THE care of all the Churches, which lay upon St. Paul, would neither suffer him to keep a constant residence upon any one of them, nor to leave them as Sheep without a Shepherd to have that care of them in his absence, which he himself had when he was present with them.

And therefore having spent some time at Ephesus, he departed from thence into Mace­donia, leaving the care of that Church to Timo­thy; and wrote this Epistle to him, to let him know how he ought to behave himself in so excellent and worthy a Province as that was, which he had committed to him, as he tells him in this and the former Verse: These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly. But if I tarry long, that thou mayst know how thou oughtest to behave thy self in the House of [Page 2]God, which is the Church of the living God, the Pillar and Ground of the Truth.

In which words he sets before him the Dig­nity of that Church, which he had committed to his care, in three excellent Titles; The House of God; The Church of the living God; The Pillar and Ground of the Truth: Every one of which, is very worthy of a distinct and parti­cular Consideration; but this last hath the most need of it, because it hath been very much perplex'd with a great deal of work about it, to make it serve the pride and ambition of a Church, of which there is not so much as any mention throughout the whole Epistle. All the Greatness of the Church of Rome, the So­veraignty of Power and Jurisdiction which it claims over all other Churches, the Infallibility of all her Doctrines, and an Immoveable Sta­tion in the Truth, from which it can never fall, are charged upon this Text; but how unreason­ably, we shall see in the Examination of these three Particulars.

• I. The Church, which is here called The Pil­lar and Ground of the Truth.
• II. The Truth of which this Church is The Pillar and Ground.
• [Page 3]III. The importance of these words, The Pillar and Ground of the Truth.

Where it will not be hard to make it clear and evident, that this pretended infallible Ora­cle of Truth, is very much mistaken in every one of these Particulars; The Church; The Truth; and, The Pillar and Ground.

For the Church, of which St. Paul speaks in these words, was not the Church of Rome. The Truth of which he speaks, was not the Truth of which the Church of Rome takes upon it to be the Pillar and Ground. The Pillar and Ground in their sense is not the sense of St. Paul; and in the sense of St. Paul, there was not any Church in the World to which this Honour of being the Pillar and Ground of the Truth, was not more due than it is to the present Church of Rome.

And first, for the Church, nothing can be more clear and evident, than that the Church of which St. Paul speaks in these words, was not the Church of Rome, but the Church of Ephe­sus: for Timothy, to whom he wrote this Epi­stle, was not the Bishop of Rome, but of Ephe­sus. There St. Paul left him, when he depart­ed from thence into Macedonia; and he left [Page 4]him to abide there, and to do the Office of a Bishop there, as he tells him at the beginning of this Epistle. I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other Doctrine.

This Church of Ephesus is called the Pillar and Ground of the Truth, not as it was the Lo­cal Church of Ephesus, divided from all other Churches, as the City of Ephesus was divided from all other Cities: Nor as the Visible Head of them all: But as it was one with them all in the Communion of that one Catholick and Apostolick Church, of which that and all par­ticular Churches were so many Parts and Mem­bers. Which one Catholick and Apostolick Church, was One, not by a corporal assembling together in one place, but by an unanimous pro­fession of one and the same Catholick and Apo­stolick Faith and Doctrine, and Discipline, which was of more Power and Vertue to make them all one, than any distance of place, or difference of Laws, Languages, Customs, Manners, or any other difference among them, could be to make them two. Secondly, Catholick, because it was not limited to any Nation, as the Church of the Israelites was confin'd to one Family, [Page 5]which was the House of Jacob; and all their Sacrifices to one place, which was the Temple at Jerusalem: but extended to all men every where, without any distinction of Jews and Gentiles, Barbarians, Scythians, bond and free, male and female. Thirdly, Apostolick, because that one Catholick Faith and Doctrine in which they were all join'd together in one, was that which they all had received from the Apostles, whose sound was gone out into all the Earth, Rom. 10.18.and their words unto the ends of the World.

