his parties contend to be seated in his church; for such a one as this we allow to her, if she does her duty, if she prays to God, if she considers as well as she can, and be no way transported with interest or partiality; then in such propositions which God hath adopted into the Christian faith, and which are plain and intended to be known and believed by all, there is no question but she is infallible, that is, she is secured from error in such things. But then every man also hath a part of this infallibility. Some things are of their own nature so plain, that a man is infallible in them, as a man may infallibly know, that two and two make four. And a Christian may be infallibly sure that the Scriptures say, that 'Jesus Christ is the Son of God,' and that 'there shall be a resurrection from the dead,' and 'that they who do the works of the flesh, shall not inherit the kingdom of God;' and as fallible as I, or any protestant is, yet we cannot be deceived in this; if it be made a question whether fornication be a thing forbidden in the New Testament, we are certain, and infallibly so, that in that book it is written, " flee fornication." And infallibility hic et nunc,' if that will serve J. S.'s turn, we have it for him; and he cannot say, that we protestants affirm that we are fallible when we do our duty, and when all the assisting circumstances, which God hath made sufficient and necessary, are present: we are as certain as infallibility itself, that among the ten commandments, one is, "Thou shalt not worship any graven images:" and another, "Thou shalt not commit adultery:" and so concerning all the plain sayings in Scripture, we are certain that they carry their meaning on their forehead, and we cannot be deceived, unless we please not to make use of all 'the complexion of assisting circumstances.' And this certainty or circumstantiate infallibility we derive from selfevident principles; such as this, "God is never wanting to them that do the best they can;" and this, "In matters which God requires of us, if we fail not in what is on our part, God will not fail on hisi." And this infallibility is just like to what is signified by what God promised to Joshua*; "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee, only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do

1 Deus neminem deserit nisi prius deserentem.

* Josh. i. 5, 7.

according to all the law." Nothing was more certain, than that Joshua should be infallibly conducted into the land of promise, and yet it was required of him to be courageous, and to keep all the law of Moses; and because Joshua did so, the promise had an infallibility, hic et nunc:' and so it is in the finding out the truths of God, so said our blessed Saviour; “If ye love me, keep my commandments, and I will pray to the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive'." If we open our eyes, if we suffer not a veil to be over them, if we inquire with diligence and simplicity, and if we live well, we shall be infallibly directed, and upon the same terms it is infallibly certain that every man shall be saved. "And the Gospel is not hid, but to them that are lost," saith the apostle; "in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."-So that it is certain that, in things necessary, a man need not be deceived unless he be wanting to himself; and therefore hic et nunc' he is infallible: but if a man will lay aside his reason, and will not make use of it, if he resolves to believe a proposition in defiance of all that can be said against it; if when he sees reason against his proposition, he will call it a temptation, which is like being hardened by miracles, and slighting a truth, because it is too well proved to him; if he will not trust the instruments of knowledge that God gives him; if he set his face against his reason, and think it meritorious to distrust his sense, and "seeing will not see, and hearing he will not understand," (and all this is every day done in the church of Rome), then there is nothing so certain, but it becomes to him uncertain; and it is no wonder if he be given over to believe a lie. It is not confidence that makes a man infallibly certain; for then J. S. were the most infallible person in the world; but the way to "make our calling and election sure," is to "work out our salvation with fear and trembling." Modesty is the way to knowledge; and by how much more a man fears to be deceived, by so much the more will he walk circumspectly and determine warily, and take care he be not deceived; but he that thinks he cannot be

1 John, xiv. 15, 16, 17.

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deceived, but that he is infallible, as he is the more liable to error, because by this supposed infallibility he is tempted to a greater inconsideration, so if he be deceived, his recovery is the more desperate. And I desire that it be here observed, that it is one thing to say, 'I cannot be deceived,' and another to say, 'I am sure I am not deceived.' For the first no man can say; but the latter every wise and good man may say if he please; that every man is certain of very many things is evident by all the experience of mankind; and in many things this certainty is equivalent to an infallibility, that is, hic et nunc:' and that relies upon this ground (for I must be careful to go upon grounds, for fear of J. S.'s displeasure), "Quicquid est, quamdiu est, necesse est esse;" while a truth prevails, and is invested with the 'whole complexion of assisting circumstances,' it is an actual infallibility, that is, such a certainty 'cui falsum subesse non potest;' for else no man could tell certainly and infallibly, when he is hungry or thirsty, awake or weary; when he hath committed a sin against God, or when he hath told a lie: and he that says a fallible Christian is not infallibly certain, that it is a good thing to say his prayers, and to put his trust in God, and to do good works, knows not what he says.

