Convocations, and confirmed by Act of Parlia- Articles ment six or seven times after. There is a Secret concerning them: Of late, Ministers have subscribed to all of them; but by the Act of Parliament that confirmed them, they ought only to subscribe to those Articles which contain matter of Faith, and the Doctrine of the Sacraments, as appears by the first Subscriptions. But Bishop Bancroft (in the Convocation held in King James's days) he began it, that Ministers should subscribe to three things, to the King's Supremacy, to the Common Prayer, and to the Thirty-nine Articles. Many of them do not contain matter of Faith. Is it matter of Faith how the Church should be governed? Whether Infants should be baptized? Whether we have any Property in our Goods? 'TWA III Baptism WAS a good way to persuade Men to be christened, to tell them that they had a Foulness about them, viz. Original Sin, that could not be washed away but by Baptism. 2. The Baptising of Children with us, does only prepare a Child, against he comes to be a Man, to understand what Christianity means. In the Church of Rome it has this Effect, it frees Children from Hell. They say they go into Limbus Infantum. It succeeds Circumcision, and we are sure the Child understood nothing Baptism of that at eight Days old; why then may not we as reasonably baptise a Child at that Age? In England, of late years, I ever thought the Parson baptized his own Fingers rather than the Child. 3. In the Primitive Times they had Godfathers to see the Children brought up in the Christian Religion, because many times, when the Father was a Christian, the Mother was not, and sometimes, when the Mother was a Christian, the Father was not; and therefore they made choice of two or more that were Christians, to see their Children brought up in that Faith. IV 'TIS A IS said, the xxiii. of Deuteron. 2. Non of the Lord, even to the tenth Generation. Jews an Ammonite or a Moabite could never be Bastard a Priest, because their Priests were born so, not made. V Bible. Scripture 'T" 2. The English Translation of the Bible is the best Translation in the World, and renders the Sense of the Original best, taking in for the English Translation the Bishops' Bible as well as King James's. The Translators in King James's time took an excellent way. That Part of the Bible was given to him who was most excellent in such a Tongue (as the Apocrypha to Andrew Downs) and then they met together, and one read the Translation, the rest holding in their Hands some Bible, either of the learned Tongues, or French, Spanish, Italian, etc. If they found any Fault, they spoke; if not, he read on. 3. There is no Book so translated as the Bible. For the purpose, if I translate a French Book into English, I turn it into English Phrase, not into French English. [Il fait froid] I say, Bible. 'tis cold, not, it makes cold; but the Bible is Scripture rather translated into English Words than into English Phrase. The Hebraisms are kept, and the Phrase of that Language is kept as for Example, [He uncovered her Shame] which is well enough, so long as Scholars have to do with it; but when it comes among the Common People, Lord, what Gear do they make of it! 4. Scrutamini Scripturas. These two Words have undone the World. Because Christ spake it to his Disciples, therefore we must all, Men, Women and Children, read and interpret the Scripture. 5. Henry the Eighth made a Law, that all Men might read the Scripture, except Servants; but no Woman, except Ladies and Gentlewomen, who had Leisure, and might ask somebody the Meaning. The Law was repealed in Edward the Sixth's Days. 6. Lay-men have best interpreted the hard places in the Bible, such as Johannes Picus, Scaliger, Grotius, Salmasius, Heinsius, &c. 7. If you ask which of Erasmus, Beza, or Grotius did best upon the New Testament? 'tis an idle Question: For they all did well in their Way. Erasmus broke down the first Brick, Beza added many things, and Grotius added much to him; in whom we have either something new, or something heightened that was said before, and so 'twas necessary to have them all three. 8. The Text serves only to guess by; we must satisfy ourselves fully out of the Authors that lived about those times. 9. In interpreting the Scripture, many do as if a Man should see one have ten Pounds, which Bible. he reckoned by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10: Scripture meaning four was but four Units, and five five Units, &c. and that he had in all but ten Pounds: the other that sees him, takes not the Figures together as he doth, but picks here and there, and thereupon reports, that he hath five Pounds in one Bag, and six Pounds in another Bag, and nine Pounds in another Bag, &c., when as in truth he hath but ten Pounds in all. So we pick out a Text here and there to make it serve our turn; whereas if we took it altogether, and considered what went before and what followed after, we should find it meant no such thing. 10. Make no more Allegories in Scripture than needs must. The Fathers were too frequent in them; they, indeed, before they fully understood the literal Sense, looked out for an Allegory. The Folly whereof you may conceive thus: Here at the first sight appears to me in my Window a Glass and a Book; I take it for granted 'tis a Glass and a Book; thereupon I go about to tell you what they signify: afterwards upon nearer view, they prove no such thing; one is Box made like a Book, the other is a Picture made like a Glass: where's now my Allegory? 11. When Men meddle with the literal Text, the Question is, where they should stop. In this Case, a Man must venture his Discretion, and do his best to satisfy himself and others in those Places where he doubts; for although we call the Scripture the Word of God (as it is), |