phiftications of Writers of Controversy. And I venture to say that they are, in the main, plain and intelligible to honeft and impartial Minds; as will appear on their Publication; and yet not a little different from the Notions that pafs current among us, and have been deriv'd to us from the Antichriftian Church without Examination. Your Lordship muft allow me to govern my own Sentiments and Practices by my own Judgment and Enquiries; and not expect that Modern Authority must serve inftead of Original Evidence with me, whatever it does with others in most Cafes. And if this be esteem'd Pride, and Vanity, and Obftinacy, and Heretical Pravity, I must be contented with those Imputations; having an affured Hope that the juft Judge of all the Earth will one Day acquit me, whatever the Paffion or Prejudice of Man may now think of, or do to me. I fincerely enquire after,and honeftly embrace all the Truths of God, which I find either in Scripture, or the first Writers. But when I fee Corruptions plainly come in; when I faw how they came in, and when they came in ; when I fee by what Authority they were establish'd; and by what forbiding, or dropping, or corrupting the ancient Records of our Religion they have been fo long continued, I cannot hold my Peace, left I my felf be condemned for my Silence and Hypocrify another Day. Your Lordship is fo great a Master of the moft Ancient Fathers, that I fhall wonder if my Collection out of them fhould be thought of any dangerous Confequence by your Lordship. And I hope the Apoftolical Conftitutions, Novatian's Account of the Ancient Doctrines of the Trinity and Incarnation, and the moft Primitive Fathers in particular, are by Providence pre-. fervid on purpose to retrieve to the Church the truly ; truly Primitive Faith, and Practice and Difcipline; that when our Saviours, Kingdom begins, it may be establish'd upon the very fame Foot whereon it was Originally fettled in the first Times of the Gofpel. I am with all Respect, Duty, and Obfervance, Your Lordships, most obedient WILL. WHISTON. To this Letter my Lord Bishop of Worcester was pleas'd to answer in a little Time. Such Parts of which his Second Letter, as concern the prefent matter, I fhall here transcribe. SIR, Hartlebury-Castle, Sep. 8. 1708. Your Letter of August 26. came to me not till Sunday the fifth Inftant: And then having several Letters of Business to write by the MondayPoft, I was conftrain'd to put off the answering of your's to the prefent. But I cannot answer it now as I would if I had Time to confider. For, to do any thing to the Purpose, I must have more Time than Men of quicker Parts need. God help me, my Parts have been always very flow, and are fo now more than ever, by Reafon of my Age; and will be more and more fo to the End of my Life. But to husband the little Time I have to write by this Poft, I will fhorten my Work, and speak of nothing more than the Things I find in your Letter. In the Account you are pleas'd to give me of the Work you are about, I am glad to fee this in the firft first Place, that you are no Socinian. God be thanked for that. But then you own your self not to be Jatisfied with the Creed of Vig. Tapf. and fome other Novelties. By the Creed of Vig. Tapf. I fuppofe you mean the Confeffion of our Chriftian Faith, which is commonly called the Creed of St. Athanafius: That, you know, is the Title that is given it in our Liturgy. But what then are thofe other novel Notions, as you call them? Are they likewise such as are own'd by our Church? If they are not, I have no more to fay to them in this Place. But if they are, then I have the fame to fay for them, as I have for the Creed above-mention'd. I am heartily forry for th which you fay, that you are not fatisfy'd with them. But if that be all, you may keep your Diffatisfaction to your felf; if you find it very uneafy, you may try how it may be remov'd by Reading, or Conference, or the like; always joined with Prayer to God, Eph. III. 15. And, if you are fure you are in the Right in any Matter, whereing you have the Church's Judgment against you, yet you fhould be very careful not to break the Peace of the Church by Writing against it. If it were but one Brother that would take Hurt by your Writing, the Apoftle faith, It is not good to venture That, Rom. XIV. 21. even though you know you are in the Right: For, as it followeth, Haft thou Faith? have it to thy felf. How much more when the Peace of the Church you are of, is to be broke or weakned by it? I know nothing can excufe you from this, unless the Church holds fome damnable Error; and that in the Cafe you are speaking of, must be fuch an Error as the Church hath been in ever fince the Third Century. Can you think this is poffible? I am fure it is very unlikely. What that any Part of the Faith once deliver'd to to the Saints, hath been loft ever fince the Nicene Times; and had been fo ftill, but that my Friend Mr. Whiston hath found it? Believe this who will; for my part, if my Friend were an An- gel, I fhould not believe it. Pray, my Dear Friend, be not over-fond of this Fatus of your Brain, as you will be furely tempted to be, be- cause it is yours. But pray get fome thinking judicious Friends well to view it, and to judge whether it be fit to be rear'd: If they advise you against it, if they tell you it will furely do Mischief, do not think much to bury it; do it even for His fake that kept in many Truths till Difciples fhould be able to bear them, Joh. XVI. My Answer to this, as I find upon the Review, That the Creed of Vigilius Thapfitanus. One that knows the Original State of Chriftianity fo well as your Lordship, might as well fay the fame of the Worship of Images, but that violent prepoffeffion for what is in the Church hinders the plaineft Truths from being believ❜d. Creed is most evidently a grofs Corruption, compos'd under, and establish'd by the Antichriftian Church; and a great shame to all Proteftants that 'tis not yet excluded. But that is only one Point. My defign is general, to give an Authentick Account of the most Primitive Faith in these matters in the very Words of Scripture, and the firft Writers. And if Perfons of your Lordship's Character fhall discourage this Honeft and Chriftian Defign, I fhall be obliged to let all the Church fee how grofly they have been impos'd upon, by putting all the Teftimonies into English. Give me leave to reafon freely with your Lordship, because it is in behalf of the Original Chriftian Faith, against the Corruptions of Philofophy and Tyranny: Pagan Philofophy and Antichriftian Tyranny. What is Popery and Prieft-craft, if this be not fo? to fupprefs or corrupt the Ancient Books: to vouch fpurious or fufpected Authorities to make Metaphyfical Niceties, Articles of the Chriftian Faith to overlook or evade exprefs Teftimonies to put forc'd and abfurd Interpretations on the plain Words of Scripture: to lay afide the undoubted Genuine Work of Clemens Romanus, I mean the Apoftolical Conftitutions; and the Original, Jewish, and Gentile Liturgies contain'd in the Seventh and Eight Books of it; in comparison of which, all the Books of Divinity now extant, excepting the Sacred ones, are inconfiderable and all this for fear of the Imputation of Arianifm, i. c. because we dare : not |