PREFACE. IT is a commandment of our Saviour, to" preach the gospel LECTURES ᎢᏅ LORDS SPIRITUAL. MATTHEW, xxiii. 4. For they bind heavy burdens, and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. O To help your Reverences to understand this passage, I must refer you to Isaiah, x. 1. They are unrighteous decrees, made by men in power, to enslave those who are under their jurisdiction. Of this sort I conceive the present Articles of your church to be. All the decrees concerning the imposing your Articles are unrighteous. Your Lordships had no power to make them at first, and the continuance of them is a constant usurpa tion of the prerogative of Christ. As I intend to preach a short word to you, who seldom preach any yourselves, though you are sufficiently paid for that purpose, I shall endeavour to shew that all laws concerning your Articles are unrighteous, and "burdens grievous to be borne;" and, for the sake of form, shall make some practical improvement. As to the first, all laws concerning your Articles are contrary to the great charter of liberty in the gospel, wherewith Christ hath made his disciples free. I have seen it asserted by some of the best English lawyers, That even a British parliament, with the king at their head, have no lawful power to make any laws contrary to the great charter of the kingdom; for, in such a case, the constitution would be dissolved, and a revolution would ensue. Whatever may be in this, it is manifest, from the New Testament, that all decrees which are contrary to the gospel charter of Christian liberty destroy the constitution of the church. Allow me to ask your Lordships, in what part of the gospel, or the writings of our Saviour's apostles, you find authority for any order of men making rules of faith for others, and imposing them upon them on pain of loss and displeasure. You ought certainly to give us some satisfaction in a matter of so much consequence. It is altogether unrighteous, to claim a privilege in religion which you can produce no warrant for from thre book where all religious privileges are contained. You cannot even shew the smallest hint, in all that Jesus and his apostles have said, that has any reference to such an order of clergymen as you profess to be. Pray do, good Sirs, shew a Lord Spiritual in the New Testament; shew a Most or a Right Reverend Father in God, in all that book, and you shall have all due honours paid you. You stare at the demand. But is it not reasonable, before you receive honours, or assume power, that you produce your warrant for so doing? But suppose we should indulge you with your titles, and suffer you to receive praise one of another; yet we can see no reason why you should retail out our faith to us, and settle the bounds of our creed. Is it not unrighteous for clergymen to assume powers which our Saviour hath forbidden, and his apostles expressly refused? Pray, my dear Doctors, hear what your Redeemer says, " Neither be ye called masters; for one is your master, even Christ." His apostles say the same thing in effect: "We are not lords of your faith, but helpers of your joy." What Jesus has forbidden, and his apostles refused, how dare you pretend to assume? To Christians there is but one Lord, and one faith, but in your church there are twenty-six Lords, and two faiths-the doctrine contained in Divine revelation, and another very different contained in your Articles. I hope you will not be so daring as to presume to affirm, that the doctrine in the Bible and that contained in the Thirty-nine Articles are the same. Remember, there is no resurrection of the dead in all your Articles: the want of this doctrine makes an essential difference. You will perhaps say in your defence, you only impose the Articles upon teachers, who are to have the care of souls. Be so kind as shew your warrant for this. If it is not in the gospels, or in some of the epistles, you must own you have none. But this practice is founded upon the right all societies have over their members. Stop a little. The church is a society, which has all things established by the authority of her Lord and Master: her faith is given completely in the Scriptures, and every office and duty is fully and perfectly revealed there. A church is a society formed according to the mind of Christ, and not according to the will of men. All contingencies are provided for by him, who knew all his works from the beginning, and perfectly foresaw what would happen. There can never be any need of bylaws, to answer purposes which could not be foreseen. Your Saviour, my Lords, knew all things that ever could happen, and has provided for them in his word. He even foresaw that men, like you, would seek to be lords over his heritage, and has made a law against it. You may try your experiments in the kingdoms of this world, if you please; but beware of making alterations in our Saviour's kingdom, on pretence that it is the right of societies to make rules for their members. Christ has given you the Scriptures; be satisfied with them. They will answer all purposes, " to make the man of God perfect," they served served Timothy, and may well serve the clergy of England. Timothy, you say, was a bishop too; well then, imitate him, and give up all articles, except the word of God. All your decrees and canons concerning religion are unrighteous, mere will-worship, and doctrines of men. Can you not trust men with the care of souls, who promise to teach according to the Old and New Testament, as well as he who promises to teach according to the Articles. You swear upon the gospels, which