well as wicked Practices; and Diseases of Mind are no more to be wonder'd at than Difeafes of the Body. God in his Wisdom has not thought fit to tye up Mankind by Miracle, and force 'em to be Good; and for the fame Reafon he does not force 'em to be Orthodox; and therefore Herefies must be. Which brings me to the Second General, That the being of Herefies are no Objection against the Goodnefs of any Church, or the Truth of the Chriftian Faith. There is no one Objection oftner in the Mouth of Papifts, and with lefs Reason, than the Schifms and Herefies among Proteftants: For if they have had Monsters of this kind in great Plenty at Rome; if fuch Spiritual Wickedneffes have been in their High Places, and Arians fate even in St. Peter's Chair; if there has been Altar against Altar, and Pope against Pope, as moft certainly there have been, why fuch an Out-cry from that Quarter against the Divifions in England? unless it be to amufe the People, that the Church of Rome is all Love, Unity and Concord. But that the People may not be thus amus'd, I defire 'em to look again before they believe, into a fhort but full Treatife compos'd on purpose to arm the Ignorant against this popular Delufion; whereby the weakest Proteftant may foon be enabl'd to cut off the many headed Monster with his own Sword. But that Recrimination may not be thought our only Argument, I fay, Firft, That for the fame Reason that Papifts argue against Proteftants from this Topick, any one may likewife against the Church of God in Heaven from the Fall of Angels: Against the Church of God on Earth among the Jews, from the Schifms of Corah and Jeroboam, and from the Herefy of the Sadducees and other Sects among them. At this rate likewise one might argue against Christ and his Apoftles, from the Apoftacy of Judas: A

9

• An Apologetical Vindication of the Church of England; by George Hickes, D. D.

gainst

gainst the Church of Corinth, from the Schifms and Divifions in it, and in a word, against every Church planted by the Apoftles. For notwithstanding thofe Twelve, known, infallible and faithful judges of Controversy, there were as many and as damnable Herefies crept in even in the Apoftolick Age, as in any after Age perhaps during the fame fpace of Time; fo little will Infallibility ferve the Turn it is set up for. For, as I have already fhewn, there will never be an end of Schifm and Herefy, till we are all both Infallible and Impeccable, till we cannot poffibly be deceiv'd or deceive. And is not this now a very fine Argument against the Goodness of the Church of England, that will hold good againft every particular Church both in Heaven and Earth? And if it be an effential Mark of the Truth and Goodness of a Church to lofe none of those that were baptiz'd into it, then there never was a true or good Church; and thofe who have gone off from Rome, are as unanswerable an Objection against the Papifts as our Separatifts are against us.

But then, Secondly, I fay farther, that bare Unity or Agreement is no certain Mark of the Truth or Goodness of a Church, but the Things united in; because this is the common Mark of all Parties: And if this be an Argument of Truth and Goodness, then fo far as they agree among themselves, fo far they muft be all in the right, though never fo contrary to each other. The murderers of our Lord, who cry'd out with great unanimity, crucify him, crucify bim, muft for this Reafon be in the Right; the more than Forty who bound themselves under a Curse to kill Paul, muft be in the Right; the more than Forty times Forty who murder'd King Charles I, who talk'd of nothing more than Union and Communion, they too muft have been in the Right; nay, the Kingdom of Darkness must be in the Right, for that alfo we are told is at Unity in it felf; For if Satan be divided against bimself, how shall

then

then bis Kingdom ftand? But this is fo filly an Argument that I fhall perfue it no farther; for I think we are in no want of Examples at present to prove, that Men may be united in Error as well as Truth. This Popish Objection against the Truth and Goodness of Proteftant Churches from the Schifms and Herefies amongst 'em, is taken up by Atheists, Deifts and Scep ticks, against the Truth of all Religion in general: But with what Reafon, I leave the impartial Reader to judge from thefe few following Confiderations.

