obedience muft be, lawful or unlawful. For expedient or ART. inexpedient ought never to be brought into queftion, as to XX. the point of obedience; fince no inexpediency whatsoever can balance the breaking of order, and the diffolving the conftitution and fociety. This is a confideration that arifes out of a man's apprehenfions of the fitnefs or usefulness of things; in which though he might be in the right as to the antecedent fitness of them, and yet even there he may be in the wrong, and in common modefty every man ought to think that it is more likely that he fhould be in the wrong, than the governors and rulers of the fociety; yet, I fay, allowing all this, it is certain that order and obedience are, both in their own nature, and in their confequences, to be preferred to all the particular confiderations of expediency or inexpediency. Yet ftill thofe in whofe hands the making of thofe rules is put, ought to carry their thoughts much further: they ought to confider well the genius of the Chriftian religion, and therefore they are to avoid every thing that may lead to idolatry, or feed fuperftition; every thing that is apt to be abufed to give falfe ideas of God, or to make the world think that fuch inftituted practices may balance the violation of the laws of God. They ought not to overcharge the worship of God with too great a number of them: the rites ought to be grave, fimple, and naturally expreffive of that which is intended by them. Vain pomp and indecent levity ought to be guarded against ; and next to the honour of God and religion, the peace and edification of the fociety ought to be chiefly confidered. Due regard ought to be had to what men can bear, and what may be moft fuitable to the prefent ftate of the whole; and finally, a great refpect is due to ancient and eftablished practices. Antiquity does generally beget veneration; and the very changing of what has been long in ufe, does naturally ftartle many, and difcompofe a great part of the body. So all changes, unlefs the expediency of making them is upon other accounts very vifible, labour under a great prejudice with the more staid fort of men; for this very reafon, because they are changes. But in this matter, no certain or mathematical rules can be given: every one of these that has been named is capable of that variety, by the diverfity of times and other circumstances; that fince prudence and difcretion must rule the use that is to be made of them, that must be left to the confcience and prudence of every perfon who may be concerned in the management of this authority. He inuft act as he will anfwer it to God and to the Church; for he must be at

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ART. liberty in applying those general rules to particular times and cafes. And a temper must be obferved: we must avoid a fullen adhering to things because they were once fettled, as if points of honour were to be maintained here; and that it looked like a reproaching a conftitution, or the wisdom of a former age, to alter what they did; fince it is certain that what was wifely ordered in one time, may be as wifely changed in another: as, on the other hand, all men ought to avoid the imputation of a defultory levity ; as if they loved changes for changes fake. This might give occafion to our adverfaries to triumph over us, and might alfo fill the minds of the weaker among ourfelves with apprehenfions and fcruples.

The next particular afferted in this Article is, That the Church bath authority in matters of faith. Here a distinction is to be made between an authority that is abfolute, and founded on infallibility, and an authority of order. The former is very formally difclaimed by our Church; but the fecond may be well maintained, though we affert no unerring authority. Every fingle man has a right to fearch the Scriptures, and to take his faith from them; yet it is certain that he may be mistaken in it. It is therefore a much furer way for numbers of men to meet together, and to examine fuch differences as happen to arife; to confider the arguments of all hands, with the importance of fuch paffages of Scripture as are brought into the controverfy; and thus to enquire into the whole matter in which as it is very natural to think that a great company of men fhould fee further than a lefs number; fo there is all reafon to expect a good iffue of fuch deliberations, if men proceed in them with due fincerity and diligence; if pride, faction, and interest, do not fway their councils, and if they feek for truth more than for victory.

But what abufes foever may have crept fince into the public confultations of the Clergy, the Apoftles at first met and confulted together upon that controverfy which was then moved concerning the impofing the Mofaical Law upon the Gentiles: they ordered the paftors of the Church to be able to convince gainfayers, and not to reject a man as a heretic, till after a first and a fecond admonition. The moft likely method both to find out the truth, and to bring fuch as are in error over to it, is to confult of thefe matters in common; and that openly and fairly. For if every good man, that prays earnestly to God for the affiftance and direction of his Spirit, has reafon to look for it; much more may a body of paftors, brought

together

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together to feek out the truth, in any point under debate, ART. look for it, if they bring with them fincere and unprejudiced minds, and do pray earnestly to God. In that cafe, they may expect to be directed and affifted of him. But this depends upon the purity of their hearts, and the earneftness of their endeavours and prayers.

When any fynod of the Clergy has fo far examined a point, as to fettle their opinions about it, they may certainly decree that fuch is their doctrine: and as they judge it to be more or lefs important, they may either reftrain any other opinion, or may require pofitive declarations about it, either of all in their communion, or at least of all whom they admit to minifter in holy things.

