tives, fuch as envy and ftrife; Philip. i. 15. and fome for filthy lucre; Titus i. 11. Some, who profeffed Chriftianity, maintained the lawfulness of eating things offered in facrifice to idols, and committing fornication, Revel. ii. 14, 20. and others adhered to the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, viz. of holding a community of wives; Rev. ii. 15. And St. Paul gives the following character of Chriftians in general, viz. that all fought their own, not the things which are Jefus Chrift's. This was the probity of fome Chriftians, and thus was the gofpel of Christ, or the Chriftian revelation, perverted and 'abused, even in the first age, and whilst the apostles were prefent with the their writings do plainly fhew. In the fecond century, according to learned men, things grew worse, parties increased, and fome maintained their ground against their opponents by forgery and falfhood; many gofpels appeared that were afcribed to the apostles, so that each party had it's gofpel, or gofpels, to appeal to, in order to fupport their respective and oppofite tenets; there were likewife vifionaries, who pretended to new and special revelations; the writings of the second century were alfo abused, either VOL. II.

F

church, as

then

then or afterwards, elfe how came we by two fets of the epiftles of Ignatius, different from each other? viz. the larger and lefs; one of which must have been forged, or elfe one must have been greatly enlarged, or the other caftrated; either of which fhews the religious cheats of those times. After the fecond century, party zeal and violence arofe to a very great height, infomuch that truth and error feemed determinable by ftrong and weak; and the Chriftian church feemed to be a compound of religious factions; and, by degrees, fuch darkness and ignorance generally prevailed, as put it into the power of the crafty and ambitious leaders of those factions to put what they pleased upon the people, as the Chriftian revelation; beyond which times of ignorance and wickedness, our most ancient manufcripts (as the learned fay) do not appear to have been written, and therefore may have been greatly corrupted. And that the Chriftian revelation has been in evil cafe, as having been greatly corrupted and depraved, I think, abundantly appears from hence, viz. that, whilft it was running through the channels of oral and written tradition, it's pretended guardians have ex

tracted

tracted the very mystery of iniquity from it, as it has, and does ftill take place in the church of Rome, and has prevailed over the Chriftian world; fo that experience and fact have given full proof what the confequence will be, if a divine revelation is put into the hands of men; who are at liberty to do with it, and by it, and make it fubfervient to what purposes they please.

PERHAPS, it may be faid, that the Deity did not thus put the Chriftian revelation into the hands of men, and then leave it to their mercy to do with it,and by it,as they pleased; feeing he appointed, and thereby has provided an order of men, whose business it has been to guard and defend the Chrifian revelation from all harm, and to watch over the fouls of all those who have been baptized in the name, and into the faith of Chrift; and has also, in the general, made fuch a provifion of worldly good things for the Chriftian miniftry, as puts thofe guardians above, and out of the reach of all temptation to act below, or any way abufe the truft repofed in them; which order of men have been continued, by a regular and proper fucceffion, from the apostles down to this time; and by which provision F 2

we,

we, of this age and nation, are happily provided for, and taken care of, in thefe refpects; fo that, under fuch a providential care as this, the Chriftian revelation must have been kept from all injury and wrong. With regard to this providential care, as it is called, it is fufficient to obferve, there is no reasoning against plain fact. That the Christian revelation has been expofed and injured, as aforefaid, is evident from experience. And as to thofe guardians, those watchmen referred to, what their care, their fidelity, &c. have been, the experience of feventeen hundred years has abundantly fhewn and as to our own times, what this order of men in the general are, what they fhew themselves chiefly concerned to purfue, and what their time and thoughts, their care and diligence, principally point at, and are directed to obtain, are so very obvious, that every plowman may judge, viz. the riches, the honours, and the pleasures of this world. From what I have obferved, I think, it appears, that if care and caution and a diligent enquiry be neceffary to be exercised in any cafe, it must be fo in the cafe under confideration; because there is not any thing, of equal importance,that has fallen into worfe

bands,

bands, or that has been more expofed to danger, than the Chriftian revelation has been; indeed, when the Chriftian revelation was first promulged, if the Deity had fo infured it to the world, and to pofterity, as thereby to have fecured it from all injury and harm, and this had plainly appeared to be the case ; then, for us only to have heard or read, and believed and obeyed, without any farther follicitation, would have been acting properly, and as the circumftances of the cafe required. But, whereas the cafe is otherwise, and as it were the reverfe; therefore it requires we should act otherwife, and as it were the reverse; that is, the importance, of the fubject, and the circumstances of the cafe, do manifeftly require, that we should be very careful and cautious about what we admit as the Chriftian revelation; because, otherwise, we are in great danger of being misled with regard to it; and that fuch a prudent conduct as this, in the cafe under confideration, will be pleafing to God, I think, need not be doubted of; becaufe it is doing justice to the fubject and to ourselves, as well as acting properly and fuitable to our intelligent natures.

THE channels through which the Chrif tian revelation has paffed to us must have been oral or written tradition, or both.