Now as that one Catholick and Apostolick Church was the Pillar and Ground of the Truth, by their visible profession of that Truth, as we shall see afterwards: So particular Churches, which made a visible profession of the same Ca­tholick and Apostolick Truth, were one with it, and every one of them might be call'd a Pillar and Ground of the Truth, especially such of them as were the most eminent and conspicuous; and such was the Church of Ephesus. For as the Churches of the East were more numerous and conspicuous when St. Paul wrote this Epistle, than the Churches of the West: so the Church of Ephesus was of great note and eminence among the Churches of the East. It was as emi­nent a Church for the profession of the Truth of [Page 6]Christian Religion, as the City of Ephesus was for Heathenish Idolatry and Superstition, when it was a Worshipper of the great Goddess Diana, and of the Image which fell down from Jupi­ter. The Preaching of the Gospel had such an influence from that City, Act. 19.10. which was the Metro­polis of the lesser Asia, that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. The Men of Learning, who had busied their Wits, and spent much of their time in the study of Curious Arts, were so ta­ken with it, as not only to renounce all further study of those Curious Arts; but to shew their resolution never to return to that Study again, they brought their Books together and burned them before all men; Act. 19.19, 20.and they counted the price of them; and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver: so mightily grew the Word of God, and prevailed. And the Crafts-men of the City, who got their Wealth by making Silver Shrines for Diana, were so alarm'd at the success of it, as to per­ceive that the Temple of the great Goddess Diana would be despis'd, and her Magnificence destroyed, whom all Asia and the World worshipped. And which troubled them more, their Trade was in great danger to be lost; for that was the first Argument which Demetrius us'd to raise them [Page 7]up into an uproar, Vers. 25. Sirs, ye know that by this Craft we have our Wealth.

The Church of Ephesus had this further Ho­nour, not only to be one of the Seven Churches which were presented to St. John, in the Vi­sion of Seven Golden Candlesticks, and Christ in the midst of them, commanding him to write so many Epistles to them, which he him­self dictated to him; but to be the first of them; Revel. 1.11. and the Character which he gives of that Church, is such as might well become a Church which was a Pillar and Ground of the Truth: Revel. 2.2, 3.I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy pati­ence, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: And thou hast tryed them which say they are Apostles, and are not, and hast found them lyars; and hast born, and hast patience, and for my Names sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.

Now if the Church of Ephesus, which had all this Honour, had aspir'd to a Supremacy over all other Churches, it might have made a fairer Title to it by St. Paul, than that which the Church of Rome hath made by St. Peter. For St. Gal. 1.15. Paul was separated to his Office from his Mothers Womb. He was called to it in a sin­gular and extraordinary manner, by Christ ap­pearing [Page 8]to him in a Vision from Heaven. Acts 9.3. He was honour'd by him with this Character, Vers. 15. He is a chosen Vessel unto me, to bear my Name be­fore the Gentiles and Kings, and the Children of Israel.2 Cor. 11.5.He was not a whit behind the very chief Apostles. 1 Cor. 15.10He laboured more abundantly than they all. 2 Cor. 11.28.The care of all the Churches lay upon him. Rom. 15.20. He strived to preach the Gospel not where Christ was named, lest he should build up­on another mans foundation. He conferred not with flesh and blood,Gal. 1.16, 17neither went he up to Je­rusalem to them that were Apostles before him. They who seem'd to be somewhat in conference added nothing to him. Gal. 2.6. He was so far from learning any thing of St. Vers. 11. Peter, and from look­ing upon him as his Superiour, that he with­stood him to the face; and told him plainly, that he, and others whom he had misled, walked not uprightly according to the truth of the Gospel. Vers. 14. And St. Peter was so far from rebuking him for his insolence, as to make an honourable mention of him: 2 Pet. 3.15. Our beloved Brother Paul, according to the Wisdom given to him.

