The Necessity and Use of Heresies

THE PREFACE.

AMong all the Arguments, which are made use of in defense of a rigorous and stated Uniformity, against the pretensions and Plea of Christian Liberty, there is none, that is either urged with greater vigor, or that, amongst unwary and superficial Hearers, carries with it a better appearance of probability, then this, that the Imposing of some few things, supposed to be Indifferent, is the only way to prevent the entrance, and to suppress the growth of Heresies. For as unruly Cattle are kept from straying, by being put into a Pound, or into some straight Enclosure, so, where there is a certain Form, and fixed Garb of Worship, unto which all are compelled to agree; there will in all probability, be no room left, for those secret underminings, and clardestine Insinuations, by which, Error, like undiscovered fire, is blown up and kindled, and spreads itself, to the ruin sometimes both of Church and State. And therefore as they tell us, that Conjurers, to keep their evil Spirits from doing mischief, do draw a Circle about them, and confine them to it; so, Magistrates, who are the State-Exorcists, have no better way to prevent the Designs of Factious and light spirited men, (who oftentimes cry up Religion, when they mean Rebellion ) then to confine all, even Religious Meetings, unto such a Circle and Order, out of which, they may not be suffered to move, lest Conscience, which seems at first to start and scruple at small things, becomes at length, for want of due Bounds, a Patronage and Plea for the greatest and most irregular Exorbitancies.

That I may take nothing from the strength of this Argument (which may be yet farther improved by consideration of the great Scandal given in our own time) I will confess, that were a State, which professeth to embrace Christian Religion, not solely to be guided according to the Rules of that, but left at random, to be governed by those Prudential Motives, and Political Maxims, which the Wisdom of this World 〈◊〉 that the Apostle calls earthly, sensual and devilish is most ready to invent and to fasten upon; there seems nothing, at first Blush, to be so contrary to Reason of State, as a Toleration of two or more Religions, or the least variation in the Mode and Form of Public Worship; since this Diversity, may easily be presumed to beget Dissensions and Quarrels, which arising at first in private Families, like wind that lies concealed in secret Caverns, at last breaks out into an Earthquake, and, like a mighty Tempest, overturns and bears down all before it.

It is, I believe, upon some such fallacious and ill weighed Inducement, as this I mention, that there hath been a kind of Conspiracy, amongst all worldly wise and superpolitical men, against the sincere, spiritual and unmixed Profession of Christianity, ever since the death and murder of him, from whom it received both its Name and Doctrine. For we read that Christ suffered as a Disturber of that state, which he came to save; and as a Blasphemous Heretic, in that Church, which he came to teach. Paul, and the rest of the Apostles met with the very same entertainment, both for Language and Usage; and afterwards, for 300 years together, all kind of violence was practiced against the Christians, as State-Incendiaries, and men that were obstinate only in Impious and Seditious Errors. But our Religion lost mose by Peace, then by that bloody and outrageous Warfare; all the while the Ship of the True Church rode out at Sea, the Storms it met with, did only toss but could not overwhelm it; In a Calm, it began to sink, and never was near perishing, till it came to Harbor. In short, the Professed Favourers of Christianity, did, by their wellmeant, but ill managed kindness, more destroy the Church, then all its open and most furious Enemies. For when Constantine and his Successors, mistaking quite the Nature of our Religion, did labor to accommodate and attemper it unto their Civil Inter •••• straight the old Heathenish Spirit of Idolatry and Persecution, did revive, under new Names; and Heretics, i.e. Dissenters from the established Forms then, were as severely handled, as Christians themselves before. Which course was so long continued, until Policy and Pomp had quite devoured and eaten out the Purity and Plamness of Religion, and made it nothing else but a Property, for ambitious Church-men (who in all Ages, have been the greatest Criers up of, because the only Gainers by, a Specious Uniformity, of which they are the sole Managers) to make Attempts upon the Civil Power; which at last, they wrested out of the Emperors hands, and in token of their entire Conquest, they deposed not Princes only, but Scripture & Reason, & the Spirit of God himself too from their Authority; and set up a Political Head of their own, unto whose pretended infallible Dictates they enforced all to yield an absolute, because blind and ignorant Obedience. Thus, under color of suppressing Heresies, the world consented to enslave themselves unto the most damnable, destructive and fatal Heresy, that ever the Sun saw; I mean, to Popery; which, by a strange kind of Figure, would pass for the only Christian Religion, when as it hath in it just nothing of the Spirit, Purity, Knowledge, or Liberty that Christ established. In which sad condition the greatest part of the Christian world yet lies, and groans, for the speedy Coming of its Redeemer.

