"John xii. 44, "He that believes on me, believes "not on me, but on him that sent me." The works "of nature show his wisdom and power: but it is his

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peculiar care of mankind, most eminently discovered "in his promises to them, that shows his bounty and goodness; and consequently engages their hearts in "love and affection to him. This oblation of an heart "fixed with dependance and affection on him, is the "most acceptable tribute we can pay him, the founda❝tion of true devotion, and life of all religion. What

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a value he puts on this depending on his word, and "resting satisfied on his promises, we have an example "in Abraham; whose faith was counted to him for righteousness, as we have before remarked out of "Rom. iv. And his relying firmly on the promise of God, without any doubt of its performance, gave him "the name of the father of the faithful; and gained him "so much favour with the Almighty, that he was called "the friend of God, the highest and most glorious title "that can be bestowed on a creature!"

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The great out-cry he makes against me in his two next sections, p. 57-60, as if I intended to introduce ignorance and popery, is to be entertained rather as the noise of a petulant scold, saying the worst things she could think of, than as the arguing of a man of sense or sincerity. All this mighty accusation is grounded upon these falsehoods: That "I make it my great business to beat men off from divine truths; "that I cry down all articles of the christian faith, but one; that I will not suffer men to look into christianity; that I blast the epistolary writings." I shall add no more to what I have already said, about the epistles, but those few words out of my "Reasonable"ness of christianity," page 154, "The epistles, re"solving doubts, and reforming mistakes, are of great

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advantage to our knowledge and practice." And, p. 155, 156, “An explicit belief of what God requires "of those, who will enter into, and receive the bene"fits of the new covenant, is absolutely required. The "other parts of divine revelation are objects of faith, "and are so to be received. They are truths, whereof

"none, that is once known to be such, i. e. of divine revelation,] may, or ought to be disbelieved."

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And as for that other saying of his, "That I will "not suffer men to look into christianity:" I desire to know where that christianity is locked up, which "I

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will not suffer men to look into." My christianity, I confess, is contained in the written word of God; and that I am so far from hindering any one to look into, that I every-where appeal to it, and have quoted so much of it, that the unmasker complains of being overlaid with it, and tells me it is tedious. "All di"vine revelation, I say, p. 156, requires the obedience "of faith; and that every one is to receive all the parts of it, with a docility and disposition prepared "to embrace and assent to all truths coming from God; "and submit his mind to whatever shall appear to him "to bear that character." I speak, in the same page, of men's endeavouring to understand it, and of their interpreting one place by another. This, and the whole design of my book, shows that I think it every christian's duty to read, search and study the holy scriptures and make this their great business: and yet the good unmasker, in a fit of zeal, displays his throat, and cries out, p. 59, "Hear, O ye heavens, and give

ear, O earth; judge whether this be not the way to "introduce darkness and ignorance into Christendom ; "whether this be not blinding of men's eyes," &c. for this mighty pathos ends not there. And all things considered, I know not whether he had not reason, in his want of arguments, this way to pour out his concern. For neither the preaching of our Saviour and his apostles, nor the apostles creed, nor any thing else, being with him the faith of a christian, i. e. sufficient to make a christian, but just his set of fundamental articles, (when he himself knows what they be;) in fine, nothing being christianity but just his system, it is time to cry out, Help, neighbours! hold fast, friends! Knowledge, religion, christianity is gone, if this be once permitted, that the people should read and understand the scripture for themselves, as God shall enlighten their understandings in the use of the means; and not be forced

to depend upon me, and upon my choosing, and my interpretation, for the necessary points they are to believe to make them christians: if I, the great unmasker, have not the sole power to decree what is, or is not fundamental, and people be not bound to receive it for such, faith and the gospel are given up; darkness and barbarism will be brought in upon us by this writer's contrivance. For "he is an underhand factor for that "communion, which cries up ignorance for the mo"ther of devotion and religion :" i. e. in plain English, for popery. For to this, and nothing else, tends all that sputter he makes in the section before mentioned.

