perfwaded is the Doctrine of God our Saviour, fourthes amongit us: That Religion hath been preferved in its Purity, and a Securi ty from Errors and Herefies, which greatly diftract other Churches in fo great a Meafure obtained among us together with á Freedom from all the melancholy Effects of Difputes and Divifions amongst Minifters, as to the established Articles of Faith, which give fo great Difturbance to the Minds of the poor People, and put an unhappy Stop to their Edification and Growth in Grace and Holinefs Of which Evils, if there be any Seeds amongst us big with growing Mifchief, they are perhaps owing wholly to the Want of a juft Improvement of our Confeffion, and a vigorous Maintenance of its Authority: And it is with Pleafure we obferve that we have no Ground to fufpect our Ecclefiaftical Officers of Hypocrify and that they do not fincerely believe thofe Ar ticles which they fubfcribe; and that all thefe valuable Advantages to Truth and Holinefs, are gained without any Invafion upon the Liberty of Chriftians and the Right of private Judgment, of any Affiftance of Violence and Perfecution, or the other Weapons of a carnal Warefare.

H Defence and Illuftration of Confeffions, there remains very little to be faid concerning our own in particular, it does not in the leaft belong to this Performance, to vindicate the Truth of the Doctrines afferted in them; whether we or our Adverfaries have judged righteft muft depend upon the Holy Scriptures, to the Deter mination whereof we with Confidence and Submiffion entirely refer our Caufe: Only fince our Church hath embraced the Westminster Confeffion as the uncorrupted Faith of the Gofpel, and that every Society must act according to the Light of their own Confciences all that hath been faid, may be immediately applied to the Vindication of the Authority which that Confeffion obtains amongst us, as a publick Standard of Orthodoxy to be fubfcribed by all our fpiritual Paftors and Rulers.

Some may poffiby be difgufted at the Length of our Confedion, and that in the Number of Articles it fhould fo far exceed the primi tive Creeds, as indeed all the reformed Confeffions do: But this muft be attributed to the great Change of Perfons and Cireumftances to the vaft Multitude and Variety of Errors which prevail in the World at this Time, and ought to be guarded againft, and to the fubtile Diftinctions and artful Subterfuges of Hereticks, under which they conceal their heterodox Sentiments, and impofe upon the unskilful by fair Pretences, and thereby lay a Neceflity upon the Church to express their Belief of the contrary Truths in very full and confpicuous Terms: And we are fo far from thinking this Plainnefs and Determinatenefs of Expreffion a Defect, that we can't but believe it a very great Excellency of a Compofure, the very Defign whereof, is to obtain a well grounded Information of the Subftriber's real Principles.

I

It may be alfo thought by fome that our Confeffion confines the Office of the Ministry within too narrow Limits; that the Articles of it are too particular, and defcend to Questions of no great Moment; and that a Man may be very well qualified for the facred Function, and endued with great Abilities which might enable him to be very ufeful and ferviceable to the Interefts of Religion and Truth, and yet have a Scruple as to fome of the leffer Points fo pofitively determined.

We fhall not deny but that poffibly it may be fo: We don't pretend that our Confeffion is carried to a Pitch of unblemished Perfection, and that it might not have been amended and adjusted, with greater Wisdom and Accuracy to all the Defigns of fuch Compofures: And we fhall own that there might be good Men, and very ufeful Minifters whofe Labours the Church can't enjoy; becaufe they are not able to come up to the Terms of our Confeffion, and may doubt or disbelieve fome of its Articles. But the Weftminster Affembly which framed, and our Church which established it, did, what all wife Men muft do, act according to the beft of their Judgment, and followed that Way which they thought liable to feweft Hazards.

And we are juftly perfwaded, That there is no fuch Danger upon the one Hand to Religion, tho' a Man that might prove a va luable Minifter (who in fome leffer Points thinks differently from our Confeffion) fhould be diverted from the facred Function, and apply himself to ferve God and his Generation in any other lawful and ufeful Employment of Life; while in the mean Time the Church may be fupplied with another Man, of equal Abilities in all other Refpects, and of approved Orthodoxy as to thefe Things in which the other efpoufes the wrong Side: As there is upon the other Hand, fhould a Truth be neglected that ought to have made a Part of the Confeffion, and a Door opened to let in Error and Divifion, efpecially fince this needs never occafion Schifm in the Church, and the erecting of Altar againft Altar, these publick Articles of Faith not being made a Term of Chriftian Communion.

