with any modesty pretend a certainty, where so many and such men differ?

I know it is said, Rev. 1. 3. "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: but that proveth no more than 1. That some of it (as ch. 1-3.) is plain and commonly intelligible. 2. That it is a desirable thing to understand the rest; and worthy men's endeavour in due time and rank; and he that can attain to certainty may be glad of it.

I pass by the darkness of many types and prophecies of Christ in the Old Testament, and how little the Jews or the apostles themselves, till after Christ's resurrection, understood them. With very many other obscurities, which yet are not written in vain, nay, which make up the true perfection of the whole.

IX. There are very many proverbial speeches in the Scripture, which are not to be understood, as the words properly signify; but as the sense of those proverbs then was among the Jews. But disuse hath so totally obliterated the knowledge of the sense of many of them, that no man living can certainly understand them.

X. There are many texts, which have words adapted to the places, the animals, the utensils, the customs, the coins, the measures, the vegetables, &c. of that place and time, which are some hard, and some impossible now to be certainly understood: and therefore such as Bochart, Salmosius, Casaubon, Scaliger, &c. have done well to add new light to our conjectures; but leaving great uncertainty still.

XI. Because the Jewish law is by Paul plainly said to be ceased or done away, it remaineth very difficult to be certain of abundance of passages in the Old Testament, how far they are obligatory to us. For when they now bind no otherwise than as the continued law of nature, or as reassumed by Christ into his special law, where the latter is not found, in the former there is often insuperable difficulty. For most lieth upon the proof of a parity of reason, which puts us upon trying cases hardly tried, unless we knew more of the reason of all those laws. (As about vows and dispensations, Numb. xxx; about prohibited degrees of marriage, and such like; which makes divines so much differ about the obligation of the Judicials, (of which see Junius

vol. 1. p. 1861, &c. de Polit. Mos. observ.) and about usury, priesthood, magistrates' power in religion, and many such.

XIII. There are abundance of texts which only open the substance of the matter in hand to us, and say nothing about abundance of difficulties of the manner, and many circumstances, (as the manner of the Divine influx, and the Spirit's operation on the soul, &c.) And here all that which is unrevealed must needs be unknown.

XIII. There are many precepts which were local, personal, particular, and so temporary, and bind not universally all persons, at all times afterwards: such as the Rhechabites' precepts from their father, and such as the love-feasts, the kiss of love, women's veil and long hair, men's being uncovered, &c. Now it is very hard to know in all instances, whether the precepts were thus temporary or universal and durable: which makes divines differ about anointing of the sick, the office of deacons and deaconesses, the power of bishops, and extent of their dioceses, the eating things strangled, and blood, (against which Chr. Beckman in his Exercit. hath abundance of shrewd arguments, though few are of his mind.) In these cases few reach a certainty, and none so full a certainty as in plainer things.

XIV. It is very hard to be certain when, and how far examples of holy men in Scripture bind us: though I have elsewhere proved that wherever the apostles' practice was the execution of their commission for settling church orders, in which Christ promised them the help of his Spirit, their practice was obligatory. Yet in many instances the obligation of examples is very doubtful: which occasioneth the controversies about imitating John Baptist's life in the wilderness, and Anna, and about Lent, and about baptizing by dipping over head, and about the Lord's-supper, whether it should be administered to a family, or at evening only, or after supper or sitting in a private house, &c. And about washing feet, and many church orders and affairs.

XV. There are many things in Scripture that are spoken but once or twice, and that but as on the by, and not very It is very hard to be sure what the apostles settled as an universal perpetual law, in church matters, and what they settled only as suited to that time and place by the common rule of doing all to edification: I will have mercy and not sacrifice, being a standing rule, it is hard to plead their use of any rites against common good: perhaps more is mutable than most think.

plainly and we cannot be so certain of any doctrine founded on these, as on passages frequently and plainly written.

XVI. There are so many seeming differences in Scripture, especially about numbers, as that if they be reconcileable, few or none in the world have yet found out the way. If we mention them not ourselves, such paltry fellows will do it, as Bened. Spinosa in his Tractatus Theolog. Polit. I will not cite any, but desire the learned reader to consider well of what that learned and godly man, Ludov. Capellus saith in his critic. Sacr. 1. c. 10. and 1. 6. c. 7, 8. (I own not his supposition of a better Hebrew copy used by the Sept.) I think an impartial considerer of his instances will confess, that as God never promised all or any of the scribes or printers of the Bible any infallible spirit, that they should never write or print a word falsely, and as it is certain by the various lections, that many such there have been in many and most books; so there is no one scribe that had a promise above the rest, nor any one Hebrew or Greek copy, which any man is sure, is absolutely free from such miswritings. For how should we be sure of that one above all the rest? And I wish the learned reader to consider Bibliander's Preface to his Hebr. Grammar, and Casaubon's Exercit. 1. s. 28. and Pellicanus's Preface to his Comment. on the Bible. Jerom on Mic. 5. 2. is too gross, de Matth. 2. 'Quod Testimonium nec Hæbraico nec 70 Interpretibus convenire, &c.' Let him read the rest that will, which is harsher; he that will not confess miswritings of numbers, and some names and words heretofore, as well as some misprintings now, doth but by his pretended certainty tempt men to question the rest for the sake of that, and injureth the sacred word.

