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<DATE>2012-01-28</DATE>
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<NAME>Jayanthi Reddy</NAME>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="license">
<PB REF="1">
<P>IMPRIMATUR.</P>
<P><HI>Septemb.</HI> 19. 1687.</P>
<P>JO. BATTELY, <HI>R^m^o in Pri. ac Domino</HI> Wil|helmo <HI>Archiepi&s;cop. Cantuar. &agrave; Sacris. dome&s;ticis.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1">
<P>A DISCOURSE SHEWING That Prote&s;tants are on the Safer Side, notwith&s;tand|ing the uncharitable Judg|ment of their Adver&s;aries; AND That THEIR RELIGION is the <HI>Sure&s;t Way to Heaven.</HI></P>
<P><HI>LONDON:</HI> Printed for <HI>Richard Chi&s;well,</HI> at the Ro&s;e and Crown in St. <HI>Paul</HI>'s Church-yard, MDCLXXXVII.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="preface">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>The PREFACE.</HEAD>
<P>COming accidentally into a Family always frequented, and of late much di&s;turbed by &s;ome <HI>Roman Ca|tholicks,</HI> who by fulminating Damnation again&s;t all <HI>Prote&s;tants,</HI> had terrified &s;ome Friends, I applied my &s;elf to clear their Doubts, and to remove tho&s;e Fears wherewith the Noi&s;e and Threats of Hell-fire had affected their Minds; This engaged me into a long Debate with one of the Parties who was very po&s;itive and earnest in maintaining the utter Impo&s;&s;ibility of being &s;aved out of the Church of <HI>Rome.</HI> And upon that it came to be enquired, Whether it be their Re|lation to <HI>Rome,</HI> or their Relation to <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> that Men are to be &s;aved by? Whether our State of Eternity depends up|on the Talk, or Confidence, or hard Cen&s;ures of Men, or or upon the Truth of our Religion, and our Sincerity in pro|fe&s;sing of it? Whether it be the ever-living God, or any mortal Men that make true Religion? Whether that be not the Be&s;t which be&s;t agrees with the Divine Revelation? And, whether our Saviour had referr'd us to <HI>Rome,</HI> and the Papal Authority, for the knowledg of Saving Truth; or plainly taught by Him&s;elf, and by his Apo&s;tles, all that is requi&s;it and &s;ufficient to Salvation?</P>
<PB REF="3">
<P>About the&s;e we differ'd: but yet agreed upon the whole, that the great odds in point of &s;afety, which they appre|hend to be betwixt them and us, mu&s;t be grounded upon the Excellency of their Religion above ours; and mu&s;t there|fore appear in their Faith, Wor&s;hip, and Morals, which are the e&s;&s;ential parts of Religion, and make it right or wrong, according as they are them&s;elves.</P>
<P>The Talk I then had about this Subject, and the occa&s;ion of it, put me upon writing the en&s;uing Di&s;cour&s;e. Wherein my chiefe&s;t Aim hath been to fix my Reader upon that which is po&s;itive with us, and is maintained on all &s;ides, that being altogether requi&s;it, and of it &s;elf &s;ufficient to make a Man a good Chri&s;tian: And then to con&s;ider tho&s;e Points in belief and practice, about which we differ, and to &s;hew on which &s;ide lies the Advantage for means of Grace, and certainty of Salvation.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="introduction">
<PB N="7" REF="3">
<HEAD>The INTRODUCTION.</HEAD>
<P>THE Church of <HI>Rome</HI> would not only have all her Dictates received as Divine and true, but would likewi&s;e have nothing received as &s;uch, but what &s;he delivers; in&s;omuch that her Writers would per&s;uade us that we can have no A&s;&s;urance of the Truth of our com|mon Chri&s;tianity, becau&s;e we receive it not from the In|fallible Chair, and rely not on its Authority for the proving of it. As if a Man could not know, and firmly believe that <HI>Je&s;us Christ came into the World to &s;ave Sinners,</HI> with|out &s;o much as having heard any thing of a Roman Church and her Infallibility. And as if tho&s;e great Truths which God hath revealed were not to be embrac'd and a&s;&s;ented to, becau&s;e they are his, but depended upon the good Plea&s;ure of a Party of Men, who can no more add greater Authori|ty to what God hath declared, than they can make their own Sayings of an equal Authority with God's.</P>
<P>We can admit that Church for a joint Witne&s;s with o|ther Chri&s;tian Churches, that the Bible is the Word of God, and that the Chri&s;tian Creed is the Catholick Faith: But there is no rea&s;on to think, that any thing is the more true, or the more nece&s;&s;ary, meerly becau&s;e &s;he &s;aith it. That which is equally atte&s;ted by all Chri&s;tian Churches, who were all Depo&s;itories of the Divine Oracles, and of the Chri&s;tian Religion, hath a cogent and a clear Evidence: But that wherein &s;he &s;tands divided from all the re&s;t, and bears witne&s;s only to her own Prerogatives, is either true, becau&s;e &s;he a&s;&s;erts it (which none will dare to &s;ay) or ought
<PB N="8" REF="4">to be proved by the Te&s;timony of the whole Chri&s;tian Church, and of Divine Revelation, which &s;he can never do.</P>
<P>So we have this great Advantage in tho&s;e things which we a&s;&s;ert as Points of Saving Faith, that we have the plain and expre&s;s Words of Holy Scripture, and the Concur|rence of the whole Church: whereas tho&s;e things which we reject, are made a Creed only by one particular Church, not above one hundred Years agone, and have no Ground in Holy Writ.</P>
<P>Some may di&s;pute with us about our Rites or Di&s;cipline, or &s;ome ab&s;tru&s;e and di&s;putable Points: But for that Faith whereon we ground our Hopes of Salvation, nothing can be objected again&s;t it. It is the &s;ame wherein every Chri|&s;tian is bapti&s;ed, the &s;ame which was before the Reforma|tion, and before the Want of it; in Times of greate&s;t Pu|rity the &s;ame Faith was profe&s;t, and in the wor&s;t of Times, under the greate&s;t Corruptions it was &s;till pre&s;erved: and that not in one Kingdom, or only here in the <HI>We&s;t,</HI> but in all Patriarchates, and in all Chri&s;tian Churches in the World. We have neither added nor dimini&s;h'd, nor made any Alteration in that Rule of Faith, which is the Badge and the Ground of Chri&s;tianity. So that as to this Point, our Religion is now as it was long before <HI>Luther:</HI> We have no other Creed than that which was univer&s;ally profe&s;t all along. Our Di&s;pute with the Church of <HI>Rome</HI> is about their new one, made &s;ince <HI>Luther,</HI> and profe&s;t no where el&s;e but in her Communion; that we cannot embrace. It hath neither the &s;ame Authority from God nor from Men, as hath the Catholick Belief.</P>
<PB N="9" REF="4">
<P>To make this plain here, I &s;et the two Creeds at large, to be con&s;ulted as the Reader finds occa&s;ion.</P>
<FLOATEXT LANG="eng" TYPE="creeds">
<DIV2 TYPE="creed">
<HEAD>The <HI>Catholick</HI> and <HI>Apo|&s;tolick Creed,</HI> explained by the <HI>Nicene</HI> and the <HI>Athana&s;ian,</HI> in what concerns our Saviour's Divinity, but never enlarged until the Council of <HI>Trent.</HI></HEAD>
<P>I <HI>Believe in God the Father Al|mighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth.</HI></P>
<P><HI>And in Je&s;us Chri&s;t, his only Son, our Lord.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Who was concei|ved by the Holy Gho&s;t, born of the Virgin</HI> Mary.</P>
<P><HI>Suffered und<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">r</HI> Pontius Pilate, <HI>was crucified, dead, and buried.</HI></P>
<PB N="10" REF="5">
<P><HI>He de&s;cended into Hell: the third Day he aro&s;e again from the Dead.</HI></P>
<P><HI>He a&s;cended into Heaven, and &s;itteth on the Right Hand of God the Father Al|mighty.</HI></P>
<P><HI>From thence he &s;hall come to judg the Duick and the Dead.</HI></P>
<P><HI>I believe in the Holy Gho&s;t,</HI></P>
<P><HI>The Holy Catho|lick Church,</HI></P>
<P><HI>The Communion of Saints,</HI></P>
<P><HI>The Forgivene&s;s of Sins,</HI></P>
<PB N="11" REF="5">
<P><HI>The Re&s;urrection of the Body,</HI></P>
<P><HI>And the Life ever|la&s;ting.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="creed">
<PB N="9" REF="4">
<HEAD>The Roman Creed.</HEAD>
<P>I <HI>Most &s;tedfa&s;tly admit and embrace the Apo&s;tolical and Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Tradi|tions, with the rest of the Con&s;titutions and Ob&s;ervations of the Roman Church.</HI></P>
<P><HI>I al&s;o receive the Holy Scripture ac|cording to that &s;en&s;e which the Holy Mo|ther Church (who&s;e it is to interpret it) hath held and doth hold; nor will ever un|der&s;tand or interpret it otherwi&s;e than acccording to the unanimous Con&s;ent of the Fathers.</HI></P>
<P><HI>I profe&s;s al&s;o that there are &s;even true and proper Sacraments of the new Cove|nant in&s;tituted by our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and nece&s;&s;ary to the Salvation of Man|kind (tho not all of them nece&s;&s;ary to eve|ry Man) viz.</HI> Bapti&s;m, Confirmation, the Euchari&s;t, Pennance, extreme Unction, Orders <HI>and</HI> Matrimony, <HI>all which do confer Grace; and whereof</HI> Bap|ti&s;m, Confirmation <HI>and</HI> Orders <HI>cannot be repeated without Sacriledg.</HI></P>
<P><HI>I likewi&s;e receive and admit all the re|ceived and approved Rites of the Catho|lique Church in the &s;olemn Admini&s;tra|tion of all the afore&s;aid Sacraments.</HI></P>
<PB N="10" REF="5">
<P><HI>All and every thing which was defined and declared about Original Sin and Ju|&s;tification by the most holy Council of</HI> Trent, <HI>I embrace and receive.</HI></P>
