ON THE

State of Religion

In NEW-ENGLAND,

A TREATISE in five Parts.

I. Faithfully pointing out the Things of a BAD and DANGEROUS TENDENCY, in the late, and prefent, religious Appearance, in the LAND.

II. Reprefenting the OBLIGATIONS which lie upon the PASTORS of THESE CHURCHES in particular, and upon ALL in general, to ufe their Endeavours to fupprefs prevailing Disorders; with the GREAT DANGER of a Neglect in fo important a Matter.

III. Opening, in many
Inftances, wherein theDIS-
COURAGERS of Irregula
rities have been INJURI
OUSLY TREATED.

IV. Shewing what
ought to be CORRECTED,
or AVOIDED, in teftifying
against the evil Things of
the present Day.

V.Directing our Thot's, more pofitively, to what may be judged the BEST EXPEDIENTS, to promote pure and undefiled Religion in thefe Times.

With a PREFACE

Giving an Account of the ANTINOMIANS, FAMILISTS
and LIBERTINES, who infected thefe Churches, above.
an hundred Years ago: Very needful for thefe Days; the
LIKE SPIRIT, and ERRORS, prevailing now as did then.
The whole being intended, and calculated, to ferve
the Intereft of CHRIST'S Kingdom..

BY CHARLES CHAUNCY. D. D.
Paftor of the first Church of CHRIST in BOSTON.

BOSTON, Printed by ROGERS and FowLE, for
SAMUEL ELIOT in Cornbill.

110. j. 65.

1743.

may justly be rank'd among the most pious and valuable Men, who have yet liv'd in it.

Not many Years after the Settlement of our Progenitors in this Land, fome, who, through an Excefs of Heat in their Imaginations, had been betrayed into various unfound and dangerous Opinions, came over to them from ENGLAND. They had not been here long, before they freely vented their Notions among the People, Multitudes of whom, both Men and Women, Church-members and others, were foon led afide, to the Hindrance of the Gospel, and throwing thefe Churches into great Confufion.

My Purpofe is to show diftinctly, though briefly,

What thefe Opinions were,

How they fpread fo fast, and prevailed fo fuddenly.

How they did rage and reign, when they had once gotten Head.

How they fell and were ruined, when they were at higheft.S

As for the Opinions :---- They were fuch as thefe, viz.

1. He that bath the Seal of the SPIRIT may cer- ' tainly judge of any Perfon, whether he be elected or no.

This is the Method of Mr. T. WELDE (one of the first Preachers in our ROXBERRY) in his Preface to the Story of the ANTINOMIANS &c. in NEW-ENGLAND; whofe Language alfo I have thought fit chiefly to ufe. The Words diftinguish'd by inverted Commas, are always his; unless where I give Notice

to the contrary.

2. Such

2. Such as fee any Grace of GOD in themselves, before they have the Affurance of GOD's Love fealed to them, are not to be received Members of Churches.

3. The due Search and Knowledge of the Holy Scripture, is not a fafe and fure Way of finding CHRIST.

4. There is a Teftimony of the SPIRIT, and Voice to the Soul, meerly immediate, without any Refpect to, or Concurrence with the Word.

5. The Seal of the SPIRIT is limited only to the immediate Witnefs of the SPIRIT; and doth never witness to any Work of Grace, or to any Conclufion by a Syllogifm.

6. No Minifter can teach one that is anointed by the SPIRIT of CHRIST, more than he knows already unless it be in fome Circumftances.

7. No Minifter can be an Inftrument to convey more of CHRIST unto another, than be by his own Experience hath come up to.

8. A Man is not effectually converted, 'till be bath full Affurance.

9. A Man cannot evidence his Juftification by his Sanctification, but he must needs build upon his Santification, and truft to it.

10. The immediate Revelation of my good Estate, without any Refpect to the Scriptures, is as clear to me as the Voice of GOD from Heaven to PAUL.

II. It is a Fundamental and Soul-damning Error, to make Sanctification an Evidence of Juftification.

12. The SPIRIT giveth fuch full and clear Evidence of my good Eftate, that I have no Need to be tried by the Fruits of Sanctification : This were to light a Candle to the Sun.

13. Sanctification is fo far from evidencing a good Eftate, that it darkens it rather; and a Man may mare clearly fee CHRIST when he feeth no SancA 3 tification,

tification, than when he doth: The darker my Sanc-
tification is, the brighter is my Juftification.

14. If a Member of a Church be unfatisfied with
any Thing in the Church, if he exprefs his Offence,
whether he hath ufed all Means to convince the Church
or no, he may depart.

15. If a Man think he may edify better in ano-
ther Congregation, than in his own, that is Graund
enough to depart ordinarily from Word, Seals, Fast-
ings, Feaftings, and all Adminiftrations in his own
Church, notwithstanding the Offence of the
Church often manifefted to him for fo doing.

16. Where Faith is held forth by the Ministry, as
the Condition of the Covenant of Grace on Man's
Part, as alfo evidencing Juftification by Sanétifi-
cation, and the Activity of Faith, in that Church
there is not fufficient Bread.*

Thefe are a few of the Errors, with which many be-
gan to be infected; I say a few, because their
whole Number amounted to upwards of fourfcore. 1
fhould willingly have prefented the Reader, with a

* Thefe Opinions, however abfurd, were yet, many
of them, ftrongly pleaded for, as ef vaft Impor-
tance: Hence, among the Reafons given for the
meeting of the Synod, in 1637, to confider of these
Matters, this is one, because the Opinionists" pre-
"tended fuch a NEW-LIGHT as condemned all the
"Churches, as in a Way of Damnation ; and the
"Difference to be in Fundamental Points, even as
"wide as between Heaven and Hell : And hence
"it was conceived, that all the Churches fhould con-
"fider of this Matter, that, if it were a Truth,it fhould

he univerfally embraced; but if it were an Error or
"Herefy it might be univerfally fuppreffed, fo far as
"fuch a Meeting could reach. Aanrfcript Copy of ther
Freceedings of the Synod, in 1637, age 3.

Lift of them all; but, not having Room, choose to confine myself to thofe only which might be thought to bear a Refemblance to the unfafe Tenets of the prefent Day. The reft may be feen in the Book, entitled, The Story of the Rife, &c, of Antinomianifm, &c, in NEW-ENGLAND. And let me add, the Account there given of thefe Errors may be depended on; for having had Opportunity to compare it with an ancient Manufcript Copy of the Proceedings of the Synod, in 1637, I find it to be a very exact Catalogue of the Opinions condemned by that Allembly of Churches. †

It may, at first, View feem strange, how thefe Errors (many of them being fo grofs) Should Spread fo faft, and prevail fo generally;

"

but the Wonder will ceafe, if we confider the Slights they ufed in fomenting their Opinions: Some of which I fall fet down ; as,

1. They laboured much to acquaint themselves with as many as poffibly they could, that fo they might have the better Opportunity to communicate their NEWLIGHT to them.

2. Being once acquainted with them, they would Strangely labour to infinuate themselves into their

+ "All the Churches unanimously confented to the "Condemnation of them,except diverfe of BosTON, << one or two at CHARLESTOWN, one at SALEM, 66 one at PLYMOUTH, one at DuXBURY, two at "WATERTOWN: And although Mr. COTTON "fet not down his Hand as the rest of the Elders yet he thus expreffed himself, in Diftelifh "of them, that fome were blafphemous and heretical, many erroneous, and all incongruous." Manufeript Copy. P. 46.

"did;

A 4

66

Affections,