This having been the success and issue of Uniformity, and this being its natural Tendency, I wish all serious and dispassionate Christians would consider, that, though Heresies are to be bewailed, and so far as we lawfully can, suppressed too, yet we must do Bonum been. We must not remedy an Inconvenience, with bringing in a Mischief; nor devise expedients of a strict and violent Uniformity, which as God in his Word hath nowhere warranted, so, we may find by the success of it among the Papists and others, that he hath not blessed. Since by this means, quite contrary to God's Command, many Millions of Souls are forced to sit down under a wretched and irreparable Ignorance; their overcareful Guides, for fear it seems, lest they should lose their way to Heaven, having with a great deal of Caution, taken their Candle from them.

How unfit I am to be, so much as instrumental, in pulling off the Vail from before men's eyes, I desire to be always sensible: yet having already ventured upon this Controversy, I have here once more tried to rectisie men's mistakes; & labored to take away the strength of that Objection against due Christian Liberty, from the many Heresies, which thereby are occasioned. In this short Treatise therefore, I have endeavored to manifest, that, in the Church of Christ, there must be Heresies. And while we observe that diligence and care in ourselves, together with that equity and moderation towards others, which our Religion doth require from us, it is as impossible to avoid Diversity of Opinions (which among angry men, will certainly enough be nick-named Heresies ) as it would be to place ourselves in the midst of Sun-shine, and not see Variety of Colours. Men's Judgments, especially if they give themselves any Latitude of Enquiry, are as various as their Complexions; so that to prescribe one certain Form to all, and thereby to force men to act outwardly, what inwardly they do not assent to, is like Painting the Face with an infectious and Venomous Juice, or giving a Nauseous Potion unto a Nice and Dainty Palat, whereby we shall offend God, as much as men; who at the last day, will not thank any, for other men's constrained, involuntary, and therefore false and hypocritical Devotion.

Having said thus much, I now take my leave of this controversy; not as if I thought, that more could not be written, but because I am no longer in a free capacity to do it: Since I cannot write now in so unconcerned a manner as I did before. For having lately been deprived of my just Right, in a Freehold I had at Ch. Church, for no reason at all, that I know of, unless for the impartial and unbiased Discovery of my Judgment about Indifferent, or rather Doubtful Things in Religious Worship: It will but wrong the cause; should I prosecute it any further; since it may be interpreted now, that I write like a Party; and that, not Conscience, but Discontent doth excite me to it. Unless therefore I am called out to defend what I have already written, I shall for the future forbear; and manifest by my carriage, that though for the present, I cannot submit, yet, I thank God, I can suffer in silence.

THE NECESSITY and USE OF HERESIES.

THese are the Words of the Apostle Paul, and urged by him as a Reason, why he did believe the Report he had heard concerning their Schisms and Contentions; For as we find, Chap. 1. He tells them, that he was informed by some who were related to the Family of Chloe (who seems to have been a Woman of Quality and Repute in that Church of Corinth ) that there were Contentions among them: Each Party endeavoring to cry up those Teachers by whom they were first converted, or most profited, to the Prejudice and Disgrace of the rest: Whereupon, one said, he was of Paul; i. e. a Disciple of Paul; another was for Peter; a third sort for Apollos; whereby they did not so much bandy against one another, as oppose the Honor of the Lord Christ; who, by these Ministers, as his Instruments, did work their Salvation. And therefore for them, to have such fierce and vehement Contentions, about those who were merely subordinate, and could do nothing but as the Power of Christ did co-operate with them, argued these Corinthians, notwithstanding their Gifts, to be very raw, childish, and carnal Christians: As the Apostle concludes, Chap. 3. For-while one saith, I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, are not ye carnal? i. e. Are ye not led by very weak and childish Inclinations, to make such a Note of Difference among yourselves, because of your Teachers?) For who is Paul? and who is Apollos, but Ministers, by whom (i. e. by whose Ministry, and Preaching) ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? (i. e. according to that ability which God was pleased to distribute to each of his Ministers) to him therefore the sole Honor is due, and not to be factiously ascribed to any of his Servants; as the Apostle further argues, I have planted, i. e. laid amongst you the Foundation of Christian Faith; Apollos hath wateved i.e. by his Eloquence (for we read that he was 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , i. e. a well spoken man) Apollos hath added a Verdure and Freshness to my Doctrine, and made it spring up amongst you: But, saith he, God gave the increase, i. e. made it fruitful and effectual. From whence it follows, that neither he that planteth is anything, i. e. to be esteemed, and solely gloried in; nor he that watereth, but God who giveth the increase.

