" But why have not Protestants a remedy for their evils, a means of ending and making up their differences?" They have the word that is left them for that purpose, which the apostles commended unto them, and which the primitive church made use of, and no other. That this will not serve to prevent or remove any hurtful differences from amongst us, it is not its fault, but ours. And could we prevail with Roman Catholics to blame and reprove us, and not to blame the religion we profess, we should count ourselves beholden to them; and
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they would have the less to answer for another day. But as things are stated, it is fallen out veiy unhappily for them; that finding they cannot hurt us but that their weapons must pass through the Scrip- ture, that is it which they are forced to direct their blows against. " The Scripture is dark, obscm'e, insufficient, cannot be known to be the word of God, nor understood," is the main of their plea, when they intend to deal with Protestants. I am persuaded that they are troubled when they are put upon this work. It cannot be acceptable to the minds of men to be engaged in such undervaluations of the word of God, Sure they can have no other mind in this work than a man would have in pulling down his house to find out his enemy. He that shall read what the Scripture testifies of itself, — that is, what God doth of it, — and what the ancients speak concerning it, and shall himself have any acquaintance with the nature and excellency of it, must needs shrink extremely when he comes to see the Romanist's discourse about it, — indeed against it. For my part, I can truly pro- fess, that no one thing doth so alienate my mind from the jDresent Roman religion as this treatment of the word of God. I cannot but think that a sad profession of religion which enforceth men to decry the use and excellency of that which (let them pretend what they please) is the only infalhble revelation of all that truth by obedience whereunto we become Christians. I do heartil}'' pity learned and ingenious men, when I see them enforced, by a private corrupt inte- rest, to engage in this w^oful work of undervaluing the word of God ; and so mucli the more, as that I cannot but hope that it is a very ungrateful work to themselves. Did they delight in it, I should have other thoughts of them, and conclude that there are more atheists in the world than those whom our author informs us to be lately turned so in England. This, then, is the remedy that Protes- tants have for their evils, — this the means of making up all their dif- ferences ; which they might do every day, so far as in this world it is possible that that work should be done amongst men, if it were not their own fault. That they do not so, blame them still, blame them soundly, lay on reproofs till I cry. Hold ; but let not, I pray, the word of God be blamed any more. Methinks I could beg this of a Catholic, especially of ray countrymen, that whatever they say to Protestants, or however they deal with them, they would let the Scripture alone, and not decry its worth and usefulness. It is not Protestants' book, it is God's, v/ho hath only granted them a use of it, in common with the rest of men ; and what is spoken in dispa- ragement of it doth not reflect on them, but on him that made it and sent it to them. It is no policy, I confess, to discover our secrets to our adversaries, whereby they may prevent their o^vn disadvan- tages for the future; but yet, because I look not on the Romanists
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as absolute enemies, I shall let them know for once, that when Pro- testants come to that head of their disputes or orations wherein they contend that the Scripture is so and so, obscure and insufficient, they generally take great contentment to find that their religion cannot be opposed without casting down the word of God from its excellency, and enthroning somewhat else in the room of it. Let them make what use of this they please, I could not but tell it them for their good ; and I know it to be true. For the present it comes too late ; for another main principle of our author's discourse is, —
VIII. " That the Scripture, on sundry accounts, is insufficient to settle us in the truth of relijrion, or to brinsf us to an agreement amongst ourselves; and that, — 1. Because it is not to be known to be the word of God but by the testimony of the Roman church ; and then, — 2. Cannot be well translated into any vulgar language ; and is also, — 8. In itself obscure; and, — 4. We have no way to determine of what is its proper sense." But, " Hie nigrge succus loliginis : hffic est -^rugo mera," [Hor. Sat. i. 4, 100.] I suppose they will not tell a Pagan or a Mohammedan this story ; at least I heartily wish that men would not suffer themselves to be so far transported by their private interest as to forget the general concerninents of Christianity. " We cannot," say they, " know the Scripture to be the word of God but by the autho- rity of the church of Pome ;" and all men may easily assure themselves that no man had ever known there was such a thing as a church, much less that it had any authority, but by the Scripture. And whither this tends, is easy to guess. But it will not enter into my head that we cannot know or believe the Scripture to be the word of God any otherwise than on the authority of the church of Rome. The greatest part of it was believed to be so before there was any church at Rome at all; and all of it is so by millions in the world who make no account of that church at all. Now some say there is such a church. I wish men would leave persuading us that we do not believe what we know we do believe, or that we cannot do that Avhich we know we do, and see that millions besides ourselves do so too. There are not many nations in Europe wherein there are not thousands who are ready to lay clown their fives to give testimony that the Scripture is the word of God, that care not a rush for the authority of the present church of Rome ; and what farther evidence they can give that they believe so, I know not. And this they do uj)on that innate evidence that the word of God hath in itself and gives to itself, the testimony of Christ and his apostles, and the teach- ing of the church of God in all ages. I must needs say, there is not any thing for which Protestants are so much beholden to the Roman Catholics as tlus, — that they have with so much importunacy cast upon them the work of proving the Scripture to be of divine originalj