the Law; for the Prophecies now extant were
not then written. And upon the return from the _Babylonian_ captivity,
_Ezra_ read only the book of the Law to the people, from morning to noon on
the first day of the seventh month; and from day to day in the feast of
Tabernacles: for he had not yet collected the writings of the Prophets into
the volume now extant; but instituted the reading of them after the
collection was made. By reading the Law and the Prophets in the Synagogues,
those books have been kept freer from corruption than the _Hagiographa_.

In the infancy of the nation of _Israel_, when God had given them a Law,
and made a covenant with them to be their God if they would keep his
commandments, he sent Prophets to reclaim them, as often as they revolted
to the worship of other Gods: and upon their returning to him, they
sometimes renewed the covenant which they had broken. These Prophets he
continued to send, till the days of _Ezra_: but after their Prophecies were
read in the Synagogues, those Prophecies were thought sufficient. For if
the people would not hear _Moses_ and the old Prophets, they would hear no
new ones, no not _tho they should rise from the dead_. At length when a new
truth was to be preached to the _Gentiles_, namely, _that Jesus was the
Christ_, God sent new Prophets and Teachers: but after their writings were
also received and read in the Synagogues of the Christians, Prophecy ceased
a second time. We have _Moses_, the Prophets, and Apostles, and the words
of Christ himself; and if we will not hear them, we shall be more
inexcusable than the _Jews._ For the Prophets and Apostles have foretold,
that as _Israel_ often revolted and brake the covenant, and upon repentance
renewed it; so there should be a falling away among the Christians, soon
after the days of the Apostles; and that in the latter days God would
destroy the impenitent revolters, and make a new covenant with his people.
And the giving ear to the Prophets is a fundamental character of the true
Church. For God has so ordered the Prophecies, that in the latter days _the
wise may understand, but the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the
wicked shall understand_, Dan. xii. 9, 10. The authority of Emperors,
Kings, and Princes, is human. The authority of Councils, Synods, Bishops,
and Presbyters, is human. The authority of the Prophets is divine, and
comprehends the sum of religion, reckoning _Moses_ and the Apostles among
the Prophet