W

E come now to the Third Clafs of the Ends and Purpofes of Confeflions of Faith, namely, fuch as regard all the Members of that Chriftian Society whofe Confef fions they are, and as they are defigned for the Ufe and Advantage of the whole Body of the People: And on this Head having no Adverfaries to deal with, nor any Difputes to engage in, we fhall detain the Reader but a very little Time.

The principal Defign of Confeffions which regards the whole Chriftian People, is to provide them with a Summary of the true and holy Principles of our Religion; adapted to their Capacities and the Circumstances of the Church; whereby they may be affifted in attaining the Knowledge of the neceffary Doctrines of Salvation, and improving daily therein. Agreeably hereunto the Duke of

Wirtemberg gives this Reafon for publishing his Confeffion, Qu populus in doctrina vere pia re&te imbuatur, & ad veram agnitionem filiż Dei perducatur.

We need not infift upon a Thing which will be fo univerfally acknowledged, as the Equity and Ufefulness of Creeds, if we take them in this View: And that it is of very great Advantage to Chriftians, whofe Time, Fortune, or Abilities, may render it unfit for them to ftudy Books of greater Learning and Subtilty, to have the Affiftance of a well digefted Compend where the Truths of Chriftianity, as founded upon the Holy Scriptures; are laid before them in their Purity and Glory; their Dependence up on and Connection with one another made eafie and plain; and all the Parts of the adorable Mystery of Man's Redemption reprefented in one View; whereby the weaker Memories and Judg ments of the People are mightily affifted, the united Rays of this heavenly Light, the Day-Spring from on high overshadowing fhine forth with the brighteft Glory, and the infinite Wifdom and Excellency of divine Revelation are more eafily and fully percei ved. And as fuch Works have been attempted by divers Hands, fo it was certainly fit that particular Churches fhould be careful to furnish the People with this Mean of Chriftian Knowledge namely, Summaries of the Doctrines of Religion, of general Ufe to all their People, fitted to promote the Unity of the Faith among them, and calculated to the Condition and Circumstances of fevetal Ages and Countries.

The reformed Churches, by publifhing their Confeffions, have furnished the World with many excellent Compofures of this Kind But we hope we may be allowed to retain a peculiar Efteem and Value for the Westminster Confeffion, as, in an uncommon Degree, ferviceable to the Intereft of Religion and Truth.

The Fulnefs and Completeness of this excellent Summary of Christian Knowledge recommend it: All the great Doctrines of our holy Religion are brought within fo eafy a Compafs, that there is no Perfon but may frequently find Leifure to perufe them nor do we believe that there is any Truth of Importance but is there touched at: Thefe Articles efpecially which are the princi pal Object of our Faith and Joy, The Grace and Love of God, and Salvation through the Righteousness of Jefus, are held forth in their Glory and Beauty; and illustrated in their perfect Harmony a mong themselves, and with the other Divine Excellencies: And all the Parts of our Confeffion are accommodated to the State of Religion, and the Herefies and Errors which prevail in the World and fitted to put us in Remembrance, and establish us in the PRESENT TRUTH, as the Apoftle expreffes it. By this means it will much more conduce to inform the Understandings of the People, and give them a fufficient Notion of the Chriftian Scheme in its juft Extent and Purity, than many larger Volumes can do The Doctrines alfo contained in it are the fubftantial Truths of the Gofpel, which tend to purifie our Hearts and Lives, and en Lighten our Minds with the faving Knowledge of the Son of God

Nor

Nor does it enter into the Subtilties of perverfe Difputers; or dwindle into any Speculations and metaphyfical Schemes which conduce not to Edification, but, in ftead of profiting, distract the People with Queftions noways ufeful, but in many Respects extremely prejudicial.

3

We have alfo always thought there was Reafon to admire the Clearnefs and Perfpicuity of the Westminster Confefion, which, confidering the myfterious Nature and great Variety of the Truths contained in it, the Sophiftry of Adverfaries, and the ambiguous va riable Meanings whereby they confound Words and Things, was a Matter of no finall Difficulty. And it is one excellent Quality of this Compofure, that all thefe intricate and fcarce intelligible Terms of Art brought in by the Schoolmen, whereby they per plexed Divinity, and furnished continual Occafion of Strife and Wrangling, are fo cautioufly fhunned, and fcarce one of them ufed in our Confeffion. And, which is the chief Excellency of all Works of this Kind, we hope the Scriptures fubjoined to every Article, with others to the fame Effect, are convincing Evidences of its Contormity to the facred Oracles, and that it is bot tomed upon the fure and infallible Foundation of our Faith and Manners,