Having thus convinced them of their Folly, as well as sin, in making Schisms upon such ill-grounded pretences; he proceeds in this Chapter, to take notice of a great Disorder, which they committed even at the time of the Sacrament; for there, when they should have acted in the highest Love and Coudescention towards each other, yet then they brought their Contentions and Animosities along with them, and made the Public Assembly, (for so I understand the Word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , since the Christians as yet had no public Places of Resort, but met, as they could, in Private Houses) witnesses of their unchristian Discord. When ye come together in the Church, saith he, i. e. as Iunderstand it, in the Rublick Assembly, I hear that there be Divisions among you: and though it might seem a thing almost impossible, at that time, when you come to receive the Lord's Supper, and in that Place, when all the Faithful are met together, there should be any so bold Defyers of Christian Charity and Order, as then and there, to vent their Discontents, and manifest an ambitious Strife; yet, saith he, I partly believe it; For there must also be Heresies amongst you, &c. And therefore I do not much wonder if you begin so early in Schism and Separation.

The words contain Two Parts. 1. A Prediction. There must be Heresies. 2. One Reason or Ground of it. That 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , i. e. those that are approved and sincere, may be made manifest.

[Doct.] The Position or Doctrine that I intend to insist on, is, That in the Church of Christ, there is an unavoidable necessity of heresies. As our Savior saith of Offences, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , i. e. It is unchanceable, or, it cannot happen but they must come. So say I of Heresies, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , It is impossible to avoid it, but they will come.

To clear up this, I shall explain these two things. 1. What is meant by Heresies. 2. What are the Grounds or Reasons, why in the Church of Christ, they are so fatally necessary.

For the First, viz. What is Heresy? Some hold it is impossible to be defined, amongst whom was Austin. Others define it to be Sententia humano sensu electa, Scripturae Sacrae contraria, palam edocta, & pertinaciter defensa, i. e. An Opinion chosen by a man's own Understanding, contrary to the holy Scriptures, openly taught, and obstinately defended. Which is the Desinition of Grosthead, the Learned Bishop of Lincoln, who for his singular Zeal in opposing the Popes Usurpations in England, was styled, Romanorum Malleus & Contemptor. With this Desinition, because of the Learning and Virtue of its Author, I should acquiesce, but that all who have got long possession of any Tenet, charge Dissenters with the name of Heretics; and everyone, who maintains any singular Opinion, doth endeavor to back it with Authority of Scripture. And therefore without attending to Conclusions of others, the best way to understand aright the nature and meaning of Heresy, will be to have recourse ourselves unto the Scripture, from whence alone we had the first Notice of such a thing; I mean, as it is a thing criminal and damnable.

In the Scripture I find the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 to be vox mediae significationis, and to signify any Opinion indifferently, whether good or bad. Thus we read of the heresy of the Sadducees; and the heresy of the Pharisees. And Paul mentions it of himself, by way of honor: according to the most exact or accurate heresy or Opinion of our Religion, I lived a Pharisee. But for the most part, the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 is taken in an ill sense, to signify, an Opinion repugnant to the sense of Scripture, and likewise destructive of the Civil Peace. Thus when Tertullus would blast the Repute of Christian Religion before Felix, the Roman Deputy, he calls it an heresy: We have, saith he, speaking in behalf of the Jews against Paul, found this man 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , a very Pest, and one that moveth 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , Sedition, or uproar amongst the Jews, throughout the world; and a chief Leader of the Sect or Heresy of the Nazarenes: So doth he in contempt call the Christians, as being the followers of Jesus of Nazareth, which was a Name of Disgrace and Obloquy among them. As Paul testifies of himself, whilst he was yet an Unbeliever; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , I thought with myself, that I ought to do many things against the Name of Jesus of Nazareth. In this sense is the word Heresies to be understood, when by the Apostle they are reckoned among Works of the Flesh, and they are joined with Strife, Seditions, Wrath, Envyings, which are the usual Attendants of Heresy. Now because Works of the flesh are of two sorts, either such as flow from the fleshly Understanding (as the Apostle calls corrupt Reason, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , the Understanding of the Flesh ) or such as flow from the fleshly Will; accordingly there are two sorts of heresies mentioned and spoken against in Scripture. 1. Such as upon Presumptions of natural Reason, do contradict express and clear Revelation of Scripture. Thus the Apostle Peter calls the denying our Lord Christ, i. e. either his Nature, as the Socinians of our times; or his Offices, as all the Papists do, a damnable Heresy. There shall, saith he, be false Teachers among you, who 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , shall covertly, (or over and above, or contrary to the Truth) bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them. So the Opinion of those, who under pretence of Humility, brought in the Worship of Angels, into the Church of Colossae, was a Formal heresy, since the Authors of it, had no warrant of Scripture to add such kind of Party Mediators to Christ, but as the Apostle speaks, were rashly puffed up by their fleshly mind. Thus the denying of the Resurrection of the Body, by some in the Church of Corinth, was a great Heresy, as overthrowing the Foundation of a Christians hope, and opening a door to all manner of Impiety and Villany; For if the dead rise not, the Consequence is very natural and reasonable, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die 2. There are another sort of Heresies spoken against in Scripture, which flow from the fleshly will, and have an immediate tendency to patronize and encourage dissoluteness of Lise, such was the Heresy of the Nicolaitans, who held, that it was lawful to eat things offered to Idols, i. e. to commit I olatry, in times of Persecution; and to commit Fornication, which our Savior speaks sharply against in the Revelations, calling it the Doctrine of Balaam, and expresseth his utter dislike of such Tenets, in these words, which I hate. So the Apostle Peter speaks against some vicious Heretics (as some think, the Gnostics ) who, under pretence of advancing Christian Liberty, gave themselves up to all manner of Impurity; promising, saith he, Liberty, they themselves are the Servants of Corruption. Jude carries on the same men's heresy further, and saith, they did not only, defile the flesh, but by stretching the Notion of Liberty, beyond its due Bounds, did set at naught Government, and revile Dignities, i. e. undervalue, disesteem, and disobey their Civil Governors. Which kind of Heresies, as they are more dangerous, so they are more damnable then others; because there can be no pretence of Conscience to justify them. From what I have said concerning Heresies, as I find them recorded in Scripture, I draw this general Definition of them all. An Heresy is such an Opinion, as either hath no Foundation in Scripture, (as the Worship of Angels, among the Colossians ) or, expressly contradicts it (as the denial of the Resursurrection, among the Corinthians ) or, Mistakes and miss-interprets it, to countenance dissoluteness of Life, and disobedience unto the Civil Magistrate.

