Truth Defended, Title page – Preface 1
Truth Defended: OR, A Triple Anſwer to the late Triumvirates Oppoſition in their Three Pamphlets, VIZ.
Mr. Baxter's Review,
Mr. Wills his Cenſure,
Mr. Whiſton's Poſtſcript to his Eſſay, &c.
With Mr. Hutchinſon's LETTER to Mr. Baxter a little before his Death.
And a POSTSCRIPT in Anſwer t… Mr. William Walker's Modeſt Plea for Infants Baptiſm.
By Tho. Delaune.
Jude 3. Earneſtly contend for the Faith once delivered to the Saints.
Printed for …, and are to be ſold by Francis Smith at the Elephant and Caſtle near the Royal Exchange, 1677.
THE PREFACE.
Reader,
THou art here entertained once more with this Controverſie; for though ſome may think it more ſeaſonable for perſons in our Circumſtances, to be ſilent at this time of day, yet the reſtleſſneſs of our Adverſaries, makes it needfull for us to vindicate that great and neceſſary Truth of our Chriſtian Baptiſm, from the affronts put upon it, and its Profeſſors, by men of a quarrelſome, ſatyrical, and invective ſpirit. There is an unſeaſonable (yea a ſinfull) ſilence, by which Truth is betray'd and left unreſcued as a prey to its invaders: of which, having a clear call, and no other appearing, I am loath to be found guilty, though conſcious of my weakneſs.
I have compendiouſly handled what's voluminouſly managed by others, ſo to draw the matter into the narroweſt limits I could.
I find it to be a general Objection, That it is not likely, that our Way ſhould be true, becauſe ſo many learned and pious men for ſo many ages, have been of the contrary perſwaſion. In anſwer to which I humbly ſubmit theſe brief Conſiderations.
1. That the higheſt attainments of Learning, do not priviledge from Error: For the way of arriving to Scripture-knowledge, is not through thoſe gaudy portals of Philoſophy, and artificial ratiocinations, but by an earneſt waiting, and addreſs to the Lord in Prayer and Scripture meditation; Solomon obtained wiſdom by asking it of God, not by ranſacking the Univerſity, 2 Chron. 1.10. The promiſe is to the petitioning, faithfull Chriſtian, Mat. 7.7. & 21.22. James 1.5, 6, 7, 17. 1 John 3.22. And common experience ſhews us, that a plain and ſerious, though illiterate Chriſtian, gets that view of Scripture and ſpiritual things, which the moſt ſubtle and piercing eye of the graceleſs Schoolman cannot reach. He is moſt like to come acquainted with Gods Counſel, that's moſt intimate with him, in a moſt humble and holy retiredneſs and contemplation. It was in his retiredment that Moſes his face was ſo irradiated with glory, Deut. 34.29.35. whereas the moſt elevated (whether natural, or acquired) accompliſhments, (if ill imploy'd, as a ſharp Sword in a mad hand does greateſt miſchief) do but render the poſſeſſors fitter Inſtruments to propagate error: For Refined parts, and witty Reaſonings, if unſanctified, do commonly perſecute Truth, and advance Falſhood, Philoſoph… Haeretic…rum patriarchae; it being in their Judgments a depre…ſion of their imaginary glory to acknowledge, that poor Mechanicks, or Laicks (as they count them) ſhould correct their Learned extravagance, or be better proficients in the School of Chriſt then they; though we have the very Word of Truth for it, 1 Cor. 1.26. Mat. 11.25. And very ſuitably does Dr. Carlton Biſhop of Chicheſter, in his Thankfull Rememb. Edit. 1627. p. 289. expreſs himſelf; A L…y-man that hath the Spirit of God, is better able to judge of the Church and its Members, then a man in Eccleſiaſtical function that hath not the Spirit of God. Inf…lix eſt ſa…ientia, …trae verbum Dei ſapere, ſays Juſtin … And it has ever been found, that plain Divinity …ſts a more radiant luſtre, then the obſcure … of the Schools, though ſpangled in their gaud…eſt attire. And Auguſtine himſelf ſays. Epiſt. ad Or… ſinm, that as the Sun is to be ſeen only by … own light; ſo the light of the Goſpel is viſible only through the rayes it communicates. Sicat S…nt non videt oculus niſi lumine Solis, ſic ver…um … dominicum lumen non poterit vid…ri n…ſi …pſ…us …. But you'l ſay, that many …f our oppoſ…te, …re …. as well as learned. Which I ſhall readily grant. And I am perſwaded that ſome of them a… precious in the ſight of the Lord, eminent for cr…e and holineſs; yet that renders them not …fallible. The wiſeſt on Earth, know but in part: And 'tis a moſt certain rule, that as a Church muſt be proved by the Doctrine, not the Doctrine by the Church; ſo men muſt be counted Orthodox by the ſoundneſs of their Judgment; and not the foundneſs of their Judgment or opinion neceſſarily concluded, becauſe they (being ſuch pious and learned men) held ſo.
