Religion is attended with some difficulty The general Rule is to chuse those which are instructive and edifying Every body will own this to be a good Rule but all Men do not agree in the Application of it What seems edifying to some appears quite otherwise to others In point of Religion all Men should be of the same Mind since they are all bound to believe the same Truths and practise the same Duties but their Tastes are different because many of them have a vitiated Palate To speak my Mind upon this Subject I think that Christians should chiefly stick to those Books which prove the Truths of Religion and which establish by solid Arguments the fundamental Articles of the Christian Faith and to those which give a clear and exact View of the Duties of Morality To these it may be useful to add the Works in which we find the Examples of Persons eminent for their Piety and Virtue Such Examples are very efficacious to excite Men to the Practice of what is good and they prove a great Preservative against the Scandal occasioned by bad Example and against the Corruption of the Age. But not to enlarge further upon the Choice of Books I refer the Reader to what has been said in this Chapter A judicious Choice of Books being once made the next thing is to make a good use of them And here two Rules are to be observed 1. A Man should read with Judgment And 2. he should read in order to Practice 1. What Book soever we read it is absolutely necessary to read it with Discretion and Judgment We are commanded in Scripture * 1 Thes V. XXI 1 Joh. IV. I. To prove all things and to hold fast that which is good to try the Spirits and the Doctrines whether they are of God This Caution is to be used lest we fall into Errors since every Author is a Man and by consequence may sometimes be mistaken The common People do particularly need this Advice because they are very apt to believe that whatsoever is read in Books especially in Books of Devotion is true But tho' a Book should contain nothing but what is good Discretion is necessary to make a just Application of the Contents of it to out selves because that which is proper for some is not sutable to others The not observing this Rule is the Reason why some Readers who have a pure but a timorous and short-sighted Conscience are terrified without Cause and apply to themselves what is said only of wicked Men when on the other hand hardened Sinners deceive themselves with vain hopes by adapting to themselves what related only to good Men. 2. We ought to read in order to practice and that we may grow better this is the more important Rule of the two and that which distinguishes true from hypocritical Devotion Many are very regular and constant in Reading and they seldom fail to do it Mornings and Evenings But the Deportment of those Persons who are so assiduous in the perusing of good Books is not always agreeable to the Rules of Devotion and Piety When they are but just come from their Reading we find them often sowr peevish and passionate after they have read in the Morning they spend the Day in Slandering Gaming or Idleness and they avoid only the grosser and the more noisie Sins There are Readers of another Character they read and even delight in the Reading of Books of Religion They like well enough those Works which prove the Truths of the Christian Religion or treat of Morals they speak of them advantagiously and they will say fine Things concerning the Abuses which are crept into Religion and upon the Necessity and the Beauty of Morals but all this terminates only in a vain and fruitless Approbation which they give to the Truths and Duties of the Gospel for after all they reform nothing in their Lives Such Readings are but meer Amusements and they are good for nothing but to rock Conscience into a most dangerous Sleep The End of Reading as well as that of all Religion ought to be the Practice of Holiness I. shall here observe last of all that Christians have a Book which alone might suffice to preserve them from the Danger of ill Books and to secure them against the Corruption of the Age if they did use it as they ought I mean the Holy Scripture It is the best of all Books a Work divinely inspired which contains nothing but what is most excellent and true and wherein we find every thing that is necessary to instruct and to sanctifie Men. But it were to be wished 1. That the Translations of Scripture which are in the hands of the People should be rendered more perfect so that they might express the Sense of Sacred Authors with all possible Exactness All those who have studied the Original Text of the Bible will own that this is a necessary Work and that the Translations need some Amendments And so we see accordingly that now and then Divines and Translators apply themselves to the correcting of them 2. It would be to no purpose to have exact Translations of Scripture if Men could not read it I have already remarked it elsewhere as a crying and shameful Abuse that a great part of Christians should not be able to read This Abuse should have been reformed long ago and this might easily be done if every Pastor did endeavour it in his own Church and if the Magistrates did lend a helping Hand toward it 3. The Holy Scripture should be read more than it is and Men should make that use of it for which it was given Other Books are only Streams but when we read the Scripture we drink at the very Fountain-head Humane Books have their Faults and therefore they ought to be read with great Discretion But this Divine Book is most perfect it is a Guide to whose Conduct we may give up our selves without fear or danger This being certain is it not strange that the best of all Books should be the most neglected In many Countries the Bible is a Book unknown to the People In other places the reading of it is permitted but with great Cautions as if it were dangerous for Christians to reveal a Book by which God was pleased to reveal his Will to Men. In those places where Christians have an entire Liberty to read the Scripture great multitudes make no advantage of that freedom Many that are addicted to reading leave the Word of God for other Books In a word very few read it with suitable Dispositions and with a sincere Design of learning the Will of God and of growing the better by it And thus the far greater part of Mankind is destitute of the most efficacious mean and remedy which the Divine Goodness has afforded to Men to preserve them from the Contagion of Sin and to make them happy And so we need not wonder that the Corruption of Christians should be such as
Christian ought to know is that God has placed him in this World not to offend but to glorifie and serve him The Gospel tells us every where that this Life is the time which God gives us to sanctify our selves in That this Earth is the Place where Christian Vertues are to be pracised that now is the time to labour to walk to fight and to sow if we intend to obtain Salvation and that whoever neglects these Duties shall be shut out of Heaven In the Life to come these Opportunities will be over the Door will be shut and the Sentence which God shall pronounce at the Day of Judgment will be founded upon that which Men do in this Life Nay we may draw an Argument from the nature of Holiness it self to demonstrate that the practice of it is not referred to another Life The greatest part of the Duties which God prescribes such as Repentance Patience Chastity Sobriety Almsgiving and Hope cannot be practised in Heaven Here then is the Time the Place and the Opportunity to perform these Duties Let us reflect upon what St. Paul says in his Epistle to Titus Chap. 11. There he declares That the Grace of God which brings Salvation teaches Men to live soberly righteously and godly in this present World That is In this Life and upon Earth and then he adds looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the Great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ He makes a distinction between the Duty and the Hope of a Christian between this World and that which is to come This Life is the time and this World the place wherein we ought to practise Temperance Justice and Godliness It must not be asked Where the difference then lies between this Life and the other between Grace and Glory For the difference is great and sensible enough in other Respects In the next Life we shall be perfectly Holy our Holiness will be of another Nature than it is here we shall be like the Angels and as we shall practise no longer a great many Duties which we practise here on Earth so we shall exercise many Vertues which cannot be exercised in this Life 4. I ought not to omit here another Maxim which is not only very common but is likewise most pernicious by reason of the use that is made of it Some say That there was always and that there will always be Corruption that this is the way of the World that Men will always be men and that the World will not change It is necessary to dwell a little upon this Maxim because it is specious and tends as well as the former to make Men believe that Corruption is necessary and unavoidable It has besides