St. Paul, who was thus highly honour'd, had been Preaching the Gospel to the Ephesi­ans for the space of three years: Acts 20.31. But there is not so much as any express mention in the [Page 9]Scripture that ever St. Peter was at Rome; and we may see they are hard put to prove it, when they cannot alledge any one Text for it but that, 1 Pet. 5.15. The Church which is at Babylon elect to­gether with you, saluteth you.

It was likewise a singular care which St. Paul had of the Church of Ephesus, that in his ab­sence he commended the care of it to Timothy, 1 Tim. 1.1. a person indear'd to him by many Names; 2 Tim. 1.1. Col. 1.1. Rom. 16.21. His own Son in the Faith; His beloved Son; His Brother; His Work-fellow: and wrote two Epi­stles to him, to let him know how he ought to behave himself in so excellent and worthy a Province as that which he calleth The House of God, the Church of the living God, the Pillar and Ground of the Truth. Whereas St. Peter never wrote any one Epistle to the Romans, nor do we read of any one whom he left to take care of that Church in his absence, though he was so much absent that it is much doubted whether he were ever there.

For all that the ancient Fathers have written of his being Bishop of Antioch seven years, and after that Bishop of Rome twenty and five years, and after that crucified under Nero, is upon the Testimony of Eusebius, of whom Bellarmine saith that he was deceiv'd in some things, and [Page 10]we are very well assur'd that he was deceived in this: for three years after St. Paul's Conversion, he went up, not to Rome, but to Jerusalem, to see Peter, Gal 1.18. and there he found him, and abode with him fifteen days. Gal. 2.1, 9. Then fourteen years af­ter he went up again to Jerusalem; and there he found him. He was present at the Council at Jerusalem, as we read Act. 15. which was eigh­teen years after Christ: And in the former Chapters of the Acts of the Apostles, we find him there, or thereabouts, a great way from Rome. After that he preach'd the Gospel to those of Pontus, Asia, Galatia, Cappadocia, and Bithynia. And if after all this time he sate Bi­shop of Antioch seven years, and after that five and twenty years Bishop of Rome, he must out­live Nero more years than Nero Reigned, and therefore he could not be crucified under him.

But as St. Paul, who knew very well that he was not a whit behind the very chief Apostles, 2 Cor. 11.5. did never offer to put himself before and above them all; and among the Apostles there were some who in regard of their Personal Excellen­cies are called Chief and Pillars, yet without any Jurisdiction over the rest: so among Chur­ches, though the Churches of the East were more numerous, and of greater note than those [Page 11]of the West, they never requir'd any subjection from them; and among the Eastern Churches, though the Church of Ephesus was of great note and eminence, it never assumed any Soveraign­ty over the other Churches. There is no ground in Scripture, nor in the Catholick and Aposto­lick Church, that will afford any standing for such a Pillar, as that of a Local Church, which is to all other Churches as the Head in a Body to all the Members of that Body, as a Foundation in a Building to all the Building that stands up­on it, as a Root in a Tree to all the Branches: For though the Church of Rome arrogates to it self all these Titles, together with that of the Catholick and Apostolick Church, this is so far from being Catholick and Apostolick Truth, that it is neither Catholick, nor Apostolick, nor Truth.

1. It is not Catholick: for though the City of Rome had that Dominion over the Kings of the Earth, for which it was called Caput Orbis, the Head of the World; the Church of Rome did never claim any such Headship over all other Churches for above three hundred years after St. Paul wrote this Epistle: and was so far from denying her Communion to all other Churches, but those which would accept it upon such [Page 12]terms as those, which Nahash the Ammonite propos'd to the men of Jabesh-Gilead; 1 Sam. 11.2.On this condition will I make a Covenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes. Or from saying to them as the Bramble in the Parable of Jotham said unto the Trees; Judg. 9.15. If in truth ye anoint me King over you, then come, and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the Bramble, and devour the Cedars of Le­banon. That in the sixth Canon of the Coun­cil of Nice, which in the Arabick Canons is the eighth, the Bishop of Rome is proposed as an ex­ample to the Bishop of Alexandria to contain himself within his own limits.