2. This Argument (if of any weight) lies againſt the whole body of the Reformation, as well as us: For can it be imagined, (ſays Cluniacenſis in behalf of the Romaniſts) that ſo many great Doctors and Fathers of the Church, pious (in their way) and of ſtupendious learning, ſhould erre all this while? &c. Contra Petro Bruiſianos, p. 1124. Edit. 1614. Siccinè caecatus eſt orbis terrarum, tantâque hucuſque caligine involutus, ut ad aperiendes oculos ſuos, & ad tam diuturnam noctem illuſtrandam, poſt tot Patres, Martyres, Pontifices, & univerſarum Eccleſiarum principes, vos tandiu expectârit, & ad corrigendum longum errorem ſuum, Petrum de Bruis, & Henricum ejus aſſeclam, velut Apoſtolos noviſſimos elegerit? Itanè uſque ad novos ſaeculi reparatores mundns periit? &c. So that when our diſſenting Proteſtant Brethren reſolve theſe Interrogatories for themſelves, they Anſwer this Objection alſo, for us.
3. The Example of the holieſt men, muſt not be our Rule of worſhip; for we can have no poſſible aſſurance that what they hold is a Truth, (unleſs it be revealed in the Scripture) ſince it is poſſible for the holieſt man on Earth to erre, yea in this very thing; therefore the truth of an opinion muſt be made out by Scripture demonſtration, not by the multitude, quality, or holineſs of its favourites. We are not to follow a Paul, but as he follows Chriſt, 1 Cor. 11.1. We are not to follow a multitude any more in error, then evil, Deut. 23.2. We are not to believe an Angel from Heaven, any more then he agrees with the Goſpel already delivered to us, Gal. 1.8. much leſs are we to receive any doctrine upon the credit of Man, who is a Creature far ſhort of Angelical ſpirituality. We conceive it our duty, with the noble Bereans, to ſearch the Scriptures, whether theſe things be ſo, Act. 17.11. Our Appeal muſt be to the Law and to the teſtimony, Iſa. 8.20. not to the number or piety of our party.
But ſays the Objector, 'Tis arrogance in you to think your ſelves wiſer then your Forefathers; and want of charity, if you ſay they erred either maliciouſly or wilfully.
Anſw. So might the Papiſts ſay to the Proteſtants, ſo might the Church of England ſay to all other diſſenters, as well as us. And what new diſcovery can there be made, but muſt be obnoxious to this cenſure? We aſcribe nothing to our own wiſdom; it is the beneplaeitum, or good pleaſure of the Lord to reveal his Truths to Babes, which are hid from the wiſe and prudent, Luk. 10.21. for which we muſt, as Chriſt did, expreſs our thankfulneſs. And no man muſt preſume to call him to account for the exerciſe of his Soveraignty. We believe that a great many hold Infant Baptiſm purely out of Conſcience, becauſe they think the grounds urged for it from Scripture be valid; and that if they were ſatisfied, as we are, of its unlawfulneſs, they would renounce the practice, as a great many do, upon the acceſſion of more light. (2) That vaſt multitudes hold it, out of pure ignorance. (3) Some becauſe it was the opinion of their Anceſtors, and is ſo generally owned. (4) Moſt from that wretched and miſchievous conceit, with which (except ſome few of the moſt refined Proteſtants) the world is intoxicated, viz. that WITHOƲT IT THEIR CHILDREN ARE DAMNED. (5) Many of the great and learned ones hold it, becauſe it is the Cornerſtone of the Eccleſiaſtical Fabrick erected by the man of ſin, againſt which they muſt not declare, if they will be Miniſters of that State. (6) Moſt are brought up in that way, and never examine it, whether right or wrong. (7) Some that would examine it, judge that ſo great a part of the world would not hold it, if it were unlawfull, and ſo are led by an implicite Faith. (8) Some that examine it are byaſſed by Intereſt, or Education, ſo that the cleareſt Argument, or Reaſon, cannot remove them. (9) Some are indeed convinced by the force of Truth, yet the love of the world, or ſome ſuch ſiniſter end, hinders their owning ſo deſpiſed and uncountenanced a practice. And a great many (through grace) are convinced, and wrought upon to own it, and be…r their teſtimony to it; and certainly the teſtimony (though but) of a few, that are not blinded with temporal ends, (and that cannot be charged upon us) but ſwim painfully againſt the ſtream, is not to be ſlighted.
