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them, I hope they do not expect that we should believe them, or be moved by them: And then their pretence that the church of Rome is the mother and mistress of all churches; which is now made an article of their creed: And that the Bishop of Rome, as fucceffor of St. Peter there, is by divine appointment the fupreme and univerfal paftor of Christ's church: And that it is neceffary to falvation, for every human creature to be fubject to him: And, laftly, their invocation and worfhip of the bleffed virgin and faints departed; without any warrant or example of any fuch thing, either in fcripture, or in the practice of the first ages of the Chriftian religion; and without fufficient ground to believe that they hear the prayers which are put up to them.

2. Much more are we to hold fast the profeffion of our faith, against the confidence of men, contrary to fcripture and reason, and the common fenfe of mankind. And here I inftanced in the worship of images; the locking up of the fcriptures from the people; and celebrating the publick prayers, and fervice of God, in an unknown tongue; and their doctrine of tranfubftantiation; their communion in one kind; and their daily repetition, in the facrifice of the mafs, of the propitiatory facrifice of Christ, which was offered once for all, and is of eternal virtue and efficacy; and therefore ought not, because it needs not, like Jewish facrifices under the law, to be repeated.

To these inftances, which I have already spoken to, I fhall add one or two more; as, namely, that to the due administration of the facraments, an intention in the minifter at least to do what the church does, is requifite, This is exprefsly defined, and under an anathema upon all that fhall fay otherwife, by the council of Trent, feff. 7. can. II; which is to make the validity and virtue of the facraments to depend upon the intention of the priest or minifter. So that if in the adminiftration of baptism, he do not intend to baptize the par ty the pretends to baptize; then it is no baptism; and confequently the perfon baptized is not made a member of Chrift's church; nor is any grace or fpecial benefit conferred upon him; nor is he a Chriftian. So likewife in the facrament of the Lord's fupper, if the priest do

not

not intend to confecrate the hoft, then is it no facrament; and they that receive it, receive no benefit by it; and (which according to their opinion is a dreadful confequence) by the words of confecration, there is no change made of the elements into the body and blood of Chrift, and confequently they that give adoration to the facrament in fuch cafes, worship bread and wine for God; which is idolatry. And fo likewise in their facrament of penance, though the priest pronounce the words of absolution ; yet if he do not intend to abfolve the penitent, though he be never fo truly penitent, and God on his part is ready to forgive him; yet if the priest do not intend to do fo, there is nothing done, and the man is ftill in his fin. So likewife in ordination, (which is another of their facraments), if the Bifhop do not intend to ordain the man, he is no prieft; and all that he does as a priest afterwards, either in administration of baptism or the Lord's fupper, or the abfolution of penitents, all is vain, and of no effect. Nay in marriage, (which they will needs have to be a facrament too), if the intention of the priest be wanting, there is nothing done, the contract is nulled; and they that are fo married, do really live in adultery, though they do not know it, nor have any fufpicion of it.

Now, this is contrary to fcripture, and the whole tenor of the gofpel, which promifeth the benefit and efficacy of the facraments to all thofe that perform the conditions of the covenant which are required on their parts, and declares forgiveness of fins to thofe who confefs them to God, and truly repent of them.

And there is not the leaft intimation given in the Bible, that the virtue and efficacy of the facraments does depend upon the intention of him that adminifters them; or that the forgiveness of fins is fufpended upon the intention or abfolution of the priest, but only upon the fincere refolution of the penitent. And furely nothing can be more abfurd, and contrary to reason, than that when men have performed all the conditions which the gofpel requires; yet they fhould, notwithstanding this, be deprived of all the bleffings and benefits which God hath promifed, and intends to confer upon them, because the priest hath not the fame intention. So that when a man

hath

hath done all that he can to work out his own falvation, he fhall be never the nearer, only for want of that which is wholly out of his power, the right intention of the priest.

Besides that after all their boasts of the fafe condition of men in their church, and the most certain and infallible means of falvation to be had in it, this one principle, That the intention of the priest is neceffary to the validity and virtue of the facraments, puts the falvation of men upon the greatest hazard.and uncertainty; and such as it is impoffible for any man cither to discover or prevent, unless he had fome certain way to know the heart and intenti on of the priest. For, upon these terms, who can know whether any man be a prieft, and really ordained, or not? nay, whether he be a Chriftian, and have been truly baptized, or not? and, confequently, whether any of his administrations be valid, and we have any benefit and advantage by them? becaufe all this depends upon the knowledge of that which we neither do nor can know.