The necessity that there should be such heresies in the Church of Christ, will appear, from the consideration, 1. Of the Causes. 2. Of the Occasions, which concur to the producing of them.

1. The Necessity of Heresies will appear from the consideration of their Causes, and they are these three, 1. God permitting. 2. Satan exciting. 3. Man begetting and ingendring of them.

[Cause. 1] 1. The first Cause of Heresies, which makes the being of them necessary, is, God's permission of them. Where, by Permission, I do not mean, an idle, unconcerned, ineffectual letting them pass only, and barely suffering them to be; but God's wise, powerful, and mighty ordering of them, as he did the hardness of Pharaohs heart, for very gracious and holy ends, especially these two.

1. For the Trial of the Godly: As the Apostle hath it, that the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , the sincere and single-hearted Christians, might, by this means, appear the more eminent and conspicuous. As it did show the Power of God, to preserve the Bush (by which his people of Israel was represented) in the midst of the Fire; so doth his Power equally appear, when his Truth is born witness to, in the midst of the Triumph and Efficacy of Error. Were there but one Opinion which passed for currant among Christians, there would not appear anything extraordinary in the owning of it; but when there are so many Parties, each crying up their own way, as the Ephesians did their Diana, there to keep touch with the things of God, and, in spite of all contradiction, openly to avow and countenance them, this shows a well-principled Integrity; a temper that God is singularly delighted with. In the world, God lets his Heaven be oftentimes wrapped up in clouds, that the stars which he hath appointed for the Government of the Night, may appear more bright and useful: So in the Church, which is God's Heaven on Earth, the most visible Mansion of the Divine Nature, he lets Darkness break forth, and thick Vapours; that those Saints of his, whom he calls Lights of the world, may shine with the greater Luster, and redouble their Beams, from the greatness of the Opposition made against them. We must not think that God hath either given us Faith or Knowledge, which are his choicest Largesses, but he intends to try the constancy of the one, and the seriousness of the other: And since the greater Difficulties we encounter, still the more Honor redounds to God, who is our General; therefore he will seem to hazard his Truth, by letting it, to outward appearance, be lost as it were, in the midst of a swarm of Heresies, that by raising up some Heroic Champions, he may recover it again with greater advantage. Thus in the first ages of the Church, Peter rescued Freedom of Communion with the Gentiles; Paul asserts Freedom from the Yoke of needless and insignificant Ceremonies; and John defended the Eternal Divinity of our Savior, against the Narrow-spirited, Tyrannical, and Hellish Impostures of the Heretics in their Times: And in all ages, many there are recorded to us of great esteem and credit in the Church of Christ, whose Memories, in all probability, had not survived their Bodies, had not they signalized themselves by their zealous asserting of Truth, when it was almost swallowed up by the Deluge, or outfaced by the authority of Error. And such Examples God will ever continue; for which Reason, he lets Heresy, like Pharaoh and his Egyptians, captivate his Truth, that he may send some Moses and Aaron's for the Redemption and Deliverance of it.

