Quest. CXXXIV. What are the mischiefs of unlawful additions in religion?

7.

Answ. Alas! many and great. 1. They tend to dethrone Christ from his sovereignty, and legislative prerogative. 2. And to advance man, blind and sinful man into his place. 3. And thereby to debase religion, making it but a human or a mixed thing; (and it can be no more noble than its author is). 4. And thereby they debase also the church of God, and the government of it, while they make it to be but a human policy, and not Divine. 5. They tend to depose God from his authority in men's consciences, and to level or join him there but with man. 6. They tend to men's doubtfulness and uncertainty of their religion; seeing man is fallible, and so may his constitutions be. They tend to drive out all true religion from the world, while man that is so bad is the maker of it; and it may be suspected to be bad, that is made by so bad an author. 8. And it taketh off the fear of God, and his judgment; for it is man that must be feared, so far as man is the maker of the law. And it destroyeth the consolation of believers, which consisteth in the hopes of a reward from God; for he that serveth man, must be rewarded by man; and though they do not exclude God, but join him with themselves, yet this mixture debaseth and destroyeth religion, as the mixture of God and mammon in men's love, and as mixed and debased metals do the sovereign's coin. 9. It hardeneth infidels and hindereth their conversion; for they will reverence no more of our religion than we can prove to be Divine: and when they find one part of it to be human, they suspect the rest to be so to, and contemn it all; even as Protestants do Popery, for the abundance of human trinkets and toys with which we see them exercise, and delude their silly followers. 10. It is the great engine of dividing all the churches, and breeding and feeding contentions in the Christian world. 11. And because men that will command, will be obeyed, and they that are absolutely subjected to God, will obey none against him, whatever it cost them (as Dan. iii. vi. Heb. xi. Luke xiv. 26. 33. Matt. v. 10-12.) therefore it hath proved the occasion of bloody persecutions in the

churches, by which professed Christians draw the guilt of Christian blood upon themselves 12. And hereby it hath dolefully hindered the Gospel, while the persecutors have silenced many worthy, conscionable ministers of it. 13. And by this it hath quenched charity in the hearts of both sides, and taught the sufferers and the afflicters to be equally bitter in censuring if not detesting one another. 14. And the infidels seeing these dissensions and bitter passions among Christians, deride, and scorn, and hate them all. 15. Yea, such causes as these in the Latin and Greek churches have engaged not only emperors and princes against their own subjects, so that chronicles and books of martyrs perpetuate their dishonour, as Pilate's name is in the creed; but also have set them in bloody wars among themselves. These have been the fruits, and this is the tendency of usurping Christ's prerogative over his religion and worship in his church.

And the greatness of the sin appeareth in these aggravations. 1. It is a mark of pitiful ignorance and pride, when dust shall thus (like Nebuchadnezzar) exalt itself against God, to its certain infamy and abasement.

2. It sheweth that men little know themselves, that think themselves fit to be the makers of a religion for so many others; and that they have base thoughts of all other men, while they think them unfit to worship God any other way, than that of their making; and think that they will all so far deny God as to take up a religion that is made by

man.

3. It shews that they are much void of love to others, that can thus use them on so small occasion.

4. And it sheweth how little true sense or reverence of Christian religion they have themselves who can thus debase it, and equal their own inventions with it.

5. And it leaveth men utterly inexcusable, that will not take warning by so many hundred years' experiences of most of the churches through the world. Even when we see the yet continued divisions of the Eastern and Western churches, and all about a human religion (in the parts most contended about): when they read of the rivers of blood that have been shed in Piedmont, France, Germany, Belgia, Poland, Ireland, and the flames in England, and many other

nations, and all for the human parts of men's religion! He that will yet go on and take no warning, may go read the eighteenth and nineteenth of the Revelation, and see what joy will be in heaven and earth, when God shall do justice upon such.

But remember that I speak all this of no other than those expressly here described.

Quest. cxxxv. What are the mischiefs of men's error on the other extreme, who pretend that Scripture is a rule where it is not, and deny the aforesaid lawful things, on pretence that Scripture is a perfect rule (say some, for all things)?

Answ. 1. They fill their own minds with a multitude of causeless scruples, which on their principles can never be resolved, and so will give themselves no rest.