implies that you think they have some efficacy to enforce truth; why may they not serve ministers to subscribe, and be a sufficient test of orthodoxy? But you will say, perhaps, that all parties pretend to hold by the Scriptures, even when they teach the grossest errors. And truly, au't please your Lordships, the Articles are but a poor safeguard against heresy. Some of yourselves have hinted that they may be taken in different senses; who, then, is sure which is the true sense? It is true, men need not subscribe unless they please; they have no more to do but let them alone, and want a living: and they had better do this than subscribe the doctrine they do not believe. But is it righteous in you, the leaders in the church, to impose such hardships on worthy honest men, who are willing to teach Christianity according to the best of their judgment, as it is made known in Divine revelation. But do you yourselves believe the Articles ? Pray do not stare again. I have really just ground of suspicion concerning you. Your sermons, my Lords, your printed sermons, bear witness against you: few, if any of them, are consistent with those aphorisms, which you are so tenacious in supporting. If these Articles are so proper to support the orthodox faith, why do you not preach agreeable to the doctrine contained in them? This does not look well on your part. Is it not altogether unrighteous to impose doctrines upon your brethren, which you never mean to teach yourselves? Perhaps you do not mean that they should teach them; you only require subscription. Is not this prevarication, and lying to God? Was this the way the Holy Ghost moved you, when you entered into orders? Alas! my Lords, I pity you! You ought to give up these badges of unrighteousness, and cease to saddle the clergy, like so many asses, with such ungodly trapping. You ride in state now, and receive honours of men; but mind, the Great Bishop and Shepherd of souls is to come again, and you must give an account of your conduct. Your mitres will be laid in the dust, and the long robes you love to walk in will be insuf ficient to cover your nakedness at the day of judgment. The imposition of articles is unrighteous, if your Reverences will please to consider that they have an immediate tendency to hinder all religious inquiries, and argue the imperfection of the word of God as a standard to direct Christian teachers in matters of religion. Is it not plain, when such a system is made a standard of Christian doctrine, that the word of God was in sufficient sufficient, without such a manufacture, to lead men into truth? And supposing your Articles are the very true sum and scope of Scripture knowledge; is not the didactic part of your office useless? For what occasion is there for any more teaching from Scripture, when you have reached the scope and meaning of Divine revelation? All that you have now to do is to illustrate your own Articles. This, my Lords, is a poor compliment paid to the Bible. But is it not a sign that the meaning of your Articles is not quite clear, when it needs such long and tedious illustrations? Bishop BURNET certainly believed that your Articles were not altogether plain, when he was at so much pains as to write large commentaries upon them. Though your Articles were altogether agreeable to the word of God, yet you have no right to impose them as articles of other men's faith; for you are not their judges: none have a right to impose matters of belief upon us, but he who has a right to judge us for our unbelief, and can reward us for our faith. The stewards in the church should " bring forth out of their treasure things new and old:" but your imposition prevents all new discoveries in religion. If the Articles are the true meaning of Scripture, as they ought to be before they can be reasonably imposed as tests of faith, they are the rules by which teachers must instruct their hearers, and every new discovery is excluded, unless it tallies exactly with the old; in this respect it cannot be new. But can any thing be more unrighteous and absurd, than to impose a formulary of faith upon others, which must itself be tried by the Scriptures, before it can fully be received? If the first rule is sufficient, there is no occasion for the latter; and if the latter is the supreme judge of all controversies, there is no need of the first. This, gentlemen, is very unnecessary trouble; for those who are qualified to discover the sense of Scripture from itself, have no occasion for any other Articles. If teachers are honest men, they have no need of any test of faith except the Scriptures ; and if they are not, all the Articles in the world will not make them so. When a system of religion is imposed upon men as a standard by which they are to teach others, it ought to be so plain as to be self-evident, and so complete as to need no amend. ment. If it is doubtful, it will be difficult to pursue its intention; if it is imperfect, it will need a supplement, and this supposes that it might be wanted; for wherever we can find this supplement, we may find the whole, without being obliged to any other men's labours. I am aware that your Lordships will be ready to say, that the Scriptures are not all self-evident; and that what I have now said is an argument against their perfection, as well as against the Articles. But stop a little, Gentlemen; the greatest part of the word of God is self-evident; and where it does not appear so very plain, there is a promise made by the Author thereof, that the Holy Ghost shall make it known, For your edification, I shall |