I do not think there was ever a more thorough-paced declaimer, than our unmasker. He leaves out nothing that he thinks will make an affrighting noise in the ears of his orthodox hearers, though all the blame and censure he pours out upon others light only on himself. For let me ask this zealous upholder of light and knowledge does he think it reasonable, that any one, who is not a christian, should be suffered to be undisturbed in his parish? Nay, does he think fit that any such should live free from the lash of the magistrate, or from the persecution of the ecclesiastical power? He seems to talk with another air, p. 65. In the next place I ask, Whether any one is a christian, who has not the faith of a christian? Thirdly, I ask, Whether he has the faith of a christian, who does not explicitly believe all the fundamental articles of christianity? And to conclude, I ask him, Whether all those that he has set down, are not fundamental necessary articles? When the unmasker has fairly answered these questions, it will be seen who is for popery, and the ignorance and tyranny that accompany it.

The unmasker is for making and imposing articles of faith; but he is for this power in himself. He likes not popery (which is nothing but the tyranny and imposing upon men's understandings, faith and consciences) in the hands of the old gentleman at Rome: but it would, he thinks, do admirably well in his own. hands. And who can blame him for it? Would not

that be an excellent way to propagate light and knowledge, by tying up all men to a bundle of articles of his own culling? Or rather, to the authority of Christ and his apostles residing in him? For he does not, nor ever will, give us a full view of fundamentals of his christianity but like the church of Rome, to secure our dependence, reserves to himself a power of declaring others, and defining what is matter of faith as he shall see occasion.

Now, therefore, veil your bonnets to the unmasker, all you that have a mind to be christians: break not your heads about the scriptures, to examine what they require of you submit your faith implicitly to the unmasker; he will understand and find out the necessary points for you to believe. Take them, just so many as he thinks fit to deliver them to you; this is the way to be knowing christians. But be sure, ask not, Whether those he is pleased to deliver, be every one of them fundamental, and all the fundamental articles, necessary to be believed to make a man a christian? Such à capricious question spoils all, overturns christianity, which is intrusted to the unmasker's sole keeping, to be dispensed out as he thinks fit. If you refuse an implicit faith to him, he will presently find you have it for the whore of Babylon; he will smell out popery in it immediately: for he has a very shrewd scent, and you will be discovered to be an underhand factor for the church of Rome.

But if the unmasker were such an enemy, as he pretends, to those factors, I wonder he should, in what he has said concerning the apostles creed, so exactly jump with Knot the jesuit. If any one doubt of this, I desire him to look into the fourth chapter of "Knot's charity "maintained," and there he will see how well our unmasker and that jesuit agree in argument; nay, and expressions too. But yet I do not think him so far guilty, as to be employed as an underhand factor for popery. Every body will, I suppose, be ready to pronounce him so far an innocent, as to clear him from that. The cunning of this design goes not beyond the laying out of his preaching oratory, for the setting up his own

system, and making that the sole christianity. To that end, he would be glad to have the power of interpreting scripture, of defining and declaring articles of faith, and imposing them. This, which makes the absolute power of the pope, he would not, I think, establish at Rome; but it is plain he would have it himself if he could get it, for the support of the christianity of his system. An implicit faith, if he might have the management of it, and the taking fundamentals upon trust from his authority, would be of excellent use. Such a power, in his hands, would spread truth and knowledge in the world, i. e. his own orthodoxy and set of opinions. But if a man differs, nay, questions any thing of that, whether it be absolutely necessary to make one a christian, it is immediately a contrivance to let in popery, and to bring "darkness and barbarism "into the christian world." But I must tell the innocent unmasker, whether he designs or no, that if his calling his system the only christianity, can bring the world to receive from him articles of faith of his own choosing, as fundamentals necessary to be believed by all men to make them christians, which Christ and his apostles did not propose to all men to make them christians; he does only set up popery in another guise, and lay the foundations of ignorance, darkness, and barbarism, in the christian world; for all the ignorance and blindness, that popery introduced, was only upon this foundation. And if he does not see this, (as there is reason to excuse his innocence,) it would be no hard matter to demonstrate it, if that were at present the question between us. But there are a great many other propositions to be proved by him, before we come to that new matter of debate.

But before I quit these paragraphs, I must go on with our unmasker's account, and desire him to show where it is,

XXV. "That I make it my business to beat men off "from taking notice of any divine truths?"

Next, where it is,