Owen - BS2775 O8 1668

Opinionof theletri rxhi#ut t rTraditions. Faff onthefeventh ofAb. or July; various Mixtures,and WaJhings ofbands ; things plainly of that nature which our Lord Jefus condemned amongft them. And it is ob- fervablehow he frees them'from tranfgrefling7thatPrecept, Deut.ra.3 i.Thou /halt not add untathis word, by; this Conftitution.' n11is 1td any nttop7 113 'rt pi }15Jr: rtes "n1 "1D1r;- p ä724 ernnit `71.7 jt I 1+1t p ricti nnnyl ntnc. Frr, faith he they fay notthat the holy blepèd God bath commanded,thefe things, that there Jbould be filch Mixtures, thatthe Book ofEitherJbould be read with falling; for if' they Jhoitd fay fo, they fhoiddadd to the Law ; butthus wepeak, faith and 'itch a Prophet or t Coefsto- ry, commanded and appointed, that the Book ofEither Jbould be read with faffino to cele- brate the Glory of the HolyBlefdGod in our Deliverance, and fo of therefl. It feems then they may addwhat they will of their own, fo they entitle notthe Name of God to their Inventions ; by which means they have fet themfelves at liberty to multiplyfu- perJfitiousObfervations at their pleafure, which they had aáually done in the dayes ofourSaviour, and therebymade the'Law ofGod of none In all theft things are they followed and imitated by the Romaniffs. In the fame manner do they lay up theflock of their Traditions. In general they make theChurch the repofitory of them,although they do not fo diftinéfly explain the way'and means whereby they were committed thereuntoas thePews do. Unto the Sanhedrim, Conn- 'cat are fucceeded in the fame Office. But their Nature, work, Authority, Aflifance, and Ufe, are fo varioufly diputed amongstthem, that nothingof certainty from them, or by them tingly confidered is to be obtained. It is the High PrieJf, or Pope that is thePrincipal Confervator of thisSacreeITreafuryof Traditions ; Upon their Succeffi- on doth thecertainty Of them depend. And whileft there isa Pope at Rome, the know- ledge of the new OraliLaw will not fail, as the Oldone did not whileft the Jews had an High PrieJf, though in thepurfuit of it theyCrucified the McJab, and continue to reject him unto this day. Betides, like the Jews, they content not themfelves with What they pretend to beof antient Tradition, but affume a Power of making new Conffitutionrin the things of God ; whereby they would have us to think they donot violate the prohibitions of adding, becaufe they afcribe them not unto the Word of God but to the Authority of the prefent Church. Thus far therefore they are fully agreed. . Thirdly, The 7ews in favour andunto the Honourof thethTraditions, affirm that the written Wordwithout them is imperfect, and not to be underftood, but as it is inter- pretedby them. This they are conitant'unto, andearneftty contend for. Aben Ezra in his Preface to the Law, difcourfeth at large offive feveral wayes of the Interpretati- on of it, but concludes at loft that the whole written Lacy ofMotet is founded on the Orall ; tin faith he, 7th tmmu rU1 W no 7ynw r11m 79 moo -pow I ? l 7, and this is a frgn unto us, that the Law of Mofes is founded on the Oral! Law, whirls' is the joy ofour hearts; fo apt are they to rejoyce in a thing of nought. To the fame purpofe are the. words of another Famous Maffer among(} them ; Rabbi Lechal sn Cad. Hakkemach. ]maw rm 4Dato r1n rent n-nn p'y 9ÿles r im'yar t7 1Aan74 11717,. TheOrali Law is the Foundation of the written, nor. can the Written Law be expounded but by theOral. By this being the Foundationof the Written Law, they intend that the fenfe of it, is fo enwrapped and contained therein, that without the Explicationsthereof it cannot be underftood. And to thisEnd Manaf one of their late Matters, exprefly d,pputes that in many things it isdefeïtive, and infome things redundant, fo that it is noT.able togive usia full andclear direction in the things of God, without their Traditional Explications ; and in the confirmationofhis opinion, he inflanceth in fundry Precepts andProhibitions, that he would provefo obfcure, as that noObedience can be yielded unto them in a due manner without the help ofthe Cabala; which.becaufe for the moil part his Exceptions from them areChildifhCavils, and have been anfwered by others, thall behere paffedover. This they are arrived unto ; this is the common perfwafion of them all, andwe [hall yet hear, what farthtrProgrefs they have made. And herein are they imitated by their Succefrs. Their OraliLaw alto is made by them the foundation of theWritten. As thofe Hereticks ofold,who having gotfomé SophifficalCavils about, Evil, where ever they met with any one not of their mind, they prefently fell upon himwith their Vnde malu,n ; whence had evil its Original; fo thinking to bring them to the ac- knowledgement of two fupream Principlesof things, a good one, anda bad one. Thus for the moil part the firft Question ofa Romankt is, How do' you know the Scri- ptures 65:

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