing imaginable ; but I con
ceive further, that the spreading, and propagating, of
corrupt doctrines is leading a wicked life in the strictest
sense. I speak not of mere mistakes in judgment,
but of .espousi/ng and propagating them ; corrupting
the Faith in important articles, and diffusing such
corruption, A life so spent is a wicked life, if op
posing Divine truths, undermining the Gpspel, .and
subverting souls, be wicked , attempts ; as they i-un-
doubtedly, arc^r-' — " We will allow that . an heretic
in .mattej:s of mere Revelation is not so bad a man,
generally speaking, as an heretic in morality : but
still he may be a much worse man, or, to speak
plainer, may do a great deal more mischief by his
doctrine, than the immoral man by his example. For,
besides, his, propagating dangerous errors, subverting
souls, it is further to be considered, that he sets him
self ,up as a rival teacher, in opposition to the faithful
Ikjinisters of Christ,"  Again: "To advance false?
hoods, and in points very material, tending to create
infinite disturbances here, as well as to betray many
to perdition hereafter, these are crimes unpardonable,
if the authors see what they do ; and if they do not,
yet their guilt remains, if they might see, and will not.
However, the nature and the. quality of the thing is
not altered by their seeing, or not seeing. For, he
resy is still heresy, though a man intends well, as
much as persecution is still persecution, though a
person thinks .and believes that he does God service
in it," Importance of the Doctrine of the Trinity, p. 143,
146, 147. ed. 1734. See also p, 154—170. , , -,. ,„
, " Vario autem modo circa Veritatesfundamen tales
errari potest : vei enim aliquis bona fide errat ex igr
norantia, qui tamen capitur amoref cognitionis Veri-
tatis et sincera Pietate imbutus meliora scire disiderat,
et mansueta ; convictione facile in veram viam redu-
citur, ,dum non pertinaciter sententiae su£b insistit, sed

3,18 APPENDIX.
sed veritati demonstratae lubens manus victas priaabet.
Vei secundo aliquis errorem fundamentalem ita pro-
pugnat, ut, pensitata bene utraque doctrina et pOn-
deratis utrorumque argumentis, tamen falsis ratioci-
niis deceptus, se ipsissimam tueri veritatem arbitra
tor, et officii sui esse censet contra quosvis dogma
suum defendere et disseminare. Dantur denique, qui
pravis affectibus imbuti atque impietatis vi ducti,
adeoque ex volunrtate plane corrupta, haereses disse-
minant. Ex his patet, tres fundamentaliter Erran-
tium esse ordines, qui omnes eodem censu haberi non
possunt. Primi enim, in veritate informandi et con-
vineendi, dum in erroribus non persistunt, Haereticso-
rum nomen non merentur. Secundi et Tertii ordinis
vero, dum fal,sas propositiones suas acriter defendunt
et maxima cum pertinacia, omni veritatis demonstra-
tione posthabita, in placitis suis persistunt, Haeretici
characterem habent  Quorum dissensus fundamen-
talis est, iisdem Sacris uti nequeunt, sed ab Ecclesi-
astioa illorum communione abstinendum est;" Sixipferi
Inst. Tlteol. Polem. tom. i. p. 558 — 561.
" Non enim nunc quodcunque adversus veritatem sa-
pit, Haeresin voco cum Tertulliano, Non omnis error
Heeresis est; qucmvvis omnis Hceresis, qute in vitio jw-
nitur, rdsi errore etiupm Hmresis esse non possit; scite
alicubi observat Augustinus. Sed errorem intelligo
gravem, ab hominibus verae Ecclesiae .fidem profiiten-
tibus, contra Ecclesiae verae. doctrinam Scripturis con-
formem, in capitibus praecipue necessariis et funda-
mentalibus, introductum et defensum. Qualis baud
^neleganter Hcereseos, sive Electioms et Optionis no
mine venire solet, si ad originem et communiarem
vooabuH Graeci significationem spectes : siquidem uo-
Ms, ductum Magistri unici in verbo divinitus inspi-
rato loquentis sequi jussis, nihil in Religione ejusque,
idoctrina nostro arbitrio indulgere licet ; sed nee eli-
¦gere quod alter de arbitrio suo induxerit." De Moor,
XJommeiKt. in Marcldi Compendmm, torn, vi, p, 858y 859.
.ed.Lngd. Bat. 4to. 1771; :j
;See ^also, on the general subject of this Discourse,
Aug. PfeafferiiH^meneut. Sacr, cap, 4. Buddei Inst.
Th^V

APPENDIX, S19
Theol, lib. i. cap; 1. sect. 54. Hootnbeck, Summ. Con-
trov, p, 35 — 51. Fabricii de Verit, Rel, Chr, p. 491 —
499, Jackson's Works, vol, i, p, 238 — 249,

SERMON III.
¦Page 61. 1.20. Their sufficiency is the contr&certed^
pointy " Tradit Scriptura res Religionis perfecte et
mfficienter. BellarttiinUs, lib, iv. de Verbo Dei, cap. 4,
probare satagit. Quod Scripturee non omnia ita contineant,
ui sufficiant ipste sine alia traditione, vide torn, i, Con-
trov, col. 211. Nos ex adverso tenemus Scripturae p6r-
fectionem, per quam ilia sola sit regnla totalis et adae-
quata fidei et morum. Non requiritur ad hartc petfec-
tioneiii ut contineat omnes res gestas, aut sermones Sal-
vatoris et ApastohnMn cimctos, cujusmodi plura in S.
Seriptura non reperiri ultro agnoscittius.-^Non requi-
rimus quoque ad hane perfectionem, ut Scriptura com-
pleietatiir ntw* teinporarios aut extemos quosvis, quorum
Oiklinatio prudentiae Praefectorum Ecclesiae relicta est ;
'et circa quos saffieere potest, si communis Apostoli ob-
eei?vfctuT regulaj ut orhnia decenter atque ordine fiant.
Earn solum volumus Scripturae perfectionem, per quam,
contineat omnia ad salutem iKceSSaria, turn reditu,' tum
JaotU: ut nihil optis sit extra iScripturam adverbum
.quoddam a'yj5a(poi/ :cOnfuge!re, quod traditiones aliqnas
dogmaticas vel ethicas Suppeditety quae ubi deficit Scrip
tura non minus atque ilia pro norma fidei et morum
-^t< haberidae. . . , Nee necesse est, ut omnia credStu
faetuve neeessaria legantur in Scriptura 'esspKc^e, aw-W-
?t^i,kaiT«c TO '(^Tov, totidem verbis; suffieil&trep^aritur
illiC'Vel implidte, ko-t \<!^Wa.\iJicm, per'ceqU^al^tililtfi^kaTa
htstMM/, ' secundum- sensum, «cif« (rmtniakou^r^iv, -ita ut iggr
•I^itiiiiam' fonsequentiam ex Seriptura deduci queaitt^'
DeMoor, Comment, in Marckli C&mpertd: to-m, i. 'p.342,
M3, -
mP, 62, 1, 2Qi There we iMb^d'tmis botfii'Mlih^^GM
^nd-New Testament, which, if understood as< relating to
the

320 APPENDIX.
the whole Sacred Canon, might seem to put the question
beyond dispute.] " It is on all hands granted, that there
must be some Authority which Faith is resolved into :
for Faith is no other that an assent to some proposition
or propositions upon authority : and according as the
Authority is, such is our Faith, human or Divine, So
that Divine Faith must have Divine Authority ; and
Divine Authority is no other than Divine Revelation,
delivered at sundry times, and in divers manners, written
or unwritten. And where there is no verbal Revelation
by Persons divinely inspired, the written Word is the
only Authority that Faith can be resolved into; which
our Saviour appeals to, [bidding the Jews search .the
Scriptures,] and propounds as a means sufficient, and in
their circumstances the only means for ending the dis
pute. ... In like manner did the Apostles proceed to
Convince the Jews of their incredulity : so St, Paul
reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, opening and aU
leging, that the Christ must needs have suffered and risen
again from the dead, and that this Jesus is the Christ.
So Apollos shewed by the Scriptures, that Jesus was the
Christ. To this they always remitted them, as to a
rule certain and sufficient, and without which nothing
was to be received as an article of Faith, To a rule
certain, called therefore by St, Peter a more sure word of
Prophecy, and which he prefers before a voice from
heaven. And a rule sufficient; that is, as St. Paul
saith, able to make wise unto salvation, and thoroughly io
Jiimish even the man of God, the . Teacher, unto all good
works. And when these were spoken at that time more
immediately of the Jewish Canon of the Old Testament,
they may equally as well be applied to the New ; which
is not only as much the Scripture, as St, Peter c£|.lls it,
(2 Pet, iii, 16,) but also by the addition of it renders the
Old more intelligible and complete. Now there can
be no imaginable reason assigned, why the Scripture,
which was then sufficient in all points necessary to sal
vation, and for resolving of Faith, should now be in
sufficient after the Revelation made by Christ : that is,
that we should be more at a loss with the more clear,
full, and perfect Revelation, than they were under the
less perfect ; that what in the last days God delivered and

APPENDIX. 321
and revealed by Tit* Son, should be less sufficient to di
rect us, than what he spake at sundry times, and in di
vers manners, in times past, to the "Jews, by the Prophets.
And especially, considering that there was a time when
their circumstances were much the same with ours,
which was in the long interval of 400 or 450 years,
between the finishing of the Jewish Canon in the pro?
phecy of Malachi, (with whOm Revelation ceased,), and
the appearance of John Baptist : in which time . they
were left, as we are, wholly to the written Word of God
for their direction, and the sole Authority they were to
rely upon." Bp. Willidms's Boyle's Lect. Serm. 10,
De Moor, above quoted, in his Commentary on Marck-
ins, observes on the text, Ps,xiv,^8, " Perfectio autem
et Sufficientia ilia Legis intelligenda est pro ratione
CEconomiaeistius, ut additis reliquis libriiS Vet, et Nbvi
Test, ad illos qili tum extabant, prassens Scripturae Perr
fectio, argumento a minori ad majus liquido adstru-
atur." tom, i, p, 344, This argument, however, has
often been contested : and, perhaps,' its real force is
sometimes misconceived : which rests not, as I ap-,
prebend, upon any enlarged appUcation of .this or
other particular texts to the entire Canon of the
New Testament now extant ; but upon the analogy
between the circurtistanees of t)ie Jews, or the primitive
Christians, and our own. The expressions Used by the
Sacred Writers, vfhether of the Old or New Testamen.t,
in speaking of the Word of God, evidently go to the
extent of asserting its perfection in itself, and its suffi
ciency for those on whom it was bestowed. The appeal
to it also, whenever such appeal is made either by our
Lord or his Apostles, is noless clearly grounded on the
supposition that it was sufficient for the conviction and
satisfaction of the persons whom they addressed. The
Old Testament was sufficient to bring the Jews to, the
knowledge of the Messiah when he should appear, and
to the reception of the Gospel when it should, be pro
mulgated" to, them. The Jew.s, whom our Lord con-
\-«rsed with, are consid^ed, ton this ground,'as without
excuse. The persons, to whom .the Apostles aiddressed
their discourses or -writings, are dlso pressed by. them
with 'argflraents drawn froni the Scriptures then extant,,
y which

322 APPENDIX,
which are always appealed to as fully sufficient to en
able them to judge of the reasoning set before them.
What writings of the New Testament, whether Gospels
or Epistles, might be in circulation among the primitive
Christians at the time when these references to Scripture
were made, it is not material to inquire. Their gradual
increase arose out of the immediate exigencies of the
Church : and so long as the Evangelists and Apostles
lired, accessions were made to the Written Word ; and,
by the good providence of God, so many of them as
might be necessary for the edification of the Church in
after times, have been preserved and transmitted from
generation to generation. The argument, therefore,
stands thus : that if .the fewer portions of rioly Writ
then extant ; if the Old Testament alone, or accompanied
with only certain portions of the New ; were spoken of
by the inspired preachers of that day as full, perfect, and
sufficient for general edification ; we may, with unhesi
tating confidence, affirm the same, xut h^o^^y, oi the en
tire collection as it now exists. Nay, we may no less
confidently argue, that, since no evidence is adduced,
nor even pretended, that there are any other books now
extant, stamped with the same seal of Divine authority,
we have, in the very cessation of these extraordinary
means of instruction, an indubitable token of the Divine
purpose in this respect. We learn from it, that God, in
His infinite wisdom, designed these to be a complete,
entire, and sufficient Revelation of His Will, without
any ulterior communications of a similar kind. Nothing
can invalidate this conclusion but clear evidence from
Scripture itself, that unwritten Traditions were after
wards to be admitted as supplementary to the Sacred
Writings, and to be placed upon the same level with
them in point of authority.
P, 67. 1. 26. T/ie proposed expedient by no means ob
viates tlie alleged di^eulty.] " I acknowledge," says
Bishop Williams, " the Church of Rome hath put this
matter into a far more compendious course, if it were as
true as it is short, by an Infallible Judge, who, by an
ipse dixit, without giving any reason, stamps uppn all he
saith an uncontrolable authority: but that must bey if
a person is so near the Papal Chair as to have the infal lible

APPENDIX. 323
lible Ear to apply himself to, and immediately receives
the dictate from the infallible Oracle, For if he be re
mote from him, and receives all by written Decrees, or
-the oral Tradition of others, it issues then into a kind
of fallible Rule, and fails to be the sentence of the -In
fallible Judge, For, words and writings, if they once
fall into fallible hands, according to these, cease to be
infallible, and are as much subject to difficulties, and
about the sense of which have often happened as end
less contentions and misunderstandings, as ever they
can pretend have happened to an infallible Rule, There
fore, they are no safer, nor less subject to err by the
having an infallible Judge, than we by an infallible
Rule." Boyle's Lect. Serm. 10.
The authority of Scripture itself is, however, alleged
by Romanists for the Infallibility of the Church. Their
chief arguments on this point are drawn from texts in
the Old Testament relating to the peculiar circum
stances of the Jewish Church, wherein the authority of
its Priesthood, and the whole administration of the
Government, Civil and Ecclesiastical, were upholden
by a miraculous agency. Thus, the Urim and Thum
mim. were to be consulted as infallible Oracles ; the re -
.spouses given by them being the immediate dictates of
Divine Inspiration,- In matters of controversy also, rci
specting temporal as well as spiritual concerns, the peo
ple were requited, on pain of death, to submit to the
judgment of the Priests and Levites: and there was a
continual interposition of Divine agency to maintain
them in that authority. But to arguefromheneeto the
Infallibility of the Christian Priesthood,, or to. amy simi
lar extent of authority in the Christian Church, is alto
gether irrelevant, iSee this point fiilly discussed, and
the several texts supposed to relate to it=particul'ariy and
accurately discussed,, by -Dr. Bennet, in his. Confutation
df Popery, parti, ch.iv. p. 22 — 36. ' i .. .<
P. 69. 1," 10, The interpreter and the author can never
stcend upon one and the same footing of authority. "j
*f. When we affirm that the rScriptures aire the only infalli
ble rule in matters^ of Faith and Christian Obedience, we
understand .such a rule in these matters as Aristotle's
Organon may be said of Logic; supposing it were
Y 2 sound>

834 APPENDIX.
expressly what we are to believe concerning the nature,
counsels, and perfections of the Deity ; but it is human
Reason, which shews us the system of Religion that we
ought to seek in, and deduce from, the Divine Oracles.
This fundamental principle of Socinianism will appear
still more dangerous and pernicious, when we consider
the sense in which the word Reason was understood by
this Sect, The pompous title of Right Reason was
given by the Socinians to that measure of intelligence
and discernment, or, in other words, to that faculty of
comprehending and judging, which we derive from na
ture. According to this definition, the fundamental rule
of the Socinians necessarily supposes, that no^doctrine
ought to be acknowledged as true in its nature, or Divine
in its origin, all whose parts are not level to the compre
hension of the human understanding, and that whatever
the Holy Scriptures teach concerning the perfections of
God, his counsels and decrees, and the way of Salvation,
must be modified, curtailed, and filed down, in such a
manner, by the transforming power of art and argu
ment, as to answer the extent of our limited faculties, , , .
In consequence of this leading maxim, the Socinians
either reject without exception, or change and accom
modate to their limited capacities, all those doctrines
relating to the nature of God and of Jesus Christ, the
plan of redemption, and the eternal rewards and punish
ments unfolded in the Gospel, which they either cannot
comprehend, or consider . as attended with considerable
difficulties," Eccles. Hist, cent, xvi, ch, iv, sect. 3.
part* 2, §. XV, xvi.
Stapfer, in his Inst. Theol. Poimi. torn. iii. p, 364.
quotes from Smalcius, a Socinian vi'riter, these expres
sions : " Etsi Scriptura pluries dixisset Christum esse
Deum, se id tamen non erediturum, quia Ratio; nempe
ipsi dictet, illud omne quod ea assequi non potest, pro
absurdo esse habendum." But for a full exposition of
the Socinian mode of reasoning on divine subjects, let
the reader consult Dr. Edwards's Preservative against
Socinianism, in four parts, 4to, 1698, Also Leslie's So
cinian Controversy discussed, in six Dialogues, con
tained in his works, vol. i. p, 195 — 283, and Ashwellfde
Socinianismo, &vo. 1693.
P. 88.

APPENDIX:. 335
. P. 88, 1, 18. This is,, in effect, ti-ansferring from tlie
Church to individuals a privilege of a similar kind.] We-
renfels, speaking of those who contend for such an im
mediate act of the Holy Spirit influencing and persuad
ing, without any concurrence of the reasoning faculty,
observes, " Nescio num Theologi, ita statuentes, satis
attenderint ad naturam persuasionis, quas, ubi nulla
prorsus argumenta persuadentia sunt, vera persuasio
esse nequit, Nescio, quo pacto hanc persuasionem dis-
cernere velint a tot vanis persuasionibus, quibus ho
mines pertinaces, sine ullis rationibus, manent addicti.
Nescio, qua ratione persui*sionem hanc modo tam extra-
ordinario a Deo in mente productam, distinguere possint
ab Enthusiasmo, Nee video, ex quibus criteriis cognos-
cant, hujus Deum potius, quam Spiritum quendam de-
c^torem, causam esse, Non denique invenio, quid Doc-
toribus Ecclesiae Romanae responsuri essent, si isti fa-
terentur quidem se Ecclesiae suae avay.«pTri<rtav sine ulla
ratione credere, id tamen, ihinime impedire, quo minus
haec persuasio divina sit, et ab ipso Dei Spiritu in om
nibus genuinis Ecclesiae CathoUcae membris immediate
producta," Opuscula Theologica, tom. i. p, 159, 160,
" This doctrine," says Dr, Hickes, " differs from the
preceding (that is, from the Pope's Infallibility) only in
this, that that makes only the Bishop of Rome, but this
makes every private Christian a Pope : and as it utterly
overthrows the authority of the. Scriptures, and makes
them an useless Rule of Faith, so hath it already ca
shiered the: use of the Sacraments, and annulled the mi
nisterial orders, contrary to the precepts and precedents
in the GOspel, and . the praetiee of God's Universal
Church, And when time fehall serve, it can as ieffectur^
ally .convert the professors of it into downright Papists,
consistently with their own principles: for- they: have
nothing more to do, than to say that the Spirit, or
Light within, hath told them that the Church of R^me
is the One Holy CathoUc ; Cburch, and that supra hanc
Petram belongs to the Pope, As this doctrine was first
privately sowed among us by Popish eriiissaries, so hath
it been published in our and othet countries, by; those
who -were bred amgng .the Papists, as by Robert Barclays
who was for some time educated in the Scottish Con vent

326 APPENDIX,
unwritten : early comnmits, also, are esteemed, iis telling
us recdved Interpretations, All these ought to have
weight, whenever there is no appearance of indirect mo-
lives; and when the persons, whose accounts we re»
ceive, were competently qualified to inform us. But,
whenever we have any reason to distrust, we should be
at full liberty to reject every thing of this kind: which
is a very different thing froin its being held " necessary
lo .salvation," Vol. ii. pp. 468, 469, See also Berriman's
L,, M,, I^ect, Sjsrm, j.
P. -75. 4.2, Unsupported by any solid foundation:^
'To these considerations may be added that of the prac
tical" evil which appears to have ariseny in the first ages
pf the Church, from the too ready admission of unwrit
ten Traditions, The proneness to receive these as of
equal authority with the Scriptures, probably gave occa
sion to many spnrious and apocryphal productions, and
greatly favoured the growth of hra-etical opinions.
Upon such Traditions, either fabricated for the purpose,
pr erroneously believed to be genuine, some of the
earliest Heresies appear to have been founded. Of this,
frequent complaints are found in the writings Of the
Fathers, Lardner, in his History of the Heretics of the
t,wp first Centuries, b. i, sect, 11, 12, cites several pas
sages to this effeqt,'. He also remarks, ." perhaps none
of the sects were free from the fault ;" andy " most of
those apocryphal pieces, whether gospels, or acts, or
circuits and travels, or revelations, went under the
names of Apostles, or Apostolical men." He adds^
',' Tertullian writing against the Heretics assures us,
that they could not deny, and even owned, that the
Apostles knew all the doctrines of the Gospel, and
agreed with one another in what they; taught. Th?
most they could presume to assert in favour of their pe
culiarities waS, that, the Apostles did not declare the
whole truth to all •.—sed, ut diximus, eadem dementia est;
tum coy)fitentur'. quidem nihil apostolos ignordsse, riec di-
versa inter se prcedicdsse ; non tamen omnia volunt illos
omnibus reveMsse : queedam enim paldm, et universis ;
quceddm secreto, et ^aucis demandds^e. De Praescript,
Haeret. c, xxv.. ; liardreer, ut supra,' ed. 4to. 1780. '
Ibid, 1, 19. If the Church were judge of faith, it
'¦ would

APPENDIX, 327
would set her above God.] In the tract, from which
these expressions are taken, Leslie has fully argued this
point in the form of a Dialogue between the Church of
England, the Church of Rome, and the Protestant Dis
senter, To the Romanist he observes, " Where any
thing is determined by authority, that authority must be
superior to what it determines. And thus the Church
(supposing it such a judge of Faith) would have an au
thority above God, or Christ, or any thing contained in
the Creed, And therefore I think it is plain, that we re
ceive not the Creed upon the authority of the Church,
Rmn. Catholic. You had never had the Creed but by the
Church, Church of England. That may be. The Church
taught it me ; proposed it to me ; and convinced me of
the truth of it : but not by way of authority ; for I could
not believe the authority of the Church, till I was first
convinced by the Scriptures that Christ had established
such a Church, and vested her with such authority. So
that I receive the Scriptures upon the testimony, not
authority, of the Church : and I examine that authority,
as I do other facts, till I have satisfied my private judg
ment : there is no other way. As suppose an Atheist to
be convinced by me of the being of a God : he then be
lieves it, and I may be said to be an instrument in this.
But how foolish would it be in me, nay, blasphemous,
to assume authority over him for this, and say that it
was by my authority that he believed a God, and thercr
fore that he was obliged to believe every thing else I
told liim, without examining ; because if my authority
was taken for the being of God, then nothing surely of
lesser consequence could" be excepted from it. This is
the manner of argumentation for receiving the Faith
from the authority of the Church : this is that Circle,
from which you can never rid yourselves, of believing
the Scriptures upon the authority of the Church, and
then, back again, of believing the Church upon the au
thority of the Scriptures, This makes each of them of
greater authority than the other, and each of them of
lesser 1 Dissenter. You have run down the authority of
the Church: I see no authority you have left her.
Church of England. Because I do not allow her an ab
solute, unconditional, infallible authority, and that in
t 4 matters

328 APPENDIX,
matters of F-aith ; : yoU' think she has no authority at all.
Dissenter. Your Twentieth Article (so much contested)
Says she has authority in controversies of Faith. CImrch of
England. Yes, but far frpni infallible. Yoy see howit
is there limited, not to he repugnant to Holy Scripture,
&c,' She has authority as a Witness and Keeper pf
Holy Writ, as the Article words it: to determine Con
troversies of Faith only ministerially, as the ordinary
dispensers of the Word, as servants of Christ, and mi
nisters of the Gospel ; not absolutely and authprita-
tivel)', as lords of our Faith, and infallible interpreters of
Scripture." Again, '^ The Church is the Interpiieter of
Scripture, as the Judges are of the Law ; and they have
authority so to interpret; and they judge authoritatively.
Yet they are but the ordinary di.spensers of the Law, to
which an ordinary interpretation of the Law is neces
sary. But the ultimate interpretation of the Law is only
in the Legislative authority ; according to the maxim,
cujus est condere ejus est et interpretari, that is, it belongs
t,o the same power which enacts, to interpret. For the
makers of the Law best know their own meaning. Thus
the Church, is the ordinary dispenser, and so far the in
terpreter of Scripture. But the ultimate decision is in
God, ahd we may still appeal to Him; and must make
nse of our own private judgment for our understa,nding
it: and governing our practice- accordingly, in the great
points of Faith and Worship."
The above Extracts are from Leslie's Tract, entitled
Of Private Judgment and Autlwrity in matters of'. Faith :-
and notwithstanding their length, I cannot forbear add
ing his happy illustration of the whole subject, in the;
case of a Traveller and his Guides. — " I suppose a man
on his road to such a place ; and coming where there
are. three or four different ways, he knows not which to
choose. But h^ finds there several Guides standing,
who all pretend to be appointed Guides of that roa,d,
and offer their service with equal assurance; each say
ing, that the way he points is the right, and none other.
But the Traveller has a chart or plan of the. way in. his,
hand, 'which ^l\ the Guides allow to be just and right,
and would have him walk by it. Only one tells hiip he
may mistake his plan, therefore desires he would give it
• up

APPENDIX. 329
up to h™ r and moreover, that he should be blindfolded,
because otherwise he might be disputing the way, which
would retard his journey, and besides implied a distrust
of his Guide, But another Guide tells 'him he should
keep his plan in his hand, and he would give him leave
to examine every step he led him by the plan, and then
his own eyes should be judge whether he led him right
or not ; and he would not desire it should be left in .his
power to lead him over a precipice with his eyes shut.
The Holy Scriptures are the Plan ; and the Church of
Ronie takes them from the people, lest they dispute
about it, and requires them to trust absolutely and
blindly to her guidance. The Church of England shews
her commission to be a guide upon the road to Heaven,
derived by succession from the ApOstles, with a com
petent, though not an infallible authority. The Dissenters
have no commission nor succession to shew ; they have
thrust theisiselves as Guides upon this road, of their
own heads, not above 150 years ago. And they have.
no authority either to preach the Word, or to sign and
seal the Covenant which God has made with nian, in
the Holy Sacraments of His institution, nor to bless in
His name. This honour they have taken to themselves,'
whioh the Apostie says, ho man can take unto himself,
but he that is called of God, as was Aaron." Leslie's
Works, folio, vol, i, p. 180—188.
Much more upon this and other topics connected
with it may be found in another Tract by Leslie, in the
same volume, entitled. The Case stated between tlie
Churches of Rome and England. But a small volume re
cently published by the Margaret Professor of Divinity
in Cambrujg.e under . a similar title, A Comparative
View of tlie Churches of England. and Rome, comprises
within a short compass so much extensive research,
forcible reaspning, and perspicuous illustration of the
aubject, as almost to supersede the necesaty of further
investigation. If to this work, however, be added a
careful perusal of the two pieces of Leslie just men
tioned, together with his Case qf the Regah and. of the.
Pontificate stated, in the same volume; a clearer -view
may, perhaps, be taken of some points, upon which it
did not fall within the scope of Dr. Marsh's design) to.
« dilate.