XVII. We have not the same degree of certainty of the canonicalness or divineness of every book of Scripture: though they are all God's word, they have not all the same evidence that they are so. The New Testament had a fuller attestation from heaven for its evidence to man, than most of the Old had. And of the New Testament, it was long before many churches received the Epistle to the Hebrews, the second of Peter, Jude, Revelations, &c. Even in Eusebius's

Without approving all that is in it, I wish the reader to peruse Father Simon's second book, now newly printed in London.

days, in his Præpar. Evangel. he shewed that they were not received by all. And of the Old Testament, Moses, and the Psalms and Prophets have fuller attestation than the rest. And indeed, as it is probable that the Chronicles were written in or after Ezra's time at soonest; so they do in so many places differ in numbers from the book of Kings, where all would agree with the rest of the history, if those numbers were but reduced to those in the Kings, that if any man should doubt of the Divine authority of that book, that thereby he may be less tempted to question any others, I should not think his error inconsistent with salvation. Put but that man to prove what he saith, who asserteth that we have equal evidence of the divinity of the Chronicles, Canticles, Esther, as we have of Moses, the Prophets, the Psalms, and the New Testament, and you shall quickly find that he did but pretend an equal degree of certainty, which indeed he had not. The Papists pretend that they are as certain of the divinity of the Apocrypha, as we are of the rest. But they do but pretend a certainty, for interest and custom sake.

XVIII. Though it be held, that certainly the holy writers had no falsehoods in doctrine or history, but delivered us the truth alone, yet no one of them delivereth us all the truth, no not of many particular histories and speeches of Christ which they mention: and therefore we must set them all together for the understanding of them: (as in the instance of Christ's appearing and the angel's speeches after his resurrection.) And when all is done we have not all that Christ said and did, but all that was necessary to our faith and salvation. For as Paul citeth Christ, saying, “It is more honourable to give, than to receive," so John tells us, "that the world could not contain the books that should be written," we must take heed therefore how far we go with negatives, of such unmentioned things.

XIX. Though all that the holy writers have recorded is true, (and no falsehood in the Scripture, but what is from the error of scribes and translators,) yet we are not certain that the writers had not human infirmities in the phrase, method and manner of expression. It is apparent that their style, yea their gifts were various, as Paul oft openeth them, 1 Cor. 12, &c. Therefore Paul rather than Barnabas was the chief speaker. And Apollos was more eloquent than others:

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hence some were of Paul, and some of Apollos, and some of Cephas and Paul is put to vindicate his ministerial abilities to the Corinthians. Therefore though weaker men's gifts put no sinful imperfection into the Scriptures, yet a human natural imperfection of style, and order might be more in some than others. It is certain that they were not all perfect in knowledge and holiness. And how far every sermon which they preached was free from all that imperfection, (any more than Peter's carriage, Gal. ii.) we are uncertain. And how far their writings had a promise of being free from natural modal imperfections more than their preachings, we know not fully. And yet God turned this weakness of theirs to the confirmation of our faith; shewing us that heavenly power, and not human wisdom and ability did his work. As David's sling in conquering Goliah shewed God's power. And out of the mouths of babes doth God ordain strength, and the weak things of the world are used to confound the strong.

XX. Lastly, though all be certainly true which they have recorded, yet we have not the same degree of certainty, that no writer erred through lapse of memory in some less material passage, as we have that they infallibly delivered us the Gospel. But this I have said so much of already in a small book called "More Reasons for the Christian Religion," that I must now refer you thither for the rest.

Quest. But if there be so many things, either uncertain or less certain, what is it that we are or may be fully certain of? Answ. 1. What you are or are not certain of yourself, you should know if you know yourself, without my telling you.

2. I deny not but you may come to a certainty of all those things which are never so difficult, that have any ascertaining evidence, if you live long enough, and study hard enough, and have extraordinary measure of Divine illumination: I do not measure others by myself: you may know that which I know not. God may bless your studies more, as being better men and fitter for his blessing: he may give you extraordinary inspirations, or revelations if he please: I am thankful for my low degree, and confess my ignorance.

3. But I have told you before what certainties we have. 1. We are certain of things sensible. 2. And of our elicite and imperate acts. 3. And of natural principles. 4. And