God himself, in an orderly succession to those days. The interpreta- tion of Scripture, it pretended, was trusted with it alone ; and tradi- tions they had good store, whose original they pleaded from Moses liimself, directing them in that interpretation. Christ and his apos- tles, whom they looked upon as poor, ignorant, contemptible persons, came and preached a doctrine which that church determined utterly contrary to the Scripture and then: traditions. What shall now be answered to their authority, which was unquestionably all that ever was, or shall be, intrusted with any church on the earth? Our au- thor tells us that this great " argument of the Jews could not be any way warded or put by, but by recourse unto the church's infallibility," p. 146; which, " sit verbo venia," is so ridiculous a pretence, as I wonder how any block in his way could cause him to stumble upon it. What church, I pray? — the church of Christians? When that argument was first used by the Jews against Christ himself, it was not' yet founded ; and if an absolute infallibility be supposed in the church, without respect to her adherence to the rule of infallibility, I dare boldly pronounce that argument indissoluble, and that all Christian religion must be thereon discarded. If the Jewish church, — which had at that day as great church power and prerogative as any church hath or can have, — Avere infallible in her judgment that she made of Christ and his doctrine, there remains nothing but that we renounce both him and it, and turn either Jews or Pagans, as we were of old. Here, then, by our author's confession, lies a plain judgment and definition of the only church of God in the world against Christ and his doctrine; and it is certainly incumbent on us to see how it may be waived. And this, I suppose, we cannot better be instructed in than by considering what was answered unto it by Christ himself, his apostles, and those that succeeded them in the profession of the faith of the gospel. 1. For Christ himself: it is certain he pleaded his miracles, the works which he wrought, and the doctrine that he revealed ; but withal, as to the Jews, with whom he had to do, he pleads the Scriptiures, Moses and the prophets, and offers himself and his doctrine to be tried, to stand or fall by their verdict, John v. 89, 46; Matt. xxii. 43; Luke xxiv. 27. I say, besides the testimony of his works and doctrine, to their authority of the church he opposeth that of the Scripture, which he knew the other ought to give place unto. And it is most vainly pretended by our author, in the behalf of the Jews, that the Messiah, or great prophet to come, was not in the Scripture specified by such characteristical properties as made it evident that Jesus was the Messiah ; all the descriptions given of the one, and they innumerable, undeniably centring in the other. 2. The same course steered the apostle Peter, Acts ii. iii., and expressly in his second epistle, chap. i. 17-19; and Paul, Acts xiii. 16, 17, etc. And of Apollos, who oj)enly disputed with the Jews upon this argu-
80 ANIMADVERSIONS ON A TREATISE
merit, it is said that he " mightily convinced the Jews, publicly, showing by the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ," Acts xviii. 28. And Paul persuaded the Jews concerning Jesus at Eome, " both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till even- ing" Acts xxviii. 23; concerning which labour and disputation the censure of our author, p. 149, is very remarkable. " There can be no hope,'' saith he, " of satisfying a querent, or convincing an oppo- nent, in any point of Christianity, unless he will submit to the splen- dour of Christ's authority in his own person, and the church descended from him ; which I take to be the reason why some of the Jews in Rome, when St Paul laboured so much to persuade Christ out of Moses and the prophets, believed in him, and some did not." Both the coherence of the words and design of the preface, and his whole scope, manifest his meaning to be, " That no more believed on him, or that some disbelieved," notwithstanding all the pains he took with them. And what was the reason of this failure? Why, St Paul fixed on an unsuitable means of persuading them, — namely, Moses and the pi'ophets, — when he should have made use of the authority of the church. Vain and bold man, that dares oppose his prejudices to the Spirit and wisdom of Christ in that great and holy apostle, and that in a way and work wherein he had the express pattern and example of his Master! If this be the spirit that rules in the Roman syna- gogue, that so puffs up men in their fleshly minds as to make them think themselves wiser than Christ and his apostles, I doubt not but men Avill every day find cause to rejoice that it is cast out of them, and be watchful that it returns to possess them no more. But this is that which galls the man : the difficulty which he proposeth as in- soluble by any ways but an acquiescing in the authority of the pre- sent church, he finds assoiled in Scripture on other principles. This makes him fall foul on St Paul, whom he finds most frequent in an- swering it from Scripture; not considering that at the same time he accuseth St Peter of the like folly, though he pretend for him a greater reverence. However, this may be said in defence of St Paul, that by his arguments about Christ and the gospel from Moses and the prophets, many thousands of Jews, all the world over, were con- verted to the faith ; when it is hard to meet v/ith an instance of one in an age that will any way take notice of the authority of the Ro- man church. But to return. This was the constant way used by the apo.stles of answering that great difficulty pleaded by our author from the authority of the Hebrew church: They called the Jews to the Scripture, the plain texts and contexts of Moses and the prophets, opposing them to all their church's real or pretended authority, and all her interpretations pretended to be received by tradition from of old: so fixing this for a perpetual standing rule to all generations, — That the doctrine of the church is to be examined by the Scripture;