When christianity is countenanced by the civil power, and thereby gains protection against outward violence from its ancient enemies, it lofes much

being but newly adopted into the chriftian church: yet they were willing to appear in its behalf, to defend it as well as they could, which was accepted by Heaven.' Edwards's Patrologia, p. 57. 'Let me not be cenfured, though I should be fo bold as to fay, that we fhould have understood the fcriptures much better, if we had not had the writings of the fathers; for they have obfcured and depraved them by their different and contrary comments; they have raised controverfies, they have taught men to quarrel and dispute about the sense of many texts, which otherwife are obvious, and about feveral matters of practice, which are evident enough in themselves, fome of which are fuperftitious, &c. ib. p. 135. I could here also take notice, how the writings of the fathers do generally juftify thofe rites, ufages, and ceremonies, which were preparatives to popery. For my part, I have been afhamed to fee how fome men fweat to anfwer feveral places in the ancient fathers' works, which the papifts alledge in defence of their ceremonies and fuperftitious obfervances." Id. Free Difc, on Tr. and Err. p. 234.

'Nor is there any one christian church n the world, that at this time doth believe all that the fathers did believe and teach in their time, even in those things in which they did not contradict each other: nor is it the worfe for not doing fo: nor is there any one church in the christian world, that at this day doth enjoin and obferve all or the greater part of what was enjoined and practifed in the primitive church. And therefore it is very little better than bypocrify, to pretend that fubmiffion and refignation to the ancient fathers, and to the primitive practice; when they very well know that the learning and industry of pious men who fucceeded the fathers, and the great skill in languages which they have arrived to, together with the affiftance they have received from them, have difcovered much which was not known to them, and made other interpretation of fcripture, than was agreeable with their conceptions: and that the difference of times, the alterations of climates, the nature and humour of nations and people, have introduced many things which were not, and altered other things which were, in the practice of the primitive church, and obferved in the primitive times. And we have no reason to believe that fuch introductions or alterations are unacceptable to God Almighty, or that he ever meant to limit pofterity when his church fhould be propagated and spread over the face of the earth, to obferve all that was at first practised when all the chriftians in the world might have been contained in two or three great cities. And we may piously believe that our Saviour himself and his apostles, who knew well how far the church in time would be extended, would not have reduced the chriftian faith and doctrine into fo little room, and left fo little direction for the government L 4 thereof,

much of its internal purity, and fuffers many ways by the connection with its new friends: as foon

thereof, if they had either expected fuch a union of opinion and judgment in all propofitions which might arife, or be drawn from the former, as fome men fancy to be neceffary; or if they had not intended or foreseen, that in the latter, very many things would depend upon the wisdom and discretion of chriftian princes; who, according to the customs and manners of the nations where chriftianity thould be planted, would eftablish and alter many things, as they faw from time to time like to advance, and contribute to the growth and practice thereof.'

But what then? fhall antiquity be defpifed by us, and the great fearning and piety of the firft lights, the reverend fathers of the church, be undervalued, and their judgment looked upon without reverence? God forbid. We refort to antiquity as the best evidence of what was then done, and think we have the fame liberty in the perufal of the monuments thereof, thofe conduits which convey to us the information of what was then done, as in other hiftory, which, it may be, hath been tranfmitted with more care and exactnefs; to confider the improbability of this matter of fact, and fo doubt the veracity of it; the prudence and fitnefs of another, and think it might have been better done. And fo we look upon the fathers, and what they faid, and what they did, with full reverence, though not with full refignation; we admire their learning and their piety, and wonder how they arrived at either, in times of fo much barbarity and ignorance, in thofe places where they lived: and thank God for enlightening them to give teftimony for him in thofe ages of darknefs and infidelity, and for the inftruction and information that we have received from them; and our reverence is the greater to them, for having feen fo much in fo great darkness; and yet we cannot but think that darkness hindered them from feeing all. And when we confider the faction and distemper of the times they lived in, we may, without leffening the estimation we have for them, believe that that diffemper and faction might have fome influence upon them, and mislead them in fome particulars: And when they fo often contradict one another in many things, and many of them themfelves in fome, it cannot be reasonable to oblige us to fubmit in all things to which they all confent, if our reafon makes it manifeft to us, that they are in the wrong; though I do not know that we do diffent from them in any fuch particular, yet we fee all that they did, and we may modeftly believe, that they did not fee all that we do. - In a word, many men do believe, that religion and truth have fuffered much more prejudice by the too fupine fubmiffion and refignation to antiquity, and the too much modefty and bathfulness that reftrained men from contradicting the ancients, than they have, or are like to do, by our swerving from thofe rules and dictates which they have prefcribed to us; and we thall have well complied with the advice of the prophet, Jer. vi. 16, when we have stood upon the old ways,