2. It is not Apostolick; for the Apostles knew nothing of any Superiority and Subjection among themselves, or among the Churches which were founded by them. They knew no other Head of the Church, Col. 1.18. but Him, who is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in all things he might have the pre-eminence. They knew no other Foundation, but that of Apostles and Prophets; Ephes. 2.20.Jesus Christ himself be­ing the chief corner-stone. And in that Founda­tion all the Apostles were as much of the Foun­dation as any one of them, and therefore are called Twelve Foundations, Revel. 21.14.

The Church of Jerusalem was in some sense the Root of all Churches; St. Paul calleth it so, Rom. 11.17. But it never claimed any Su­periority over all other Churches upon that ac­count. But as for the Church of Rome, he saith plainly in the same Verse, that it was not the Root, but a Branch of a Wild-Olive graf­fed in among other Branches, and with them partook of the Root and Fatness of the Olive-Tree. And as if he had foreseen how ready that Church would be to boast it self against other Churches, he gives them an Admonition against it, in the next Verse: Boast not against the Branches: but if thou boast, thou bearest not the Root, but the Root thee. And argues the matter with them in the next Verse: Thou wilt say then, the Branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. Well, because of Ʋnbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by Faith: be not high-minded, but fear; for if God spared not the Natural Branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. And sets before them the ex­ample of Gods Severity against the Natural Branches, as a warning to them not to be high-minded, but fear, at the next Verse: Behold therefore the Goodness and Severity of God: on them which fell, Severity; but towards thee, [Page 14]Goodness, if thou continue in his Goodness, other­wise thou also shalt be cut off.

3. As it is not Catholick nor Apostolick, so it is so far from Truth, that there never was a more Fundamental Errour, than that of a Lo­cal Church, which is such a Pillar and Ground of Truth, that it cannot err. But if in the Epi­stle to the Romans there is no mention of such a Pillar and Ground of Truth; and in this Epi­stle to Timothy, where these words are found, there is not any mention of the Church of Rome, I need not say any more to shew how much they are out in the first Particular, which is the Church. Let us proceed to the second Particular, which is the Truth; and see if they be not as much out in the Truth, as they are in the Church.

1. The Truth of which the Church is the Pillar and Ground, is not all Truth: For there are many Truths for which the Church is not concern'd; they may stand or fall according to the strength or weakness of those Arguments by which they are supported, or with which they are assaulted, without any peril or preju­dice to the Church. God who would have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the Truth, hath set up a Church to lead men [Page 15]to the knowledge of all that Truth which is ne­cessary for them, that they may be saved: but as for many other Truths, which are profess'd and taught in Schools and Universities; as all men are not born to be bred up in them, so the knowledge of them is not so necessary to them, but that they may be saved without it. When Christ promis'd his Disciples that he would send them the Spirit of Truth, Joh. 16.13.to guide them in­to all Truth, He spake of that Truth which was necessary for them to know, for the discharging of that Office and Ministry which he had com­mitted to them, not all other Truth. And therefore when the Manichees gloried in him who was the Patriarch of their Sect, that he was a man full of the Holy Ghost, and led in­to all Truth, for that he could discourse of Truths in Astronomy, and other Mathematical Sciences; St. Austin answer'd them very well, That this was no Argument to prove that he was full of the Holy Ghost: for the Holy Ghost was not given to lead men into such Truths; for he was not given to make Mathematicians, but Christians. And though it is true that the Infallible Chair doth not in these days meddle with Truths of this nature, there was a time when it did; but so unluckily, as to condemn [Page 16]one Virgilius for holding that there were Anti­podes, and that the Earth is round, and the Sun, and Moon, and Stars, move about it in the other Hemisphere, as they do in this; which is a de­monstrable Truth.