This is only an authority of order for the maintaining of union and edification: and in this a body does no more as it is a body, than what every fingle individual has a right to do for himself. He examines a doctrine that is laid before him, he forms his own opinion upon it, and pursuant to that he must judge with whom he can hold communion, and from whom he muft feparate.

When fuch definitions are made by the body of the paftors of any Church, all perfons within that Church do owe great refpect to their decifion. Modefty must be obferved in defcanting upon it, and in difputing about it. Every man that finds his own thoughts differ from it, ought to examine the matter over again, with much attention and care, freeing himself all he can from prejudice and obftinacy; with a juft diftruft of his own understanding, and an humble refpect to the judgment of his fuperiors.

This is due to the confiderations of peace and union, and to that authority which the Church has to maintain it. But if, after all poffible methods of enquiry, a man cannot mafter his thoughts, or make them agree with the public decifions, his confcience is not under bonds; fince this authority is not abfolute, nor grounded upon a promise of infallibility.

This is a tenet that, with relation to national Churches and their decifions, is held by the Church of Rome, as well as by us for they place infallibility either in the Pope, or in the universal Church: but no man ever dreamt of infallibility in a particular or national Church: and the point in this Article is only concerning particular Churches; for the head of General Councils comes in upon the next. That no Church can add any thing as necessary to falvation, has been already confidered upon the fixth Article.

It is certain, that as we owe our hopes of falvation only

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ART. to Chrift, and to what he has done for us; fo alfo it can belong only to him who procured it to us, to fix the terms upon which we may look for it: nor can any power on earth clog the offers that he makes us in the Gofpel, with new or other terms than those which we find made there to us. There can be no difpute about this: for unless we believe that there is an infallible authority lodged in the Church, to explain the Scripture, and to declare tradition; and unless we believe that the Scriptures are both obfcure and defective, and that the one must be helped by an infallible commentary, and the other fupplied by an authentical declarer of tradition; we cannot afcribe an authority to the Church, either to contradict the Scripture, or to add neceffary conditions of falvation to it.

We own, after all, that the Church is the depofitory of the whole Scriptures, as the Jews were of the Old Teftament: but in that inftance of the Jews, we may fee that a body of men may be faithful in the copying of a book exactly, and in the handing it down without corrupting it; and yet they may be mistaken in the true meaning of that which they preferve fo faithfully. They are expressly Rom. iii. 2. called the Keepers of the oracles of God; and are no where reproved for having attempted upon this Depofitum : and yet for all that fidelity they fell into great errors about fome of the most important parts of their religion; which expofed them to the rejecting the Meffias, and to their

utter ruin.

The Church's being called the witnefs of holy writ, is not to be refolved into any judgment that they pafs upon it as a body of men that have authority to judge and give fentence, fo that the canonicalnefs or the uncanonicalnefs of any book fhall depend upon their teftimony: but is refolved into this, that fuch fucceffions and numbers of men, whether of the laity or clergy, have in a course of many ages had these books preferved and read among them; fo that it was not poffible to corrupt that upon which fo many men had their eyes, in all the corners and ages of Chriften

dom.

And thus we believe the Scriptures to be a book written by infpired men, and delivered by them to the Church, upon the teftimony of the Church that at firft received it; knowing that thofe great matters of fact, contained and appealed to in it, were true: and alfo upon the like teftimony of the fucceeding ages, who preferved, read, copied, and tranflated that book, as they had received it from the firft.

The

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The Church of Rome is guilty of a manifeft circle in ART. this matter for they fay they believe the Scriptures upon the authority of the Church, and they do again believe the authority of the Church, because of the teftimony of the Scripture concerning it.

This is as falfe reafoning as can be imagined: for nothing can be proved by another authority, till that authority is firft fixed and proved: and therefore if the testimony of the Church is believed to be facred, by virtue of a divine grant to it, and that from thence the Scriptures have their credit and authority, then the credit due to the Church's teftimony is antecedent to the credit of the Scripture; and fo muft not be proved by any paffages brought from it; otherwife that is a manifeft circle. But no circle is committed in our way, who do not prove the Scriptures from any fuppofed authority in the Church, that has handed them down to us; but only as they are vaft companies of men, who cannot be prefumed to have been guilty of any fraud in this matter; it appearing further to be morally impoffible for any that should have attempted a fraud in it, to have executed it. When therefore the Scripture itfelf is proved by moral arguments of this kind, we may, according to the ftricteft rules of reafoning, examine what authority the Scripture gives to the paftors of the Church met in leffer or greater Councils.