THE SACRED SCRIPTURES THE ONLY INFALLIBLE RULE OF FAITH AND PRACTICE.

I PET. V. 12.

-Exborting and stifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye fland.

AFTER fixing the rule of Chriftian faith and practice, I

proceeded to compare with this rule the chief things which diftinguish the church of Rome from ours. Great numbers of these I have already confidered, and fhall now, for your fuller fatisfaction, go on to fome others.

Several of their notions concerning the pardon of fin I have. mentioned and confuted; but there ftill remains one more to be spoken of; their cuftom, when a fick pen is near death, of anointing his eyes, and ears, and noftrils, and mouth, and hands, fometimes alfo his feet and reins, with oil confecrated by the bishop, and praying, that in virtue of that anointing, the fins which he hath committed, by the feveral organs of his body, may be forgiven him. This they call Extreme Unation, or the facrament of dying perfons; and teach, that, befides forgiveness of fins, it gives compofure and ftrength of mind to go through the agonies of death. All this they build wholly on the following paffage of St. James. Is any fick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall fave the fick, and the Lord ball raise him up; and if he have committed fins, they shall be forgiven him. But a little confideration will fhew, that what

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St. James appoints is very different from what the church of Rome does. In thofe days miraculous gifts were common; that of healing difeafes in particular and the perfons who bad these gifts were ufually the elders of the churches, whom the apoftle here directs to be fent for. And as miracles, in condefcenfion to the genius of the Jewish people, to whom this epiftle is directed, were accompanied, for the most part, with fome outward act of ceremony by the performer of them (a practice which our Saviour himself often complied with), fo the ceremony ufed in healing the fick by miracle, viz. anointing them with oil, was one to which the Jews had been accustomed; oil being a thing of which much ufe was made in the eastern countries, on many occafions *. Accordingly we read, that when our Saviour fent out his difciples with a power from heaven to cure diseases, though he prescribed to them no particular form for that purpose, yet they adopted this; they anointed with oil many that were fick, and healed them t. Now what the evangelift tells us they did, is evidently the very thing which St. James directs the elders of the church to do. And therefore, fince the anointing mentioned in the gofpel was only a mere circumstance used in miraculous cures, that alfo mentioned in the epiftles can be nothing more. Accordingly we find St. James neither appoints any confecration of the oil, nor afcribes any efficacy to it, as the Papifts do, but says, the prayer of faith shall fave the fick. Now, if this means only prayer offered up in a general faith of God's providence, we use it for the fick as well as they, and may hope for the fame good effect from it. But faith, in many places of fcripture, fignifies that fupernatural perfuafion and feeling of a power to work miracles, which in thofe days was frequent. Thus St. Paul fays, though I bad all faith, fo that I could remove mountains ‡, &c. And therefore,

See Wheatley on the Office for the Sick. And Grotius, on Mark vi. 13. fays the Jews ufed it when they prayed for the fick, to exprefs their hope of obtaining from God, in their behalf, that joy and gladness which oil fignifies. Prefer vative against Popery, Tit. vii. c. ii. § 4. p. 62.

Mark vi. 13. The council of Trent had at first faid that extreme unction was inftituted in this place, but afterwards changed that word for infinuated. F. Paul. in Preferv. p. 64.

Cor. xiii. 2. See alfo Matt, xvii. 20. John xiv. L2, 13,

fore, the prayer of faith, fince it is so absolutely promised here that it fball fave the fick, probably means, a prayer proceeding from this extraordinary perfuafion and impulfe; such a one as, in the next verfe, we tranflate an effectual fervent prayer, but should tranflate an inwrought or infpired prayer. And therefore unless, in the church of Rome, the priest, as often as he adminifters extreme unction, acts and prays by immediate infpiration, his prayers are not of the fort St. James speaks of, nor are they directed to the fame end. The benefit which he promises from the prayers that he appoints, is the recovery of health; The prayer of faith fhall fave the fick, and the Lord fhall raife him up: whereas they of the church of Rome never ufe this ceremony with any hope of recovery, nor indeed, unless they happen to mistake, till the perfon is` quite past recovery. And, for this reafon again, his anointing and theirs are quite different things. For though St. James does add, Ana if he bath committed fins, they fball be forgiven him, yet the very doubt, implied in the word if, fhews he is not speaking of a facrament inftituted purposely for the remiffion of fins, as the church of Rome make their unction to be. And indeed this relates to the very fame thing with his former words. For, as bodily fickness and infirmity was frequently a punishment for fin (whence, to mention no other proofs, St. Paul tells the Corinthians*, For this caufe many are weak and fickly among you, and many fleep), fo the very form of miraculously healing a person of these infirmities, ufed by our Saviour, is, Son, thy fins be forgiven thee; that is, the illness inflicted on thee for thy fins is removed. Since therefore St. James promifes forgiveness of fins in just a like cafe, we are certainly to underland him in just the like fenfe, viz. that if the ficknefs of any perfon prayed for were the punishment of any fin, that punifliment should be remitted, and his health reflored. Now this forgiveness of the temporal punishment of fome particular fins, which is what St. James promifes, the church of Rome does not promife from this ceremony; and the forgiveness of the future punishment of all thofe fins, that the fick perfon hath ever committed by his bodily organs, which St. James does not promife,

