do unto him. He loves, honors, and obeys his father and mother, and helps them to the uttermost of his power. He honors and obeys the king, and all that are put in authority under him. He cheerfully submits to all his governors, teachers, spiritual pastors, and masters. He behaves' lowly and reverently to all his betters. He hurts nobody by word or deed. He is true and just in all his dealings. He bears no malice or hatred in his heart. He abstains from all evil speaking, lying, and slandering; neither is guile found in his mouth. Knowing his body to be the temple of the Holy Ghost, he keeps it in sobriety, temperance, and chastity. He does not desire other men's goods, but is content with that he hath; labors to get his own living, and to do the whole will of God in that state of life unto which it has pleased God to call him.

15. Have you any thing to reprove in this? Are you not herein even as he? If not (tell the truth), are you not condemned both by God and your own conscience? Can you fall short of any one point hereof without falling short of being a Christian?

if

Come, my brother, and let us reason together. Are you right you only love your friend and hate your enemy? Do not even the heathens and publicans so? You are called to love your enemies, to bless them that curse you, and to pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you. But are you not disobedient to the heavenly calling? Does your tender love to all men, not only the good, but also the evil and unthankful, approve you the child of your Father which is in heaven? Otherwise, whatever you believe and whatever you practice, you are of your father the devil. Are you ready to lay down your life for your brethren? And do you do unto all as you would they should do unto you? If not, do not deceive your own soul. You are but a heathen still. Do you love, honor, and obey your father and mother, and help them to the utmost of your power? Do you honor and obey all in authority? all your governors, spiritual pastors, and masters? Do you behave lowly and reverently to all your betters? Do you hurt nobody, by word or deed? Are you true and just in all your dealings? Do you take care to pay whatever you owe? Do you feel no malice or envy or revenge, no hatred or bitterness to any man? If you do it is plain you are not of God; for all these are the tempers of the devil. Do you speak the truth from your heart to all men, and that in tenderness and love? Are you "an Israelite, indeed, in whom is no guile?" Do you keep your body in sobriety, temperance, and chastity, as

knowing it is the temple of the Holy Ghost, and that, if any man defile the temple of God, him will God destroy? Have you learned in every state wherein you are therewith to be content ? Do you labor to get your own living, abhorring idleness as you abhor hell-fire? The devil tempts other men, but an idle man tempts the devil. An idle man's brain is the devil's shop, where he is continually working mischief. Are you not slothful in business? Whatever your hand finds to do, do you do it with your might? And do you do all as unto the Lord, as a sacrifice unto God, acceptable in Christ Jesus?

This, and this alone, is the old religion. This is true primitive Christianity. O, when shall it spread over all the earth! When shall it be found both in us and you? Without waiting for others, let each of us, by the grace of God, amend one.

16. Are we not thus far agreed? Let us thank God for this, and receive it as a fresh token of his love. But if God still loveth us, we ought also to love one another. We ought, without this endless jangling about opinions, to provoke one another to love and to good works. Let the points wherein we differ stand aside; here are enough wherein we agree, enough to be the ground of every Christian temper, and of every Christian action.

O, brethren, let us not still fall out by the way! I hope to see you in heaven. And if I practice the religion above described you dare not say I shall go to hell. You cannot think so. None can persuade you to it. Your own conscience tells you the contrary. Then if we cannot as yet think alike in all things, at least we may love alike. Herein we cannot possibly do amiss. For one point none can doubt a moment-"God is love; and he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him."

17. In the name, then, and in the strength of God, let us resolve, first, not to hurt one another; to do nothing unkind or unfriendly to each other, nothing which we would not have done to ourselves. Rather let us endeavor after every instance of a kind, friendly, and Christian behavior toward each other.

Let us resolve, secondly, God being our helper, to speak nothing harsh or unkind of each other. The sure way to avoid this is to say all the good we can both of and to one another. In all our conversation, either with or concerning each other, to use only the language of love; to speak with all softness and tenderness; with the most endearing expression which is consistent with truth and sincerity.

Let us, thirdly, resolve to harbor no unkind thought, no un

friendly temper toward each other. Let us lay the ax to the root of the tree; let us examine all that rises in our heart, and suffer no disposition there which is contrary to tender affection. Then shall we easily refrain from unkind actions and words when the very root of bitterness is cut up.

Let us, fourthly, endeavor to help each other on in whatever we are agreed leads to the kingdom. So far as we can, let us always rejoice to strengthen each other's hands in God. Above all, let us each take heed to himself (since each must give an account of himself to God) that he fall not short of the religion of love; that he be not condemned in that he himself approveth. O, let you and I (whatever others do) press on to the prize of our high calling! that, being justified by faith, we may have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; that we may rejoice in God through Jesus Christ, by whom we have received the atonement; that the love of God may be shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. Let us count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord; being ready for him to suffer the loss of all things, and counting them but dung, that we may win Christ.