But to let this pass, as it is not all Truth, so neither is it all Theological Truth, or Truth in Divinity: for Divinity is a Science, in which there are some Truths which dwell in that Light which is so inaccessible, that the most learned men are not asham'd to confess that such know­ledge is too wonderful for them, and that they cannot attain unto it. And there be many other Truths about which learned men may differ in opinion, and dispute with so much probability on either side, that though the Truth cannot be with both of them, because what the one affirms, the other denieth; yet they who are in the Errour may be perswaded that the Truth is with them, and their Errour shall not prejudice their Salvation, unless they suffer themselves to be led into it by some prejudice or passion, or be so obstinate in it as to shew that they seek not Truth, but Victory; and would rather per­sist in an Errour, than by suffering themselves to be led out of it, seem to acknowledge that they were in an Errour. The Scriptures, which [Page 17]are able to make all men wise unto Salvation, are not so clear and evident in all things, but that we may say of other Books of Scripture, as St. Peter saith of the Epistles of St. Paul, There are some things in them hard to be understood: But the more hard they are to be understood, the less necessary they are to be known. God, who hath made the Fruits of the Earth, which are necessary for the food and sustenance of men, to grow upon the face of it, where every eye may see them, and every hand may gather them; but hid the Mines of Gold and Silver, which serve for Riches and Ornament, in the Bowels of the Earth, where they cannot be found but with much seeking, nor be wrought out, and purged from that Dross with which they are mixt, but with great labour, hath likewise made all that Truth which is necessary to feed the Souls of men to Eternal Life, so ea­sie to be found, that we may say of that, as the Wise-man saith of Wisdom, Wisd. 6.12. Wisdom is easily seen of them that love her, and found of such as seek her. But there be many other Truths which serve to inrich and adorn the Soul, which he hath reserv'd to exercise and reward the la­bour and study of them that seek for them as for Silver, and as for hidden Treasures. If there [Page 18]were an Infallible Oracle to determine all Truths, the easiness of coming to the know­ledge of them would much abate and lessen the value and esteem of them: but when the difficulty of finding them excites desire, and de­sire stirs up labour and study, and labour and study find that Truth which could not be found without it, it is the more joyfully embrac'd, and more stedfastly retain'd.

But, Thirdly, The Truth of which the Church is the Pillar and Ground, is that Truth which is no where to be found but in the Church; but is so manifest in the profession of the Church, that they who cannot find it any where else, may find it there. For as in all Sciences there are some Truths which are proper and peculiar to them, as Truths in Logick, Truths in Natu­ral and Moral Philosophy, Truths in all Mathe­matical Sciences: so there are some Truths in Divinity which are proper and peculiar to it, which as they could never have been known but by Divine Revelation, so they have been made known to the Apostles by the Spirit of Truth, which was given to them to guide them into all Truth, and by the Apostles to the Church. Such is that which St. Paul calleth, The Truth of the Gospel, Col. 1.5. The Truth of Christ, [Page 19]2 Cor. 11.10. The Truth of God, Rom. 15.8. And many times it is called Truth, and the Truth, without any note of difference from all other Truth. Truth, in opposition to the Re­ligion of the Heathen as Truth, is oppos'd to Falshood and Lyes: Truth, in opposition to the Religion of the Jews as Truth, is oppos'd to Figures and Shadows: Truth, in opposition to all other Truth, not as contrary to it; for one Truth cannot be contrary to another, but in a superlative sense the most excellent and most incomparable Truth. For though all Truth is Truth, yet as St. Paul saith of the Law and the Gospel compar'd together, 2 Cor. 3.10. Even that which was made glorious had no glory by reason of the glory that excelleth: So we may say of Truths in Philosophy and all Sciences, compar'd with the Truth of the Gospel, That which is Truth is not Truth in comparison of the Truth that excelleth. Such is the Truth of which the A­postle speaks in the next words to these of the Text, which some have joyn'd together, ex­pounding these words by them: Without con­troversie great is the Mystery of Godliness: God was manifest in the Flesh, justified in the Spi­rit, seen of Angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the World, received in Glory. [Page 20]The Truth which he calleth the Truth which is after Godliness in hope of Eternal Life, which God that cannot lye promised before the World began, but hath in due time manifested his Word through Preaching. The Truth by which we are begotten again, Jam. 1.18. Of his own Will begat he us again by the Word of Truth The Truth that maketh us Free-men, Joh. 8.32. Ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free. The sanctifying Truth, Joh. 17.17. Sanctifie them with thy Truth, thy Word is Truth. The saving Truth, 1 Tim. 2.4. God would have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the Truth. And this is the Truth of which the Church is the Pillar and Ground in the sense of St. Paul. Now what sense that is, follows in my third and last Particular, which is the im­portance of these words, The Pillar and Ground of the Truth.