Obj. But you make an Idol of it, and cenſoriouſly condemn all that differ from you.
Anſw. This is an injurious charge; for we aſcribe no more to it, then is warranted in the Word of God. We look upon it as the initiating Ordinance into a Goſpel profeſſion, Act. 2.41, 42. An Ordinance of Chriſt, of the ſ…me duration with preaching, Mat. 28.19. A lively reſemblance of the Death, Burial, and Reſurrection of Chriſt, Rom. 6.4. Col. 2.12. And we conceive it our duty to be found in the practice and profeſſion of it, though we undergo the cenſures and affronts of the age we live in, thereby. We make no Idol of it, nor does our Religion conſiſt in it only; we deſire to preſs after Holineſs, and to worſhip our God in Spirit and Truth, to walk blameleſly. Nor do we condemn diſſenters, but pray for them, that the Lord would give them more light. We deſire to love all men, as far as they appear to us to belong to Chriſt; and would walk together in love, as f…r as we agree: But when they erre from the Rule, we dare go no further with them; — Magis amica veritas, it being (as Ariſtotle himſelf ſaid, l. 1. c. 6 Ethicorum, foreign) a ſacred thing to prefer Truth before Friendſhip.
Daille tells us in his Right uſe of the Fathers, p 97. that Juſtin Martyr, Irenaeus, Clemens Alexandrinus, Tertullian, (I may add Origen) Cyprian, Lactantius, Hillary, Ambroſe, Jerome, Auguſtine, and Epiphanius, that is, the moſt eminent, and moſt approved of the Fathers that ever were, have ſtumbled in many places, and quite fallen away in others. Of which they themſelves were ſo ſenſible, that they gave us many cautions not to lean upon their Authority: Non …ecipienda veterum Authoritas, Scripturae teſtimonio deſtituta, Auguſt. Ep. 19. Ex omnibus Fatribus nemo eſt, quin ſuis ſcriptis aliquando faede erraverit & hallucinatus eſt, Lubert. de Eccleſ. l. 3. c. 7. In libris Doctorum Eccleſiae aliquondo errores, aliquando Haereſes inveniuntur, non eſt tamen, ut condemnemus vel librum, vtl Authorem, Deus enim hoc permittit, ut nos veritatem ex ipſis ſcripturis indagemus, Anſelm. Comment. in 2 Cor. Therefore it is the leſs to be wondred, that ſuch as ſuck their unexamin'd Religion from their mouths, go aſtray with them. Nor can we be cenſured of arrogance, if, upon the tryal of their documents, we hold faſt only that which is good. The ſober Author of the Naked Truth tells us, p. 42. That in matters of Faith, there were ſome errors very Primitive, and at the time of the Evangelical Reformation by Luther, Melancthon, Calvin he can ſhew ſome errors generally received in moſt, if not all, the Churches of Chriſtendom, but neither approved nor known by the Primitive Church. Now, this being ſo, let the ſober judge what little reaſon or ſafety we have, to be led by any mans ipſe dixit.
