4. That as more articles are necessary to those that have the Gospel, than to those that have it not, and to those since Christ's incarnation that hear of him, than to the Jews before, so before, there were more things necessary even to those Jews (that had a shorter creed than that which the apostles believed before the resurrection) than was to the rest of the world that had not promises, prophecies, types and laws, so particular, distinct and full as they had ".

5. That the promises, covenant or law of grace was made to all lapsed mankind in Adam and Noah ".

6. That this law or covenant is still of the same tenor, and not repealed i.

7. That this covenant giveth pardoning mercy, and salvation, and promiseth victory over satan, to and by the holy seed k.

8. That the condition on man's part, is repentance, and faith in God as a merciful God thus pardoning sin, and saving the penitent believer. But just how particular or distinct their belief of the incarnation of Christ was to be, is hard to determine 1.

9. But after Christ's incarnation, even they that know it not, yet are not by the first covenant bound to believe that the Messiah is yet to be incarnate, or the Word made flesh; for they are not bound to believe an untruth, and that as the condition of salvation "

10. Men were saved by Christ about four thousand years before he was man, and had suffered, satisfied or merited as

man.

11. The whole course of God's actual providence since the fall, hath so filled the world with mercies contrary to man's demerit, that it is an actual universal proclamation of the pardoning law of grace; which is thereby now become even the law of nature, that is, of lapsed, pardoned nature, as the first was the natural law of innocence".

8 Rom. ii. 12. 14. 26. Luke xii. 47, 48. xvi. 10.

Rom. ii. 4. Luke xiii. 3. 5. Acts x. 35. John iii. 19-21.

Jonah ibid. m 1 John iv. 2, 3. 1 Tim. iii. 16. n Rom. i.20, 21. Acts xiv. 17. Rom. ii. 15, 16. 20-24. Exod. xxxiv. 6. Jer. iii. 12. John iv. 2.

Psal. xix. 1-3. Prov. i. Luke vi. 36. xviii. 13.

12. Christ giveth a great deal of mercy to them that never heard of him or know him: and he giveth far more mercy to believers, than they have a particular knowledge or belief of°.

13. There is no salvation but by Christ the Saviour of the world; though there be more mercy from Christ, than there is faith in Christ P.

14. No man could ever be saved without believing in God as a merciful, pardoning, saving God, though many have been saved who knew not the person of Christ, determinately. For he that cometh to God must believe that God is, and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him; who is no respecter of persons, but in every nation, he that feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted of him 9.

15. All nations on earth that have not the Gospel, are obliged by God to the use of certain means, and improvement of certain mercies, in order or tendency to their salvation. And it is their sin if they use them not',

16. God hath appointed no means in vain, which men must either not use, or use despairingly. But his command to use any means for any end, containeth (though not an explicit promise, yet) great and comfortable encouragement to use that means in hopes.

17. Therefore the world is now in comparison of the Catholic church, much like what it was before Christ's incarnation in comparison of the Jews' church; who yet had many ways great advantage, though God was not the God of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles, who had a law written on their hearts, and an accusing or excusing conscience.

18. Those over-doing divines who pretend to be certain, that all the world are damned that are not Christians, do add to God's Word, and are great agents for satan to tempt men to infidelity, and to atheism itself, and to dissuade man

• Psal. cxlv. 9.

P Acts iv. 12.

q Heb. xi. 6.

r Acts xiv. 17.

Iv. 6, 7.

1 Tim. iv. 10. Rom. x. 20.

John xiv. 6.

Acts x. 35. 2 Thess. i. 11, 12. Jer. x. 25. Rom. x. 12-15. xvii. 27-30. Rom. i. 19-22. ii. 4. 7. 10. 14, 15. Isa.

s Jonah iv. 2. iii. 10. Acts x. 35. Mal.iii. 14. Isa. xlv. 19. Deut. xxxii. 47. Mal. i. 10. Prov. i. 22-24. Gen. iv. 7. Rom. ii. iii.

kind from discerning the infinite goodness of God; and occasion many to deny the immortality of the soul, rather than they will believe, that five parts in six of the world now, and almost all before Christ's incarnation, have immortal souls purposely created in them, to be damned without any propounded means and possibility-natural of remedy; and as I know they will pour out their bitter censure on these lines (which I could avoid if I regarded it more than truth) so with what measure they mete, it shall be measured to them: and others will damn them as confidently as they damn almost all the world: and I will be bold to censure that they are Undoers of the church by Over-doing. See more in my "Vindication of God's Goodness."

Quest. CLVIII. Should not Christians take up with Scripturewisdom only, without studying philosophy and other heathens' human learning?