So that when a man hath conscientiously done all that God requires of any man to make him capable of falvation; yet, without any fault of his, the want of intention in an idle-minded man, may fruftrate all. And though the man hath been baptized, and do truly believe the gofpel, and hath fincerely repented of his fins, and lived a moft holy life; yet all this may fignify nothing, and, after all, he may be no Chriftian, because his baptifm was invalid. And all the promises of God to the means of falvation which his goodn fs and wifdom hath prescribed, may be of no efficacy, if the prieft do not. intend, in the administration of the facraments, to do that which God and the church intend.

Now, if this be true, there is certainly no church in the world, in which the falvation of men runs fo many hazards; and yet all this hazard and uncertainty has its rife from a fcholaftical point, which is directly contrary to all the notions of mankind concerning the goodneis of God, and to the clear reason of the thing, and to the conftant tenor of the gofpel; and which was never afferted by any of the ancient fathers, much lefs defined by any council before that of Trent: fo that it is a do

&trine new and needlefs, and in the neceffary confequences of it unreasonable and abfurd to the utmost degree:

The laft inftance I fhall mention is, their rule of faith. The rule of faith, univerfally received and acknowledged by the Christian church in all ages before the council of Trent, was the word of God, contained in the canonical books of holy fcripture; which were therefore by the church called canonical, because they were the rule of faith and manners, of the doctrines to be believed, and the duties to be practifed by all Chriftians. But when the errors and corruptions of the Romish church were grown to the height, and the Pope and his council at Trent were refolved not to retrench and reform them, they faw it neceffary to enlarge and lengthen out their rule; because the ancient rule of the holy fcriptures would by no means reach feveral of the doctrines and practices of that church, which they were refolved to maintain and make good by one means or other: As, namely, the doctrine of tranfubftantiation, of purgatory, and of the feven facraments; and the practice of the worship of faints and images; of the fcriptures and the fervice of God in an unknown tongue; of indulgences, and the communion in one kind; and feveral other fuperftitious practices in ufe among them.

Now, to enlarge the rule to the best advantage for the juftification of thefe doctrines and practices, they took these two ways.

First, They have added to the canonical books of the Old Testament, which were received by the Jewish church, to whom were committed the oracles of God: I fay, to these they have added feveral apocryphal books, not warranted by divine infpiration, because they were written after prophecy and divine infpiration was ceafed in the Jewish church, Malachi being the last of their prophets, according to the general tradition of that church. But because the addition of these books did not make a rule of faith and practice large enough for their purpose; in imitation of the Jews, in the time of the greatest confufion and degeneracy of that church, they added, in the

Second

Second place, to their books of fcripture, which they call the written word, an unwritten word; which they call oral tradition from Chrift and his Apoftles; which they declare to be of equal authority with the holy fcriptures themselves; and that it ought to be received with the fame pious veneration and affection. Of which traditions they being the keepers and judges, they may extend them to what they pleafe; and, having them in their own breasts, they may declare whatever they have a mind to, to have been a constant and universal tradition of their church; though it is evident to common fenfe, that nothing can be more uncertain, and more liable to alteration and mistake, than tradition, at the distance of fo many ages, brought down by word of mouth, without writing, and paffing through fo many hands. He that can think these to be of equal certainty and authority with what is delivered by writing, and brought down by books, undertakes the defence of a strange paradox, viz. That general rumour and report of things faid and done fifteen hundred years ago, is of equal authority and credit with a record, and a written history.

By which proceeding of the council of Trent, concerning the rule of faith and practice, it is very evident, that they had no mind to bring their faith to the ancient rule, the holy fcriptures. That they knew could not be done; and therefore they were refolved to fit their rule to their faith. And this foundation being laid in their first decree, all the reft would afterwards go on very fmoothly. For do but give men the making of their rule, and they can make good any thing by it. And accordingly, the council of Trent having thus fixed and fitted a rule to their own purpofe, in the conclufion of that decrce, they give the world fair' warning, upon what grounds, and in what ways, they intend to proceed in their following decrees of practice and definitions of faith. Omnes itaque intelligant, quo ordine via ipfa fynodus, poft jactum fidei confeffionis fundamentum, fit progreffura, &c. "Be it known there"fore to all men, in what order and way the fynod, "after having laid this foundation of the confeffion of "faith, will proceed; and what teftimonies and proofs "fhe chiefly intends to make ufe of, for the confirmaVOL. IV.

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