a general Influence upon the Subject Matter and Design of this Book for it is to little purpose to descant upon the Sources of Corruption if there is no amendment to be hoped for I have four Things to say upon this Maxim 1. The Inference which is made from it is absurd For tho' an Evil is general it does not follow that it is to no purpose to endeavour to keep our selves free from it unless it were an Evil from which Men could not possibly preserve themselves There have been always and there will always be Diseases in the World and yet no Man hitherto has been so weak as to maintain that the Precautions and Remedies which are used against Diseases are altogether useless Thus tho Corruption reigns in the World yet that does not hinder but that Men ought to use their best endeavours to escape it and it does not prove but that they may actually avoid it if they use those means which God affords them to that end 2. This Maxim is founded upon a false Supposition For tho' it is true that there has been always and that there will always be Corruption in the World yet it ought not to be supposed that this Corruption is alike at all times or that things are always to be in the same state they now are in This were a false Supposition and contrary to Experience as may easily be proved with respect to the Time past the present and the future First when we reflect upon past Ages we cannot say that all Times have been alike in reference to Religion It is not to be denied but that before Christ's coming the World was plunged in a general Corruption and that the State of it has been considerably altered by the Preaching of the Gospel Can any one deny but that the Primitive Church was purer than the Church which we find in the Ninth or Tenth Century At this day tho' there is a general Dissoluteness yet there is more or less Corruption in some places than in others It is true in Fact that where the Gospel is duly Preached and where there is some Order and Discipline left there appears more Piety and Religion than in other Places As for the time to come we must not think it impossible to restore Things to a better State or imagine that the World will always continue as it is tho' the Means were used which God has appointed to Reform it For this will no sooner be done but Corruption will abate as I hope to make it appear in the Second Part of this Book 3. This Maxim is directly contrary to the Word of God The Scripture often speaks of the Corruption of the World but does it always in such a manner as gives us to understand that Christians may and ought to renounce it St. Paul speaks of the sinful Courses which the World lies in Eph. 11. But he supposes that the Ephesians did no longer follow those Courses after they were Converted to the Christian Religion The same Apostle Commands us * Rom. 12.2 not to be conformed to this present World And St. James when he describes the Spirit and Character of that †Jam 1.2 7. pure and undefiled Religion which is acceptable to God he tells us among other things that it consists in man's keeping himself unspotted from the World 4. In the Last place this Maxim is extreamly dangerous In that Sense and Design in which it is proposed it leads to Impiety it robs Religion of all its Power and it furnishes Libertines with a Plea which does intirely justify them For in short either Corruption may be remedied and Men may be reduced to a more Christian Life or it may not If it cannot be remedied this Maxim is true and prophane Men are in the right But in that Case I say it again Religion is but a Name for if no stop can be given to Corruption if things must still go on at the same rate why do we talk of Religion or why do we Preach the Gospel We may teach and exhort as long as we please but for all that there will be neither more nor less Sin Men will always be what they are and the World will not alter What Notion must this give us
general as it is now These Considerations are founded upon two undeniable Facts 1. That the Church was then persecuted And 2. That Discipline was then exercised in it These were two powerful Means to remove Vices and Scandals from the Church We may easily imagine that Men who loved the World and their sins would not have embraced Christiany at a time when whosoever became a Christian did by that very thing expose himself to Persecution Torments and Death This did fright away the greatest numbers of Wicked and Impious Persons But if any of these entred into the Church Discipline for the most part drove them out when they made themselves notorious by a Scandalous life It is easy to judge that in such Circumstances there was more Piety at that time than we observe now in the Church The first Christians were sincere in their Profession Being instructed by the Apostles and apostolical Men they placed the Christian Religion chiefly in a good Life to which they did solemnly engage themselves by Baptism They were united among themselves they governed themselves in matters of Order and Discipline by the Prescripts of the Apostles as much as the Persecution gave them leave and they did with Courage lay down their lives for the Truth Such was the Christianity of the first Ages But the Church did not continue long in that State before this Zeal of those Primitive Christans began to cool On the one hand Persecution ceased and on the other the Ancient Discipline was slackned These two Fences being pluckt up and the Emperors turning Christian the Corruption of the World broke in upon the Church Divers abuses crept into Doctrine Discipline Worship and Manners till the Church fell at last into such a Dismal Darkness of Ignorance Superstition and Vice that Christianity seemed almost quite extinct and destroyed All those who had any true sense of Religiion did lament this they complained openly of it and they longed for a good Reformation This was the State which the Church and Religion were in for some Centuries It did not please God that those Times of Ignorance should last for ever that Darkness began to be dispersed in the last Century Then it was that Learning and Languages revived and that the Holy Scripture which had been for a great while a Book unknown to the People was rescued out of that obscurity in which the Barbarism of former Ages had buried it Men did perceive that divers Errors had been introduced into Religion they discovered several Abuses they went about to redress them and they succeeded so far that in this respect Christianity was restored to its Purity But that great Work could not be finished so that at this Day they Church and Religion are not yet brought to that State of Perfection which they might be in III. For to come now to the present State of Religion it is certain First that many Christian Churches are still very near in the same Darkness Men were in some Ages ago I shall say nothing of the sinking of Christianity in Asia and Africa there is more Knowledge in Europe but yet in many Places we may observe almost all those Disorders which prevailed in the Times of the grossest Ignorance Nay our Age is more unhappy than the precedent in that those Abuses have been consirmed and authorized by Laws and are now supported by Force How many Countries and Churches are there where the People know almost nothing of the Gospel where Religion is reduced to Childish and Superstitious Devotions and Practices where the most Ridiculous things are believed and the most shameful Errors received where the loosness of Manners may almost be parallel'd with Heathenism where the most execrable Crimes are committed In a Word where the Ignorance both of the People and Clergy are general excepting only some few understanding Men who are sensible of these Disorders but are restrained by Fear from discovering their Sentiments From those Places Corruption spreads to others and it would not be difficult to shew by several Instances that the Cause of Impiety Ignorance and Vice is to be found in those Places which should be the Foâ—â—tains of Piety and Religion What I have now said is not to be applied to all Churches for some there are where Religion is not so corrupted and where a purer Christianity is professed But yet let us enquire in the second place whether there are any Christian Societies where nothing is Wanting or to be desired in the State of the Church and Religion and where it would not be necessary to make some Alterations and Constitutions in order to come nearer to Perfection This deserves to be examined with Care and without Prepossession We ought here to lay aside the Spirit of a Party and ingenuously to acknowledge Defects where they are For else if every one is wedded to the Society of which he is a Member nothing can ever be remedied For supposing that there are Defects what Remedy can be used if we are all possessed with This Prejudice that all is Perfect in our Society Is not this the way to Canonize Abuses and to prevent the restoring of Order And First we ought not to wonder if there should still be Imperfections in the purest Societies It would be a kind of Miracle if there were none remaining God does not always think fit to