<P><HI>I profe&s;s likewi&s;e that in the Ma&s;s is offered to God a true, proper and propi|tiatory Sacrifice for the Quick &amp; Dead; and that in the mo&s;t holy Sacrament of the Euchari&s;t, there is really and &s;ub|&s;tantially the Body and Blood, together with the Soul &amp; Divinity of our Lord Je&s;us Christ: And that there is a Con|ver&s;ion made of the whole Sub&s;tance of Bread into his Body, and of the whole Sub&s;tance of Wine into his Blood, which Conver&s;ion the Catholick Church calls</HI> Tran&s;ub&s;tantiation.</P>
<P><HI>I al&s;o confe&s;s that under either Kind or Species only, whole and entire Christ and the true Sacrament is received.</HI></P>
<P><HI>I con&s;tantly hold that there is a Pur|gatory; and that the Souls there detai|ned are helped by the Suffrages of the Faithful.</HI></P>
<P><HI>As al&s;o that the Saints, who reign to|gether with Christ, are to be wor&s;hipped, and prayed to, and their Reliques to be venerated.</HI></P>
<P><HI>I most firmly a&s;&s;ert that the Images of Christ, of the Ble&s;&s;ed Virgin, and of the other Saints, are to be had and re|tained, and that due Honour and Wor|&s;hip is to be imparted to them.</HI></P>
<PB N="11" REF="5">
<P><HI>I al&s;o affirm that the Power of In|dulgences was left by Christ to his Church, and that the &V;&s;e of them is most &s;alutary to Chri&s;tian People.</HI></P>
<P><HI>I acknowledge the Holy Catholick and Apo&s;tolick</HI> Roman <HI>Church to be the Mother and Mi&s;tre&s;s of all Chur|ches: And I promi&s;e and &s;wear true O|bedience to the Pope of</HI> Rome, <HI>who is Chri&s;t's Vicar, and Succe&s;&s;or to St.</HI> Pe|ter <HI>the Prince of the Apo&s;tles.</HI></P>
<P><HI>I al&s;o without doubt receive and profe&s;s all other things deli|vered, defined and declared by the &s;acred Canons and Occu|menical Councils, e&s;pecially by the most holy Synod of</HI> Trent; <HI>and all things contrary to them, with all Here&s;ies what&s;oever, condemned, rejected and cur&s;ed by the Church, I likewi&s;e reject, and condemn and cur&s;e.</HI></P>
<P><HI>This true Catholick Faith, without which no Man can be &s;a|ved, which at pre&s;ent I freely hold and profe&s;s, I will (by God's help) con&s;tantly retain and confe&s;s intire and inviolable to my last Breath, and take care to the utmost of my Power, that the &s;ame &s;hall be taught, held and profest by all under me, and who&s;e Care &s;hall belong to me in my Office. I the afore&s;aid</HI> N. <HI>promi&s;e, vow and &s;wear it: So help me God, and the&s;e holy Evangils.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
</FLOATEXT>
<P>This Roman Creed it is about which we differ: for as to the Chri&s;tian Creed there is no Di&s;pute betwixt us; on|ly that we account it &s;ufficient, and will profe&s;s none el&s;e.</P>
<P>This is the State of the Difference betwixt the Church of <HI>Rome</HI> and ours. We &s;tand for that Faith which is con|fe&s;t of all &s;ides to be truly Catholick and Apo&s;tolick; and di&s;own that <HI>Roman</HI> which they would impo&s;e upon us.</P>
<PB N="12" REF="6">
<P>I know that they &s;eek to retort this Objection of making of new Creeds, and would make the di&s;tinct Denial of the &s;everal Points of theirs to be in like manner &s;o many Articles of ours; as if it were with us as fundamental a Truth, that there is no <HI>Roman Purgatory,</HI> as that <HI>the Blood of Je&s;us Christ clean&s;eth us from all Sins:</HI> Whereas it is mo&s;t appa|rent that the Negative of fal&s;e Opinions doth in no wi&s;e become a Part of the Chri&s;tian Doctrine, nor of the Chri|&s;tian Creed.</P>
<P>True Religion is not to &s;well in Proportion to the En|crea&s;e of Errors, for then every new Addition to Chri&s;tia|nity would make a new nece&s;&s;ary Article for the rejecting of it, and it would be in the Power of every Here&s;iarch to enlarge the Rule of Faith again&s;t him. Whereas the Chri|&s;tian Faith was once delivered to the Saints, and mu&s;t ever remain the &s;ame, whatever Here&s;ies &s;ome Men are plea&s;ed to broach. That Saints and Images are to be wor&s;hipped, is a Point of the Roman Faith; that they are not, is not a Point of mine; 'tis only a Declaration of my di&s;owning this Roman Doctrine, as being neither in the Chri&s;tian Creed, nor in the Word of God. The refu&s;ing of Mens Errors, whether they be Pagans, or any Hereticks, is not a Part of our Belief, but rather of our Disbelief. Our de|nying that <HI>Jupiter,</HI> or Great <HI>Diana,</HI> or any Creature, though never &s;o &s;olemnly canoniz'd, are to receive Religious Ho|nours, is only a renouncing of Mens Devices, but doth not con&s;titute &s;o many new Doctrines; only what God hath commanded in this ca&s;e, is Part of our Religion, <HI>Thou &s;halt wor&s;hip the Lord thy God, and him only &s;halt thou &s;erve.</HI></P>
<P>Our Creed and Religion therefore is &s;till univer&s;al, and truly Primitive, although our rejecting &s;ome Points which they have made Part of theirs in the Church of <HI>Rome,</HI> can be neither &s;o Primitive nor &s;o Univer&s;al. What our Church owns for her Saving Belief, is own'd, and ever was, by all
<PB N="13" REF="6">Chri&s;tian Churches; what &s;he rejects from being &s;uch, is of a later Date, and was never &s;o general. So that in&s;tead of asking us, Where was our Religion before our Forefa|thers were forc'd to leave the <HI>Roman</HI> Church? it &s;hould ra|ther be enquired, why they threw off tho&s;e &s;everal Tenets contained in the Roman Creed? and then the Que&s;tion would be plain and fairly &s;tated, and might from every Man that hath but read the Bible, receive a clear An&s;wer. But it is very unrea&s;onable to demand &s;uch Authorities for refu&s;ing of any new and ab&s;urd humane Inventions, as for the receiving tho&s;e Truths which God hath expre&s;ly revea|led, and his Church received all along.</P>
<P>As for the Vices or Vertues of King <HI>Henry</HI> the 8th, or any others, who were engaged to &s;truggle with the Papal Power and U&s;urpations, they &s;ignify nothing to us. The enormous Faults of &s;uch as are reputed Supreme and Infal|lible Guides of a Party may well reproach them: But our Religion hath no dependence on Hi&s;torical Pa&s;&s;ages of any Mens Doings. God's Veracity and Revelation is the Ground we depend upon; Him we wor&s;hip, and in Him we believe, as is to be &s;een in our Publick Liturgies: For that we claim the Warrant of his Word, and the Suffrage of all Chri&s;ti|an Churches, than which no better Ground, nor no higher Authority is ever to be had. If the Roman Creed had the &s;ame, we would embrace it heartily, for the well-being of our Souls; or if it were le&s;s repugnant to the Chri&s;tian In|&s;titution, we might be per&s;uaded to comply, or to be &s;ilent, for the Peace and Tranquillity of our pre&s;ent Welfare.</P>
<P>But my De&s;ign is only to &s;ettle and to pacify them that are &s;tagger'd and di&s;turb'd with the ruder Noi&s;e of Damna|tion da&s;hing again&s;t them; and therefore I will pur&s;ue
<PB N="14" REF="7">things no further than to &s;hew, That neither the Judgment of our Adver&s;aries, nor any thing wherein both Churches di&s;agree, any ways endangers our future Happine&s;s: But that as to the &s;ecuring the eternal Welfare of our immortal Souls, ours is to be preferred before the Roman Communion.</P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="discourse">
<PB N="15" REF="7">
<HEAD>A DISCOURSE &s;hewing, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></HEAD>
<P>THE Concerns of Eternity being &s;o tre|mendous, and many not &s;o well in&s;tructed as they &s;hould, 'tis no wonder if &s;ome Men are frighted with the fearful Sen|tence pronounced again&s;t them by the Zealots of the Roman Party. To any Man &s;erious or timorous, Threats of Damnation are terri|ble, even in the Mouth of a Mortal Creature: Though it only betrays the Pre&s;umption of any &s;inful Man that dares &s;it on the Tribunal of his Almighty Judg; yet becau&s;e &s;ome are &s;o tender and &s;o weak in this Point, as to be much di&s;|ordered and di&s;mayed to &s;ee them&s;elves adjudged to Hell, though it were but a Dream or a melancholy Fancy; there|fore it may be worth the while, briefly to &s;tate the Ca&s;e, and con&s;ider on what Grounds they proceed that &s;o freely pro|nounce our Doom. And I doubt not but to make it appear that we want only their good Word, or al&s;o their good Will, when for Safety and a &s;ure Foundation we are at lea&s;t as well as they. It may &s;urprize and &s;tartle to &s;ee one &s;tare, and with great Confidence denounce that you are a dead Man that cannot live an Hour; but having recovered your &s;elf, and reflected upon't, you pa&s;s by without further Harm, and &s;mile at the Humour. <HI>There is one Law-giver, who is able to &s;ave and to de&s;troy. Who art thou that judge&s;t another?</HI></P>
<P>Our intire dependence is upon God, as well for the &s;tate of Eternity as for the pre&s;ent. We do not fall, when we
<PB N="16" REF="8">go hence, under a new or an unknown Power, neither are left to Mens Mercy: but the &s;ame God by whom we were taken out of our Mother's Womb, and to whom we were left, when we hang'd yet upon her Brea&s;ts; he that took care of us, and provided for us here upon Earth, is &s;till to di&s;po&s;e of us in our future State: And we &s;hall be judged by him, by whom we were made and redeemed.</P>
