marks of distinction. Which is the Lord's Prayer, we are plainly taught by this command of our Saviour, Luke xi. 2, "When ye pray, say, Our Father," &c. In the same manner and words, we are taught what we should believe, to make us his disciples, by his command to the apostles what they should preach, Matth. x. 7,

As ye go, preach, saying," (What were they to say? Only this)" The kingdom of heaven is at hand." Ŏr, as St. Luke expresses it, chap. ix. 2, They were sent to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick :" which, what it was, we have sufficiently explained. But this creed of the unmasker, which he talks of, where is it? Let him show it us distinctly set out from the rest of the Scripture. If he knows where it is, let him produce it, or leave talking of it, until he can. It is not the Apostles' Creed, that is evident: for that creed he has discarded from being the standard of Christian faith, and has told the world in words at length, That" if a man believes no more than is in express terms in the Apostles' Creed, his faith will not be the faith of a Christian." Nay, it is plain, that creed has, in the unmasker's opinion, the same tendency to atheism and irreligion, that my summary has. For the Apostles' Creed, reducing the forty, or perhaps, the four hundred fundamental articles of his Christian creed, to twelve; and leaving out the greatest part of those necessary ones, which he has already, and will hereafter, in good time, give us; does as much dispose men' to serve the decalogue and the Lord's Prayer just so, as my reducing those twelve to two. For so many, at least, he has granted to be in my summary, viz. the article of one God, maker of heaven and earth; and the other, of Jesus the Messiah; though he every where calls them but one: which, whether it be to show with what love and regard to truth he continues, and consequently began this controversy; or whether it be to beguile and startle unwary, or confirm prejudiced readers; I shall leave others to judge. It is evident, he thinks his cause would be mightily maimed, if he were forced to leave out the charge of one article; and he would not know what to do for wit or argument, if he should

call them two for then the whole weight and edge of his strong and sharp reasoning, in his Thoughts concerning the Causes of Atheism, p. 122, would be lost. There you have it in these words: "When the catholic faith is thus brought down to one single article, it will soon be reduced to none; the unit will dwindle into a cypher." And here again, it makes the whole argument of his atheistical speech, which he winds up with these convincing words: "We are glad to hear that Christianity is brought so low by this worthy penman; for this is a good presage, that it will dwindle into nothing. What! one article, and that so brief too! We like such a faith, and such a religion, because it is so near none." But I must tell this writer, of equal wit, sense, and modesty, that this religion, which he thus makes a dull farce of, and calls "near none," is that very religion which our Saviour Jesus Christ and his apostles preached, for the conversion and salvation of mankind; no one article whereof, which they proposed as necessary to be received by unbelievers, to make them Christians, is omitted. And I ask him, Whether it be his errand, as one of our Saviour's ambassadors, to turn it thus into ridicule? For, until he has shown, that they preached otherwise, and more than what the Spirit of truth has recorded of their preaching in their histories, which I have faithfully collected, and set down; all that he shall say, reflecting upon the plainness and simplicity of their doctrine, however directed against me, will by his atheistical rabble of all kinds, now they are so well entered and instructed in it by him, be all turned upon our Saviour and his apostles.

What tendency this, and all his other trifling, in so serious a cause as this is, has to the propagating of atheism and irreligion in this age, he were best to consider. This I am sure, the doctrine of but one article (if the author and finisher of our faith, and those he guided by his Spirit, had preached but one article) has no more tendency to atheism, than their doctrine of one God. But the unmasker every where talks, as if the strength of our religion lay in the number of its articles; and would be presently routed, if it had been

but a few; and therefore he has mustered up a pretty full band of them, and has a reserve of the Lord knows how many more, which shall be forth coming upon occasion. But I shall desire to remind this learned divine, who is so afraid of what will become of his religion, if it should propose but one or a few articles, as necessary to be believed to make a man a Christian; that the strength and security of our religion lies in the divine authority of those who first promulgated the terms of admittance into the church, and not in the multitude of articles, supposed by some necessary to be believed to make a man a Christian: and I would have him remember, when he goes next to make use of this strong argument of one dwindling into a cypher," that one is as remote as a million from none. And if this be not so, I desire to know whether his way of arguing will not prove pagan polytheism to be more remote from atheism than Christianity. He will do well to try the force of his speech in the mouth of an heathen, complaining of the tendency of Christianity to atheism, by reducing his great number of gods to but one, which was so near none, and would, therefore, soon be reduced to none.