finish his Work all at once unless he had made use of Inspired Men such as the Prophets or the Apostles were It was impossible so to attain Perfection and to provide for every thing at first dash that nothing more should be desired Besides Circumstances are so much altered that it seemâ— necessary to change several things that were left in the last Age. It is further to be considered that tho' Christians did long for a good Reformation yet great Difficulties were to be overcome to bring it about Mens Minds were not much enlightened they were just creeping out of Darkness and a long Custom had almost obliterated the true Ideas of Religion Almost all those who were in Civil or Ecclesiastical Authority did obstinately defend the Abuses which all Good Men thought it necessary to Redress Extream Severity was used towards those who desired this Reformation of the Church All this did terrify a great many well-meaning Persons and was the cause that in several Places those who had Courage enough to Condemn the Abuses openly were not able for want of Means to do all that the Interest of Religion required They were fain in those Places to yield something to the Iniquity of the Times and to settle Things as well as they could till a more favourable Oppotunity Some Churches came nearer to Perfection than others But howsoever if we would pass a right Judgment upon the present State of the Church and Religion we ought to Examine the Thing in it self and without Partiality Upon this I shall offer here some general Considerations and refer to the following Chapter some Heads which will
be much advanced as long as the Evil is not taken in its Cause and as long as such Principles and Abuses continue among Christians as are and will always be Obstacles to the Progress of the Gospel Lastly I considered that this Matter had not yet been thoroughly handled by any Author at least that I know of Of those who have touched upon it in their Books some have confined themselves to Considerations purely Moral and others to Theological Reflections upon the Errors which are in Vogue or upon the Controversies which divide Christians but they have omitted many things which seem essential no doubt because they did not intend to treat this Subject purposely or because they did not take a View of the whole extent of it As these Considerations have made me wish for a long while that among so many able Men who write about Religion some might undertake so important a Subject so they have determined me to Publish these Essays upon the Causes of Corruption hoping that others will apply themselves to the full Discussion of those Matters which are here but imperfectly hinted at But that the Scope of this Treatise may be the better understood and that no body may expect that in it which according to the Scheme I formed to my self ought not to have a place here I shall acquaint the Reader with one thing which he may perhaps have foreseen from what has been already said I do not propose to my self to handle this Matter in the way of the Divinity Schools No Man therefore ought to wonder if I say nothing of the State in which all Men are born nor of that Inclination to Vice which is observed in them For tho' this is the first Original of Corruption yet certainly this Corruption would be much less if Christians did use the means which God affords them to overcome it and if there were not other Sources which feed and strengthen that vitious Propensity Besides I do not consider Corruption in general as it is Common to all Mankind but I enquire into the Causes of the Corruption of Christians in particular Neither do I design to write a Moral Treatise so that it must not be expected that I should discourse of Self-Love and Pride and of all the other Passions which are the Ordinary Occasions of Mens Sins or that I should trace out all the particular Causes of every Sin This would carry me too far and such things have been often examined I therefore apply my self only to the general Causes and I manage the the Matter thus I divide this Work into Two Parts because the Causes of Corruption may be of Two sorts I shall call those of the first sort Particular or Internal because they are within us and to be found in every particular Man that lives ill Those of the Second sort which are more general I name External because they proceed rather from certain outward Circumstances and from the unhappiness of the Times than from the fault of particular Persons The Causes I shall treat of in the First Part are no other but the ill Dispositions in which most Christians are and which hinder their applying themselves to Piety And of these I shall observe Nine I. Ignorance II. Prejudices and False Notions concerning Religion III. Some Opinions and and Maxims which are used to Authorize Corruption IV. The Abuse of Holy Scripture V. A false Modesty VI. The Delaying Repentance VII Man's Sloth and Negligence in Matters of Religion VIII Worldly Business IX Men's particular Callings The Causes to be Considered in the Second Part are these Seven I. The State of the Church and of Religion in General II. The Want of Discipline III. The Defects of the Clergy IV. The Defects of Christian Princes and Magistrates V. Education VI. Example and Custom VII Books I declare here that in discoursing upon these Sources I do not mean to tax all Christians without exception So when I speak of Ignorance and of Prejudices commonly received Knowing and Learned Men are excepted And when I observe certain Defects in the state of the the Church and of Religion in Discipline in Clergy-men or in Christian Magistrates I suppose those Faults obtain more in some Places than in others In short whoever should apply what is said in this Treatise to all sorts of Persons and Churches would certainly mistake my Design And now I must desire those who may chance to see this Book to examine seriously what 〈◊〉 propose in it No Lover of Truth or Religion can refuse his attention to a Subject of this Nature But I hope it will be more particularly welcome to Church-men and Divines who are called by their Function to set themselves against Corruption and to endeavour all they can to promote Piety and the Glory of God To Conclude I heartily implore his Blessing upon this Work who put it into my Heart to set about it and who is my Witness with what Design and Intention I publish it A TREATISE Concerning the CAUSES OF THE Present Corruption OF CRISTIANS PART I. CAUSE I. Ignorance WHEN a Man thinks of the Causes of that Corruption which over-runs the Christian World the first which offers it self to his mind is Ignorance and therefore I shall begin with it Our Notions and Knowledge are the first Principles of our Actions We can never love a Thing or adhere to it when it is not at all or when it is but imperfectly known to us Supposing then that Men are Ignorant or very little Instructed in Religion there is no wonder that they should be Corrupt for they must of necessity be so On the other hand when they appear to be extreamly Corrupt we may conclude that they want Instruction I do not deny but that Corruption proceeds sometimes from the wickedness of the Heart which resists the Light of the Understanding and that Men frequently Act against their Knowledge But it may safely be said That if Christians were well Instructed they would not be so Corrupt and that wherever an extraordinary Corruption is visible there is likewise a great deal of Ignorance This is confirm'd by the Scripture and by God's Conduct in the Establishing the Christian Religion When the Apostles speak of those Disorders wherein the Heathens lived before their Conversion they ascribe them to the darkness of their Minds * Eph. IV. 18. The Gentiles says St. Paul have their Vnderstanding darkened being alienated from the Life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their Heart The same Apostle calls the Times which preceded the Coming of of Christ the Times of Ignorance And the first Thing which God did to change the Face of the World and to rescue it from Corruption was to dispel the Clouds of their Ignorance and to enlighten them with the Knowledge of himself by the Preaching of the Gospel Although Christians cannot be charged with so gross an Ignorance as that of the Heathens yet they
