the church, which we freely allow to be the best expositor of scripture. But the true state of the difference between them and us is this, that whereas we require plain men to judge of plain things with their own understandings; and all men, so far forth as they are capable, to judge for themselves in matters of religion, and not content themselves to see with the church's eyes, where they are able to see with their own; nothing will satisfy these men, but to have all men, as well wise as simple, surrender up their faith and judgment to the church, and wink hard, and believe whatever the church believes, purely because the church believes it. Whatever they pretend, therefore, the truth of the case is this, they will by no means allow us to believe upon the authority of scripture; not because the scripture is obscure, (though this they pretend, for were it never so plain, the case would be the same,) but because they are sensible that this will inevitably subvert their usurped dominion over the faith and consciences of men. But we must believe upon the authority of the church; and who is this church, I beseech you? Why they themselves are this church. So that whereas God hath published a book called the Bible, on purpose to declare his mind and will to the world, here are started up a sort of men that call themselves the church, who very gravely tell us, "Sirs, you must not so much as look into this book, or if you do, must not believe any one word "in it upon its own credit and authority. For

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though we do confess it is the word of God, yet "we are the sole judges of the sense of it; and there"fore whatsoever we declare is its sense, how un"likely soever it may seem to you, you are bound

"in conscience to receive and believe it for this very "reason, because we declare it. In short, you must

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resign up your eyes, your faith, your reason, and

understandings to us, and see only with our eyes, "and believe only with our faith, and judge only "with our judgment; and whithersoever we shall "think fit to lead you, you must tamely follow us, "without presuming to examine whether we lead you right or wrong." But yet, after all, to induce us thus to enslave our understandings to them, they themselves are fain to appeal to scripture, and allow us in some things to judge of the sense of it, and to believe those things upon its authority. For no wise and honest man will ever believe either that they are the church, or the infallible judges of the sense of scripture, without some proof and evidence; and for this they are fain to produce several texts of scripture, such as, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build my church. Now supposing that to be true, which is notoriously false, viz. that those texts do necessarily imply that they are the only true catholic church, and that, as such, they are constituted by God infallible judges of scripture; yet before I can believe so, I must judge for myself whether this be the sense of them or no; and if I judge it is, I must believe that they are the church, and infallible upon the scripture's authority, and not theirs; for their authority is the thing in debate, and I cannot believe upon it before I believe it. So then, though we must believe nothing else upon scripture authority, yet upon this very authority we must believe that they are the church, and that they are infallible, which are the fundamental principles of their religion; that is to say, we must be

lieve as much upon scripture authority as will serve, their turn, and no more. But may I be certain of the truth of these two fundamental principles upon scripture authority, or no? If I may, why may I not as well be infallibly certain upon the same authority of other principles of Christianity as well as those, seeing there are no common principles of Christian religion but what are at least as plainly revealed in scripture as these. But this will spoil all; for if men may be infallibly certain of the principles of religion upon scripture authority, what will become of the necessity of men's relying upon the church, which is founded upon this principle, that men can arrive at no infallible certainty in religion by relying upon the authority of scripture, or indeed any other authority but the church's? But if I cannot be infallibly certain of those two principles, viz. that they are the church, and infallible, by those authorities of scripture which they urge to prove them, how can I be infallibly certain of any thing that they declare and define? For if I am not certain that they are the church, for all I know the church may be infallible, and yet they may be mistaken; and if I am not certain that they are infallible, for all I know they may be the church, and yet still be mistaken. In short, no authority can render me infallibly certain, but that which is infallible; no infallibility can render me infallibly certain, but that of which I have an infallible certainty. Either therefore the scripture can render me infallibly certain of the infallibility of their church, (and if it cannot, I am sure nothing can,) or it cannot; if it can, why may it not as well render me infallibly certain of other principles of Christianity, which are at least as

plainly revealed in it as that? If I cannot, how can I be infallibly certain that any thing she defines and declares to me is true? If then the authority of scripture can give us an infallible certainty, we have as just a pretence to it as they, it being upon this authority that we ground our faith; if it cannot, neither they nor we can justly pretend to it, because they cannot otherwise be infallibly certain of their own infallibility but by scripture. But the truth of it is, God never intended either that they or we should be infallibly certain in the matters of our religion; for after all the means of certainty that he hath given us, he still supposes that we may err, and plainly tells us that there must be heresies, and that even from among the members of the true church, where infallible certainty is, (if it be any where,) there should arise false teachers, who should bring in damnable doctrines; which could never have happened, if he had left any such means to his church as should render her children infallibly certain. All that he designed was, to leave us such sufficient means of certainty in religion, as that we might not err either dangerously or damnably without our own fault. He hath left us his word, and in that hath plainly discovered to us all that is necessary for us to believe in order to eternal life. He hath left us a standing ministry in his church to explain his word to us, and to guide us in the paths of righteousness and truth; but still he requires us to search the one, and attend to the other, with honest, humble, and teachable minds; and if we do not, we may err, not only dangerously, but damnably, and it is but fit and just we should. But if we diligently search the scripture, and faithfully rely upon its

authority, without doing of which we search it in vain; if we sincerely attend to the public ministry, with minds prepared to receive the truth in the love of it; though we may possibly err in matters of less moment, yet as to all things necessary to our eternal salvation, our faith shall be inviolably secured; and this is as much as any honest man needs, or as any honest church can promise.

2. From hence also I infer, that in the matters of our faith and religion, God doth expect that we should make use of our own reason and judgment. For to what end should he put us upon searching the scriptures, but that thereby we may inform ourselves what those things are which he hath required us to believe and practise? But if it were his mind that we should wholly rely upon the authority of our church, or of our spiritual guides, and submit our faith to their dictates without any examination, what a needless and impertinent employment would this be for us, to search and consult the scriptures? Consult them, for what, if we are not to follow their guidance and direction, and to take the measures of our faith and manners from them? And if for this end God hath obliged us to consult them, (as to be sure it can be for no other end,) then he hath obliged us to employ our own reason and judgment, to consider what they say, and inquire what they mean; otherwise he hath obliged us to consult them to no purpose. It is as evident therefore that God will have us use our own reason and judgment in discerning what we are to believe, and what not, in religion, and not lazily rely upon others, to see and discern, and believe for us, as it is that he would have us search and consult the scriptures; and that, I