plained.

e that fober with them. ling the law mandments, of the law table fenfe: at the fcrip e Chriftian t what tran , they must an that po are heroick poverty of that an Af ompendious ate habit of diftinction a never inwe are obof damnagreater defor me to hofe judg tes of his wo truths.

idden nor is indif. more than is heart, is might,

y, there zce, that

is

Religious Perfection explained.

21

is not compriz'd within the latitude and
perfection of these words. But whatever
fome of the Church of Rome, or it may be
the greater part of it may think; this,
'tis plain, was the fenfe of the ancients.
St. Auftin (a) could never understand any (a) Qua
merit or excellence in those things that ung non
jubentur,
were matter of counfel, not precept, unless fed fpecia-
they flowed from, and had regard to the li confilio
love of God and our neighbour. And
Caffian's (b) excellent Monks refolved all fiunt, cum
the value of fuch things to confift in their referuntur
tendency to promote apoftolical purity and dum Deum,
charity. And Gregory Nazianzen (c) proxi-
thought it very extravagant, to pretend to ter Deum,
be perfecter than the rule, and exacter than
the law.

monentur,

tum recte

ad diligen

mum prop

Aug. Ench,

cap. 121. (b) Ac proand inde ca

The Quakers have made much noife fir about the doctrine of Perfection, and quibus qualitates fahave reflected very feverely on others, as tutas videfubverting the great defign of our redemp- mus, & tion (which is deliverance from fin) and tempora; & quæ fic upholding the kingdom of darkness: but obfervata with what justice, will eafily appear when fanctifi I have reprefented their fenfe, which I will do very impartially, and in as few pulluant, and Media fe C 3 manifeftum eft, ut pu

cant, ut

miffa non

ta nuptias, agriculturam, divitias, folitudinis remotionem, &c. Caffian. Colla. Patr. Talem igitur definitionem fupra Jejunii, &c. Nec in ipfo fpei noftre terminum defigamus, fed ut per ipfum ad puritatem cordis & apoftolicam charitatem pervenire possimus; ibid.

(c) Μηδε το νόμο νομιμότερος, μηδὲ λαμπρότερος τῷ Φωτός, μηδὲ τα κανόν – ευθύτερο, μηδὲ ἐντολῆς ὑψηλότερο. Greg. Nazian

(d) A Key and plain words as I can. Mr. W. P. (d opening, tells us, That they are fo far infallible an

&c.

(e) Principles of Truth,&c.

a

perfect, as they are led by the Spirit. This
is indeed true, but 'tis mere trifling: for
this is an infallibility and perfection which
no man denies, who believes in the Holy
Ghost; fince whoever follows his guidance
must be in the right, unless the Holy
Ghost himself be in the wrong. He ur-
ges, 'tis true, a great number of fcrip-
tures to fhew (they are his own words)
that a ftgte of Perfection from fin (tho' not
in fulness of wisdom and glory) is attain-
able in this life; but this is too dark and
fhort a hint to infer the fenfe of his par-
ty
from it. Mr. Ed. Burroughs (e) is
more full: We believe (faith he) that the
faints upon earth may receive forgiveness of
fins, and may be perfectly freed from the
body of fin and death, and in Chrift may
be perfect and without fin, and may have
victory over all temptations, by faith
in Fefus Chrift. And we believe every
faint, that is called of God, ought to press
after Perfection, and to overcome the de-
vil and all his temptations upon earth:
and we believe, they that faithfully wait
for it, fhall obtain it, and fhall be prefented
without fin in the image of the father;
and fuch walk not after the flesh, but after
the Spirit, and are in covenant with God,
and their fins are blotted out, and remem-

bered

bered no more; for they cease to commit fin, being born of the feed of God. If by fin here, he means, as he feems to do, deliberate or prefumptuous fin; I do not think any established Church, whether Proteftant or Popish, teaches otherwise. Mr. Barclay (f) goes very methodically to work, and first fets down the state of the queftion; then confutes thofe that differ from him; answers their objections out of fcripture; and, lastly, establishes his own doctrine. As to the Perfection which he afferts, he lets us know, that it is to be derived from the Spirit of Chrift; that it confifts not in an impoffibility of finning, but a poffibility of not finning; and that this perfect man is capable of daily growth and improvement. When to this I have added, that he fpeaks all along of that which we call wilful fin, as appears from his defcription of it; for he calls it iniquity, wickedness, impurity, the fervice of Satan, and attributes fuch effects to it as belong not at all to what we call fins of infirmity; when, I fay, this is added to render the fenfe clear, I can readily fubfcribe to him: for, I know no fuch doctrines in our Church as thofe which he there opposes; namely, that the regene rate are to live in fin, and that their good works are impure and finful. But then, he either mistakes the main point in debate,

(f) Apol

Thef. 3.

or prudently declines: for the question is not, whether good men may live in mortal or wilful fin, but whether good men are not fubject to frailties and infirmities, which are indeed fins, tho' not imputable under the covenant of grace? Whether the Quakers are not in this point Pelagians, I do not now enquire; because if they be, they are already confidered. Two things there are in Mr. Barclay's ftate of the question, which I cannot fo well approve of; the one is, that he expreffes himself fo injudiciously about the growth and improvement of his perfect man, that he feems to forget the difference the fcriptures make between babes and full grown men in Chrift, and to place Perfection fo low in reference to pofitive righteousness or virtue, as if it confifted in negative only or geafing from fin. The other is, that tho' he does not peremptorily affirm a ftate of impeccability attainable in this life; yet he feems inclinable to believe it, and imagines it countenanced by 1 John. iii. 9. But he ought to have confidered, that whatever impeccability may be inferred from that text, it is attributed, not to fome extraordinary perfons, but to all, whofoever they be, that are born of God; but this is out of my way. All that I am to obferve upon the whole is, that thefe men place Perfection efpecially in refraining

refraining from fin: I advance higher, and place it in a well-fettled habit of righteoufnefs. And I believe they will be as little diffatisfied with me for this, as I am with them, for afferting the perfect man freed from fin. For, as Mr. Barclay expreffes himself, I think he has in reality no adverfaries but Antinomians and Ranters.

As to that Perfection which is magnified by myftical writers, fome of them have only darkened and obfcured the plain fenfe of the gospel, by figurative and unintelligible terms. Thofe of them, which write with more life and heat than other men ordinarily do, recommend nothing but that holiness which begins in the fear, and is confummate in the love of God; which enlightens the mind, purifies the heart, and fixes and unites man to his foveraign good, that is, God: and I am fure I fhall not differ with thefe.

There are, I confefs, almost innumerable fayings of the fathers, which fufficiently teftify how little friends they were to Perfection, in fuch a notion of it as is too generally embraced in the Church of Rome. The primitive spirit breathed nothing but humility: it was a professed enemy to all felf-confidence and arrogance, to fupererogation and merit; and it invited men earneftly to reflect upon the