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of Commandment. But in other Cafes he fays, I command, yet not I but the Lord-And to the reft fpeak I, not the Lord. And it is fo, after my Judgment; and I think also that I have the Spirit of God, 1 Cor. vii. 6, 10, 12, 25, 40. And no doubt great Deference was paid to his Judgment, as being an infpired Person, but not infallible in every thing, as he himself faid. The Apoftles were enabled to work many and great Miracles, which gave them full Credence as to what they delivered for Chriftian DoArine. But this was no Perfonal nor Univerfal Infallibility,

(11) L. The Church of Rome has her Miraracles too.

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G. What! Both true and falfe? Can both come from God?

L. I know you deny our Miracles.

G. And you cannot deny the many falfe Miracles which have been notoriously detected in the Church of Rome. But if one Sham-Miracle had been found in the Apoftles, I am afraid it had difcredited all the others, and called their Miffion in queftion whether it was from God or not. The Devil has Power (when Permitted) to fhew great Signs and Wonders, as we are told Mat. xxiv. 24. 2 Theff. ii. 9. and the Reafon is given verfe 12. viz. as a juft Punifhment to Unrighteousness. But one Falfe or Pretended Miracle is fufficient to difprove all that come from the fame Hand. Therefore your Books of Miracles, the Legends, muft either

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either all be believed, or all rejected, all coming from the fame Authority; and the greateft part of them are fo very grofs and fimple, that no Man of Senfe among you will fay, that he can believe half of them. And your Learned call them Pia Fraudes, Holy Cheats, to ftir up the Devotion of the Vulgar, who swallow all Implicity! And your Lordship will have Difficulty enough to believe all the Miracles alledged of their Reliques. And, as I faid, you must take all, or none. Unless you think that God can work true Miracles, and the Dewil falfe ones, by the fame means, and at the fame time! Can you believe the Quantities that have been fhewn of the Virgin Mary's Milk at feveral times and places? And fo of the Wood of the Crofs that is fhewed in many places? Is it the fame Head or Body of the fame Saint, that is fhewn at different Churches, each of which contend that they have the true one? And each have Miracles to vouch the Truth of their Relique! You may fee a large Collection of thefe, and the Monftrousness of the Legends out of which they are taken, in a Book intituled, The Devotions of the Roman Church. Which will prevent my giving Inftances in all the Points before mentioned.

Upon the whole, this Pretence of Miracles, the Legends, and Shops of Reliques, which are bought and fold, instead of a Proof, are the greatest Prejudice to Men of Sense against your Church.

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And it is the foreft Blow that Chriftianity has received, while the common People put thefe Legends upon the Level with the Holy Scriptures, as having both the fame Foundation, that is, the Authority of your Church. Whence Atheists and Deifts take a Handle to render both alike Fabulous.

(12.) L. But after all, we believe the Scr ptures upon the Authority of the Church.

G. This is the old Circle out of which you can never Conjure your felves. You believe the Scriptures, because the Church bids you; and you believe the Church because the Scriptures bid you. This is running round, and proving a thing by it felf.

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L. No. For we establish the Authority of the Church in the first place, thus We think it inconfiftent with the Goodness of God not to give Men an Infallible Guide to lead them in the right way to Heaven, fince our own Reafon is fo weak that we cannot trust to it: and that Guide is the Church.

G. How do you know that? What have you but your own Reason to tell you fo? And if you cannot truft your Reafon, you cannot believe the Church. So that all bottoms upon your own Reafon ftill, from which you strive in vain to escape.

L. But the Scriptures bid us believe the Church.

G. This is running into your Circle again, to believe the Church for the Scriptures, and

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the Scriptures for the Church. But I will bring you out of it. For pray tell me, why do you believe a God? It would be Blafphemy to fay, you believe it upon any Authority, for that would place fuch an Authority above God, And it would be Nonfenfe to say you believe it either from the Church, or the Scriptures; because you can believe neither, without firft -believing there is a God. What is it then? We believe a God purely upon our own Reason. And we cannot be more fure that there is a God, than we are perfwaded of the Truth of thofe Reafons upon which we do believe it. And if God has given us no other Guide but our own Reason, with the affiftance of his Grace, to believe in himfelf; if this be all we have, or can have, for the firft and main Article of our Creed, what further do we require for thofe of lefs Confequence? And that we cannot have more Affurance than this, we may perceive by this Experiment, viz. Whether we believe moft firmly and with greatest Asfurance, what we have only from our own Reafon, or what we receive upon the Authority of the Church? For Example, are you not more undoubtedly affured of the Being of a God which you believe purely upon your own Reafon,than of Tranfubftantiation, Purgatory, or whatever you believe upon the Authority of your Church?

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And to fay, that God is obliged to give every Man an outward infallible Guide, is making too Bold with Providence, and measuring his

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infinite Wisdom and Goodness by our fhort Line. He has made Creatures as it has pleased Him. Some incapable of Happiness or Mifery, as the Inanimates, fome capable only of Pleasures or Pain of Senfe, as Animals; and He has endowed others with Reafon, as Man, and left him in the band of his own Counfel, fet Good and Evil, Life and Death before bim, and free Will to chufe which liketh him, Deut. xi. 26. xx. 15. Ecclus. xv. 14. &c. Again of Rational Creatures, fome. He has fixed in Happiness, as the Bleffed of Heaven; others are Veffels of Wrath, as the Angels that fell: But Man is betwixt these two, to work out his own Salvation by his Obedience to the Will of God. Who will Judge every Man according to what He has given him. For as many as bave Sinned without the Law, hall be judged without the Law, as they that have Sinned in the Law, ball be judged by the Law. For there is no refpect of Perfons with Gad,Rom. ii. 11. 13. But according to your Argument there is great Refpect of Perfons with Him, and His Goodness has failed the far greatest Part of Mankind from the beginning of the World; for what outward Guide is there to Jews, Heathens, Mahometans, and Christians; and to the many Subdivifions among all these? And all these have Guides of their own, and the Blind lead the Blind with most of them. For it is Fact that the Generality of Mankind do not chufe for themselves, but take their Religion upon Truft as they are Educated,

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