I. That Difputes and Differences about the Nature and Modes of a Thing, are no Argument against the Truth and Being of the Thing difputed about. For is it reasonable to argue after this manner? There has been much Difpute about Squaring the Circle,therefore there is no Circle at all. There has been much dif pute about the Motion of the Earth, therefore there is no Earth. There has been much Difpute about the divifibility of Matter, therefore there is no Matter at all. Men difpute about the Titles to an Eftate, or the Meafure of their Land, therefore there is no Title, nor Eftate, nor Meafure, nor Land. Travellers difpute about the right Way, therefore there is no Way. Lawyers difpute about the Senfe of a Law, therefore there is no Law. Divines difpute about the Senfe of the Gospel, therefore there is no Gospel at all. On the contrary, I think with much better Reafon we ought to conclude, that there is fome object of fuch Difputes, or fuch Difputes wou'd never have been. There have been from Time to Time a world of Martyrs and Confeffors, a world of Books, Difcourfes and Conferences about the Truth of Religion, therefore there is fuch a thing as True Religion; because Men who are in their Wits don't ufe to fuffer, and die, and difpute eternally about nothing.

१

2. At this rate all Truths muft depend upon the Will of Man, for if fome Scepticks are pleas'd to be in the Humour to difpute, whether there was fuch a Man as Julius Cafar, or fuch a Perfon as Jefus of

Nazareth

Nazareth, or whether Three and Three are equal to Six: If fuch Difputes can alter the Nature of Things, then thefe Truths, when difputed, are to be no longer Truths. But Truths are not of that limber and flexible Nature as to be difputed away at our Pleasure, Things will be what they are in fpight of all our little Reasonings about 'em: And though a Stoick in good Health may make bold to argue against the reality of Pain, yet in his Sickness he will find Pain to be what it is, and to be too hard for all his Philofophy.

3dly. Thefe very Difputes and Differences were foretold by Chrift and his Apoftles for the verification of his Religion, and therefore certainly ought to be no Objection against it. Men may be too far gone for Argument as well as Phyfick. Pharaoh was paft the Power of Miracle, and the Reasons which foften fome, harden others: For though Chrift declar'd before-hand, that it must needs be that Offences come; and though thefe Offences came as he had declar'd, yet the very fulfilling of this Prophecy was turn'd by fome to the difgrace of Chriftianity, and had no other Effect upon the Apoftate Julian than to make him fay, That the Galilæan had now verify'd bis own faying, That he came not to fend Peace on Earth, but the Sword. And for the fame witty Reafon other Libertines have advanc'd a Step beyond Julian, and declar'd it the wifeft way to throw off all Religion, till all Parties are agreed about it. But wicked Spirits will fuck Poifon from an Antidote, and turn the best Proof for the Truth of Chriftianity as an Objection against it. The worfer fort of Hea thens argu'd against the Faith from the many Difputes and Differences about it, and from the ftrange Calamities and Sufferings of its Profeffors; whereas the good Primitive Chriftians were the more confirm'd in the Faith by these Objections. In the most provoking Diftreffes they rejoyc'd, and were exceeding glad when they fuffer'd for Righteousness fake, well knowing

knowing that their Mafter had fufficiently told 'em of these things before they came to pass, that when they did come to pass they might believe. So likewife they were griev'd at Herefies in Compaffion to Hereticks, but they were not offended, they were not caft down and ftruck into diffidence and helpless Wonder that fuch Diseases fhou'd be, but like wife and faithful Phyficians, apply'd with all their Might to cure and prevent 'em; well knowing from Chrift's Prediction, and from the Corruptions of Mankind, that Herefies must be, and that they were permitted for wife and good Ends; that they which are approved may be made manifeft. Which is the next thing to be confider'd.

Though Scbifms and Herefies are very great Evils both in themselves and in their Confequences; though they give Scandal to the Weak, Diverfion to the Witty, and Argument to the Atheist; though they are the Parents of every evil Work, of Envyings, Wraths, Strifes, Backbitings, Whisperings, Swellings, Tumults, Rebellions, Murders; though they breed the worst Blood imaginable in the Body Politick, and introduce Craft and Cruelty, and metamorphofe Chriftians into Foxes and Wolves, and fet 'em at the greatest distance from Truth and good Manners, and in a word, make a mere Babel of the Church of God: Though these are the fure and certain, the known and experienc'd Effects of Schifm and Herefy; yet God, I fay, (who brings Good out of Evil) for juft and holy Reafons permits fuch Evils to be, and by his All wife Providence more than ballances the Evil with the Good. For after all, what do fuch Contentions and Clafhings about Religion do more than strike out Light to let us fee who is who? To let us fee the Man of Confcience from the Mammonite, the Meek and Humble from the Proud and Paffionate, the Sincere from the Hypocrite, &c. which without fuch differences wou'd not appear. For did Men profefs all the fame Faith, and agree all