3Sa APPENDIX.
dilate. The reader -will thus be enabled to form a cor
rect notion of all the principal matters at. issue between
the parties, and may be effectually guarded against the
numberless sophistries with which they are generally
obscured and perplexed by the advocates of the Romish
Church. Upon the particular subject of Traditions see also
Dr. Hey's Divinity Lectures, Article xxxiv, vol. iv,
p. 437—456.
P. 80, 1. 26. Gnostics.] " Sic dicti quotquot ex Si-
monis, Menandri, Satarnini, Basilidis, Carpocratis, Va-
lentini disciplina prodierunt, Variis quidem inter eos
differentiis, sed communi nomme, quo semet ipsos, statim
ab initio, distinxeruiit, eodemque superbo, sc, a yvixni,
vere rj/suSaJVUfia), quasi xaraf lajSevrej Tijj y«U(7Saij sublimioris
ac mysteriosae sapientiae cognitione praecellentes. Span-
hemii Introd. ad Eccl. Hist. N. T. Saec. 2, §, 6, — " Omnes
aetatis illius Sectae in duasdividi possunt classes; alii
disciplinam Christi ad normam Philosophiae, cui dediti
erant, sive yvwasoa; revocabant, illique accommodare stu-
debant ; alii vero Religionem Judaicam cum Christiana
commiscere moliebantur. Priores communi Gnosti-
corum nomine complectuntur, quod omnibus illius tem-
poris sectis, quae ex Gentilismo prodiere, commune fuisse
constat. Vox yvaxri; subinde bono sumitur sensu, et
significat accuratam mysterforum fidei cognitionem, qua
ii gaudent qui exercitatos in verbo divino sensus habent,
Malo autem sensu sumta significat cognitionem illam
Supremi Numinis, quam Philosophia illi crepabant, et
rerum a materia secretarum quae contemplando tantum
intelliguhtur." Stapferi. Inst. Theol. Pol. tom, v. p, 332,
See also Mosheim, cent, i, part 2. ch, v. §. 5 — 8.
P, 81, 1, 8, It is remarked by Mosheim.] Eccles.-
Hist. cent. 3, part 2. ch. iii, §, 1, Lardner also ob-
servesythat "some, if not all the ancient Heresiarchs,
or leaders of sects, were men of letters :" and he con
firms the observation by several testimonies from Je
rome, Augustin, Tertullian, and Origen, See his Hist.
qf Heretics, b, i. sect. 13. " Some," says Bp. Horsley,
"thought that they gave a clear solution of the dark
question about the origin of evil, when they maintained
that the world is the wprk of one or more intelligences, far

APPENDIX, 331
far inferior to the first Mind. Some, to account for some
circumstances of contrariety, that may appear upon a
superficial view of the Old and the New Testament,
taught that the God of the Jews was a distinct being
from the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,. Some, to
solve the difficulties in the great doctrine of the Incar^
nation, indulged in a most criminal wantonness of spe
culation concerning the person of Christ. Some, af
fecting a deep mysterious wisdom, endeavoured to ex
plain, in, obscure and ill-imagined allegories, the pro
cession of the different orders of intellect and life from
the Divine Mind, and the production of the visible
world. Some, the most profane and hardened, artfully
availed themselves of certain mysterious points of the
Christian doctrine, to give personal consequence to
themselves, and to gain credit among the vulgar to the.
most impious pretensions," Tracts in Controv. with
Priestley, p, 436.
Ibid, 1. 24. Many of tlie early Heretics rejected large
portions of Holy 'Writ.] "The Heretics sp charged,"
says Dr, Waterland, " are Cerinthus, Ebion, Saturni-
nus, Carpocfates, Cerdon, Marcion, Lucian, Apelles,
Tatian, Ptoloma^us, Theodotus, Artemon, Manichaeus,
the Ophitae, Cainites, Sethites, Alogi, Pepuzians, Se-
verians, and perhaps some others." Importance of the
Trinity, p. 364, Lardner's statement differs from this,
with respect to some of the Heretics and Sects here
mentioned, though it confirms it as to many of them,
and speaks of others not here named as liable to the
same censure. The Gnpstics in general entirely dis
carded the Old Testament,
P, 82, 1. 30, Vain attempts to explicate -poirits which,.
to our present apprehensions, must ever remain enveloped in
a certain degree of mystery.] It were well if sail who at
tempted such discussions would prosecute their re
searches under such impressions aS appear to have in
fluenced the mind of that profound and luminous rea-
soner, Bp. Horsley, " In a subject," says he, " so far
above the comprehension of the human mind, as the
doctrine of the Trinity must be confessed to be in all
its branches^ extreme caution should be used- to keep
the doctrine itself, as it is delivered in God's word, dis
tinct

332 APPENDIX*
tinct from every thing that, hath been devised by man,
or that may even occur to a man's own thoughts, to il
lustrate it, or explain its diffioulties. Every one, who
hath ever thought for any length of time upon the sub
ject, cannot but fall insensibly and involuntarily upon
some way or other of representing the thing to his own
mind. And if a man be ever so much upon his guard
to check the licentiousness of imagination, and bridle an
irreverent curiosity upon this holy subject, yet if he
read what others have written, Orthodox or Heretics,
he will find opinions proposed, with too much freedom
upon the difficulties of the subject; and among diffe
rent opinions, he cannot but form some judgment of
the different degrees of probability with which they are
severally accompanied ; nor can he so far command
himself, as not in some measure to embrace the opinion
which seems the most probable. In this mariner, every
one who meddles at all with the subject, wUl be apt to
form a solution' for himself of what seem 'to .him the
principal difficulties. But since; it must be confessed,
that the human mind in these inquiries is gropihg in
the' daric, every step, that she ventures to' advance be
yond the point to which the clear light of Revelation
reaches; the probability is, that all these > private Solu
tions are, in different ways', and in different degrees, but
all in some way, and in some degree, erroneous:, and it
will rarely ha<ppen, that the solution invented by one
man will suit the conceptions of another. It were
therefore to be wished, that, in treating this mysterious
subject, men would not; in their zeal tO illustrate, what
after their utmost efforts must remain, in some parts,
incomprehensible, be too forward to mix their pri.vate
opinions with the public doctrine. Many curious ques
tions were nioved bythe Heretics of antiquity, and are
now revived by Dr. Priestley, abOut the nature and the
limit of tbe Divine generation. Why the Father ge
nerates but one Son ? Why that Son generates not an
other ? Why the generation is not ii!tfinite ?. Instead of
answering such questions, it seems to me, that, .except
when the necessity may arise, as. indeed it too often
will, of "'answering a fool according to his folly," it
should be' a point of consci'ence with every writer, to
keep

APPENDIX, 333
keep any particular opinions he may have formed, as
much as possible, out of sight ; that Divine truth may
not be debased with a mixture of the alloy of human
error, and that controversies may not be raised upon
points in whidi no man, or set of men, can be au
thorized or qualified to prescribe to the belief of others.
, . , , Upon such points, the evidence of Holy Scripture
is, indeed, the only thing that amounts; to proof. The
utmost that reasoning can do; is to lead to the dis
covery, and, by God's grace, to the^ acknowledgment of
the weakness and insiifficiency of Reason ; to- resist her
encroachments upon the province of Faith ; to silence
her objections, and cast down imaginations, and pre
vent the innovations and refinements of philosophy and
vain deceit. Had philosophical reasoning upon points
of express Revelation been held as cheap by Dr, Priest
ley as they are by me, the present controversy never had
arisen," Tracte in Controv, with Priestley, p, 458 —
461. P. 84, 1, 26, Socinians.] Mosheim, speaking of the
main principle of Socinianism, observes, " Although the
Socinians profess tp believe that all our knowledge of
Divine things is derived solely from the Holy Scrip
tures ; yet they maintain in reality, that the sense of
Scripture is to be. investigated and explained by the dic
tates of right reason, to whichy of consequence, they
attribute a great influence in determining the nature
and unfolding the various doctrines of Religion., When
their writings are peruSed with attention, they will be
found to attribute more to Reason, in this mattery than
most other Christian Societies, For they frequently in
sinuate artfjilly, nay, sometimes declare plainly, that
the Sacred Penmen were guilty of several mistakes,
from a defect of memory, as. well as a want of capacity ;
that they expressed their sentiments without either per
spicuity or precision, and rendered the plainest things
obscure by their pompous and diffuse Asiatic style ; and
that it was therefore absolutely necessary to employ the
lamp of human reason,' to cast a light upon their doc
trine, and to explain it in a manner conformable to
truth. . . . According to this repi'esentation of thirigs, it
is not the Holy Scripture which declares clearly and
expressly

834 APPENDIX.
expressly what we are to believe concerning the nature,
counsels, and perfections of the Deity ; but it is human
Reason, which shews us the system of Religion that we
ought to seek in, and deduce from, the Divinie Oracles.
This fundamental principle of Socinianism will appear
still more dangerous and pernicious, when we consider
the sense in which the word Reason was understood by
this Sect. The pompous title of Right Reason was
given by the Socinians to that measure of intelligence
and discernment, or, in other words, to that faculty of
comprehending and judging, which we derive from na
ture. According to this definition, the fundamental rule
of the Socinians necessarily supposes, that no-doctrine
ought to be acknowledged as true in its nature, or Divine
in its origin, all whose parts are not level to the compre
hension of the human understanding, and that whatever
the Holy Scriptures teach concerning the perfections of
God, his counsels and decrees, and the way of Salvation,
must be modified, curtailed, and filed down, in such a
manner, by the transforming power of art and argu
ment, as to answer the extent of our limited faculties. , . .
In consequence of this leading maxim, the Socinians
either reject without exception, or change and accom
modate to their limited capacities, all those doctrines
relating to the nature of God and of Jesus Christ, the
plan of redemption, and the eternal rewards and punish
ments unfolded in the Gospel, which they either cannot
comprehend, or consider as attended with considerable
difficulties," Eccles. Hist, cent, xvi, ch, iv. sect, 3.
part>2, §, XV, xvi,
' Stapfer, in his Inst. Theol. Polem. tom, iii, p, 364.
quotes from Smalcius, a Socinian writer, these expres
sions : " Etsi Scriptura pluries dixisset Christum esse
Deum, se id tamen non erediturum, qnia Ratio nempe
ipsi dictet, illud omne quod ea assequi non potest, pro
absurdo esse habendum." But for a full exposition of
the Socinian mode of reasoning on divine subjects, let
the reader consult Dr, Edwards's Preservative againSt
Socinianism, in four parts, 4to, 1698. Also Leslie's So
cinian Controversy discussed, in six Dialogues, con
tained in his works, vol. i. p, 195— 283, and Ashwell'de
Socinianismo. 8vo. 1693. >
P. 88.

APPENDIX. 335
P. 88, 1, 18. This is, in effect, transferring from the
Church to individuals a privilege of a similar kind.] We-
renfels, speaking of those who contend for such an im
mediate act of the Holy Spirit influencing and persuad
ing, without any concurrence of the reasoning faculty,
observes, " Nescio num Theologi, ita statuentes, satis
attenderint ad naturam persuasionis, qua;, ubi nulla
prorsus argumenta persuadentia sunt, vera persuasio
esse nequit. Nescio, quo pacto hanc persuasionem dis-
cernere velint a tot vanis persuasionibus, quibus ho
mines pertinaces, sine ullis rationibus, manent addicti,
Nescio, qua ratione persuafsionem hanc modo tam extra-
ordinario a Deo in mente productam, distinguere possint
ab Enthusias7no. Nee video, ex quibus criteriis cognos-
cant, hujus Deum potius, quam Spiritum quendam de-
c^torem, causam esse, Non denique invenio, quid Doc-
toribus Ecclesiae Romanas responsuri essent, si isti fa-
terentur quidem se Ecclesias suae avafji,ocpTiia-iav sine ulla
ratione credere, id tamen, minime impedire, quo minus
haec persuasio divina sit, et ab ipso Dei Spiritu in om
nibus genuinis Ecclesiae Cathplicae membris immediate
producta," Opuscula Theologica, tom. i. p. 159, l60,
" This doctrine," says Dr, Hickes, " differs from the
preceding (that is, from the Pope's Infallibility) only in
this, that that makes only the Bishop of Rome, but this
makes every private Christian a Pope : and as it utterly
overthrows the authority of the Scriptures, and makes
them an useless Rule of Faith, so hath it already ca
shiered theuse of the Sacraments, and annulled the rhi-
nisterial ofders, contrary to the precepts and precedents
in the Gospel, and . the practice of God's Universal
Church, Aiad when time' shall serve, it can as effectu
ally convert the professors of it intcdownright Papists,
consistently with their own principles: for they have
nothing more to do, than to' say that the Spirit, or
Light within, hath told them that the Church of Rome
is the One Holy Catholic Church, and that supra hanc
Petram belongs tO the Pope, As this dOctrine was first
privately sowed among us by Popish emissariesy so hath
it been published in our and other countries, by those
who were bred ampng .the Papists, as by Robert Bardayy
who was for some time educated in the Scottish Con vent

336 APPENDIX.
vent at Paris, and Labbadie a Jesuit defrocqued." En-
thitsiasm Exorcised, p. 62.
P, 90. 1. 14, Appears to rest on an assumption, that the
knowledge of Divine truth cannot be perpetuated, &e,]
" Fanatici sensum Spiritus Sancti comprehensum sacris
Uteris immediata demum revelatione arbitrantur inno-
tescere : at falli eos, partim ex eo constat^ quod nus-
quam ad istiusmodi immediatam illuminationem remitti-
mur exspectandam, sed ad scrutandas potius Scripturas,
2 Pet. i, 19. John v. 39. partim etiam ex absurdo con-
sequente: nisi enim ex ipsis Scripturae verbis liceret
}usta interpretandi via in cognitionem veri sensus per
venire, sed peculiari opus esset manifestatione, quid in-
telligatur sub verbis patefaciente ; sensum hujus revela-
tionis denuo declaratura alia revelatio praestolanda essety
quae sibi novam iterum praestrueret, nee ipsam sinepriore
quadam sufficientem, quod quidem sic progressui in in
finitum viam sterneret, quo nihil deprehenditur alienius
a veritate," J. E. Pfeifferi Inst. Hermeneut,- Sacr. p.
"> o,
P, 92. 1, 22, Known by the general title of Pneuma
tics.] " All the sorts of MontanistSf both of the Proclian.
and Mschinist schools, or the Lucimis, the Tertullianists,
the Artemonists, the Priscillists, the QuintilUsts, together
with the Theodotians and the Helcesaites, did also con
sent, with one accord, to quit every such name as dis
tinguished them by their leaders, and to call themselves
all by the one common name of irvsuff.a.Twoi, or the In
spired, as those that had received the Holy Ghost, that
was to lead them further on into all truth." Hist, of
Montarasm, by a Lay-Gentleman, published together
with Hickes's Enthusiasm Exorcised, and Spinckes's
New Pretenders to Prophecy examined. Lond. 1709-
Jablonski mentions this work with high commenda
tion.-^" Anonymi cujusdam, qui se Laicum profitettir,
Historia Montanismi, accurata imprimis, lectuque digna,
multis etiam observationibus adrecentiores M'ontani
Sectatores applicandis referta, quam Anglice scriptam,
ob eximium qui inde capi potest usum, operas pretium
esset cultu latino vel germanico induere." Inst, Hist.
Oir.Aniiq. p, 71. ed. 8vo. Frank. 1754. The work is
undoubtedly very curious and interesting, and shews great

APPENDIX, 337
great research ; though it were to be wished that the Au
thor had been more frequent in his reference to the .au
thorities on which he relies, I cannot trace his authorities
for this classification of Enthusiastic Sects under the
denomination of Pneumatics, though the assertion is
followed by a specification of several reasons why they
appropriated this name to themselves at that particular
juncture. There is no doubt, indeed, that all Enthu
siastic Sects were wont to consider themselves as wveu-
/AOTotoi, or spiritual, and all others as vf/u;^ixo5, or carnal :
but they do not appear to have been so generally recog
nized under that denomination, as the philosophical
Sects were under the title of Gwosijcs', ,
P. 93. 1. 22," Many texts have been pressed into their
service.] A detailed exposition of these may be found in
Dr, Rennet's Confutation of Quakerism, a very able and
satisfactory treatise, applicable to the tenets, not of
Quakers only, but of other fanatical Sects who contend
for the necessity of inimediate reVelatiOris from God to
individuals, for their salvation. Respecting their mode
of expounding Scripture, and the texts on which they
•chiefly in,sist, see ch, 4, 5, 6,. 7, 8, and 12. Several of
these are also distinctly examined: and refuted by Bud-
deus in his Treatise de Fide Naturali, See his Misc,
Sacr, torn, ii, part iii. p. 137—1,45,

SERMON IV.

P', 97. 1. 4. To beware that in refuting one error he
give ho encouragement to another.] Archbishop Laud ob
serves, " A man is apt to think he can never run far
enough from that which he begins to hate ; and doth
not consider therewhile, that where Religion corrupted is
the thing he, hates, a fallacy may easily be put upon
hiih, , For he ought to hate the corruption that depraves
Keligion, and to run frOm it ; but from no part of Re
ligion itself, which he ought to love and reverence.
Ought he to depart,"— Speaking of the confusion occa-
z sioned

338 APPENDIX.
sioned in his times by such extremes, he alsoreniarksr
" While the one faction cries up ttie Church aborve tl^c
Scripture ; and the other, the Scripture to the njeglect
and contempt of the Church, which the ScripturCjitsejf
teaches men both to honour and obey ; they ha,ve so f^r
endangered the belief oi the one and the authoriiy pt the
other, as that neither has its due from a great part of
men. Whereas according to Christ's institution, the
Scripture, where 'tis plain, should guide the Churgh.j
and the Church, where there's doubt or difficully, should
expound the Scripture ; yet so as neither the Scripture
should be forced, nor the Church so bound up as that,
upon just and further evidence, she may not revise what
hath sliptby her," — Conference with Fisher, Epist. Dedic.
p. 9. See also Dr. Jackson's works, vol, i. b. 2. ch, iv.
p-187. / .,,.,,. ."..;. .
p. 104, 1. 4. Assuraing to themselves a denomimfion ex-
pressive of their bdng purely Scriptural Divines, &c.] It
appears from Mosheim, that in the tw,el,fth century " an
important distinction was made between the Christian
Doctors, who were divided into two classes. In.theJiTSt
class were placed those who were called by the various
names oi Biblid, i.e. Bible-Doctors, Dogrnatid sad Po-
sitivi, i, e. didactic Divines, and also Veteres or ancients ;
and in the second were ranged the Scholastics, who were
also distinguished by the titles of Sententiarii, after the
Master of the Sentences, and Novi, to express their recent
origin. The former expounded, though in a wretched
manner, the Sacred Writings in their public schools,
illustrated the doctrines of Cliristianity without deriving
any succours from reason or philosophy, and confirmed
tiieir opinions by the united,testimonies of Scripture and
Tradition. The latter expounded, instead of the.Bible,
the famous Book of Sentences; reduced under the pror
vince of their subtle phllospphy whatever th^ Gospel
proposed as an object of f^ith, or a rule of practice;
and perplexed and obscured its Divine doctrines and
precepts by a multitude of vain questions and idle
speculations," — ^These metaphysical Divines, however,
" were attacked," as Mosheim adds, " from different
quarters ; on the one hand, by' the ancient Divines or
;Biblc-Doctors ; on the other, by the Mystics, who con
sidered

APPENDIX. 539
sidered true wisdom and knowledge as unattainable by
study or reasoning, and as the fruit of mere contempla
tion, inward feeling, and a passive acquiescence in Di
vine influences. Thus - that ancient conflict between
faith and reason, that had formerly divided the Latin
Doctors, and had been for many years hushed in silence,
was now unhappily revived, and produced every where
new tumults and dissensions." This controversy be
tween the Biblicists and thq Mystics on the one side,
and the Scholastics on the other, was carried on through
the next century ; and the union of the former in op
position to the latter appears to have given occasion to
a systematic neglect of human learning, as if necessarily
hostile to Revealed ReUgion, and thus to have facili
tated the introduction of many enthusiastic extravagan
cies by which this aera of Christianity was disgraced.
See Mosheim's Eccl, Hist, Cent, xii, part 2, ch, iii, §,
5 — 12, and cent, xiii, part 2, ch, 3, §, 7 — 12.
P. 105, 1, 2, Nor was even the Protestant Reformation
wholly unsullied by fanaticism of this kindl] " There still
rfemained," says Mosheim, " some seeds of that ancient
discord between Religion and Philosophy, that had been
sown and fomented by ignorance and fanaticism ; and
there were found, both among the friends and enemies
of the Reformation, several well-meaning, but Incon
siderate men, who, in spite of common sense, maintained
\frith more -Vehemence and animosity than ever, that
vital Religion and Piety could never flourish until it was
totally separated from learning and science, and nou
rished by the holy simplicity that reigned in the pri
mitive ages of the Church." Eccl. Hist, cent, xvi. sect, 2,
^, 6, The effect of this long neglect of learning he
states in the preceding section, §, 14, where he ob
serves; " any Commentators, that were at this time to
be found, were such as, laying aside all attention to the
true meaning and force of the words of Scripture, which
their profotind ignorance of the original languages, and
of the rules of criticism rendered them Incapable of in-
ve$tigatiiig, gave a loose to their vain and Irregular fan
cies, in the pursuit of mysterious significations,"
P, 107. 1. 20. One demands absolute assent, &c.J " In
fallible assent, and illimited, 'Mnreserued obedience we may
z 2 not

340 APPENDIX.
not perform to tlie present Church, or any visible company
of men ; but to the Scripture only, made known and
evident to our consciences. This assertion Is directly
and fully contradictory unto the Papists. Conditional
assent and cautionary obedience we may and must perform
to our Spiritual Pastors, Overseers, and Governors, albeit
we see not express commission out of Scripture, to war
rant those particulars whereunto they demand assent or
obedience. It is sufficient that they have their general
commission for obedience, expressly contained in Scrip
ture. This assertion directly contradicts the other ex
treme, or contrary assertion, and of all the three only
doth not contradict the Word of God, which expressly
teacheth that some peculiar obedience is due unto spiritual
Governors." Dr. Jackson s Works^ \ol.i. b. 2. sect, 1.
ch, iv. See also ch, ix. x, on the Nature and Properties
of conditional Obedience, and whprein It differs from
implicit Faith,
P, 108, ], 2, Heresies at first sprang up. from want of
due respect and subordination to ecclesiastical powers!] Ter-
tullian's Treatise, de Prasscriptione Haereticorum, is
grounded chiefly upon their ¦ wilful departure from the .,
authority of the Church: and Scultetus considers the.
title given to it as intended to convey that meaning! t
" Scopus Tertulliani in jioc libro est, docere, haereticis ,
nihil esse causae, cur ab Ecclesia Catholica deficerent, .
nulliusque esse momenti ea ,dmnia, quae ad Insaniam'
suam prsetexerent : Ac proi ride ad Ecclesiae authoritatenl,
revocandos esse, quae ut interpres est et custos verltatiSj ;
sic in illius sinu fideles veram salutaremque- doctrinam,
debeant discere, et ex illius doctrinae auspicio omnium
haereticarum peregrinarumque doctrinarumadulteria dig-
noscere atque detestari. . , , Utitur autem Vir juris peri-
tissimus vocabulo in jure civili usitato. Praescribere
enim est excipere, et, praescriptio est usucapio. Cum,
enim vindicanti rem suam Domino possessio longitem-,
poris objicitur, praescribi ei dicitur: eaque praescriptio,
longi temporis, prsscisa locutione, pro praescriptio: ex
longi temporis possessione appellatur, Sic^ praescrip-
tioncm haereticorum etEcclesiaj vocat TertuUianus illud
omne, quod juris cujusdam specie haeretipi JEcclesiae, et
contra haereticis orthodox! opponebant." Scidteti Me-
didla

APPENDIX. 341
dulla Patrum, part, i, lib. 7- cap. 5, p. 153, ed, 4to,
Francof 1634,
P, 109, 1, 12, Yet is he bound in prudence, and in con
science, to look to such authorized Teacliers for necessary
information.] This is forcibly urged by Dr, Jackson,
" God's written Word, then, is the only pure fountain and
rule of Faith : yet not such immediately unto all as it is
¦written, but the learned, or spiritual Instructors only,
whose hearts and consciences must be ruled by it, as in
all other spiritual duties, so especially, as they are In
structors, in this, that they may not commend any truths
or principles of Faith unto the illiterate, but such as
are expressly contained in God's written Word, or, at
least, are in substance the self-same with these written
truths. If the unlearned, through God's just judgment,
absolutely admit of other principles, and equalize them
with these ; such shall lead them into error, and pervert
their Faith, If they doubt of any man's doctrine,
whether it be truly spiritual, or consonant to the foun
dation of Faith, they may appeal to Scriptures, as they
shall be expounded to them by others. Finally, they are
tied to no visible company of men, whom they must
under pain of damnation follow : but for their soul's
health, they may try every spiritual Physician. If they
will be humorous, they may ; but at their own peril, both
for temporal punishment in this life, and for eternal in
the life to come." Vol. i, b. 2. ch. xi, p. 226.
P. Ill, 1. 21, The responsibility on either side is great.]
This is certainly a point of great nicety and of difficult
adjustment. If it be asked. What is to be done when
the individual thinks the doctrine of the Church evi
dently unsmptural in essential points, and the Church for
bids him to depart from it, — whether he ought riot, in
that case, tO depart from it ? — the answer must surely be
in the affirmative. And, on the other hand, if the Church
has, after due deliberation, determined, that the doctrine
of the individual is unscriptural, must not the decision
be the same ? Must she not eject him from her com
munion ? The peril, on either side, may be great : but,
supposing each party to act conscientiously, although
one must necessarily be in error, we may confidently
hope that neither is chargeable with wilful error. But
z 3 that

812 APPENDIX,
that is not left to human judgment. To his own Mastcf-
each must stand or fall,
P, 112, 1. 12: Much discussion has from time to time
arisen respecting the deference due to the writings of l^ie
primitive Fathers of tlie Church.] This subject is very
clearly and succinctly stated by Dr. Waterland in his
Importance of the Doctrine of the Trinity, ch. vii. on
the Use and Value of Ecclesiastical Antiquity in contro
versies of Faith, To a general prejudice against the use
of the Fathers, as if It derogated from the perfection arid
sjipreme authority of Holy Writ, he answers, " that
we produce not Fathers to superadd new doctrines to
Scripture, but only to secure the old ; not to compkat
the Rule, but more strongly to assert and maintain both
Its true sense and whole sense,"- — "Many," he observes;
-" would exclude the ancients, to make room for them-t
selves; and throw a kind of slight upon the recei-ued' in
terpretations, only to advance their own." But, he adds,
*' the perfection of Scripture Is a point allowed, aud is
no pa,rt of the question between us : the main question
is, how we may be most secure of reaping the full bene
fits of that perfection ; , whether with the light of anti-.
quity before u'Sj or without it ? , . It might be she'wn,
that those who have least indulged their own fancies,
but have adhered strictly to antiquity, in the pritne
things, have done most honour to the perfection pf Scnp^
ture, and have kept the Rule of Faith entire." p. 395— r
397- Leig^i, In his Body of Divinity, p. 134, quotes an
excellent saying from :Roger Ascham ; — " Patres libentw
amplector, et recipio : doctrina enim ex veteri memoria
plenae an tiquitatis, plena dignitatis existit: sed recipio
patres, ut ip$I jubent se recipl, hpc est, si cpntineant se
in sua ditione, et non migrent In possessionem verbi
Dei," — See also Berriman's L, Moyer's Lect, p. 2^-?-15,
and the Preface to Knight's L, Moyer's Lect,
P, 1 13, 1. 9, Against any such deference being paid ta
these our spiritual forefathers, &c,] These objections are
taken frpm Daill^'s Treatise de Usu P-afrum, written
priginally in French, This >yprk was very ably an
swered by Matthew Scrivener, in a Latin Dissertatinn
adversus J, Dallaeum de usu Patrum. Lond. 1672,
P, 115. 1, 25. Descending still lower in tlie scale of
history,

APPENDIX. 343
history, this authority rapidly diminislies.] " Quo usque ex-
tendenda sit illorum aetas atque ordo, non omnium una
eademque est sententia : alii enim milleslmo a Christo
anno, sive seculo decimo, alii sexto, alii etiam quinto
sive anno quingentesimo eam terminant : neque negari
potest observatio Danasi aliorumque, qui in Orlente post
C-f RiLLUM Alex, in Occidente autem post Augustindm,
doctrinam et cultum Religionis evidenter declinasse no-
tarunt. Constat imprimis, quod post annum sexcente-
simum puritas doctrinae et cultus, augescentibus, Dei
justo judicio, erroribus et superStitionibus, magnam la-
bem passa sit : quodque libertas ministerii In asserenda
religione exinde fuerit minor, stabilita mpx ab initio
Saec. vii, tyrannide Papatus in Bonifacio III. per Pho-
cam Imperatorem." De Mbor, Comment, in Marckii
Compend. tom. i, p, 438,
Pl 117. 1. 22, If, in addition to these spedal grounds of
confidence, &c,] The particular gift, .called the " discern
ing of spirits," Bp, Horsley considers as bestowed for
the better government of the Church, and as corre
sponding to the office or station of those who held go
vernments" in the Church, comparing 1 Cor. xii. 10.
arid 28, See' Append, to his Ordination Serm, in vol,!.
p. 358, Dr. Hickes, in his Enthusiasm Exorcised, dis
cusses the peculiar nature of this gift more at large,
and considers It as extending to the discrimination of
miracles or prophecies wrought by evil spirits, frora
those which were wrought in confirmation of the truth.
In whatever it consisted, the exercise of it would un
questionably give an extraordinary weight of authority.
In matters of doctrine as well as of discipline. But any
pretensions of this kind alleged for the primitive Fa
thers, will necessarily involve the great question re
specting the continuance of miraculous powers in the
Church ; on which it is not within the scope of these
Lectures to dilate,
P, 118. 1. 23, They illustrate tlie diction and phraseolo
gy of the inspired Penmen.] See Waterland's Import, of
Trin, p, 365.
P, 119, 1. 6, They a.<isist in fixing the sense of contro
verted texts, &.C.] See Waterland, Mf sijpr. p. 366 — 371.
also 380—382.
2 4 P. 120.

344 APPENDIX.
p., 120, I, 9. No man, says Bishop Bull, can oppose
Catholic consent, &c.] The passage occurs In his Apo
logia pro Harmonia, sect, i. §, 6, " In dogmatis Theo-
logicis, a novaturiendi prurigine adeo alienus sumy ut
quaecunque Catholicorum Patrum et veterum Episco-
porum consensu comprobata sunt, etiamsi meum inge-
niolum ea non assequatur, tamen omni reverentia am-
plexurus sim, Nimirum non paucis experimentis mo-
nitus didiceram, cum adhuc juvenis Harmonianx scri-
berem, (quod mihi jam confirmata aetate persuasissimum
est) neminem Catholico consensu! repugnare posse,
quin Is (utcunque ipsi aliquantisper adblandiri videan-
tur Sacrae Scripturae loca nonnulla perperam Intellecta,
.et levicularum ratiuncularum phantasmata) tandem et
divinis Oraculis, et sanae ration! repugnasse deprehen-
datur." Bulli Opera, ed. Grabe, foi, 1703. The de
ference, however, which the Fathers always paid to the
Holy Scriptures, as the sole authoritative Rule of Faith,
Is sufficient to guide us in the deference which they
would have admitted to be due to themselves. " The
ancient Fathers," says Abp. Laud, " relied upon the
Scriptures, no Christians more ; and having tp do with
Philosophers, (men very well seen in all the subtleties
which natural .reason could teach, or learn) they were
often put to It, and did as often make It good, that
they ha^^ sufficient warrant to rely, so much as they
did, upon- Sxripture. In all which disputes, because
they were to deal with Infidels, they did labour to make
good; the aaithority of the Book of God, by such argu
ments as , unbelievers themselves could not but think
reasonable, if they weighed them with indifferency,"
Conference with Fisher, p. 49,
P. 121, 1. 1, What degree of deference is due to the
authority of human reason!] " Ita vero res haec intelli
genda est, ut Ration! usus suus in dijudicandis rebus
theologicis minime denegetur ; absque ratione enim
nihil confici potest : et Rationis usum rejicere velle,
esset oculos sibi eruere. Uti autem ilia veritatum reve-
latarum norma ac principium esse negatur, ut non se
cundum suum placitum et sententiam decidere possit,
ita ipsi instrument! functionem adjudicamus, hoc est,
facultatem dignoscendi, inferendi, et cpnferendi, circa
objecturo.

