Numb.IV. APPENDIX 7. They arenot agreed on any Form of. Do&rine to be a Tel} of their Agree- ment with other Churches with whom they will have Communion : If theyfay that the Scripture is that Tefì ; I anfwer, a General Belief that Scripture is the Word Of God, is neither fuficientto Salvation, nor to Communion : Many have this, who . deny the Effentials of Chriftianity : And an explicite Underftanding and Belief of every Text, no Man hash. Thoufands of Texts are not underftood by molt Chri- ftians or Teachers ; therefore there muti be force Colle&ion of the Effentials in a Creed, or elfe there can benocertain Notice whether fo much of Scripture Truth bg explicitely believed as is neceffary to Salvation. And if tingle Paftors require more, it mull be only in ,order to Growth and Edification, and not as a neceffary Qualification for Memberfhip, or Communion of Churches, I have great Carle to know what I fay of them. AParliament once chofe Four- teen Minifters to drawup the FundamentalsofReligion, as a Tell of fuch as were to be tollerated in Wnion: There were Dr. :Owen, Mr. Nye, Dr. Thomas Goodwin, Mr. SydrakSympfon, Dr. Cbejssel, and others: BithopUlber was chofen, and refufed; and I was chofen in his ftead : Before I came they had drawn up Fourteenor Fif- teen Articlesall innew Terms of their' own, and force neither Efféntial, nor true t I told themthat we were not to make a new Chriftianity or Creed, but muffOwn that which the Chriftian Church was known by in all Ages c But I could not be heard, though Mr. Vivesand Mr. Manton joined with me. At laft they wrote this for a Fundamental ; [That they that allowed tbemfelvesor others in 'any known Sin, can- not be fared.] I told them that thought could notbe heard by them, I durit fay, that I would make them prefently bloc it out. They bid me, do it if I could. I laid, [The Parliament taketh Independency, Separation, Anabaptiilry, and Antinsmianifm for Sin: And they will fay, Tbefe Divines pronounce as all Damned if we odour them.] They laid not a Word, but threw away their Fundamental. The ref's of them theyprinted : But the Parliament were glad with Glence to pats by all their Works, and take no notice of it, left it should be a publick Reproach that wecould not agree on the Fundamentals. And Ì am glad that I hindered filch an Agreement as'they would havemade, instead of. the old-Creeds which theywould not reft in. And can fuch Churches beof any known Confrltency or Concord? If you join with them, how know you what Religion theyare of? Or how know they what other particular Churches are in their Communion ? (for I hope they hold a Communi- on of Churches.) . Arrians and Socinians fay they believe'the Scripture: No Man underftandeth all the Scripture: The neceffary feleeted Articles they have no known Agreement in : If they fay that theyown the fame Creed that we do, why then do they not oie it as theTell of Chriftian Profeliìon, but inftead of it leave everyPallor to make one inTerms that is only his, and no two Churches have the fame: To agree in Independency or Separation, is not to agree in Chriftianity : There are abundance ofBookswritten for very false Doetrines by men called Inde- pendents (it's odious to name them.) Are all the Author of their Communion or not? The Affembly could never get them to tell whom they would take to be of their Communion, and whom not. 8. Therefore theirChurchesarenot compaginasenor confederate fo as the Mem- bers of our Body should be, and as Scripture- Churches were, and as Chrift would have had the jewtfhNational Church to, be. 9. They have no Certainty and Concord in their Cbureb.Wer(hip, which they have little more than fuch Preaching and Praying, which cannot be known for true or. fall, [sand or unfound till theWords are pall: And it may juftly be expeeted that Separatifts, Antinomians Anabaptifts, Socinians, and all erroneous Men lhould put their Errors into their Sermonsand Prayers, and finfully father them all on God: And fo all God's Worlhip mutt be contivally uncertain to the Flocks.i and of as many different Strains as the Preachers differ in Parts and Wifdom : And it mull be low, and poor, and coufufed, wherever the Minifters are young, raw, erroneous Or ignorant. They once ,met at theSavoy, anddrew up an Agreement of many Pallors ; But in that they differ from many other Churches called Independents, and from the Anabaptifts. And they exprefly concradi& the Scripture, r. In laying that [we have no Rigbteonfnefs but Chrìfl's which is imputed to us] when as Scripture many Hundred times mentioneth alto another perfonal, inherent; or ailed Righteoufnels. K z 2, They 75
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