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fift in practice, and that the knowledge of his do&rine, without the real effects of it upon our lives, will bring no man to heaven. In the beginning of this chapter, our great Lord and Mafter, to teftify his love to his difciples, and to give them a lively inftance and example of that great virtue of humility, is pleased to condefcend to a very low and mean office, fuch as was ufed to be performed by fervants to their masters, and not by the mafter to his fervants; namely, to wash their feet; and when he had done this, he asks them if they did understand the meaning of this strange action. Know ye what 1 have done unto you? Ye call me Mafter and Lord, and ye fay well, for so I am: If I then your Lord and Mafter have washed your feet, ye ought also to wash one anothers feet; for I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you, rily, verily, I fay unto you, the fervant is not greater than the Lord, neither he that is fent, greater than he that fent him; if ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. As if he had faid, This which I have now done, is easy to be understood, and fo likewise are all those other Christian graces and virtues, which I have heretofore by my doctrine and example recommended to you; but it is not enough to know thefe things, but ye muft likewife do them. The end and the life of all our knowledge in religion, is to put in practice what we know. It is neceffary indeed that we should know our duty, but knowledge alone will never bring us to that happinefs, which religion defigns to make us partakers of, if our knowledge have not its due and proper influence upon our lives. Nay, fo far will our knowledge be from making us happy, if it be feparated from the virtues of a good life, that it will prove one of the heaviest aggravations of our mifery; and it is as if he had faid, if ye know these things, wo be unto you, if ye do them not.

From these words then, I fhall obferve these three things, which I fhall fpeak but briefly to:

First, That the knowledge of God's will, and our duty, is neceffary to the practice of it; if ye know

thefe

these things, which fuppofeth that we must know our duty, before we can do it.

Secondly, That the knowledge of our duty, and the practice of it, may be, and too often are separated. This likewife the text fuppofeth, that men may know their duty, and yet not do it; and that this is very frequent, which is the reason why our Saviour gives this caution.

Thirdly, That the practice of religion, and the doing of what we know to be our duty, is the only way to happiness; if ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. I begin with the

Firft of thefe, namely, That the knowledge of God's will and our duty, is neceffary in order to the praatice of it. The truth of this propofition is fo clear and evident at first view, that nothing can obfcure it, and bring it in queftion, but to endeavour to prove it; and therefore instead of spending time in that, I fhall take occafion from it justly to reprove that pre pofterous courfe which is taken, and openly avowed and juftified by fome, as the fafeft and best way to make men religious, and to bring them to happi nefs; namely, by taking away from them the means of knowledge, as if the best way to bring men to do the will of God, were to keep them from knowing it. For what else can be the meaning of that maxim fo current in the church of Rome, that ignorance is the mother of devotion? or of that ftrange and injurious practice of theirs, of locking up from the people that great ftore-house and treafury of divine knowlege, the holy fcriptures, in an unknown tongue ? e?

I know very well, that in juftification of this hard ufage of their people it is pretended, that knowledge is apt to puff men up, to make them proud and con tentious, refractory and difobedient, and heretical, and what not? and particularly, that the free and familiar ufe of the holy fcriptures permitted to the people, hath miniftred occafion to the people of falling into great and dangerous errors, and of making great difturbance and divisions among Christians. For an

fwer

fwer to this pretence, I defire thefe four or five things may be confidered:

First, That unless this be the natural and neceffary effect of knowledge in religion, and of the free ufe of the holy fcriptures, there is no force in this reafon; and if this be the proper and natural effect of this knowledge, then this reafon will reach a great way farther, than those who make use of it are wil ling it should.

Secondly, That this is not the natural and neceffary effect of knowledge in religion, but only accidental, and proceeding from mens abuse of it; for which the thing itself is not to be taken away.

Thirdly, That the proper and natural effects and confequences of ignorance, are equally pernicious, and much more certain and unavoidable, than those which are accidentally occafioned by knowledge.

Fourthly, That if this reafon be good, it is much ftronger for withholding the fcriptures from the Priests and the learned, than from the people.

