Richard Baxter's Catholic theology plain, pure, peaceable, for pacification of the dogmatical word-warriors who,…Richard Baxter's Catholick theologie plain, pure, peaceable, for pacification of the dogmatical word-warriours who,…

P. 1. Were you persuadable I would persuade you, not ignorantly to contradict the truth of God, and call it Popery; nor to set up certain false or incongruous notions, and pretend them great and necessary verities; nor to make a stir for some odd unsound opinions, received upon trust from those that you thought best of, and to buzz abroad suspicious of Popery, against those that have more understanding and conscience than to imitate you; nor to fly in the faces of Gods faithfullest servants (much less to use your tongues to backbite them) as if they were Antichristian, because they are not as shamefully ignorant and deceived as you are: And I would persuade you to study and digest well what you take the boldness to speak against; and not to talk confidently and furiously against that which you never understood: for it is the fool that rageth and is confident, Prov. 14. 16. I should think I had not a greater work than to build twenty such Cities as London or to conquer all the Turks dominions, if I could but persuade all that seem Religious to bridle their Tongues, lest their Religion be in vain, and instead of rash and busy talking of things that they understand not, and of rash judging and reviling men wiser than themselves, but to SUSPEND their JUDGEMENTS, and stay till they have taken time to hear, read or consider what is necessary to the true understanding of the case, and not to shame themselves, and abuse their brethren, and God himself, and wrong and corrupt the hearers minds, by railing at that to day, which if they study hard and grow wiser, they will afterwards believe themselves. 2. And I would not have you think it good or lawful to belly a Papist, and say that he holdeth what he doth not; nor to pretend that they differ in the sense and matter, when the difference is but in the words: and then to think that all your injustice and false-dealing is excusable, if you do but say that some Godly Divines, or Religious people, said so before you, and you can prove out of their writings that you are not the first that did the wrong: Nor would I have you charge the unmeet or unsound expressions, of every ignorant, railing Papist, on all that are called Papists, no nor on all their Church: And therefore I would have you well read and understand their writings before you venture too far in your accusations.

P. 1. Were you perswadable I would perswade you, not ignorantly to contradict the truth of God, and call it Popery; nor to set up certain false or incongruous notions, and pretend them great and necessary verities; nor to make a stir for some odd unsound opinions, received upon trust from those that you thought best of, and to buzz abroad suspicious of Popery, against those that have more understanding and conscience than to imitate you; nor to fly in the faces of Gods faithfullest servants (much less to use your tongues to backbite them) as if they were Antichristian, because they are not as shamefully ignorant and deceived as you are: And I would perswade you to study and digest well what you take the boldness to speak against; and not to talk confidently and furiously against that which you never understood: for it is the fool that rageth and is confident,