The carnality of religious contention in two sermons preached at the merchant's lecture in…The carnality of religious contention in two sermons preach'd at the merchant's lecture in…

It does so, 1. When Christians, who are very far agreed in the most important things, make little of the things wherein they are agreed, tho' never so great; in comparison of the much less things wherein they differ, As all serious ⟨p. 39⟩Christians must be understood to agree in far greater things than it is possible for them to differ in. I lately mentioned to you sundry great Agreements that I cannot doubt to be very common with serious and intelligent Christians; which I shall not now stay to repeat, but add,

2. Such Carnality shows it's self, when there is too much aptness to lay greater stress than is needful upon some unscriptural Words in delivering Scripture-doctrine. Here we may take Carnality as the Apostle doth, 1 Cor. 3. 3. While there are divisions among you, are you not carnal, and walk (or act) as Men? There is more of the Man in it than of the Christian. When we can make a shift to divide about a Word, and that (in the present Use of it) devised only by Man. When Words that are merely of Humane Stamp, and used in no such Sense, or to no such purpose in Scripture; however they may be significant, yet too great a stress and weight is laid upon them, either by too stiffly adhering to them on the one hand, or too vehemently decrying them ⟨p. 40⟩on the other hand; while (perhaps, and it is a certain and a known case) the meaning may be the same on both sides, and would be so, or would appear to be so, if such and such Words were waved, and others more understood, were chosen and used in the room of them. It's true, we are not to think (and no Man of Sense can) that we are obliged never to use other Words in such matters, but such as the Translators of the Bible have hit on in their Version of it, as if that must consecrate those Words, and leave all other under a Profane Character: But if it appear that any Word of a doubtful signification, is misunderstood by many, creates offence, and through some fixed, immovable Prejudice, or Prepossession that some other Notion of it hath obtained in the minds of many, it will always be otherwise understood by them than we intend, let it rather go for a Nehushtan, than that the Peace of the Church should be broken, and Men's minds be disturbed and disquieted by it. This is the Case, when any such Words that might be arbitrarily