6. Understand the different forts of Evidence, which are requifite to the different matters in the holy Scriptures. The mat ters of fact require historical evidence (which yet is made in» fallible by additional miracles.) The miracles which were Wrought to confirm our history, are brought to our know ledge only by other history. The Doctrines which are evident in nature, have further evidence of fupernatural revelation, only to help us whose natural fight is much obfcured.But it is the fupernatural Dorines; Precepts and Promises, which of themselves require fupernatural revelation, to make them credible to man.

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7. Miftake not the true Use and End of the holy Scriptures

1. Think not that the Gofpel as written was the firft ConAtitutive or Governing Law of Chrift, for the Chriftian Churches. The Churches were conftituted, and the Orders, and Offices, and Government of it fettled, and exercised very many years together, before any part of the New Teftament was written to them; much more before the writing of the whole. The Apoftles had long before taught them what was commanded them by Chrift; and had fettled them in the order appointed by the Holy Ghoft And therefore you ate not to look for the firft determination of fuch doctrines or orders in the Scripture as made thereby but only for the Records of what was done and effablished before: For the Apostles being to leave the world, did know the flipperinels of the memory of man, and the danger of changing and corrupting the Chriftian Doctrine and Orders, if there were not left a fure record of it: And therefore they did that for the fake of posterity.

3. You must not think that all is effential to the Chriftian Re ligion, which is contained in the holy Scriptures Nor that they are only the adequate form or record of that which is firictly and primarily called our Religion, or Chriftianity. For there are divers particular Books of the New Telament, which contain much more than is effential to Christianity: And many appurtenances, and hiftories, and genealogies, and circumftances are there recorded, which are indeed subfervient -helps to our Religion; but are not frictly our Religion it felf®®

8. As theǝufe of the Scripture muft thus be judged of according

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according to the purpose of the holy Spirit fo the Perfection of the Scripture must be judged of, sin relation to its intended ufe. It was not written to be a fyfteme of Phyficks, nor Oratorys nor to decide grammatical Controverfies about words; but to record in apt expreffions the things which God would have men to know, in order to their faith, their duty, and their happiness. And in this respect it is a perfect word) Bit you mu nordmagine that it is fo far the word of God bimfelfy as if God had fhewed if it his fulleft skill, and made sitas perfect in every respect, both phrase and order, as God could do. And if you meet in it with several words, which you think are lefs grammatical, logical, or rhetorical, than many other men could speak, and which really favour of fome humané imperfe&ion, remember that this is not at all derogatory to Chriffianity but rather tendeth to the ftrengthening of ourfaith For the Scriptures are perfect to their intended ufe: And God did purpofely chafe men of imperfe& Oratory, to be his Apoftles, that his Kingdom might not be in word, but in power; and that our faith might not be built upon the wifdem and oratory of mas, but on the fupernatural operations of the Almighty God: As David's fling and ftone muft kill Goliah :So unlearned men, that cannot out wit the world to deceive them, fhall by the Spirit and Miracles convince them. Looking for that in the Scripture, which God never intended it for doth stempt the unskilful into unbelief. quem ɔ bus geranidlo to zien benglas HENT

9. Therefore you must be fure, to diftinguish the Chriftian Religion, which is the vital part orskernel of the Scriptures, from all the ref: And to get well planted in your mind, the fumm of that Religion itself. And thats briofly contained in the two Sacraments, and more largely sathe Creed, the Lords Prayer, and the Decalogue, the fummaryes of our Belief, Defire and Praise. And then wonder no more that the other parts of Scripture, have fome things of lefs moment, than that a man hath fingers, nailsand hair, as well as adftomach, heart and head.bbrica dɔidw,bebrosur sa do me alonebau siro Diftinguish therefore between the Method of the GbriAtian Religion, and the Method of the particular Books of Scripeures. The Books were written on several occafions and in

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feveral Methods; and though that method of them all, be perfect, in order to their proper end; yet is it not neceffary. that there be in the Metbod no bumane imperfection, or that one or all of them, be written in that method which is ufually moft logical, and beft. But the frame of Religion contained in thofe Books, is compofed in the most perfect method in the world. And those fyftemes of Theology which endeavour to open this method to you, do not feign it, or make it of themfelves but only attempt the explication of what they find in the holy Scriptures, Synthetically or Analytically: (Though indeed all attempts have yet fallen fhort of any full explication of this diving and perfect harmony.)