APPENDIX, 315
objectum, Non ceu lex et norma in dijudicandis re
bus fidei, sed ceu organum dijudicandi, ilia adhibenda
est. Hoc vero tenendum, quod Ratio aliter se habeat
postqiiam pravis habitibus corrupta, et usu et consuetu-
dine peccand! : concedentibus ipsis adversariis, praeju-
diciis imbuta, aequum ac justum de omnibus rebus judi
cium ferre non amplius queat. In rebus theologicis
distinguenda sunt ea quae ex ipsis Rationis principiis
constant, ab iis quae sunt supra Rationem : in prioribus
dijudicandis et nos Rationem normam facimus, in pos-
terioribus non nisi instrumentum. Nee negamus in S,
Literls omnia cum Ratione concilianda esse, quidquid
enim Ration! contradicit illud ceu falsum rejicimus ; sed
hoc negamus, omnia ad Rationem exigenda esse. Per
Rationem dijudicare possumus num aliquid possibile
esse possit, an vero contradictionem involvat ; sed mo
dum quo aliquid esse potest, illam in omnibus assequi
posse plane negamus : licet ergo ilia sit judicium falsi,
minime tamen sequitur illam normjim et principium
omnis veri esse," Stapferi Inst. Theol. Polem. tom. iii,
p, 450, 454,
" Fateor me non alia facultate pollere, qua aut de
sensu S, Scripturae, aut de dogmatis alicujus contradic-
tione judicem, nisi ilia quas nos homines a brutis ani-
mantibus distinguit, quam Rationem vulgo appellamus,
Huic an nimium tribuam ut judicari possit, libet hie
subjicere corollaria quaedam de usu Rationis. I, Con
troversiae generales de nsu et auctoritate Rationis in
Theologiae, plerumque in Logomachias abeunt, II, In
genere enim omnes, quotquot revelationes agnoscunt,
in duobus his principiis conveniunt : — 1, credendum esse,
quicquid a Deo vere revelatum est, etsi nobis id creditu
difficillimum videatur : — 2. quod Ration! contrariuni et
revera contradictorium est, pro Revelato non est haben
dum, III. Peccatur tantum in horum applicatione,"
Werenj'elsii Opusc. tom i. p. 200.
P, 122. I. 21. This is the legitimate province of Man's
Reason.] It can hardly be necessary to observe, that
Reason, is also presupposed to have been duly exercised
in determining the great previous question, respecting
the Divine authority of the Religion proposed to its
consideration. This privilege necessarily belongs to it,
" Deus

346 APPENDIX.
" Deus O. M, ne homo perpetuo In vita aberraret, ducem
illi actionum Rationem indidit. Haec cum a peccato cor-
rumpi se passa est, factum est ut in miserrlmum sta-
tum homo conjlceretur, Deus, qua est bonltas, homl-
nls misertus, videns rationem homini lapso erigeitdo at
que ex miseria liberando non sufficere, mittit Revela-
tionem, Rationique mandat ut liulc se subjiciat, atque
in homine regendo nullas sibi partes vendicet, nisi a
Revelatione concessas. Quid hie agit Ratio ? ante om
nia examinat, num hoc qUod revelatio divina dicitur,
revera a Deo sit ; 'quod nisi cernat, sine Insigri! temeri-
tate imperium hominis ab ipso Deo sibi concessum illi
tradere non potest : hoc vero quamprimum videt ex In-
dubitatis divinas revelationis criteriis, sine mora paret,
totamque, si modo ratlonalis est ratio, Dei verbo se
sUbmittit. Quis hie dicat revelationem rationis aucto-
ritati niti, quas nihil aliud agit, quam quod agnOscit ejus
auctoritatem, quam sine summa caecitate non potest
non agnoscere?" Werenfelsii Opusc. tom, I. p. 161,
" Patet Rationis non parvum circa Revelationem
usum esse. IUa nimirum Ve;ritates juxta notiones com
munes sive universales examinat, neque quidquam pro
vero agnoscit, nisi vel ostendatur Illud ex principiis suis
demonstrar! posse, vel saltern ut illis nort contrarium
sese approbare; unde etiam convinc! nequit Veritates
revelatas divinas esse, nisi illud externuiri Veritatis prin
cipium sese illi certis argumentis et characteribus insi-
tis adprobet. Primus ergo ejus usus versatur circa
Revelationis acceptionem. Et quoniam Revelatio stylo
humano est expressa, ilia sensum ejus ex regulis herme-
neuticis disquirit, illumque non ex Suis prineipiis infert,
sed ex verbo revelato deducit, et ilium scrutatur et il-
lustrat, ad dicentis porro scopum attendit, Et cum
illius sit ratiocinari, etiam Veritatem cum Veritate con-
fert, antecedentia cum consequentibus, legitimas inde
deducit consequentias, Veritates etiam In Verbo reve
lato detectas in systema redigit, et errores ¦veritati re-
velatae oppositos ex veritate xefutat, Illamque ad con-
scientlam homirium demonstrat. Tandem quia Ratio
novit Deum infinite plura revelare posse quam per
Rationem nota sunt, Mysteria eam ob causam quod ex
Rationis principiis demonstrar! nequeant, neque secun dum

APPENDIX, 347
dum Rationis principia ut normam examlnarl possint,
nonrejicit; sed ipsi sufficit ilia principiis non contra-
riari ; et propterea, de Revelationis necessitate convicta,
etiam de Mysteriorum necessitate facile convincitur,"
Stapferi Inst. Tlieol. Polem. tom, !, p, 297, 298,
P, 125, 1, 17. Tiiere are indeed in every branch of hu
man knowledge certain principles and certain facts, &c.]
" Inter rationes omnes quibus obscuris locutionibus lux
potest afferri, una ex praecipuis est, ad rei naturam at-
tendere; quae regula, cum palmaria sit, paulo distinctius
est exponenda, Igitur in llbris sacris supponi possunt
ideae rerum paene omnium quas vel sensibus percipi^
mus, vel ratione apprehendimus, coel! et astrorum, ter-
rae, &c. qualia ab hominibus concipiuntur, et eo tem
pore concipiebaritur quo libri sacr! script! sunt. Sic
supponuntur communes notiones tum metaphysicae,
tum physicae, turn mathematicae ; velut quod totum
majus sit sua parte, &c. His enim principiis omnis ra-
tiocinatio nititur, ac proinde quicumque scribunt, ista
et ejusinodi principia supponunt, Supponuntur etiam
a scriptoribus sacris axlomata practica, ut neminem
esse laedendum, gratum animum benefactoribus deberi,
aliaque id genus ; atque hoc est opus legis, seu lex ho-
minum cordibus inscripta, &c, Speciatim circa Deum
multa supponunt, ut ejus existentiam, potentiam, mi-
sericordiam, bonitatem, &c. uno verbo supponunt lu
men naturale. 1 Itaque cum rerum illarum notitia a
scriptoribus saeris supponatur, saepe fit ut locutiones
obscurae circa verba "ex rei natura possint illustrari, et
ad verum sensum adducantur. . . Recte statuunt Theo
logi, ea quae de Deo dicuntur Av^panrovaSiS)?, dso-!rpsira>s
intelligenda esse, quia scilicet rei natura id'suadet. . .
Atque haec est regula maxim! et perpetui in Scripturae
interpretatione usus, sed quae prudenter et perite adhi
benda est : non supponerida sunt ut natura nota, quae
revera non sunt : sed si perite haec regula adhibeatur,
difficultates circa res momentosissimas evanescant.''
J. A. Turretin de S. S. Interpr. par, ii. cap. ii. p. 249 —
251. ed. Frankf 12mo. 1776.
P. 127. 1. 16. That our sufficiency is of God.] " Equi-
dem quum humani sermonis similitudini Deus verbum
suum accommodavit, lubentes concedimus, posse ho-
minem.

348 APPENDIX.
minem, usu rationis praeditum ac regulis hermeneuticis
Instructum, sine peculiari gratiae lumine, sacri sermonis
sensum adsequi passim, atque in criticis, historicis,
geographicis dubiis enodandis satis feliciter versari.
At trade illi istiusmodi dicta, ubi agitur de regni Dei
mysteriis, quae nee oculus hominis sib! relicti videt, nee
auris audivit, tum haerebit in tenebris, nee pedem nisi
in praecipitia promovebit, Adde alia loca quae deprava-
tls Ipsius adfectibus moribusque perditissimis refragan-
tur ; ib! vero id serio aget, ut ilia aliovorsum, vi illata,
inflectat, eaque velut! injecta equuleo hermeneutico ex-
cruciabit tamdiu, donee quod ipse volet fateantur. , ,
Vides igitur quam necessarium sit interpret! divinum
lumen quod ex verbo Del mentem Illapsum ac Intra
praecordia admissum, collustret ac calefaciat animum,
pulsisque praejudicatarum opinionum tenebris ita dispo-
nat, ut quae scripturis continentur vera, sancta, saluta-
ria, vere, sancte, salutariter cognoscat. Quanquam
enim per se clara sint sacra oracula, lucemque sibi divi
nitus insitam quoquoversus spargant ; tamen si iriter-
pretis animo velut! velum oppansum sit, quod serenis-
simos illos verbi divini radios intercipiet, parum is inde
capiat emolument! ; homini similis qui oeulis captus, in
ipsa meridie, et inter medium quo circumfusus est soils
splendorem, pedem usquequaque allidit," Rambachii
Exerc. Hermeneut. p. 127 — 130, ed. Jenae. 12mo. 1728,
" Non negamus magnas esse Dei Spiritus partes in
hoc negotio, 1, Enim dum Scnpiwram •intelUgimus, eo
ipso Spiritus mentem percipimus, et ab eo illustramur,
2, Dotes et dispositiones, quarum ope possumus verum
Scripturee sensum detegere, quemadmodum atteritio,
docilitas, veritatis amor, affectuum compositio et seda-^
tio, aliaque id genus, sunt indubie dona Spiritus Sancti,
3. Speciatim dum practico modo Scriptures sensum cog-
noscimus, id est, tali modo ut ad praxin ejus praecepta
revocemus, ita in nobis agit Dei Spiritus ; nam qui non
divino aguntur Spiritu, eo se modo non gerunt ; theo-
retice quidem Evangel!! veritates possunt noscere, sed
ils non moventur : qui vero iis moventur, eo ipso a Spi
ritu Sancto moventur, sanctitatis et obsequii spiritum
habent, Itaque magnae hie sunt Spiritus partes, Sed
vero, quod dentur afflatus interni, quibus doceamur de
Scripturee

APPENDIX. 349
Scripturee sensu absque ratiocinationibus, quibus ilie de-
monstretur, id est quod negamus et pernegamus," Tur
retin de S. S. Interpr. p, 104,
P, 128, 1, 24, Is not to be eocpected as a spedal or ex
traordinary gift.] " Donum interpretandi Scripturas sta
tim ab ascensione Domini in coslosse exseruit in Apo
stolis, , , Quemadmodum vero post Ecclesiam Christ!'
plantatam generatim dona miraculosa desierunt: ita ha-
bitum quoque infusum interpretandi sacras literas expe-
tere, nusquam jussi sumus, vel in ecclesia plantata ex-
spectare, Adquisitus potius iste est habitus,: quo nunc
gaudere licet, sub assistente quidem Spiritus sancti gratia,
non tamen sine studio ac labore, sed opera nostra inter-
eedente pedetentim obtinendus : fere ut linguas nobis ig-
nptas, cum ad intelligentiara verb! divini tum ad praeco-
nium ejus forte opportunas, adhibita dili^entia sensim.
nunc discimus, quarum habitum- totum simul Apostolis
effusio Spiritiis sancti largiebatui;," ' J. E. Pfeifferi Inst.
Herm. Sacr. p, 22, This important distinction between
the common gifts of the Spirit, the gifts of 'Sanctifica
tion, which all Christians are bound to pray for and to
expect; and the .special gifts, the gifts of Edification,
which men are not ordinarily bound to expect, and
which have been vouchsafed only in cases of special
exigence ; is considered at large by Dr. Hickes, in his
discourse, entitled. The Spirit of Enthusiasm Exorcised;
the whole of which deserves attentive consideration,
as striking effectually at the root of all fanatical preten
sions, and being applicable to many of the delusions of
the present day.
P, 129. 1. 22, Tlie light of human learning, bearing
some faint analogy, to the light of inspiration.] See,Bp.
Horsley's admirable sermon on this subject, preached
at an Ordination at Gloucester, Vol. i, Serm. 14.
P, 130, 1. 4. While therefore we entirely reject, &c,]
" Falso accusamur a Pontificiis, quasi privatum cujus-
que spiritum in interpretatione sacri codicis sequere-
mur:,eas potius interpretandi regu'las^ sequimur, quae
ex communi orationis, vel ex pecuUar! Scripturae, re-
rumque in illis propositarum, indole repetiuntur. En-
thuslastls : hoc objiciant, non nobis, Nos talem TSiav
sjriAuinv improbamus, cum maxime atque aTroroficuf nega mus

350 APPENDIX.
mus In dijudicandis doctrinae caslestis capitibus, ad ar-
bitrarlum proprii cordis dictamen remitti quemquam
posse, nisi omnia destlnato consilio vellmus reddere In-
certlsslma, aut omnino in hominum Fanaticorum som-
nia Incldere," J. E. Pfdfferi Inst. Herm. Sacr. p. 24.
" Non est igitur, quod segues expectemus nescio
quam Illuminationem nobis oseltantlbus In pectora de-
lapsurum, quae nobis divinam Scripturae auctoritatem
persuadeat ; utendum est ratione, quam Deus nobis
dedit : hie In primis intendenda est ejus vis : nus
quam melius illam Impendere possumus. Regat modo
Deus rationem Spiritu suo sancto, ut haec facultas ab
ipso sanctificata, et liberata a servitute peccati pra-
varumque cupiditatum, a quibus misere saepe excaeca-
tur, a quibus pessima principia saepe mutuatur, qui-.
bus operam totles commodat ; ratiocinetiir hie pro
Auctore suo, ex principiis ab eo datis, secundum leges
ab eo praescrlptas ; eoque, Duce Deo, venlat, ut videat
eundem esse auctorem suum, et ejus Ubri quem sacram
Scripturam vocamus ; eundemque Deum, qui ration!
subjecit hominem, rationem subjecisse revelation!, quam
hoc libro comprehendere voluit." Werenfelsii Opusc.
tom. i. p. 162.

SERMON V.

P. 139. 1. 4. Tlie critical meaning of the word ipSiot6-
fLoZvTu] See Schleusner's and Blel's Lexicons, ElsWeri
Observ, Sacrae, Wolfii Curae Phlloldglcae, and Poole's
Synopsis in locum.
Ibid, ll 34. The Scriptures themselves are not pres^ted
to us in a systematic form.] " Nothing seems to have
been less the Intention of any of the Evangelists, than
to compose a system of fundamental principles. In
struction in fundamentals In that age was orally deli
vered. The general design of the Evangelists seems to
have been nothing raore, than to deUver in vnritlng a
simple

APPENDIX. 351
simple unerabelUshed narrative of our Lord's principal
miracles ; to record the occurrences and actions of his
life, which went immediately to the completion of the
ancient prophecies, or to the execution of the scheme
of man's redemption ; and to register the most Inter*
esting maxims of Religion, and Morality, which were
contained In his discourses. The principles of the
Christian Religion are to be collected neither from a
single Gospel,, nor from all the four Gospels, nor from
the four Gospels with the Acts and the Epistles ; but
from the whole code of Revelation, consisting of the
canonical books of the Old and New Testament : and
for any article pf Faith the authority of a single writer,
where it is express and unequivocal, is sufficient."
Horsley's Iracts in Contr. with Priestley, p. 253.
Stapfer thus combats the objections brought against
Christianity by unbelievers, from the want of systematic
method in the Sacred Writings. " Succedunt his non-
nuUae quae contra N. T. libros afferuntur oljectiones.
Primo quidem hoc Naturalistae deslderant, quod doc
trina Evangelica non In Systema allquod redacta sit,
sed quod ArticuU Religionis hujus passim Ih Apostolo-
nim scriptls nuUo ordine ac nulla methodo tradantur ;
quodque momentoslssiraa hujus Religionis capita hinc
inde exEpIstolIs ad commnniones sive Ecclesias, imo
ad homines privatos exaratis sint colUgenda. Contra
vero, divinae Sapientiae, s! Immediate ab ea haec prove--
nisset disciplina, longe convenientius fuisse, ut omnia
ea qtiae ad disciplinam baud necessaria erant in unum
redigerentur Systema. — Primo quidem, systematicam
niethodum noil contemnimus, et praecipue respectu
erudltorum insignem potest habere usum ; cum omnes
Christianas disciplinae veritates juxta methodum hancce
in certum disponatur ordinem, illarumque connexio,
hannpnia, sive cpnsensus pstendatur, atque quompdo
una Veritas ex altera fluat, unp quasi conspectu videri
possit : ipse propterea Apostolus Paulus comm^ndat
'TirtiTUTraicnv e^^fiv raiv vytaiv6vr.u>v Xoyuiv, ut bene aliquod
disciplinae Chrlstlanae Systema nobis formemus. — Se
cundo, libri sunt vel historid dogmaticis mixti, vel
pure dogrnatid ; posteriores prioribus quasi superstructi
sunt : hie ergo N. T. llbrorum ordo est, ut prhno histo ria

352 APPENDIX.
ria quaedam fundament! loco ponatur; ut deinceps Chrls
tlanae disciplinae dogmata illi superaedificentut. Prius
in Evangeliis continetur, posterius in Epistolis-. In His-
toriae recensione Evangelistas elegantissimum obseir-
vasse ordinem et modo simplicissimo omnia propO-
suisse, nemo est qui neget. Si vero reliqua Apostolo-
rum scripta consideramus, ea vel integruni tradunt
doctrinae Christianae compendium, vel controversias ae
difficultates circa Articulos nonnullos motas dirimunt.
Ad priora pertinent ex, gr. Paul! ad Romanes et Ephe-
sios Epistolae, in quibus Religionis Christians capita,
neminis non consensu, methodo hominibus ad veritatem
adducendis concinna maxime tradita- sunt. In iis au
tem, in quibus controversiae dirimuntur, semper obser
vari ordinem a Sacrorum Oraculorum Interpretibus, sae-
pissime ostensum est. — Tertio, non inficiamur doctri
nam Christianam tunc temporis nondum in artem fii-
isse redactam, uti hodie; neque tot tricis ac inutilibus
quaestioriibus ac distinctionibus fuisse refertam, Inveni
in Theologi cujusdam celeberrimi Systemate ultra nona-
ginta solum de Christi persona distinctiones : at Chris-
tuS et Apostoli modo simplicissimo, omni huinanae sci-
entiae apparatu vacuo, totam illam disciplinam tradide-
runt. , , Quarto, Christus ac Apostoli in concionibus
suis auditoribus ac discipulis sese accommodabant, me-
thodoque illis temporibus familiar! us! sunt, methodo
ad persuadendum et convincendum efficacissima," Stop-
feri Inst. Theol. Polem. tom, ii, p, 1173 — ll75. •
P, 141. 1, 22, It is not every truth clearly dedudhle
from Scripture, or manifestly necessary to be believed, ihat
can with propriety be called fundamental.] " Articulus fi
dei est talis Veritas ad quam credendam homo vel per
Religionem naturalem vel reVelatam' obligatur, Fun-
damentale vocatur, quod ad ipsam rei essentiam perti-
net, ut illo sublato ipsa rei forma atque essential. pereati
Unde articulus fidei fundameritalis est talis Veritas quas
ad ipsam Religionis Christianae essentiam pertinet, ut
ilia sublata ipsa etiam vera Religionis forma atque es
sentia pereat," Stapferi, ut supr. tom, I. p, 513,
" Dogma fundamentale est tale, qiiod est necessaria
credendum ut quis dicatur habere fidern illam salvificam,
a qua Evangeiium salutem hominum suspendit. Error
funda-

APPENDI5(i .iS3
fundameritalis est, qui prorsus impedit, quominus aliquis
de dogmatibus fundamentalihus posdt esse persuasus, aut
qui tollit ex animo errantis fidem quae debetur dogmati
- fundamental!, Non dico, qui pugnai cum dogmate
fundamental!, aut ilU opposltus est, sed qui tollit fidem,
quae debetur tali dogmati." Werenfelsii Opusc. tom, !.
p. 461.
P. 142, 1. 20, The number of those which are to be re
garded as fimdamental will be too much circumscribed,
&c,] " Non deherit articuU fundamentales nimium .mul-»
tiplicari, uti fit a Papistis, pro proprio lubita,; sed nee
cum Sodnianis adeo minui, ut sex tantum de Deo sint
creditu necessaria, et de Christo vix quidquam. . . Non
sufficit Articulorum fundamentalium verba tenere, sed
et sensum genuinum accipere decet. Unde Pantificii^
cum aliis hea-etids, Apostasiee recte insimulantur ex
2 Thess. ii. 3. etiamsi Symbolum et Decalogum externe
retineant. Quando autem Articulus aliquis unus vere
creditur, et alius additur per quem priorem destru! cre-
dentes utrumque non vident, uti in Omnipraesentia hu-
manas naturae Christ! Lutherana locum habere id ob->
servamus, non debet his hominibus propterea Apostasia
tribui." Marckii Chr. Theol. MeduUa, cap. iii. §, xv.
xvi. P, 145, 1. 19. All which are but ambiguous or defective
criteria.] De Moor, in his Commentary on Marckius's
Compendium, thus animadverts pn some of these un
certain tests of fimdamental doctrines.
" Non sunt ArticuU necessarl! aestimandi. a. Ex Univer-
sali omnium Christianum nomen prqfitentium consensu : sId
tamen Vult Smalcius contra Smigl, Hobbes libro de.Cive,
Edv, Herbert Baro de Cherbury in genere, uniccmi Verita
tis normam in necessariis fadt Consensum ipsum universalemt
Sfisd, L Fides, adeoque necessitas Articulorum Fidel, aes-r
timanda est non ex consensione hominum aut sectarum,
sed ex Verbs) Dei, Rom, x,-l7, &c, 2. Christianum no
men adoptarunt saepe hominum monstra, quibus pro Fi
dei articulis fuere somnia delirantium et quidvis statu-
endl vel oppugnandi licentla : horum requireretur cOn-
sensio, ut quid sit Articulus fundamentalis statyatur?-
3. Nisi haec nota fallit, non habuerunt Apostoli pro Fun^
damentalibus, Adventum Christi in carne, Resurrectio-
A a nem

354 APPENDIX.
nem mortuorum, Justificationem per fidem Jesu, &c, qui
bus aliisque capitibus jam olim fuit contradictum. 4. Imo
sic vix ullum datur caput Christianae Fidei, cui non una
alterove tempore contradictum fuit, 5, Sic soli ill! Ubri
habend! pro Canonicis, qui ab omnibus Christianorum
sectis semper tales ha.h!ti fuerunt j at nullus fere datur
Liber, cui non fuit contradictum, 6. Hoc Ipsum per-
quam dubium est, quinam sint illi ArticuU qiil. omnium
consensione Christianorum probantur : Imo quot Arti
culus ilie Hobbesianus, Jesum esse Christum ilium qui
venturus erat, non Impllcat controversa ?
/3. Neque ex Explidta Revelatione totidem Uteris in
Scriptura Sacra, quod voluerunt olim Manes, Anus,
Eutyches, "&c; sic hodie Sodhiani, Ostorodius, aln^ sic
ex parte quoque Methodistce recentiores. Hoc enim nee
necessariis omnibus commune, neque etiam his soUs
proprlum: In lis quippe quae In Scripturis fevelantur
consideranda Veritas, utilitas, et necessitas : priora duo
ubique obtlnent ; at non putandus salute excidisse, qui
non explicite noverit cuncta In toto S. Codice Uteris
consignata, y. Neque ex argumento Practico, cum non sola praxi
absolvatur Religio, Cum itaque Sodniani hoc ArticuU
necessarl! et fundamentalis dicunt Criterium quod dl-
recte spectet ad Obedientiam Deo Chri&toque praestan-
dam, seu studium pietatis ac bonorum operum ; Crite
rium ponunt non adaequatum rei, , , , quia non solum
praecepta faclendorum, sed etiam dogmata credendorum
ad salutem sunt necessaria : imo non per operum obedi
entiam, sed per fide! assensum justlficari dicitur pec-
cator, S, Non ex complexu Symboli Apostolid vulgo dicti :
quia 1. hoc de Cultu Del non agit, sed habet tantum
Articulos theoreticos, qui spectant ad Fidem, 2, Arti
culos omnes Fide! explicite non contlnet, licet praeter
expresse illlc memorata, per consequentiam plura inde
ellci queant : sic nihil habet explicite de jProvideritia, de
Satlsfactione ChristL 3, Nee ab Apostolis, sed ab Ec
clesia antiqua successive pro ratione crescentlum haere-
sium, profectum est. , , .',
e. Neque. tandem ex mera Ecchsiae deterrnvrntione, uti
fit in Papdtu. , , , Inter errores propter quos Leo X.
; . Lutherum

APPENDIX, 355
Lutherum anathemate feriit, in Bulla Edmrge hie quo
que refertur : " Certum est, in manu Ecclesiae aut Papae
prorsus non esse statuere Articulos Fidei," Ast hoc
pacto, 1 , petitur to Iv apxh et priusquam Ecclesiae de-
terminatio pro Criterio habeatur Articulorum Funda
mentalium, probandum foret Ecclesiae, in specie Ro
manae hodiernae, deferendum esse Fidei Cathollcas et
Salutis arbitrium, cujus contrarium visum fuit, 2, Non
tolluntur per hanc notam difficultates circa formationem
Articulorum Fundamentalium, sed augentur potius,"
De Moor, Comment, iri Marckii Compend. tom, i, p, 475 —
477. See alsoDr, Waterland's Charge on Fundamentals,
p, 30 — 60. 8vo, 1735, where he enumerates ten of these
exceptionable tests, and refutes them at large.
P, 146. 1. 5, Among the many directions which have
bekn given for our guidance in this respect, &c,] No sub
ject, perhaps, has more generally occupied the attention
of systematic Theologians, than this of ascertaining what
are fundamental truths in Revealed Religion, The ge
neral principle here laid down is adopted from Dr.
Waterland's Discburse on Fundamentals, in which he
enters largely into a review of what had been done by
other Divines preceding him in the inquiry; and his
references to authors who had expressly written on the
subject are very copious. He has also incidentally
touched upon the same tonic, in his Importance of the
Trinity, ch. 1, 2, 3. where he shews upon what grounds
that doctrine ought to be received as a fundamental
article: and in ch. 4. he urges many arguments to
shew, that no communion ought to be held with those
who openly reject the fundamental doctrines of Chris
tianity. To these two excellent works, which are so
full of matter as not easily to admit of abridgment, I
must refer the reader for more particular information.
These will lead him also to a variety Of the best au
thors, didactic or controversial, who have pursued the
inquiry to its utmost extent : among whoih are Mede,
Chillingworth,' Hoornbeck, Hammond, Stillingfleet,
Dean Sherlock,* Clagett, Frederic Spanheim the young
er, Puffendorf, Witsius, Turretin, &c. To these may
be added Werenfels, in his Dissertation de Ratione
nniendl Ecclesias Protestantes, cap, 3-^6,, Buddei Inst,
A a 2 Theol,

356 APPENDIX.
Theol. Dogm, lib, I. cap. 4, 5, De Moor, Comment, In
Marckii Compend, tom, !, p, 475 — 485. and two short
tracts by Abp^ Synge on Catholic Christianity, and on
the Fundamentals of Christianity, in the third volume
of his worksy 12mo. Lond. 1744. There Is also a va
luable Discourse de Fundamentalibus, delivered as £^
Concio ad Clerumy by Dr. J. Burton, Fellow of Eton,
and printed at Oxford, 1756.
P. 148. 1. 3. Tlie points thus assumed are to be re
garded as forming the basis of the Christian system.]
'- Necessarii et fundamentales dicendi sunt ArticuU,
1. quorum necessitas expressis Scripturae testimoniis
asseritur, sive denunciatiorie mortis facta non tenenti-
bus COS, sive Salutis cum illis conjurictione : ita, pro
necessaria Fide Trinitatis, seu pluraUtatis PersonarUm
divinarum, vide negative 1 Joh, ii. 23, positive Joh.
xvii. 3. pariter de Christo, Eph. ii, 12. 1 Cor. iu. 11.
Act, iv, 12, de Justificatione, Rom. iii. 24, de mortuo
rum Restirrectiohe, 1 Cor, xv,^2. III! dicendi sunt ne
cessarii, absque quibus Salutis hostree opus cotisistere non
potest; quorum adeo certus cum Salute nostra juxta
Scripturae normam deprehenditur nexus, sive conside-
randi slntut causas Salutis magis vel minus principales,
dum.sublatis causis tollitur effectus, sive ut media ad
fidem ducentia, dum negatis mediis neque finis expec-
tari. potest, Ita Causae Salutis principales sunt Gratia
Dei, Rom, iii. 24, meritum Christi et Justifi'eatio per
Illud, Rorii. iii, 24, 25. Sanctificatio Spiritus. regeneran-
tis; Job, iii. 5, Tit, iii. 4 — f. CauSa .instrumentalis est:
Fides, Joh. iii, 16. 36. Act. x. 43, Hebr, xi, 6. medium
adi firiem eundem Salutis tendens est quoque Resipis-
centia, Luc, xiii, 3, 5, — Possunt ArticuU hi aid aliqua
capita reducl, quae inter Fuhdamentalia numeranda esse,
ex Criteriorum modo datorum applicatione, sponte li
quet, 1, Ad ptindpium credendi, ceii Scripturam. pro
^^oirvs6s-io habendam. 2, Ad cognitionem Dd Triimius
utperfectissimi, ac perfectiontes suas. declarantis, tum in
op'eribus Creationis, Consei-vationis ac Redemlionis, turn.
in horum Proposito aeterno, ilUusque Perfectiones dig-
num ac c6nvenientem culimn. , 3-. Ad hominis irAse-- »
mm, quSe peccaium et posjiom in se eoritinet,. ad omnes
extensam. 4, Ad cogmtjorSem' Christi Me^atoris, re
spectu

APPENDIX. 357
spectu Naturarum, respectu Munerum, respectu Sta-
twrnn, respectu Benefidonim." De Moor, ut supr. tom, i,
p. 477— 479. '
Concerning the doctrine of the Trinity, as a funda
mental article, nothing more full or satisfactory can be
desired than Dr, Waterland's elaborate work, already re
ferred to, on the Importance of the doctrine, A more
concise view of it is taken in his Familiar Discourse on
the Trinity, a single sermon, 8vo, 1720, See also Bp,
Home's Sermon on the same subject.
That it is no less essential to entertain a right appre
hension of the condition of man, in the relation he ge
nerally bears to God, and particularly as a fallen crea
ture. Is thus illustrated by Stapfer, in his Chapter de
Articulis Fundamentalibus, " Fundamentum Religio
nis est certa queedam hominis ad Deum relatio, quae fluit
ex opere aliquo Dei circa hominem, ex quo officium
Deum ad Salutem cognoscendi et colendi oritur, ut et
modus quo id fieri debeat. Alius vero est status homi
nis integri, alius peccatoris : qua Peccator enim, am
plius ad Dei glOriam vivere nequit. Unde alius sal-
vandi modus est hominem integrum, alius Peccatorem,
-qui iterum illi statu! restituendus est, in quo ad Dei
gloriam vivere possit cum Salute propria. Unde aliiid
fundamentum est Religionis Naturalis, ad quamhomO
•Peccator qua homo ObUgatUs est ; aliud ReVela'tae, ad
quam qua Peccator obstringitur, BrgO Religio Pecca
toris utramque Religionem Naturalem et Revelatam
complectitur, Fundamehturn Religionis Naturalis est,
Creatio et Procidentia. Finis, ut homo cum propria Sa
lute Dei ad Gloriam vivat, Unde Religionis hujus Ve
ritas primaria et maxime fundamentalis haec est, Homi
nem per dependentiam suam a Deo, ut omnium rerum
causa prima et fine ultimo, et propter 'finem ad querii
creatus est, obUgatum esse ad actiones suas secunduih
Voluntatem D^i dirigendas et iri Dei Glorificatione ae-
ternam Salutem quaerendam,
" In hac autem Immediate sequentes continentur Ve
ritates, quae adeo non minus ac base ipsa fundamentales
«unt: — u. Deum existere, /3. Eundem esse omnium
rerum Causam primam et finem ultimum, y. Adeoque
omnes in se continefe Perfectiones, quae ad id requi-
A a 3 runtur.

