scure and difficult, or what requireth an exactness of 1675. critical skill, or what is only incidental and circumstantial, but only upon the main of the argument, which he supposeth he hath sufficiently cleared. And however he may possibly be mistaken in some lesser matters, he protesteth, that as to the substance of the doctrine of man's justification, which is by him defended according to the mind of both apostles, he is not without the highest degree of certainty of his being in the right. To give some few instances of matters explained by Mr. Bull in this latter piece, which wanted to be more distinctly and fully stated, it may be sufficient to mention the form of justifying faith, the imputative righteousness of Christ, the questions about the Mosaical law, and the nature of the first covenant with man in his state of integrity. vation upon gy, which And as to the other treatise, written in answer to An obserDr. Tully, the same observation will also hold good. his ApoloFor there are abundance of passages in this up and confirms down, which do clearly confirm the great sincerity the same. and ingenuity of our author in the management of this controversy. And if this be not a fair and full apology, both for himself and his Harmonia, against what was objected by that reverend doctor and his revisors, there never was a cause in the world fairly and fully defended. And I must needs say also, that he hath made the best apology for his adversary too, that could be made, in one article, wherein he is contrary to him, and which by parity of reason may be extended to the rest of the articles in like manner, wherein they do not agree. For with much inge y Exam. Cens. Epilogus. 2 Exam. Cens. Respons. ad Animadv. ii. xi. xvii. xix. xx. 66 66 66 66 66 1675. nuity he confesseth, "That a Dr. Tully had not a "few divines of the Church of England, and those "of some eminence also in it, who had led him into "the error; but that these learned men lived in "those times, when, by the arts of some certain persons that were extremely wedded to the Geneva divinity, matters were come to that pass, that it "was hardly safe for any one to interpret either the "Articles of our church, or even the holy Scrip"tures themselves, otherwise than according to the "standard of Calvin's Institutions, whose error "therefore, saith he, ought not so much to be imputed to them, as to the age wherein they lived. "Since almost in every age, as one hath well observed, there is as it were a certain torrent of opinions proper to it, against which, whosoever "shall go to oppose himself, he will certainly either "be carried away with the violence thereof, or be "quite overwhelmed." This is an observation that is very just; and the candour of Mr. Bull, in the application of it, ought not, I think, to be quite passed over in silence. Nay, did I know a better excuse for Dr. Tully, and other good and learned men, who were educated in such times, and according to such principles, and so were carried on by the zeal of what was called orthodox, I would be as willing to do him and them right, as the worthy person whose life I am writing. But I know no better than that which this judicious apologist hath made himself on their behalf. There are not a few instances besides in this very treatise, which prove him a sincere as well as a learned writer, but which cannot be here insisted on. It is much to be la 1675. mented, that so good a man as Dr. Tully was generally esteemed to be, should so unhappily be engaged in a controversy of this nature, but especially, that he should be so far transported in the management of it, as not to examine with a due care the arguments and authorities of his author whom he proposed to answer, and thereby should lay himself too open to a just censure, and should hurt his reputation so far, as even to render himself by this means suspected of some insincerity. Yet it is to be feared, that this hath been the case of many an honest man, who, by the strength of prejudice and an impetuosity of zeal, may have been carried much farther than ever was designed, to the no small prejudice of the truth. But for Mr. Bull it must needs be acknowledged, that with a very laudable diligence he spared no pains, that he might thoroughly and impartially examine all that ever his adversary could bring against him: neither must it be denied, that he hath made such just and reasonable concessions, as render his own cause the stronger, while they yield to the opposite that which it might lawfully demand. And indeed, this his apology is written with so much masterly strength and judgment, that a very learned foreigner called it the Triumph of the Church of Dr. Grabe. England in this cause. ring modern before ca tholic tradi XLII. Now whereas the authority of certain fo- The preferreign divines had been made use of in this contro-authority versy by Dr. Tully and others, against the catholic tradition of this article, as explained and maintained tion, shewn in the Harmonia, our apologist affirms it to be sonable. most unreasonable, and against the principles of the to be unrea 1675. Church of England, to prefer the authority of any modern doctor or doctors whatsoever, before a truth grounded upon Scripture, with the unanimous consent of the catholic church. Upon this occasion, he taketh notice of what bishop Jewel had urged before, in his Apology for our Reformation, that it was founded purely upon catholic principles, and upon the model of the primitive church; by which means the new discipline introduced by Calvin being rejected, the order of episcopacy was retained, and the most ancient forms of public prayers, and sacred rites, and several primitive doctrines, not in the least agreeable with Calvin's notions, which are by him there particularized, were established and confirmed. And as for the judgment of the Church of England upon this point, he appealeth to a canon made in full convocation, A. D. 1571, and afterwards confirmed by queen Elizabeth, whereby it is ordained, that all preachers shall chiefly take heed, that they teach nothing but what is agreeable to the doctrine of the Old and New Testament, and what the catholic fathers and primitive bishops have thence collected. And moreover he cites a constitution of king James the First, requiring all candidates of divinity not to spend much of their time in systems and compendiums, but to apply themselves seriously to the study of such books, as are agreeable to the doctrine and discipline of the Church of England, and particularly to the reading of the fathers, councils, schoolmen, histories: and to this he adds the testimonies of many eminent writers in our church to the same purpose, professing themselves most readily to embrace, next to the sacred books, the consentient testimony of the ancient Fathers; and that they were not willing to admit any thing, either 1675. in the doctrine or government in the church, which should not be agreeable to it. method of in the Upon which the most learned and pious editor of The best his works could not forbear expressing his most ending conhearty wishes, that there were many more of the troversies same opinion, who would not refuse to submit their church. private thoughts and interpretations of Scripture, to be determined by primitive and universal tradition; hoping that this might be a means of restoring the church to a better state. Our author now hath clearly given his judgment in this matter, and hath declared himself in more than one place, that this is the best, yea the only way of ending our most unhappy controversies, which have rent the church of Christ at this day in so many parts, if next to the Scriptures, we would receive and reverence the most pure and primitive antiquity, and persuade others to the same practice, and religiously follow the agreeing judgment of the ancient doctors approved by the catholic church, and especially of them who were nearest to the apostolical age, wheresoever this can be found; which, he asserteth, is to be found in all those points that are of any great moment; and as for the rest, his advice is, that every one be left to the liberty of his own judgment, but so as not to disturb the peace of the church. answers Dr. but Tully's obthe jection, of XLIII. And whereas Dr. Tully had among other Mr. Bull things b objected also against him, his being little acquainted with the ancient Fathers of church, when he published his Harmonia; his little and skill in the |