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tions include his Benediction, which was the exercise of his Apoftolick Office and Authority in one great branch of it. And God himself might direct the Apostle to falute such Persons for their support and comfort, and encouragement in the Faith. Befides, the Salutation added at the end of the Epistles, are a confirmation of the Authority of them: the Perfsons there mentioned, were as fo many Witnesses, to attest that they were genuine. For, besides the general concernment of the Catholick Church, and of the several Churches more especially, to which fuch Epistles were written, the Persons who were faluted by name in them, were more particularly concerned to take cognizance of them, and to know all the circumstances relating to them. 1

And St. Paul's advice to Timothy, to drink no longer Water, but to use a little Wine for his Stomach's sake, and his often Infirmities, I Tim. v. 23. was requisite to be given in that Epistle, that it might remain recorded in the Scriptures, in confutation of that Supersti-. tion, which some were guilty of in abstaining from things lawful, (and particularly from Wine) out of an opinion of Holiness in refraining from them, and of Sin in the use of them.

5. That infallible Spirit which assisted and inspired the Apostles and other Sacred Writers, was not permanent and habitual, or continually refiding in them, nor given for all purposes and occasions; as we may observe in St. Paul, who acquaints us in some things that he had not received of the Lord what he writes. But the Gifts of the Spirit were bestowed for the benefit and edification of the Church; and therefore were given in such measures, at such times, and upon such occasions, as might be useful for edification. We find that in a matter of great concernment and importance to the whole Church, the Apostles met together in Council, to decide the Controverfie; both, because according to our Saviour's promise to them, they might

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might expect a more abundant Effusion of the Holy Ghost upon them, when they were assembled in his name for that purpose; and because the thing in debate depended upon Matter of Fact, viz. that the Holy Ghost was given to the Gentiles, and therefore it was requisite that many should meet together, and testify of that matter. Besides, several that came down from Judea to Antioch had refused to submit to the Authority of St. Paul and St. Barnabas, and it was necessary that these Men should be convinced by the unanimous and joint Authority of the Apostles, who being met in a full Council declar'd, It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us, Acts xv. 28. that is, not only to us, but to the Holy Ghost, to the Holy Ghost as well as to us. And this was for an Example and Precedent to the Church in future Ages, to determine Controverfies by the Authority of Councils.

6. The Gifts of the Holy Ghost were bestow'd upon Men, who might have personal Failings, and were men of like passions with us, Acts xiv. 25. They had this treasure in earthen veffels, that the excellency of the power might be of God, and not of themselves, 2 Cor. iv. 7. But they were chosen to be Apostles and Evangelists, and therefore must be so far exempt from Error in the Execution of their Office and Ministry, as not to deliver false Doctrines in their Writings, which were to be read and receiv'd of all Churches in all Ages of the World; for this would have defeated and fubverted the Design of the Institution of the Apostles, and of the Mission of the Holy Ghost, and therefore this God would not suffer, tho' they might be suffer'd to incur such Failings as were no Prejudice to the Gospel of Christ.

7. There being nothing asserted in the Canon of Scripture, but what has fome relation to the Edification of the Church, though some parts of it have a less direct and apparent Tendency to this end than others; if any one Passage or Circumstance should have been been erroneous, this would diminish the Authority of the Scriptures, and make them in some degree less capable to promote the end for which they were written. And there being so many particular Gifts, the Gift of Wisdom and of Knowledge of Tongues, and of Interpretation of Tongues, and of discerning of spirits : and so many distinct Offices, as Apostles, and Prophets, and Evangelists, and Pastors, and Teachers, we cannot conceive how those Gifts and these Offices could be better employ'd than in preserving that Book from Error, which was to be the Standard of Truth for all Ages; or how, if that Book had not been secur'd from Error by them, these Gifts and Offices had anfwer'd the end of their Appointment.