358 APPENDIX,
runtur. 8, Hominem omniaque reliqua a Deo creata
fuisse, e. Cum omnia ad sapientissimum finem diri-
gantur, dari Providentiam. f. Hominem sui juris non
esse, sed a Deo in omnibus actionibus suis dependere.
^, Voluntatem Dei esse actionum ejus normam. yj. Dari
Religionem, d. Deum ipsum quasrentibus esse Remu-
neratorem, cum in ipsius Glorificatione aeterna; Salus
obtinetur, i, Animam esse immortalem,
" Si nunc ex Articulis hisce, qui cum Religionis fun-
damento immediate connex! adeoque primarii sunt, tan-
quam ex principiis alii demonstrentur, illi secimdarii sunt,
qui quidem non debent negari, sed possunt ignorari,,; ,
Finis Religionis Revelatae est homini Peccator! medium
liberationis pstendere ; sive quomodo ex statu moraliter
imperfecto liberatus iterum cum propria Salute ad glo
riam Del esse queat, Fundamentum est aliquod opus
divinum circa Peccatorem, quod, ex ipso hujus Religio
nis fine, aliud esse non potest, quam Liberatio sive Re-
demtio. Unde etiam S, Script, opus hoc ceu Religio
nis fundamentum proponit, 1 Cor. vi. 20. In quo Pec
cator totus a Deo pendet. Medium autem illud, quod
homini revelatur, est Jesus Christus, qui faetus est uni
ca atque perfectissima Salutis nostrae causa, Funda
mentum enim aliud nemo potest ponere, praeter jactum,
quod est Jesus Christus, 1 Cor. iii, 11, Ex his patet,
Veritatem Religionis Revelatae primariam et maxime
fundamentalem hanc esse, Jesus Christus ceu unica
atque perfectissima Salutis Causa ab homine Peccatore
agnoscendus et recipiendus ; Deusque propterea a toto
homine, hoc est, Anima et Corpore, glorificandus est.
:Ad hoc enim mysterium inculcandum et expUcandum
tota tendit Revelatio, et omnia Religionis Revelatae
dogmata ad Veritatem hanc cognoscendam vel suppo
nuntur, vel in ea continentur, vel ex ea fluunt et deri-
vantur, Et quaecunque alia in S, Script, dicuntur, vel
historiae, vel typi, vel prophetiee, vel exempla, omnia
hue faciunt, ut Doctrina haec illustretur et declaretur,
Unde si fundamentum hoc et Veritas primaria reliqua-
Tum omnium et fons et scopus inconcussa/manet, etiam
Religionis Revelatae essentia salva manet atque incon-
cussa ; hac vero vel negata vel Impugnata, sImul tota
Revelata Religio In complexu suo negatur vel Impug- natur.

APPENDIX. 359
Tiatur, Quicquid ergo immediate ex hac Veritate fluit,
illud ad Articulos fundamentales primi ordinis pertinet,
et ad Deum cum propria Salute cognoscendum et co-
lendum requiritur, sive ad Salutem creditu factuque
absolute necessarium est," Inst. Theol. Polem. tom. !.
p. 540—545.
P, 148, 1, 21. The acknowledgment of our Lord Jesus
Christ as tlie Mediator between God and man, combining
in his pei'son the twofold nature, human and Divine, &c.]
Dr. Priestley acknowledges, that " if the doctrine of
the Trinity be true," (in which that of our Lord's Di
vinity is necessarily included,) " it is no doubt in the
highest degree important and interesting." See Hors
ley's Tracts, p. 306.
" In the sound and solid view of theological contro
versies," says Mr, Whitaker, " the first object of all
controversy is the doctrine of the Trinity. This con
cerns the very foundation stone of our Religion, This
affects the very pillar and ground of the truth. If this
doctrine be false, then nine tenths of the Christians
through every age and in every country have been
guilty of idolatry ; of an idolatry indeed, not so gross as
that of the Heathens, because not the worship of devils
In the place of God ; yet of an idolatry more gross than
that of the Papists at present, because not merely the
worship of saints and of angels, in .subordination to God ;
but the worship of a creature along with the Creator,
placing him equally with God upon the throne of the
Universe, giving God a partner in his empire, and so
deposing God from half his sovereignty. And if the
doctrine be true, then the opposers of it are bold and
blasphemous abusers of the faith ; are Uke the giants of
old, brandishing their arms directly against heaven ;
and are vainly endeavouring to tear down our blessed
Redeemer from the throne of the Godhead there,"
Origin of Arianism, p, 4, 5.
The learned Mede, after defining Fundamentals oj'
Salvation to be such Articles as " without the know
ledge and belief thereof we can neither invocate the ,
Father aright, nor have that faith and reliance upon
Him and his Son, our Mediator Jesus Christ, which is
requisite to Remission of Sins and the hope of the Life
A a 4 to

360 APPENDIX,
t.o come,'' adds, 'f How far this ratio of a fundamental
Article will stretch, I know npt; but believe it wtU
fetch In most of the Articles of the Apostles' Creed.
And by it also those two main errors of the Socinians,
the one denying the Divine nature, the other the Satis
faction of Christ, may be discerned to be fundamental.
For without the belief of the first, the Divine Majesty
cannot be rightly, that is incommunicably, worshipped,
so as to have no other Gods besides him, : for he that be
lieves npt Christ to be cbnsubstantial with the Father,
and yet honours him with tlie same worship, worships
not the Father incommunicably ; which is the formalis
ratio of the -worship of the true God, from whom we
look for Eternal Life. And without the belief of the
Second, the" Satisfaction of Christ, there can be, I sup*
poscj no saving Faith or reliance npon Christ for for
giveness of Sin," Epistle 83, p, 868, ed, foi, 1677.
The subject of Fundamentals is touched upon in some
other of his letters to Hartlib and Durasus, from Ep.
82. to Ep. 88, inclusive,
. P. 149. 1. 9, Tlie same may be said respecting ihe con
ditions of Salvation.] "By a condition of the Gospel-Cove
nant is .jjroperly to be understood, not whatever is com
manded or required, but that only which is required at tlie
peril of one's soul, i, e, on which a man's eternal Life
and Salvation does so much depend, that the same be
ing performed a man attains Salvation, and not other
wise. Again, such a condition is twofold, either as be
ing absolutely required, at the peril of our squI?, or
necessary to Salvation, or only on a supposition. The
inward works of Faith, Repentance, &c, are absolutely
required unto Salvation. But the fruits, or outward
works of Faith and Repentance, (under which are com
prehended in Scripture all other Christian Virtues,
whence the said outward works are wont to be denoted
by a good life or holy conversation,) are required only On
a supposition that God grants life and opportunity.
This being premised concerning the nature of a Gos
pel-Condition, it follows, that one and the same Is a
Condition properly so called of the Gdspel-Covenamt,'
and of our Justification by the Gospel-Covenant, For
first, Nothing is required in the Gospel-Covenant ,o&?o-
lutely.

APPENDIX, SGi
kitely, at the peril of our souls, but what is required to
our Justification, — Secondly, Nothing is required in the
Gospel-Covenant at the peril of one's soul, even on
supposition, but what is also so far required to our Jus-
ti-fieation. — ^Tlie foundation of both Propositions is con
tained in this third, that in a man's Justification God
confers on him a right to Salvation, Hence arises this
clear consequence, that nothing can be required in the
Gospel to obtain or retain our right to Eternal Life or
Salvation, which is not also required to obtain' or retain
our Justification," Wells on tlie Covenants, part ii, ch, 6,
p, 149, 150,
P. 150, 1, 14. Its efficacy in tlie work of our Sanctifi
cation.] " The Salvation effected for us by the renewing
of the Holy Ghost, is represented in the Scriptures as
corresponding to every part of our ruin, as an instance
of Grace, and to which we had no claim by nature. If
onr old man be corrupt, through the loss of the Divine
Image and similitude, by which our Understandings are
darkened and our Wills perverted ; by this we are renew
ed again in Knowledge after the image of Him who creat
ed us, which is called our new man, created after God, in
righteousness and true holiness. If the cppo'vyj/Lta a-apxh; or
natural coricapiscence hangs a weight on our affections,
and inclines them to earth, the (ppovriixa. ¦mnifxaToc, or
spiritual desire, is a balance against the carnal mind,
and restores the Will to its freedom, which is the glo
rious liberty of the Sons of God," &c, Ridley's Sermons
on tlie Divinity and Operations of the Holy Ghost, p. 203,
P, 151. 1. 14, T%e Christian Sacraments andthe Chris
tian Priesthood.] The necessity of the Sacraments is
largely discussed by Dr, Bennet, in his Confutation of
Quakerism, ch, 24, 25, 26, That of the Priesthood is
fully investigated in Dr, Hickes's Treatises on the sub
ject, and in Hughes's prefatory Dissertation to his edi
tion of Chrysostom on the Priesthood, 8vo, Cantab.
1/10, Both subjects are frequently and copiously en
larged upon by Leslie, in his several controversial writ
ings with the Quakers, particularly in his Discourses on
Water-Baptism, and on the Qualifications requisite to
administer the Sacraments. See his Works, vol, ii,
p, 669— 713, and 719—757- See also Scrivener's Body
: ' ' oft

362 APPENDIX,
of Divinity, ch. 33, and Sherlock on Religious Assem
blies, p, 125— 133,
P, 154. 1. 6, Respecting the Covenants entered into by
the Almighty with mankind.] " A Covenant Is nothing
else but an agreement solemnly made between two
distinct parties, with Conditions mutually to be observ
ed, as in that between Laban and Jacob, Gen, xxxi, 52.
So likewise between God and Man, a stipulation and
re-stlpulatlon is made, that the one should perform the
part of a Patron and Lord, and the other of a faithful
Servant to him. This Covenant is but twofold in gene
ral, however It be diversified according to the several
occasions of revealing the same. The first was properly
a Covenant of Nature ; the second of Grace. The Co
venant of Nature was first made with Adam at his
creation, wherein was bestowed on him, not only such
faculties and perfections of being as necessarily tended
to the natural perfection of man ; but superadded cer
tain supernatural graces which might dispose him with
facility to fulfil the Law and the Will of God, Not
withstanding which, he disobeying God, forfeited those
more special aids and accomplishments, and so dissolved
that Covenant. God proceeded not upon faithless man
according to the rigour of his Justice ; but out of his
free inscrutable favour Inclined to renew a Covenant
with him again, and that was in a third Person, not
¦with false Man immediately as before. And this Per
son, through whom he thus covenanted a second time
with man, was the Man Christ Jesus : and than these
are no more Covenants really. Yet because this se
cond, of sending his Son as a Mediator between God
and Man, had such different forms and faces upon it,
according to the several Oeconomies or Dispensations
it pleased God to make to man, it is often In holy
Scripture distinguished into the Old and New : as by
St. Paul to the Galatians, saying. These two are the two
Covenants, the one from Mount Sinai; tlie otiier from
Mount Sion or Jerusalem, Gal. iv, 24, And to the He
brews; If the first Covenant had been faultless, then
shoidd no place have been found for the second; Heh. viii,
7. Where he spake of the Covenant of Moses, and
that of the Gospel. . . But that which is often called the

APPENDIX, 308
the New Covenant, or the Covenant of the Gospel, is,
according to the substance, of an ancienter date than
that made either with Abraham or Moses ; being the
same which was made with Adam the second time in
Paradise, . But it is called the New Covenant, because
It, appeared but newly In respect of its dress and clearer
Revelation, at Christ's appearing. And therefore St.
John excellently expresses this, when he seemeth to
speak on both sides, saying, Brethren, I write no new
Commandment to you, but an old Commandment, which ye
had from the beginning. Again, a new Commandment I
write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you.
1 John ii, 7, 8, signifying unto us in what sense the
Gospel was New, and in what Old, It was New in com
parison of the more conspicuous manifestation of it : it
was Old in respect of its ordination. For to this end,
the Apostle to the Colossians speaking of the Gospel,
calleth it tlie Mystery which liath been hid from ages and
from generations, but now is made manifest, &c. Coloss. i,
26," Scrivener's Course of Divinity, ch. xxxiv, p, 162,
163, See also Wells on the Covenants, ch, 1, 2, 3, 4,
Ibid. 1. 22. Every intermediate dispensation forms a
part only of the second Covenant.] It is very important,
towards an accurate interpretation of the Sacred Writ
ings, to discriminate between what are, strictly speak
ing,: distinct Covenants, and what are only different Dis
pensations of the same Covenant, Scrivener, in the
chapter just quoted, notices the confusion that is often
made in treating of the Old and New Testament, from
not observing in what respects these Covenants and
. Dispensations agree, or differ from each other. The
first Covenant terminated with the Fall, The second
Covenant commenced immediately after the Fall, and
will continue to the end of the world. The different
Dispensations, however, of this latter Covenant, some
times called the Old and New Covenants, agree in cer
tain respects, and differ in others. They agree, in that
the substance of both is the same : they agree in their
Author : they agree in the principal Mediator of both,
Jesus Christ, tlie same yesterday, to day, and for ever :
. they agree as to their main end, the glory of God and
the Salvation of mankind : they agree, in that both were
given

864 APPENDIX.
given not immediately from God, but through a Me
diator, On the other hand, they differ as to the Persons
by whom they were delivered, Moses being only man,
but Christ both God and Man : the Law was a type or
shadow only, the Gospel the substance : the Law was
temporary, the Gospel perpetual : the Law had orily
temporal promises and penalties ; the Gospel, spiritual
and everlastingi — But in this twofold division of the
Old and New Testaments, the former must be under
stood to Include the Patriarchal as well as the Mosaic
Dispensation. Accordingly, soirie make the division
threefold, instead of twofold. This is noticed by Marckius
in his Christianas Theol, Medulla, cap. xvii, de Foedere
Oiatiee, where he observes, "Foederis hujus Gratiae
Oeconomia potest die! triplex; u. antelegalis, sc, a lapsu
ad Mosen, quam hodie promissionis multi appellant;
/3. legalis, a Mose ad Christum, quam Fet. Test, iidem
dicunt ; y. et evangelica, seu N. Test, a Christo ad
finem seculorum. Est enim revera magnum discrimen
in administratione gratise ante et post Mosen, qui
verbum scriptum dedit, legem perfecit, unum populum
prae aliis omnibus assumpsit, &c," To this division,
however, Marckius objects, as tending to obscure the
great leading characteristics of the two Covenants before
and after the Fall, But if a right discrimination be
made between the Covenants themselves and the dif
ferent Dispensations of the latter, local or temporary,
no inconvenience can follow from adopting the simple
chronological arrangement, by which the several Epochs
from Adam to Moses, from Moses to Christ, and from
Christ to ^he end of the world, are marked as distinct
from each other in their external circumstances and ad
ministration, though one and the same as to their es
sential purpose,
P, 155, 1, 3, Covenants of Nature and of Grace, of In
corruptibility and the Resurrection, of Works aiid of
Faith.] Scrivener, as appears from the foregoing ex
tracts, adopts the 'first of these distinctions. HIngesto'fl,
in his Discourses npon the Divine Covenants, 8vo,
1771 J speaks of, the .Covenant of Nature*, the Covenant
of Incorruptibility, and the Covenant of Resurrection:
denoting by the first, that general and universal Law-
Imposed

APPENDIX. 365
imposed upoii man at his creation, and never totally re
pealed by any subsequent Covenants ; by the second,
the promise of Eternal Life, before the Fall, upon cer
tain conditions ; by the third, the renewal of that pro
mise, upon new conditions, after It had been forfeited.
The next distinction, that of Works and Faith, is not
equally dear ; since it is evident that Faith under each
Covenant and every pispensatipn was necessary to ac
ceptance, and that Works suitable to each were also re
quired as an indispensable condition. For, as Scrive
ner justly observes, (p, .163,) the Covenants made with
Abraham and ¦with Moses are termed Covenants of
Works, not that they only, required working, and the
Gospel, beUeving; (for they 'supposed Faith in. the pro
mised Seed ;) but that they were as a CodlcU annexed
to the first solemn Covenant of Faith, conveying special
promises arid privilegesy of a temporal kind, to the seed
of Abraham, upon- terms not common to all mankind,
and which, therefore, no longer subsisted under the
Christian Dispensation.
P. 158. 1. 3. The great variety of subject-matter con
tained in tlie Sacred Writings.] '/ Praestantissimorum
Commentatorum consuetudo est, ut libro quem expU
candum sibi sumunt, praemittant dissectionem ejus,
quantum fieri potest, accuratam, in partes suas mi-
nores. Quae diligentia, tametsi nonnullis visa est paulo
obscurior et molestior, superavit tamen ac praevaluit
utilltatls, (addo, et non parvae necessitatis) meditatio,
ut quo penitius aliquis Scripturae mentem aut pene^
travit, aut saltem penetrare annisus est, eo majorem la-
borem in illarum divlsione recte expedienda coUoca-
verit, Quicquid eriim conspectu uno, et velut h crwo^si,
animo spectandum offertur, etsi , alias magnitudine et
multitudine praeditum velut insuperabile mehti facile
videri queat, multo facillus Imbifeitur et InteUectuire-
praesentatur." Chladenii Inst. Exeget. p. 532, ed. 12mo.
Viteberg, 1740.
P, 158, 1, 22, Have collectively- obtained their appro
priate appeUation, tlie Bible.]. "Ceterum is llbrorum
SeowveuiTTtoii complexus modo Ift singulari dicitur ^ ypci<^,
modo in plurali ai fpufct), iUud, quia tanquara corpus
revelationis Integrum, quaecunque ad salutem nostram perti-

S6G APPENDIX.
pertinent, exactissimo omnium consensu docens, prae-
stantissimus, dignlssimus atque perfectisslmus liber esty
omnes in orbe libros, quotquot scripti sunt unquam aut
scriberitur, magno post se rellnquens Intervallo : Tioc,
quia pluribus absolvltur in unum collectis voluminibus,
quae singulae partem aliquam divinae constituunt revela
tionis," J. E. Pfdfferi Inst. Hermeneut. Saa: p. 51, 52.
P, 159, 1, 12, The Historical Books.] A series of use
ful and judicious rules for the Interpretation of these
portions of Scripture may be found In Turretln's excel
lent Treatise de S, S, Interpretatione, part, ii, cap. 3,
The subject is also very fully illustrated by J, E, Pfeiffer,
in his Inst. Herm, Sacr, cap, xi. p, 64-1 — 692,
P. 160, 1, 7. The necessity of the greatest care and
drcumspection. Sac] " Neque minora sunt commoda,
quas ex conjectandi peritia in Scripturae sacrae tracta-
torem redundant, Hinc enim non solum felicius ver-
sabitur in locis intricacioribus, et quae sibi invieem re-
fragari videntur ; sed in narrationlbus etiam historicis
quam plurimas rei gestae circtimstantias, quas scriptor
sacer silentio pressit, non inepte supplebit. UtrObique
tamen caute admoduiji et circumspecte agendum est, ne
^Mrourlot., qufe optima famula, pessima domina est, extra
oleas vagetur, Unde quemadmodum equi, ubi nimis in
cursum effusi sunt, in loco proclivi habenis cohibentur ;
ita Ingenlum, in conjectando nimium praeceps ac ra-
pidum, judicii severitate castigandum, prudentiaeque
freno reprlmendum, et Intra rationis gyrum revocandum '
est,' Praestat enim in locis dubiis fateri ignorantiam, quam
incertis indulgere conjecturis, aut eas rerum fingere cir-
cumstantias, quas si legeret scriptor sacer, exclamaret
fortassis, quod de Platone dialogum de se conscribente
Socrates dixisse fertur, O quam multa juvenis iUe de me
mentitur!'' Rambachii Exerdt. Hermeneut. p.' 56 — 58,
P. 161. I. 8. The Prophetical Books.] Rules for the
Interpretation of these are also detailed by Turretin and
Pfeiffer, as above ; by the former, part, 2, cap, Iv, by the
latter, cap, XV, §, 232 — 260, -
' P, 162, 1; 22. Doctrinal or practical.] Similar instruc
tions for the exposition of these portions of Scripture
are given In the above mentioned works. See Tur
retin, part, 2. cap, vi, vii, and Pfeiffer, cap, x, xih
P. 163,

APPENDIX. 567
P. 163. 1. 25. The several other occasions and purposes^
whether general or special] " Ubi summa operatur divini
Numinis sapientia ; ibi nihil fit sine fine certo, et fines
peculiares In. communem aliquem resolvuntur. Quum
fiinis orationis constituat scopum ejus, non solum, scrip
tum quodlibet Scriptura sacra comprehensum pecuUarem
habet scopum suum ; sed et communis quidam scopus
est, in quem scopi isti omnes dirlguntur. Scopum hunc
ggneralem Scripturae, Illos vero, llbris singulis proprios,
speciales appellare solent. Scopum totius Scripturas ge-
neralem esse patefactionem Servatoris nostri, aliunde
constat. Spedalis cujusvis scripti scopus, pro diversi-
tate scriptor um, diversus est, sed generali subordi-
nandu;s, Ut autem patefactio Domini nostri Jesu Christi
cum Illustratione perfectionum divinarum et salute ho
minum connexa est, sic merito tota Scriptura simul ad.
perfectionum divinarum illustrationem et salutem ho
minum tendere censetur," J. E. Pfeifferi Inst. Herm.
Sacr. cap, i, §, 7, 8. ,
. P, 166, 1. 19. Wei:e evidently written to meet tlie par
ticular exigencies of the faithful in those times, &c.] Bud-
deus has an important Dissertation, de Statu Eccleslarum
Aipostolicarum, in which he urges' the necessity of at-,
tending to these circumstances in the Interpretation of
the Sacred Writings, and particularly in ascertaining
the real scope and purport of St,. Paul's Epistles. See
his MIsceU. Sacr, tom, i, part, 2, p, 216—266,
P, 172. 1. 23. The same exercise of the mental facuU
iies.] 'Turretin lays it down as a general rule, " non
aliam esse Scripturae interpreta,ndae rationem, quam re-
Uquorum librorum; attendendum scilicet. ad vocum et
locutionum sensum, ad auctoris scopum, ad antece
dentia et consequentia, aliaque id genus ; ac sane h^ec
est ratio, qua libri omnes inter omnes sermones intelU-
guntur. Cum autem Deus nos per Ubros et, sermones
dpcere voluerit, non vero alia via, sane eo ipso evidens
est sacram scripturam non aliter quam reliquos Ubros in
telligendum." This rule he establishes and illustrates
by sixteen distinct propositions, accpmpanied with a
variety of specific Instances where Its application is most
evidently important. See. his Tract de S. S. Interpr.
part, 3. cap, in, More errors in the interpretatipn , of
Scripture

sm APPENDIX,
Scripture have, perhaps, arisen from neglect of thp ob
vious rules and principles of common sense and correct
reasoning, with which othei' ancient authors are wpnt
to be explained, than frora any intentional perversion of
its truths.

SERMON VI.

p. 177- i- l-i- The design of the Apostle in laying dotm'
this maxhn.] A full, explanation of thistexty as deducible'
from its context, may be found in Dr, Felton's Lady
Moyer's Lectures, p, 114- 116y andp, 1/0—174, The
learned Author applies it chiefly to the assertion of the
Catholic doctrine of the Trinity against Deists, Arians,
and Socinians. In the course of the discussion, which-
is among the most elaborate and profound Treatises on
the subject, are interspersed many important rules and
observations respecting Scripture-Interpretation in ge
neral, which render it a very valuable work to a theolo
gical Student. To the whole is also prefixed a copious
prefatory Dissertation concerning the Light and- the
Law of Nature and the Expediency and Necessity of
Revelation, to which- 1 have had occasiony in another
work, frequently to refer.
P. 180, 1, 5, Of which we can otiierwise obtain no cer--
tain or satisfactory infonnation.] " We must npt judge,"
says Dr. Felton, " of the things of God according to the
maxims- and principles of human sderwe, but according
tp; those revelations which are given us, concerning the
Divine Nature and Attributes ; and we must receive
them, not according to the figurative schemes and lau-.
guage of human wisdom, but according to those plain^
assertions of fact delivered in the Scriptures, This is
the only sure vray of proceeding ; and the things of
God are theH truly diseemed and judged of, when spi
ritiiai thhigs are compared with spiritual, aftd every part
of Revelation is' recei-ved in a sense agreeable to, and
consistent with all tbe other." L, M. Lect. p. 393, P. 180.

