ARTICLE XXXVIII.

Of Chriftian Men's Goods, which are not common.

The Riches and Goods of Chriftians are not common, as touching the Right, Title and Pollellion of the fame; as certain Anabaptisks do falūp boaßk. Notwithstanding, every Yan ought of fuch Things as he pollelleth, liberally to give Alms to the Poor, according to his Abilities.

ART HERE is no great difficulty in this Article, as there is no Tanger Eise agreat that the opinion condemned by

XXXVIII.

Acts iv. 36, 37.

it is like to fpread. Those may be for it, who find it for them. The poor may lay claim to it, but few of the rich will ever go into it. The whole charge that is given in the Scripture for charity and almfgiving; all the rules that are given to the rich, and to mafters, to whom their fervants were then properties and flaves, do clearly demonstrate that the Gospel was not defigned to introduce a community of goods. And even that fellowship or community, which was practifed in the firft beginnings of it, was the effect of particular men's charity, and not of any law that was laid on them. Barnabas having land, fold it, and laid the price of it at the Apostles' feet. And when St. Peter chid Ananias for having vowed to give in the whole price of his land to that distribution, and then withdrawing a part of it, and, by a lie, pretending that he had brought it all in; he affirmed that the right was ftill in him, till he by a vow had put it out of his power. When God fed his people by miracle with the manna, there was an equal diftribution made; yet when he brought them into the promifed land, every man had his property. The equal divifion of the land was the foundation of that cónftitution; but ftill every man had a property, and might improve it by his induftry, either to the increafing of his stock, the purchafing houses in towns, or buying of eftates, till the redemption at the jubilee.

It can never be thought a juft and equitable thing, that the fober and induftrious fhould be bound to share the fruits of their labour with the idle and luxurious. This would be fuch an encouragement to those whom all wife governments ought to difcourage, and would so discourage those who ought to be encouraged,

encouraged, that all the order of the world must be diffolved, A R T. if to extravagant à conceit fhould be entertained. Both the XXXVIIL

rich and the poor have rules given them, and there are virtues fuitable to each ftate of life: The rich ought to be fober and thankful, modeft and humble, bountiful and charitable, out of the abundance that God has given them, and not to fet their hearts upon uncertain riches, but to truft in the living God, and to make the best use of them that they can. The poor ought to be patient and induftrious, to fubmit to the providence of God, and to ftudy to make fure of a better portion in another ftate, than God has thought fit to give them in this world.

It will be much eafier to perfuade the world of the truth of the first part of this Article, than to bring them up to the practice of the fecond branch of it. We fee what particular care God took of the poor in the old difpenfation, and what variety of provifion was made for them; all which muft certainly be carried as much higher among Chriftians, as the laws of love and charity are raised to a higher degree in the Gospel. Chrift represents the effay, that he gives of the day of judgment, in this article of charity, and expreffes it in the most emphatical words poffible; as if what is given to the poor were to be reckoned for, as if it had been given perfonally to Chrift himself and in a great variety of other paffages this matter is fo oft infifted on, that no man can refift it who reads them, and acknowledges the authority of the New Teftament.

It is not pollible to fix a determined quota, as was done under the Law, in which every family had their peculiar allotment, which had a certain charge specified in the Law, that was laid upon it. But under the Gofpel, as men may be under greater inequalities of fortune than they could have been under the old difpenfation; so that vast variety of men's circumstances makes that fuch proportions as would be intolerable burthens upon fome, would be too light and difproportioned to the wealth of others. Those words of our Saviour come pretty near the marking out every man's measure. These bave of their Luke xxi. abundance caft into the offerings of God; but he of her penury 4 hath caft in all the living that he had. Abundance is fuperfluity in the Greek; which imports that which is over and above the food that is convenient; that which one can well spare and Prov. xxx. lay afide. Now, by our Saviour's defign, it plainly appears 8. that this is a low degree of charity, when men give only out of this; though, God knows, it is far beyond what is done by the greater part of Chriftians. Whereas that which is fo peculiarly acceptable to God, is when men give out of their penury, that is, out of what is neceffary to them; when they

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ART. are ready, especially upon great and crying occafions, even to XXXVIII. pinch nature, and straiten themselves within what upon other

occafions they may allow themselves; that fo they may distribute to the neceffities of others, who are more pinched, and are in great extremities. By this every may ought to judge himself, as knowing that he must give a moft particular account to God, of that which God hath reserved to himself, and ordered the diftribution of it to the poor, out of all that abundance with which he has bleffed fome far beyond others.