of their Duty is that they do not profess Devotion and Piety This is the ordinary Plea of Men of Business of Worldlings of Young People of Courtiers of Military Men and of a great many besides in all Conditions We do not pretend to Devotion they cry we are ingaged in the World And with this shift they not only think themselves excusable for neglecting Piety but they fancy they have a Right to neglect it and that they do a great deal if they observe some of the External Duties of it One can hardly believe that these Persons are in carnest when they make such an Excuse It astonishes a Man to find Christians who have the considence to say That Piety is not their Business that they are of another Profession and that they are not at leisure to be Devout I fancy there are Two Things which deceive those who who alledge this Excuse 1. That they do not well understand what Devotion is they look upon it as a very austere and singular way of living from whence they conclude that but few People are able to apply themselves to it and so they turn it over to the Clergy to Women or to those who have much leisure I have observed already the Falseness of this Prejudice and shewed that Piety is neither singular nor austere 2. The other cause of their Error seems to be this that they do not consider that Piety is every Bodies Business and that such is the nature of it that it may be practised by all Men. Not but that secular Occupations and Callings do frequently obstruct Piety and ingage Men in Vice and therefore a Christian should never be so taken up with the Affairs of this Life as thereby to disable himself from performing the Duties of Christianity But after all a Man may live like a good Christian in any lawful Calling and in that sense properly we are to understand the Words of St. Paul That the Grace of God which brings Salvation has appeared unto all Men teaching them to live soberly righteously and godly in this present World * Tit. II. 11. Do those who plead it for an Excuse that they do not profess Devotion imagine that there are two ways to go to Heaven the one for Devour and the other for Worldly Men the one narrow and the other broad Do they think that the Commandments of God do not concern all Men that there is respect of Persons with God or that he dispenses with his own Laws How can they prove these Distinctions Are not we all Christians Have not we all been Baptize Does not God give us all the same Laws Or have some more reason to love God than others And ought not the great Concern of our Salvation to be equally dear to us all I grant that those who have greater opportunities and more Leisure than others ought to make use of these Advantages But I maintain at the same time that none stand in greater need of Piety than those who say we are engaged in the World we do not pretend to Devotion It is because they are not Devout that their Condition is very sad and the more they are engaged in the World the greater are the Temptations and Distraction to which they are liable Now he that is exposed to a Storm had need take more care than he who enjoys a Calm These are the principal Maxims and Sentiments which are made use of to Authorize Corruption Whoever takes notice of what is said and done in the World must needs acknowledge that these and the like Maxims are vented abroad every day so that in order to obstruct the Progress of Corruption it is absolutely necessary to undeceive Men in reference to these Sentiments and to oppose that Criminal Boldness which shamefully Corrups the Truths of Reilgion and turns Impieties into Religious Maxims and Articles of Faith CAUSE IV. The Abuse of Holy Scripture IT is a daring piece of Confidence to Authorize Corruption with Maxims borrowed from Religion but it is the last degree of Audaciousness and Impiety to turn the Holy Scripture to such a scandalous use and to seek in that Divine Book Pretences and Apologies for Vice and yet the Extravagance and Temerity of many bad Christians come up to this pitch Several declarations of the Word of God are made by them as many Maxims under which they think to shelter themselves and if we believe them there is nothing either in their Practice or Opinions but what is agreeable to the Will and Intentions of God himself This Abuse of the Scripture I design to shew in this Chapter to be one of the Causes of Corruption and it cannot he too seriously considered The Passages of Scripture which are abused to this purpose may be reduced to these Four Heads The first comprehends the places which are brought against the necessity of Good Works Under the second we will examine those declarations of Scripture by which some endeavour to prove That all Men without exception are in a state of Corruption which subjects them to Sin In the third place we shall answer the Arguments drawn from the Examples of those Saints whose Sins are Recorded in Scripture And lastly we shall make some Reflections upon those Scripptures in which the Divine Mercy is promised to the greatest Sinners There are divers Passages in Scriptures which being ill understood lead many into this perswasion That Good Works are not of absolute Necessity And First nothing is more confidently alledged to this purpose than what we read in many places * Rom. III. c. That we are justified by Faith and not by our Works No Doctrine is more clearly and expresly delivered in the Gospel than that of Justification by Faith But it is a Perverting of this Doctrine to conclude from it that Salvation may be obtained without Good Works This Conclusion must needs be false since the Gospel enjoyns Good Works as a necessary Condition in order to Salvation St Paul tells us that †Heb. XX. 14. without Holiness no man shall see God And does not that import that none shall be saved without Holiness and Good Works The same Apostle teaches us that at the Day of Judgment when Men shall be admitted into or excluded from Heaven God will have a regard to their Works to the good or evil which they shall have done | Rom. 11. 6. God will render to every man according to his Works * 2 Cor. V. 10. We must all appear before the Judgment seat of Christ that we may receive according to what we have done whether good or bad This is very positive and therefore since there can be no Contradiction in Scripture here is enough already to Convince us that the Doctrine of Justification by Faith has nothing in it which destroys the necessity of Good Works But it will appear yet less difficult to reconcile these two Doctrines if we suppose that which no Man can reasonably Contest
has exalted them I do not deny but that many Christians are still in the same condition with Heathens or very near it being dead in their Sins and following the course of this World but this can be said only of bad Christians and not of those who have felt the Divine and Sanctifying vertue of the Christian Religion 3. It will be further said that we must needs acknowledge that all Men without exception are Sinners because that is St. John's Doctrine * John 1.8 If we say that we have no sin we deceive our selves This is a truth which no Man denies because it is too evident both from Scripture and Experience But we must take care to understand this Proposition aright that all men are sinners and that we explain it so as that it may Comport with that just difference we are to make between good and bad Men else under a pretence that all Men are Sinners the distinction between Virtue and Vice will be taken away It is fit to remark upon this occasion that the Scripture does not give the name of Sinners to all Men but only to the wicked and impious this may be seen in the whole Book of Psalms When we say then that we are all poor Sinners we must know in what sense we say it As to these words If we say that we have no sin we decieve our selves It is visible that St. John says this upon two accounts which relate to two sorts of Sins into which Men may fall First there are great Sins there is that Corruption in which Men lived before their Conversion In this regard St. John might say to those he writes to who were new converted Christians that they were all Sinners meaning that they had all been so for indeed both Gentiles and Jews had been extreamly Corrupt Secondly there are Sins into which those whose Regeneration is not yet perfect may fall as Fhere are Infirmities from which the most regenerate Men are not free In this sense all Men are Sinners and the Christians to whom St. John directs his Epistle were all Sinners also tho' already converted But the question is whether a true Christian sins like other Men and whether he who is a Sinner taking that word according to the ordinary use of Scripture that is to say one in whom Sin reigns is a true Christian That can never be said To this purpose we may hear St. John himself in the III Chapter of the same Epistle where he expresly tells us that he who is born of God does not commit Sin that whoever sinneth is of the Devil and that by this we may know the Children of God and the Children of the Devil Are not these words very plain Who can have the confidence after this to excuse Corruption by saying we are all Sinners But yet it is not only said that we are all Sinners by these Men but besides that we are all Great wretched and abominable Sinners It is no wonder that Men who have such Sentiments should be so Corrupt 4. But to this there is a reply at hand to shew that the justest Men are guilty of very frequent Sins and it is taken from these words The just man sins seven times a day I might let this alone because I am engaged only to answer those Places of Scripture which are wrested into an ill sense about this matter And this that the just man sins seven times a day is no where to be found in the Bible Those who quote these words as if they were Scripture will pretend no doubt that they are contained in Prov. xxiv 16. But there is nothing like this in the Sacred Text. These are the words of Solomon a just man