APPENDIX, 369
P, 180, 1,8. What Theologians call the Analogy of Faith.]
*' Analogia Fidei est tenor sive summa coelestis doc
trinae de credendis seu articulis Fidei, ubi Spiritus Sanc-
tus de iisdem ex professo vel saltem ex omnium con-
fessione agit, idque verbis rotundis, planis, perspicuis,
et omni exceptione majoribus, Istam Analogiam in ex-
pUcatione Scripturae omnino esse attendendam, et, licet
ultimo loco proponatur, tamen primo loco esse haben
dam, aperte Innult Apostolus ad Rom. xii, 6, et 2 Tim,
i, 13, Item porro suadet ipsa sana ratio, scilicet, loca
specialia et obscura esse interpretanda secundum effata
generalia et indubitata. Ex, gr, locus indubitatus est
omnique exceptione major, Deum non velle peccatum,
adeoque ejus non eSse causam, Ps, v, 5, Cum proinde
hoc effatum omni dublo prorsus careat, nulla omnino
uUius loci Scripturae admittenda erit expUcatio quae illud
evertat. Quod si proinde loca quaedam occurranty quae
in speciem videntur cpntinere contrarium, ex. gr. de in-
duratione Pharaonis, et similia, ilia ita sunt emolUenda
et commoda quaplam expUcatione declaranda, ut illud
perpetuo maneat inconcussum Deum non esse causam
Peccati," Aug. Pfeifferi Hermeneut. Sacr. cap. xii, tom,
ii, p, 659, 4to, Ultraject, 1704,— J.E, Pfeiffer subjoins to
a similar definition of the Analogy of Faith, a necessary
caution as to Its application, " Harmonia Articulorum
fidei in nexu suo spectatorum inter se mutua constituit
Analogiam fidei, Quum igitur In ea doctrina quae ad
salutem recuperandam pertinet, omnimoda firmitudo
consectanda sit; articulos fidei ex locis certae interpre-
tationls, adeoque et Ipsam analogiam fidei determinarl
opus est, Quodsl vero sic rite determinata est, quidquid
eldem adversatur, veritatibus In seriptura propositis non
concordat, proindeque dissensus ab analogia fidei cha
racterem falsae Interpretationls constituit, Notandum
duntaxat est, negative potius quam positive, analogiam
fidei ad interpretationem valere ; nimirum, si qua inter
pretatlo analoglae fidei rite determinatae adversetur,
falsam eandem esse hinc intelligo ; ut autem vera et
genuina sit interpretatlo, ad id sola nondum sufficit
cum analogia fidei consensio," Herm. Sacr. cap. xii,
p. 726. This is a sound distinction ; since though it is
evident that no doctrine can be true which is irrecon-
B b cileable

370 APPENDIX.
cileable with the Analogy of Faith, yet there may be
many erroneous Interpretations of Scripture which do
not violate that Analogy; and on the other hand, where
that Analogy is not violated, there may be room for
some variety of Interpretation, without incurring the
hazard of dangerous error.
Almost every systematic Theologian has treated
largely on the Analogy of Faith. See Glassil Philol,
Sacr, lib, ii, part. 2, de Script. Sensu eruendo. Chladenii
Instit, Exeget, cap, Iv, sect, 7- Rambachii Exerc, Her
meneut, containing an excellent Tract de Parallelismo
Scripturee. P, 180, 1. 15, To prophesy.according to the proportion of
Faith.] " This is that Analogy, which St, Paul requireth
In his Epistle to the Romans, and we translate the pro
portion of Faith; not meaning thereby the degree of It,
either in the Teacher or the Hearers, but the agreement
of their doctrine 'with the Scriptures of the Old Testa
ment and all parts of the Gospel preached and delivered
by our Lord and his Apostles ; and this rule doth now
extend to the New Testament as well as to the Old, For
there is an entire agreement and consistency of the
Scriptures with themselves from one end to the other,
from the first dawning of Revelation as a Light that
shineth in a dark place, till it shineth more and more unto
a perfect day." Felton's L. M. Lect. p, 288.
Ibid, I, 19, That no Prophecy of Scripture is of any
private interpretation.] See a Dissertation upon this text
by Werenfels, Opusc, tom, i, p, 238—252. Also Tur
retin de S. S. Interpr. cap. ii, p, 29. and Bp. Horsley's
Sermon on the text, vol. ii. p. 1.3 — 16,
P, 181. 1. 14. Systems of Divinity.] Buddeus, after a
short historical sketch of systematic 'Theology, thus vin
dicates it against the indiscriminate prejudice with which
it has been often assailed. " Neque ideo Improbanda
est, aut rejicienda haec theologlam tractandi ratio, si
caute atque sobrie Instituatur. Etsi enim scholastica
theologia non sine ratione male audiat, non omnia tamen
quae scholastlcl doctores aut a majoribus acceperunt,
aut. Ipsi excogitarunt, prorsus rejicienda sunt. . . Quare
et cum opera beati M. Lutheri nostri meliorls doctrinae
lux ecclesiae nostrae adfulgeret, repudiatis atque rejectis
schplasti-

APPENDIX. 371
scholasticorum quisquiliis, systematicam tamen theo
loglam retinendam censuerunt nostrates, sed ea lege, ut
. exipsis Scripturie fontibus hausta sobrie tractaretur, nee
ipsius Scripturae ea quidquam derogaretur pretio ; cum-
primis autem, ne, qu« in scholasticis Lutherus ipse, et
alii cum eo damnaverant vitia, postliminio reduceren-
tur, , , Nee enim video, quid prohibeat, quo minus quae
cognitu ad salutem necessaria sunt, ex Scripturas S.
fontibus hausta, justo ordine disposita, riteque inter se
devincta, proponantur, explicentur, confirmentur ; modo
veritati cuncta sint consentanea, et ad fidei simul et vitas
praxin referantur. Id vero est, quod nos systematicam
theologlam vocamus. Nee vocum quarundam, aut ter-
minorum consuetudine receptorum, quenquam offendere
usus poterit, cum abusum ipsimet procul esse jubea-
mus ; sobrie autem et caute si adhibeantur, ad perspi-
cuitatem pariter ac inutiles ambages evitandas, plurl-
mum faoiant," Inst. Theol. Dogrn. tom, I. p. 69.
P. 183. 1, 11, There is no reason to suppose tliat the
Holy Spirit. . . should so entirely overrule thdr natural
faculties, &c.] " Multi plicandli fuissent miracula, nisi
Deus per o-uyxaTa&aaiv scriptorum sacrorum genio se
accommodare volulsset ; atque hoc vere factum fuisse,
diversitas still quae in Scriptura deprehenditur evincit,
. , , Sua nimirum cuique est, quemadmodum dicendi,
sic etiam cogitandi peculiaris quasdam ratio : aut igitur
ad unum aliquod commune cogitandi atque dicendi ex-
emplum conformanda sacrorum scriptorum ^lis omnis,
aut cujusque ingenio attemperandus erat divini Spiritus
impulsus, . , Quin tanto facillus quae animo objiciantur
concipimus, quanto ^magis ordo et stilus nobis familiaris
servatur ; opus autem erat a scriptoribus sacris recte in-
telligi quae Deus inspirabat, ut ea aliis explicare uberlus
et veram edisserere possent se«tentiam, Varietas still,
quae Istam comprobat Spiritus Sancti accommoda-
tionem, per totam observatur Scripturam," J. E. Pfeif
feri Inst. Herm. Sacr. cap. I. §. 15, p. 96, 97.
P. 184. 1, 9. But . . . there is a general cast of cha
racter, &c,] " Quod ad reliquam attinet still sacri in-
dolem, majestatem simplicitas coniitatur, casta est et
verecunda dicendi ratio, nee plenitudini brevitas officit ;
atque In universum tales eminent virtutes, quae facile
B b 2 originem

372 APPENDIX,
originem ultra hominum vires elevatam arguunt, Slni-
pUcItas Stili, quam sacrse vindicamus Scripturae, non est
confusum quoddam et naturalis pulchritudinis Intelll-
gentiaeque expers dicendi genus ; sed lenocinils verbo-
rum, fucoque eloquentiae, et iis opppriitur artlficlls, qui
bus oratores uti solent, ad occupandos auditorum animos.
Gravitas still generatim negat indignum quidquam per-
fectionibus divinis in dictione Scripturae deprehendi;
sigillatim, in eo eminet, quod, intuitu credendorum, as-
sensus in veritates gravissimas absolute absque additis
rationibus postulatur : intuitu agendorum, Irrefragabilis
obedlentia ab omnibus terras incolis, ipsis etiam princi-
pibus neminem inter mortales superiorem agnoscentibiis
exigitur," J. E. Pfeifferi Inst. Herm, Sacr. cap, i, §, 17.
p, 106,
P. 185, 1, 24, An historical as well as critical knowledge
of the language.] " Alteram jam observationem subjuri-
glmus ; scilicet, in Scripturae ut et caeterorum llbrorum
Interpretatione sedulo attendendum esse, quaenam certis
vocibus ideae eo tempi^e responderint, quo illi Ubri
scribebantur, non vero quaenam ipsis nunc respondeant,
Neque enim credendum, Hebraeis Graecisque vocibus
voces Latinas, quibus redduntur, ita semper respondere,
ut lis praeclse res eaedem significentur : saepe magnum
Interest discrimen," Turretin de S. S. Interpr. part,ii.
cap, 2. §, 14, This subject Is examined In all Its bear
ings by Chladenius In his Inst, Exeget, cap, iv, sect, 2.
de Scrutiriio Verborum et Phrasium,
P. I87. 1. 1. The Historical Analogy of Sciipture.]
Some useful observations on this point occur in J, E,
Pfeiffer'^ Hermen, Sacr. cap. xi, §. 149, 150. Also in
Rambachius's Treatise de Parallelismo Scripturae, §, xi,
xii, xiii. and Chladenlus's Inst, Exeg. cap. iv. sect. 6.
Aphorism. 2,
P, 189. 1, 7- The Doctrinal Analogy of Scripture.] A
distinction is made by some Divines between the Ana
logy of Scripture and the Analogy of Faith; the former
being necessary to prevent any expositions which' may
set one part of Scripture at variance with another,
either as to verbal br real differences ; the latter, to
make every particular or subordinate point of doctrine
harmonize with general or fundamental truths. Atten tion

APPENDIX, 37^
tion to both these is evidently essential to a correct In
terpreter of Holy Writ, " Scrutinium Anahgiee Scriptu
re in eo consistit, ut Exegeta accurate attendat, an in
terpretatlo Scripturae quam idoneam judicat, consuetudini
et assertis in Scriptura receptis congruat, Estque talis
Parallelismus vel verborum vel rerum. . , Analogia Fidei
est^ constans sibique perpetua, siblque semper slmili.s,
articulorum fidei harmonia in dictis fundamentalibus
seu cardinalibus, a Spiritu Sancto persplcue posita, ex
Usque hausta, quae singulorum credendorum et agendo
rum, quatenus ex Scriptura eruuntur; adeoque et ex-
plicationem ejus, Lydium lapldem regulamque infaUibi-
lem et vere cathollcam, constituit," Chladenii Inst. Ex
eg. cap, iv. sect, 6, et 7, p, 398, et 406, Marckius makes
a similar distinction : " Analogia, tum Fidei, quam
.primo et semper attendere debemus ; tum Contextus an-
tecedentium, consequentium, scopi, quae cum Analogia
Fidei semper est jungenda, ne ex quolibet loco quidli-
bet ellciatur." Christian. Theol. Medulla, cap. n. §. 45.
Ibid. I. 18. Prindples to a certain degree recognized in
the exposition of other ivritings.] " Solent nimirum pro-
fanorum auctorum interpretes, ubi in locum aliquem
difficilem et obscurum incidunt, circumspicere alia loca,
ubi scriptor de re eadem sententiam clarlus dixit. . . .
Quum sacrae paginae, quamvis a diversis scriptoribus
conslgnatae, ab uno tamen eodemque summo auctore,
qui omnium animos calamosque gubernavit, profectae
sint, non possunt non in rebus pariter ac verbis exactis-
sime Inter se consentire, Recte enim Epiphanius, tom, i,
Operum, haer, 73, Oux havrla ra pynj-ara rris ypct<p^s aAA.^-
\oi; IdTi, x.av f4a;^ea-.9«i Boxfi Trapa. rol; rj) ttio-tei //.yj vyialvov-
<nv, rJToi our^evova-i TJj yvi^jw.*)," Rambachii Exerc. Herm. p,
209, 210,
P, 190. 1. 24, A reputed saying of Rabbinical Writers.]
" Rabbinorum fertur dictum : Nulla est objectio in lege,
quee non habeat solutionem in latere. . . Jurisconsult! di
cunt : Turpe est de lege judicare, tota lege nondum in-
specta." Glassii Philol. Sacr. lib, ii, part, ii. sect, 2.
P. 193, 1, 19, These several Analogies are intended to
cooperate in explaining obscure passages by those which
are clearer, &c.] " Observandum est, cum aliquid clare
patet ex tota revelatione, imo ex scopo revelationis,
B b 3 illud

374 APPENDIX.
illud ex locis quibusdam obscuris convellendum non
est ; sed contra, obscura ex clarioribus exponenda, , , .
Verb! gratia, nihil in Scriptura frequentius est, adeoque
certius in Religione, quam Deum esse bonum, nee so-
lummodo erga quosdam, sed etiam erga omnes: — sic
David, Psal, cxlv, 9, et Ezechiel xviii, 23, Saepe etiam
tum In libris legis, tum apud prophetas, testatur est
Deus, quanta cum vehementia optet peccatoris ad se red-
ditum. Matth, xxiu, 37, 1 Tim', ii. 4. 2 Pet, Hi. 9. Ita
que cum loca quaedam occurrunt quae prima fronte Dei
bonitati adversari videntur, quasi, verbi gratia, Deus in
finem homines quosdam creaverit, lit eos damnaret,
quemadmodum volunt supralapsaril ; profecto ex ob
scuris hisce locis convellenda non est certissima de Dei
bonitate doctrina, sed contra haec loca ex clarioribus
explananda sunt." Turretin de S. S. Interpr. part. Ii.
cap. 2. p. 271, 272.
P. 194. 1, 3. Such as in earlier times was comprised in
those shorter summaries of Cliristian Faith to which we
may concdve St. Paul to refer, &c.] " Originem syste-
maticae theologiae ab ipsis Apostolis nonnulli derivare
adnltuntur. . Certe, quando Paulus Timotheo suo mo-
TiiTtoKTiv iiyiamvTiuv Xoycav commendat, non desunt, qui
brevem ac rudem designationem, ceu formulam quan-
darri ac sciagraphiam intelligunt, quam ex praescripto
Apostoli in conspectu habuerit, cujusque ductum in
docendo sequutus sit TImotheus. "Verum, cum etiam
typum quendam, seu summara doctrinae, quam quis
animo comprehendit, vox haecce denotare queat, Infirmo
nituntur fundamento, qui de formula quadam Uteris
consignata eam accipiunt. Hugo Grotius inroruTruitriv per
exemplar exponit, additque, sed intellige exemplar m ani
mo fixum, quod (Slav Platonici vacant. Recte etiam Abr,
Calovius monet, non rudem tantum delineationem, uti nee
.solam docendi formam notari, verum imprimis ipsam doc
trines coelestis substantiam. Summa autem quaedam doc
trinae coelestis, quam quis animo comprehensam habet,
nondum systematis nomen, si adcurate loqui vellmus,
promeretu'r." Buddd Inst. Tlieol. tom. I. p, 66.
Ibid. I. 21. The determinate sense of the word Regene
ration.] See Schleusner's and Blel's Lexicons, and the
Lexicographers in general.
P. 158.

APPENDIX. 375
P. 196, 1, 2, A new principle of spiritual life.] " The
general doctrine both of our Lord and St, Paul is, that
water applied outwardly to the body, together with the
grace of the Spirit applied inwardly to the soul, regene
rates the man ; or, in other words, the Holy Spirit, in
and jby the use of water-baptism, causes the new birth."
Again ; " Regeneration, passively considered, is but an
other word for the new birth of a Christian ; and that
new birth, in the general, means a spiritual change,
wrought upon any person by the Holy Spirit, in the
use of Baptism, wherry he is translated from his natu
ral state in Adam, to a spiritual state In Christ." Wa
terland's Discourse on Regeneration, p, 3, 5, republished
In the first volume of the Churchman's Remembrancer,
1807. Buddeus has treated the subject of Regeneration
with great accuracy and perspicuity, " Sicut per ge-
nerationem naturalera aliquid producltur quod antea
non erat, Ita regenerati adepti sunt vitam et vires spiri-
tuales, quibus antea destituebantur, Rom, vi, 4. Quem-
adinodura per generationem genitus fit particeps naturae
generantis, sic per regenerationem simile quid praesta-
tur, 2 Pet, I, 4. Uti In generatione naturali adest se
men, pari modo verbo divino homines regenerantur,
1 Pet, I, 23, quo spectat enim Baptismus, Tit. iii, 5. , .
Non dicimus tamen, quod aquae virtus regenerationi
tanquara subjecto naturaliter insit, nee quod naturali
vinculo Spiritus S. gratiam conjunctam habeat : sed
quicquid salutis inde concipitur, id ex ordinatione divi
na fieri, probe novlmus. Nimirum per baptismum tan
quara opyxvov bona ista coelestia Deus operari promisit :
hinc quando ad elementum accedit verbum, fit Sacra-
mentum, secundum tritum ilium theologorum cano-
nera. Cur vero Deus externos Sacramentorum ritus
sua Institutione adjicerit promissioni evangelicae, ele-
ganter expllcat B. Martini us Chemnitius, Exam. Cone.
Trid. part, Ii, p. 18. Deus ut divitias bonitatis suee nobis
ostenderet et commendaret, non uno tantum modo, per nu
dum sdlicet verbum, gratiam suam nobis exhibere voluit :
sed infirmitatem nostram voluit certis adminiculis suble-
vare, institutis sdlicet, et promissioni evangelica annexis
Sacramentis, hoc est, certis signis, ritiAus, ceu ceremoniis,
B b 4 in

376 APPENDIX.
in sensus inairreniibus : ut illis commoneret, emdiret, et
certos nos redderet, quod foris in specie visibili geri cemi-
mUs, illud intus virtute et potentia Dei in nobis effid. Sic
ut enim verbum incurrit in aiires, et ferit corda ; ita ritus
Sacramentorum incurrit in oculos, ut moveat corda, ut non
dubitemus Deum nobiscum agere, et velle juxta verbum in
nobis efficacem esse ad salutem," &c. Buddei Misc. Saa; ,
tom. ii. p. 13, 14.
That this was the view generally taken of the subject
by the primitive Fathers, is fully shewn by Dr, Water-
land, in his notes to the discourse above quoted, Bud
deus recites also the following strong passage from Lu
ther to the same effect, on the text Gal, iii, 27. "Non
accepistis per baptismum tesseram tantum, per quam
adscript! estis numero Christianorum, ut nostro. tem
pore multi fanatici baptisma tesseram taritum, seu nu
dum et inane signum faciunt ; sed quotquot baptizati
estis, Christum induistis : h. e. estis extra legem rapti
ih npvam natlvitatem, quae facta est in baptlsmp : ideo,
inquit, non estis amplius sub lege, sed novo indumento,
hoc est, justitia Christi vestiti estis," Lutheri Opera, tom,
iv, Jen, foi. 115.
P, 197- 1. 8. Terms of similar import were infrequent
use among the Jews.] " The name, or the notion of Bap
tism," says Dr, Waterland, " probably was not altoge
ther new in our Lord's time : for the Jews had been
used to admit converts from heathenism into the Jew
ish Church, by a baptism of their own ; and they called
the admission or reception of such converts by the
name of regeneration, or new birth ; as it was somewhat
like bringing them into a new world. Such proselytes
were considered as dead to their former state sof dark
ness, and born anew to Ught, liberty, and privileges,
among the children of Israel, and within^ the Church of
God, The figure was easy, natural, and affecting ; and
.therefore our Lord was pleased, in his conference with
Nicodemus, to adopt the same kind, of language, apply
ing It to the case of admitting converts both from Ju
daism and Paganism into Christianity; transferring and
sanctifying the rite, the figure, and the name to higher
and holier, but still similar purposes. Such is the ac
count given of this matter by many learned and judir
clous

APPENDIX, 377
clous' writers," Discourse on Regeneration, p. 56, The
writers to whom Dr, W, refers are Selden de Jur, Nat.
et Gent, Elderfield of Regeneration, Hebrew and
Christian ; Wall's Infant Bapt, and the Defence ; Wot-
ton's Misc, Disc, Vitringae Obs. Sacr. Abp, Sharpe,
vol. iii. Serm. xii, Deylingii Obs, Sacr. Wesselii Dis
sert, To these may also be added, Buddei Misc. Sacr,
tom. ii, p, 6, 7- and LIghtfoot's Horae Hebr, on Matth.
iii. and on John I. 25. The question, however, is am
ply discussed in Wall's Introduction' to his History of
Infant Baptism,
P, 198, 1, 1. An instantaneous, perceptible, and irresist
ible operation of the Holy Spirit.] This notion so en
tirely separates Regeneration from any actual connec
tion with the Rite of Baptism, that it cannot consistently
be maintained, but by those who altogether discard
Baptism as a Sacrament. For a Sacrament is an out
ward sign, or token, of some inward grace, or spiritual
blessing, actually conveyed by it : and if Baptism be
not the sign or token of Regeneration, it is a sign of
npthing: it is unmeaning, as well as inefficacious. Nay,
it is fallacious ; because it is a token beforehand of
what, according to this theory, may never take place.
The advocates of this opinion, indeed, perpetually re
mind us, that multitudes are baptized, who live and die
In a wholly unregenerate state. Of what, then, could
Baptism ever be a token to such persons ? Or, how will
it be possible to apply to their case any of those texts
of Scripture which connect it with Regeneration ?
None, therefore, but those who reject this Sacrament
altogether, or who, at least, reject Infant Baptism, can
consistently hold this doctri-ne.
Ibid. 1. 6. Byothers it is regarded as a continued and
progressive work of the Spirit.] This opinion is main
tained by many who do not intentionally undervalue
the Sacrament of Baptism ; conceiving that they attach
to it its full importance, since they acknowledge it to
be accompanied with a renovating and sanctifying
grace, the principle of that new life which is afterwards
to be Improved and perfected by further aids of the
Holy Spirit, And this is, in truth, the whole purport
and effect of this Divine Institution, But the question is,

378 APPENDIX.
is, what more than this is meant by Regeneration ? Re
generation denotes an incipient state, not one that is
complete ; the period of birth, not the period of full age.
To represent it as a continued work and as denoting our
growth in grace, and even our attaining to Christian per
fection, seems not only to destroy the metaphor and to
violate the analogy of Scripture language, but in a
great degree to disconnect the sign from the thing sig
nified ; making that which, as a purely initiatory Insti
tution, is complete and certain In Its character, signifi
cative of that which must, from its very nature and cir
cumstances, be doubtful and incomplete,
P,198, 1,13, Others, again, maintain a distinction between
Baptismal and Spiritual Regeneration.] This opinion,
though supported by respectable authorities, appears to
be liable to a similar objection, that it either invali
dates, or misrepresents, the true sacramental character
of Baptism, For, if Spiritual do not accompany Bap
tismal Regeneration, in what proper sense can the latter
be called Regeneration ? It is only the Spiritual change
it produces, which can entitle it to that appellatiori ;
and divested of such spiritual eftect, it is reduced to
a lifeless and unavailing ceremony. If it be not the
means and the pledge of receiving that spiritual benefit,
of which it is acknowledged to be a sign and token;
what is its inherent value as a sacramental ordinance ?
The advantage given by such representations of it, to
Fanatics, and to all who decry the Sacraments as beg
garly elements of Religion, is manifest. The mistake,
however, here, as in the preceding case, may, perhapsy
be rather 'uer6aZ than real. It appears to arise from
conceiving the term Regeneration to be equivalent in
force and meaning to that of final Justification, and to
imply an absolute assurance of Salvation, If this were
its true signification. It must, indeed, be altogether dis
tinct from Baptism, or, at least, subsequent to it as to
the period of Its taking place. But is such an inter
pretation of it supported by the analogy either of Scrip
ture-language or of Scripture-doctrine ? Is there any
passage of Scripture where a baptized Christian ia
spoken of as unregenerate; ox where Regeneration Is re
presented as still necessary or wanting, to those who,
having

APPENDIX. 37^
having been already made partakers, by Baptism, of the
Christian Covenant, forfeited its privileges by walking
unworthily of their Christian calling ?
P, 200, 1. 14, By identifying Regeneration with the
initiatory Sacrament of Baptism, its full importance is
assigned to it, &c.] That this is the view generally taken
of the subject by the best primitive Christian "Writers,
by the chief leaders of the Protestant Reformation, and
by our own Church in particular, appears to be a matter
capable of substantial proof. Dr, Waterland, in his
admirable Discourse above referred to, produces many
strong and convincing testimonies from the Fathers, in
corroboration of his arguments : and Buddeus, whose
sentiments correspond with Waterland's, says, " Sane
consentiunt hie atque doctrinae huic adstipulantur pri-
mitivae ecclesiae patres plerique omnes, Tertulliano
quidem excepto," Luther's opinion has already been
quoted. That of our own Church, as expressed in her
Articles and Liturgy, gives no countenance to any
other view of it. She constantly speaks of Regenera
tion as spiritually conferred in Baptism, and of those
who are baptized as actually regenerate persons, who
are bound, in consequence of that act, to lead the rest
of their life according to that beginning. It is to be
lamented, that some distinguished writers in her com
munion have not always with equal accuracy and preci
sion expressed their agreement with her on this point,
though doubtless with no intention of essentially differ
ing from her opinion. To Dr. Waterland our Church
is greatly indebted, for rectifying many current misap
prehensions concerning it; and for the many valuable
testimonies he has brought forward in its support.
The names of Wall, Wotton, Sharpe, Bull, Bingham,
¦Whitby, Stanhope, Beveridge, Hooker, Clagett, and
Bennet, may be considered as sufficient guarantees of
the soundness of her Faith in this respect,
P, 204, 1, 23, The Jewish converts were slow of belief,
and prone to misinteipret its truths.]. Whence these erroi-s
originated, and how necessary it is to a right under
standing of the Apostolical writings to be well ac
quainted with the source of them, Buddeus has dis
tinctly shewn in his Treatise de Statu Eccleslarum A-
posto-

380 APPENDIX.
postollcarum. The three main points of controversy
between the Jewish converts and St. Paul, are thus
compendiously stated, — " 1. Utrum gentes ad consor
tium Evangelii admittendae sint, necne ? Qua de re ini
tio ipsimet dubitabant Apostoli, ut patet exemplo Pe
tri, qui coelesti demum visione rectiora condocendus
erat, Act, x. 34, Sed et qui per Judaeum et Samariam
dispersi erant, non nisi Judaeis primum adnuntiasse
Evangeiium dicuntur. Putabant enim, promissionem
de Christo solum ad posteros Abrahami pertinere, . , ,
2, Qui adfirmabant gentes omnino ad consortium fidei
esse admittendas, in duas Iterum scindebantur partes;
nonnullis, tum demum admittendas existimantibus si
reciperent legem Mosaicam ; aliis, ne id quidem ab iis
postulandum contendentibus  3, Tertia denique
controversia erat: an saltem J udaei, utpote quibus lex
data esset, Judaica Instituta cum Christianorum disci
plina conjungefe debeant, necne ? Prius adfirmabant
multi Judaei jam conversi, quibus etiam Jacobus ali-
cjuamdlu adstlpulatus fuisse videtur. Act. xxi. 18, nega-
bat' autem Paulus, Tametsi enim voluntatiJacobi mo-
rem gerebat, ipsam tamen legem, ejusque observan-
tiam, ad salutem consequendam non requiri, passim
docet, Vitandl equidem offendlcull causa interdum
Judaeorum Imbecillitati aliquid concessit, 1 Cor, Ix, 20,
necessitatem tamen legem Mosaicam observandl nus-
piam, vel Judaeis, vel gentilibus Imposuit ; immo con
tra eos qui necessitatem hancce urgebant, subinde acri
ter pugnavit." Misceii. Sacr, tom, I. p, 227,
P. 206. 1. 19. The same species of misapprehension led
to heresies the most opposite to each other.] With refe
rence, probably, to the necessity of viewing the Old and
New Testaments in connection with each other, our
Lord says of a well-instructed Scribe, or Expositor of
Scripture, that he " bringeth out of his treasure things
new and old." Luther compares the New Testament
to the Sun, and the Old to the Moon, enlightened by
the Christian Dispensation, And our great Christian
Philosopher, Boyle, compares the two Covenants to thc
Cherubs which overshadowed the Ark, looking towards
eacli other, and jointly supporting the Mercy-seat.
Hence the frequent references which the Writers of
thc

APPENDIX, 381
the New Testament make to those of the Old; em
bracing every occasion to shew that the doctrine of
Christ and his Apostles was not of recent origin, but
had a deep and everlasting foundation in the Sacred
Oracles, delivered from the beginning by the Omni
scient Spirit of God, Accordingly, our Lord conti
nually directs the Jews to Moses and the Prophets :
and St, Paul declares, that he said nothing but what
Moses and the Prophets had already spoken, Moses,
therefore, and the Prophets must be compared with
each other ; and both with the Apostles and Evange-
Usts ; to enable us to form a correct Judgment of either.
At the same time, the distinction between these different
Dispensations must be carefully observed ; lest local
and temporary concerns should be confounded with
those of universal and perpetual obligation : an error,
similar to that which our Lord reproved under the si
militudes of putting new wine into old bottles, and old
cloth into a new garment ; by which the consistency of
each is marred and destroyed. Had these fundamental
principles of Sciipture Interpretation been duly regard
ed, neither Jewish nor Anti-Jewish Christians would
have^allen into those extravagancies which distinguished
many of the primitive Heresies, On this connection
between the Old and New Testament some important
observations occur in Rambachius's Treatise de Paral
lelismo Scripturae, See his Exercit, Herm, p. 213 — 234,
P, 208, 1, 14, Interpreting what St. Paul says of the
calling of the Gentiles and the rejection of the Jews, &c,]
There Is an admirable Discourse of Dean Tucker's on
the Potter and«the Clay, Rom, ix, 21. in which these
erroneous interpretations are ably refuted, and shewn
to be destitute of any solid foundation. Towards the
conclusion of the Discourse is given this general cau
tion against similar misapplications of Scripture, " In
all such cases, the best general rules of explication
are these : Let the scope, drift, and nature of the ar
gument be more attended to, than the bare Words or
Uteral Expressions : -^ And vi'here a few single pas
sages seemingly contradict the general Design, let those
be reconsidered in connection with the rest : Let us
place ourselves In the situation of those who heard thc
Speaker

