never wrote any thing at all, unless perhaps the sins of the Pharisees with his finger upon the dust, John viii. 6. (1) It does not even appear that he gave his Apostles any command to write the Gospel; though he repeatedly and emphatically commanded them to preach it, (Matt. x.) and this to all the nations of the earth, Matt. xxviii. 19. In this ministry they all of them spent their lives, preaching the Religion of Christ in every country, from Judea to Spain in one direction, and to India in another; every where establishing Churches, and commending their doctrine to faithful men who should be fit to teach others also. 2 Tim. ii. 2. Only a part of them wrote any thing, and what these did write was, for the most part, addressed to particular persons or congregations, and on particular occasions. The ancient Fathers tell us that St. Matthew wrote his Gospel at the particular request of the Christians of Palestine; (2) and that St. Mark composed his at the desire of those at Rome. (3) St. Luke addressed his Gospel to an individual, Theophilus, having written it, says the holy Evangelist, because it seemed good to him to do so. Luke i. 3. St. John wrote the last of the Gospels in compliance with the petition of the Clergy and people of Lesser Asia, (4) to prove, in particular, the Divinity of Jesus Christ, which Cerinthus, Ebion, and other heretics began then to deny. No doubt the Evangelists were moved by the Holy Ghost, to listen to the requests of the faithful, in writing their respective Gospels; nevertheless, there is nothing in these occasions, nor in the Gospels themselves, which indicates that any one of them, or all of them to

(1) It is agreed upon among the learned, that the supposed letter of Christ to Abgaraus King of Edessa, quoted by Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. 1. i. is spurious.

(2) Euseb 1. 3. Hist. Eccl. Chrysos, in Mat. Hom. 1. Iren. 1. 3. c. 1. Hieron, de Vir. Illust.

(3) Euseb. 1. 2. c. 15. Hist. Eccl. Epiph. Hieron, de Vir. Illust. (4) Euseb. 1. 6. Hist. Eccl. Hieron,

gether, contains an entire, detailed, and clear expo. sition of the whole Religion of Jesus Christ. The Canonical Epistles in the New Testament, show the particular occasions on which they were written, and prove, as the Bishop of Winchester observes, that "They are not to be considered as "regular treatises on the Christian Religion.' (1)

II. In supposing our Saviour to have appointed his bare written word for the Rule of our Faith, without any authorized judge to decide on the unavoidable controversies growing out of it, you would suppose that he has acted differently from what common sense has dictated to all other legislators: for where do we read of a legislator, who, after dictating a code of laws, neglected to appoint judges and magistrates to decide on their meaning, and to enforce obedience to such decisions? You, Dear Sir, have the means of knowing, what would be the consequence of leaving any Act of Parliament, concerning taxes, or inclosures, or any other temporal concerns, to the interpretation of the individuals whom it regards. Alluding to the Protestant Rule, the illustrious Fenelon has said, 'It is better to live without any 'law, than to have laws which all men are left to 'interpret according to their several opinions and interests.' (2) The Bishop of London (3) appears sensible of this truth, as far as regards temporal affairs, where he writes,In matters of property, indeed, some decision, right or wrong, 'must be made: society could not subsist without 'it:' (4) just as if peace and unity were less necessary in the one Sheepfold of the one Shepherd, the Church of Christ, than they are in civil society!

III. The fact is, this method of determining religious questions by Scripture only, according

(1) Elem, of Christ. Rel. vol. i. p. 277.
(2) Life of Archb, Fenelon, by Ramsay.
(4) Brief Confut. p. 18.

(3) Dr. Porteus,

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to each individual's interpretation, has always produced, whenever and wherever it has been adopted, endless and incurable dissensions, and of course, errors; because truth is one, while errors are numberless. The ancient Fathers of the Church reproached the sects of heretics and schismatics with their endless internal divisions. 'See,' says St. Augustin, into how many morsels 'those are divided, who have divided themselves from the unity of the Church!' (1) Another Father writes, "It is natural for error to be ever 'changing. (2) The disciples have the same 'right in this matter that their masters had.'

To speak now of the Protestant Reformers. No sooner had their progenitor, Martin Luther, set up the tribunal of private judgment on the sense of Scripture, in opposition to the authority of the Church, ancient and modern, (3) than his disciples proceeding on this principle, undertook to prove, from plain texts of the Bible, that his own doctrine was erroneous, and that the Reformation itself wanted reforming. Carlostad, (4) Zuinglius, (5) Ecolompadius, (6) Muncer, (7) and a hundred more of his followers, wrote and preached against him and against each other, with the

(1) St. Aug.

(2) Tertul. de Pra :crip.

(3) This happened in June, 1520, on his doctrine being censured by the Pope. Till that time he had submitted to the judgment of the Holy See.

(4) He was Luther's first disciple of distinction, being Archdeacon of Wittemberg. He declared against Luther in 1521.

