HoJV to knotv Effentials ·ca/l'd Ftmdamentals. ------------------- ~tefl:. 1;8. Hrnv may tve knotv t/,e Fwtdamentals, Effentials, or tvbat parts are neceffary to Salvation! .And _is the Papifts tvay allomable tbat ( fome of tbem) deny tiJat .diftmElton, and make the dijfereuce ta be only m the degrees of wens opportunities of knotvledge ! . An[w. I• THofe Papif\s pcrverfenefs can mean no better than that Chri/li.aniry ir felf is not 11e~ crff,;ry to falvarion, to thofe th"at luve not opportunicy to know ir ( As Jolmfons Rc– joynd. to me, and San{]aClara and ~any others pl..inly inmnatr: ) A~d "':'ere that never fo true and ccrrain, ir were norhing to the qucfuon between them and us, wh1ch IS, What are the Effin– tials of ChrijiiaJJity l And what is ncccffary ro falvation, where Chrjjiia:nity is necetfary? or where the ChriHian Religion is made known~ and men may come to tbe knowledge: of it, if they will do their bcH? This is rhc true fhte of our Controverfie wirh them. And whereas they would m•ke all the •pares of Chrifl:ian faith and praCtice equally necdfuy, where men have a f:ap1ciry and ability to know, believe and prattife rhcm, lr is a grofs deceit, unworthy of men pretending to a mediocrity of kno\Vw ledge in rhe nature of Religion: And there~y they make all fins and errors as tqual as all dutieJ :itid truthJ. whereas •· There is no man that hath not fornc error and fame fin. 2· The.re is no man !j~c~ t : ir. rhat doth all that evc:r he was able to do, to underft.md all rhe twth. 3· Therefore there -is no man whofe errors thcmfdves are not ( many of them at leaf\ ) culpable or linful. 4· And they th1t diftinguifh between Mortal and Ve11ial fins, and yet will not difiinguith betweenMtJrtal and Veniul Er4 ro'rJ, arc either blind, or wpu1d keep others blind. As it is nor fo damning a tin for a man to think a vain thought, or ro fpeak a vain word, as not to Love God, or Holincfs, (no though he was more able to have forborn that i'dle word, than tohave Loved Go~:) So it is nbt fo morra1 a fin, (that is, incontifient with a jullified Hate) to mifia!ie in a ftnall matter, (as who was the Farher of .ittphaxad, or what yeu the worli! was drowned in, &c.) as to blafpheme the Holy Ghofi, or deny Jefus Chrilt w be the Saviour of the world, or to deny th~t there is a God, or cvedJfiing Jiff, .or a diffc:rence between Good and Evil. All jiiJI are not equal in magnitude or danger. Therefore all errorr arc not equal in magnitude finfulntfs or dangrr. 2· And what Prietl is able to know whom to take for a Chrillian and baptizable upon fuch terms as thefe. who knoWerh jufi what opportunities of knowledge other men,have had? and Ythac impedi– ments ? And will they indeedbaptize a m;~;t that is a Heathen, bccaufe he had not opportunity ro come to the knowledge of Chritlianity' I think they will not: Or will they deny B•ptifm to one that knoweth and believeth only all the Articles of the Creed, and the chief points ol Religion, be– caufc he knowerh nOt as much more, as he had opportunity to know ? I think not. Do not thefe men perceive how they condemn thernfclves? For do they not fay thcrnf<::lves, that Baptifm to the due receiver wa{heth away fin, and puts the perfon in a Hate of life ? 0 when will God deliver his poor Church from factious deceivers ? 3· Either Cbriftianily is[omething, and difcernable, or nothing, and Jmdi{ccrnab/e? If the latter, then Chrifiians are not to be dif\inguifhcd from Heathens and lntidel5. If the: tOrmer, then Chrifiianiry hath its Conjiiwtive parts, by which it is what it is. And then ir bath effential par'ts difiinguilhablc: from the rdt . 4· The word Fundamentals being but a MetaphOr, liath given rooril todccei.vcrs and tontenderS to make a Conrroverfie, and raife a dufi about it. Therefore I purpoft!y ufe the word [ Effemi.JlJ J which is not Co Jyablc ro mens Cavils. 5• Thofe arc the Ef{tntia/! ofChriftianity, which are necdfuy to the Btpti(m of the Adult. Know bur that, and you anfwc:r all the pratings Of the Papifis, that Uawle out for a lijl of Fundamenta/ 1 • And fure it j; not this day unknown in the ChriHian world, either What a Chrijii.Jn if, or who iJ to be b:zptized: Do nor the Priefis know it, who baptize all that arc Chriflmed in the world? And why is Baptifm called our Chrijlening, if it make us nor Chrillians 1_ And why hath Chritl promifed, that He that believetiJ and i1 baptized, g,.,U be faved, Mark 16. 16. 1£ that fo much faith as is nccdl'4ry to baptifm, wiJI nm alfo ferve to a mans !hte of falvation ? 6. The Baptifmal Cuvmant ofGrace therefore is the Effcntial part of the Gofpel, and of theChtijliJ;, Rtligion: And all the rcH arc the lnttgrals, and Accidents, or Adjuncts. 7· This Covenant containeth, I. Objectively, '· Thingr True as fuch, 2· Thing! Good as fuch, 3· Tbingr PrrHJicable or to be done, as fuch: The Credenda, Diligenda, ( & Eligend•) & Agwd•; as the objects of mtns btteUefl, WiU, and Prallical power. The Crtdenda or things to be l(,nown and believtd are, 1. God as God, and our God and Fathrr, 2. ChriH as the Saviour and our Saviour, 3• The Holy Ghoft as {uch, and as the S.:mC:tifier a:nd our San– C\'itier (as to the offer of thefe Relations in the Covenant). The Dilit!,tnda are the fame: three pcrfons in thefe three Relations as Go11d in rhcmfell/cs and unto us, which includeth the: gn.nd benefiu, ofReconciliation and Adoption, juflification, and s.~nctificalion, and Sa.lvation. -- The
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