Fifthly, That this danger was as great, and as well known in the Apostles times, and yet they took a quite contrary course,

First, I defire it may be confidered, that unless this be the natural and neceffary effect of knowledge in religion, and of the free use of the holy fcriptures, there is no force in this reafon; for that which is ne ceffary, or highly ufeful, ought not to be taken away, because it is liable to be perverted, and abused to ill purposes. If it ought, then not only knowledge in religion, but all other knowledge ought to be retrained and fuppreffed; for all knowledge is apt to puff up, and liable to be abused to many ill purpofes. At this rate, light, and liberty, and reafon, yea and life itself, ought all to be taken away, be caufe they are all greatly abufed by many men, to fome ill purpofes or other; fo that unless thefe ill ef fects do naturally and neceflarily fpring from know. ledge in religion, the objection from them is of no force; and if they do neceffarily flow from it, then this reafon will reach a great way farther than those that make use of it are willing it should; for if this

be

be true, that the knowledge of religion, as it is revealed in the holy fcriptures, is of its own nature so pernicious, as to make men proud and contentious, and heretical, and disobedient to authority, then the blame of all this would fall upon our bleffed Saviour, for revealing fo pernicious a doctrine, and upon his Apostles for publishing this doctrine in a known tongue to all mankind, and thereby laying the foundation of perpetual fchifms and herefies in the

church.

Secondly, But this is not the natural and neceffary effect of knowledge in religion, but only accidental, and proceeding from mens abuse of it, for which the thing itself ought not to be taken away. And thus much certainly they will grant, because it cannot with any face be denied; and if fo, then the means of knowledge are not to be denied, but only men are to be cautioned not to pervert and abufe them. And if any man abuse the holy fcriptures, to the patronizing of error or herefy, or to any o ther bad purpose, he does it on his peril, and must give an account to God for it, but ought not to be deprived of the means of knowledge, for fear he fhould make an ill ufe of them. We must not hinder men from being Christians, to preserve them from being Hereticks, and put out mens eyes for fear they fhould fome time or other take upon them to difpute their way with their guides.

I remember that St. Paul, 1 Cor. viii. 1. takes notice of this accidental inconvenience of knowledge, that it puffeth up, and that this pride occafioned great contentions and divifions among them; but the remedy which he prefcribes against this mifchief of knowledge, is not to withhold from men the means of it, and to celebrate the service of God, the prayers of the church, and the reading of the fcripture in an unknown tongue, but quite contrary, chap. xiv. of that epiftle, he ftrictly enjoins, that the fervice of God in the church be fo performed, as may be for the edification of the people; which he fays cannot be, if it be celebrated in an unknown tongue; and the remedy he prefcribes

fcribes against the accidental mifchief and inconvenience of knowledge, is not ignorance, but charity, to govern their knowledge, and to help them to make a right ufe of it; ver. 20 of that chap. after he had declared that the fervice of God ought to be performed in a known tongue, he immediately adds, Brethren, be not children in understanding, howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be ye men. He commends knowledge, he encourageth it, he requires it of all Chriftians; fo far is he from checking the purfuit of it, and depriving the people of the means of it. And indeed there is nothing in the Christian religion, but what is fit for every man to know, because there is nothing in it, but what is defigned to promote holiness and a good life; and if men make any other ufe of their knowledge, it is their own fault, for it certainly tends to make men good; and being fo useful and neceffary to fo good a purpofe, men ought not to be debarred of it.

Thirdly, Let it be confidered, that the proper and natural effects and confequences of ignorance are equally pernicious, and much more certain and unavoidable, than thofe which are accidentally occafioned by knowledge; for fo far as a man is ignorant of his duty, it is impoffible he fhould do it. He that hath the knowledge of religion, may be a bad Chriftian, but he that is deftitute of it,. can be none at all. Or if ignorance do beget and promote fome kind of devotion in men, it is fuch a devotion as is not properly religion, but fuperftition; the ignorant man may be zealously fuperftitious, but without fome meafure of knowledge no man can be truly religious. That the foul be without knowledge it is not good, fays Solomon, Prov. xix. 2. becaufe, good practices depend upon our knowledge, and must be directed by it; when as a man that is trained up only to the outward performance of fome things in religion, as to the faying over fo many prayers in an unknown tongue, this man cannot be truly religious, because nothing is religious that is not a reasonable fervice and no fervice can be reasonable, that is not directed by our understandings. Indeed, if the end of VOL. V.

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