66

The unmasker seems to be upon the same topic, where he so pathetically complains of the Socinians, p. 66, in these words: "Is it not enough to rob us of our God, by denying Christ to be so; but must they spoil us of all the other articles of Christian faith but one ?” Have a better heart, good sir; for I assure you nobody can rob you of your God, but by your own consent, nor spoil you of any of the articles of your faith. If you look for them, where God has placed them, in the holy Scripture, and take them as he has framed and fashioned them there; there you will always find them safe and sound. But if they come out of an artificer's shop, and be of human invention, I cannot answer for them: they may, for aught I know, be nothing but an idol of your own setting up, which may be pulled down, should you cry out ever so much, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians!"

VOL. VII.

X

He who considers this argument of one and none, as managed by the unmasker, and observes his pathetical way of reasoning all through his book, must confess that he has got the very philosopher's stone in disputing. That which would be worthless lead in others, he turns into pure gold; his oratory changes its nature, and gives it the noble tincture: so that what, in plain rea-· soning, would be nonsense, let him but put it into a speech, or an exclamation, and there it becomes strong argument. Whether this be not so, I desire mode and figure may decide. And to those I shall desire he would reduce the proofs, which, p. 73, he says he has given of these following propositions, viz.

XXIX. “That I have corrupted men's minds."

XXX. "That I have depraved the Gospel."

XXXI. "That I have abused Christianity."

For all these three, p. 73, he affirms of me without proof, and without honesty.

Whether it be from confusion of thought, or unfairness of design; either because he has not clear distinct notions of what he would say, or finds it not to his purpose to speak them clearly out, or both together; so it is, that the unmasker very seldom, but when he rails, delivers himself so that one can certainly tell what he would have.

The question is, What is absolutely necessary to be believed by every one, to make him a Christian? It has been clearly made out, from an exact survey of the history of our Saviour and his apostles, that the whole aim of all their preaching every where was, to convince the unbelieving world of these two great truths; first, That there was one, eternal, invisible God, maker of heaven and earth and next, that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah, the promised King and Saviour: and that, upon men's believing these two articles, they were baptized and admitted into the church, i. e. received

as subjects of Christ's kingdom, and pronounced believers. From whence it unavoidably follows, that these two are the only truths necessary to be believed to make a man a Christian.

This matter of fact is so evident from the whole tenour of the four Gospels and the Acts, and presses so hard, that the unmasker, who contends for a great number of other points necessary to be believed to make a man a Christian, thinks himself concerned to give some answer to it; but, in his usual way, full of uncertainty and confusion. To clear this matter, he lays down four particulars: the first is, p. 74, "That the believing Jesus to be the promised Messiah was the first step to Christianity."

The second, p. 76, "That though this one proposition, (viz. of Jesus the Messiah) be mentioned alone in some places, yet there is reason to think, and be persuaded, that at the same time other matters of faith were proposed."

The third, p. 76, "That though there are several parts and members of the Christian faith, yet they do not all occur in any one place of Scripture."

The fourth, p. 78, That Christianity was erected by degrees."

These particulars he tells us, p. 74," he offers to clear an objection." To see, therefore, whether they are pertinent or no, we must examine what the objection is, as he puts it. I think it might have been put in a few words this I am sure, it ought to have been put very clear and distinct. But the unmasker has been pleased to give it us, p. 73, as followeth : "Because I designed these papers for the satisfying of the reader's doubts, about any thing occurring, concerning the matter before us, and for the establishing of his wavering mind; I will here (before I pass to the second general head of my discourse) answer a query, or objection, which some, and not without some show of ground, may be apt to start: how comes it to pass, they will say, that this article of faith, viz. that Jesus is the Messiah, or Christ, is so often repeated in the New Testament? Why is this sometimes urged, without the mentioning