Chrift, the Worship or the Discipline of his ESSAY Church. VIII.

My dear zealous Friends, be calm a little, and let me fpeak before I'm condemned. I do not deny many of thefe Things which I call lefs-important to be fome Way discovered in the New Teftament, tho' not in fo exprefs and plain Language as you fuppofe. The chief Concerns of the Chriftian Church are fo far prefcribed, by pofitive Rules, by Examples or juft Inferences, that a ferious Reader, who is attentive and unbyassed, and who will exercise his reafoning Powers, may find fufficient Notices of all neceffary Truth and Duty: According to my Measure of Light I humbly hope I have found it, and thereby regulate my Practice.

But ftill it must be granted, that Things lefs neceffary are not fo plainly described as the bigger and more fubftantial Parts of Religion, nor graven in Characters fo large and obvious that every one must needs difcern them. Chrift Jefus hath been as faithful in bis Houfe as Mofes was, and has delineated the Form, Pattern and Order of it, fo far as infinite Wisdom thought neceffary to carry on the grand Defigns of Grace and the Gospel But fome of the leffer Pins in this fpiritual Tabernacle are not fo graphically decyphered, as that every Child may tell whether they must be round or fquare. There is nothing of fo much Weight depends

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ESSAY pends upon them, and therefore there was VIII, no need for them to be fo exprefly described under the New Teftament, wherein bodily Exercife profits little, but Worship and Religion confift more in what is fpiritual and invifible *

Upon the whole then, fince there are different Degrees of Evidence and Clearness, wherewith fome of the Doctrines of Faith, and the Rules of Worship and Order in the New Teftament are expreft, there ought alfo to be found in us different Degrees of Affent or Affurance, wherewith we should receive these Doctrines or thefe Rules of Duty: For it is a certain and eternal Rule of Logic or Reafon, that our Affent to any Propofition ought to be firm or feeble, just in Proportion to the different Degrees of Evidence, whether they be brighter or more obscure.

Here then is a plain and pretty general Rule given us, whereby we may judge whether any particular Opinion or Practice be more or lefs important, and confequently whether our Zeal for it fhould be warmer or cooler, viz. Is the Evidence of this Practice, or this Truth in Scripture more bright or cloudy? According to the Light of Evidence, fuch generally fhould our Zeal be.

* See the Effay on the Reasons why the Worship of Chriftian Churches is not fo particularly prefcribed as the Jewish, which you may find in the Treatife about the Holiness of Times, Places and Perfons.

Violence

Violence and fierce Contention among Chri- ESSAY ftians, especially about Matters of leffer Mo- VIII. ment, or of doubtful Difpute, are infinitely fcandalous to the Chriftian Name; and as they tend to ruin and deftroy the Churches of Chrift, fo in all Ages they have greatly grieved the Souls of those who love the Interefts of Christianity, and wish well to Sion.

SECT. II.

Some Reasons why thefe Differences are permitted to arife among Chriftians.

If it would not offend my Readers, I would here come to an ingenuous Confeffion, that the different Sentiments and dreadful Quarrels of Chriftians about fome of the leffer Things of Religion, and the dark and dubious Expreffions in Scripture, wherein fome Parts of our Religion are revealed, have fometimes been a fore Temptation and Sorrow to my Heart, fo that I have wifh'd thefe doubtful Difputables had been more clearly determined there. I have been plunged into the Briars of this Perplexity, when I have seen Perfons of devout Soul, ferious and humble, diffent fo widely from each other, both in Opinion and Practice, and that in Matters of fome Moment too, and even after long and honest Enquiries into the Meaning of God in his Word.

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ESSAY Under thefe Difficulties I have faid in my VIII. Heart, "Why did not the God of Wisdom "and of Love exprefs every Article of Be"lief and Duty in Words of plaineft Reve"lation and Precept, that we might have "all read the fame Senfe, and been all of "one Mind? Why did he leave the leaft "Point of our Religion dubious or obscure, "when, with a long Forefight, he furvey"ed all the Quarrels and Rage, the infi"nite Scandal, the Cruelty and the Blood "that in future Ages would be the Confequences of religious Difputes ?"

I have been pain'd at my Soul, and felt an inward afflicting Heavinefs in fuch a Meditation as this; nor could I ever fatisfy myself with that prophane Anfwer which fome witty Men have given, viz." That "God, who might have made the Rules of "our Duty plain and undifputed, chofe to

exprefs them in Words capable of feveral

Interpretations, that Chriftians might be "liable to be led into many different Opi"nions, that hereby God might please him"felf with the Variety of Devotions that "were paid him'; and that how different "foever their Sentiments and Practices

might be, yet that his Commands are e

qually obey'd by all the various Kinds of Worship and Service, which the Confciences of Men fincerely conceive' themfelves bound to offer." This Notion in

clines to that wild Opinion, which fup- ESSAY poses that any Forms or Methods of Wor- VIII. fhip are all equally acceptable to God, and that there are more true Religions than one : This favours fo much of the Deift and the Libertine, and the Difciples of the Leviathan, that I could never admit it into Affent.

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Yet it must be granted that his Wisdom had fome very valuable Ends to attain in the Way of Providence, by permitting fo many Differences amongst Christians and if we had been Secretaries to the King of Heaven when he form'd his Decrees, we might have known perhaps fome of these awful Arcana of his Government; but who has been his Counsellor, or to whom has he given an Account of thefe Matters? His Paths are in the great Deep, and his Providences are trackless through the mighty Waters unfearchable are his Ways, and his Judgments paft finding out! I dare not pretend to write a compleat Rationale on all his infinite and impenetrable Defigns; yet my Faith affures me that they have all the highest and divine Reason in them. And I will take the Freedom here to mention fome of thofe Confiderations that have filenced my clamorous Thoughts, pleafed my Enquiry, fatisfied my Confcience, and vanquished the dark Temp

tation.

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First,