and

foon as it becomes established in the Roman Empire, it partakes of all the imperial pomp and pageantry; and admits the pagan ceremonies *. We find it immediately split into new heresies, and fchifms; torn with ambitious contefts, and ftruggles for wealth and power +: perplexing

doubts

and feen the old paths, informed ourselves of what they faid, and what they did, though we do not lie down to them and acquiefce in all that pleafed them. He who will profefs all the opinions which were held by the most antient fathers, and obferve all that was practifed in the primitive times, cannot be of the communion of any one church in the world; as he who would follow the politic maxims of antiquity, and the rules heretofore obferved among other nations, and it may be in his own; will be found a very inconvenient counfellor in the prefent affairs of any court in Europe.' Ld. Clarendon, of the reverence due to antiquity, Eff. p. 223, 4, 5, 6. fol.

* See Middleton's Letter from Rome, 4th Ed. Tum maxime vitiari cœpit, cum minime debuerat; Imperio ad fidem adducto, fed et imperii pompa ecclefiam inficiente: ethnicis ad Chriftum converfis, fed et Chrifti religione ad ethnicæ formam depravata, &c. Turrettin. de variis Chr. Rel. fatis. Orat. Acad. Genev. 1708, p.15. Comp. Newt. on Dan c. xiv. and Boehmer, Jus Eccl. Proteftant. fect. 12. p. 8, 9. et § xvii, &c. Ed. v. 1756. Veræ pietatis in locum ingens variarum fuperftitionum agmen fenfim fuffectum eft, quæ partim ex receptis temere fententiis, partim ex præpoftero profanos ritus imitandi ftudio, partim ex infita omnium hominum mentibus ad vanam quandam religionis oftentationem propenfione, profectæ funt. Crebræ primum in Palæstinam, et ad eorum fepulchra, qui pro veritate occubuerant, profectiones inftitutæ funt, quafi hinc fanctitatis femen, falutifque certa fpes domum referri poffit. Ex Palæstina deinde, locifque fanctitatis opinione verendis, pulveris feu terræ portiones, tanquam efficaciffima contra vim malorum remedia, ablatæ, et caro ubique pretio vendita, et redemptæ funt. Supplicationes porro publicæ, quibus Deos olim populi placare volebant, ab his fumptæ, magnaque multis in locis pompa celebratæ funt. Templis, aquæ certis formulis confecratæ, imaginibus fan&torum hominum, eadem virtus afcripta, eademque jura tributa, quæ Deorum templis, ftatuis et luftrationibus, antequam Chriftus veniffet, adfcripta fuerant. Ex his fpeciminibus conjecturam facile fagaciores facient, quantum pax et tranquillitas, per Conftantinum parta, rebus Chriftianis nocuerit. 7. L. Mahemii Inft. Hift. Christ. Ant. Sæc. 4. Par. ii. c. 3. fect. 2.

· P. 312.

+ Vid. Anmian. Mar. L. xv. et xxvii Socr. Eccl. H. L.i. c.22, 23. Boehmeri Differt. Jur. Eccl. paffim. Sub cruce ut plurimum integra erat Ecclefiarum falus; poftquam vero, maxime Conftantini tempore,

potentia

doubts, and difficulties raised in points of doctrine; fubtile diftinctions, and nice refinements made in its precepts; and both often confounded in many an idle controversy (m): till at length almoft

potentia et divitiis crefcere cœpit, a vero mox defcivit fcopo; et ex clericorum faflu et avaritia, finguli, non quæ Chrifti, fed quæ fua, quærere inceperunt; et inde Ecclefia ambitionis atque avaritiæ paleftra facta effe videtur. Quid itaque mirum, quod fuprema lex Ecclefiaftica quoque huc unice directa fuerit, ut avaritia clericali fatisfieret; thefauri Ecclefiaftici, fub fpecie boni operis, augerentur; et dominatus facer, feu hierarchia, magis magifque, ab initio quidem occulte, fed mox manifefte, ftabiliretur; et tandem in monftrum illud Monarchiæ Romanæ excreverit? Id. Jus Eccl. Proteftant. p. 13. Hala 1720.