2. The Second, and no less principal end, as to the Design of God, why he permits Heresies, is, that Reprobates may have occasions presented them of stumbling and taking Offence. When a wicked man turns from that Righteousness he once pretended to, God says, I lay a stumbling block before him; and upon the wicked, the Psalmist says, God rains Snares, i. e. scatters Traps and Snares in their way, that they may be taken. There are some men, who in Scripture are styled, the People of God's curse, the Vessels of his wrath, and by Jude, Forewritten unto condemnation: To whom God's greatest methods of Goodness prove only means of hardening them, to sin more desperately; thus did God's Word prove to the Israelites: It was, saith the Prophet, Line upon Line, and Precept upon Precept, that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken. And Christ, to the unbelieving Jews, became a Sione of stumbling, and a Rock of Offence, unto which, saith the Apostle Peter, they were appointed. So the Gospel, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , to lost, and perishing Wretches, is a Savour of death. But what these things do only by accident, that Heresies do in their own proper nature, i. e. they harden Unbelievers, and make them more resolute in their opposing of the Truth. As when God did intend Ahab should go down to battle, and perish there, he let a Lying Spirit of Prophesy be in the mouth of all his Prophets; For, saith he, thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also. So when God sees a company of lazy, vicious men, who are weary of the Powerful plainness of Truth, then he lets some corrupt Doctrines be scattered abroad, which may fit those Inclinations, they are already principled with: and likewise, when others have curious itching Ears, and sound Doctrine will not relish with them, then God suffers some lofty airy speculations to be broached, by study of which, they may grow drunk with Pride and Prejudice against more wholesome Tenets. It was this just Judgment of God upon men's willingness to be deceived, that God gave them up to Antichristian, i.e. to Papal Delusions. As the Apostle hath it, Because they received not the Love of the Truth, that they might be saved. For this cause God shall send them 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , the active power and efficacy of Error, that they should believe a lie, i.e. a false and feigned doctrine. That they all may be damned who have not believed the Truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness, i.e. in false and unrighteous Tenets. And therefore as our Savior says, Woe to the world, because of Offences; so, Woe to the world, because of Heresies; because as we set traps to catch Vermin, so God appoints these to ensnare arrogant and self-presuming, or vicious and self-defiling men.

[Cause. 2] 2. The second Cause which concurs to the producing of Heresies, is Satan exciting. That evil Spirit, whom our Savior calls, the Prince of the world, and the Apostle, the ruler of the Darkness of the world; out of that innate hatred he hath to Truth, by which his Kingdom is overthrown, scatters the seeds of Error and ignorance, everywhere up and down the world: and as he set upon our Savior with miss quoted Scripture, in which he appeared so dexterous and ready, as if he intended to puzzle and non-plus his eternal wisdom: So the most deadly and poisonous heresies, have by him, by a strange kind of Chemistry, been extracted out of the same holy Scriptures. Thus he brought in the practice of needless rigor and austerity of Life, under pretence of Christian strictness and severity, in those Precepts, Touch not, taste not, handle not. Thus brought he in the Doctrine of forbidding marriages, under pretence of Christian Chastity and Abstinence, which the Apostle in express words, calls the Doctrine of Devils. Thus he brought in Superstition, Will-worship, and idle Ceremonies, under pretence of Christian Decency and Order; thereby, as the Apostle complains, the Serpent beguiling many through his Subtilty, so that their minds were corrupted from the simplicity which was in Christ. Thus lastly, brought he in the cruel and incompassionate killing of men that would not worship the Image of the Beast, and in some outward and visible manner acknowledge their. conformity, under pretence of Christian zeal and care of Truth. In short, as the greatest Cordials, if not rightly prepared, do prove the most deadly and killing Poysons; so the most dangerous and destructive heresies, have been compounded by Satan's malice, out of the most Sovereign Drugs of Sacred Truth; but by him purposely ill mixed and tempered. And here I desire to observe, that though the Devil likewise doth stir up Persecution, as our Savior felt in himself, when he said of his own Sufferings, that then was the Power of darkness, i.e. Hell was then broke loose, and wicked men in crucifying Christ, acted the Devils businesses; so he foretells to the Church of Smyrna, Fear none of those things thou art to suffer; behold the Devil shall cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried. Yet this is but Satan's After-game; for his great design is, to eclipse the beauty of Truth, by the Mist of Error: And if he finds, that his Heretical Tares will not take root, then under pretence of Faction; Sedition, and the like old charges, which were laid both against our Savior, and his Apostles, he destroys those careful Husbandmen; which would sow better Seed, and leave no room for the Devils Cockle. The Art and Policy of Hell, lies in the quiet spreading of Heresy, for this gains him souls, whereas violence never got him anything, but the bodies of men; that is, it made them obsequious Slaves, but not real Converts. WE find therefore in the Revelation, that when the Woman, under which the True Church is emblemed, had brought forth, the Devil stood by, ready to devour her Child as soon as it was born; and for some time, endeavored to maintain his footing in Heaven, and till he was cast down from thence, did not think of making war with her Seed. The Moral of which Representation, I take to be this, That when Christian Truth begins to break forth, then the Devil for a time endeavors to destroy it, by disputing the case, and venturing his cause upon Argument; but when he finds himself mastered at that weapon, then he changes the Subtilty of the Serpent, into the Roaring of the Lion; and with open mouth devours his Opposers. But this way the Devil doth not ordinarily try, till his False Doctrines have been baffled and foiled, and he hath no 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , no Wile, no craft left, to countenance the grossness of his Impostures.