falleth seven times and riseth up again But the wielded shall fall into Mischief Solomon speaks of the frequent Afflictions of good Men and particularly of the ill usage they meet with from wicked Men. In the 15 Verse he addresses himself to the wicked and tells them that it is in vain for them to lay wait for and to persecute the Just for adds he a just man falleth seven times and riseth up again but the wicked shall fall into Mischief and perish The meaning is that God takes care of the Just and that if he permits that they should fall into many Calamities he does likewise deliver them This is asserted almost in the same words Psal xxxvii 24. Though the just fall he shall not be utterly cast down for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand To the same purpose we are told Job V. 19. He shall deliver thee in six troubles yea in seven there shall no evil touch thee This admits of no difficulty and all Interpreters are agreed about it And yet for all that as men are apt to entertain every thing which excuses Corruption this Proverb That the just man sins seven times a day prevails and passes for an Article of Faith Is it not a lamentable thing that Men should be thus obstinately bent to wrest the Scripture into a sense favourable to Corruption and that they should dare to falsify it at this rate There are many falsifyings in the way of citing this Passage 1. Whereas Solomon says only the just he is made to say the justest man to give the greater force and extent to this Sentence to debase Piety the more and to insinuate that the best and holiest Men are great Sinners 2. Solomon is made to say that the just Sins but he does not say that he says only that the just falls I know that to fall signifies sometimes to sin but falling denotes likewise very frequently to be afflicted and a Man is blind who does hot see that in this Text the word fall is used in this second sense The 17 Verse which comes immediately after that which we are now examining proves it beyond exception rejoyce not when thine enemy falleth c. Besides those who are acquainted with the Sacred style know that it does not usually express the Sins of infirmity to which the Just are subject by the word fall that word importing commonly the fall of wicked Men. 3. Solomon is made to say That the justest Man sins seven times a day This is another falsifying an addition to the Text which is of no small consequence Seven times a day is not in the Text there is only seven times Every body knows that Seven times signifies many times And so the meaning would be that the Just do nothing else but transgress that many times a Day he falls into Sin But who does not see that this would be the description of a Man in whom Sin reigns and who is habitually ingaged in it and not the Character of a good Man I do not say but that just Men have their weak sides and fall sometimes into Sin this happens more or less according to the degree of their Regeneration but it is Impious to say that their Life is spent in continual Sins and
his Business or a Mechanick his Trade no great inconveniency will ensue from thence in relation to Society But when publick Employments are in the Hands of Men who are not Qualified for them it is hard to tell how much Mischief is occasioned by it Is it not for instance a lamentable thing that so many Persons should dedicate themselves to the Church who want the Talents requisite for so high a Function and that so many who might do great Service in that Profession do not embrace it By this it happens that some of those who are placed at the Helm in several Churches want both Learning and Probity and that Religion is very ill administred so that the People being without Instruction or Conduct live in Ignorance and Disorder The same may be said of the Office of Magistrates when it is entrusted to those who are not proper for it 2. Lawful Callings may prove great Occasions of Corruption and Disorder both in respect of those who embrace them and of the Publick when they are ill exercised when the Duties annexed to them are neglected when Men do not watch against the Temptations which are particular to them and when they look upon them only as means to gratify their Inclinations to get Money to have a Rank to gain Credit or to humour some other Passion I might enter here upon many Particulars but because this would lead me too far I shall confine my self to a few Instances It would be very proper to speak here of the Profession of Church-men and of the Office of Princes Magistrates and Judges and to shew how pernicious both these Kinds of Life prove often not only to those who are raised to them but likewise to Church and State But these Two Articles are of too great Moment to be touched upon only by the by They are Two General Springs of Corruption which deserve to be purposely handled and which are to have a Place in the Second Part of this Book The Profession of Military Men is a kind of Life which corrupts vast Multitudes I do not condemn the Profession in general It is Lawful a Man may live in it like a Christian and there are Persons in Military Employments of a solid Vertue and an exemplary Piety But it must be confessed that the Number of those Persons is not great and that for the generality the Maxims and Deportment of the Men of that Profession agree very little with the Rules of Christianity Those who follow the Employments of War are for the most part Men of loose and vicious Principles Every body knows that if on the one hand some good Men are found to embrace this Profession on the other hand it is the Ordinary Receptacle and the last Shift of Idle and Debauched People and of those who are over-whelmed with Poverty and Misery Besides how do Men live in that Profession saving some few Disorders which Military Discipline does not allow of every thing is lawful there I speak of what is commonly observed To spend their Life in Idleness and Gaming is the least Fault of Soldiers Lewdness is a thing about which no great Scruple is made among them The same might almost be said of Injustice it is well known that commonly Officers do not thrive but the Soldiers pay for it I say nothing of unjust Wars nor of the Cruelty and Inhumanity which often attend that kind of Life because I will not enlarge upon this Subject But it is most certain and every considering Person will own that after the rate that Military men live almost every where War is the School of Vice and that the prodigious Number of those who follow that Employment is one of the principal Causes of Corruption and Debauchery Commerce is one of the most Lawful and Necessary Professions of Life Not only Society but Religion it self may reap great Advantages from it But yet this Calling has its Dangers and Temptations and it is exercised by many in a way which is contrary to good Conscience As the only End of Traffick is Gain and as the Opportunities of getting by unlawful Methods which may be practised with impunity offer themselves every Day so it is evident that if a Merchant has not a strict and well-informed Conscience and Vertue enough to resist the perpetual Temptations to which his Calling exposes him he will forfeit his Innocence and violate every Minute the Rules of Justice and Equity of Charity Truth and Honesty There are few Callings more innocent and more suitable to the Order which God did establish at first than the Employments of those who Exercise Mechanick Trades and get their Livelyhood by bodily Labour And yet this kind of Life proves to a great many an Occasion to Vice because they do not arm themselves against the Temptations and Sins which are ordinary in those Callings It is almost the general Character of this Order of Men to mind nothing but the World to labour only for their Bodies and to do nothing for their Souls Hence it is that they are Ignorant that they know their Religion very little that they are gross sensual given to Intemperance and several other Excesses They are apt besides to be unjust and false They make no Conscience of doing their Work ill of Lying and detaining what is not theirs There is a Thousand petty Frauds and little knavish Tricks used in every Trade which are thought Innocent and Lawful ways of Gain Now it is plain that all this does not contribute a little towards Corruption What I have said of the Employments of Life may be applied to the different States Men are in with relation to Age Condition and their way of Living All these are so many occasions and circumstances which may divert them from their Duty Thus Youth has its particular Temptations Young People are Vain Presumptuous Sensual given to Pleasure violent and bold in their Passions They are likewise Imprudent and Fickle because they want Knowledge and Experience Being thus disposed at that Age they will almost infallibly unless prevented by a good Education Corrupt themselves and contract ill Habits which will stick by them as long as they live Daily Experience shews us that Youth ill spent is the Source of the Corruption of a great many for the rest of their whole Life Old People are commonly Covetous Morose Suspicious wedded to the Opinions they have once embraced and most deeply engaged in their vicious Customs Their Passions are not so boisterous but they are more lasting and harder to be cured than those of Young People And from this we may judge that if Reason and Religion do not correct those Faults of Old People that Age which ought chiefly to be employed in preparing for Death will prove an Obstacle to Piety and Salvation The Rich as St. Paul observes * 1 Tim. V. 17. are proud and high-minded they are apt besides to be slothful they love to satisfie their Passions are full of self-love