<P>This God whom we now &s;erve, and under who&s;e Al|mighty Dominion we mu&s;t ever remain, is infinitely good, <HI>He would have all Men to be &s;aved, and to come to the know|ledg of the Truth.</HI> Therefore he doth not &s;eek Advantages again&s;t them, nor lay Snares in their Way, nor wrap up his Saving Light in Ob&s;curity, but deals with them in much Mercy, making that Grace of his which bringeth Salvation appear unto all Men, that they may know the Way to Life, and clearly &s;ee what they mu&s;t do to obtain Eternal Happine&s;s. This, God &s;hews Men by that Reve|lation he hath made of his ble&s;&s;ed Will, how they ought to walk and to plea&s;e him: Therein all things nece&s;&s;ary are very plainly expre&s;t, that they may be under&s;tood of all. And for a further Help and a greater Security to Men of all Capacities, a Summary of Divine Truths, &s;uch as are fun|damental and needful, was by times made and propagated, together with the Chri&s;tian Religion, over all the World. So that we have the Word of God, and the Apo&s;tolick Creed, both of them always atte&s;ted by the whole Chri&s;tian Church, as two firm Pillars, whereon to repo&s;e our &s;elves. That we might be &s;trong and immoveable in the Faith, a&s;&s;ured that we are not impo&s;ed upon by our Guides, and that length of Time hath made no Alteration, but that we hold now the &s;ame things which were taught by Chri&s;t, and received of his Church; and that we make nothing nece&s;&s;ary to Salva|tion, which from the Beginning was not &s;o.</P>
<PB N="17" REF="8">
<P>Fir&s;t, then, The Word of God contained in the Holy Bible is, by Con&s;ent of all, that Saving Truth of God by which we mu&s;t live, and by which we &s;hall be judged; &s;o that what&s;oever is there written, is to be embraced as cer|tain, and as coming from God. Whether it relates to the Creation and the Government of the World, or to the ma|ny Wonders which God wrought in former Ages, to deli|ver his People, and to confirm and atte&s;t his Revelation; or to the Fall of Man and the Promi&s;e of a Saviour; or to his Mi&s;&s;ion into the World, and his accompli&s;hing the great Work of our Redemption; or to the Go&s;pel-Promi&s;es, and Doctrines and My&s;teries; or to Laws and Rules of Righ|teou&s;ne&s;s, and In&s;titutions of Divine Wor&s;hip; what&s;oe|ver it relates to, it is to be embraced with an humble and obedient Faith. Nothing is to be que&s;tioned that is con|tained in the Bible; all humane Authorities and humane Rea&s;onings mu&s;t &s;ubmit to it, for the Bible is the Word of God.</P>
<P>Go into all the World, and you &s;hall find all Churches every where a&s;&s;ert the &s;ame as well as we. The <HI>Jews</HI> con|cur with us in the Divine Authority of the ancient Oracles, before our ble&s;&s;ed Lord's Coming: But all Chri&s;tians in e|very Part, and in every Age of the Church, embrace and reverence both the Old and New Te&s;tament, as the Book of God, wherein are contained the Declarations of his Will, and the Words of eternal Life. If you enquire what they thought of it, in the fir&s;t or &s;econd Ages after our Saviour, or at any other time; or if you go to the <HI>Ea&s;tern</HI> or <HI>African</HI> Churches, or any the mo&s;t remote Place where Chri&s;tia|nity is profe&s;t, you &s;hall find all agreed in this, that the Bi|ble contains the Doctrine of eternal Salvation, and is the Word of God. This is not a thing wherein the Greeks differ from the Latins, or Prote&s;tants from the Papi&s;ts; but is the firm Belief of all. This is a mo&s;t con&s;tant and inva|riable
<PB N="18" REF="9">Tradition, which for Extent of Time and Place is univer&s;al, and therefore of the greate&s;t Credit, altogether unque&s;tionable.</P>
<P>So here is a very great Number of Divine and undoubted Truths agreed upon by all the Chri&s;tian World; even all the plain and clear Propo&s;itions contained in Holy Scripture. Although they be of things not &s;een, that are pa&s;t or to come; yet being there revealed, they are a&s;&s;ented to by all. And he that &s;hould deny any of them, would be condem|ned by Chri&s;tians of all Communions; his refu&s;ing to ac|knowledg the Truth of any Contents of the Bible, would be interpreted a Denial of God's Veracity, becau&s;e they are all per&s;waded, that the Bible is the Word of God, writ|ten by the Guidance and the In&s;piration of his Holy Spi|rit.</P>
<P>He that rejects this Foundation on which all Chri&s;tians are grounded, ought never to concern him&s;elf in the Diffe|rences among them, nor pretend to be of any Church; for by his denying the Truth of that Revelation which they all own to be Divine, and whereon they rely, he makes him&s;elf an Infidel, and a Party again&s;t them all. And yet if we could &s;ee to the bottom of Things, I doubt not but it would appear, that the Di&s;putes and Contentions which are among Chri&s;tians, are mo&s;t eagerly promoted by &s;uch as deride tho&s;e great Truths which they all own to be fun|damental. They that jointly believe the Truth and the Divine Authority of the Holy Scripture, are &s;et to wran|gling among them&s;elves about &s;ome of its mo&s;t ob&s;cure and unnece&s;&s;ary Places, by them that believe none of it; and for not mutually embracing and practi&s;ing upon tho&s;e mo&s;t important Points whereon we are agreed, we expo&s;e tho&s;e Doctrines of our common Salvation, which we all profe&s;s, to the Contempt of the prophane and incredulous World.</P>
<PB N="19" REF="9">
<P>Secondly, The other Pillar which together with the Ho|ly Scripture, &s;trongly Supports of our Faith, is the Chri|&s;tian Creed. We find al&s;o for this the &s;ame Con&s;ent of all Chri&s;tian Churches, they are unanimous in the Belief and Profe&s;&s;ion of it, and hold all its Articles to be tho&s;e great and nece&s;&s;ary Truths without which none can be &s;aved. Whereas the &s;everal Contents of the Bible, although equal|ly true, yet are not of an equal Concern, and are too nu|merous to be carried in mind: There was a Collection of tho&s;e principal Points which are nece&s;&s;ary to all, drawn and appointed from the Beginning, as <HI>a Form of &s;ound Words,</HI> or a Summary of the Chri&s;tian Saving Faith. This we call the Apo&s;tles Creed, and this, I &s;ay, in all Ages of the Church, and in the full Extent of it, hath been received as a Confe&s;&s;ion of that Faith, without which none can be &s;aved. Go to <HI>Rome,</HI> or to <HI>Geneva,</HI> or among the <HI>Lutherans,</HI> or the <HI>Mo&s;covites,</HI> or the <HI>Greeks,</HI> or <HI>Ethiopians,</HI> as many as call on the Saving Name of <HI>Je&s;us,</HI> do thus make Confe&s;&s;i|on of their Faith in him. Be&s;ides that each Article is very expre&s;ly and in many Places revealed in the Holy Bible, here is the unanimous Agreement of the whole Church from fir&s;t to la&s;t, in every Nation, and every Period of Time from the Days of Chri&s;t, that this is the Badge and Cognizance of a Chri&s;tian Believer, and that the Profe&s;&s;ion of this Belief is the Faith once delivered to the Saints, which &s;hall endure to the End of the World. Into this Faith, and none other, all Chri&s;tians are baptized, in all Com|munions, thereby to be made Members of Chri&s;t's Catho|lick Church, and Heirs of everla&s;ting Life, if they keep it unto the End whole and undefiled.</P>
<P>Thus for the believing any of tho&s;e Points contained in the Apo&s;tles Creed, or any of the Hi&s;tories, Promi&s;es or Commands deliver'd in Holy Scripture, a Chri&s;tian hath the be&s;t Warrant he can have for the Belief of any thing
<PB N="20" REF="10">upon Earth, even the joint Atte&s;tation of the whole Church of every Age, who te&s;tified publickly, and &s;ometimes &s;ea|led their Te&s;timony with their Blood, that the Bible is the Word of God, and the Creed is the Faith of Chri&s;t. How|ever Chri&s;tians have fal'n out about other things, as to the&s;e they are at one. The Belief of this engageth you into no Di&s;pute with any. Here is a very great Number of mo&s;t marvellous Tran&s;actions, and gracious Promi&s;es, and righ|teous Laws, and important Predictions which are own'd by all to be Divine and infallibly true. Your Belief and Profe&s;&s;i|on of the&s;e depend not upon your Fancy, or the Opinions of private Guides, or the Tradition of your Countrey, or of your Party, but upon the unanimous Witne&s;s of millions of wi&s;e and good Men, Apo&s;tles, Martyrs, Confe&s;&s;ors, and all tho&s;e numerous Chri&s;tian Societies di&s;pers'd over the World, which make up the univer&s;al Church.</P>
<P>Here is enough owned of all &s;ides to make up an hap|py Agreement betwixt all Churches; The having the &s;ame Bible, and the &s;ame Creed, is a very firm and large and la&s;ting Foundation for Peace. Here are all things that are of the greate&s;t Moment for Faith and a good Life, for the Service of God and the Salvation of our Souls, every where receiv'd and profe&s;t. He that &s;hould weigh the Importance of each of tho&s;e Truths which are acknowledged by all, would wonder what it is that can divide Chri&s;tians, and make them &s;o fierce and uncharitable one again&s;t another. We &s;ee Bigots of different Communions damn and de&s;troy one another, as if they were not Partakers of the &s;ame Na|ture, and joyned together by owning the &s;ame God and the &s;ame Saviour, and all the chiefe&s;t Articles of the &s;ame Re|ligion. Be&s;ides Mens Ignorance and Malice and intempe|rate Zeal, no account can be given of the unbe&s;eeming Con|tentions of Chri&s;tians among them&s;elves; but that the things wherein they differ are of a pre&s;ent Concernment,