[Cause 3] 3. The third Cause concurring to the necessary Being of heresies in the Church, is, Man himself, begetting and ingendring of them. For as the most fruitful and pregnant Seed, if it be not cast into a warm and prepared Soyl, soseth all its Virtue, so those Seeds of Error the Devil sows, if the heart of man was not a fit soil for them, would never rise up again in so large an harvest of absurd and impious Heresies. Were the winds never so fierce, yet if the water of the Sea were not of an unstable and moveable nature, there would never be any Tempest. So, how impetuous and violent soever the Gusts, and Breath of Satan's Temptations be, yet if our nature were not of itself ductile, and pliant, the world had never been so prodigiously tossed up and down, nay, often overturned by erroneous Maxims. Now there are Two Principles in man, which are always susceptible of any false and Heretical Impression; the one is, his Ignorance in spiritual matters, the other is, his Pride inNatural Knowledge. By his Ignorance, he is apt to mistake Error for truth, and by his Pride he is apt to propagate it; that like Simon Magus (the first noted Heretic in the Church of Christ) he may appear somebody in the eyes of a few partial Followers; and this is it, which makes his Error Heresy. So that till we can find some Art to change the Nature of man, to make his Understanding more refined, sublime and spiritual; till we can purge the Will from prejudice, design and partiality; till we can alter the course of his Affections; and set them afloat another way, to love God, instead of himself, and to prefer Truth before applause; till we can do this, we have as little hope to see the Church free from Heresies, as to have our Gardens clear from infectious Mists and Vapours, which have the Sun to exhale, the wind to convey, and a Bog hard by, to ingender them.

But besides these Causes, which do absolutely necessitate the Being of Heresies. There are two other Occasions, which do mightily conduce, if I may so speak, to the well-being of them, i. e. to their easier growth and spreading. And they are, 1. Scripturedifficulty. 2. Christian Liberty.

[Occasion 1] 1. The Difficulty of Scripture is a very great occasion for the increase of Heresies, because of that variety of Interpretation, which many places, especially in the Apostle Paul's Epistles, are capable of: Whose Writings, even in the Apostle Peters time, were liable to much miss-construction. For to omit, that the things themselves recorded by him, are 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , soarcely intelligible, being full of mysterious and fathomless depths, they are written by that excellent Apostle, in a style so dissonant from all Rules of ordinary Grammar, that it requires great pains, merely to find out his Literal Meaning. Which Industry, very few, who read him with prepossession and prejudice, have leisure for; and therefore hastily expound their own sense, without attending to his: So that, as Tertullian observes, God seems to have ordered the Text of Scripture on purpose, that it might afford opportunity to Heretical Glosses. For as in the works of Providence, though the whole Frame and System of the world be admirably well-composed, composed, yet, if we consider them in patcels, we shall meet with many things, which will startle us into jealous, and missebelieving Thoughts. So is it in that complete body of Divine Truth contained in Scripture, the whole Connection and Series, as it relates to the Messiah, foretold in the Old, and fulfilled in the New Testament, together with those ravishing heights of Heavenly Directions for life, is most ineffably curious, and excellent: But if we take those things asunder, and consider them distinctly, by Chapter and Verse, we shall meet with Mistakes in Chronology, Variations in Names, Diversity of Readings, and some lesser seeming contradictions, which to a snarling and quarrelsome wit, are so many Bones, for him to spend his mouth upon, without minding more wholesome and digestible Food. And yet this makes very much for the plausible entrance of an Heresy, that it hath the Letter of Scripture to countenance it: The Papist will urge for his Implicit Faith, Hear the Church, without ever considering, that by the Church there, is not meant, what he fancies, a Pope, or Cardinals, or Councils, or Fathers, but a Select Number of Christians; which is the only sense wherein that word Church is taken throughout the whole New Testament, when it is used by our Savior and his Apostles. So the Socinian shelters his impious denying of our Savior's Divine Nature, under that, which he finds our Savior speaking, The Father is greater then I: not considering in what capacity our Savior spake these words, viz. according to the Person he then took; or how many other places there are, wherein his equality with the Father is asserted. The Arminian wants not the same Plausibilities for his Free will: and in short, no Heresy that ever yet was in the Christian world, but pleaded Scripture for its defense and Patronage; which such strange Variety of Opinions could never have done, were not the Scripture exceeding difficult and hard to be understood, and thereby an occasion given for the Rise and Conceiving of them.