• 1 Cor. ix. 30.

Matt. ix. 2. See alfo John v. 14.

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promife, they do though indeed it is a little hard to conceive, when all a man's fins have been already forgiven (as they say they are, by the priest's abfolution), how any of them should want to be forgiven again, perhaps by extreme unction, the moment after. But the truth is, they themselves lay not near so much stress on this ceremony's procuring pardon of fin, as its procuring compofure of mind against the terrors of death. Now most evidently this expectation St. James hath not faid one word to countenance: so that his precept, which feems, at firft fight, to be fome ground for their practice, and is the only ground they have, relates indeed to a quite different thing, as one of their cardinals, Cajetan, acknowledges: though the council of Trent, feff. 14. hath thought proper fince to curfe all that fhall fay it. The anointing prefcribed by St. James therefore, being entirely of a miraculous nature, was in all reafon to ceafe when miracles were no more. And accordingly the primitive Christians, though they speak more than once of anointing with oil in miraculous cures, yet, in common cafes, never mention it as a custom, much less as one appointed in scripture, for the first 600 years. After that indeed, they came to use it upon all fick perfons in the beginning of sickness, for a means of recovery, as the Greek church doth yet; till, finding it of little benefit in that way, the church of Rome, about the 12th century, began to ufe it in the extremity of fickness, as a facrament of preparation for death; which, if it were in reality, they are furely much to blame for not giving it under the apprehenfions of an approaching violent death; for inftance, before a malefactor is executed, where it cannot but be as needful as in the fears of a natural one. Upon the whole, you fee our laying afide a ceremony which hath long been ufelefs, and, by leading perfons into fuperftitious fancies, might be hurtful, can be no manner of lofs, whilst every thing that continues truly valuable in St. James's direction is preserved in our office for vifiting the fick; concerning which, I fhall only add, that it is much to be wished men would fo live

• Prefervative, Tit. vii. c. 2. § 2. p. 60.

Concerning a paffage of Innocent I. in the beginning of the 5th century.

See Preferv. P. 75.

live in the time of their health, as to need the least spiritual affistance that is poffible, in the time of their fickness; and that what they do need, they would all apply for early, when it might be of great benefit to them, and not content themselves with calling in the minifter at last for mere form's sake, when he can do them little good, or none.

Another point in which we differ from the church of Rome is, that all their public prayers are in the Latin tongue, ours in our own. This fure at leaft is no herefy, that, when we pray to God, we all know what we say. Our practice justifies itself but how is theirs juftified? Reason and common sense plainly condemn it. Antiquity is no less against them; for every Chriftian church originally had their own fervice in their own tongue. That of the western world was in Latin, only because Latin was their common language: and therefore it should have been no longer in Latin, when that ceased to be their common language. And for fcripture, read but the 14th chapter of 1 Corinthians, and fee what St. Paul would have judged of this Romish practice. Even when there was a miraculous gift of tongues in the church, and men prayed or prophefied, in ftrange languages, by inspiration, even then he requires fuch perfons to keep filence, unless another were ready to interpret publicly what they spoke: for, fays he, Brethren, except ye utter words eafy to be underflood, how shall it be known what is Spoken? for ye shall speak into the air. If I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that Speaketh a Barbarian, and he that speaketh fhall be a Barbarian unto me. How fhall be that occupieth the room of the unlearned fay Amen, at thy giving of thanks, seeing be understandeth not what thou fayeft? I thank my God I Speak with tongues more than you all: yet in the church, I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others alfo, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue. It immediately follows, and very fitly to the prefent purpose: Brethren, be not children in understanding: bowbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men. For never fure was

greater childishness, than to be fatisfied with the mere outward fhew of prayers to God, perhaps without understanding one word of them, which is not praying at all; nor greater malice, that is, more wicked and cruel cunning, than to keep the

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