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ARTICLE

ARTICLE XXXIX.

Of a Chriftian Man's Oath.

As we confess that vain and rath Swearing is forbidden Christian Men by our Lord Jesus Chzilk, and James his Apottle; so we judge that Chriftian Religion doth not prohibit, but that a Man map (wear when the Pagistrate requireth, in a Cause of Faith and Charity, so it be done according to the Prophers teaching, in Juffice, Judgment, and Truth.

A

XXXIX.

N'oath is an appeal to God, either upon a teftimony ART. that is given, or a promise that is made, confirming the truth of the one, and the fidelity of the other. It is an appeal to God, who knows all things, and will judge all men: fo it is an act that acknowledges both his omniscience and his being the governor of this world, who will judge all at the laft day, according to their deeds, and must be supposed to have a more inmediate regard to fuch acts, in which men made him a party. An appeal, truly made, is a committing the matter to God: a falfe one is an act of open defiance, which must either suppose a denial of his knowing all things, or a belief that he has forfaken the earth, and has no regard to the actions of mortals: or finally, it is a bold venturing on the justice and wrath of God, for the ferving fome prefent end, or the gaining of fome present advantage: and which of these foever gives a man that brutal confidence of adventuring on a falfe oath, we must conclude it to be a very crying fin; which must be expiated with a very fevere repentance, or will bring down very terrible judgments on those who are guilty of it.

Thus, if we confider the matter upon the principles of natural religion, an oath is an act of worship and homage done to God; and is a very powerful mean for preferving the juftice and order of the world. All decitions in justice must be founded upon evidence; two must be believed rather than one; therefore the more terror that is ftruck into the minds of men, either when they give their teftimony, or when they bind themselves by promises, and the deeper that this goes, it will both oblige them to the greater caution in what they fay, and to the greater ftrictness in what they promife. Since therefore truth and fidelity are so neceffary to the fecurity and

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commerce

ART.

commerce of the world, and fince an appeal to God is the XXXIX. greatest mean that can be thought on to bind men to an exactnefs and ftrictness in every thing with which that appeal is joined; therefore, the use of an oath is fully juftified upon the principles of natural religion. This has fpread itself fo univerfally through the world, and began so early, that it may well be reckoned a branch of the law and light of nature.

Gen. xxi. 23, 26, 28,

34, 53.

We find this was practifed by the Patriarchs: Abimelech reckoned that he was fafe, if he could perfuade Abraham to fwear to him by God, that he would not deal falfely with him; and Abraham confented fo to fwear. Either the fame Abimelech, or another of that name, defired that an oath might be between Ifaac and him; and they fware one to another. Jacob did also fwear to Laban. Thus we find the Patriarchs practifing this before the Mofaical Law. Under that Law we find many covenants fealed by an oath; and that was a facred bond, as appears from the ftory of the Gibeonites. There was also a fpecial conftitution in the Jewish religion, by which one in authority might put others under an oath, and adjure them either to do somewhat, or to declare fome truth. The law was, Lev. v. 1. that when any foul (i. e. man) finned, and heard the voice of fwearing (adjuration), and was a witness whether he hath feen it, or known it, if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity; that is, he fhall be guilty of perjury. So the form then was, the judge or the parent did adjure all perfons to declare their knowledge of any particular. They charged this upon them with an oath or curfe, and all perfons were then bound Judg. xvii. by that oath to tell the truth. So Micah came and confeffed, upon his mother's adjuration, that he had the eleven hundred fhekels, for which he heard her put all under a curfe; and 1 Sam. xiv. upon that the bleffed him. Saul, when he was pursuing the 24, 28, 44 Philistines, put the people under a curfe, if they fhould eat any food till night; and this was thought to be fo obligatory, that the violation of it was capital, and Jonathan was put in Matth. xxvi.hazard of his life upon it. Thus the High-Priest put our Sa63, 64. viour under the oath of curfing, when he required him to tell, whether he was the Meffias or not? Upon which our Saviour was, according to that law, upon his oath; and though he had continued filent till then, as long as it was free to him to speak or not, at his pleasure, yet then he was bound to speak, and fo he did fpeak, and owned himself to be what he truly

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This was the form of that conftitution; but if, by practice, it were found that men's pronouncing the words of the oath themselves, when required by a perfon in authority to do it; and that such actions, as their lifting up their hand to hea