God is the Soveraign
of all Soveraigns; and therefore, when he speaks to any Subject, he
ought to be obeyed, whatsoever any earthly Potentate command to the
contrary. But the question is not of obedience to God, but of When,
and What God hath said; which to Subjects that have no supernaturall
revelation, cannot be known, but by that naturall reason, which guided
them, for the obtaining of Peace and Justice, to obey the authority
of their severall Common-wealths; that is to say, of their lawfull
Soveraigns. According to this obligation, I can acknowledge no other
Books of the Old Testament, to be Holy Scripture, but those which have
been commanded to be acknowledged for such, by the Authority of the
Church of England. What Books these are, is sufficiently known, without
a Catalogue of them here; and they are the same that are acknowledged
by St. Jerome, who holdeth the rest, namely, the Wisdome of Solomon,
Ecclesiasticus, Judith, Tobias, the first and second of Maccabees,
(though he had seen the first in Hebrew) and the third and fourth of
Esdras, for Apocrypha. Of the Canonicall, Josephus a learned Jew, that
wrote in the time of the Emperor Domitian, reckoneth Twenty Two, making
the number agree with the Hebrew Alphabet. St. Jerome does the same,
though they reckon them in different manner. For Josephus numbers Five
Books of Moses, Thirteen of Prophets, that writ the History of their own
times (which how it agrees with the Prophets writings contained in the
Bible wee shall see hereafter), and Four of Hymnes and Morall Precepts.
But St. Jerome reckons Five Books of Moses, Eight of Prophets, and Nine
of other Holy writ, which he calls of Hagiographa. The Septuagint, who
were 70. learned men of the Jews, sent for by Ptolemy King of Egypt, to
translate the Jewish Law, out of the Hebrew into the Greek, have left us
no other for holy Scripture in the Greek tongue, but the same that are
received in the Church of England.

As for the Books of the New Testament, they are equally acknowledged for
Canon by all Christian Churches, and by all sects of Christians, that
admit any Books at all for Canonicall.

Their Antiquity

Who were the originall writers of the severall Books of Holy Scripture,
has not been made evident by any sufficient testimony of other History,
(which is the only proof of matter of fact); nor can be by any arguments
of naturall Reason; for Reason serves only to convince the truth (not
of fact, but) of c