Here are two words, the Pillar and Ground, but they are very well joyn'd together, for they signifie two things which are joyn'd together in a Pillar that standeth firm and stedfast. The former word signifieth that which we call the Body of the Pillar; the latter word signifieth the Basis, or Foundation, or Foot of the Pillar: both together fignifie a Pillar standing upon a [Page 21]Basis or Foundation. But the Pillar and Ground of Truth, is a Metaphorical Expression, and Me­taphors are apt to beget Mistakes: for in every Metaphor there is something which is like, and something which is not like; and as when the Metaphor is taken from something wherein there is a likeness, the Metaphorical Expression makes the sense more elegant and clear; but when it is stretched to something wherein there is no likeness, in stead of making the sense more clear, it makes non-sense. As in this Metaphor of the Pillar and Ground of Truth: A Pillar, or rather many Pillars, upon which a House or Church is built, (as the Temple of Jerusalem was built upon many Pillars, and so was the Temple of Diana at Ephesus) the Pillars are as the Foundation upon which the House or Church is built, as the Foot of the Pillar is to the Pillar which stands upon it. But in this sense neither the Church of Ephesus, nor the Church of Rome, nor any National Church, nor the whole Catholick and Apostolick Church, could be well and truly called The Pillar and Ground of Truth; because the Truth is not built upon the Church, but the Church upon the Truth. And as there could never have been a True Church, if the Truth of the Church had not [Page 22]been before the Church: so if the Truth be re­moved from the Church, it is no longer a True Church. There is no Power or Authority in any Church, to make any thing a Truth which was not a Truth before. The Apostles delivered the whole Faith to the Church; and if all the Churches in the World should joyn together, they cannot make one new Article of Faith: All that they can do, is to deliver what they have receiv'd from them who have delivered what they also received, till we come at last to the Apostles, who delivered what they also receiv'd from the Spirit of Truth, by which they were led into all that Truth, which could not other­wise be made known to them, and assisted in delivering those Truths which were by other infallible proofs made known to them.

But beside those many Pillars upon which Houses and Churches were built, there were single Pillars erected by the Heathen, to such purposes, as do serve very well to express the sense of this Metaphor, which the Apostle here useth by way of allusion to them.

As first, There were Pillars which they rear'd up on high with Images of their Gods and God­desses upon them, sitting or standing, or in some other posture to attract the eyes of men to look [Page 23]up to them with that Respect and Veneration which is due to Divine things. Of such Pillars we read Lev. 26.1. Ye shall make you no Idols, nor Graven Image, neither rear you up a standing Image or Pillar, as it is in the Margin. Now as St. Paul saith of the Heathen, Rom. 1.25. that they changed the Truth of God into a Lye; and the Prophet Habakkuk calleth an Idol a Teacher of Lyes: Hab. 2.18. So we may say of those Pillars of Idols, they were Pillars of Lyes. And in allusion to them the Church, which sets up the true Worship of the true God, above all the false Worship of all false gods, to draw the eyes of all men to look up to it with that Veneration which is due to it, may be called the Pillar and Ground of Truth, Excelsa Columna, according to that which the Prophet Isaiah foretold of it in another Meta­phor, Isai. 2.2. It shall come to pass in the last days, that the Mountain of the Lords House shall be established in the top of the Mountains, and shall be exalted above the Hills; and all Nations shall flow unto it. But in this sense the Church of Rome is more like to those Pillars of the Hea­then, than any other Christian Church. For though it doth not set up those Idols and Images of the Heathen to be worshipped; it sets up Images and Creatures to be worshipped, which [Page 24]are either made Idols, or are in so much danger to be made Idols, that by the Confession of Bellarmine, they that worship God in an Image, or in a Creature, expose themselves to great peril, and are forced to use the most subtil di­stinctions, which learned men do not under­stand, much less the ignorant and unlearned.

