5. But that which is the chief ingredient of these sections is the plea, " That we know not the Scripture to be the word of God but by the church, — that is, the present church of Rome;" which he manageth by urging sundry objections against it, and difficulties which men meet withal in their inquiry whether it be so or no. Nor con- tent with that plea alone, he interweaves in his discourse many ex- pressions and comparisons, tending directly to the slighting and con- tempt both of its penmen and matter; which is said to be " laws, poems, sermons, histories, letters, visions, several fancies, in a diver- sity of composure ; the whole a book whereby men may as well prove their negative in denying the immortality of the soul, heaven, or hell, or any other thing, which, by reason of many intricacies, are very difficult, if not impossible at all to be understood." See pp. 190-192, etc. Concerning all which I desire to know whether our author be in good earnest or no? or whether he thinks as he writes? or whether he would only have others to believe what he writes, that he may serve his turn upon their credulity ? If he be in good earnest, indeed, he calls us to an easy, welcome employment, — namely, to de- fend the holy word of God, and the wisdom of God in it, from such slight and trivial exceptions as those he lays against them. This path is so trodden for us by the ancients, in their answers to the more weighty objections of his predecessors in this work, the Pagans, that we cannot well eiT or faint in it. If we are called to this task, — namely, to prove that we can know and believe tl)e Scripture to be
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the word of God without any respect to the authority or testimony of the present church of Rome ; that no man can believe it to be so, with faith divine and supernatural, upon that testimony alone; that the whole counsel of God, in all things to be believed or done, in order to our last end, is clearly delivered in it, and that the composure of it is a work of infinite wisdom, suited to the end designed to be ac- complished by it; that no difficulties in the interpretation of parti- cular places hinder the whole from being a complete and perfect rule of faith and obedience, — we shall most willingly undertake it, as knowing it to be as honourable a service and employment as any of the sons of men can in this world be called unto. If, indeed, him- self be otherwise minded, and believe not what he says, but only intend to entangle men by his sophistry, so as to render them pliable unto his farther intention, I must yet once more persuade him to desist from this course. It doth not become an ingenuous man, much less a Christian, and one that boasts of so much mortification as he doth, to juggle thus with the things of God. In the mean- time, his reader may take notice, that so long as he is able to defend the authority, excellency, and usefulness of the Scripture, this man had nothing to say to him, as to the change of his religion from Pro- testancy to Popery; and when men will be persuaded to let that go, as a thing uncertain, dubious, useless, it matters not much where they go themselves. And for our author, methinks, if not for reve- rence to Christ, whose book we know the Scriptures to be, yet for the devotion he bears the pope, whose book he says it is, he might learn to treat it with a little more respect, or at least prevail Avith him to send out a book not liable to so many exceptions as this is pretended to be. However, this I know, that though his pretence be to make men Papists, the course he takes is the readiest in the world to make them atheists; and whether that will serve his turn or no as well as the other, I know not.
6. We have not yet done with the Scripture. " That the taking it for the only rule of faith, the only determiner of differences, is the only cause of all our differences, and which keeps us in a condition of having them endless," is also pretended and pleaded. But how shall we know this to be so? Christ and his apostles were absolutely of another mind; and so were Moses and the prophets before them. The ancient fathers of the primitive church walked in their steps, and umpired all differences in religion by the Scriptures, — opposing, confuting, and condemning errors and heresies by them; preserving- through their guidance the imity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. In these latter days of the world, which surely are none of the best, we have a few unknown persons, come from Rome, would persuade us that the Scripture and the use of it is the cause of all our differ-
92 ANIMADVERSIONS ON A TREATISE
ences, and the means of making them endless. But why so, I pray? Doth it teach us to differ and contend? Doth it speak contradictions, and set us at variance? Is there any spirit of dissension breathing in it? Doth it not deliver what it commands us to understand so as it may be understood? Is there any thing needful for us to know in the things of God but what it reveals? Who can tell us what that is? '' But do we not see, ' de facto,' what differences there are amongst you Avho pretend all of you to be guided by Scripture?" Yea, and we see also what surfeitings and drunkenness there are in the world, but yet do not think bread, meat, and drink to be the causes of them ; and yet they are to the full as much so as the Scriptures are of our differences. Pray, sir, do not think that sober men will cast away their food and starve themselves, because you tell them that some continually abuse and surfeit on that veiy kind of food which they use. Nor will some men's abuse of it prevail with others to cast away the food of their souls, if they have any design to live eternally.