<PB N="21" REF="10">for Wealth or Dominion. Secular Intere&s;t and humane Pa&s;|&s;ions no doubt have made the Breach, and they that &s;ecret|ly laugh at all Religion, and neither regard the Creed nor the Word of God, &s;et on the Zealots to di&s;pute, and for their own Ends make u&s;e of the Contention; when all this while there is a va&s;t Collection of Truths for Comfort and Contempt of the World, for Meekne&s;s and mutual Love, profe&s;t to be firmly believ'd by all Parties engag'd.</P>
<P>But as Men are always craving and pur&s;uing new things, rather than they will make an E&s;timat of what they have receiv'd, becau&s;e they love to extend their De&s;ires, rather than to be &s;atified, and to be thankful; &s;o they rather chu&s;e to wrangle and di&s;pute about the meane&s;t Punctilios where|in they are at odds, than to re&s;t in the greater things where|in they are agreed, becau&s;e they love to talk and to contend, better than to practi&s;e and embrace each other.</P>
<P>This un&s;ettles &s;ome Men that they know not what to be|lieve, and gives great occa&s;ion to the prophane to de&s;pi&s;e Religion, as if all the Talk about it were arbitrary and un|certain; they magnifie the Variety of Opinions, and make as if the whole were matter of Conte&s;t, when they &s;ee the Contenders act as if they were agreed about nothing. Whereas I &s;ay, all the great Articles have always been un|que&s;tioned, notwith&s;tanding the Peevi&s;hne&s;s of &s;ome, and the ill De&s;igns of others, &s;till the &s;ame Rules of Holine&s;s, and the &s;ame Points of Belief, have remained con&s;tant and embraced by all: The &s;ame Divine Revelation and the &s;ame Chri&s;tian Faith have every where prevail'd, and in the mid&s;t of all Di&s;putes been pre&s;erved and acknowledged. So that the whole Sub&s;tance, and all the nece&s;&s;ary Parts of Religion, have always been &s;acred, confe&s;t and reverenc'd by all Chri|&s;tian Churches.</P>
<P>The twelve Articles of our Creed, and all the uncontro|verted. Truths revealed in Holy Scripture, make up a Body
<PB N="22" REF="11">of Divinity, &s;o full, &s;o excellent, and &s;o comprehen&s;ive, that if we compare it with the Uncertainties and Di&s;&s;enti|ons that were every where in the Heathen World, at the fir&s;t preaching of Chri&s;tianity, we &s;hall look on its Profe&s;|&s;ors as very harmonious and very well agreed. There were never &s;o many things &s;o Great, &s;o Wonderful, of &s;o infinite a Concern to Mankind, &s;o &s;trongly atte&s;ted, or &s;o firmly be|lieved by &s;uch infinite Multitudes of civiliz'd and knowing Men in all Parts of the World, for &s;o many Ages together.</P>
<P>Here is a Foundation whereon every good Chri&s;tian may build Peace and Charity towards all his Brethren, of what|ever Countries or Communions they be, and may e&s;tabli&s;h a &s;ure Hope of eternal Happine&s;s to his own Soul: if he doth heartily profe&s;s and obey tho&s;e undoubted Truths which are embrac'd and acknowledged by all Chri&s;tian Churches. He that is fully per&s;uaded of the Truth of Chri&s;tianity, and willing to depend for his Salvation upon that plain and e&s;&s;ential Part of it, which is confe&s;&s;ed by all, and to lay the great Stre&s;s of his Hopes and of his Obedi|ence upon his Creed, rather than upon controverted Points; he hath what will comfort his Soul, and encourage him to live well; and he is &s;afe, peaceable and unmoveable in the mid&s;t of all Divi&s;ions: he may be doom'd, and called Names by them that would impo&s;e their Opinions as Articles of Faith; but it doth him no harm, whil&s;t he &s;tands firm upon the Rock of the Chri&s;tian Creed, and the Chri&s;tian Life together.</P>
<P>The&s;e two are acknowledged of all &s;ides, to be both re|qui&s;ite and &s;ufficient to Salvation: Faith and Works toge|ther making up the whole Condition of that Go&s;pel-Cove|nant, to which is annexed the Promi&s;e of eternal Life. Therefore in enquiring why they are all condemn'd as Re|probates, that are not of the Roman Communion, we mu&s;t con&s;ider what are the Advantages peculiar to that Par|ty.</P>
<PB N="23" REF="11">
<P N="1">I. Whether their Faith be more ancient and Catholick.</P>
<P N="2">II. Whether their Wor&s;hip be purer, more conformable to God's Word.</P>
<P N="3">III. And whether their Righteou&s;ne&s;s exceeds that of all others.</P>
<P N="1">I. I begin with that Faith which is peculiar to <HI>Rome,</HI> and is at large &s;et down in the Introduction. It indeed contains more Articles than that of any other Church, and it may &s;till receive further Encrea&s;e, whil&s;t their Popes and Coun|cils can make and impo&s;e new Definitions as nece&s;&s;ary; but we believe that Saving Truths are neither made by Mens Authority, nor evidenced by Number. We are contented with that Faith once delivered by Chri&s;t and his Apo&s;tles, and from the Beginning received by the whole Church, and for this are declared Hereticks, and adjudged to Perdition.</P>
<P>That Roman Faith about which we differ, is made &s;o e&s;&s;ential and &s;o nece&s;&s;ary, that their Converts are appointed by the Roman Pontifical, in an&s;wer to the Bi&s;hops Que&s;ti|ons, that reconciles him to make an expre&s;s Profe&s;&s;ion of it; and if he were a noted Heretick, even to &s;wear to it; condemning all to Damnation that embrace not the &s;ame; and promi&s;ing that if ever he acts or believes any thing con|trary to that Oath he takes with both his Hands on the holy Evangils, he will &s;ubmit him&s;elf to the Severity of the Canons.</P>
<P>Although we be &s;o far agreed with the Church of <HI>Rome</HI> (as hath been &s;een before) yet they lay &s;o great a Stre&s;s upon their new Creed, and derive &s;o much of their Devo|tions from it, That it is an a&s;toni&s;hing and formidable Change to pa&s;s from our Church into theirs. Be&s;ides the Surpri&s;e of their publick Wor&s;hip, which by a great Vari|ety of Ceremonies, Images, and the Latin Tongue appears
<PB N="24" REF="12">very &s;trange: They have a pre&s;cribed Form of reconciling Hereticks, to which none can &s;ubmit, but they that are ful|ly per&s;uaded that tho&s;e Opinions, which became a Creed &s;ince the Council of <HI>Trent,</HI> are Part of that Saving Truth of God, which mu&s;t be believed and profe&s;t under Pain of eternal Damnation.</P>
<P>It is not, as &s;ome may fancy or perhaps are told when &s;o|licited to change, that they &s;hall find it very ea&s;y, and be received upon what Terms they plea&s;e: But the Church of <HI>Rome,</HI> as all other wi&s;e Societies, hath its fixt Rules and Forms, and follows them without taking Notice of the Talk or Thoughts of private Per&s;ons. There is nothing can ju&s;tify the Change, or make it tolerable to a Man of Con&s;cience, but the being convinc'd of the Truth and Ne|ce&s;&s;ity of the&s;e Roman Doctrines, which thitherto were no Part of his Creed. When he hath &s;earch'd and us'd all pro|per means to under&s;tand the Points in Di&s;pute, and to &s;atis|fy him&s;elf, and finds him&s;elf thoroughly per&s;uaded that there is no Salvation in our Church, and that the Belief and Wor&s;hip peculiar to the Church of <HI>Rome</HI> are truly Chri&s;ti|an, and the nece&s;&s;ary Terms of our Acceptance with God, then is he oblig'd to follow his Light, and to make Profe&s;&s;i|on of what he believes to be Truth. But till a Man be thus convinc'd, his for&s;aking ours to joyn with the Church of <HI>Rome</HI> is a great Prevarication again&s;t God and Men, that will make him odious to both, and be inexcu&s;able here and hereafter. The formal Abjuration of all that the Roman Church doth condemn, and the &s;olemn Profe&s;&s;ion with a &s;acred Oath of all her Religious Doctrines and Practices in their full Latitude, (as is pretended in the Roman Pon|tifical) &s;hould make every doubting Per&s;on amon&s;t us very &s;erious and very inqui&s;itive, cleerly to know what he doth leave, and what he mu&s;t embrace, if he re&s;olves to for&s;ake ours, and embrace the Roman Communion.</P>
<PB N="25" REF="12">
<P>The ca&s;e will be much more tolerable with them that were born and educated in that Per&s;ua&s;ion, if they are in a Mi&s;|take; they having never profe&s;s'd, nor perhaps had means to know any thing el&s;e, is a Plea of which they are not ca|pable, who grown to Years of Di&s;cretion, turn from one Church to another. The&s;e had need take great Care that they deal uprightly, and examine to the Bottom of things, otherwi&s;e they mock God and Men, and mu&s;t expect to fare accordingly.</P>
<P>I do not deny, but that Per&s;ons of Under&s;tanding and Sincerity may be prevail'd upon to pa&s;s from ours into the Roman Church, for whil&s;t Men are mortal they may err and be impos'd upon: And may they all obtain Mercy that truly fear God, and embrace what they judg to be his Truth, (though they be mi&s;taken) I only &s;ay, that no Man edu|cated among&s;t us that really believes his Chri&s;tian Creed, and would not throw his Soul away, can make Profe&s;&s;ion of the Roman Faith, till he becomes fully convinc'd of its Truth and Nece&s;&s;ity. For now it is not as it was before the Council of <HI>Trent,</HI> when the Church of <HI>Rome</HI> it &s;elf had no other Confe&s;&s;ion of Faith, but only the Chri&s;tian which is common to all Churches, and tho&s;e Opinions which have &s;ince become Articles of the Roman Faith, needed not be explicitly profe&s;t, if they were but let alone and not di&s;pu|ted again&s;t: Whereas now &s;ince <HI>Pius</HI> the 4th, Hereticks &s;o called, that become Pro&s;elytes, mu&s;t make a &s;olemn and ex|pre&s;s Declaration, that they believe every thing that the Church of <HI>Rome</HI> doth either teach or practi&s;e, and that they will &s;ubmit and conform intirely to all that &s;he pre&s;cribes either for Faith or for Divine Wor&s;hip. This I &s;ay no Man of Con&s;cience or Honour can do, till he become equally per&s;uaded of the Truth and Nece&s;&s;ity of the Roman, as of the Chri&s;tian Creed.</P>