2. They make themselves a religion of their own, and superstition is their daily devotion; which being erroneous, will not hang together, but is full of contradictions in itself; and which being human and bad, can never give true stability to the soul.

3. Hereby they spend their days much in melancholy troubles, and unsettled, distracting doubts and fears; instead of the joys of solid faith, and hope, and love.

4. And if they escape this, their religion is contentious, wrangling, censorious, and factious, and their zeal flieth out against those that differ from their peculiar superstitions and conceits.

5. And hereupon they are usually mutable and unsettled in their religion; this year for one, and the next for another; because there is no certainty in their own inventions and conceits.

6. And hereupon they still fall into manifold parties, because each man maketh a religion to himself, by his misinterpretation of God's Word; so that there is no end of their divisions.

7. And they do a great deal of hurt in the church, by putting the same distracting and dividing conceits into the heads of others. And young Christians, and women, and ignorant, well meaning people, that are not able to know who is in the right, do often turn to that party which they

think most strict and godly, (though it be such as our Quakers). And the very good conceit of the people whom they take it from, doth settle so strong a prejudice in their mind, as no argument or evidence scarcely can work out; and so education, converse, and human estimation, breedeth a succession of dividers, and troublers of the churches.

8. They sin against God by calling good evil, and light darkness, and honouring superstition, which is the work of satan, with holy names,

9. They sin by adding to the Word of God; while they say of abundance of lawful things, This is unlawful, and that is against the Word of God,' and pretend that their 'Touch not, taste not, handle not,' is in the Scriptures. For while they make it a rule for every circumstance in particular, they must squeeze, and force, and wrest it, to find out all those circumstances in it which were never there; and so by false expositions make the Scriptures another thing.

10. And how great a sin is it to father satan's works on God, and to say that all these and these things are forbidden or commanded in the Scripture, and so to belie the Lord and the Word of truth,

11. It engageth all subjects against their ruler's laws and government, and involveth them in the sin of denying them just obedience; while all the statute book must be found in the Scriptures, or else condemned as unlawful.

12. It maintaineth disobedience in churches, and causeth schisms and confusions unavoidably; for they that will neither obey the pastors, nor join with the churches, till they can shew Scriptures particularly for every translation, method, metre, tune, and all that is done, must join with no churches in the world.

13. It bringeth rebellion and confusion into families, while children and servants must learn no catechism, hear no minister, give no account, observe no hours of prayer, nay, nor do any work, but what there is a particular Scripture for.

14. It sets men on enthusiastical expectations, and irrational, scandalous worshipping of God, while all men must avoid all those methods, phrases, books, helps, which are not expressly or particularly in Scripture, and men must

not use their own inventions, or prudence in the right ordering of the works of religion.

15. It destroyeth Christian love and concord, while men are taught to censure all others, that use any thing in God's worship which is not particularly in Scripture, and so to censure all true worshippers in the world.

16. Yea, it will tempt men at last to be weary of their own religion, because they will find it an unsatisfactory, uncomfortable, tiresome thing, to do their own superstitious work.

17. And they will tempt all that they draw into this opinion, to be weary of religion also. And truly had not God's part, which is wise, and good, and pleasant, prevailed against the hurtfulness of men's superstition, which is foolish, bad, and unpleasant, religion had ere this been cast off as a wearisome, distracting thing; or, which is as bad, been used but to delude men.

18. Yea, it will tempt men at last to infidelity; for satan will quickly teach them to argue, that if Scripture be a perfect, particular rule, for forty things that were never there, then it is defective, and is not of God, but an undertaking of that which is not performed, and therefore is but a deceit.

19. And the notoriousness and ridiculousness of this error, will tempt the profane to make religious people a

scorn.

20. Lastly, and rulers will be tempted in church and state, to take such persons for intolerable in all societies, and such whose principles are inconsistent with government. And no thanks to this opinion, if they be not tempted to dislike the Scripture itself, and instead of it to fly to the Papists' traditions, and the church's legislative sovereignty or

worse.

But here also remember that I charge none with all this, but those before described.

Quest. CXXXVI. How shall we know what parts of Scripture precept or example, were intended for universal, constant obligations, and what were but for the time and persons that they were then directed to?