11 Therefore the true Order of fettling your faith, is not first to require a proof that all the Scriptures is the Word of God; but first to prove the marrow of them, which is properly called the Chriftian Religion, and then to proceed to strengthen your parricular belief of the seft. The contrary opinion, which hath obtained with many in this Age, hath greatly hindered the faith of the unskilful: And it came from a prepofterous care of the honour of the Scriptures, through an exceffive oppofition: to the Papifts who undervalue them. For hence it comes to pass, that every feeming contradiction, or inconfiftency in any Book of Scripture, in Chronology or any other respect, is thought to be a fufficient caufe, to make the whole caufe of Chriftianity as difficult as that particular text is : And fo all: thole Readers, who meet with great or infeparable difficulties, in their daily reading of the Scriptures, are thereby expofed to equal temptations, to damning infidelity it felf: So that if the Tempter draw any man, to doubt of the Atanding fill of the Sun in the time of Jofbua of the life of Jonas in the belly of the Whale, or any other fuck paffage in Lany one Book of the Scriptures, he mult equally doubt of all his Religion. 25! But this was not the ancient method of faith. It was many years after Chrifts refurrection, before any one Book of the New Teftament was written; and almoft an Age before it was finished. And all that time the Chriftian Churches had - the fame Faith and Religion as we have now and the fame foundation of it: That is, the Gofpel preached to them by the N2 Apofiles:

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Apoftlès: But what they delivered to them by word of mouth, is now delivered to us in their writings, with all the appurtenances and circumstances, which every Chriftian did not then hear of. And there were many Articles of the Chriftian Faith, which the Old Teftament did not at all make known: (A's that this Jefus is the Chrift; that he was born of the Virgin Mary, and is actually crucified, rifen and afcended, &c.) And the method of the Apostles was, to teach the people, the funam of Christianity (as Paul doth, 1 Cor. 15. 3, 4, &c. and Peter, Act. a.) and to bring them to the belief of that, and then baptize them, before they wrote any thing to them, or taught them the reft which is now in the holy Scriptures; They were first to Disciple the Nations and baptize them, and then to teach them to obferve all things whatever Chrift commanded: And the main bulk of the Scriptures is made up of this laft, and of the main fubfervient hiftories and helps.

And accordingly it was the cuftom of all the Primitive Churches, and ancient Doctors, to teach the people firft the Creed and fumm of Chriftianity, and to make them Chriftians before they taught them so much as to know what Books the Canonical Scriptures did contain: For they had the fumm of Chriftianity it felf delivered down collaterally by the two hands of tradition. 1. By the continuation of Baptifm, and publick Church-profeffions, was delivered the Creed or Covenant by it felf: And 2. By the holy Scriptures, where it was delivered with all the reft; and from whence every novice, was not put to gather it of himself; but had it collected to his hand by the Churches."

And you may fee in the writings of all the ancient defenders of Chriftianity (Juftin, Athenagoras, Taliani, Clemens Alexandrinus, Arnobius, Theoph. Antioch. Lactantius, Tertulian, Eufeb as, Augustine, &c.) that they used the method which I now direct you to.

And if you confider it well, you will find that the miracles of Chrift himfell, and all thofe of his Apoftles after him, were wrought for the confirmation of Christianity it felf immediately, and moftly before the particular Epiftles or Books were written; and therefore were only remotely and confequentially for the confirmation of thofe Books as fuch: as

they

they proved that the Writers of them were guided by the infallible Spirit, in all the proper work of their office; of which the writing of the Scriptures was a part.

1. Therefore fettle your belief of Chriftianity it felfs that is, of fo much as Baptifm containeth, or importeth: This is more cafily proved, than the truth of every word in the Scriptures, because there are controverfies about the Canon, and the various readings, and fuch like: And this is the natural method, which Chrift and his Spirit have directed us to, and the Apofiles and the ancient Churches ufed. And when this is first foundly proved to you, then you cannot juftly take any textual difficulties, to be fufficient caufe of railing difficulties to your faith in the effentials: But you may quietly go on in the ftrength of faith, to clear up all thofe diffi culties by degrees.

I know you will meet with fome who think very highly of their own mistakes, and whose unskilfulness in these things is joyned with an equal measure of self-conceitedness, who will tell you that this method fmells of an undervaluing of the Scripture: But I would advise you not to depart from the way of Chrift, and his Apoftles and Churches, nor to caft your felves upon causeless hinderances, in fo high a matter as Saving Faith is, upon the reverence of the words of any perverted factious wrangler, nor to escape the fangs of cenforious ignorance. We cannot better juftifie the holy Scriptures in the true Method, than they can in their falfe one: And can better build up, when we have laid the right foundation, than they can who begin in the middle, and omit the foundation, and call the fuperftructure by that name.

2. Sufpe& not all Church-history or Tradition, in an extreme oppofition to the Papifts, who cry up a private unproved Tradition of their own. They tell us of Apoftolical Traditions, which their own faction only are the keepers of; and of which no true hiftorical evidence is produced: And this they call the Tradition of the Church: But we have another fort of Tradition, which muft not be neglected or rejected, unless we will deny humanity, and rejec Chriftianity. Our Traditio tradens, or alive Tradition, is primarily nothing but the certain hiftory or ufage of the univerfal

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Chriftian