You bring your Scripture-Proofs; and I produce Mine. You have your Solutions of fuch Difficulties as I prefs you with; I have Solutions too, and fuch, to be fure, as I think Sounder, Better, and Juster than Your's: You think the very contrary. Thus far, it is combating Text with Text, Criticism with Criticism, Reafon with Reafon; and each fide will think his own Superior. Now, fuppofe I can farther produce a Cloud of Witneffes, a numerous Company of primitive Saints and Martyrs, confirming my Interpretation, concurring in my Sentiments, and corroborating my Reafons: And suppose I find also that Thofe, who took your Side of the Question, were condemn'd by the generality as Hereticks, and Corrupters of the Faith of Chrift; this will add fuch Weight, Strength, and Force to my Pretenfions, that impartial Men will foon perceive, which is the most probable, which the fafer fide, and which it behoves them to cleave to. This is fo agreeable to the common Senfe and Reafon of Mankind; and the Advantage of having Antiquity of one's fide is fo apparent, that I'll venture to fay, none ever talk'd against it, who did not fufpect, at least, that Antiquity was against Them: And this I take to be one of your greatest Misfortunes in this Controverfy; that you are fenfible how much it would weaken your Cause to give up the Fathers; and yet, you are certain, in the refult, to weaken it as much, by pretending to keep Them.

QUERY

QUERY XXVIII.

Whether it be at all probable, that the pri mitive Church fhould mistake in fo material a Point as this is; or that the whole Stream of Chriftian Writers fhould mistake in telling us what the Senfe of the Church was; and whether fuch a Cloud of Witnesses can be fet afide without weakening the only Proof we have of the Canon of Scripture, and the Integrity of the Sacred Text?

'N Answer hereto, you admit that the Tefti mony of the whole Stream of Antiquity is Jufficient to determine, in fact, what Faith the Church bath always profefs'd and declar'd in her publick Forms. I am content to put the Matter upon this Iffue; and let the Point be decided from their Profeffions in Baptifm, Creeds, Doxologies, Hymns, which were publick Forms; and from publick Cenfures pass'd upon Hereticks, which are as clear Evidence, as the other, of the Church's Faith at that Time. Only I would not exclude Collateral Proofs; fuch as the declared Sentiments of Eminent Church-Writers, the Interpretations of Creeds, left us by thofe that recite Them; (fuch as Thofe of Irenæus, Tertullian, and Others) and Ecclefiaftical Hiftory, telling us, what the Tradition of the Church was, down to fuch a Time.

From

From these put together, we have very clear and full Proof that the Catholick Church did all along profess a Trinity of Confubftantial, Co-eternal Perfons, in Unity of Nature, Subftance and Godhead. This, the Incomparable Bishop Bull has fufficiently fhown, in his Defenfio Fidei Nicene, Judicium Ecclefiæ, and primitiva Traditio. Bishop Stillingfleet purfued the fame Argument, with Variety of Learning, in his Vindication of the Doctrine of the Trinity, Chapter the 9th, which He concludes in these Words: " Taking the Sense of those Articles, as the Chriftian Church understood "them from the Apostles Times, then we have "as full and clear Evidence of this Doctrine, "as we have that we received the Scriptures

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from them. Dr. Clarke's and Dr. Whitby's Pretences, to the contrary, have been fufficiently answer'd; partly by the learned Gentleman, who wrote the True Scripture Doctrine Continued, and partly by thefe Sheets. You have little to object, but that the Fathers did not affert an individual Confubftantiality, in your Senfe; which is true: And is no more than telling me, that They were not mad; when I contend that They were fober.

But you add; the Question is, whether, fuppofing the Fathers had unanimously declared for our Notion, whether (in a Question not of Fact, like that concerning the Canon of Scripture, but of Judgment and Reasoning) fuch a Teftimony would prove that thofe Scriptures

Hh

ptures reveal it; or whether fuch an Interpretation of Scripture -- would be as infalli ble as Scripture it felf. But this is no Queftion at all bewteen us. What we pretend is,

We

that we have as good Proof of the Doctrine of the Church, as of the Canon of Scripture. Whether the Church, after the Apostles, was as infallible as the Apostles themselves, is quite another Question. We think it very unlikely that the Apoftolick Churches fhould not know the mind of the Apoftles; or fhould fuddenly vary from it, in any Matter of Moment. look upon it as highly improbable that the Faith of thofe Churches fhould fo foon run counter to any thing in Scripture; fince They had the best opportunities of knowing what Scripture meant; were made up of wife and good Men, Men who would fooner die than commit any Error in that kind, wilfully. Upon this, we believe the concurring Judgment of Antiquity to be, tho' not infallible, yet the fafeft Comment upon Scripture; and to have much more Weight in it, than there generally is in Wit and Criticifm; and therefore not to be rejected, where the Words of Scripture will, with any propriety, bear that Interpretation. This is fufficient for us to fay, or pretend. We have as plaufible Arguments, to speak modeftly, from Scripture, as you can pretend to have: Nay, we think your Notions utterly irreconcilable with Scripture, according to the natural, obvious, grammatical Conftruction of Words.

And

befides

1

befides all this, we have, what you want, the
concurring Sense of the Antients plainly for us.
The Question then is not, whether Scripture
and Fathers be equally infallible: All the Fa-
thers together are not fo valuable, or fo cre-
dible, as any one infpired Writer. But it is
plainly this: Whether the Antient Hereticks,
or Catholicks, as They have been distinguish'd,
have been the beft Interpreters of difputed
Texts; and whether we are now to close in
with the former, or the latter. You would
infinuate that you have Scripture, and we
Fathers only: But we infift upon it, that we
have Both; as for many other Reasons, fo alfo
for this, because Both, very probably, went
together: And as you certainly want one; fo
it is extremely probable that you have neither;
for this very Reason, among many others, be-
cause you have not Both.
have not Both. This Argume at is
of Force and Weight; and will hardly yield to
any thing fhort of Demonftration; much lefs
will it yield to fuch fort of Reaforings as you
are obliged to make use of, wanting better, to
fupport your novel Opinions.

The Sum of the whole Matter is this. The unanimous Senfe of the Antients, upon any Controverfial Point, is of great Moment and Importance towards fixing the Senfe of Scripture, and preventing its being ill-ufed by defultorious Wits, who love to wander out of the common way; and can never want fome colour for any Opinion almost whatever. We do Hh 2.

not