I would not be underſtood in any thing I ſay about this matter, to cry down humane learning as a thing of no uſe: For I confeſs it to be of excellent benefit in its place, if rightly employ'd; and that the knowledge of the Original Languages in which the Scriptures are penn'd, is of very great neceſſity, that we might converſe with that bleſſed Book in its own emphatical and Native Idiom, and that we might not be impoſed upon by wrong Tranſlations. Yet we are to conſider the bounds of Philoſophy and humane literature, viz. it is to be exerciſed in the things that may be known by the light of Natural Reaſon; but when it travels beyond that road, and muſt needs be defining things beyond its ſphear, it becomes extravagant and ſawcy. Accinge te ad Philoſophiam, ſed hac lege, ut memineris nullam eſſe Philoſophiam quae à myſteriorum veritate nos abdueat: Philoſophia veritatem quaerit, Theologia invenit, Religio poſſidet, ſays Picus Mirandula ad Ald. Man. Fire is good in the Chimney, but miſchievous in the Houſe-top. Learning is good as an handmaid, Hagar-like, but if it muſt needs be Miſtreſs, and uſurp Authority in the Family; if like ſcoffing Iſhmael, Gen. 21.9. Gal. 4.30. it will mock at the Spirit, and the ſimplicity of the Goſpel, let it be caſt out. As Reaſon is above Senſe, ſo Faith is above Reaſon. 'Tis the work of Faith, by the aid of Divine Revelation to be employ'd in the myſteries of Religion: Therefore our Philoſophers when they attempt that undertaking by the dim guidance of Natures light, are guilty of as great an abſurdity, as if the eye ſhould encroach upon the ear, and would pretend to diſtinguiſh the various gradations of Muſical Notes, or the Quavers of a pleaſant Inſtrument; which it cannot ſo much perform, as the dulleſt brute can imitate the warblings of the Nightingale. Chriſt made choice of the deſpiſed and unlearned, that his grace might be the more magnified, and that it might be ſeen, that he is able to qualifie a Fiſherman, Tentmaker, or any other Tradeſman, to be the Meſſenger of the Everlaſting Goſpel, and Embaſſador Extraordinary, as it were, of Heaven, without being beholden to Ariſtotle, Cicero, or Aquinas. He could by his Almighty power, have converted the great Athenian Academicks, as well as command a fiſh to bring him the tribute money, Mat. 17.27. but his pleaſure was to pitch upon a few poor people. And ſhall we deſpiſe his grace when appearing in …uch now? God forbid.
We are oppoſed by men of different perſwaſions, Prelatical, Presbyterian, Independent, &c. all agreeing in the practice of Paedobaptiſm, though from very different grounds. And I muſt confeſs that I find the greateſt Ingenuity in Mr. Walker, who very honeſtly holds Infant Baptiſm upon the ſame ground the Antiquity he alledges did, viz. the conceit of its neceſſity, though perhaps not in ſo very groſs a degree as ſome of them: And inſiſts moſt upon the old Mediums, to the ſhame of thoſe that look upon themſelves more Refined, who twiſt themſelves into ſo many new forms, before they will part with it. So that he may be allow'd many hundred years, whereas the others can claim no Antiquity for their faederal Right above the 16th. Century. So that if things be weigh'd in the ballance of an unprejudic'd mind, Mr. Walker's undertaking, may be likely (though not ſo Intended by him) to convince people, that ſince the grounds their adored Antiquity has laid for this practice, and he has ſo fully produced, be ſo weak and unſcriptural, they ought not to venture their Faith in ſo leakie a bottom, but to reform, and reduce it to its Primitive purity: It being an undoubted maxim, that (in Controverſies eſpecially) Omne certius eligibilius eſt incerto; and Omne quod eſt propinquam vero, eſt magis eligendum; — Whatſoever is moſt certain, and bordering upon Truth, is to be choſen, before that which is doubtfull and diſputable. And whether our way, or theirs, he moſt agreeable to the Word of Truth, and the practice of the Primitive Saints, is ſubmitted upon a fair tryal, to the deciſion of the judicious and unbyaſſed Reader.
I have with as much brevity as I could, given a ſhort Anſwer to each of our Adverſaries who have lately appeared againſt us, (unreply'd to:) There remains ſomething to be ſaid to one Mr. William Allen, (an Apoſtate Baptiſt) for ſome late Arguments for Infants Baptiſm; which I ſhould have done alſo, but that it is performed by an able hand, and deſigned ſpeedily for the publick.
Moſt of theſe Papers were ready for the Preſs many months ſince; but we find it a difficult thing to paſs it; wanting the priviledge of an Imprimatur. My great diſtance permitted me not to ſee the ſheets, in which are ſome errours injurious to the ſenſe, ſome of which upon a curſory reading I gathered, the reſt are left to thine Ingenuity to correct or pardon.
T. D.