<PB N="26" REF="13">
<P>Confidence proves nothing, and makes nothing to be re|ally Divine, and we all know that Religion is not what &s;ome Men will call &s;o: neither can we believe as we would, or as we are bid; we mu&s;t have &s;ufficient Rea&s;ons that tho&s;e things are from God, which are propo&s;ed to our Faith; &s;o that per&s;uaded, as we are, we might for Temporal De&s;igns play the Hypocrites and di&s;&s;emble, but we can never become Pro&s;elytes to the Church of <HI>Rome.</HI> And whil&s;t we have rea|&s;on to believe that tho&s;e Articles of Faith, which are peculiar to that Church, are rather contrary to God's Revelation than contained in it, and &s;o think it our Duty to di&s;own their Roman Creed: We are &s;o far from apprehending our &s;elves to be in danger of Damnation for &s;o doing, that we rather believe we &s;hould incur that Danger, if again&s;t our Per&s;ua&s;i|on and Con&s;cience we &s;hould &s;olemnly prote&s;t and declare tho&s;e things to be our Belief and our Faith, which indeed are not &s;o.</P>
<P>How ju&s;t and material are our Objections again&s;t each particular Doctrine which <HI>Rome</HI> would impo&s;e upon us, is to be &s;een in many of the late Treati&s;es upon tho&s;e Subjects: So here I &s;hall give no further Account why we reject the Roman Creed, than by making upon it the&s;e three general Reflections, which alone might be &s;ufficient to prove that it can in no wi&s;e be nece&s;&s;ary to Salvation.</P>
<P N="1">1. That the Roman Creed &s;eems to be calculated for the Meridian of This World, rather than for the obtaining the Happine&s;s of That which is to come. The Chri&s;tian Creed doth make no Man greater or richer here on Earth; it is a Profe&s;&s;ion of our Faith in God, Father, Son, and Holy Gho&s;t, which unites us to him, engageth us to love and to &s;erve him, and to confe&s;s Chri&s;t before Men, and obey his Go&s;pel; the end of it is to make us hope well and live well, to give us Comfort again&s;t all Sorrows, and Strength again&s;t all Temptations. But the Roman Creed makes the Roman
<PB N="27" REF="13">Court very great and very rich, and makes Men have a great dependence upon it. It e&s;tabli&s;heth tho&s;e Opinions which much advance the Roman Dominion, making <HI>Rome</HI> to be the Mother and Mi&s;tre&s;s of all Churches; engaging Men to &s;ubmit intirely to her, in embracing all her Traditi|ons and Con&s;titutions; and obliging all hers that have any Power, to u&s;e it to the utmo&s;t, to bring all Men, as they are able, under her Obedience.</P>
<P>Then for Gain you have &s;everal Articles, the Doctrine of Purgatory, and of Indulgences, the Wor&s;hip of Saints and Images, which doth not exclude Gifts and Oblations to them; and the Sacrifice of the Ma&s;s offered, as they are paid for it, for the living or for the dead; be&s;ides all the Appeals to <HI>Rome</HI> and the Bulls and Expeditions from it: Read their whole Creed over again, and you will clearly &s;ee that it all makes for the Empire, or the Profit of <HI>Rome.</HI> 'Tis a &s;hrewd Su&s;picion that they that have made it, and im|pos'd it upon the World, did therein regard their own Ad|vantage more than the Truth of Chri&s;tian Religion. When the old univer&s;al Chri&s;tian Creed makes all for the Honour of God, and for the Sanctification and Salvation of human Souls, and this new particular Creed is all for the Glory and the Power of <HI>Rome;</HI> who that hath not re&s;ign'd up his rea|&s;on, but will be forc'd to think, that the one is to bring Men to Heaven, and the other to bring Profit to <HI>Rome.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. A Man will be &s;o much the more confirm'd in this O|pinion, when he &s;hall ob&s;erve that the Roman Zeal is all turned this Way. The Endeavours of their Zealots are much greater to make Men of the Roman Per&s;ua&s;ion, as to the controverted Points, than to make Chri&s;tians in what we are all agreed: and among&s;t them a Man that believes the Bible and the ancient Creeds is as much damn'd and hated as if he were a meer <HI>Turk</HI> or <HI>Heathen.</HI> Their Pro|ceedings again&s;t them whom they call Hereticks, have been
<PB N="28" REF="14">more bloody and violent than again&s;t meer Unbelievers; as if owning the &s;ame God and Saviour, and the &s;ame Articles of Hope and Redemption were nothing, except we al&s;o own the &s;ame Submi&s;&s;ion to <HI>Rome.</HI></P>
<P>It may be reckoned as an In&s;tance of their great Earne&s;t|ne&s;s to progagate their Creed, that their later Miracles, for more than the&s;e five hundred Years, are all in the behalf of it. The Faith once delivered to the Saints, was eviden|ced by tho&s;e ancient Miracles recorded in the Bible: But this Growing Faith of <HI>Rome</HI> is recommended to Peoples Belief by later Wonders, &s;uch as their Legends and Brevi|aries, and many Books of Devotion contain. I need not &s;ay that many of tho&s;e Miracles here in the We&s;tern Church are &s;o dubious and ill-contriv'd, that they make little for the Credit of tho&s;e Doctrines which they are de&s;ign'd to vouch: I only note that they are all intended for to make credible tho&s;e Points of the Roman Faith which are de&s;ti|tute of the Te&s;timony of God's Word, and of the Univer|&s;al Church: and that if we had not better Miracles, and much better atte&s;ted, for the Proof of that Religion that came from <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> than they have for that which came from <HI>Rome, Libertines</HI> would not want an advantageous Plea to ju&s;tify their Infidelity.</P>
<P>And, 3. We may add, that this Roman Creed is both new and confin'd, whereas the Chri&s;tian is as Catholick as the Church it &s;elf; that is, is equally extended to all Times and Places, was ever every where receiv'd, and is now pro|fe&s;t in all Churches, and in all Parts of the World. In&s;tead of this Univer&s;ality for Ages and Exten&s;ion, the Roman Creed bears date, 1564, and being dated from <HI>Rome,</HI> is profe&s;t by none but tho&s;e of that Communion, which are but few, in compari&s;on with the re&s;t of the Chri&s;tian World. So that if you pa&s;s into the <HI>African,</HI> or <HI>Greek,</HI> or Ea&s;tern Churches, which are va&s;t and numerous, you &s;hall
<PB N="29" REF="14">find no other Creed but that of the Apo&s;tles, explained by the <HI>Nicene</HI> and the <HI>Athana&s;ian;</HI> if in &s;ome of the&s;e Places they have &s;ome of the Roman Opinions, or &s;ome of their own as doubtful and new, yet they have no other Confe&s;&s;i|on of Faith, than as we have in our Reformed Churches in the <HI>West.</HI></P>
<P>Nay even in the Church of <HI>Rome,</HI> in the third Se&s;&s;ion of the <HI>Tridentine</HI> Council, 1546, they made a Decree, that according to the Example of the Fathers, <Q REND="margQuotes">they would make a Confe&s;&s;ion of that Faith which in ancient times had been an impenetrable Shield again&s;t all Here&s;ies, which alone had been u&s;ed for the Conver&s;ion of Unbe|lievers, for the Confu&s;ion of Hereticks, and for the Con|firmation of the Faithful;</Q> and then repeated the <HI>Nicene</HI> Creed and no more; declaring, <Q REND="margQuotes">That that was the expre&s;s and formal Faith of the Church of <HI>Rome,</HI> that Faith which is the Principle of Chri&s;tian Unity, and the &s;ure and only Foundation again&s;t which the Gates of Hell &s;hall never prevail.</Q></P>
<P>Happy had it been for the Chri&s;tian World, if this mat|ter had &s;o remain'd; and the Roman Articles under <HI>Pius</HI> 4. eighteen Years after, had not been made a nece&s;&s;ary and e&s;|&s;ential Part of the Catholick Faith. However 'tis to be ob|&s;erv'd further, that even now in the Roman Church, when they baptize Children or grown Per&s;ons, they u&s;e none but the Apo&s;tles Creed; and to make them Members of Chri&s;t and of his Church, and Heirs of his Kingdom, oblige them to the Profe&s;&s;ion of no other Articles, but tho&s;e that are the ancient Confe&s;&s;ion of Faith common to all Chri&s;tian Chur|ches. Nay, more, whil&s;t they live in that Communion in all Acts of Wor&s;hip, and when they die in it, and are to make the la&s;t Confe&s;&s;ion of that Saving Faith, of which they &s;oon expect the End and Con&s;ummation, they u&s;e none but the three Catholick Creeds; the Roman &s;erves only to tie
<PB N="30" REF="15">all Power and Government to St. <HI>Peter</HI>'s Chair, and to per|&s;ecute Hereticks withal. So that this Roman Creed being for Temporal Advantages, being not contain'd in the Word of God, nor proved by the Te&s;timony nor by the Mira|cles of the Primitive Church, nor received by former Ages, nor by any Church but the Roman, nor by that but very lately, and only in &s;ome ca&s;es profe&s;t: we have great rea&s;on to believe, that it is in no wi&s;e nece&s;&s;ary to Salvation. The Chri&s;tian and univer&s;al Creed having been e&s;teemed &s;uffi|cient without any other, for more than fifteen hundred Years, ought to be &s;o e&s;teemed &s;till, without this Addition, which is proved but by very unlikely and uncertain Miracles, and by the Atte&s;tation of but that one particular, Church for who&s;e Wealth and Grandeur it &s;o intirely makes.</P>