I am your

DUBLIN, July 18, 1749.

affectionate servant, for Christ's sake.

POPERY CALMLY CONSIDERED.

TO THE READER.

In the following tract I propose, first, to lay down and examine the chief doctrines of the Church of Rome. Secondly, to show the natural tendency of a few of those doctrines; and that with all the plainness and all the calmness I can.

SECTION I.

OF THE CHURCH, AND THE RULE OF FAITH.

1. THE papists judge it necessary to salvation to be subject to the pope as the one visible head of the Church.

But we read in Scripture that Christ is the Head of the Church, from whom the whole body is fitly joined together" (Col. ii, 19). The Scripture does not mention any visible head of the Church, much less does it mention the pope as such; and least of all does say that it is necessary to salvation to be subject to him.

it

2. The papists say, The pope is Christ's vicar, St. Peter's successor, and has the supreme power on earth over the whole Church. We answer, Christ gave no such power to St. Peter himself. He

gave no apostle pre-eminence over the rest. Yea, St. Paul was so far from acknowledging St. Peter's supremacy that he withstood him to the face (Gal. ii, 11), and asserted himself "not to be behind the chief of the apostles."

Neither is it certain that St. Peter was Bishop of Rome; no, nor that he ever was there.

But they say, "Is not Rome the mother, and therefore the mistress of all Churches?"

We answer, No. "The word of the Lord went forth from Jerusalem." There the Church began. She, therefore, not the Church of Rome, is the mother of all Churches.

The Church of Rome, therefore, has no right to require any person to believe what she teaches on her sole authority.

3. St. Paul says, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."

The Scripture, therefore, being delivered by men divinely inspired, is a rule sufficient of itself. So it neither needs nor is capable of any farther addition.

Yet the papists add tradition to Scripture, and require it to be received with equal veneration. By traditions they mean, "such points of faith and practice as have been delivered down in the Church from hand to hand without writing." And for many of these they have no more Scripture to show than the Pharisees had for their traditions.

4. The Church of Rome not only adds tradition to Scripture, but several entire books; namely, Tobit and Judith, the Book of Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, the two books of Maccabees, and a new part of Esther and of Daniel; "which whole books," says the Church of Rome, "whoever rejects, let him be accursed."

We answer, We cannot but reject them. We dare not receive them as part of the Holy Scriptures. For none of these books. were received as such by the Jewish Church, "to whom were committed the oracles of God" (Rom. iii, 2); neither by the ancient Christian Church, as appears from the sixtieth canon of the Council of Laodicea; wherein is a catalogue of the books of Scriptures without any mention of these.

5. As the Church of Rome, on the one hand, adds to the Scripture, so, on the other hand, she forbids the people to read them. Yea, they are forbid to read so much as a summary or historical compendium of them in their own tongue.

Nothing can be more inexcusable than this. Even under the

law the people had the Scriptures in a tongue vulgarly known; and they were not only permitted, but required, to read them; yea, to be constantly conversant therein (Deut. vi, 6, etc.). Agreeable to this, our Lord commands to search the Scriptures, and St. Paul directs that his epistle be read in all the churches (1 Thess. v, 27). Certainly this epistle was wrote in a tongue which all of them understood.

But they say, "If people in general were to read the Bible, it would do them more harm than good." Is it any honor to the Bible to speak thus? But supposing some did abuse it, is this any sufficient reason for forbidding others to use it? Surely, no. Even in the days of the apostles there were some "unstable and ignorant men," who wrested both Paul's epistles and the other Scriptures, "to their own destruction." But did any of the apostles, on this account, forbid other Christians to read them? You know they did not. They only cautioned them not to be "led away by the error of the wicked." And certainly the way to prevent this is not to keep the Scriptures from them (for "they were written for our learning"), but to exhort all to the diligent perusal of them, lest they should "err, not knowing the Scriptures."

6. "But seeing the Scripture may be misunderstood, how are we to judge of the sense of it? How can we know the sense of any Scripture, but from the sense of the Church?

We answer: (1) The Church of Rome is no more the Church in general than the Church of England is. It is only one particular branch of the catholic, or universal, Church of Christ, which is the whole body of believers in Christ scattered over the whole earth. (2) We therefore see no reason to refer any matter in dispute to the Church of Rome more than any other Church, especially as we know neither the bishop nor the Church of Rome

is

any more infallible than ourselves. (3) In all cases the Church is to be judged by the Scripture, not the Scripture by the Church. And Scripture is the best expounder of Scripture. The best way, therefore, to understand it is carefully to compare Scripture with Scripture, and thereby learn the true meaning of it.

SECTION II.

OF REPENTANCE AND OBedience.

1. The Church of Rome teaches that "the deepest repentance or contrition avails nothing without confession to a priest; but that, with this, attrition, or the fear of hell, is sufficient to reconcile us to God."