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who out of fear delivered up their books, as apoftates, and renouncers of Christianity? And if they had not thought this book to be the great inftrument of their faith and falvation; and if it had really been of no greater confideration than Mr. W. and Mr. S. would make it, why should they be fo loth to part with a few "unfen"fed characters, waxen-natured words, to be played "upon diverfely by quirks of wit; that is, apt to blun

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der and confound, but to clear little or nothing?" why fhould they value their lives at fo cheap a rate, as to throw them away for a few infignificant fcrawls, and to fhed their blood for "a little ink variously figured in 66 a book?" Did they not know, that the fafety of Chriftianity did not depend upon this book? Did no Chriftian then understand that which, according to Mr. S. no Christian can be ignorant of, viz. that not the fcripture, but unmistakeable and indefectible oral tradition was the rule of faith? Why did they not confider, that though this letter-rule of hereticks had been confumed to afhes; yet their faith would have lain fafe, and "been preferved entire in its fpiritual causes, mens minds, the noblest pieces in nature?" p. 34. Some of them indeed did deliver up their books, and were called traditores; and I have fome ground to believe, that these were the only traditionary Chriftians of that time, and that the rest were confeffors and martyrs for the letter-rule. And if this be not evidence enough, that the fcriptures have always been acknowledged by Chriftians for the rule of faith, I fhall, when I come to examine his teftimonies for tradition, (with the good leave of his diftinction between speculators and teftifiers), prove, by moft exprefs teftimony, that it was the general opinion of the fathers, that " the "fcriptures are the rule of Christian faith; " and then, if his demonftration of the infallibility of tradition will inforce, that as teftifiers they must needs have spoken otherwife, who can help it?

SECT. IV. How much Proteftants allow to oral tradition.

$1. HAving thus laid down the Proteftant rule of faith, with the grounds of it, all that now

remains

remains for me to do towards the clear and full ftating of the controverfy between us, is, to take notice briefly, and with due limitations,

1. How much the Proteftants do allow to oral tradition.

2. What thofe things are, which Mr. S. thinks fit to attribute to his rule of faith, which we fee no caufe to attribute to ours: and when this is done, any one may eafily difcern how far we differ.

§2. First, How much Proteftants do allow to oral tradition.

ift, We grant that oral tradition, in fome circum-ftances, may be a fufficient way of conveying a doctrine; but withal we deny, that fuch circumstances are now in being. In the first ages of the world, when the credenda or articles of religion, and the agenda or precepts of it, were but few, and fuch as had the evidence of natural light; when the world was contracted into a few families in comparison, and the age of man ordinarily extended to fix or seven hundred years; it is eafy to imagine how fuch a doctrine, in fuch circumstances, might have been propagated by oral tradition, without any great change or alterations. Adam lived till Methufelah was above two hundred years old, Methufelah lived till Sem was near an hundred, and Sem outlived Abraham: fo that this tradition need not pass through more than two hands betwixt Adam and Abraham. But though this way was fufficient to have preferved religion in the world, if men had not been wanting to themselves; yet we find it did not prove effectual: for through the corruption and negligence of men after the flood, (if not before), when the world began to multiply, and the age of man was fhortened, the knowledge and worship of the one true God was generally loft in the world. And fo far as appears by fcripture-history, the only record we have of thofe times, when God called out Abraham from Ur of the Chaldees, the whole world was lapfed into polytheism and idolatry. Therefore, for the greater fecurity of religion afterwards, when the pofterity of Abraham was multiplied into a great nation, the wifdom of God did not think fit to intruft the doctrine of religion any longer to the fallible and uncertain way of traditi

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on,

on, but committed it to writing. Now, that God pitched upon this way, after the world had fadly experienced the unfuccefsfulness of the other, feems to be a very good evidence, that this was the better and more fecure way; it being the ufual method of the divine difpenfations, not go backwards, but to move towards perfection, and to proceed from that which is lefs perfect to that which is more. And the Apoftle's reafoning concerning the two covenants, is very applicable to thefe two methods of conveying the doctrine of religion: If the first had been faulilefs, then fhould no place have been fought for the fecond, Heb. viii. 7.