the Men of the World St. Paul exhorts Christians †Rom. XII Eph. II and IV. Tit. II. Mat. VII XIII XIV Not to be conformed to this present world not to walk after the course of this world not to follow other mens way of living to renounce the world and the lusts of it Our Saviour enjoins his Disciples To avoid the wide gate and the broad way of the multitude and to strike into The narrow path which is walked in but by a few These are Reflections which every Man who believes the Gospel would frequently and seriously make and which should serve him for Remedies against the Temptations arising from Example and Custom There are other general Remedies which tend to lessen the number of bad Examples and to alter the Customs and Usages which are contrary to the Christian Religion For tho' it may seem that to go about the abolishing of that which is established by a general Custom and a long Use is to attempt and impossibility and tho' we cannot expect that this Cause of Corruption should be intirely removed yet the difficulty is not so great but that it might in some measure be overcome This we might have Reason to hope for if First those who know and love their Duty would discharge it with Courage and if they did add to their Knowledge a Zeal supported by Prudence and Firmness How great soever the Degeneracy of Men may be there is still something in Virtue which attracts their Respect and their Love The Endeavours of good Men against Vice are always attended with some Success If the benefit of their Exhortations and good Examples does not reach far they may at least be useful to their Families and their Acquaintance But something more than this is requisite to reform general Customs and Practices and none can do this more easily and effectually than those who are raised above other Men and who are in publick Stations I say therefore Secondly that if Christian Princes and Magistrates would use their Authority to this End and be exemplary themselves the Corruption of the World would considerably abate and bad Examples would neither be so frequent nor so forcible as they are It is in their Power to banish the greatest part of those Customs which are commonly received and to establish contrary ones The Care and Example of Pastors are likewise a most efficacious Remedy If they did instruct Christians as they ought if they did oppose the Corruption of the Age with the pure Maxims of the Gospel if they did set themselves against Abuses if they did endeavour in publick and in private to bring all those that err into the way of Truth if they applied themselves to the instructing of Youth and if their Manners were edifying and exemplary there is no doubt but that they would soon stop the Current of Vices and Scandals It should be their chief Care to oppose Abuses and ill Customs in their beginnings because when they have once taken Root the Remedy is much more difficult In fine as Customs are established by degrees so they are not abolished all at once and therefore those who do not succeed at first in so good a Design ought not presently to be discouraged and to grow weary CAUSE VII Books THIS is the last Cause of Corruption which I shall mention but without question it is one of the most generaland of the most remarkable Books are as many publick Fountains from which vast numbers of Notions and sentiments which are commonly received among Men and which are the Principles of their actions diffuse themselves into the World And as it is impossible but that among an infinity of Books a great many must be bad so it is certain that Books contribute very much to the keeping up of Corruption If Men as we have shewed in the precedent Chapters are ignorant and full of Prejudices if they have loose and impious Notions concerning Religion if great Defects are observable both in the Lives of Christians and in the state of the Church in general if the People are ill instructed and Children are ill educated the cause of all these Disorders is partly to be found in Books It is therefore a most important subject which I am to handle in this Chapter but it is likewise a very large one by reason of the prodigious Multitude of Books which I might have an opportunity to speak of here But I must confine my self to that which is most material to be said upon this Head I shall speak 1. of Ill Books and 2. of Books of Religion The number of bad Books is infinite and it would be very hard to give a Catalogue of them but I think that among all the sorts of ill Books none do greater Mischief in the World than either those which lead to Irreligion and Impiety or those which are impure and filthy The first attack Faith and the other corrupt Manners 1. The most dangerous of all Books are those which attack Religion such are not only all the Books of Atheists and Deists but such are likewise all those Works which tend to overthrow either the Authority of the Holy Scripture or the Facts and Doctrines of Christianity or the difference between Virtue and Vice or any other Principle of Religion Frank also in the same Order the Books which introduce Scepticism and the design of which is to render the Principles of Faith or Morality uncertain and dubious Those Books in which Impiety appears bare-faced are not the most pernicious Few Persons ever durst maintain Atheism openly or deny directly the Fundamentals of Religion And besides avowed Atheists and Deists have not many Followers Their Opinions raise horrour and a Man's Mind rebels against them But those Men who tho' they do not openly espouse the Cause of Impiety but pretending all the while that the acknowledge the existence of a God and a Religion do yet shake the principal Truths of Faith those Men I say diffuse a much more subtil and dangerous Poison and this may be particularly said of the Scepticks In the main they drive at the same thing with the Atheists they assault Religion with the same Weapons and make the same objections There is only this difference that the Atheist decides the Question and denies whereas the Sceptick after he has mustered up all the Objections of the Atheist and started a thousand Scruples leaves in some manner the Question undetermined he only insinuates that there is no solid Answer to those difficulties and then he concludes with a false Modesty and tells us that he dares not embrace either side and that which way soever a Man turns himself he meets with nothing but Obscurity and Uncertainty This differs little from Atheism and it does naturally lead to incredulity It is an astonishing thing that Books containing such pernicious Principles should have been published and that Libertinism in Opinions about Religion should have grown up to that pitch which we
Design of Scripture than to explain it Philosophically and which is worse according to the Principles of a false Philosophy as divers Commentators do They make use of the Method Notions and Terms of the Schools to find out the Meaning of the Sacred Writings They apply to all Subjects the Rules prescribed by the School-men They carefully distinguish in a Text those Things which are called in the Schools Materia Forma Causa efficiens Finis Subjectum Adjunctum c. They seek in all Reasonings the Major the Minor and they Conclusion as if the Holy Ghost in inspiring the Sacred Authors had followed the Scheme of Aristotle's Logick and had intended to make Syllogisms in Mood and Figure I say nothing here of that Spirit of Dispute and Wrangling which run through the Scholastical Commentaries nor of the false Senses and metaphysical Explications which they put upon the Scripture Such Books are Obstacles rather than Helps to the Understanding of the Word of God they are fit only to perplex what is clear and to spoil Divines and Preachers by taking away from them that Qualification they have most need of I mean Good Sense 4. Another very different way from that Simplicity with which the Scripture should be handled is the Method of those Authors who without Necessity insist upon all the Circumstances of a Text who sift all the Terms of it as if a Mystery did lurk in every Word who descend to the minutest Things and weary themselves in Conjectures and Questions This Exactness is very useless and insipid It may be sometimes necessary to clear a Difficulty to unfold an intricate Meaning and to observe the critical Signification of Words But when the Sense is natural and easie and when the Words are clear to what Purpose should a Man insist upon all those Illustrations What need is there for him to be always pressing the