Thus much may suffice, to prove the Scriptures to be infallible in all the parts and circumstances of them. But it may be observ'd, that if the Infallibility of the Sacred Writers had not extended to the Words and Circumstances, but only to the Substantial and Fundamental points of Religion, this of it self were enough to vindicate the Divine Authority of the Christian Religion. Nay farther, if the Scriptures were written only with the same Certainty and Integrity that is in Thucydides, or in any other credible Historian (which the most obstinate and inveterate Adverfary can never deny) yet even then no Man, without much Unreasonableness, could reject it.

CHAP. III.

Of the Style of the Holy Scriptures.

WHupposed

7Hen God reveals himself to Men, he must be to do it in fuch a manner, as is suitable to the Neceffities and Occasions of those to whom the Revelation is made, and in fuch Language and Forms

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Forms of Speech, as that he may be understood by those to whom he reveals himself; he may be suppos'd to speak in the Idiom, and in the Metaphors and Phrafes in use amongst them, and to allude to their Customs and Manner of Life, to have Regard to the Condition and State of their Affairs, and to condescend in some measure to their Weaknesses, to speak to their Capacities, so as to be understood in his Laws, and to encourage and excite Men to obey them. For though the particular Reason and Design of every Law be not always necessary to be known, yet it is necessary that those to whom they are given, should know what the Laws are, and that they should have their Duty prescribed in such a way, as may be effeCtual to recommend the Practice of it to them.

The Style of the Holy Scriptures is a Subject which has been largely discours'd of by Mr. Boyle and others. What I intend to say upon it, I shall reduce to these Heads. I. The Grammatical Construction. II. The Metaphors, and Figures, and Rhetorical Schemes of Speech. III. The Decorum, or Suitableness of the Matter, or the Things themselves. IV. The Method.

I. The Grammatical Construction and Propriety of Speaking. It has been by many observ'd, that there is a great Resemblance between the Style of the Old Testament, and that of Homer, the most ancient Book we have besides; and it is likewise observable, that those things which are by fome look'd upon as Defects in the Scripture-Style, as the using one Gender, or one Number, or Cafe, or Tense, for another, the putting Participles for Verbs, the Comparative or Superlative for the Positive, Actives for Passives, or Passives for Actives, are particularly taken notice of by Plutarch, as Excellencies in Homer; and he says, they were ufual in Profe as well as in Verse, amongst

In vita Homeri.

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the Antients. Whatsoever Solæcisms or Improprieties of Speech are to be found in any part of the Scriptures, the like have been observ'd in Homer, Æschylus, Sophocles, Pindar and Apollonius Rhodius, by their several Scholiafts, in Thucydides by Dionyfius Halicarnasseus, in Pausanias by Sylburgius, and in Tully by Erasmus and others. But it is remarkable, that d Dionyfius Halicarnasseus afterwards in his Roman Antiquities, imitated Thucydides in those very things for which he before had cenfur'd him. Xenophon is observ'd by Helladius, not to be always exact in point of Grammar; which he ascribes to his military Life, and his Conversation with Strangers. Many Solœcisms are found in the ancient Inscriptions, and in Hyginus, an Author, as it has been generally suppos'd, of Augustus's Age, which are to be imputed rather to the Custom of Speech amongst the Vulgar, than to the Mistake of these Authors. For in Languages so difficult as the Greek and Latin are, it was impossible but that the Common-people must often make great Mistakes, which by degrees became cuftomary, and were the Character of the Low and Plebeian Style: and in the Greek Tongue they ascribed their Solæcifms to the particular Dialect of the People, among whom they were most in use.

The Stoicks, who were the most numerous and flourishing Sect of Philosophers in the Primitive times of Christianity, had little regard to the Rules of Grammar: for they were caution'd by their Master Chryfippus not to be careful about such Niceties: and they are highly commended by a great Critick, for expressing their Thoughts, though commonly with Words very proper and significant, yet in a Style

Vid. Dan. Heinf. Proleg. ad exercit. Sacr.

• Dialog. Ciceron. d H. Stephan. in Dionyf. Halic. c. 16.

Cafaub. Animad. in eund. p. 30. ** Apud Phot. cod. cclxxix. f Vid. Schefferi Prafat. & Munkeri Differtat, in Hyginum.

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Mer. Cafaub. in M. Antonin. 1. i. n. 14.

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