(5) Zuinglius began the Reformation in Switzerland some time after Luther began it in Germany, but taught such doctrine that the latter termed him a Pagan, and said, he despaired of his salvation.

(6) Ecolompadius was a Brigittine Friar of the monastery of St. Law. rence, near Augsburgh; but soon quitted the cloister, married, and adopted the sentiments of Zuinglius, respecting the Real Presence, in preference to those of Luther. His death was sudden, and by Luther it is asserted, that he was strangled by the devil.

(7) Muncer was the disciple of Luther, and founder of the Anabaptists, who, in quality of The Just, maintained that property of The Wicked belonged to them, quoting the second Beatitude, Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the land. Muncer wrote to the several Princes of Germany, requiring them to give up their possessions to him. He soon after marched at the head of 40,000 of his followers to enforce this requisition.

utmost virulence, whilst each of them, still professing to ground his doctrine and conduct on the written word of God alone. In vain did Luther claim a superiority over them; in vain did he denounce hell-fire against them; (1) in vain did he threaten to return back to the Catholic Religion; (2) he had put the Bible into each man's hand to explain it for himself, and this his followers continued to do in open defiance of him; (3) till their mutual contradictions and discords became so numerous and scandalous, as to overwhelm the thinking part of them with grief and confusion. (4)

To point out some few of the particular variations alluded to; for to enumerate them all would require a work ten times more voluminous than that of Bossuet on this subject: it is well known that Luther's fundamental principle was that of imputed justice, to the exclusion of all acts of vir

(1) He said to them, 'I can defend you against the Pope-but when 'the devil shall urge against you (the authors of these changes) at your 'death, this passage of Scripture, They ran and I did not send them, how 'shall you withstand him? He will plunge you headlong into hell.'Oper tom. vii. fol. 274.

(2) If you continue in these measures of your common deliberations, 'I will recant whatever I have written or said, and leave you. Mind 'what I say.' Oper. tom. vii. fol. 276, edit. Wittem.

(3) see the curious challenge of Luther to Carlestad to write a book against the Real Presence, when one wishes the other to break his neck, and the latter retorts, May I see thee broken on the wheel. Variat. b. ii. n. 12.

(4) Capito, minister of Strasburg, writing to Farel, pastor of Geneva, thus complains to him: God has given me to understand the mischief 'we have done by our precipitancy in breaking with the Pope, &c. 'The people say to us, I know enough of the Gospel. I can read it for 'myself. I have no need of you. Inter. Epist. Calvini.- In the same tone Dudith writes to his friend Beza: Our people are carried away 'with every wind of doctrine. If you know what their religion is to'day, you cannot tell what it will be to-morrow. In what single point are those Churches which have declared war against the Pope agreed amongst themselves? There is not one point which is not held by some of them as an article of faith, and by others as an impiety.' In the same sentiment, Calvin, writing to Melancthon, says, 'It is of 'great importance that the divisions, which subsist among us, should 'not be known to future ages: for nothing can be more ridiculous than that we who have broken off from the whole world, should have agreed so ill among ourselves from the very beginning of the Refor 'mation.

tue and good works performed by ourselves. His favourite disciple and bottle companion, Amsdorf, carried this principle so far as to maintain, that Good works are a hindrance to salvation. (1) In vindication of his fundamental tenet, Luther vaunts as follows: This article shall remain in 'spite of all the world: it is I, Martin Luther, Evangelist, who say it: let no one, therefore, attempt to infringe it, neither the emperor of 'the Romans, nor of the Turks, nor of the Tartars; neither the Pope, nor the Monks, nor the Nuns, nor the Kings, nor the Princes, nor all the Devils in hell. If they attempt it, may the infernal flames be their recompense. What I say here is to be taken for an inspiration of the Holy Ghost.' (2) Notwithstanding, however, these terrible threats and imprecations of their master, Melancthon, with the rest of the Lutherans, abandoned this article, immediately after his death, and went over to the opposite extreme of Semi-pelagianism; not only admitting the necessity of good works, but also teaching that these are prior to God's grace. Still on this single subject, Osiander, a Lutheran, says,There are twenty several opinions, all drawn from the "Scriptures, and held by different members of the Augsburg, or Lutheran Confession.' (3)

Nor has the unbounded license of explaining Scripture, each one in his own way, which Protestants claim, been confined to mere errors and dissensions: it has also caused mutual persecution and bloodshed: (4) it has produced tumults, rebellions and anarchy beyond recounting. Dr. Hey asserts, that the misinterpretation of Scripture brought on the miseries of the Civil

(1) Mosheim's Hist, by Maclaine, vol. iv. p. 328. ed. 1790.

(2) Visit. Saxon.

(3) Archdeacon Blackburn's Confessional, p. 16.

(4) See Letters to a Prebendary, chapter Persecution. Numberless other proofs of Protestants persecuting, not only Catholics, but also their fellow Protestants to death, on account of their religious opinions, can be adduced.