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of GOD, there is reafon to hope, that Men of all Perfuafions will be eafily prevailed upon to look into it without Fear of being misled; and that if any of them fhould from hence be enabled to difcover their Miftakes, the Authority of what is faid will difpofe them to yield more willingly to their Convictions.

BUT whatever Effect this Method may have with fuch as are already fixed in Error, thofe that have not yet taken a wrong Bent, will, in all Likelihood, find it of fome Advantage to them in their earlieft Inquiries into the Chriftian Religion, to take a general View of the whole, in the moft fimple Manner in which it was first delivered to the Saints. For when they fee all the Paffages of Scripture together, which refer to the fame Subject, they will be in lefs Danger of falling into any of thofe Miftakes, which are manifeftly founded upon fingle Texts confidered apart by themselves: And when they have once truly learned to fpeak the Language of Scripture, they will be better enabled to judge of the Force of all other Expreffions, and to difcern how far they agree with that unerring Standard, the Word of Goo

IT was for their Sakes, chiefly, that I undertook to draw up this fummary Account of the Doctrine contained in the Sacred Writings: which at this Time more efpecially I was encouraged to do, upon a Prefumption that it might be fome Way serviceable to thofe glorious Defigns, which are now with great Zeal and SucA 5

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cefs carrying on for the better educating Chrif tian Youth in the Principles of their moft holy Religion, and for propagating a true Knowledge of the Gofpel among thofe that have not yet received the glad Tidings of Salvation through CHRIST: Which Defigns I am not only parti 'cularly obliged, but with the whole Weight of my Judgment and Inclination led to promote to the utmost of my Power.

RAIT were likewife further to be withed, that the profeffed Enemies of Revealed Religion would take Tome fuch Way as this, of considering it all at once in the full Extent and Simplicity of it, before they conclude any Part of it to be either falfe or abfurd. For by fo doing, they would foon' find, that all the Objections they make to Divine Revelation are levelled only against fome particular Opinions, fallely vented by private Men as the Word of GOD; and that no Chriftian Doctrine can be difproved, while the Authority of the Scriptures is preferved; which hath not yet fuffered any Thing by all their Attempts.) lied A

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AFTER this thort Account of the Reafons that induced me to enter upon the following Work, I have thefe few Things to acquaint my Reader with, concerning the Method obferved in the Performance of it.

THE Language, (as I have laid before) is all taken out of Scripture, there being no more of my own mixed with it, than just what was necef

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fary for Connection: And this is every where diftinguifhed by a different Character, excepting only fome fmall Variations in the Perfon, Tenfe, or the like; fuch as were requifite to exprefs that by Way of Propofition, which the Scripture had delivered in fome other Form.

ALL the Texts made ufe of are (as it appears upon the first View) difpofed under General Heads. But for the better avoiding too great a Number of Subdivifions, and at the fame Time to preferve the Clearnefs aimed at by them, in ftead of new Titles I have made feveral Breaks under each Head, which feemed to me to anfwer the fame End an eafier Way. I have endea voured likewife fo to range the particular Texts under every Divifion, as they might follow one another in the most natural Order they were capable of, without making a continued Dif courfe; which, confidering that this is a Collec tion of Principles and Laws, would have carried lefs Weight and Solemnity in it

As I have taken all the Care I could to leave out no Text relating to any of my Heads, which might be fuppofed to add any Force or Light to thofe I have retained, fo have I avoided, as much as conveniently I could, the Repetition of the Lame Texts. But because feveral of them may be thought to belong as properly to one Head as to another; for this reason I have repeated fome without any Variation; but, commonly, where. the fame Text comes over again, it is placed in different View, what was delivered abfolutely

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as Matter of Faith or Duty in one Place, being brought in as a Proof or Reafon of fomething

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UNDER fome Heads I have put feveral Texts, which feem to be only equivalent Expreffions of the fame Thing; but fome of them upon Examination will be found to be more diftinct, and fome more emphatical than others; or at least the Variety itself will ferve to imprint what is faid more ftrongly upon us; and in this I have followed the Manner of the Sacred Writers. and wait

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As to the Senfe and Meaning of all the Paffages of Scripture here brought together; it will eafily appear from the Difpofition which I have made of them, that I have conftantly had a Regard to that Interpretation of the Words which is moft generally allowed, and which they feem moft naturally to bear in the common Tranflation now ufed in our Bibles; which I have all along pre ferved, excepting only two or three Places in the Pfalms, where I thought the old Tranflation, still kept in the public Service of the Church, more full and expreffive. I have indeed taken the Liberty of applying fome Texts, by way of Illuf tration, in fomewhat a different Senfe than what was originally intended by them ; but then it is always in fuch a Senfe as is agreeable to the Doctrine of Scripture in other Places; and the Subd jects they are applied to are fuch, as either admit of no Difpute, or are fufficiently proved by plainer Texts before. And even thefe Texts, which do not by an easy Inference prove what they are

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brought to explain, are for more Exactnefs diftinguished by this Mark ¶.

But whatever Faults there may be, either in the Choice of fome Text, or the Difpofition of the whole Performance, they will, I hope, be excufed upon the Account of the great Difficulty of fuch a Work as this is; in the Compofing of which I had no Manner of Help from any body that had gone before me. The only Offer at fuch a Defign, that I have met with, is a Book printed in Quarto, 1676, ftiled The Scripture Sufficiency, &c. which, I hoped, would have fuperfeded my Labour, or at least made it much easier, by giving me a good Foundation to build upon. But that Book, though the Product of much Pains, and which upon fome other Accounts may probably have its Ufe, was of fo little Service to me, by reafon of the great Difference of the Author's Method, that I found it lefs Trouble to take all my Materials immediately out of the Bible itself, than out of that Book; and thither I went directly for them.

IF it fhall pleafe GOD, that the Collection I have made from thence thould any way contribute to give Persons a right Understanding of the Chriftian Religion, I fhall think the Pains I have taken in it very well beftowed. And if the Work be esteemed useful, I fhall be very well content to have it pass under no other Character.

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