382 APPENDIX.
Speaker or Writer himself: And let us endeavour to find
out, what were the meaning of the Words at the Time
they were spoken; not what they may now imply at times
so far distant, and among people so very different in their
manners and customs from the former. Moreover, in
^11 cases of Difficulty, let the plain Texts be the Inter
preters of the pbscure, not the obscure of the plain.
These, I say, are the best and most equitable maxims to
proceed on, and indeed are necessary for the Interpre
tation of all Writings, human or Divine." Serm. i,
p, 33.
P. 211, 1. 25, Thenceforth, Scripture is divided against
itself.] Dr. Felton observes, that " both Arians and So
cinians, departing from the Analogy of Faith, depart
from the Analogy of Language too. , . . If they assert
the Divinity of the Persons, they make Three Gods : if
they allow not the Divinity, they make the Son and the
Holy Ghost mere Creatures. , , Those who allow the true
and proper Divinity without acknowledging a real dis
tinction of Persons, do as expressly contradict the Reve
lation, as those who own the distinction and deni/ the
Divinity of the Persons. Now the same way of Inter
pretation which convinceth the Sabellians, and all that
hold with them, of the Divinity of the Persons, that,
whatever they are, they are truly Divine ; would. If at
tended to, convince them of the distinction too; that,
as they are truly Divine, they are also really distinct.
And the same rule of Interpretation, which convinceth
the Arian and Sodnian, and all that any way hold with
them, of the real distinction of the Persons, would, if
applied to that side of the question, convince them of
the true Divinity likewise ; that the Father, the .Son,
and the Holy Ghost, as they are really distinct, are also
truly Divine.
" The Sabellians, in owning the Divinity, understand
the Texts which ascribe this Divinity to the Son and to
¦:the Holy Ghost in the same proper and obvious signifi
cation of the Words, as they understand those Texts
which ascribe it to the Father; and if maintaining, as
they do, the Vanity of the Godhead, they Would take
those Texts which reveal a distinction of Persons, in the
same obvious sense with those which assert the Divinity, they

APPENDIX, 883
they must then acknowledge, that in the Unity of Es
sence there are Three Persons and One GOD.
" On the Pther hand, if the Arians and Socinians,
and all that think with them, would reflect upon what
grounds they acknowledge this distinction of Persons,
they will find there is as strong reason for acknowledg
ing the Divinity also : and if all opposers of the Chris
tian Doctrine would, upon the firm basis of the Divine
Unity, consider what is expressly revealed concerning
the Divine Nature, they must acknowledge the Divinity
and distinction of Persons to be clearly asserted In the
Unity of Essence. This then is the Catholic doctrine,
which owneth the Divinity with the Sabellians, and the
distinction of Persons with the Arians, but still in a true
consistent sense with the Divine Unity." Felton's L. M.
Lect. p. 340. 342.
P, 212. 1, 3. The strange phenomenon of opposite he
resies deduced from the same premises.] Bishop Horsley,
speaking of the phrase used by St, John, of " Christ's
coming in the fiesh," observes, " that in the sense In
which the Church hath ever understood it, this phrase
refers to two divisions of the Gnostics; the Docetae,
and the Cerinthians ; affirming a doctrine, which is the
mean between their opposite errors. The Docetae af
firmed, that Jesus was not a man in reality, but in ap
pearance only; the Cerinthians, that he was a mere
man, under the tutelage of the Christ, a superangelic
being, which was not so united to the man as to make
one person, St, John says, ' Jesus Christ is come in
the flesh ;' that Is, as the words have been generally
understood, Jesus was a man, not In appearance only,
as the Docetae taught, but in reaUty ; not a mere man,
as the Cerinthians taught, under the care of a superan
gelic guardian, but Christ himself come in the flesh ;
the Word of God incarnate. St. John says, that who
ever denies this complex proposition, is of Antichrist,
It surprises me, that you should find p.n improbability,
upon the first face of the thing, in supposing that the
same expression should be equally levelled at two here
sies, which we confess to be opposite. , For Is It not
always the case, that expressions which predicate a
truth lying In the middle between two opposite false
hoods,

884 APPE^NDIX.
hoods, equally impugn both the false extremes?" Tracf*
in Controv. uitli Priestley, p, 108, 109.
..p. 213. I. 2. New Versions too of the Scriptures are
brought forward," &.C.] The recent attempt made by the
Unitarian Sect to introduce an improved Version of the
jVew Testament, adapted to their "own peculiar tenets,
has been fuUy examined, and its manifold perversions
of the -Text exposed, by Dr, Laurence and Dr, Nares,
by an anonymous Author, understood to be Mr, Reri-
nell, and by an able writer In the Quarterly Revlei*-,
May,: 1809, _ _.
P. 215. 1. 5. These rules^ must be accompanied vnth
certain cautions.] Werenfels, in his Lectiones Herine-
neutlcae, admonishes the interpreter of Scripture to
beware ¦ of .mistaking particular theories of Religion
for the Analogy of Faith, or substituting doubtful and
controverted points of doctrine for those which are
manifestly scriptural, to serve as the test of Truth.
''Non. enim hie tanquara norma caeterarum interpreta
tionum, sensus Scripturae, qui 'ipSi sunt dubii et contro-
versi, sunt adducendi. Quae distinctio cum non obser
vatur, fit ut S. Scripturam quilibet Ita Interpretetur, ut
sensus suis placitis et suo systemati, quod aut ipse ex-
cogitavit, aut aliunde hausit, nulla in re contradicat; et
hoc quilibet appellat Scripturam interpretari secundum
analogiam fidei ; ,i.ta. fit, ut av^Xoyla .fidei admodum sit
liomonyma vox, et quot sunt Sectce, tot sint analogies fi
dei. SIcut igitur rectus regulae modo dictae usus saluber-
rimus ,,est,- dtay abusus -esset perniciosisslmus, et causa
pler'arupique Scripturae, Sacrae <<letorsionum. Quare
etia]in,?itqvie.,^tiam cuilibet videndum est, ne^quid pro
a.vaMyifii.^.hdei, et consequenter, pro norma omniuiri Cce-
tcijirjum .interpretationum admlttat, nisi manifestissime
sit verbum, fP.ei," Opuscuj,a, tom. ,11, p. 346, .
Cphe foUowing e3c,|l;g<^t from Rambachius is no less
Important. ,^,,:.) ,.-, ¦. :' ¦
". Deiiique uti universa. res exegetica prudenter et
circu.m?ppc|;.e;tractanda est, ita paralleUsmi etiafn stu-
.clijim ad^noifliam analoglae fidei instltuer^e, omnemque
abuswuj-qu^ yerus locorum sensus perveriitur, . evitare
decet. Haiid iimnerito magnus »theplogus, Abr.\ Calo
vius, in Pr^^9qj.-a,d,Bibl, lUustr. p, 2D> inter causas fal-
sarum

APPENDIX. 385
sarum interpretationum refert, verborum et phrasium e
diversisdmis locis collationem. Conferuntur qui&m, ita alt,
merito loca parallela, ut Scriptura sui ipsius interpres sit,
quum iS/af la-t^Jfirewf non sit. Sed primo ac preBcipuo loco,
turn TO pr,Tov verborum textus, tum <rijva.pEia contextus pensi
habenda. Neque parallela- quee censentur, loca semper talia
sunt, sed seepe longe alia tractant, et a has de quibus
agitur sunt alienissima. Unde si propi'ietate verborum,
quce pree manibus, et contextu oratidnis, antecedentUius item
et consequentibus neglectis, ex aliis locis sensus petatur, fieri
non potest quin aberremus fadllime a mente et intentione
, Spiritus Sancti. . . . Tenendum itaque est, nullum locum
Scripturae jus quoddam ac dictaturam in alterum ex-
ercere, sed sensum ante omnia ex ipsis sermonis viscerl-
bus, verborum scopo ac nexu in consilium adhlbito, esse
eruendum, deinde locis parallells magis confirmandum
et illustrandum, nisi et ipsi falli, et alios fallere vellmus.
Jungamus Igitur sincerae industriae suspirium Augustin! ;
Sint castee delidee meee Scripturee tuee ; nee fallair in ds,
necfallam ex ds." Rambachii Exerdt. Hermeneut. p, 247,
248.

SERMON VII.
p. 220. 1. 6. He distingmshes ihe two Dispensations
by the terms Letter and Spirit.] Turretin thus explains
these terms. In refutation of the sense affixed to them by
Enthusiasts : — ^' Ex variis etiam locis argumentantur
Entbusiastae, ubi litera spiritu! opponitur ; per literam
autem meram intelligunt Scripturam, ab immediatis re-
velationibus sejunctam ; per spiritum vero suas illas pri-
Vatas revelationes. . . . Verum ea perpendenti, perperam
ab Enthusiastis propohi patebit. In Us quidem Paulus
legis literam vel interlori legis sensul, vel Evangello
quod ilium exponit sensum, sed non Scripturam reve-
latlonibus opponit Internis, Scilicet lex spectari po-
terat respectu, vel praeceptorum externorum et corticis
externi, nempe prseceptorum caeremonialium, quae u-
c c tramque

386 APPENDIX.
tramque fere paginam In lege faciebant ; vel mentis Ic-
gislatoris in eorum publicatione, cujus scopus est in-
teriorem hominibus sanctitatera commendate, , , Quo
niam vero ilia mens Dei speciatim fuerat revelata, et
clarius etiam in Evangello, hinc fit ut Evangelio op-
ponatur legis litera, quod legis mentem nobis mani-
festat; ut ostenditur, Rom, vii, 6, cum dicitur nos ser
vire Deo non per vetustatem literae, &c, hic intelligitur
oeconomia vetus, nempe lex, quae erat abolenda; pier
novitdtem vero Spiritus intelligitur Evangeiium, quod
praecepta spIrituaUa revelat, et non nova oeconomia ve
teri opposita, Vocatur autem Evangeiium spiritus vel
ministerium spiritus, quia praecepta spiritu alia tradit, cum
praecepta legis essent carnalia. Lex, si e'xteriorem cor-
ticem spectes, praecepta externa tantum jubebat; sed
Eva^ngelium res jubet quae Dei spiritu! praecipue pla-
cent : deinde, lex destltuebatur variis auxiliis quae tra-
duntur in .Evangello, — ^verb! gratia, peccatorum venia
ineo promulgata, maximum est ad pietatem auxilium,
quo lex carebat — praeterea varia Spiritus dona maxima
mensura concesserat Deus ad confirmandum Evangeiium,
&c, . . . Dicunt [Entbusiastae, sc] Apostolum dicere,
Litera occidit,' Spiritus vivificat : ibi aut immediatis reve-
lationibus, ad vivificandum aptis, opponi Scripturam, huic
effectui ineptam, Sed perperam : id enim significat tan
tum ipsam legem, si in se spectatur, nuUam proraittere
peccatorum veniam ; sed in Evangelio occurrere pec
catorum veniae credentibus et resipiscentibus promis
sionem. Hoc itaque sensu lex erat litfra quee ocddit;
sed Evangeiium erat spiritus qui vivificat : quoniam haec
spiritus lex vitam promittit credentibus, Hic hujus est
gensus loci." De S. S. Interpr. part, i, cap. Ui, p, 89,
92. P', 221, 1, 11, The terms literal, figurative, spiritual,
and mystical.] See Turretin, ut supr, part, ii, cap. 2,
p. 25.S — 262, Glassii Philol, Sacr, Ub, i, part, !, tract, 2,
sect. 1, 2, Aug. Pfeifferi Herm, Sacr, cap. ui. Scrive
ner's Course of Divinity, b, I. ch. 9, Jackson's Works,
vol. Ii. b, vii, sect. 2, p, 597 — 601, Felton's L, M.
Lect. p. 202—222, Wateriand's General Preface to his
third edition of Script, Vindicated, p, ii, — viii, and Dr,
Marsh's Lectures in Divinity, part in, Lect, 16. P. 223.

APPENDIX. 387
P. 223, L 18. Tlie term mysterious has no reference to
this mode of interpretation.] " Per mysticum vero .sensum
non intelUgimus in genere ^dei Christiana mysteria, quae
ex sensu literal! in suis sedibus et primariis Scripturae
dictis eruuntur, (quo respectu quod vis dictum, articulum
fidei et mysterium cceleste proponens, mysticum sensum
habere die! posset, juxta 1 Cor, Ii, 6, 7- Rom, xvi, 25,)
.sed in specie talem quorundam Scripturae locorum sen-
sum, qui non verbis Saipiurec proxime significatur, sed in
ipsis repus (per verba .sensu liteixdi denotatis) a Sjnritu
Sancto, Scripturee authore, intenditur ; seu, quod idem
est, qui alio ex intentione Spiritus Sancti refertur, quam
ad id quod verba immediate significant; quo modo vox
ftur'i/'i'ou Eph. V. 32. Apoc. xvii. 7- accipitur." Glassii
Philol. Sacr. 1. ii, part, i, tract, 2. sect, 2,
Ibid. 1. 24, But mystic denotes another sense superadded
to that, &.C.] It has long been a subject of controversy
between Papists and Protestants, whether Scripture in
general admits of more senses than one, consistently
with truth. The former have almost uniformly main
tained, that a great portion of Scripture admits riot only
of a double sense, the literal and spiritual, but also pf
a much greater variety of senses subordinate to these
main distinctions. And this is represented by them as a
peculiar excellence of the Sacred Writings, character
istic of their Divine origin. Thus Bellarmine says, "Est
enim Scripturae divinae proprlum, quia Deum habet auc
torem, ut Sffipenumero contineat duos sensus, Uteralem,
sive historicum, et spiritualem, sive mysticum. Literalis
est, quem verba immediate proferunt; Spiritualis est,
qui alio refertur, quam ad id quod verba immediate sig
nificant. . , . Porro literalis est duplex; alius simplex,
qui consistit in proprietate verborum, alius figuratus,
quo verba transferuntur a natural! signlfieatione ad
alienam. Et hujus tot sunt genera, quot sunt genera
figurarum, . . . Spiritualis autem sensus a, recentioribus
Theologis distingultur triplex, allegoricus, tropologicus,
amgogicus. AUegorieum vocant, cum verba Scripturae,
praeter Uteralem sensum, significant aliquid in N, T,
quod ad Christum vel Ecclesiam pertineat, . . Tropolo-
gicum appellant, cum verba aut facta referuntur ad ali
quid significandum, quod pertineat ad mores, . . -Ana-
c e 2 £ogicuro.-

888 APPENDIX,
. gogicum vocant, cum verba aut facta referuntuY ad sig-
; nificandam vitam aeternam, , , , Ex his sensibus literalis
, jnvenitur in omni sententia, tam veteris quam novi Tes
tament!. Nee est imprpbabile, interdum plures literales
in eadem sententia reperiri." De Verbo Dd, lib. iii. cap,,3.
In this last sentence is contained tlie point in contfo-
versy; for, respecting the specific subdivisions of the
literal and spiritual sense, here laid down, there is no
solid ground of objection ; instances of each kind being
frequent in Scripture. But to affirm that these different
senses may concur in one and the same passage of
Scripture, so as to admit of various Interpretations, is a
position which has been strenuously resisted by Pro
testant writers, as highly derogatory to Scripture, and
affording a pretext for the grossest misinterpretation,
;*' Hoc ipsum est," says Glassius, " quod, potissimum
in Poritificiis reprehendimus, Unicum enim cujusUbet
J loc! sensum esse Uteralem, infra probatum dabitur, Ro-
manenses vero, dura varietatem sensuum Uterallura !n-
troducunt, Scripturae claritatem et certitudinem, quan
tum in ipsis est, elidere satagunt," Philol. Sacr. lib. ii,
part, i, tr, 1. sect, 2, art, 1, ,
That the admission of a spiritual or mystical sense in
certain passages of Scripture, superadded to the literal,
gives no countenance to this position of the Romanists,
is evident from tlie, definition already given of it, that it
is " a sense founded, not on a transfer of words from pne
.signification to another, but on the entire applicatiop of
ithe matter itself to a diflerent subject," And whether
such a sense is to be superadded, or not, to any parti
cular text, must be collected from Its context, or from
such other parts of Scripture as have reference to it, Sp
that, as Dr. Waterland pbserves, " the difference may
ibe accommodated by the help of a single distinction, Yiz.
between the meaning pf words, and the meaning pf
.tlmgs ; or by saying, .that the words pf Scripture in
such case express such a thing, and that thing represents
or slgmfies.Mrio.ther thing. The words prpperly bear, but
one. sense, and that piie; sense is the literal one; bjit the
thit^ expressed by .the letter, is fiirther, expressive of
sometJving puhliijqe and spiritual. Thus, for example,
the words relating to Jonah carry but one meaning, the
Uteral

APPENDIX. 389
literal meaning, expressing such a fact; but then that
Jact expresses, prefigures, or typifies, another fact of a
higher arid more important nature. , , , In this way of
settling the forras of speaking, (for that is all,) the same
one sense of Scripture texts is maintained against the
Romanists; and the contending parties of Protestants
may obtain all that they teally aim at." General Pre
face to Script. Vindicated, p. vii, viii. See this point
largely discussed in Glassius, as above ; also in Turretin,
de S, S. Interpr, part, i, cap, 4, and In Aug, Pfeifferi
Herm, Sacr. cap. iii. §. 1 — 10,
P. 224, 1, 14, Repugnant to the evidence of our senses,
&c.] It is on this ground, and not merely on the income
prehensibility of the mystery, (as the Romanists would
charge upon us,) that the doctrine of Transubstantiation
is rejected by Protestants, Turretin observes, " Nul
lum dogma, quo posito tota religio corruit, admitten-
dum est. Si admittatur transubstantiatio, sensibus cred!
non potest ; si sensibus non credatur, corruunt argu
menta ex miracuUs Christi, et ejus resurrectione dncta
pro religionis Christianae veritate," Again, "Atque haec
est AugustinI circa corporis Christi manducationem re
gula: Cum enim hoc praeceptum ad literam acceptum
impium quidpiam imperare videtur, hinc non ad literamy
sed figurate intelligendum esse concludit," De S. S.
Interpr. p. 394, 258,
Ibid. 1. 24, That he did not intend his words to be un
derstood in thdr literal sense^ " If," says "Dr. Felton,
"they will have these words of the Institution to be
literally understood, they must first settle the construc
tion of the pronoun. This is my Body. If it relates to
the Bread, it must, according to several of their own
writers, be taken figuratively : This Bread is my Body,
or the sign of iny Body, If the pronoun referreth li
terally to the Body, then It Is an absurd tautology, and
affirms nothing at all, but that this Body Is my Body.
The pronoun rriust refer either to the Bread or to the
Body,: if to the Bread, then something is -distinctly
affirmed of It, This Bread is my Body; and the predi
cate cannot destroy the subject, that it shall be.no
longer Bread: and when it cannot be literally under
stood, it must be figuratively taken, and explained by
c c 3 the

390 APPENDIX.
the Sign, or Communion of the Body of Christ. Thef
ought next to shew, why the words are not to be lite
rally understood in the second instance as well as in the
first, and affirm, that the Cup is as really the Blood, or
the New Testament in the Blood, as the Bread is the
real and very Body of Christ." L. M. Lect. pref, p, xii.
P, 224, 1, 26, And this isfurther evident from the con
duct of the Disdples themselves.] " In locorum exposi-
tione attendendum est ad effectum, quem certa verba
natura sua parere debuerunt, si certo modo intellecta
sint : si vero effectum ilium non pepererint, quem verba
certo sensu accepta parere debuerunt, id magno indicio
est, ea verba eo sensu accepta non esse, Exemplum in
transubstantiatione ; nam certe, si verba Christi eo sensu
Intellecta fuissent ab Apostolis, maximum in iis stu-
porem creare debuissent, quod tamen contigisse non
videmus," Turretin de S. S. Interpr. p. 393, 394. To
account for the diflerent conduct of the Apostles on this
and on the former occasion, when our Lord spake of
the necessity of eating his flesh and drinking his blood.
It may 'ibe observed, that as our Lord, in that memo
rable discourse, John vi. 51 — 66, spake of giving his
Body and his Blobd as a thing future, and did not im-
diately accompany the declaration with any outward
sign or token by which the mystical sense of the ex
pressions might be made evident, it is the less surpris
ing that they should then have understood the words in
their Uteral sense, and have taken offence accordingly :
but when our Lord In this instance spake to them in
the present tense, " Take, eat, this is my Body," and
when they saw the material Bread and the living Body
both before their eyes unchanged, they had no choice ;
there was no room for the gross literal apprehension of
the terms, and they were constrained to receive them
in their figurative and symbolical sense. .
P. 225. I. 22, The Sodnian, always solicitous to divest
Christianity of every thing mysterious.] Tbe connectiba
between this Sacrament and the doctrine of our Lord's
Atonement sufficiently explains the solicitude of the So
cinian that it should not be interpreted in any higher
sense. The two Sacraments have been greatly Instru
mental in preserving entire the fundamei>dal Articles of
the

APPENDIX, 391:
the Christian Faith, This has beeri shewn by Dr, Wa-
terlarid. In his Charge on the doctrinal Use of the Chris
tian Sacraments, 8vo. Lond, 1736, He remarks of So-
cinus, that " after a thousand subtleties brought to
elude plain Scripture, he was yet sensible that he should
prevail nothing, unless, together with the doctrine of
the Trinity, he could discard the two Sacraments also, or
render them contemptible. Baptism was a standing mo
nument of the Personality and equal Divinity of the
Fatlier, Son, and Holy Ghost ; and the other Sacrament
was an abiding memorial of the merits (though no
creature can merit) of our Lord's Obedience and Suffer
ings, And both together were lasting attestations, all
the way downy from the very Infancy of the Church, of
the secret workings, the heavenly graces and infiuences
of the Holy Spirit- upon the faithful receivers. The
Form of Baptism stood most directly in his way. As to
the Eucharist, if he could but reduce It to a bare Com
memoration of an absent friend, there would be nothing
left in It to create him much trouble." p, 33 — 35, The
low estimation in which Sacraments, as such, are held
by Socinians, is largely discussed in Hoornbeck's Socin,
Confutat, tom, iii, p, 220 — 248. Stapfer thus concisely
states the true ground of their depreciation of both : —
" Cum porro Sacramenta in hunc praecipue finem sint
Instituta, ut divinam gratiam, per sacrificiuin Christi
partam, foederis obsignarerit, et veluti arrhae et pignora
lis essent ; Sociniani auteni- negent rem signatam, sci
licet, quod per Christi obedientiam et sanguinis effu-
sionem, sive per passiones ejus et mortem, omnibus
fidelibus parta sit remissio peccatorum et jus ad vitam
aeternam; hinc illis etiam omnis Sacramentorum usus
fuit InVertendus; Inde est, quod dicant, ritus illos sym-
bolicos, quos Sacramenta vocamus, tantum habendos
esse pro tess'erls et notis externae Chrlstianismi profes-
sioriis, adeoque eorum usum esse tantum depingere et
signlficare gratiam, non autem obslgnare." Inst. Theol.
Polem. tora. Hi, p, 392,
P. 226. 1. 7- The Fanatic . . . also alike depredates tiieir
value.] It Is characteristic of all Enthusiasts to think
meanly of Sacramental Institutions. Presuming that
vital Christianity consists in certain Inward fefelirigs and
c c 4 convictions

392 APPS^DIX.
convictions produced by tlie immediate agency of the
Holy Spirit upon the heart and mind, they regard the
Sacraments as little better than lifeless ceremonies, and-
stigmatize those who ascribe to them any instrumental
efficiency as means of Grace, by the opprobrious appel--
lation of formalists. Nor are they, in this respect,
chargeable with inconsistency. For if It be true, that
Grace can be communicated to the believer only by the
immediate agency of the Holy Spirit, it will not be easy
to shew the necessity or advantage of any instituted
means of Grace whatever. That which, is to be obtained,^
and can only be obtained, by the immediate act of God,
cannot require, nor even admit, any medium of commu
nication : arid consequently, the Sacraments, losing that
part of their essential character, will be regarded only
as signs or representations of some spiritual benefits
which either have been or are to be bestowed, without
any external instrumentality. Thus, even by some who
airllow thb Sacraments to be Christian Ordinances, Bap
tism is held to be nothing more than an emblem of that
Regeneration or Conversion, which, if ever it really take
place, is to be effected by some subsequent operation of
the Spirit.; arid the Lord's Supper Is received merely in
acknowledgment of that assurance of pardon and sancti
fication which the Communicant is persuaded he has
received by the effectual working of the Holy Spirit'
within him, independently of the use of this, or any
other outward ordinance, , , Stapfer has also remarked
this of severfd fanatical sects: — "Neque propterea
mediis Gratice extemis opus habent; irode non tantun>
Verbi Divini In hoc statu usum rejiciunt, sed de Sacra
mentis eticim contelntim loquuntur," And again, of
Weigelius, the leader Of one of those sects, " Uti om-^
nium 'mediorvm eoctemorum usum rejiciebat, ita etiam
Sacra.mentorum usum summopere contemnebat, Quis^
quis enim essentialiter cum Deo aut Christo Ita unltus
est, ut Deus Ipse subjective omnia In eo operetur, is
omnino externis mediis haudqttaquam opus habet."
Inst. Theol. Polem. tom, iv.:p, 345, 360, ¦
P, 227. 1. V.' Tlie sense of the wdrds' of the Institution is
Undoubtedly mysUeat^ " These expressions," says Dr.^
Felton, (speaking of St, Paul's account of the Institu tion,

APPENDIX. ;^93.
tion, 1 Cor. x, 16, and xi, 23 — 26. together with those.
of the Evangelists,) " are to be understood in-a~ figura
tive, symbolical, and commemorative sense, so that the
Bread and the Cup are a real Communion of his Body
and Blood, The outward part, or visible sign of this
Sacrament,' is, as our Church Catechism teacheth.
Bread and Wine ; the inward part, or thing signified,
is the Body and Blood of Christ, which is verily and
indeed taken and received, in all their real, and spiritual
effect.s, by the Faithful. This is the real Presence,
which we hold. He Is so present, as to annex the very
benefits of his Body and Blood to our Communion of
the- Bread and Wine, which are now made the spiritual
food and nourishment of our souls ; that as He loved
us and gave Himself for us, we might ever be partakers
of, and give thanks unto Him for his unspeakable
gift." L. M. Lect. pref. p. x, xi.
r P. 228, 1. 5, It is in vain to reason a priori for its total
rejection.] The argument a priori is certainly much more
strongly in favour of this mode of communicating spi-,
ritual truths, than against it. The object of Revelation
being to make knoWn things which " eye hath not
seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into, the heart of
man to conceive," it seems hardly possible,, that the
human mind should be capable of apprehending- them,
but through the medium of figurative language or mys
tical representations. This is well illustrated by Dr.
John Clarke, in his Enquiry into the Origin of Evil.
" The foundation of Religion and Virtue being laid- in
the mind and heart, the secret dispositions. and genuine
acts of which are invisible, and known only to a man's
self; therefore the powers and operations of the mind
can only be expressed in figurative terms, and signified
by external symbols. The motives also and induce,-^
ments to practice are spiritual ; such as affect men in a
way of moral influence, and not of natural efficiency;
the principal of which are drawn from the consideration
of a Future State : and consequently these likewise
must be represented by Allegories and SimiUtudes,
taken from things naost known and familiar here. And
thus we find in Scripture the state of Religion illus
trated

394 APPENDIX.
trated by all the beautiful images that wb can conceive';
in which natural unity, order, and haririony consist, as
regulated by the strictest and most exact rules of disci
pline, taken from those observed in the best ordered
temporal government. In the interpretation of places,
In which any of these images are contained, the princi
pal regard is to be had to the figurative or spiritual, and
not to the literal sense of the words. From not attend
ing to which have arisen absurd doctrines and infe
rences, which weak men have endeavoured to establish
as Scripture-truths : whereas. In the other method bf
explication, the things are plain and easy to every one's
capacity, make the deepest and most lasting impres
sions upon their minds, and have the greatest inflnence
upon their practice. Of this natiire are all the rites
and ceremonies prescribed to the Jews, with relation
to the external form of religious worship ; every one
of which was intended to shew the obligatiori, or' re
commend the practice of some moral duty, and was
esteemed of no further use than as it produced th^t
effect. And the same may be applied to the rewards
and punishments peculiar to the Christian Dispensa
tion, which regard a future state. The rewards are
set forth by such things as the generality of men take
their greatest deUght, and place their highest satisfac
tion of this life In ; and the punishments are such as
are inflicted by human laws upon the worst of malefac
tors : but they can neither of them be understood In
the strictly literal sense, but only by way of analogy,
and corresponding in the general nature and intention
of the thing, though very different In kind," Boyle's
Lecti vol, in, p. 229, ed. foi. 1739.
P, 229, 1. 23, In determining the extent of this spedese
&f Interpretation.] " Hic vero (ut in more positum est
mortalibuS ad extrema propendere) alii excessu, alii de-
j'ectu, peccant : quorum illi sensus arcanos et mysticbs
ubique fere locorum acri studio venantur, nimiumque
allegoriis, satis saepe contortis, indulgent ; hi arigustis-
simis termiriis sensum mysticum circumscribunt, inque
perpaucis scripturae locis eum agnoscxint ; prout nimi
rum quisquis vel natura adfectus est, vel studiis a prinia
juventutc