Secondly, We read of many Pillars erected by the Heathen, with Inscriptions upon them; Inscriptions of Historical Narrations, of which it may be some were true, and some were fa­bulous; and many other Inscriptions of Laws, Leagues, Covenants, Precepts, Decrees, My­steries, &c. in which sense the Metaphor of a Pillar is used, Revel. 3.12. Him that overcometh will I make a Pillar in the Temple of my God—and I will write upon him the Name of my God, and the Name of the City of my God, which is the New Jerusalem which cometh down out of Heaven from my God; and I will write upon him my new Name. In this sense the Catholick and Apostolick Church which exposeth the Scri­ptures, which Ireneus calleth the Pillar and Ground of the Faith of the Church, and in which are written the Oracles of God, his Laws, Covenants, Decrees, Mysteries of his Will, Hi­stories of his Providence, and many other Di­vine [Page 25]Truths, to be as legible as Inscriptions up­on a Pillar; and every particular Church, which makes a visible profession of all that Truth which it hath receiv'd from the Apostles, and the whole Catholick and Apostolick Church, so far forth as it is one with that Catholick and Apo­stolick Church, is a Pillar and Ground of the Truth, Inscripta Columna, a Pillar bearing those Inscriptions upon it, in such Characters as make them legible to all men. But in this sense the Church of Rome cannot so well be called a Pillar and Ground of the Truth, as other Churches.

1. Because other Churches, Hebrew, Greek, Persian, Syrian, Arabian, Ethiopian, have ex­pos'd the Scriptures to be read in their Vulgar Tongue: But the Church of Rome doth not expose the Scriptures to be read but in a Lan­guage which the greatest part of them that are concern'd to know the Truths which are re­veal'd in them, do not understand; by which means they have kept the people in so great ignorance of the Scriptures, that at the begin­ning of the Reformation many of them knew so little of the New Testament, as-to believe that it was a Book which had been written by Luther.

2. Because they set up unwritten Traditi­ons, of which it may be some are true, and [Page 26]some are fabulous, and make them all of equal Authority with the Scriptures.

3. Because they make the Authority of the Scriptures so dependant upon their own Au­thority, that without it, they are of no more Authority than Esops Fables, as some of them have said, and others of them commend the saying.

4. Because though they hold the Foundation, they have built upon that Foundation such things as St. 1 Cor. 3.12. Paul calleth Wood, Hay and Stubble, and would make the World believe that they are Gold, Silver, Precious Stones; which is not the part of a Pillar and Ground of Truth.

But, Thirdly, The Pillar and Ground of Truth as it is in the Text, that is a Pillar set upon a Basis or Foundation, which keeps it firm and stedfast, is a very good expression of such a profession of the Truth as is without wavering. In which sense St. Basil calleth Abraham a Pillar of Faith, because when he was tempted with a great temptation, He stag­gered not through Ʋnbelief,Rom. 4.20.but was strong in the Faith. And in an Epistle written by the Churches of Vienna and Lyons, mentioned by Eusebius; the Martyrs, who suffer'd a great Persecution for their Faith, and were not sha­ken [Page 27]in it, are called Pillars; and Atalus, one of great note among them, is called a Pillar and Ground of the Church. And in this sense the Catholick and Apostolick Church may well be called the Pillar and Ground of the Truth; Im­mota Columna, a Pillar that stood unmoved upon that Ground on which it was set. For though some Local Churches, which were but as so many Candlesticks, though they were of Gold, have been removed; the Catholick and Apostolick Church was so well setled upon a sure and strong Foundation, that all the means which have been used to overthrow it, have served to establish it.