[Occasion 2] 2. The second Occasion of the large growth and spreading of Heresies, is Christian Liberty: Which in no Religion is allowed, nay commanded, in that Latitude, as in ours. For we are enjoined to try all things, and then, to hold fast that which is good: We are bid, to try the Spirits, and though an Angel should come form Heaven, and preach to us, we are not to believe him, if he teach anything contrary to this Gospel. We are commanded to see with our own eyes, and to choose for ourselves; without depending any further upon the Authority of Fathers and Doctors, then as they speak according to this word, which under the severest penalties, we are obliged to study and peruse. For as God, in the Old Testament, would not have the blind for sacrifice, so neither will he in the New; and they had as good not worship him at all, who like the Samaritans, worship him they know not why. And as in point of Judgment, we are to be thus free; so likewise in point of Practice, as to Religious Rites and Orders, we are commanded, not to be the servants of men; not to worship God by the Precepts of men; not to be entangled with any yoke of Bondage, but to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free; Whereupon, our Gospel is called the Royal Law of Liberty; and we are, so to speak, and so to do, as those that shall be judged by that Law. Yea, further, as we are to be thus free in ourselves, so we are to be exceeding charitable and tender towards others, bearing with our weak brethren; and if they do but hold the Foundation of Faith and good works, to tolerate the Hay and Stubble, which they may build upon it. And the reason of this is, because our Religion, as it sprang from Heaven, so is it maintained from thence; as the Spirit of God did first discover, so doth it still reveal it; and by a new and almighty Birth, of dead and sinful men, make us Living and sincere Christians: Now where the Spirit of God is, saith the Apostle, there is Liberty, i. e. not only Freedom from Error and Ignorance, of which he there speaks, but from those wretched and inhumane Acts of Force and Fraud, whereby other Political Inventions, rather then Religions, are continued and upheld in the world: For whereas all others hate the Light, and will not endure to have their Principles questioned, as is clear in that devilish Cheat and Mystery of Iniquity, the Papacy: Our Religion desires nothing more, then to be sifted to the bottom, that so it may be chosen, for its own native Truth and Excellency, and not for any outward Advantages, or to serve a State-turn, which Christian Religion will never stoop to do. And whoever have not after the most serious study and impartial Examination, arrived to an embracing of this Faith, must needs lose the Comfort, Satisfaction and Sweetness of it, because till a man hath met with, and in his own mind resolved all Objections that make against him, he cannot be certain that he is in the right, but must upon the rising of every doubt, be full of anxious fear and perplexity. This which I have said concerning the necessity of Christian Liberty, doth by accident prove a great means for the propagating of Heresies; for as where the Soyl is good, and the Air free and warm, Weeds will spring up as well as good Corn: So is it in the Church of Christ, since there is Liberty allowed for variety of Judgments, Error must needs thrive and spread, as well as truth. Especially since we may not pull up the Tares, or by the hand of violence, stop the Progress of the most deceitful Error; but if sound Perswasion, if Demonstration of the Spirit and Scripture, if Rejecting of the Heretic, and forbearing of Communion with him, will not prevail, to make him renounce his Error, I am not yet convinced, that in Opinions concerning Matters merely spiritual, our Religion doth allow any other more offensive weapons. So that since to that Liberty, which is given to the sowing of Heresies, there is added Impunity unto their growth and progress, it must needs follow, that the Causes I mentioned, do not more necessitate the Being of Heresies, then these Occasions will necessitate their Thriving and Continuance.

[Use 1] 1. The Inference from hence shall be to teach us, not to mistake the Occasions of Heresy, for the Causes of it. Among those who are exact and critical Writers of History, as Polybius, Tacitus, and others, we find, they distinguish carefully between the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , and the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , the Beginning, and the causes of a War. The Beginning of a War may arise from something apparent and visible; whereas the cause of it may be more deeply laid, even concealed from the view of the Actors. So in this case, the Occasions indeed of Heresy, which do midwife it into the world, are Scripture-difficulty, and Christian Liberty: Whereas the true causes are those I have mentioned; especially Man himself, whose Heart is the Womb, in which that evil Birth is formed. And therefore let us take heed that through hast and prejudice, we accuse not either the Scriptures, or due Christian Freedom, of those Errors, which merely our own Ignorance, Presumption and Partiality do produce. To accuse the Scripture for our Heresies, is all one as if, because we meet with ill sents, we should blame the Sun, and not the Dunghil. So likewise, as to Liberty of Conscience, to charge that with the production of Errors, is all one, as if the Air without, rather then ill humors within us, should be thought the cause of our Diseases. Let wicked and light-spirited men then bear the blame of whatever Follies they hold; and not either the Reading of Scripture be disgraced, without which, there can be no Knowledge of Truth: nor Liberty of Conscience be debarred; without which, there can be no openness of Profession; both which are as necessary to Christian Faith, as the Sun and Air are to Natural Life, we cannot see without the one, nor breath without the other. Take away Scripture, and we are in this world as Mariners upon the Sea, without a Compass; who have nothing but the violence of waves, and the uncertain motion of the wind, to drive them. Deny Liberty, I mean, in things Lawful, then Christian Prudence, Charity, condescension, and wise doing, or forbearing of things indifferent, as we see occasion, lie all useless by us, and we labor to become more knowing then others, to no purpose.

