way of difcarding the fecond Commandment, than to leave it out of their Books of Devotions. But if he will. stand to this, he condemns the Popish worship of dead Men and Women, for they are corporeal Deities; nay, of Christ himself, confidered as a man, who might be represented by an Image or Picture. And thus I doubt he has done the Church of Rome no kindness at all: for this is a Demonstration against the Worship of Saints, and the Virgin Mary,because they are created, corporeal, and visible Beings, who may be reprefented by Images; and he has thought of an Argument against Images, which neither the Scripture, nor the Church of Rome, know any thing of: The Church of Rome thinks it a good Argument for the Images of Christ, and the Saints, and the Virgin Mary, that they are reprefentable by. Images and Pictures; and therefore there can be no hurt in fuch Images: And the Scripture perpetually urges that Argument against Images, that the Deity cannot be reprefented by an Image; but neither of thefe Arguments are good, if our Author's Notion be good: For then to worship fuch corporeal Beings, as may be reprefented by Images, is to worship corporeal Gods, which is Idolatry. And there is no danger in the Images of an incorporeal Deity, which cannot represent the God for which they are made; for whatever the Image be, this is not to worship a corporeal God, fince we know him to be incorporeal, and therefore it is not Idolatry.

But he has one Salvo ftill to excufe thofe from Idolatry, who worfhip even corporeal Gods, (for he fpeaks not a word of worshipping the Images of any Gods) that they are not Idolaters, unless they worship fuch corporeal Gods, fuppofing them to be the Supream Deity; whereby he explains what he means by giving

F 2

the

the Worship of the Supream God to any created, corporeal, or vifible Deity; viz. to think fuch a God to be the Supream God, is to worship it as Supream. And thus those who worshipped the Sun, not thinking him to be the Supream God, but the chief Minister of Providence under the Supream God, with reference to this Lower World, as most of the Sun Idolaters feemed to do, were not Idolaters. Nay, very few of the Philofophers, though they worshipped their Country Gods, were Idolaters, because they either, did not believe them to be any Gods, or at least not to be the Supream; as it is certain Socrates, and Plato, and Tully, and many others, did not.

But it is plain, that to worship the Supream God, is not meerly to fuppofe him to be Supream; for St. Paul tells us, that there were fome, who knew God, but did not worship him as God: and therefore there is an external and visible Worship, which is due to the Supream God, as well as the belief, that he is Supream. And if this Worship which is due to the Supream God, be given to any Being which we our felves do not believe to be Supream, we are Idolaters; and then though we do not believe the Gods we worship to be Supream, any kind or degree of Religious Worship (or which is ufed as an Act of Religion, not as common and civil Respects) is Idolatry. This Commandment brings it as low as meerly bowing to an Image, and then I doubt no other Act of Religious Worship can efcape the Charge of Idolatry.

But though it is not my bufinefs to perfue this Author, I cannot pass over the very next Paragraph, where he obferves, Though there may seem to be two forts of it: (this Idolatry in worshipping Corporeal Beings) First, either to worship a material and created Being, as the Supream

Deity:

Deity: Or fecondly, to afcribe any corporeal form or shape to the Divine Nature, yet in refult, both are but one; for to afcribe unto the Supreme God any corporeal form, is the fame thing as to worship a created Being, for fo is every corporeal Substance. Which is a very wonderful Paragraph: for thus fome of the Ancient Chriftians, who believed God to be Corporeal, (as Tertullian himself did) but yet did not believe that he was created, but that he created all things, were as very Idolaters, as those who worshipped the Sun or Earth: And I would gladly know, who those men are, who afcribe unto the Supreme God, a Corporeal form, and yet think, that he was created. I am apt to think they differ a little in their Philofophy from our Author, and did believe that a Corporeal Supreme Deity might be uncreated; and then, I fuppofe, there may be fome difference also between their worshipping a Corporeal Created, and a Corporeal Uncreated God, at least if mens Belief and Opinions of things makes a difference, as this Author must allow; for, if I understand him, to worship a Corporeal Being, without believing it to be Supreme, does not make them Idolaters, but if they believe it Supreme, it does; and by the fame reason, thô to worship a Supreme Corporeal Created Deity (if that be not a contradiction) be Idolatry, yet to worship a Corporeal, which they believe to be an Untreated Deity, is no Idolatry: For though I believe, with our Author, that all Corporeal Beings are created, yet, I fuppofe, those who believed God to be Corporeal, did not believe, that every thing, that is Corporeal, was created.

So that the first and second Commandments are very plain and express Laws, the one forbidding the Religious Worship of all inferiour Beings,Corporeal,or Incorporeal, with or without the Supream God, or forbidding the Worship of all other Beings but the Supreme God; the

other

other forbidding the External and Visible Worship of any material Images and Pictures: And though I am certain, there can be no good Arguments to juftifie fuch Practices as are forbid by these Laws, yet no Chriftian need trouble himself to answer them, for be they what they will, it is a fufficient answer to them, to fay, They are against an express Law.

2. Another Rule is, in matters of Faith, or in fuch things as can be known onely by Revelation, Not to build our Faith upon any Reason, without the Authority of Scripture. That this may be the better underftood, I fhall briefly fhew what these things are, which can be known onely by Revelation, and therefore which every Proteftant should demand a plain Scripture-proof for, before he believes them, whatever Reasons are pretended for them: As,

1. Whatever depends folely upon the Will and Appointment of God, which God might do, or might not do, as he pleased. In fuch cafes our onely inquiry is, What God has done? And this can be known onely by Revelation; for Reason cannot discover it, because it depends not upon any neceffary Reason, but on the free and arbitrary appointment of God: as St. Paul tells us, That as no man knows the things of a man, but the Spirit of man, that is in him; So no man knoweth the things of God, but the Spirit of God: That is, as no man can tell the fecret thoughts and purposes of a man, nor how he will determine himself in matters of his own free Choice and Election: fo what depends purely upon the Will of God, is known onely to the Spirit of God, and therefore can be made known to us onely by Revelation.

Many fuch things there are in difpute between us and the Church of Rome, which depend fo intirely upon the Will of God, that they may be, or may not be, as God pleafes. As for instance:

No

No man, nor company of men can be Infallible, unlefs God bestow Infallibility on them; for Infallibility is not a natural Endowment, but a fupernatural Gift; and therefore no reason can prove, the Bishop of Rome, or a General Council to be Infallible. God God may make them Infallible if he pleases, and if he pleases, he may not do it: and therefore our only inquiry here is, What God has done? And this can be known only by Revelation.

Thus that the Church of Rome only, and thofe Churches that are in Communion with her, fhould be the Catholick Church, and the Bishop of Rome the Oecumenical Pastor, and the Center of Catholick Unity muft depend wholly upon Inftitution, for nothing but the Will and Appointment of God, can give this Preheminence and Prerogative to the Church and Bishop of Rome, above all other Churches and Bishops. No reafon then can prove this without plain and express Scripture to prove fuch an Inftitution.

Were there nothing in Scripture or Reason to prove, that the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is not a propitiatory Sacrifice for the Living and the Dead, yet no Reafon can prove, that it is: For the vertue and acceptation of a Sacrifice, intirely depends upon the will and appointment of God, at least fo far, that no Sacrifice can be Propitiatory without it: And therefore there can be no other proof, that the Mass is a propitiatory Sacrifice, but the declaration of God's Will and Inftitution, that it fhall be fo.

2. Those things alfo can be proved only by Scripture, which are done in the other World, which is an unknown and invifible State to us, any farther than the Scripture has revealed it and men may more reasonably expect to find out, by the power of Reason, what is done every

day