Signification of Words to remark all their different Acceptations and to explain what is to be understood by the Words Death Faith Just every time that these Terms occur The true Method is to pursue the Things themselves and the Meaning of a Text without criticizing upon Worlds and Circumstances 5. It is the Fault of many Commentators to be prolix and too large From every Verse nay from every Word they take occasion to run into a Common-Place and to vent a multitude of Notions so that they really give us Sermons Dissertations or Lectures of Divinity under the Title of Commentaries I do not absolutely condemn diffus'd Commentaries we meet sometimes with good things in them but we find there likewise a great many which signifie nothing When all is done Brevity Clearness and Exactness are infinitely to be preferred in a Commentary before Prolixity and Copiousness Such Length breeds Obscurity and Confusion it makes Preachers lazy it tempts them to fill their Sermons with a hundred needless things it brings them to a Custom of being tedious of making Digressions and of passing by that which is essential and solid All which is very far from promoting the Edification of the Church Besides it is evident that the Defects of Commentaries contribute very much to the Corruption of Christians The Holy Scripture is the Foundation of Religion and Piety but Commentaries are the Stores from which the Sense of Scripture is drawn and from which Preachers commonly take the Matter of their Sermons Few of them endeavour to find out the Sense of a Text by their own Industry they consult their Commentaries like Oracles and they blindly follow their Decisions It is therefore highly requisite that these Books should not lead into Error those who have recourse to them When a bind Man leads another they both fall into the Ditch If then the Guides to whose Conduct Preachers give up themselves are deceitful and false the Word of God will neither be well understood nor well preached and both Preachers and People will err II. It is with Divinity-Books as with Commentaries some are good and others bad The Diversity of Opinions which we see among Authors is a Proof of what I say Some maintain as Divine Truths Things which others reject as false and pernicious Sentiments so that there must be no small Error on one side or the other All Divines will own the Truth of this Remark but it is here of no use because it does not decide which Books of Divinity are good and which are bad Every body will pretend that the bad Books are those which teach a Doctrine contrary to that which obtains in the Society to which he belongs In order to know who is in the Right or in the Wrong it would be necessary to judge here upon the Merits of the Cause and to enter into the Examination of all the Controversies which divide Christians But this I will by no means take upon me to do It will be fitter for me to take notice of those Faults which are common to the greatest part of Divinity-Books I shall say nothing but what must needs be owned by all the sensible Divines of any Party and the Reflections I am to make tho' General may perhaps be of some use to direct our Judgment concerning the Doctrine it self contained in those Books 1. Almost all the Authors who have writ of Divinity have made of it upon the Matter a Science of meer Speculation They establish certain Doctrines they deliver their Opinions they prove them as well as they can they treat of Controversies and confute their Adversaries but they do not seem to have meditated much upon the Use of the Doctrines they teach with relation to Piety and Salvation They are very short upon this Head which yet is the chiefest of all they are not by half so solicitous to assert the Duties as they are to maintain the Truths of Religion Now this is not teaching Divinity The Design of Religion is to teach Men how they ought to serve God and to make them Holy and Happy If this was considered in the handling of Divinity and if Care was taken to shew what Relation all the Parts of Religion have to the Glory of God and to the Holiness and Felicity of Man there would be much more Piety than there is now among Christians Those who study Divinity would learn betimes to direct it to its true End and this would likewise be a means to distinguish material from insignificant Points and Questions and to ease Religion of all those needless Disputes which are one of the main Causes of the Corruption of Christians 2. What I have now said leads me to a second Observation which is That as several things might be left out of Divinity-Books so other things are wanting which it would be necessary to add to them For the Purpose Common-Places do not insist much upon on the General Truths and Principles of Religion They scarce give us any Instruction about Church-Discipline and Government or about the Belief and Practice of the First Ages of Christianity As
for Morality it is there touched but very superficially And yet these are essential Articles in Divinity the Knowledge of which is necessary to those who are called to preach the Gospel to guide a Church or to direct Mens Consciences 3. divinity-Divinity-Books are for the most part too Scholastical The Method of the Schoolmens way of handling Divinity may justly be looked upon as a Defiance to Sense and Religion yet that Method has prevailed to that degree that for some Ages it was not lawful to swerve from it Of late Years indeed the School men have lost a great deal of heir Credit and in Divinity as well as in Philosophy many Persons have no longer that blind Deference for them which was paid heretofore Yet for all that a great Number of Divines do still set up that Method for their Rule and it is still as it were sacred in Colleges and Universities Common-Places to this Day savour too much of the Barbarism of the Schools and we find there but too many Remainders of that dry and crabbed Theology which had its Birth in the Ages of Ignorance Instead of those simple and clear Ideas which render the Truth and Majesty of the Christian Religion sensible and which satisfie a Man's Reason and move his Heart we meet with nothing in several Bodies of Divinity but Metaphisical Notions curious and needless Questions Distinctions and obscure Terms In a word we find there such intricate Theology that the very Apostles themselves if they came into the World again would not be able to understand it without the help of a particular Revelation This Scholastick Divinity has done more mischief to Religion than we are able to express There is not any thing that has more Corrupted the Purity of the Christian Religion that has more obscured Matters multiplied Controversies disturbed the Peace of the Church or given rise to so many Heresies and Schisms This is the thing which confirms so many Ecclesiasticks in their Ignorance and Prejudices and which keeps them from applying themselves to the solid Parts of Divinity and to that which is proper to sanctify Men. Now all these Defects are visible Causes of Corruption which may be proved by this single Consideration that it is in Common-Places that Church-men learn their Divinity Supposing then that those Books do not give them a true Idea of Religion what Religion or what Divinity can such Men Teach their People One scholastick and injudicious Author who is in Credit in Country and who is patronized by a Professor is enough to spoil the Minds of Young Divines and to bring into repute the most absurd and dangerous Opinions and Systems Tho' Catechisms are not usually reckoned among Divinity-Books yet it will not be useless to say something of them here Some great Men have bestowed their pains upon Works of this kind to very good purpose and yet in this respect there is stall something to be desired for publick Edification 1. It is to be wished that those Subject should only be treated in Catechisms which ought to be handle there and that all the Matters and Questions which are above the reach of the People and of Children or which are not necessary to Salvation should be banished from thence 2. That some essential Articles about which Catechisms are very jejune should be added to them and particularly these Three A general Idea of the History of the Bible the main Proofs of the Fundamental Truths of Religion and an exact Explication of the Duties of Morality This last Article is for the most part extreamly neglected in Catechisms nothing can be more dry and superficial than what they say upon the Decalogue 3. It would be fitting to make some alteration in the method observed in Catechisms for they are not all familiar enough School Terms or figurative Phrases are used in them which either the People do not understand or to which they affix false Ideas For instance I would not have it said That the Eucharist is the symbol of our spiritual Nourishment and of our Vnion with Jesus Christ For besides that this is not an exact Definition this Style is not proper for a Catechism These Words Symbol spiritual Nourishment Vnion with Jesus Christ are figurative and obscure Terms Would not the thing be plainer both to Children and to every Body