Great Endeavours were us'd at first to pre­vent the setting up of this Pillar upon the Ground of it, by them whom the Scripture calleth the Builders: but the Destruction which they thought to bring upon the Pillar and the Ground, fell upon themselves; and the Destruction which fell upon themselves, serv'd very much to the Edification of that Pillar and Ground of Truth, which they sought to destroy.

No sooner was the Pillar set up upon the Ground, but great Force and Violence was used to throw it down. The Kings of the Earth were assembled, and the Princes took [Page 28]counsel together against it, as the Children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem, Down with it, down with it even to the ground. But all the Force and Violence which they used to over­throw it, serv'd to let them see that it was so well setled upon a sure and strong Foun­dation, that it could not be overthrown. And as all the Pillars of Heathenish Idolatry and Superstition, which were so many Pillars of Lyes, fell before it like Dagon before the Ark of God; so that we may say of them as the Angel said of Babylon, Revel. 18.2.Babylon is faln, is faln, So we may say of this Pillar and Ground of Truth, as Christ saith of the House built upon a Rock, The Rain descended, Matth. 7.25.and the Floods came, and the Winds blew, and beat upon it, and it fell not; for it was founded upon a Rock.

There have been from the beginning such as St. 2 Pet. 2.1. Peter calls False Prophets, who have privily brought in damnable Heresies, denying the Lord that bought them, and have brought upon them­selves swift destruction. But that swift destru­ction which they have brought upon themselves, hath served to the Edification of the Church in that Truth which they sought to destroy.

But this Pillar and Ground of Truth was ne­ver in so much danger to be thrown down by [Page 29]all the force and violence which Jews and Hea­thens have rais'd against it; nor to be under­mined by all the Heresies which False Prophets and False Apostles have devised, as the Truth of it hath been to be perverted by that Church, which hath endeavoured defendendo concutere, to shake this Pillar and Ground by seeming to defend it. For though it hath not removed the Pillar from the Ground, but is so far Catholick and Apostolick, as to hold the Foundation of which St. Paul saith, 1 Cor. 3.11. Other Foundation can no man lay, save that which is laid, Jesus Christ; they have done great wrong to the Truth, by defacing the ancient Inscriptions which were first written upon this Pillar, with such Alterations and Additions as they have made. But all these Alterations and Additions have served to raise up many learned men, and not a few of them of this Church of England, to revive those ancient Inscriptions, and make many Truths, which are good and profitable, to be known more legible than they were before.

St. Paul speaks of a time that should come, 2 Tim. 4.3.when men would not endure sound Doctrine, but according to their own lusts they would heap up to themselves Teachers, having itching ears. But as he saith in another place, 1 Cor. 11.19. There must be Here­sies, [Page 30]that they which are approved may be made manifest: So we may say of these itching ears, and the confused multitude of Teachers, which they have heaped to themselves, They have serv'd to make them that are approved for hold­ing fast the form of sound words, and Doctrine, which they have received from the Apostles, and Apostolick Church, the more manifest.

Some Profane Wits have pleas'd themselves in making Pasquins, and clapping them upon this Pillar; but they could never make them stick so fast, but that they have faln to the ground, and been trodden under feet of men. But the Pillar and Ground of Truth can never fall: The Ground on which it stands is the Rock, Matth. 16.18against which the Gates of Hell shall not prevail: The Faith by which it stands is the Belief of a Kingdom which cannot be moved: Heb. 12.28. The Doctrine which is built upon this Faith is Sound Doctrine; Tit. 1.9. and as there have been, so there will be so many holding the profession of this Faith and Doctrine without wavering, as will keep up this Pillar and Ground of Truth so long as the Pillars of Heaven and Earth shall stand; and till He who is the Author and Finisher of our Faith, bring us to the end of our Faith, which is the Salvation of our Souls.