Answ. I have already proved the usefulness of common knowledge called human learning, by twenty reasons in my book called "The Unreasonableness of Infidelity," Part ii. sect. 23. p. 163. to which I refer the reader: and only say now, 1. Grace presupposeth nature; we are men in order of nature at least before we are saints, and reason is before supernatural revelation. 2. Common knowledge therefore is subservient unto faith: we must know the Creator and his works; and the Redeemer restoreth us to the due knowledge of the Creator: human learning in the sense in question is also Divine, God is the author of the light of nature, as well as of grace. We have more than heathens, but must not therefore have less, and cast away the good that is common to them and us; else we must not have souls, bodies, reason, health, time, meat, drink, clothes, &c., because heathens have them. God's works are honourable, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein; and physical philosophy is nothing but the knowledge of God's works. 3. And the knowledge of languages is necessary both for human converse, and for the understanding the Scriptures themselves. The Scriptures contain not a Greek and Hebrew grammar to understand the languages in which they are written, but suppose us otherwise taught those tongues

that we may interpret them. 4. The use of the Gospel is not to teach us all things needful to be known, but to teach us, on supposition of our common knowledge, how to advance higher to supernatural saving knowledge, faith, love and practice. Scripture telleth us not how to build a house, to plough, sow, weave, or make our works of art. Every one that learneth his country tongue of his parents hath human learning of the same sort with the learning of Greek and Hebrew: he that learneth not to read, cannot read the Bible. And he that understandeth it not in the original tongues, must trust other men's words that have human learning, or else remain a stranger to it.

But though none but proud fools will deny the need of that human learning which improveth nature, and is subservient to our knowledge of supernatural revelations, yet well doth Paul admonish us, to take heed that none deceive us by vain philosophy, and saith that the wisdom of the world is foolishness with God, and that the knowledge of Christ crucified is the true Christian philosophy or wisdom. For indeed the dark philosophers groping after the knowledge of God, did frequently stumble, and did introduce abundance of logical and physical vanities, uncertainties and falsities, under the name of philosophy, by mere niceties and high pretendings, seeking for the glory of wisdom to themselves; when as it is one thing to know God's works and God in them, and another thing to compose a system of physics and metaphysics containing abundance of errors and confusion, and jumbling a few certainties with a great many uncertainties and untruths, and every sect pulling down what others asserted, and all of them disproving the methods and assertions of others, and none proving their own. And the truth is, after all latter discoveries, there is yet so much error, darkness, uncertainty and confusion in the philosophy of every pretending sect, (the Peripatetics, the Stoics, the Pythagoreans and Platonists, much more the Epicureans, the Lullianists, the Cartesians, Telesius,

t Prov. ii-vi. Psal. xcii. 5, 6. civ. 24, 25. cxiii. 5, 6. cvii. 8. 15. 21. lxvi. 3, 4. cxi. 2-6. cxlv. 7-11. 17-19. Acts ii. 6-9. xxi. 40. xxiv. 2. 1 Cor. xiv. 2. 4. 9. 13, 14. 19. 26, 27. Rev. ix. 11. xiv. 16. v. 9. Psal. xix. 1-3. xciv. 10. cxxxix. 6. Prov. ii. 1-4. 8-10. 12. 1 Cor. xv. 34. Prov. xix. 2. Job xxxii. 8. xxxviii. 36. Yet I refer the reader to my. "Treatise of Knowledge," which sheweth the vanity of pretended learning.

Campanella, Patricius, Gassendus, &c.) that it is a wonder that any that ever thoroughly tried them, can be so weak as to glory much of the certainties and methods of any, which hitherto are so palpably uncertain, and full of certain errors. We may therefore make use of all true human learning, real and organical, (and he is the happy scholar who fasteneth upon the Certain and Useful parts well distinguished from the rest, and truly useth them to their great and proper ends): but niceties and fooleries which some spend their lives in for mere ostentation, and also uncertain presumptions, should be much neglected; and the great, certain, necessary, saving verities of morality and the Gospel must be dearly loved, and thankfully embraced, and studiously learned, and faithfully practised, by all that would prove wise men at last ".

Quest. CLIX. If we think that Scripture and the law of nature do in any point contradict each other, which may be the standard by which the other must be tried?

Answ. 1. It is certain that they never do contradict each other: 2. The law of nature is either that which is very clear by natural evidence, or that which is dark (as degrees of consanguinity unfit for marriage, the evil of officious lies, &c.). 3. The Scriptures also have their plain and their obscurer parts. 4. A dark Scripture is not to be expounded contrary to a plain, natural verity. 5. A dark and doubtful point in nature is not to be expounded contrary to a plain and certain Scripture. 6. To suppose that there be an apparent contradiction in cases of equal clearness or doubtfulness, is a case not to be supposed; but he that should have such a dream, must do as he would do if he thought two texts to be contradictory, that is, he must better study till he doth see his error; still remembering that natural evidence hath this advantage, that it is, 1. First in order,

u Col. ii. 8, 9. 23. I Cor. ii. 1. 4-6. 13. iii. 19. 2 Cor. i. 12. Job xxviii. 28. Prov. i. 7. ix. 10. John xvii. 3. Gal. iv. 9. Eph. iii. 10. 1 Joba i. 13, 14. Col. i. 9. 27, 28. Eph. vi. 19. 1 Cor. ii, 11. Col. iii. 16. Acts xvii. 18, 19. &c. Eph.iv. 18, 19. Hos. iv. 1. vi. 6. Psal. cxix. 99. 2 Pet. iii. 18. i. 3. 5. 8. Col. ii. 3. iii. 10. Phil. iii. 8. Eph. iii. 19. i. 17. Rom. i. 20, 21. Eccl. i. 16-18. 1 Cor. viii. 1. 11. xiii. 2-4. 8. Rom. ii. 20. James iii. 13, 14. 17. Jer. iv. 22.

1 Cor. viii. 2.