<P>The&s;e things con&s;idered, we ought no ways to be di&s;may|ed with the frightful Words or Countenance of any that pronounce us accurs'd and damn'd, becau&s;e we hold not, nor can believe what <HI>Pius</HI> the 4th did lately declare to be <HI>de Fide</HI> requi&s;ite to Salvation. We &s;hall find &s;aving In&s;tru|ctions and Comfort enough in the Chri&s;tian Creed, which God's Word expre&s;ly confirms, and the whole Church hath ever own'd, if we embrace and &s;tudy more and more the Divine and invariable Truths it contains, and &s;incerely en|deavour to lead our Lives accordingly.</P>
<P N="2">II. What I have affirmed of the Roman Faith, is to be un|der&s;tood al&s;o of the Roman Wor&s;hip: That Part of it which is not approved by us is very bad; palliated or reproved by the cunninge&s;t or wi&s;e&s;t of their Church; or however no ways nece&s;&s;ary, which is all I am at pre&s;ent concerned in.</P>
<P>Indeed as to the E&s;&s;entials of Divine Wor&s;hip all Chri&s;ti|ans are agreed, That God &s;hould have our Prayers and Prai|&s;es, in the Name of Je&s;us Chri&s;t our Mediator; even the
<PB N="31" REF="15">matter of our Reque&s;ts is fixt and uniform among&s;t all that own the Lord's Prayer; &s;o far the Church of <HI>Rome</HI> hath many excellent and ancient Compo&s;ures, very unlike tho&s;e new ones we reject. That part of their publick or private Wor&s;hip which is grounded upon the Chri&s;tian Creed, is very good: and if they went no further, we might as law|fully joyn with them, as they might with us. We have in&s;erted nothing doubtful or controverted in our Offices of Religion, nothing but what as to the &s;en&s;e is u&s;ed and ap|proved by all Churches. Had they done &s;o, and extended their Wor&s;hip no further than could be ju&s;tified by that Chri&s;tian Belief which is common to all, the Differences be|twixt them and other Chri&s;tians had been much le&s;s, and more reconcileable. But they have turned all the Points of their new Creed into Exerci&s;es of publick Religion: and the&s;e we do not think to be acceptable to God, nor re|qui&s;ite to acquit us of that Adoration and Service which we ow to his Divine Maje&s;ty.</P>
<P>We are per&s;uaded that without making or wor&s;hipping Images of God, we may pay him that Homage which he requires of us; that if we devoutly commemorate our Sa|viour's Pa&s;&s;ion, and with thankful Hearts put our Tru&s;t in the Merits of it, we &s;hall not need to wor&s;hip the Figure of his Cro&s;s; and that if we lift up our Hearts to Heaven, to adore him on the Right Hand of God, we need not wor|&s;hip the Ho&s;t here on Earth, which many Chri&s;tians be|lieve to be only the Sacrament of his Death, and none can be &s;ure to be the Sub&s;tance of his natural Body; no not ac|cording to the Tenents of the Church of <HI>Rome.</HI></P>
<P>Likewi&s;e that Part of their Wor&s;hip which relates to Creatures; the &s;olemn Ble&s;&s;ing or con&s;ecrating Images, that being hallowed, they may be fit to be &s;et up to receive In|cen&s;e and Oblations and many Honours, and to excite their Devotion to Saints and Angels: their manifold Pilgrimages
<PB N="32" REF="16">and Prayers to tho&s;e beatified Creatures; The great depen|dence they expre&s;s to have upon their Interce&s;&s;ion, their Merit and their Power; The many Miracles and Mercies they are &s;aid to receive from them; And the high Celebrati|ons and Returns of religious Gratitude which they render to them: All the&s;e which make too great a Part of their pub|lick and private Devotions, we have great rea&s;on to believe to be incon&s;i&s;tent with God's revealed Will, and with our Duty and Obligations to him; or however, no ways ne|ce&s;&s;ary.</P>
<P>I appeal to them that have either read the New Te&s;ta|ment, or learned the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the ten Commandments, which all Churches teach to be the Prin|ciples of the Chri&s;tian Religion, whether our calling upon him in whom we believe, and &s;erving him alone that hath declared him&s;elf jealous of his Honour, and u&s;ing no Images in our Addre&s;&s;es to him that hath forbid them, and ap|proaching to God by that one Mediator whom he hath ap|pointed, and who died and merited all for us, and bad us come to him, and u&s;e his Name alone in all our Reque&s;ts; Whether this Wor&s;hip which is paid to God among&s;t us, be not more conformable to his holy Word, and to the Grounds of our common Chri&s;tianity, than that which is e&s;tabli&s;hed in the Church of <HI>Rome?</HI> Whatever they may think of us where the Inqui&s;ition reigns, and under it blind Ignorance, and a terrible Aver&s;ion again&s;t them that are cal|led Hereticks; yet el&s;ewhere Men of better Sen&s;e and grea|ter In&s;truction, though of the &s;ame Church, can hardly pronounce us to be God's Enemies, and the Objects of his Wrath, becau&s;e we are afraid to give his Glory to others, and to tran&s;gre&s;s his Laws: or however their Thoughts will not alter the ca&s;e, and can do us no Harm, we having a Rule of God's own pre&s;cribing to believe and to wor&s;hip by, and whil&s;t we render to God the things that are God's,
<PB N="33" REF="16">we need not fear the ra&s;h Cen&s;ures of uncharitable Men.</P>
<P>We have the Warrant of Holy Scripture, and the Con|currence and Approbation of all Chri&s;tian Churches for the Wor&s;hip e&s;tabli&s;h'd in our Church: if accordingly we &s;erve God with Sincerity and Devotion, we &s;hall have the Reward of them that diligently &s;eek him; however we tran&s;gre&s;s no Law of his, and we run no Risk: But if the wor&s;hipping of Saints and Images &s;hould prove unaccepta|ble, the Papi&s;ts run a great Danger, they having neither Antiquity nor Scripture for the &s;ame, whil&s;t the Admoni|tions of their Fellow Chri&s;tians, and &s;ome Divine Prohibiti|ons are <HI>point-blank</HI> again&s;t it.</P>
<P N="3">III. As for the Nece&s;&s;ity of a good Life, our Church recommends it at lea&s;t as much as the Roman. All Chri|&s;tians believe a Judgment to come, and a Retribution to Men according to their Works; &s;o we have all the &s;ame Promi&s;es of God, and the &s;ame Rewards propounded to encourage us to do good; we believe the &s;ame Threats and the &s;ame Puni&s;hments to deter us from Evil; we all think our &s;elves obliged to Morality, and to be truly vertuous, knowing that without Holine&s;s no Man &s;hall &s;ee God: and I make no doubt but that in other Chri&s;tian Communions as well as in ours, there are many who truly fear God and work Righteou&s;ne&s;s. The Difference betwixt us and the Roman Church, is not whether or no we ought to be good; but every one in either Church, according to his Sincerity and his firm Per&s;wa&s;ion of the Truth of Chri&s;tianity, en|deavours to approve him&s;elf to the Searcher of Hearts; &s;o far we are agreed. They have many things in their Ro|man Creed, and in their Wor&s;hip, which we cannot approve; but we have the &s;ame Rules of Life, the &s;ame Divine Laws to direct our Obedience.</P>
<PB N="34" REF="17">
<P>And I would to God we did all join in tho&s;e things which admit of no Di&s;pute, and wherein we are all agreed, and did lay the great Stre&s;s of our Hopes and of our Endeavours on them, <HI>viz.</HI> the hearty Profe&s;&s;ion of the &s;ame Chri&s;tian Creed, the &s;incere Wor&s;hip of the &s;ame God, Father, Son, and Ho|ly Gho&s;t, and a &s;erious Earne&s;tne&s;s to follow the Example and the Precepts of our common Saviour, and to live in this pre&s;ent World &s;oberly, righteou&s;ly and godly: The&s;e that are the great things of God, and the Foundations of Chri&s;tian Religion, and of true Goodne&s;s being owned on both &s;ides, if they were minded as our Intere&s;t in them, and their Certainty do require, would go near to compo&s;e our Differences in other things, and to re&s;train that uncha|ritable Zeal which hath doom'd to Damnation Millions of good Chri&s;tians.</P>
<P>However, they that truly believe all the Articles of the Chri&s;tian Faith, and wor&s;hip God according to his Will, and our Saviour's In&s;titutions, and are careful to live like Chri&s;tians worthy of the Go&s;pel, need not regard tho&s;e De|vices, nor fear tho&s;e Judgments which proceed only from Men; they may be true and happy Saints both here and hereafter, that have for Faith, and the Service of God, and for a Holy Life all that is of Divine Appointment, without the Roman Additions. Our rejecting what the Church of <HI>Rome</HI> hath for her Intere&s;t impo&s;ed, where her Power doth reach, will in no wi&s;e exclude us from Heaven, if we be true to what we own. If by our Life and Profe&s;&s;ion we confe&s;s Chri&s;t here before Men, and are not a&s;hamed of him, nor of his Words, we need not fear he &s;hould hereaf|ter di&s;own us, becau&s;e of their Anger that would have us take for Go&s;pel whatever they dictate. Damnation &s;hall not be inflicted according to Mens Pa&s;&s;ions and Uncharita|blene&s;s; we ought to run from the Danger of it, as far as is po&s;&s;ible, by pre&s;erving that Faith, we were baptized into,
<PB N="35" REF="17">pure and undefiled, and by living according to it: But had the Promi&s;es of Mercy and Salvation been annexed to our Submi&s;&s;ion to <HI>Rome,</HI> either the unver&s;al Church would have clearly expre&s;&s;ed it in making Men Members of Chri&s;t, and Heirs of his Kingdom, or to be &s;ure God would have revealed it. And &s;eeing none of the&s;e is done, it doth plainly demon&s;trate that &s;uch a Submi&s;&s;ion is de&s;ig|ned for Temporal Power, but no ways requi&s;ite to bring Men to Heaven, and that con&s;equently the hard Sentence of Roman Bigots again&s;t us, may be prejudicial to them, but can do us no Harm.</P>