But besides this, it were well, if J. S. would consider what kind of certainty God requires of us in our faith; for I hope J. S. will then require no more. Our faith is not

science, and yet it is certainty; and if the assent be according to the whole design of it, and effects all its purposes and the intention of God, it cannot be accepted, though the ways of begetting that faith be not demonstrative arguments. There had but five or six persons seen Christ after his resurrection, and yet he was pleased to reprove their unbelief, because the disciples did not believe those few who said they had seen him alive. Faith is the foundation of good life; and if a man believe so certainly that he is willing to live in it, and die for it, God requires no more, and there is no need of more; and if a little thing will not do that, what shall become of those innumerable multitudes of Christians, who believe upon grounds which a learned man knows are very weak, but yet are to those people as good as the best, because they are not only the best they have, but they are sufficient to do their work for them. Nay, God is so good, and it is so necessary, in some affairs, to proceed so, that a

man may be certain he does well, though in the proposition, or subject matter, he be deceived. Is not a judge infallibly certain that he does his duty, and proceeds wisely, if he gives sentence' secundum allegata et probata,' though he be not infallibly certain that the witnesses depose truth. Was not St. Paul in the right, and certainly so, when he said, "it was better for the present necessity, if a virgin did not marry ;" and yet he had no revelation, and no oral infallible tradition for it; "this speak I," saith he, "not the Lord;" and he did not talk confidently of his grounds, but said modestly, "I think I have the Spirit of God;" and yet all Christians believe that what he then said, was infallibly enough true. "We see here through a glass darkly," saith the apostle, and yet we see; and what we see we may be certain of, I mean we protestants may; indeed the papists may not, for they denying what they say, call bread a God: so that they do not so much as see darkly, they see not at all; or, what is as bad, they will not believe the thing to be that which their eyes, and three senses more tell them that it is. But it is a wonder that they who dare not trust their senses, should talk of being infallible in their argument.

And now to apply this to the charge J. S. lays on me, "Because I do not profess to be infallible, I am certain in nothing; and without an infallible oral tradition, it is impossible I should be certain of any thing." In answer to this, I demand why I may not be as certain of what I know or believe, as Mr. White or J. S.? Is the doctrine of purgatory-fire between death and the day of judgment, and of the validity of the prayers and masses said in the church of Rome to the freeing of souls from purgatory long before the day of judgment, is this doctrine, I say, delivered by an infallible oral tradition, or no? If no, then the church of Rome either is not certain it is true, or else she is certain of it by some other way than such a tradition. If yea, then how is Mr. White certain that he speaks true in his book 'de statu animarum ;' where he teaches that prayers of the church do no good, and free no souls before the day of judgment, for he hath not oral tradition for his opinion; for two oral traditions cannot be certain and infallible, when they contradict one another; and if the traditions be not infallible, as good for these men that they be none at all. So that either Mr. White cannot

be certain of any thing he says, by not relying on oral tradition, or the church of Rome cannot be certain; and therefore he or she may forbear to persuade their friends to any thing. And for my present adversary J. S. who also affirms, that oral tradition of the present church is the whole rule of faith, how can he trust himself or be certain of any thing, or teach any thing, when his church says otherwise than he says, and makes tradition to be but a part of the rule of faith, as is to be seen in the council of Trent itself in the first decree of the fourth session". So that in effect here are two rules of faith, and therefore two churches; Mr. J. S.'s is the 'traditionary' church; so called from relying solely on tradition; the other, which shall we call it for distinction' sake, the 'purgatorian' church, from purgatory; or, if you will, the 'imaginary' church, from worshipping images: and since they do not both follow the same rule of faith, the one making tradition alone to be the ground, the other not so; it will follow by Mr. J. S.'s argument, that either the one or the other, missing the true ground of faith, cannot be certain of any thing that they say. And now when he hath considered these things, let him reckon the advantage which his 'catholic faith gains by the opposition from her adversaries if they be rightly handled,' as Mr. S. hath handled them, and brought to his grounds. But, however the opposition which I have now made, hath its advantages upon the weakness of Mr. White's grounds, and J. S.'s demonstrations, yet I shall, without relation to them, but upon the account of other grounds which his wiser and more learned brethren of the other church do lay, make it appear that there is indeed in the church of Rome no sure footing, no foundation of faith upon which a man can with certainty rely, and say, Now I am infallibly sure that I am in the right.

The Fifth Way.

THE Fifth Way, J. S. says,'' is built on the fourth;' which being proved to be a ruinous foundation, I have the less need

m Perspiciensque hauc veritatem, et disciplinam contineri in libris scriptis et sine scripto traditionibus — omnes libros tam Veteris quam Novi Testamenti, non traditiones, ipsas, &c. pari pietatis affectu ac reverentià suspicit et veneratur.