[Use 2] 2. Is it so necessary, that there must be heresies, then let us not take offense, or think ever a whit the worse of our Religion, for that great Variety of Heresies which have sprung up in our days. When the Apostle Paul was himself in trouble, he writes to the Church of Thessalonica, That no man should be moved by these afflictions; for, saith he, yourselves know, that we were appointed thereunto, for verily when we were with you, we told you before, that we should suffer Tribulation, even as it came to pass. If they were to be comforted under their Afflictions, because he foretold them, we have the same reason to be comforted under our Heresies, since he foretold them too; and from thence hath afforded us an excellent Argument, to assert our Savior's Truth and Veracity, and in that, the Truth of our Religion, against all Opposers. This use the Primitive Writers made of them, when Celsus and others did object to the Christians, the great variety of Opinions, and diversity of Judgments amongst them, so that, say they, Were we willing to turn Christians, we know not of what Party to be, since notwithstanding your Feuds and Quarrels, you all equally pretend to Christ. To this, Tertullian, Origen, and the rest reply, Heresies non dolemus venisse, quiae novimus esse praedictas. WE are not at all sorry, that Heresies are come, for we knew it was foretold they should come. So that the very Argument, which the Heathens used to disgrace Christianity, was by those wise and Learned men improved for the Illustration and confirming of it: And, indeed, since, as I have already demonstrated, there cannot be a more rational Proof of the Divine Mission of any, then the fulfilling of his Prophesies, it is very admirable to consider, how our Savior hath left such Predictions behind him; which were beyond any Human Foresight, and yet every Age hath been fulfilling some or other of them, ever since his time. That a Religion so harmless, and inoffensive, should be persecuted: that notwithstanding persecution, it should take root, and be preached throughout the world: That presently after it was propagated, there should be Sects and Heresies formed out of it; and this to be the constant, un-erring Fate of our Religion, was a thing beyond all Rational and merely human Conjecture; and therefore the fulfilling of this great Prediction concerning Heresies, should make us with thankfulness look up to Christ, who hath already armed us against any Prejudice we may receive from them, since they are only discoveries of his Truth, and Trials of ours.

[Use 3] But yet, Thirdly and Lastly, Let no man think, that because Heresies are necessary, that therefore any shall be excused, who is the Author of them; Heresies are no otherwise necessary, then Scandals and Sins are, of which, our Savior saith, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , they must be; but yet, says he, Woe be to that man by whom they come. Mark them, saith the Apostle Paul, which cause Divisions and Offences, contrary to the Doctrine which ye have received, and avoid them. And in another place, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , The Sect-making man, after the first and second Admonition, reject; knowing that such a one is quite perverted, and sins, being self-condemned. All which Places, with many other, making so directly against new-fangledness of Opinion, I cannot but wonder at the boldness of those men, who are not content only to start up new and needless Opinions, but to the dishonor of our Religion, and their own Eternal Ruin, if they repent not, make those Opinions the Grounds of Separation from all Church-Assemblies, but their own. Whoever doth thus set up for himself, must be able to demonstrate these Three things. 1. That the Opinion he dissents from, is apparently false and damnable. 2. That the Opinion he himself holds, is certainly and infallibly true. 3. That it is absolutely unlawful for him to join in communion with another, who in that particular (as for instance, in Infant-Baptism ) differs in Judgment from him. The two first of which Assertions, very sew of our Separate Churches will be able to maintain, and I am sure, the last, none can. For if the Error of another be not imposed upon my Practice, I ought not to withdraw myself from the Communion of any, who hold the Foundation of Christian Faith, namely, Belief in Jesus being the Christ; as is clear in the practice of these Corinthians, among whom, some denied the Resurrection, and yet were all present at the same Sacrament. This Doctrine, because it strikes at the Root of all Separation, which cannot be justified, but in case of indispensable necessity, viz. when such things are imposed upon us, as Conditions of Communion, which we cannot in Conscience submit to; for there if we depart, we do not go, but are driven out. But this deserves to be more largely handled; which I shall reserve for a particular Treatise.