if we should say That the Eucharist is a sacred Action and Cerremony wherein Christians eat Bread and drink Wine which are distributed in remembrance of the Death of Christ and of the Redemption wrought by him In those Works which are intended for Youth and for the Common People it concerns and Author to be clear and accurate to omit nothing that is essential to say nothing that is needless to use plain and proper Expressions and to propose nothing but what is natural and easy to be apprehended Catechisms are designed to give Children the first Tinctures and Ideas of Religion Now those Ideas we know commonly stick by them as long as they live if then they are not clear and true it is not possible for them ever to be well acquainted with their Religion III. The third sort of Books are those of Morality This important Part of Religion which regulates Manners has been treated with a great deal of solidity and force in several Excellent Works Nay it is observed that Morality is more cultivated of late than it has been heretofore But it were to be wished that the good Books of Morality we have at this Day were of a more general Usefulness than they are The best Works of this kind are above the Peoples Capacity There are various things in them relating either to the Reasoning part the turn of Thoughts or the Style which cannot be understood but by knowing and discerning Persons Almost all the Able Men who write upon Morals have this Fault that they speak too much like Ingenuous Men and do not accomodate themselves enough to the Capacity of the Readers They do not consider that they ought to be useful to every body that what seems clear to them is obscure to the greatest part of those who peruse their Writings and that a Book of Morality which is only understood by Men of Parts of Learning is of a very limited usefulness They should therefore at least in some of their Works endeavour to speak in a popular manner and to handle Matters with all possible clearness and simplicity This would be no disparagement to them and the doing it well would I think require all the Abilities Parts and Talents of the best Writers It is more difficult than is seems to speak or write in such a manner as that a Man shall say all that is proper to be said and at the same time be intelligible to all sorts of Persons But if there are good Books of Morality there are many on the other hand which have considerable Faults in them and those Faults are of great Consequence because Morality ill Explained is
and solid enough We find nothing else in some of them but a heap of Thoughts which have no dependance upon one another of Rhetorical Figures Allegories and Comparisons fetched from the Old Testament or from prophane History These things may have their Use they may be place in a Sermon But not to say that sometimes those Thoughts and Comparisons are not very apposite or suitable to the Subject I shall only observe that something more than this is necessary to stir up Devotion in the Communicants I do but just name this because I have delivered my Opinion more at large concerning this Defect in my three Reflections upon Books of Morality and in the 5th upon Books of Devotion 2. Other Books of Preparation are too general They only consider in the lump the Duties of Christians in reference to the Communion they speak of Self-Examination Repentance Faith and Charity But all this is of no great use to many gross and ignorant Christians who neither know those Duties nor how they ought to be performed Besides all those who come to the Sacrament are not in the same Condition some being good Men and others impious and hypocritical Persons There are likewise several degrees of good Men as well as of Hypocrites and ungodly Persons and the same Man may be better or worse at one time than he is at another Therefore it would be fitting that Books of Preparation were composed in such a manner that every Reader may be led by them into those Reflections which are suitable to the State he is in It is a gross Error to imagine that a general Preparation or Discourse concerning the receiving of the Sacrament is proper for all sorts of Persons I confess that this is not the Fault of all the Books of Preparation some we have which are particular enough The true Characters by which every Man may know his own State are very exactly described by some Authors but it is an unhappiness that such Works are not better calculated for the use of the common People 3. I think I may safely say in the third place that the too severe Notion which some Books give of the Communion is one of the Causes why so many People do neither live nor receive the Sacrament as they ought It is a sad thing that the Minds of Christians should be filled with so many Scruples in relation to the Sacrament by inconsiderate Discourses and over-strained Maxims Writers and Preachers do sometimes speak of the Holy Sacrament as if every thing in it was full of Snares and as if Hell and Damnation were constantly waiting about it They represent the Communion as so extraordinary so difficult and so dangerous an Action that those who read or hear those Discourses are tempted to keep off from the Holy Table and despair of partaking of it as they ought So that whereas there should be nothing but Joy when the Eucharist is celebrated in the Church many are then agitated with extream Perplexities and Terrors By this indiscreet Severity it happens that many good Men receive the Sacrament without Comfort because their Consciences are disturbed with divers Scruples which proceed from the reading of those Books There is a great number of pious Christians who never receive the Sacrament but with strange apprehension and dread in so much that several think they receive it to their Condemnation Nay this discourages likewise many Sinners who have some inclination to Good and some desire to set about the Work of Repentance Indeed we must take heed not to flatter Sinners in their Vices nor to propose to them too easie a Devotion and Morality It is very fit in my Judgment to give them a great Idea of the Purity which is required in so Holy and Solemn an Action as the Communion is and of the State which a Christian ought then to be in But as this State of Purity and Holiness is attained only by degrees that Idea how true soever it may be is apt to fright a Sinner in the beginning of his Conversion because he does not find in himself at first all the Characters of true Repentance and sincere Regeneration He ought therefore to be informed that the beginnings of Repentance are weak that it has its Degrees and its Progress and so that he ought not to be disheartened that God will accept of his Devotion and Endeavours provided his Repentance increase afterwards and he forsake his Sins honestly The Matter is over done in point of Devotion and Morality not only when we propose Rules which are too rigid but also when we say things which tho' true and consonant to the Gospel are not sufficiently accomodated to the State of those we speak to These are the principal Reflections I thought fit to bestow both upon Books of Religion and upon bad Books All that remains now is to enquire what Remedies are to be applied to the Cause of Corruption The surest of all would be to exterminate all the ill Books and to take care that none such should be made for the time to come But as this is not to be hoped the only Remedy which can be tried is on the one hand to prevent as much as we can the Effect of bad Books and on the other to engage Men to read and to make a good use of good Books The Books which are contrary to Religion and good Manners may easily be known but how to keep Men from reading and being corrupted by them is the Difficulty And in all probability this is a Point which will never be entirely gained Yet I think it is not impossible to prevent in some measure the Mischief which those Books occasion in the World In order to this it would be requisite to take care in the first place that young people might not read Books which inspire Libertinism To this end the Authors who have writ things repugnant to Modesty and Honesty should be expelled the Schools It is a surprizing thing that the Ecclesiasticks who have the direction of Academies and Colleges and who are bound by their Character to redress this Abuse have not done it yet In the next place it would be necessary that in Families Books which are apt to corrupt Youth should be taken out of their way and that they should not be indulged in dangerous Readings As for the rest I see no other Remedy but that Preachers should strongly insist in their Sermons upon the Reasons which ought to make Christians averse to the reading of ill Books I I know that all these precautions will not wholly suppress those Books nor prevent their being read by divers Persons but we may however gain thus much that ill Books shall not be so freely and so commonly read as they are and that they shall do less hurt As for Books of Religion every one should endeavour to discern those which are good and to make a good use of them Indeed the discerning and the Choice of Books of