ART.
XX.

-iii. 10.

The next particular afferted in this Article, is, That the Church hath authority in matters of faith. Here a diftinction 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 con troverfy; and thus to enquire into the whole matter; in which as it is very natural to think that a great company of men should fee further than a lefs number; fo there is all reason to expect a good iffue of fuch deliberations, if men proceed in them with due fincerity and diligence; if pride, faction, and intereft, do not fway their councils, and if they seek for truth more than for 'victory.

But what abuses foever may have crept fince into the public confultations of the Clergy, the Apoftles at firft met and confulted together upon that controverfy which was then moved concerning the impofing the Mofaical Law upon the Gentiles: Titus . 9. they ordered the paftors of the Church to be able to convince gainfayers, and not to reject a man as a heretick, till after a first and a fecond admonition. The most likely method both to find out the truth, and to bring such as are in error over to it, is to confult of these matters in common; and that openly and fairly. For if every good man, that prays earneftly to God for the affiftance and direction of his fpirit, has reafon to look for it; much more may a body of paftors, brought together to seek out the truth, in any point under debate, 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 earnestness 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 leaft of all whom they admit to minister 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

opinion upon it, and pursuant to that he muft judge with whom AR T. he can hold communion, and from whom he must separate.

When fuch definitions are made by the body of the paftors of any Church, all perfons within that Church do owe great respect to their decifion. Modefty muft 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 publick decifions, his conscience is not under bonds: fince this authority is not abfolute, nor grounded upon a promife 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 univerfal 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 neceffary to falvation, has been already confidered upon the fixth Article.

It is certain, that as we owe our hopes of falvation only to Christ, 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 Gospel, 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 ascribe an autho rity to the Church, either to contradict the Scripture, or to add neceflary conditions of falvation to it.

XX.

We own, after all, that the Church is the depofitary of the whole Scriptures, as the Jews were of the Old Testament: 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 exprefsly called the Keepers of the oracles Rom. iii. 2.

XX.

ART. 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 exposed 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 pass upon it as a body of men that have authority to judge and give sentence, so that the canonicalnefs, or the uncanonicalness 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 courfe of many ages had these books preferved and read among them; fo that it was not poffible to corrupt that upon which so many men had their eyes, in all the corners and ages of Christendom.

And thus we believe the Scriptures to be a book written by inspired men, and delivered by them to the Church, upon the teftimony of the Church that at first received it; knowing that those 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 translated that book, as they had received it from the first.

The Church of Rome is guilty of a manifest circle in 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 first fixed and proved and therefore if the teftimony 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 itself is proved by moral arguments of this kind, we may, according to the strictest rules of reasoning, examine, what authority the Scripture gives to the pastors of the Church met in leffer or greater Councils.

ARTICLE

ARTICLE XXI.

Of the Authority of General Councils.

Genezal Councils may not be gathered together with out the Commandment and Will of Princes. And when they be gathezed together (fozalmuch as thep be an Affembly of Hen whereof all be not governed with the Spirit and Word of God) they map err, and sometime have erred even in things pertaining unto God. Wherefore things ordained by them as necellary to Salvation, have neithez Strength nor Authozity, unless it may be declared that they are taken out of Holy Scriptures.

THE

XXI.

HERE are two particulars fettled in this Article: the one AR T. is, the power of calling of Councils, at least, an affertion that they cannot be called without the will of Princes: the other is, the authority of General Councils, that they are not infallible, and that fome have erred: and therefore the inference is justly made, that whatever authority they may have in the rule and government of the Church, their decifions in matters neceffary to falvation ought to be examined by the word of God, and are not to be fubmitted to, unless it appears that they are conform to the Scripture.

1.

The first of these is thus proved: Clergymen are fubject to their Princes, according to thefe words, Let every foul be fub- Rom. xiii. ject to the higher powers: if they are then fubject to them, they cannot be obliged to go out of their dominions upon the fummons of any other; their perfons being under the laws and authority of that country to which they belong.

This is plain, and feems to need no other proof. It is very visible how much the peace of kingdoms and ftates is concerned in this point for if a foreign power should call their Clergy away at pleasure, they might be not only left in a great deftitution as to religious performances, but their Clergy might be practifed upon, and fent back to them with fuch notions, and upon fuch defigns, that, chiefly fuppofing the immunity of their perfons, they might become, as they often were, in dark and ignorant ages, the incendiaries of the world, and the disturbers and betrayers of their countries. This is confirmed by the practice of the first ages, after the Church had the protection of Chriftian magiftrates: in these the Roman Emperors called

XXI.

ART. the first General Councils, which is exprefsly mentioned not only in the Hiftories of the Councils, but in their Acts, where we find both the writs that fummoned them, and their letters fometimes to the Emperors, and fometimes to the Churches, which do all set forth their being fummoned by the facred authority of their Emperors, without mentioning any other. In calling fome of thefe Councils, it does not appear that the Popes were much confulted: and in others we find Popes indeed fupplicating the Emperors to call a Council, but nothing that has fo much as a fhadow of their pretending to an authority to fummon it themselves.

This is a thing fo plain, and may be fo foon seen into by any person who will be at the pains to turn to the editions of the first four General Councils made by themselves, not to mention thofe that followed in the Greek Church, that the confidence with which it has been afferted, that they were fummoned by the Popes, is an inftance to fhew us that there is nothing at which men, who are once engaged, will stick when their cause requires it. But even fince the Popes have got this matter into their own hands, though they fummon the Council, yet they do not pretend to it, nor expect that the world would receive a Council as general, or fubmit to it, unless the Princes of Christendom fhould allow of it, and confent to the publication of the bull. So that, by reason of this, Councils are now be come almoft unpracticable things.

When all Chriftendom was included within the Roman empire, then the calling of a Council lay in the breast and power of one man; and, during the ages of ignorance and fuperstition, the world was fo fubjected to the Pope's authority, that Princes durft feldom oppofe their fummons, or deny their Bishops leave to go when they were fo called. But after the fcandalous fchifm in the Popcdom, in which there were for a great while two Popes, and at last three at a time, Councils began to pretend that the power of governing the Church, and of cenfuring, depriving, and making of Popes, was radically in them, as reprefenting the univerfal Church: fo they fell upon methods to have frequent Councils, and that whether both Popes and Princes fhould oppofe it or not; for they declared both the one and the other to be fallen from their dignity, that should attempt to hin der it. Yet they carried the claim of the freedom of elections, and of the other ecclefiaftical immunities, so high, that all that followed upon this, was, that the Popes being terrified with the attempts begun at Conftance, and profecuted at Bafil and Pifa, took pains to have Princes of their fide, and then made bargains and concordates with them, by which they divided all the rights of the Church, at least the pretenfions to them, between themselves and the Princes. Matters of gain and ad

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