APPENDIX. 395
juventute excultus, vel prout magnorum virorum aucto-"
ritatibus ducitur." Rambachii de Sensus My.stici Crite
riis,. §. iii. p, 8, 9,
P.. 229, 1. 25, Some would confine it to the expositions
given by our Lord and his Apostles.] Rambachius cen
sures this as restricting it within too narrow limits,
and charges it upon Socinian interpreters, as one of
their known characteristics. Ibid. §. vii, p, 24, 25.
P. 230. 1. 1. Others regard those expositions as ensam
ples only of what we are to apply universally to the Sacred
¦Writings.] Rambachius inclines to. carry these exposi
tions to a considerable extent, " Sufficit, quod a viris
¦SsoTrvsutJ-Toif clavem acceperimus, qua ad mysticum pluri
morum locorum sensum recludendum feliciter uti et
possumus et debemus," Ibid, §, viii, p, 27. In«this he
accords with Witsius, who argues upon St, Paul's in
timation, that there were other figurative services en
joined in the Old Testament, requiring a mystical in
terpretation, of which he " could not then speak parti-
(Cularly,",Heb. Ix. 5. And doubtless, there are types and
syriibollcal representations, as well as prophecies in the
Old Testament, relating to Christ, and applicable to
the Christian Dispensation, of which the Apostles have
not left particular expositions. Too much caution,
however, can hardly be used in extending the rule.
. . Ibid. 1. 14. The best Writers on the subject seem to be
agreed.] Glassius, in his Philologia Sacra, lays down
certain general and special rules respecting the literal
sense of Scripture, The general Rules are these :—
" Canon 1. Sensus literalis Scripturae t^.xtuum non
parvi pendendus, sed . maxime in pretio habendus, et
solicite eruendus est. 2. Unus tantum est cujusque
tum . vocis, tum contextus Biblici, literalis sensus.
3. Quilibet Scripturae locus sensum Uteralem admittit.
4. Sensus Scripturae literalis a verbis Scripturae nequa-
quam est separandus, 5. Sensus literalis praecipue est
argumentativus, non tamen excluso mystico." — The
special Rules are as follow : — " 1 , Sensus literalis pm-
prius arete tenendus, nisi In fidei articulos aut charita-
tis praecepta palam et vere incurrat, et simul evidenter
ex eodem vel aliis locis figuratus sermo detegatur ac
probetur. 2. Praesertim ubicunque articulus fidei ex
professo

396 APPENDIX,
professo traditur, ibi urgendus est sensus literally pro-
prius, sive ro prirov. 3. Verba quae continent primam
cultus novi vel foederis institutionem, et recentem prae-
ceptionem, sine tropis, sensu literaU proprio sunt acci-
pienda, nisi.evidentissima tropi alicujus adsit explica.tiQ,
4. Declaratip et demonstratio tropici sensus debet esse
evidens, ac sufficiens," Lib. Ii, part, ii, tr, 2, sect. 1.
p, 26.S— 288, - '
Chladeniusy after proposing similar rules, remarks,
" Unde graviter errare necesse est, I, Judeeos et Muha-
medanos, quorum innumerae fabulae et mendacia Tal-
mudica, ex Scripturae vaticrnlls et oraculis ad literam
sumtis, quae tamen figurate accipienda erant, paulatim
enasci potuerant. 2, Chiliastas et Fanaticos qui aurea
secula, lApocatastasin et Chiliasmum ex vaticiniis, juxta
intentionem Dei nonnisi figurate intelligendls, proprle
tamen explicatis, effingunt, et Judaica fere, captant som
nia, vicissim vero Christi historiam in figuras et trppos
convertunt. Vide exemplum rei in BarcJaio, Apol, p,
SS.^thes, vi„ Ita Fanatici phrases radicandi, fundandh
iliuminandi, introeundi, implendi, in actibus gratiae Spiri
tus. ,S, describendis adhibitas, plerumque sensu literae
sumendas existimant, . , 4, Pontificios, qui in frqjMS qute-
runtiquod in iisinunquam est reconditum ; ita ro •ssoijx.a.hnv,
Joh, xxi; 17- de dominio a Papa affectato; Solem et
Lunam, In Creationis historia, de Imperio sacrp et civili,
ridicule satis exppnunt. 5, Socmianos, qui, ut divlnlta-
tem Salvatoris'Jesu Christi Infrangant, tropos formant,
ubi non sunt, et filium Dei ejusque generationem, domi
nium, et alia, per meram tropologiam et improprle expp
nunt," Inst. Exeg. p. 215—217. See also J, E, Pfeif
feri Inst. Herm, Sacr, p. 432 — 443. and 740 — 752,
Turretin de S, S. Interpr, p, 140r-144. and p. 390r-
393. Rambachii de Sens, Myst, Criteriis, p, 29.^— 65.
P. 233. 1. 5. Whatever is generally necessary to Scilva-
tion.]" Omnis fidei articulus in Scripturis .aliqd>i ey; professo
.pfopriis et perspiads iierbis est expositus, quae illius articuli
propria quasi sedes et domicilium est. Nihil est; .obscure
dictum in Scripturis quod spectet ad fidem, vel mores, quod
non planissiane dictum sit in aliis locis. SI igitur -In tali
Scripturae textu versemur, in quo fidei artiipulus, aliquis
ex professo traditur, Ibi ut ne latum unguem a verbo rum

APPENDIX. 397
rum proprietate divelll nos patlamur, conveniens est."
Glassii Philol. Sacr. lib. Ii, part, i, tr, 2, sect 1, p,
286, P. 233. I. 25, Parables.] Glassius has largely treated on
the' subject of Parables, The following are among his
chief rules for their Interpretation. " Canon 3, In para-
bolis, si Integre accipientiir, tria sunt : radix, cortex,' et
medulla sive Jhictus. Radix est scopus, In quem tendit
parabola. Cortex est sirailitudo sensibills quae adhibetur,
etsuo sensu literali constat. Medulla seu fructus est sen
sus parabola mysticus, seu ipsa res, ad quara parabolaa
fit accommodatio, seu quae per similitudinem propositam
significatur, 4. In expUcatione et applicatione para-
bolarum legitime instituenda, primo omnium attenden-
dus est dicentis scopus, 5, In parabolis non est opus
nimia cura in singulis verbis anxium esse, neque in sin
gulis partibus a.daptatio et accommodatio ad rem spiri
tualem nimis axptSuis quaerenda est, 6, Theologia pa-
rabolica non est argumentativa. Canon hic in Theolo
gorum scholis tritisslmus est. Intelligendus autem de
paraboUcIs expositionibus et accommodatlonibus non
innatis, quae in Ipsa Scriptura habentur (illae enim certas
pariunt demonstrationes, perinde ac alia quae jstjraf in
¦ sacris literls habentur) sed illatis, et quidem externis et
alietiis, quando vel a scopo, vel a fidei analogia et ortho-
dpxia discedltur. 8, Cum frequenter dicitur simile
est regnum ccelorura huic vel illae rei, &c. nomoportet
ex hoc intelllgere, similitudinem sumtam in omnibus
suis partibus convenire regni ccelorum mysteriis : cum
sufficiat , illam servire in ea regni coelorum parte aut
coriditione, propter quam declarandam erat assumta.
Sic in quadam parabola Christus comparatur fun, Luc.
xii. 39. sed in illo tantum quod ut ilie venit hora qua non
putatur, ita Christus venturus est qua hora non putamus.
Sic Luc. xvi. imitandus proppnltur villicus iniquitatis,
non in omnibus, sed in solertla, eaque npn in omni ma
teria, sed In tali de qua hoc loco sermo est. 9. Non
Oriines parabolae eodem modo concludunt, sed diversis.
Quaedam nunirum a simili, ut septem illae parabolae
TSlatt, xiii. et multae alias : alias vero per locum a dissi-
mili, ut est' parabola de iniquo judice qui- nee Dewn time-
bat, nee homines reverebatur ; et de amico petente tres pa
nes:

S98 APPENDIX,
4
nes; et de villico iniquitatis." Phihl. Sticr: lib, ii. part. i.
tr, 2, sect, 5. p. 336 — 350, See also Aug, Pfeifferi Herm,
Sacr, cap. Ui. §. 13. p, 635. J, E, Pfeifferi Inst, Herm.
Sacr, cap. xiii. p, 753 — 773. Turretin de S. S, Interpr,
part. Ii. cap, 2, §. 14, and Waterland's Gen. Pref. to
Script, Vindic, p. ix — xi.
P, 236, I, 23,- Types.] " Deus per omnlsclentiam fu-
tura omnia cognoscit, per summam vero saplentlara res
ita conformare potest, ut altera alteram similitudine sua
referat: et quum ens tale, quod similitudine sua re
fert alterum, imago audiat, praesentia Deus Ita confor
mare potest, ut Imagines evadant futurorum. Res pras-
sens, quam rei futurae imaginem esse Deus voluit, ty-
pus appellatur ; unde facile patet ad typum requiri, ut
non sit fictum quid, sed revera exhibitum ; ut sit imago
rei alterius ; ut ex voluntate atque intentione divina
idem sit ; atque ut res Ilia cujus imago est, non prae-
terita, non praesens, sed futura sit." J. E. Pfeifferi Inst.
Herm. Sacr. cap. xiv, p, 730 — 795. See also »A.ug,
Pfeifferi Herm. Sacr. cap. iii. §, 12, p, 635, Water-
land's Gen, Pref, to Script, Vind, p. xlv — ^xvi. Jenkins's
Reasonableness of Christianity, vol, Ii, ch, 7- and 15.
and an elaborate Discourse by Bp. La^dngton, on the
Nature and Use of a Type, 8vo, Lond, 1724, Glassius,
in his Philologia Sacra, has' given a series of Canons of
Typical Interpretation, drawn up with great accuracy
and precision. But they require the accompanying Il
lustrations to make them clearly Intelligible,
P, 239. 1, 13, Allegory.] Almost all the authors above
referred to treat of Allegories as distinct from Types
and Parables. To them, therefore, I must again direct
the reader who Is desirous of fuller information. The
whole subject, however, of figurative and mystical In--
terpretation has been recently discussed, with his usual
perspicuity and judgment, by Dr. Marsh, In his Lec
tures, part iii. lect. 17y 18.
P, 240. 1. 6. Synihols.] Dr. Waterland expresses a
doubt, whether .symbolical language should be referred
to figurative or to mystical construction ; but Inclines
to the latter; considering a Symbol to be a kind of
simile, and therefore more reseriibling a parable than a
metaphor. An example, he observes, will best shew Its
meaning.

APPENDIX, 399
meaning, " We read in Isaiah, that qll the Iwst oj
hecfven ^ shall be dissolved. Now, the host of heaven
UteraUy signifies sun, moon, and stars : but sun, moon,
and stars symbolically signify the princes and nobles,
(Civil and Ecclesiastical,) forming any state or polity.
So' then, the dissolving the host of heaven symbolically
means the dissolving the whole frame and constitution
of such civil and ecclesiastical state. This kind of con
struction nearly resembles the parable, where the literal
meaning is but the shell or shadow, and the mystical is
the thing Intended: the one is but the image, as It
were, while the other is the truth represented by It, or
veiled under it," Again; — " I distinguish a type from
s.. symbol, in this respect, that a type is some real fact
or thing, whereas a symbol is rather fictitious than
real," Gen. Pref. to Sa-ipt. Vindic. p, xi — xiv. Bishop
Kurd's definition Is clear and accurate. " By Symbols
I mean certain representative marks, rather than ex
press pictures ; or if pictures, such as were at the same
time characters, and, besides presenting to the eye the
resembl9.nce of a particular object, suggested a general
idea to the mind. As when a horn was made to denote
strength, an eye and sceptre, majesty, and in numberless
such instances ; where the picture was not drawn to
eipress merely the thing itself, but something else,
which was, or was conceived to be, analogous to it.
This more complex and ingenious form of picture-writ
ing was much practised by the Egyptians, and is that
which, we know by the name of Hieroglyphics," War-
burton's Led. Serm, ix, p. 288, ed. 8vo, 1722, See also
Dr, Felton's L, M, Lect, p, 207—211. and Lancaster's
Symbolical Dictionary, prefixed to his Abridgment of
Daubuz on the Revelation, 4to. Lond, 1730,
P. 242. I. 7- Two distinguished Writers of this class, in
the last century.] CoUIns,' in his Grounds and Reasons
of the Christian Religion, and the Scheme of Literal
Prophecy considered; and Woolston, in his Discourses
on, the Miracles of our Saviour. See Lela^nd's View of
the Deistiqal Writers, vol. i, letters 7^ 8. Similar at
tempts have been m^de, in our own times, by Volney
and otiier French Infidel Writers, and by Sir William
Driunmond, in his Pedipus Judaicus, to entirely explain away

4t;o APPENDIX.
away the principal historical facts of Scripture; attempts
calculated to impose upon the superficial and unwary,
by an ostentatious display of learning, but which have
been successfully repelled by Christian advocates- of
sounder learning and better principles.
P, 246, 1, 6. From such corrupt sources some Christian
Commentators appear to have unguardedly ~ drawn tiieir
supplies.] " Praicipue harum partlum sectatores, qui
hoc vitio laborant, sunt l.Antiquissimi Judeeorum docto
res, maxime qui ex schola Alexandrlna prodierunt, nbl
morbus Ilie allegoricus quam maxime grassabatur ; spe
ciatim in scriptis Philonis, Inque Midraschiin et Rabboth
veterum Hebraeorum : in quibus ceterum illud laud^-
dum est, quod Messiam, scripturae nucleum, quaesive-
runt, quamvis loco saepe satis alieno. 2. Multi patres
Ecclesia, maxime qui Orlgenem ducem In scriptura ^-
cra Interpretanda aectati sunt. 3. Pontifixdi interpretes,
interque illos praecipue doctores scholastici. 4, Mystid
impuriores et paj:adoxIs speculationibus, arcanae sapien
tiae speciem mentientibus, dediti, ex Paracelsl maxime
atque Bohmli scliola. 5. Multi Jo, Cocqeil asseclae,
luxurlante Ingenio in multipUcandis interpretatlonibus
typicis atque aUegoricIs abrepti, 6. Nonnulli ex ipso
philosophonim recentlorum ordine, ut Thomas Burne-
tius, aliique." Rambachii de Sens. Mystic. Criteriis,
§. Ui. p. 9, 10.
P. 247. 1. 7- Spiritual improvements, as they are some
times called, &c,] Dr, Waterland observes of the allego
rical coraraents of the Fathers, that very often they
were " not so properly Interpretations, (for they gene
rally admitted a. ZiferoZ. Interpretation besides of the
same Texts,) as a kind of moral pr spiritual uses pr im
provements raised upon the Texts, for the practical edi-
fi.C^tlpn of , the people. The design seems to have been
much the same (only employed upon a nobler subject)
-vvith what several pious persons have attempted, in^en-
deavouring to turn every common incident of life, every
thing they hear, read, . or see, to spme spiritual im-
prpvement, by apposite reflections or meditations." .Of
this he afterwards remarks, " Whether sueh spiritual
uses were really Intended. In such place bythe Sacred
Penman, or no, yet If -the words might be but aptly ac-r
commodated

APPENDIX, 401
commodated thereto, and were but pertinently arid so
berly appUed, and the Analogy of Faith preserved, a
good end vvas answered thereby, and true doctrine at
least kept, if not true Interpretation.'^ Again ; " which
ends {the improving their morals and elevating their af
fections] might be, in a good measure, answered by ap
posite meditations on the Text, though they should
not be true Interpretations. And It was that consider
ation chiefly, as 1 conceive, which made the Fathers
take the more freedom in moralizing and spiritualizing
(If I may so speak) the Letter of Sacred Writ." Import,
of the Trinity, p. 4S7. 510 — 515. where these senti
ments are confirmed and illustrated by quotations from
St, Augustin.
. That no such applicati-ons, however, of Scripture are
to be received as Y^roperly' expositions of the. Sacred
Word, is evident, " Repeto id," says Glassius, " quod
supra inculcatum fuit, quando de sensu Scripturae mys
tico hic agitur, IntelUgi tantummodo eum, quem Scrip
tura ipsa, sui ipsius interf)rcs, dilucide cbmmonstrat,
De reliquis autem,, vel allegoricis, vel typicis, vel parabo-
Uds interpretatlonibus, <|riae ab Interpretiim pendent
arbitrio, verum illud Hieronymi In 2. com. super Matth.
Pius hic sensus: sed nunquam parabola Sfut' dubia anig-
matum intelligentia potest ad autoritdtem dogmdtum quic-
quam proficere. Et Bellarm. de Verbo Dei, lib. iii. c, 3.
quod sensus mystid [sc. Scripturae manifesta expUca
tione destituti et ab interpretibus illatl] licet adificent
cwm non sunt contra fidem cait bOnos mores, tamen non
constet an sint a Spiritu Sancto intenti. Et hoc in sen
sus mystici enucleatione diligenter observandum." Phi
hl. Sacr. ut supr. p. 290. See also Turretin de S. S.
Interpr. part. I. cap. Iv. p. 144 — 1521
P. 248. 1. 20. What errors too in religious opiniorS
may not recdve a plausible appearance by the aid of a
mode of Interpretation so lao: and fiexible in itself, &c,J
The abuse of ^gMra*itje interpretation is nOt peculiar to
mystics and fanatics. The Socinians, who would arro
gate to themselves, almost exclusively, the character of
rational Christians, often discover a strong propensity
to figurative and even mysticalex;^ositions of Scripture,
when they find it impossible to adapt the literal sense
» d to

402 APPENDIX.
to their own hypotheses. Dr. Edwards, in his Pre
servative against Socinianism, has shewn this in se
veral instances, " When we produce," says he, " the
plain words and expressions of Scripture, If those
words contain a doctrine that is repugnant to their rea
son, they say, in this case it is lawful to wrest and per-,
vert them to another meaning, quite contrary to what
the natural construction of them would direct us to.
From the natural you may fly to a figurative construc
tion ; and if ordinary figures wUl not serve the turn,
you may call in to your assistance tropos inusitatos, any
the most uncommon and unusual tropes, and thereby
compel them to comply with your conceptions. If
they are to be credited, such a figurative and mystical
meaning Is couched under the plainest expressions, i as
render, the Scripture the most obscure and mystical book
in the whole world. Now, if it be a fault (as they
seem to think) that our religion as to some parts of it
is mystical, these men must be inexcusable In laying it
to our charge, because they themselves must come
under the same and ,a much heavier condemnation.
For, by making a figurative Snd ohsaire meaning to lie
hid under the plainest and easiest expressions of Scrip
ture, they are found to be the promoters of a mystical
incomprehensible sort of Divinity, which none can un
fold but themselves. Thus, In their exposition of
John viii. 58, Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abra
ham was, I am, -aypiv 'APpocMf/^ ysvsa-dai, eyuj lipt,!. Firsty
they have perverted the word Abraham from being a
proper name to be an Appellative, so that, according to
them. It doth not denote the person of Abraham, but
ratlier the privilege and blessing that was denoted by the
change of his name from Abram to Abraham ; viz* that
he should be the Father of many nation^. Now If
you enquire of them whether it is ever taken In any
part of the Bible, otherwise than to denote, the person of
Abraham; they must answer in the negative. And
yet quite contrary to the constant use of tlie word, bpth
in this chapter and all other parts of the Bible, as alsp
against the reason and design, of the place, it must be
"wrested, /and turned tp a metaphorical sigjnification, be
cause otherwise we should here find a plain and uncon
trolable

APPENDIX. 40$
trolable declaration of our Saviour's preeiristence, and
that will lead us to a beUef of his Divine Nature, which
must not be allowed, whatever becomes of the Scrip
tures which affirm It ; and therefore you may quantam-
cunque vim adhibere, use any the greatest force to oblige
them to speak otherwise. But, secondly, the wbrd y=vi-
<rdai is altered from denoting the substantial formation
arid existence of Abraham, into an accidental and meta-
phbrical mutation, whereby he was made not a man, but
the Father' of many nations. And the like alteratibn
hath the verb eip undergone, by which Our Saviour de
signed to' signify his real and substantial existence ; but
theyhave made it to denote his ofiice, viz. that of being
the-'Messiah, or the Redeerifier of the world. So that
whereas the literal construction of the words wollld
lead us to this plain truth, that before Abrahaih was
born or did exist, our Saviour had a being and did ex
ist, arid therefore it was no wonder that he should see
him ; by their figurative distorting of the words they
have ejctracted this unexpected meaning, that before
Abram can be Abraham, that is the Father of many na
tions, syto siju,*, /, saith Jesus, must be the Saviour and
light of the world." Part iv,- p. 70 — 106, where much
more occurs to the same purpose ; fully justifying the
author's observation, that " by directing men to the
Scriptures for instruction. If a SOcirilan is to be their
guide, you orily bring them into a labyrinth, oiit of
¦which no care, no endeavours can extricate them,"
In like manner Bp, Horsley observes, of the Unitarian
doctrine, " If ever it should be clearly proved to have
been the sense of the Sacred Writers ; the just conclu
sion will be, that of all writers they have been the most
unnecessarily and the most wilfully obscure. The Uni
tarians themselves pretend not that their doctrine'is to
be found in the plain literal sense of Holy Writ r on the
contrary, they t^e the greatest pains to explain away
the literal meaning. They pretend that the Sacred
Writers delight iri certain metaphors and images, which,
however unnatural arid obscure 'they may seem at this
day, are supposed to have been of the genhis of the
eastern languages, and of cbnsequeriee fartiiliar to thc
Bid 2 first

404 APPENDIX.
first Christians ; who. In the greater part, were of Jew
ish extraction. By the help of these supposed meta
phors, the Unitarian expositors contrive to purge the
Scripture of every thing which they disapprove, and
make It the oracle, not of God's wisdom, but of their
own fancies," Tracts in Controv. with Priestley, p. 103,
104, In another part of the work, after exposing a false
criticism of Dr. Priestley's on a passage of Clemens Ro-
manus, he subjoins, " But language is no key to un
lock the mind of a Socinian," p, 120, note.
With reference to this subject. Dr. Waterland ob
serves, that " most of the abuses, with regard to the In
terpreting of Scripture, when traced up to their fountaii^-
head, will appear to have been owing to this, that some
will fancy the plain and obvious sense unreasonable or
absurd, when it really Is not ; and will thereupon ob
trude their own surmises, conjectures, and prejudices,
upon the Word of God. For, having taken their own
concdts for certain truths, and having determined be
forehand, that the letter of Scripture shall give way to
them, they will of course rack and torture Scripture, as
far as wit, learning, or Invention can assist them, ,In
order to contrive some construction or other, which
may but seem to favour their preconceived opinions.;
unless they choose rather to reject or adulterate the
texts which make against them, or to devise new Scrip
tures to serve the purpose. Add to this, that the art of
torturing plain words has been advanced to great per
fection In these latter ages, since the revival of learning
and sciences ; and especially since the Socinians and Ro
manists have taken almost incredible pains to make
themselves complete masters in that way. There is
nothing now almost, but what some or other will at
tempt, if there be occasion, to drag over Into the ser
vice of any cause, and to wrest to what sense they
please, though ever so contrary to the words them
selves, or to the known intention of the authors or
compilers. The ancient Misbelievers most of them were
young practitioners in comparison : for they commonly
rejected or adulterated the Scriptures which they did not
like J not understanding, or however not trusting to
qualijying

APPENDIX, 405
qualifying interpretations, which might steal away the
sense, without injuring the Letter." Import, of the
Trinity, p, 362—364.
P. 254, 1, 19, Nevertheless, let not the dry and spiritless
CntlC, &c.] 'OfAoif Se [ji.sa-riv j^copouvTs; ^/xeij, rmv ts ¦sravrij,
¦ura^uTsptuv r^v diavoiav, xa) toov ayav ^scopijTtKcov ts ko.) avrjy-
fievuiv, ivct iXYjTs trai/TsAcuj apyo) xa) ax/vyjroi pi-svaipLev, pitjTs its-
piipyoTspoi TOU Se'ov'toj co/aev, xa) twv ¦arpoxsii/.svuiv 'ixvTcoTOt xa)
aXhoTptot, (to I/.SV yap 'louda'ixdv waij xa) ravstvov, to 8s ovei-
_ poxpiTixov, xa) Of^otais &[t,foTepa xaTeyvaia-pisva) oZtm ¦arsp) to6-
T«jv SiaXe^o^s&a xard to rj/uy 's(pixTov xa) oi Xiav sxtottov,
euSe To~i; xuoWol; xaTayi\oi^iv. Greg. Nazianz. Orat. 42,
tom. i. p. €84. ed. Paris. 1630.

SERMON VIII.
P. 259, 1, 17- But the more obvious application of the
text to the Universal Church, &c,] " By Church here Is
npt meant the Church of Ephesus alone ; but the whole
' Catholic Church, the pillar and. ground of the truth ; tp
whose Officers and Governors the Gospel is committed;
wherein It is taught, preached, and practised ; and to
which belongs the promise of Indefectibility, And the
collecting Into Churches, and the subordinatiori, hath
been, and still is, the great means of preserving Religion
in the whole," Bp. Fell in locum.  " If," says Dr,
Hammond on this text, " the truth of the Gospel had
been scattered abroad by preaching to single men, and
those raen never compacted together Into a Society,
under the government of Bishops, or Stewards, &c.
such as Timothy was, to whom was delivered by St.
Paul that 'sJapaxara^rixYi, 1 Tim. vi. 20, a depositum, or
body of sound doctrine, to be kept as a standard in the
Church, by which all other doctrines were to be mea
sured and judged; If, I say, such a summary of Faith
had not been delivered to all Christians that came In,
in any place, to the Apostle's preaching, and if there had
not been some Steward to keep It, then had there want-
D d3 ed

406 APPENDIX,
ed an eminent means to sustain and uphold this; trutfo
of the Gospel thus preached unto raen. But by the
ga^herlrig of single converted Christians into assem
blies or Churches, and designing Governors in those
Churches, and entrusting this depositum, or form of
•wholesome doctrine, to their keeping, it comes Xo pass
that the Christian Truth Is sustained and held up : and
so this house of God Is affirmed to be the pillar and basis
of Truth, or that pillar on a basis by which Truth is
supported. According to which It Is, that Christ is
said to have given not only Apostles, and Prophets, and
Evangelists, bid also Pastors and Teachers, that Is, the
Bishops iri the Church, (known indifferently by those
two titles,) el; xaTapTKTixov raiv ay'icov, for the compacting of
tJie Saints into a Church, s'lg olxohjj.rjv for the building up
of the body of Christ, confirming and continuing tbem
in all truth, Eph, Iv, 14, that we should be no longer like
children carried about with every wind of doctrine, &c.
And so againy when Heresies came Into the Church In
the first ages. It Is every where apparent, by Ignatius'*
Epistles,, that the only way of avoiding error and danger
was to adhere to the Bishop In communion and doc
trine, and whosoever departed from him, and that form
of wholesome words kept by him, e^dagra; was supposed
to be corrupted,"
P, 260, 1, 15, The Visible Church here on eartli.]. Re
specting the great distinction between the Visible and
Invisible Church, on which most of the controversies
concerning its Divine Institution principally depend,
see Dr. Rbgers's Discourse on the subject, 8vo. Lond.
1719. and a Review of that Discourse, published soon
afterwards, and entering more largely into a discussion
of the controverted points ; both of them masterly
Treatises, An author of more modern date, thoroughly
conversant with the subject, well observes, " The ne
cessary distinction between the earthly or visible state of
Christ's kingdom, and Its heavenly or invisible state, is
too often overlooked, especially by those who teach that
Christ is the only Head of his Church, It may with
equal reason be maintained, that the Almighty Creator
Is the only Head of all civil Society : and in a certain
sense, both positions are true. But if our Lord had
designed

APPENDIX. 407
•designed for the Church no head but Himself, the invi
sible one, we can upon no reasonable ground account
for his visible system pf religious worship, for his visi-
• ble means of grace, and for his visible ministry to ad
minister those means ; a ministry endowed with large
visible powers ; and among others, that of perpetuating
a succession to the end of the world," Sikes's Discourse
on Parochial Communion, p, 130. 8vo, 1812,
P. 262, 1, 16. The design of the Christian Church, both
vnth respect to its first institution., and the means ordained
for its perpetuity.] For a full account of every point
relating to the primitive Constitution of the Christian
Church, the reader is referred to Archbishop Potter's
Treatise on Church-Government, which has long been
esteemed a standard of authority. A more concise but
very clear and satisfactory view of the subject will be
found in Mr, Sikes's work just referred to, ch. i. p.
12—125. ,
P. 266, 1, 12. The Church itself has proved a successftd
instrument, in the hands of Providence, both of transmit
ting the unadulterated wojd of God, and of promulgating
arid maintaining its fundamental Trutlis, &c,] It must
never be forgotten, that although the Scripture is, to
all who are In possession of It, the sole infallible guide
to religious Truth; yet from the Church we have received
that precious deposite; and through the channel of her
instruction, the general knowledge of Christian truth
has been communicated to mankind. Thus far the
preservation of Christianity may be said to have been
made dependent on the preservation of the Church ;
and the Divine Author of both to have ordained the
latter In subservience to the former, for the good of his
creatures. Nor is this attributing any undue influence
to the Church, as if she raight propound a Rule of Faith
of her own devising, to be Implicitly received on her
authority ; since it represents her only as a competent
witness of the authenticity of the Sacred Oracles, and a
faithful guardian of the truths they contain. How
those Oracles could have been otherwise transmitted to
us, with unexceptionable evidence of their Divine origi
nal ; or how the sum and substance of thpir essential
,, -doctrines could have been so diffusively and so unl-
D d 4 formly