$3. So likewife, when Chrift revealed his doctrine to the world, it was not in his lifetime committed to writing; because it was entertained but by a few, who were his difciples and followers, and who, fo long as he continued with them, had a living oracle to teach them. After his death, the Apoftles, who were to publish this doctrine to the world, were affifted by an infallible fpirit, fo as they were fecured from error and mistake in the delivery of it. But when this extraordinary affiftance failed, there was need of fome other means to convey it to pofterity, that fo it might be a fixed and ftanding rule of faith and manners to the end of the world. To this end, the providence of God took care to have it committed to writing. And that Mr. S. may fee this is not a conjecture of Proteftants, but the fenfe of former times, I fhall refer him to St. Chryfoftom; who tells us, (homil. 1. in Matth.), "that Chrift left nothing in writing to his Apoftles; but, inftead "thereof, did promife to bestow upon them the grace "of his Holy Spirit, faying, John xiv. He fhall bring "all things to your remembrance, &c. But becaufe in "progrefs of time there were many grievous mifcarri*C ages, both in matter of opinion, and alfo of life and manners; therefore it was requifite, that the memo"ry of this doctrine fhould be preferved by writing." So long then as the Apoftles lived, who were thus infallibly affifted, the way of oral tradition was fecure, but no longer; nor even then, from the nature of the thing, but from that extraordinary and fupernatural affiftance which accompanied the deliverers.

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$4. And

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§ 4. And therefore it is no good way of argument against the way of tradition by writing, which he lays fo much weight upon, p. 40. "That the Apostles and

"their fucceffors went not with books in their hands, "to preach and deliver Chrift's doctrine, but words in "their mouths; and that primitive antiquity learned "their faith by another method a long time before many "of thofe books were univerfally fpread among the vul66 gar." For what if there was no need of writing this doctrine, whilft thofe living oracles, the Apoftles, were prefent with the church? doth it therefore follow, that there was no need of it afterwards, when the Apofties were dead, and that extraordinary and fupernatural affiftance was ceafed? If the preachers now-a-days could give us any fuch affurance, and confirm all they preach by fuch frequent, and publick, and unquestionable miracles as the Apostles did; then we need not examine the doctrines they taught by any other rule, but ought to regulate our belief by what they deliver to us. But feeing this is not the cafe, that ought in all reason to be the rule of our faith, which hath brought down to us the. doctrine of Chrift with the greatest certainty; and this I fhall prove the fcriptures to have done.

$5. So that, in those circumstances I have mentioned, we allow oral tradition to have been a fufficient way of conveying a doctrine: but now, confidering the great increase of mankind, and the fhortness of man's life in thefe latter ages of the world, and the long tract of time from the Apostles age down to us, and the innumerable accidents, whereby, in the fpace of fifteen hundred years, oral tradition might receive infenfible alterations, fo as at laft to become quite another thing from what it was at firft, by paffing through many hands; in which paffage, all the miftakes and corruptions which, in the feveral ages through which it was tranfmitted, did happen, either through ignorance, or forgetfulness, or out of intereft and defign, are neceffarily derived into the laft: fo that the farther it goes, the more alteration it is liable to; becaufe, as it paffeth along, more errors and corruptions are infufed into it: I fay, confidering all this, we deny, that the doctrine of Chriftian religion could, with any probable fecurity and certainty, have

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been conveyed down to us by the way of oral tradition; and therefore do reasonably believe, that God, forefeeing this, did in his wifdom fo order things, that thofe perfons who were affifted by an infallible fpirit in the delivery of this doctrine, fhould, before they left the world, commit it to writing: which was accordingly done; and by this inftrument, the doctrine of faith hath been conveyed down to us.

$6. 2dly, We allow, that tradition, oral and written, do give us fufficient affurance, that the books of fcripture, which we now have, are the very books which were written by the Apoftles and Evangelifts; nay farther, that oral tradition alone is a competent evidence in this cafe: but withal we deny, that oral tradition is therefore to be accounted the rule of faith.

The general affurance that we have concerning books written long ago, that they are fo ancient, and were written by thofe whofe names they bear, is a conftant and uncontrolled tradition of this, tranfmitted from one age to another, partly orally, and partly by the teftimony of other books. Thus much is common to fcripture with other books. But then the fcriptures have this peculiar advantage above other books, that being of a greater and more univerfal concernment, they have been more common and in every body's hands, more read and studied, than any other books in the world whatfoever; and confequently, they have a more univerfal and better grounded atteftation. Moreover, they have not only been owned univerfally in all ages by Chriftians, except three or four books of them, which for fome time were queflioned by fome churches, but have fince been generally received; but the greatest enemies of our religion, the Jews and Heathens, never queftioned the antiquity of them, but have always taken it for granted, that they were the very books which the Apoftles writ. And this is as great an affurance as we can have concerning any ancient book, without a particular and immediate revelation.

7. And this conceflion doth not, as Mr. S. fuppofeth, make oral tradition to be finally the rule of faith; for the meaning of this queftion, "What is the rule "of faith?" is, What is the next and immediate mean's

whereby

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