Transcriber's Note:

The text is divided into 5 "Conferences" and 41 sections.

Marginal notes indicating the start of individual sections have been converted into section headings. Other notes have been numbered and moved to the end of each Conference. They often refer to the following (rather than preceding) passage, and if so are positioned accordingly. The locations of the marker for Note 13, and of the start of Section 8, are unclear: they have been inserted in accordance with the sense of the text.

Other markers that do not correspond to marginal notes have been removed. The "*" that are retained in sections 11, 13 and 18 do not indicate marginal notes, but instead function as bullet points.

Variations in spelling have been retained with the exception of the following:

Obscured text has been transcribed as follows:

At the beginning of Conference 1 a brace, extending over several lines, has been replaced by a column of individual braces.

For technical reasons drop capitals have been removed from Conference summaries; and numbering removed, before drop capitals, at the start of each Conference text.

When a word in italics is followed by "'s" the latter may or may not be italicised. This inconsistency has been retained. Inconsistent hyphenation has also been retained.

The Text has been corrected in accordance with the Errata section. Mismatched brackets and parentheses have been removed and apparent punctuation errors corrected.

THE
Protestants Plea
FOR A
SOCINIAN:

Justifying His Doctrine from being opposite to
SCRIPTURE
OR
CHURCH-AUTHORITY;
And Him from being Guilty of
HERESIE, or SCHISM.
In Five Conferences.

THE
First Conference.

The Socinian's Protestant-Plea for his not holding any thing contrary to the Holy Scriptures.

  1. That he believes all contained in the Scriptures to be God's Word; and therefore implicitly believes those truths, against which he errs. §. [2].
  2. That also he useth his best endeavor to find the true sense of Scriptures: and, that more is not required of him from God for his Faith or Salvation, than doing his best endeavour for attaining it. §. [3].
  3. That, as for an explicite Faith required of some points necessary, he is sufficiently assured, that this point concerning the Son's Consubstantiality with the Father, as to the affirmative, is not so from the Protestant's affirming all necessaries to be clear in Scripture, even to the unlearned; which this, in the affirmative, is not to him. §. [4].
  4. That several express, and plain Scriptures do perswade him, that the negative (if either) is necessary to be believed; and that from the clearness of Scriptures, he hath as much certainty in this point, as Protestants can have from them in some other, held against the common expressions of the former times of the Church. §. [6], [8].
  5. That, for the right understanding of Scriptures, either he may be certain of a just industry used; or else, that Protestants, in asserting that the Scriptures are plain only to the industrious; and then, that none are certain, when they have used a just industry, thus must still remain also uncertain in their Faith; as not knowing, whether some defect in this their industry causeth them not to mistake the Scriptures.
  6. Lastly; That none have used more diligence in the search of Scripture, than the Socinians, as appears by their Writings, addicting themselves wholly to this Word of God, and not suffering themselves to be any way bypass'd by any other humane, either modern, or ancient Authority. §. [9].
{Where, The Protestant's, and Socinian's pretended
{Certainty of the sense of Scripture apprehended by them,
Digress.{and made the ground of their Faith against the sense of
{the same Scripture declared by the major part of the
{Church is examined. §. [9].