408 APPENDIX.
fprmly spread over the civilized world, as the harmony
of the several confessions Qf the Faith, proves It to have
been, if no such means had been instituted for the pur
pose ; It is fpr the sceptical to explain. It Is sufficient
for those who accept and duly appreciate the benefit, to-
discern and gratefully to acknowledge the hand of Pro
vidence, both in the formation of this vast design, and
in the course of Its operation, through so many successive
ages. P, 267. h 14. It can hardly he disputed that this form
of Ecclesiastical Polity has so. generally prevailed, &c„}
Dr. Bennet, after examining many of the arguments al
leged by Separatists against the necessity of Episcopal
Coraraunion, produces a remarkable passage from a
Dissenting Writer, cautioning his brethren against pre
cipitate or intemperate censure of the^ advocates of
Episcopacy. It purports to be an extract from the
work of a Dr, Bryan, entitled. Dwelling with God, and
is as follows, — " AU that I desire of you is only.thisy
that laying aside all passion, you will bat pause and
ponder what is alleged to give satisfaction to this ob
jection ; which may cool at least the fierceness of ypur
spirits, and abate the desperate prejudice you have con-
cel-ved against, the government and worship established
in these Churches, Touching the exercise of Eccle
siastical Government in general, you know It is not of
absolute necessity to the Constitution of a Church.
And as to the Government of the Churches by Bishops,
(speaking of it only as they are superior to Presbytersy;
witiiout meddling with the extent of their dioceses,
&c.) when you find so much written with so much con
fidence, that Episcopacy is the true, ancient, Apostoll-r
cal Government of the Christian Church ; that it was
recei^ved in profession and practice in all ages-, and Is so
far Divine, tha,t Bishops were in the very time of the
Apostles ; that they were ordained and appointed byj
the. Apostles themselves; that there was an approved]
succession of them in the Apostolical Churches; that,
in all the foUpwIng ages all the Churches In the worid.
were governed by them for more than fifteen hundred
years,, withpnt any opposition, save by the Arian Ae^
ilus, who waSj therefore cried down as an Heretic by
the

APPENDIX. 40i?
the ancient Fathers ; that the first reformed Protestant
Churches cast not off Episcopacy with any averseness to
the order, as appears by the history of the Augustan
Confession, to which Calvin himself signed ; that some
of these Churches were governed by Superintendants,
the same with Bishops ; that there was long since a
challenge made to them that have any averseness to the
Degree or Order, In these words. We require you to find
out but one Church on tlie face of the earth, that hath not
beeri ordered by Episcopal regimen, which, to this day, as
they say, is not answered : — These allegations may^
methinks, so far allay your heat, as to restrain your
thoughts and tongues from passing so sore a censure
upon the government, that it is devUIsh and Antl-
Christiauy till you can solidly absolve all these argu
ments." Discourse of Schism, ch. xxix. p, 124, 125, 8vo.
17I8. P, 268. 1, 6. According to the interpretation of a distin
guished Commentator."] See Dr, Hammond on the Text,
as above quoted.
Ibid. 1. 20. Those only ought to be considered as scmc~
tioned by Church- Authority, &c.] " Hoc unum prasmo-
nemus, judicium primarum Eccleslarum de necessitate
hujus alterlusve alicujus nostrae religionis articuli, no
bis seris nepotibus baud alia certiori ratione constare
posse, quam primo consulendo Catholicorum Patrum
et ceiebriorum in Ecclesiis illis Doctorum scripta et
monlmerita, quae extant ; ut inde, quid illi hac de quaes-
tione senserint, cognoscamus : deinde perscrutando
HistOrlam Ecclesiasticam' de iis qui in primis saeculis
Jesu Christi Domini nostri Divlnltatem negarurit; ut
Intelligamus, cujusmodi in ipsos sententiam tulerint il
lorum tempcrum Ecclesiae ; utrum in communione sua
eosdem retinuerint, an rejecerint, ut a corpore Christi
alienos. Est quidem et tertia ratio dignoscendi, quae
dogmata primaeva Ecclesia pro creditu necessariis ha
buerit, nempe ex Symbolis et Fidei confessionibus, quas
ab lis, qui communione sua frul veUent, exigebat."
Bulli Judic. Eccl. Catlwl. Introd. p. 5. ed. foi, Lond.
1703, -f . .
It Is In full reliance on this only sure test of confor
mity to the primitive Faith, that our Church repels the
charges

410 APPENDIX.
charges of Heresy and Schism continually brought
. against her by the Church of Rome. " Ita isti," says
Bp. Jewell, " nos calumniantur esse Haeretico.s, ab Ec
clesia et Christi communione discessisse : non quod Ista
vera esse credant, neque enim id illis curae est; sed quod
ea hominibus imperltis possint aliqua forte ratione vi
deri vera. Nos enim discessimus, non, ut Haeretici so-
lent, ab Ecclesia Christi, sed, quod omnes boni debent,
a malorum horalnura et hypocritarum contagione. Hic
tamen isti mirifice triumphant, Illam esse Ecclesiam ;
Illam esse sponsam Christi ; Illam esse columnam veri
tatis ; Illam esse arcam Noe, extra quam nulla saln«
sperari possit :. nos vero discessionem feclsse ; Christi
tunlcam lacerasse ; a corpore Christi avulsps esse, et a
fide Catholica defeclsse. Cumque nihil relinquant in-
dictura, quod In nos, quamvis falso et caluraniose, did
possit, hoc tamen unum non possunt dicere, nos vel a
verbo Dei, vel ab Apostolis Christi,, vel a primitiya Ec
clesia descivisse. Atqui nos Christi et Apostolorura
et sanctorum Patrum primitivam Ecclesiam, semper
judicavimus esse CathoUcam ; nee eam dubltam.us ar
cam Noe, sponsam Christi, columnam et firmamentum
veritatis appellare ; aut in ea omnem salutis nostras ra
tionem colloearci Odiosum quidem est a socletate cui
assueveris discedere, maxime vero illorum hominum,
qui quamvis non sint, tamen videantur saltem, at^ue
appellentur Christiani, Et certe nos istorum Eccler
slam, quallscunque tandem ea nunc est, vel nomlnis
Ipsius causa, vel quod in ea Evangeiium Jesu Christi
aliquando vere ac pure illustratum fuerit, non ita con
temnimus ; nee ab ea nisi necessario et perlnviti disces
sionem feclssemus. Sed quid si in Ecclesia Dei Idolum
excitetur, et desolatio IUa quara Christus futurara praer
dixit, stet palam In loco Sancti? Quid si arcam Npe
praedo aliquis, aut pirata occupet ? Certe Isti quoties
Ecclesiam nobis praedicant, seipsos solps earn faciunt ;
et omnes illos titulos sibi ipsis adscribunt; atque Ita
triumphant, ut olim qui clamabant, Templum Domini,
Templum-Domlni, aut ut Pharisaei et ScrIbae,:Cura jac-
tarent se esse filios Abrahami." Apologia Eccles* An
glic. §. 79, 80, 81. . _ ;, . ,,
P. 269. 1. 11, Individuals, or congregations of indivi duals.

APPENDIX, 4a
duals, ma.y iMtie tainted large portions of the Christian
community with pestilential heresies.] The abettors of
heresy, both in ancient and modern times, have usually
shewn some solicitude not to be considered as cut off
from communion with the Church, or as renouncing
the primitive Faith, But in the writings of the early
Fathers, we find it almost invariably insisted upon, that
the Church Catholic utterly disclaimed the opinions
.maintained by the Heresiarchs with whom they con
tended : and in modern times the labours- of Bp, Bull,
Waterland, Horsley, and others engaged in similar con
troversies, have been directed to prove that all such
errors as relate to fundamental articles, at least, of the
Christian Faith, whatever antiquity they may pretend
to, or to whatever extent they may have prevailed, have
been unsanctioned, discountenanced, disclaimed, and
rejected by the Church Itself. This, however, must be
understood to relate only to great essential truths, and
taken in their general acceptation, as laid down in
Creeds and other public Confessions of Faith ; not ac
cording to particular expositions of them by indivi
duals, however distinguished by their adherence to the
Chureb, nor with respect to differences upon lesser
points, where no fundamental article Is impugned. See
Berriman's L. M, Lect. Serm. I.
P. 270. 1,12. Arianism.] Bp, Bull has clearly shewn, that
the Arian Heresy was not only directly at variance with
the Nicene Creed, but that It was virtually disclaimed
by the Church in the judgment it passed upon other he
resies similar to It, and before it, " Namque apertissi-
mum est, commemoratos Haereticos ab Ecclesia damna-
tos fuisse ob causam, quae ipsis cum Arianis fuit, nempe
quod Servatorem nostrum Deum esse negarent, Respice
quae In hoc capite de Theodoto, Artemone, et Paulo
Samosateno ex Veterlbus observavimus ; et videbis eo
rum omnium haeresin in eo a S, Patribus constitutam
fuisse ; non quod Christum inferlorem quam revera erat
creaturam, sed quod meram creaturam omnino statue-
rent, neque verum Deum agnoscerent," Again: "Doc
tores CatholicI ante Arium, utcunque alias in quaestione
de FiUi DIvinitate, illorum nonnulli vel incautius, vel
obscurius

412 APPENDIX.
obscurius nonnunquam locuti fuerint, tamen uno d[ua»I
ore, Filium Dei ita ex Deo Patre genitum esse fateban-
tur, ut ex ipsa ejus essentia natus, adeoque Deus re
vera Ipse fuerit : quod in nostra NIcenae Fidei defen-
sione per totam sectionem secundam fuslsslme demon-
stratum est, Frustra igitur glorlabantur ArianI se ab
antiquo Fidei Canone minime recessisse ; siquidem re
gulae illius verba tantum, non verum atqiie Inde ab ini
tio receptum, in Ecclesia sensum tenuere." Judic.
Eccl. Cathol. cap, U. §.9. p. 29. cap. vi. §. 21. p. 59."
P. 272. 1. 10. Did the Church in prirnitive times yield
one iota of its essential doctrine, &c.] Bishop Bull ha'S
proved that several articles In the Nicene Creed, and In
the Creeds of still earlier date, were specially inserted
in opposition to certain tenets maintained by the Gnos
tics : and he remarks, that the article respecting' one
Catholic Church was evidently Intended to form a line of
distinction between those who adhered to the primitive
Apostolic Faith and those self-constituted communi
ties of professed believers who departed from it. " Recte
igitur Valeslus, (in not. In lib. vii. Hist. Ecc, Eus, ex,
p, 256,) Apparet hoc cognomen Ecclesia inditum esse drca
primam Apostolorum succesdonem, cum htereses multis ih
lods exorta, veram Christi fidem et Apostolorum traditio'-
nem subvertere conarentur. Tunc enim, ut vera et genui
na Christi Ecclesia ab adulterinis Hareticorum ccetibus
distingueretur, CATHOLiciE cognomen soli orthodoxorunh
Ecclesia attributum est. Verum illud porro notandum
est, Gnosticos, qui maxime in prima Apostolorbm Sia-
80x5 hasreses suas disseminarunt, plerosque omnes eo
arrogantiae atque irapudentiae pervenisse, ut jactltarent,
purura et sincerum Evangellura in suis tantum conven-
tlculls doceri, se solos Dei mysteria veramque salutis
obtinendae rationem invenlsse et sclvisse; unde et Gnos-
ticorum nomen sibi fecerunt : Illam vero doctrinam,
quam ab Apostolis traditam Ecclesia Catholica accepe-
rat atque amplexa erat, falsam in pleris(jue atque aduU
terlnam fuisse, , , . Adversus hos irapios Dograatistas
Ecclesiae fill! oranes illius aevi raeritissimo jure' tene-
bantur profiteri, se eredidlsse in unam CathoUcam Eccle-
nam, hoc est, se doctrinise et fidei ilU voluisse constanter adhse-

APPENDIX. 413
a,dh«rescere, quae juxta S, Scripturas, In Ecclesiis Apo-
stolicis ubique gentium, ab Episcopis et Doctoribus
uno quasi ore praedlcaretur," Jud. Ecc. Cathol. cap, vi.
§, 14,.p, 54,
p. 275. 1. 7. The Athanasian Creed, &c.] Several other
heresies besides those here mentioned appear to have
been had In view by the author or compiler of this
Creed. " Whoever wrote this Creed," says Dr, Hey,
" he meant nothing more than to collect things said In
various Catholic writers, against the various heresies
subsisting, and to dmplify and arrange the expressions,
so as, to form a confession of Faith the most concise,
orderly, and comprehensive possible. Not with any
view, of explaining any mysterious truths, but with the
sole design of rejecting hurtful or heretical errors."
This Is fully proved by Dr. Hey, in his discussion of
this Creed. See his Divinity Lect, vol, iii. p, 93 — 119.
and his Visitation Sermon, 8vo, 1790, See also a Ser
mon on the subject by Dr, Horbery, Wheatley's L, M.
Iject„8vo. 1738, and Waterland's Critical Hist, of the
Athanasian Creed. 8vo, 1723, and 1728.
,.P. 276. 1. 24, By the confession of her adversaries, the
Church of , England is eminent in this respect.] Dr, Puller
observes, "If the scattered concessions which have been
made by our adversaries at sundry times and upon di
vers occasions, should be gathered together, there is
scarce any judgment, or practice, or constitution of our
Church, but . hath been acknowledged, by sorae or
other of thera, as reasonable and moderate. He quotes
one reraarkable Instance of such concession from a pub
lication, entitled, a Conference between a Protestant and
a Papist, 1673 ; In which the author, speaking of the
Church of England, says, / believe her Moderation hathpre-
served what may one day yet much help to close the breach
betwixt us. We observe that she, and peradventure she
ahne, has preserved tlie face qf a continued mission, and
uninterrupted ordination. Then in doctrines, her Modera
tion is great : in those of greatest concern she hath ex
pressed, herself very warily. In Disdpline, she preserves
the govemment by Bishops .- but above all, we prize hfff
aversion j'rom Fanaticism, and that wild error qf the pri
vate spirit, with which it is impossible to deCil : from this
absurdity

414 APPENDIX,
absurdity the Church of England desires to keep fiersp^
free : she holds indeed, that Scripture is the rule of contro
versy ; but slie holds withal, that it is not qf private inter
pretation: for she is for Vincentius's method." See Puller'*
Moderation of the Church of England, ch, iii, pp. 39,
40. P, 277- h 13. She avoids with equal care the error of
those, &.C.] If the venerable and judicious Hooker may
be allowed to speak the sentiments of our Church,
there can be no doubt of her desire neither to ele
vate authority of any kind above that of tbe Sacred
Word, nor to depreciate the value of human reason and
human learning as subsidiary to Its right Interpretation,'
" The whole drift," he observes, " of the Scripture- of
God, what Is It, but only to teach Theology ? Theolo
gy, what is it, but the science of things Divine ? What
science can be attained unto, without the help of natu
ral Discourse and Reason ? Judge you of' that which I
speak, saith the Apostle, In vain it were to speak any
thing of God, but that by Reason men are able some
what to judge of that they hear, and by Discourse to
discern how consonant it is to truth. Scrlpturcy in
deed, teacheth things above nature, things which our
reason by Itself could not "reach unto. Yet those things
also w'e believe, knowing by reason, that the Scripture
is the Word of God. . . Wherefore If I believe the Gos
pel, yet is reason of singular use, for that It confirmeth
me In this my belief the more: if I do not as yet be
lieve, nevertheless, to bring me Into the number of be
lievers except reason did somewhat help, and were an
instrument which God doth use unto such purposes,
what should it boot to dispute with infidels or godless
persons for their conversion and persuasion In that
point ? Neither can I think that when grave and learn
ed men do sometimes hold that of this prindple there
is no proof but by the testimony of the Spirit, which
assureth our hearts therein, it Is ^ their meaning to' ex
clude utterly all force which any kind of: reason may
have In that behalf; but I rather incline to Interpret
such their speeches, as if they had more expressly set
down, that other motives and Induceraents, be they
never so strong and conspnant unto reason, are not
withstanding

APPENDIX. 415
withstanding Ineffijctual of themselves to work Faith
concerning this principle, if the special grace of the
Holy Ghost concur not to the > enlightening of our
minds," Again ; — " Exclude the use of natural Reason
ing about the sense of Holy Scripture, concerning the
Articles of our Faith ; and then that the Scripture doth
concern the Articles of our Faith, who can assure us ?
That which by right exposition buildeth up Christian
faith, being misconstrued breedeth error : between true
and false construction, the difference Reason must
shew," Eccl. Polity, b.Iu, §, 8, See also Puller's Mode-
rat, of Ch, of England, ch, Iv, and v,
P. 278, 1, 25, She omits not to testify her deference to
the judgment of the Church Catholic] Dr, PuUer refers to
several instances in the Canons and other public docu
ments of our Church, where this reverence for antiquity
In matters both of doctrine and discipline is strongly
marked ; and he observes, " the reverence of the Church
of 'England to the ancient Fathers, as it is most regular
and well governed, so Is It most uniform and constant ;
tvhereas nothing is more ordinary with the Romanists,
than when they are pressed and mrged by the authority
of the ancient Fathers against thera, to depreciate their
testimonies, and add some scurvy, false insinuations
•concerning them ; as hath been often observed of Baro-
¦nius, Bellarmine, Stapleton, and others. Whereas the
¦eonstant reverence of the Church pf England to the
ancient Fathers is such, that the Romanists cannot but
'acknowledge it very often, as De Cressy (Exomolog,
cp. 102, 135.) saith. Indeed the Prbtestants in England
make honourable mention of the Fathers: They prqfess
•greater reverence to antiquity than any other sect whatso-
-•ever. See, as above, ch, v. p. 90,
Bp, JewelLthus ably vindicates our Church In this re
spect,'*' Nos quidem, uti diximus, de mutanda religione
nihil temere aut insolenter, nihil nisi cunctanter, et
magna cum deliberatione fecimus: .neque Id unquam
animum Indnxissemus facere, nisi nos et manifesta at
que Indubitata voluntas Dei nobis in sacrosanctis Scrip
turis patefacta, et salutis nostrae ratio, coeglsset, Etsi
-enim discessimus ab iUa Ecclesia, quam isti appeUant
Catholicamy et ea re nobis apud illos, qui judicare non
possunt.

416 APPENDIX.
possunt, invidiam faciunt, tamen id satis est nobis, sa-.
tisque esse debet homini prudenti, et pio, et de aeterna
vita cogltanti, nos ab ea Ecclesia -^Iscessisse, quae^ errare
potuerit; quam Christus, qui errare non potest, tant^
ante praBdix;erat erraturam; quamque nos ipsi ocuJis
persplcue videbaraus a Sanctis Patribus, ab Apostolis, a
Christo Ipso, aprimitlva et Catholica Ecclesia discessisse,
Accessiraus autem, quantum maxime potuimus ad Ec
clesiam Apostolorum et veterum Catholicorum EpI-
scoporura et Patrura, quara scimus adhuc fuisse Inte-
gram, utque TertulUanus ait, incorruptam virginem>
nulla dum Idolplatria, nee errore gravl ae publico con*
taiminatam : nee tantum doctrinam nostram, sed etiam:
Sacramenta, precumque publicarura formam, ad lUorujft
ritus et Instituta direximus : utque Christum ipsum, et
oranes fere plos fecisse sclraus, rellgipnem ab istis tur-f
piter neglectam et depravatam ad, origlnera, et ad, prl-
mordia revoeavimus. Inde enim putavimus instaura-
tj^^onera petendam esse, unde prima Religionis inltia ducta
essent," Apgl. Ecc, Aug. §. 150.
P, 279. 1. 17. HomUies.] The declared purpose for
v^hich the Homilies w;ere drawn up sufficiently Indicates
the care of our Church, that the Scriptures should not be
indiscreetly pr unlearnedly handled, either by the Laity
or Clergy. They are commended In the thirty-fifth Arti^
cle, not only as " containing, a godly and whole^medoCf
trine," hut also as '5 necessary for those titnes;" times,
when even the Clergy In general, just emerging from the
darkness of Popery, and distracted by Intricate and per
plexing controyersies among many conflicting parties
were but III qualified for the, work of public Instruction.
This is specially adverted to in the Preface, as it was
published in the year 156j2, ,vvrherei,the reason for direct
ing them to be read, in -Churches is «stated. to be, that the
people might " bpth learn their dnty tpwards Gpd, theijr
Prince, and their neighbpurs, g.ccprding to, the mind of
the Holy Ghost, expressed in the Scriptures^ and also
to avoid the manifold enormitle^ which heretofore by
fglse doctrme have crept Into the Church of God;" and
because that " all they whiph are ^.ppolnted Ministeis
have not the . gift of preaching, su^ci^tly to instruct the
people." Therefore, for " the quieting of their con
sciences

APPENDIX. 417
aeiences in the chief and |)rlnelpal points of Chrlstiati
Religion," and " tp expel and drive away as well cor
rupt, vieiousy and ungodly living, as also erro'neous and
poisoned doctrines tending to superstition and idolatry,"
this book was set forth. Hence It is manifest that our
Reformers considered the Interpretation of Scripture as a
work not to be confided to unskilful hands ; nor would
they suffer unlettered or meanly educated persons to
hazard the experiment. Accordingly, in the second part
of the first Homily on the reading of Holy Scripture,
the people are admonished that they should " take lipon
thera to expound It no farther than they could plainly
understand it. For, as St, Augustine saith, the know
ledge of Holy Scripture is a great, large, and a high
place; but the door is very low, so that the high and
arrogant raan cannot run In ; but he must stOop low,
and humble himself, that shall enter Into It, Presump
tion and arrogancy are the mother of all error ; and hu
mility needeth to fear no error. For humility will only
search to know the truth ; it will search and will bring.
together one place with another, and where it cannot find
out the meaning, it will pray. It will ask of others that
know, and will not presumptuously and rashly define any
thang which it knoweth not." These admonitions, with
much more Immediately following to the same purpose,
though they give great encouragement to modest and
plons readers to search the Scriptures for their own edi
fication, yet clearly shew that our Church' entirely dis
countenances the notion that such" edification Is attain
able without competent instruction in the use of them,
and without a willingness to receive Instruction from
those who were set over them for that purpose.
P. 280, 1, 3, As a fa'M'hful Expositor of God's wm-d, her
ccmtion and judgment are evinced, &c,] Our Church
shews also the umportance she attaches to a judicious
collation of Scripture, by the rich supply of marginal re
ferences in her authorized versions of the Bible, These
serve to exemplify the good effect of searching for pas
sages parallel either In verbal expression, or in general
signification, or in matters of historical fact, and point*
of. Faith and Practice, Probably no Chureb is so well
B e provided

418 APPENDIX.
peovlded as Purs with these helps to Scriptural knowi«
ledge,. Ibid, 1. 20, Accuses us of Jiaving merely a negative
Religion.] It Is remarkedbyBp, Bramhall, that, the J?^
manlsts " call our Religion a negative ReUgion, becaus,e
In all the controversies between us and them, we main-,
tain thenegativcj; that is, we, go as far as we dace cjr
can, with warrant frpm Hply SQiipture and the primitive
Church, and leave them in their excesses, pr thosejj in
ventions which they themselves have added- But in th,e
mean while, tbey forget that we maintain all those A,rti-
des and truths which are contained in any of the an
cient Creeds of the Church ; which I hope are more
than negative," Protestant Ordination defended. See his
Works, folio, p. 1018. -
P. 281. 1, 4, She teaches in her seventh Articje,, Sip.^
In the Reformatio Legum, there Is an Article more par
ticularly noticing the opposite errors which have pre
vailed respecting the Jewish and Christian Dispensa
tions, and expressly disclaiming them. De Heeresibus,
cap, Iv. p. 9. ed, 4to. Lond. 1641. [
Ibid, 1. 24. Her three last Articles.] These also are
considerably enlarged upon, with a special view to the
errors of the Anabaptists, in the Reformatio Legum, de
Hasres. c. xui. xiv. xv. , -
P. 282. 1. 15. Her doctrine of the Sacramenfe.] ^T^c
nature of the Sacraments Is thus stated in the Re
formatio Legum. "Magna quoqu^e temeritas Illorum
est, qui Sacramenta sic extenuant, ut ea pro nudls sig
nis,, et externis tantura Indlclis capi velint, quibus, tan-
quam notis, homjnum Christianorum religio possit a
eaeterls InternoscI; nee animadvertunt quantum sit sce-
lus, haec sancta instituta inania et vacua redder^. Quae
cum Inter nos dispertiuntur, ut divini Spiritus iides con-
firmetur, erigltur consclentia, promIssio> etiam venias
peccatorum per Christum facta intrlnsecus exhlbetur,
extrinsecns vero, igtis Sacramentis quasi Siglllo quodam
consIgna,tur. .Praeterea, verbo Dei quod Intercedit,^ et
Symbolorum adhlbitorum naturis, erudluntur ficieles „de
pretio nostrae redemptlonis per Christum coraparatae,
Spiritus sanctus et, gratia in mentibus fidelium ulterlus.
. instillatur.

APPENDIX, 419
-iiistUlatur, turn etiam fcedus quod per Christum inter
Deum et nos Ictum est corroboratur, ut nobis ilie pro-
prlus sit Deus, nos iUi peculiaris populus ; et astrlngi-
mus nos Ipsos ad peccatorum aboUtionem, et integri-
tatem vitae susclpiendam. Quae si recte ponderentur,
necesse est ut obrautescat illorum calumnia, qui Sacra
mentorum inopera volunt et nudara naturam relln-
quere."— De Heeresibus, c. xvii.
P. 285. 1, 19. Hence she has been regarded as the fit
medium of reconciliation between other Churches.] Dr.
'Puller takes notice of the wholesome advice given by
King James to the English Divines who were to attend
the Synod of Dort, that " in case of main opposition be
tween any over-much addicted to their own opinions, their
^endeavours should be that certain propodtions be mode-
' redely laid down, which may tend for the mitigeition qf
heat on both sides." Dr. P. then adds, " the same is
already performed In our constitution for a general ac
commodation of controversy : neither will any, I hope,
have the worse opinion of our Church, because Grotius
thought the Church of England aright mediurh of reCon-
-ifcitoiow: [see Bp. Bramhall's Vind. pp. 22, 23.} whose
'pacificatory design Mr. Baxter took to be one of the
most blessed noble works that any man can be employed
in," Moder. ofCh. ofEng. ch. xiv, pp, 396, 397,
Projects of a general union between foreign Pro
testant Churches and our own, and of bringing back
the Separatists In this country to communion with
our national Church, have. In former times, often oc
cupied the attention of great and good men, tenacious
of sound jJrinciples, yet desirous, from the purest mo
tives of Christian Charity, to effect an external agree
ment In essential Truth, leaving lesser differences to re
main unmolested. Little hope, however, can be enter
tained of eifectlrtg these purposes, without a sacrifice,
on one side or the other, of principle, or, at least, of
conscientious scruple. Nor does the broader basis of
modern liberality gIVe a reasonable asSurahce of better
success. The strength and permanency of union de
pends upon con^Mtetic^y at least, if not identity of prin
ciple and of sentiment,' in the parties who are to co
alesce. But how that consistency is to be obtained by
E e 2 an

420 AFPEMIXIX.
an association pf opposite and discordant opinions, it is
inpt easy to conceive : nor does It seem probable, that
J9}jy;SHch uniPH would be eflfected, but upoa a prlncipie
{jfrSuch it may be .^called) pf entire vndifferenice to tbe
truth. After all, will not the peace and harmony of liie
^ole Christian community, even of those who separate
from the Churcl^jas well as of those who adhere to it,
be better secured by an upright and conscientious raaln-
tenance, among; every denomination of Christians, of
their own fixed and sincere persuasions ? Is this in
tegrity of conduct In any wise inconsistent with the
pnre benevolence and forbearance of the Christian- cha
racter? Does not the honest assertion, on either Side, of
what is deemed to be the truth, lay the surest founda
tion of mutual respect and good-will ? .j ,. ... . -t,*,.
But upon the importance of upholding Church-Unity
as the best safeguard of ReUgion itself, let us hear the
-Sentiments of one of our raost excellent Divines, — " It
has been pretended," says he, " that the laws of Charity
and Benevolence are sufficient provisions for all the union
-that Christ ever intended among his Disciples, But
these unite us only as ¦men, and not as Christians. These
duties are Indeed prescribed to us by the Gospel with
greater accuracy and refinement, than by any other In
stitution ; but still they are but a more correct edition
X)i the common rules of humanity. Something more Is
irequlred to unite and distinguish us as Christians, viz,
such a profession of Faith, a participation In such Or
dinances, and the observation of those Laws which em
body us as a visible Sodety : and without these I pre
sume that the Church of Christ will quickly become in-
-visibh In a sense that wUl Imply its utter destruction. It
is evident that all the designs which have been formed
.against Christianity, since its first Institution,' have en
deavoured Its subversion as a visible Sodety, And that
the present enemies of the Gospel among us pursue the
same maxims appears from the applause and triumph
with which they receive all notions, which tend to dis
solve the external polity, of the Church, and withdraw
men's respect from those offices and administrations,
¦without which It cannot subsist. They are contented
that the duties whicb flow from our internal relation to
Christ,

APPENDIX. 421
Christ, and belong to us as members of his invisible
Church, should be pressed and recommended, provided
tbe submission we owe to those whom He lias appointed
to rule over us, be left out of the catalogue, and all those
Laws, Duties, and Offices, whicli Incorporate and unite
us as a, visible Society, be exposed as priestcraft and m-
posture: because they see plainly that these principles
will so effectually assist them In subverting the Church
as a visible Society, that not even a single Congregation
can be formed upon them. And they are very well sa-^
tisfied, that If they can once dissolve those ties which
unite us together as a vidble Church, our invisible
Church will give them no trouble, but expire of it
self." Dr. Rogers on the Visible and IrwisUile Church f
part iv. ch. ii. p. 121, 122,

THE END.

Bif the same Author,
An Historical View of the Rise and Progress of Infidelity,
with a Refutation of its Principles and Reasonings : in a
iSeries of Sermons preached for the Lecture founded by the
Hon. Robert Boyle from the Year 1802 to 1805. Second
£dition, in 2 vol, Svo, Price in boards 1 1.

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

3 9002 01498 1444

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