<P>This might &s;uffice to &s;hew that we are &s;afe notwith&s;tan|ding their Outcries of Damnation again&s;t us, that Part of their Religion which is called <HI>Popery,</HI> being no Part of God's revealed Will and Saving Truth, nor of the Primitive and Catholick Chri&s;tianity embraced by the whole Chri&s;tian Church.</P>
<P>In point of Faith, or of Divine Wor&s;hip what is pecu|liar to them is far enough from being nece&s;&s;ary: and for Rules of Conver&s;ation we have the &s;ame Precepts, and be|lieve the &s;ame Promi&s;es and the &s;ame Puni&s;hments. So that though we reject many of their own Inventions, yet &s;till we want nothing nece&s;&s;ary to Salvation, and in order to it, they have no Advantage over us.</P>
<P>But I may not &s;tay here. The Intere&s;t of Truth and human Souls obligeth me to &s;ay farther, that we are &s;afer in our Church, and have &s;everal Advantages for the obtaining Comfort and eternal Happine&s;s, of which they are de&s;ti|tute in the Church of <HI>Rome.</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t, I &s;ay that we are &s;afer. What we believe as an Article of Faith, is undoubtedly true, owned by all Chri|&s;tians in all Ages of the World, and plainly revealed in God's Word; whereas tho&s;e Traditions which the Church of <HI>Rome</HI> hath tack'd to the ancient Faith, are newly coyn'd,
<PB N="36" REF="18">yet more newly made a Creed, are not warranted by Divine Revelation, nor embraced by Chri&s;tians of other Commu|nions. And what a Pre&s;umption is it to change the Terms of Salvation, and make tho&s;e things nece&s;&s;ary which God hath not pre&s;cribed, and the Chri&s;tian Church for many hundred Years hath not owned as a Part of her Saving Faith?</P>
<P>This is &s;o like adding to the Book of God, preaching a|nother Go&s;pel, and teaching for Doctrines the Command|ments of Men; that we think our &s;elves much &s;afer within the ancient Boundaries, and look upon it as a very dange|rous Attempt, to make new Creeds and impo&s;e them upon Mens Con&s;ciences, e&s;pecially when tho&s;e Additions are not only beyond what is written, but al&s;o of another Nature, and even contrary. The Chri&s;tian Creed is for Life ever|la&s;ting, the Roman for the Roman Greatne&s;s; the Chri&s;tian expre&s;&s;eth our Obligations to God, and our dependence up|on him, the Roman is a Profe&s;&s;ion of Subjection to <HI>Rome;</HI> the Chri&s;tian engageth Men to &s;erve God only, the Roman to wor&s;hip Creatures al&s;o; the Chri&s;tian makes our Ble&s;|&s;ed Redeemer to be our only Mediator, the Roman joyns to him the ble&s;&s;ed Saints and the Ble&s;&s;ed Virgin. There are &s;o many things in all Appearance very irreconcileable be|twixt the&s;e two Confe&s;&s;ions of Faith, that the Roman can|not be &s;afe; and that we may conclude without Uncharita|blene&s;s, that they of that Per&s;ua&s;ion that &s;hall attain to Heaven, &s;hall not come thither by the Help of the Roman Doctrines, but by di&s;charging their Bapti&s;mal Engagements which are the &s;ame with ours, and by profe&s;&s;ing the ancient common Creed of all Chri&s;tians.</P>
<P>The Points of their own Creed are &s;o far from condu|cing to Mens Salvation, that they rather will prove great Hindrances to it. They engage Men in a Wor&s;hip very un|like to what we read in the Apo&s;tolical Writings, or the antient Fathers. Be&s;ides the unknown Tongue, and the
<PB N="37" REF="18">maim'd Communion, there is &s;o much of it that is meerly humane and ceremonious, &s;o much of it that relates to the Souls in Purgatory or the Saints in Heaven, that we wi&s;h it may meet with Pardon, but cannot think it &s;hould find Ac|ceptance. There are &s;o many &s;trange Exorci&s;ms and Con&s;e|crations in their Rituals and Pontifical, that after having read the Bible, a Man can never think theirs to be that Wor&s;hip in Spirit and in Truth, which the Go&s;pel appoints. We dare not offer to Almighty God what is &s;o like to be injurious to him, and &s;o unlike his own In&s;titutions; and have much greater A&s;&s;urance to have our Sacrifice of Prayers and Prai|&s;es accepted, when according to Divine Appointment we offer it to God, in the Name of his ble&s;&s;ed Son.</P>
<P>The &s;ame holds al&s;o for vertuous living and Improvement in Goodne&s;s, that their new Doctrines are rather Ob&s;tacles to, than Helps towards it. The great dependence upon <HI>Rome</HI> and the Papal Power, hath made many of that Com|munion very ill Subjects, and many more very cruel and uncharitable to all other Chri&s;tians. The making a whole State of Sin, although known and per&s;i&s;ted in, yet to be a State of Pardon and Safety, con&s;i&s;tent with the Love of God; the buying and Imputation of other Mens Merits and good Works; the ea&s;y Purcha&s;e of many Indulgences, the cu&s;tomary and frequent Ab&s;olutions for mortal Sins; the Patronage of the greate&s;t Saints to the greate&s;t Sinners, when they are their particular Votaries: &s;uch prevailing Opinions as the&s;e abate much of the Nece&s;&s;ity of a &s;erious and &s;peedy Repentance and earne&s;t Pur&s;uits after Sanctifi|cation, and too much gratify the Corruptions of Men that are de&s;irous to enjoy their Lu&s;ts, and not lo&s;e the Hopes of Heaven. So if Mixture of fal&s;e and uncertain Propo&s;iti|ons with their Faith; if a Wor&s;hip very corrupt, and very &s;uper&s;titious; and if Doctrines apt to betray Men to a carele&s;s and vicious Life: if the&s;e can endanger humane
<PB N="38" REF="19">Souls, we cannot think them &s;afe in the Church of <HI>Rome.</HI> So far as they differ from us, in their Additions to the Pri|mitive Faith, &s;o far they are in danger. We pronounce no Sentence, and we pray Divine Mercy to pardon them that err in the Simplicity of their Heart: But their Errors and &s;uitable Practices may be the Ruine of many, and our Charity can &s;ave none. Ble&s;&s;ed be God, we are &s;afer, and have many Advantages for Comfort and for Holine&s;s, of which they are de&s;titute.</P>
<P>Men of a timorous and a tender Con&s;cience among&s;t them, can never have a comfortable Knowledg and A&s;&s;u|rance of their having confe&s;t all their Mortal Sins, or all tho&s;e Circum&s;tances that alter the kind: nor of the Inten|tion of the Prie&s;t, which is nece&s;&s;ary to make effectual his Ab&s;olutions; nor of the Validity of any Sacerdotal Mini|&s;trations and Con&s;ecrations, all which depend upon &s;ceret Intentions or Irregularities, which may be incurr'd many ways, and may proceed &s;o far as to be irremediable; of the&s;e which according to their Principles, &s;o much concerns their Happine&s;s, a thoughtful Man (I &s;ay) can never be &s;o &s;ure as to make him rejoyce in Hope, and have a &s;olid Peace. And what a &s;ad Pro&s;pect is it to them that think the Sufferings of this pre&s;ent Life &s;o very grievous, that after all their Pains and Charges to gain Pardons and Indul|gences, and Prayers for their Souls, they can have no A&s;&s;u|rance without a Miracle, but that they &s;hall lie hundred of Years in &s;corching Flames, paying the Score of tho&s;e tem|poral Puni&s;hments which were due to their Sins.</P>
<P>Be&s;ides the Uncomfortablene&s;s of the&s;e Roman Tenents, they want in that Communion the Benefit of tho&s;e Divine In&s;tructions which were written for our Learning; <HI>that we through Comfort of the Scriptures might have Hope.</HI> That holy Word of God which giveth Light and Under&s;tanding to the Simple, and is able to make us wi&s;e unto Salvation,
<PB N="39" REF="19">and to &s;ave our Souls, if we believe the Ble&s;&s;ed Author of it: That Word in the Church of <HI>Rome</HI> is kept from the People, le&s;t it &s;hould make the Ways of God plain before their Faces, and &s;hew them what a mighty Change in the Chri&s;tian Religion hath been made among&s;t them. And that keeps the Vulgar in a State of Darkne&s;s and timorous Super&s;tition, and deprives them of tho&s;e Spiritual Joys and Improvements, which Divine Revelation would af|ford.</P>
<P>If any Book in the World can be truly plea&s;ant and com|fortable, it is the Holy Bible; wherein we &s;ee the infinite Wi&s;dom and Power and Providence of God, in the Creati|on and Government of the World, and particularly in his Care for them that love and &s;erve him: The &s;acred Hi&s;to|ry is &s;o full of Comfort in all Changes of Humane Life; the infinite Goodne&s;s and other Perfections of God are &s;o clearly revealed in it, that by reading thereof, an attentive Chri&s;tian in all his Afflictions is in&s;pir'd with wi&s;e and good Thoughts, and Courage, and Firmne&s;s of Mind, and a joyful dependence upon God. Then the Mercies and My|&s;teries of our Redemption, the Life and Death of our Ble&s;|&s;ed Saviour, the Excellency of his Precepts, and of the Sermons and Writings of his Apo&s;tles, and the infinite Graciou&s;ne&s;s of his Promi&s;es: The&s;e are &s;o ravi&s;hing and &s;o wonderful, &s;o apt to &s;upport our Spirits, and to nouri&s;h our Hopes, to give a good Man a fore-Ta&s;te of the Joys of Heaven, and to bring us to the Likene&s;s and the Sen&s;e of God's Love, that nothing can give equal Comforts to Chri|&s;tians, or any ways &s;upply the Want of the&s;e. It would be the greate&s;t Wonder why any Church that believes the Old and New Te&s;tament to be the Book of God, &s;hould forbid the reading of it: but that the Contrariety betwixt their Traditions and tho&s;e Divine Writings is very appa|rent to them that can con&s;ult and compare both. That, or
