*

I.

bet 6. ci

As for his teftimonies from the fecond council of SECT. Nice, (which he calls the feventh general council) who pretended their doctrine of image-worfhip to have defcended to them by an uninterrupted tradition, and proved it moft doughtily by texts of fcripture ridiculously wrefted, by impertinent fayings out of obfcure and counterfeit authors, and by fond and immodeft ftories (as is acknowledged by pope * Adrian the 6th) of apparitions and womens Quodlidreams, &c. for which I refer the reader to the ted by council it felf; which is fuch a mess of fopperies, Lipencathat if a general council of atheifts had met together epift. ad with a defign to abufe religion by talking ridicu- Tim, c. 4, lously concerning it, they could not have it done more effectually: I fay, as for his teftimonies from this council, I fhall refer Mr. S. to that weitern council under Charles the great, which a little after at Francfort condemned, and alfo fully confuted the decifions of this council, calling their pretended "tradition of image-worship [putidiffimam traditio"nem] a most stinking tradition.”

These are his authorities from councils; "where "fays he) we fee general councils relying on the

teaching of the fathers or foregoing church, and "on the church's tradition as their rule, &c." where does he fee any fuch matter? or where does he fee general councils? was the council of Lateran a general one? or was the council of Sardica ? if it was, let him fhew how the second of Nice could be the feventh general council., Mr. White must write more explicitly, and fay which are general councils, which not, otherwife he will lead his friends into dangerous mistakes.

$ 4." After
$4.

us in ad.

PART

IV.

$4. "After ancient councils (not fo ancient neither) let us (fays he) give a glance at fathers." Glance is a modeft word, and yet I doubt whether ever the fathers had fo much as that from him. Before I fpeak particularly to his teftimonies from the fathers, I fhall mind him of what Mr. Rush*Dial. 3. worth fays in general, viz. " that he who seeks fect. 13. "tradition in the fathers, and to evince it by their " teftimony, takes an hard task upon him, &c.” Again," as in other points, fo even in this of "the refolution of faith, as doctors feem to differ "now-a-days, fo might the fathers alfo." If this be true, Mr. S. is not likely by a few testimonies out of the fathers, to prove that tradition is the fole rule of faith. But let us fee what he has done towards it.

+ Ibid.

He begins with a faying of pope Celestine to the fathers of the Ephefine council. "Now therefore 66 we must act with a common endeavour to pre"ferve things believed, and retained to this very "time by fucceffion from the apostles." Binius's other reading of [didayñs for diadoxns] quite spoils the force of this citation which Mr. S. put upon the word fucceffion. But read it how he will; why may not the chriftian doctrine be said to come by fucceffion from the apostles, when it is tranfmitted to us by fcripture, as well as when by oral tradition? I am fure the fame Celestine in an epiftle to Cyril, commends him for defending the faith by fcripture: " this (fays he) is a great triumph of "our faith, to demonftrate our opinions fo ftrong"ly, and to overthrow the contrary by teftimo"nies from fcripture." And neither in this epiftle,

nor

L

nor the other, does he make any mention of oral SECT. tradition.

Next he cites that known place in Irenæus : "but what if the apoftles had not left us the fcrip"tures, ought we not to follow the order of tra"dition, &c.?" this makes clearly against him; for it implies, that now the apostles have left us the fcriptures, we ought to follow them. The other paffage he cites out of Irenæus, lib. 1. c. 3. is a clear eviction that he did not confult the book. For he puts two fayings together which he had met with in Mr. White, immediately one after the other; and because Mr. White had cited lib. 1. c. 3. for the firft faying, and brought in the other immediately upon it with an (et rurfus) again, &c. Therefore Mr. S. (who is of a right traditionary temper, which is to take things eafily upon truft himself, and require demonftration from others) concluded that these fayings were in the fame place, though in truth they are in feveral books. As for the teftimony it felf, there is nothing in it to Mr. S's purpose besides the word tradition, which Irenæus does often apply to fcripture as well as oral tradition; and there is nothing in this place to determine it to oral tradition.

His teftimonies out of Origen will do him less ftead: for every one that hath been converfant in the writings of that father, knows what he means by the church's tradition preferved by order of fucceffion, viz. the mystical interpretations of the fcripture, which (he fays) were delivered by the apostles to the governors of the church, and by them down from hand to hand. If this be the tradition Mr. S. con

tends

I.

PART tends for, Origen is at his fervice; if it be not, I afs IV. fure him he is not for his turn.

Next comes Tertullian, concerning whom (as alfo Origen) the papift upon occafion thinks it enough to *Adverf. reply in St. Hierom's words, " as for Tertullian, "I have nothing to fay of him but that he is not

Helvid.

a man of the church." Whatever he was, these are his words, "if thou beeft but a christian, be"lieve what is [traditum] delivered." And here's nothing again but the word delivered; which (as I have faid) is indifferent to written or oral tradition, if the circumftances do not determine it to one; as here they do (very unluckily for Mr. S.) to the fcripture. For he difputes here against Marcion, who denied the flesh of CHRIST; and who to main* His opi- tain that, denied his nativity, and expunged the whole hiftory of it out of the gofpel; "but (faith ginalia in-Tertullian) by what authority doft thou this? ftrumenta if thou be a prophet, foretel fomething; if an lere Mar- "apoftle, preach publickly; if apoftolical, be of "the apoftle's mind; if no more but a christian, "believe what is delivered." And where delivered? but in those inftruments or books of the gofpel, out of which (as Tertullian immediately before tells us) Marcion had made bold to expunge this story.

nor confi

liis tot ori

Chrifti de

cion aufus

eft, ne ca

ro ejus probaretur. Ex

qua, oro

te, autoritate, &c.

As for his teftimonies out of Athanafius, the two firft of them prove nothing, "but that faith comes "down from our ancestors, or was by them de"livered to us;" which no body denies: nor is there word in either of them concerning oral, in oppofition to written tradition. The third teftimo27 is out of an epiftle to Epictetus, to whom Athahas writ...g concerning those who held CHRIST's

body

I.

body to be consubstantial with his divinity, tells him SECT. this was fo grofs a conceit, that it needed no folicitous confutation; but that it would be a fufficient anfwer to fay in general," the orthodox church was "not of that mind, our fathers did not think fo." From whence Mr. S. infers, "that tradition is held by him a fole fufficient rule of faith, and the

66

only answer to be given why we reject points from "faith, &c." But if he had confulted the book, he would not have inferred that this was the only answer to be given, &c. For it immediately follows, "but left from our being wholly filent, the in

ventors of evil things fhould take occafion to be "more impudent, it will be good to recite a few "paffages out of fcripture, &c," And from thence he confutes them at large. It was so gross an error, that he thought it might be fufficient, without bringing particular arguments out of fcripture against it, to say that it was contrary to the ancient faith; but yet left they should (if he had faid no more) have taken boldness from thence, and thought that nothing more could be faid against it, therefore he confutes it from particular texts of fcripture. And what in his opinion was the fufficient rule of faith, Mr. S. might have feen at the beginning of this epiftle, from these words, "that faith which was "profeffed by the fathers in that council (viz. the

Nicene) according to the fcriptures, is to me fuf"ficient, &c." It feems that fcripure was to him the rule and standard whereby to judge even the creeds of general councils.

Mr. S. fays he, will be fhorter in the reft, and fo will I. For what is to be faid to teftimonies brought · VOL. IV. 7 P

at