(M) Sicut olim arbori vitæ prælata arbor fcientiæ maxima dederat mala, ita tunc quoque curiofam eruditionem pietati antehabitam, et ex religione artem factam : cui deinde confequens fuerit, ut ad exemplum eorum qui turrim Babylonicam ædificabant, affectatio temeraria rerum fublimium diffonas locutiones et difcordiam pareret. Grot. V. R. C. L. ii. c. 1. p. 277. Ut in illis temporibus, says Erafmus very juftly, ingeniofa res fuit effe Chriftianum. Comp. Bafil. ap. Damafc. Hilar. ad Conft. Eufeb. de Vit. Conft. L. ii. c. 61. Ammian. M. L. xxi. fin. Barbeyrac, Pref. to Puf. fect. 19. Taylor, Lib. Proph. fect.2. No.26. Turrettin, ib. p. 16, 20. Mably, Obf. on the Romans, B. iii. p. 235. 'At first the teachers of Chriftianity difcourfed it with more fimplicity, after the manner of Chrift and his apoftles, as may be feen in Clemens Romanus: but afterward, as learning came into the Church, they turned the form of Chriftianity from that of a law, into that of an art. They early feparated all the matters of truth from the matters of duty; which the holy fcriptures never do; and this was the foundation of the doctrine of religion which is an art. This feparation was more ufeful to fpeculation and difpute, than to life and practice: but fo it went on, till there was no one of the liberal arts more artificial and subtle than the art of religion. Then the fyftems of Christianity came into efteem, and were multiplied; and every point of doctrine was difputed, opposed, and defended with the greatest nicenefs that could be. Few were able to distinguish what was human in matter and form, from what was divine; and fewer dared to own it. But, by this means, none but those who had learning and fagacity, could comprehend the doctrine of Chriftianity: and the people found it fo difficult to underftand, what the learned had made almoft unintelligible to themselves, that they despaired of knowledge, and acquiefced in ignorance.' Jeffery on Phil. i. 10. Tracts, Vol. II. p. 337. The feveral fehemes of Christianity in different ages are fet down in the fame place, and fo very well defcribed, that any common Chriftian by perufing them may eafily see what fyftem he is of.

Το

almoft the whole church of Chrift feems to be overwhelmed with Popery and Mahometanifm; for which indeeed it was too fully ripe (N): Though perhaps

To give the reader a general idea of his method, I fhall here add his principal divifions, as well as the fubftance of what is delivered under them, from p. 338, and 366. containing, 1.The fimplicity of the truth of Chriftianity, in the ages next after the apoftles to St. Auguftine, i.e. till after A. D. 404. 2. The rudiments of the art of Christianity in the ages following them, from St. Auguftine to P. Lombard, i. e. between A. D. 404, and 1141. 3. The fubtilty and corruption of Christianity, from P. Lombard to Luther; joined with the groffnefs of idolatry and fuperftition in practice: i. e. from A. D. 1141, to 1517. 4. The reformation of the ftate of Chriftianity among fome Proteftants, from Luther; rejecting the corruptions, retaining the art: fince A. D. 1517. 5. The restoration of the fimplicity of Christianity; not only rejecting the corruptions, but also the art: confidering Chriftianity as a law, or act of grace. In the first period of time, Chriftianity was virtue and piety; without any mixture of learning. In the fecond, it was nature and grace with a tincture of learning. In the third, it was church and facraments, with the extremeft fubtilty, and abundance of fuperftition. In the fourth, it was Chrift and faith; being a refinement upon the doctrine of the fecond period. In the next period of time, we hope it will be piety and virtue, as in the first; with an improvement from the best Greek and Roman moralifts, corrected and perfected by the gospel of Chrift.

(N) See Sale's Prelim. Difc. to the Koran, fect. 2. Add Grot. de Ver. R. C. L. vi. c. 1. not. In the mean time (as Mr. Rotheram obferves, Serm. on the Wisdom of Prov.) the remains of learning were faved in the Eaft from amidst the general wreck, by the removal of the feat of Empire from Rome to Conftantinople; which otherwise must have perished entirely, when the Northern nations over-ran the Western Empire. So far was this ftep from caufing the downfal of the Empire, that it was a means of faving a part of it: which anfwered two great purposes, and doubly served religion. The eastern or Greek church was faved from the fpiritual ufurpation of the Romish; and learning was preferved from the fury of Gothic barbarism, to be an inftrument in due time of retrieving Europe from the tyranny of fuperftition.' As in effect it did upon the downfal of that Empire, and the feizing this its metropolis by the Turks; [A.D. 1453.] which obliged the Chriftians of the Greek church to betake them felves for refuge into Italy and the adjacent parts, whereby the study and knowledge of the Greek language was there much propagated. Worthington, c. S. Comp. Gerdes Hift. Evang. fect xvi. p. 10. Other benefits arifing from this Revolution may be feen in the Complete Collection of Voyages, &c. B. i. c. z. fect. 16. p. 515. A character of thefe emigrants, with fome account of their works, may be feen in Foster's Elay on Accents, p. 209, 215, &c. 2d Ed. That fuch as thefe,

ог