All thefe Confiderations, and many more which might be added, are a very ftrong Recommendation of the Westminster Confeffion to the ferious and diligent Study of all Ranks. It is a fupid Neglect of God and our own Souls, for any to continue in Ignorance of their Duty to him, and the mighty Things which their Saviour hath wrought for them: And as it heightens the Impiety, fo it will age gravate the fearful Condemnation, of thofe who love Darknets; and remain in their Blindness in a Land of fo much Light, where the glorious Gofpel fhines with fo bright a Luftre, and the Means of Knowledge are fo eaty and useful. "Tis fo univerfal a Neglect of them, that makes Men wavering and unfettled in their Prin ciples, that expofes them to cunning Deceivers and every Wind of perverfe Doctrine; and occafions that Coldness of Affection and Efteem for the noble Bleffings of the Reformation, and that melancholy Indifference whether the Friends or Enemies of it be fuccefsful And hence it is, that People fee fo little of the divine Beauty and Harmony of Truth, are not animated by a vigorous Love and Zeal for it, nor are careful to improve its Efficacy to the advancing of Holiness.

It is a thameful Abfurdity for thofe who value themfelves upon all the Parts of polite Education, and endeavour to excel in the Amufements of Learning, to be unacquainted with the very Speculation of Religion, and the fundamental Principles of Chriftianity which they own with their Mouths. It must be furely a Reproach to any Member of the Church of Scotland, to be ignorant of her publick Confeffion; and methinks 'tis not much lefs fcandar Jous in thofe that feparate from her, to be unacquainted with her real Principles, fince without this they can never be able to give

ليان :

Fft Reafon of their Practice, and it will be reasonably accounted an ignorant Schifm.

What hath been hinted concerning the Excellency and Usefulnefs of our Confeffion, will alfo hold good with refpect to our Larger and Shorter Catechifms; which are admirably fitted to enlighten the People with fubftantial Gofpel-Truths, and make them knowing and ferious Chriftians: And therefore it can't be reflected upon without a juft Mixture of Grief and Refentment, that any Meafures fhould be taken, which have the leaft Tendency to create a Difefteem and Neglect of thefe Compofures among the People; and particularly, that contrary to all good Order and Government, as well as to the Edification of Chriftians, Attempts fhould be made to introduce among Inftructors of Youth other Catechifms, which befide the Errors and Obfcurities they may poffibly be charged with, and their having no Claim to any publick Authority in the Church, are for no other valuable Quality any ways comparable to the Westminster Catechisms, so often ratified by our Affem blies

THE Confeffions of the Protestant Churches were not only defigned to inftruct the People in the Truth, but to be a Safeguard against the infectious Breath of Error, of which there is fo great Hazard every Where. Voluimus igitur, fays the Duke of Wirtemberg in the Preface to the Wirtemberg Confeffion, hoc fcriptune in confpectum proferre, ut non tam alii cognofcerent quod doctrina genus noftra Ecclefia profiterentur; quam ut nofter populus baberet, quod in boc fequeretur, & feiret a quibus erroribus fibi cavendum esset.

-------conftituimus igitur hoc noftra confeffionis fcriptum, quod paucis “fummam doctrina continet, proponere, ut fentem vere falutaris doctrina, purum atque integrum in Ecclefiis noftra regionis confervaremus ; et mone tam, qua nobis imaginem cœleftis patris refert, a corruptione (quod in nobis eft) tueremur.

ર

There is nothing that a Church fhould be more folicitoufly careful about, than to preferve her Members pure in the Faith, and fafe from thofe poifonous Errors that abound in the World: This, the Excellency of Truth, the fatal Effects of Error and Divifion upon all the Parts of the Chriftian Life, and the many Deceivers who go about, and by various Arts endeavour to creep into Peo ples Houfes, and lead captive unwary Souls, make exceeding neceffary. And for this End, there is nothing will prove more beneficial, than an attentive Confideration of the publick Summaries of our Religion, in which the Truths oppofed to the prevailing Errors of the Time are clearly and forcibly reprefented; by a right Ufe whereof, the Minds of People may be eftablished in the DoErine which is according to Godliness, and armed against all the Machinations of Adverfaries.

It is not pretended that a Man fhould reject a Doctrine as falfe and heretical, purely because it is not agreeable to our Confeffion; fince Chriftians are to try the Spirits by the infallible Teft of the Holy Scriptures, and not by the Determination of humane Compaz

fures