Certain disputations of right to sacraments, and the true nature of visible Christianity defending…

To which I only say in general, 1. That the belief of the Truth of the Promise, or other verities, being necessary in order to the determination of the Will, to the Acceptance of the good revealed therein, there is therefore so much of the doctrine of Necessity to be believed, as is of Necessity to the determination of the Will, to accept God for our God, by Creation; and Jesus Christ for our Saviour by Redemption, and the Holy Ghost for our Sanctifier. 2. All that is essentially contained in these Relative Tit•es [our God, our Saviour, and our Sanctifier] must be particularly conceived of and believed. 3. The foresaid Explicatory terms well understood, seem to contain all such Essentials. 4. He therefore, that upon a true understanding of •hem, doth believe all these, doth believe all that is Essential to the Christian Faith. 5. Some persons can understand the Matter contained in these words without any more words (having first the Grammatical and Scriptural Explication of them): others have not yet had such Explications, or at least understood them not, and so must have more particular express, expository terms, that they may understand. 6. It is Matter that is primarily Essential, and Fundamental, and that Propter se: Words are to be called Essential, or Fundamental, but secundarily, and propter aliud, viz. so far as they are Means, without which the Matter cannot be received, but no further: and therefore no particular words are properly fundamental, or essential to our Religion; seeing that he that never heard those words, and yet believeth the matter by equipollent terms, or any signs, is truly a Christian. 7. The Essentials primary in the Matter are to all the same, but the Terms of Necessity for expressing them are not the same to all, either for number of words, or sentences; seeing one can receive that in ten words, another cannot in twenty. And hence is it, that if twenty men be set to draw up the Essentials of Christianity, they may do it in twenty several forms of words, and yet all express the same essential Matter: and one Confession may be in ten lines, and another in more pages, and yet both speak the same Fundamental Truths; one more concisely or generally, and the ⟨p. 16⟩other more copiously and plainly. 8.

To which I only say in general, 1. That the belief of the Truth of the Promise, or other verities, being necessary in order to the determination of the Will, to the Acceptance of the good revealed therein, there is therefore so much of the doctrine of Necessity to be believed, as is of Necessity to the determination of the Will, to accept God for our God, by Creation; and Jesus Christ for our Saviour by Redemption, and the Holy Ghost for our Sanctifier. 2. All that is essentially contained in these Relative Tites [our God, our Saviour, and our Sanctifier] must be particularly conceived of and believed. 3. The foresaid Explicatory terms well understood, seem to contain all such Essentials. 4. He therefore, that upon a true understanding of hem, doth believe all these, doth believe all that is Essential to the Christian Faith. 5. Some persons can understand the Matter contained in these words without any more words (having first the Grammatical and Scriptural Explication of them): others have not yet had such Explications, or at least understood them not, and so must have more particular express, expository terms, that they may understand. 6. It is Matter that is primarily Essential, and Fundamental, and that Propter se: Words are to be called Essential, or Fundamental, but secundarily, and propter aliud, viz. so far as they are Means, without which the Matter cannot be received, but no further: and therefore no particular words are properly fundamental, or essential to our Religion; seeing that he that never heard those words, and yet believeth the matter by equiplloent terms, or any signs, is truly a hristian. 7. The Essentials primary in the Matter are to all the same, but the Terms of Necessity for expressing them are not the same to all, either for number of words, or sentences; seeing one can receive that in ten words, anoher cannot in twenty. And hence is it, that if twenty men be set to draw up the Essentials of Christianity, they may do it in twenty several forms of words, and yet all express the same essntial Matter: and one Confession may be in ten lines, and another in more pages, and yet both speak the same Fundamental Truhs; one more concisely or generally, and the