<PB N="40" REF="20">nothing, mu&s;t excu&s;e their Uncharitablene&s;s in taking the Divine Oracles from them, for who&s;e Con&s;olation and Gui|dance they were appointed.</P>
<P>Again, they want the Comfort and In&s;truction of God's publick Wor&s;hip. What Scriptures are read in the pub|lick A&s;&s;emblies of the Roman Communion, are in the Latin Tongue, by which the Under&s;tanding of the People is ren|dred unfruitful. What Prayers and Supplications are put up to God, are in the &s;ame Language; they know not what is &s;aid, and therefore cannot a&s;&s;ent with their Hearts, nor excite &s;uch devout Affections in their Souls as would recommend their common Reque&s;ts to the Throne of Grace. Neither are the Celebrations of the Divine Goodne&s;s under&s;tood, they prai&s;e not God with joyful Lips: And that pious En|tercour&s;e they &s;hould have with him, in paying their Ho|mage, and pre&s;enting their Thanks and Petitions to his Divine Maje&s;ty, being thus interrupted by their not under|&s;tanding what is &s;aid, they are deprived of one of the principal Means of Edification. 'Tis &s;trange it &s;hould e|ver enter into the Hearts of Men, to offer to God for a rea|&s;onable Service, Words of which they know not the Sig|nification. And it renders ineffectual tho&s;e Acts of Reli|gion which &s;hould mo&s;t affect and better the Hearts of Chri&s;tian Wor&s;hippers, and rai&s;e up their Thoughts and their Affections to Heaven.</P>
<P>From hence it is, that we have more knowledg of God, and more Under&s;tanding of the Chri&s;tian Religion. They among&s;t us that really believe Chri&s;tianity, and would make &s;ure of the Happine&s;s it offers, by &s;earching and me|ditating of the Holy Scriptures, and by joyning with the publick Wor&s;hip; whil&s;t they attend and under&s;tand what the Church &s;aith to God, and what he &s;aith to us, are much
<PB REF="20">improved in tho&s;e great Principles of Religion which they learn'd in their Catechi&s;m, and are made to grow in Grace, and in the knowledg of the Lord. They have in the&s;e two, what perpetually informs their Judgment, and excites their Will to cleave to God and Goodne&s;s; and after their be&s;t Endeavours to rely upon tho&s;e infinite Mercies of God in Chri&s;t our Redeemer, on which the greate&s;t of Roman Champions confe&s;&s;ed that it is mo&s;t &s;afe to repo&s;e our whole Tru&s;t and Confidence.</P>
<P>An&s;werable to tho&s;e, are the publick Exhortations of our Church, by the Mouth of her Mini&s;ters, and the Books of Religious In&s;truction wherewith &s;he entertains her Children. Their Time and Zeal and Attention are not taken up in Sprinklings, Ki&s;&s;ings of Reliques, going in Pilgrimage, vi&s;iting of Shrines, paying devout Vene|ration to Saints and Images, and reciting Beads and Ro|&s;aries, and the Offices of St. <HI>Bridget,</HI> or the like. Neither the&s;e things, nor any of this Nature, which can neither in&s;truct nor reform the World, nor give Comfort to Chri|&s;tian Souls, are recommended to our People: They are clearly taught wherein true Religion and &s;ub&s;tantial Good|ne&s;s con&s;i&s;t, and exhorted to lay on them the great Stre&s;s of their Hopes and of their Endeavours, and devoutly to make u&s;e of tho&s;e means of Grace which are of Divine Appointment, and thereby to e&s;tabli&s;h their Hearts in the Love of God, and a chearful dependence upon the infinite Merits and Mercies of our dear Saviour.</P>
<P>Nothing of the whole Coun&s;el of God is by our Church kept back from us, our Belief is unque&s;tionable, being tru|ly Primitive and Univer&s;al; our Wor&s;hip of God is accor|ding to his Will, and his mo&s;t ble&s;&s;ed Nature; and our Rule of Life and Conver&s;ation comprehends all Duties:
<PB N="42" REF="21">To fear God, and honour the King, and love one another, and continue patient in well-doing. Ours is indeed a Do|ctrine according to Godline&s;s, and of it, it may be te&s;ti|fied in the Words of S^t. <HI>Peter,</HI> that <HI>it is the true Grace of God, wherein we &s;tand.</HI></P>
<P>If we are not wanting to our &s;elves, we want nothing that can either &s;hew us the Way to Happine&s;s, or help and forward us in it; we ought to expre&s;s our Charity to them that err, and want many of tho&s;e Ble&s;&s;ings and Advantages which we have for the obtaining eternal Salvation; we &s;hould earne&s;tly pray for them, and what we can promote their In&s;truction, but by no means fear their Threatnings and Sentences of Damnation.</P>
<P>He that in earne&s;t would go to Heaven, and profe&s;&s;eth Chri&s;tianity, not to obtain Favour with Men, but to plea&s;e God, and to &s;ave his immortal Soul, can be no where &s;afer than in our Church. Therein he profe&s;&s;eth that Faith which all Chri&s;tian Communions hold to be truly Divine, and therein he may make his Calling and Election &s;ure, if he will but practi&s;e an&s;werably to his Belief, add to his Faith Vertue, and not be unfruitful in the knowledg of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t. The more he under&s;tands his Religi|on, the more he will love it, and be convinc'd that he is in the right: And the more carefully he lives according to his Profe&s;&s;ion, with a Con&s;cience void of Offence towards God and towards Men, the more a&s;&s;urance will he have that he &s;hall be happy.</P>
<P>All other Grounds of Hope be&s;ides Truth and Righte|ou&s;ne&s;s will prove vain. But he that &s;tands upon the Foun|dation of the Apo&s;tles and Prophets, Je&s;us Chri&s;t him&s;elf being the chief Corner-Stone: He that &s;tudies and minds his Duty, and earne&s;tly begs for the Divine A&s;&s;i&s;tance that
<PB N="43" REF="21" MS="y">he may live to God, and remain faithful unto Death: he &s;hall receive the Crown of Life, though &s;ome pre&s;umptu|ous Men dare condemn him to Death.</P>
<P>Whatever Confidence or high Pretences &s;ome may have, whatever Ways and Devices they invent for to gain Hea|ven: <HI>Chri&s;t is the Way, the Truth and the Life; no Man co|meth unto the Father, but by him; there is no other Name un|der Heaven given unto Men, whereby they can be &s;aved, but only the Name of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t; He that calleth and believeth on him &s;hall not be confounded.</HI> Here let us fix, and not regard what Men &s;ay, nor what they can do: But look unto Je&s;us the Author and Fini&s;her of our Faith, firmly relying on his Almighty Goodne&s;s, <HI>who is able to &s;ave them to the uttermo&s;t that come to God by him, being ever living to make Interce&s;&s;ion for them.</HI></P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
<BACK>
<DIV1 TYPE="publisher's advertisement">
<PB REF="22">
<HEAD>BOOKS lately Printed for <HI>Richard Chi&s;well.</HI></HEAD>
<P>THE Pillar and Ground of Truth. A Treati&s;e &s;hewing that the <HI>Roman Church</HI> fal&s;ly claims to be <HI>That Church,</HI> and the Pillar of <HI>That Truth</HI> mentioned by S. <HI>Paul</HI> in his fir&s;t Epi&s;tle to <HI>Timothy, Chap.</HI> 3. <HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 15. 4^o.</P>
<P>The Peoples Right to read the Holy Scripture A&s;&s;erted. 4^o.</P>
<P>A Short Summary of the principal Controver&s;ies between the Church of <HI>England</HI> and the Church of <HI>Rome;</HI> being a Vindication of &s;everal Prote&s;tant Doctrines, in An|&s;wer to a Late Pamphlet, Intituled, <HI>[Prote&s;tancy de&s;titute of Scripture Proofs.]</HI> 4^o.</P>
<P>Two Di&s;cour&s;es; Of Purgatory, and Prayers for the Dead.</P>
<P>An An&s;wer to a Late Pamphlet, Intituled, [The Judgment and Doctrine of the Clergy of the Church of <HI>England</HI> concerning one Special Branch of the King's Prero|gative, viz. <HI>In di&s;pen&s;ing with the Penal Laws.]</HI> 4^o.</P>
<P>The <HI>Notes</HI> of the <HI>Church,</HI> as laid down by Cardinal <HI>Bellarmin,</HI> examined and con|futed. 4^o.</P>
<P><HI>Preparation for Death:</HI> Being a Letter &s;ent to a young Gentlewoman in <HI>France,</HI> in a dangerous Di&s;temper of which &s;he died.</P>
<P>The Difference between the <HI>Church of England</HI> and the <HI>Church of Rome,</HI> in oppo&s;i|tion to a late Book, Intituled, <HI>An Agreement between the Church of</HI> England <HI>and Church of</HI> Rome.</P>
<P>A <HI>PRIVATE PRAYER</HI> to be u&s;ed in Difficult Times.</P>
<P>A True Account of a Conference held about Religion at <HI>London, Sept.</HI> 29, 1687, between <HI>A. Pulton,</HI> Je&s;uit, and <HI>Tho. Tenni&s;on,</HI> D. D. as al&s;o of that which led to it, and followed after it. 4^o.</P>
<P>The Vindication of <HI>A. Cre&s;&s;ener,</HI> Schoolma&s;ter in <HI>Long-Acre,</HI> from the A&s;per&s;ions of <HI>A. Pulton,</HI> Je&s;uit, Schoolma&s;ter in the <HI>Savoy,</HI> together with &s;ome Account of his Di&s;cour&s;e with Mr. <HI>Meredith.</HI></P>
<P>A Di&s;cour&s;e &s;hewing that Prote&s;tants are on the &s;afer Side, notwith&s;tanding the un|charitable Judgment of their Adver&s;aries; and that <HI>Their Religion</HI> is the &s;ure&s;t Way to Heaven. 4^o.</P>
<P>Six Conferences concerning the <HI>Euchari&s;t,</HI> wherein is &s;hewed, that the Doctrine of <HI>Tran&s;ub&s;tantiation</HI> overthrows the Proofs of Chri&s;tian Religion.</P>
</DIV1>
</BACK>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
