THE Mystery of Atheism OR THE DEVICES Made use of To Countenance and Propagate it Together with the EVIL and DANGER of them Set forth in several Letters to a Friend Wherein is made appear that 't is not want of Evidence but Sincerity that makes Men Atheists By the Author of the Mystery of Phanaticism Psal 14. 1. The Fool hath said in his heart there is no God LONDON Printed for A. and J. Churchil at the Black Swan in Pater-Noster-Row And sold by Rich. Gravell in Bristal 1699. The PREFACE IF any be desirous to know the occasion of these Letters he need only look abroad and may soon see that there is but too much occasion for them For Atheism is so strangely encreas'd among us of late Years and grown to that heighth that like a torrent it overflows the Banks and Boundaries of Laws and hath almost carried away all Religion before it So that 't is high time to use our best Endeavours to stem this Tide and if possible to put a stop to this overflowing of Vngodlyness It hath been a matter hotly disputed in former times whether there ever was or could be such an Anomalous Creature as an Atheist or if any Age had here and there afforded one he was reputed a Monster or Prodigy and gaz'd upon as a Wonderful Rarity But our Age hath put this matter out of Question and perhaps afforded more than any that hath gone before it this Monster is now grown familiar and may every day and almost every where be seen Atheism in old times was so modest as not to venture abroad without a Mask or Disguise but 't is now become bare-fac'd and hath cast off all blushing and shame and where as the fool in David's days only said in his heart in ours he speaks out and says with his Tongue there is no God 'T will be needless to recount here the extream Folly and Danger of Atheism which the Reader will find in some measure done in the following Letters If there be a God that made and governs the World as there is all the Reason in the World from the Make and Management of it to believe there is what a vile affront must it be to Question his Being and to go about to argue him out of the World that made and plac'd us in it This must tear up all Religion by the Root subvert the Foundation of human Society and destroy all that Trust and Confidence we ought to have in him and one another Yea the Atheist is the most gross and silly of all Impostors for he puts a cheat upon himself and not only excludes him from all the Comfort and Happiness he might hope from so lovely a Being but exposes himself to all that Misery and Punishment that may be feared from an incensed Deity And yet as silly as this is he is not only willing to be thus grossly deceiv'd himself but is very busie to draw in and deceive others and to make Proselytes to such a senseless and fatal imposture by which means the infection of this Evil spreads dayly and the distemper is well-nigh become Epidemical Now this Mystery of Iniquity working so strongly in our days and this Spiritual wickedness being again seated in high places 't will be requisite if it may be both to detect and dethrone it 'T is indeed a matter Worthy the inquiry of the best and wisest Men to search into the bottom of this Evil that by knowing the Cause they may the better apply timely Remedies for the Cure of it before the distemper grow inveterate and incurable for tho' all sin in general yet an Atheistical Contempt of God and boldness in sinning do more particularly undermine the Peace and Prosperity of a Nation and more than ordinarily hasten and ripen it for destruction Now tho' there may be some latent Causes of Atheism that lye more hidden and out of sight yet there are others that are more visible and apparently lead to this great Evil The loosening the Principles of Religion and Government hath certainly a great hand in it the dissolving the Tyes of Justice and Honesty does not a little contribute towards it and the breaking the Bonds of Vnity and Peace have an easie and natural tendency to it how much the immodesty and immorality of the Stage hath tended this way hath been lately shew'd by an excellent Pen what mischief hath proceeded from that other Stage I mean the Conventicle sad experience may inform us and how much Religion hath suffered by a new Set of Reformers who are for Reforming all faults but their own may be dayly seen and this as all other Mysteries hath some depths and intrigues which must be searcht into and laid open before the evil can be prevented 'T was foretold that in the latter days some should put on a Form of Godliness without the Power of it and likewise that there should arise Scoffers walking after their own Lusts Both these Prophecies we may see accomplish'd in our days in which we find some acting very vile things under a Cloak of Religion and others throwing off all pretensions to it breaking thir jests upon God and Religion and making the most Sacred and Serious things the Object of their Contempt and Raillery And both these tho' steering different courses fall at last into the Gulph of Atheism in which many are swallowed up and from whence few return In a Word Atheism is the Completion of Vice and Wickedness in which they all center and terminate so that this sin when it is finished bringeth forth death and sinks Men into everlasting perdition This then being an Evil so pernicious to the welfare of Mankind as well as to the Honour of our Maker 't will be necessary to set forth the Arts by which it is disguised and propagated that we may behold this Monster in its own shape and be thereby induced to shun and detest it Farewel The CONTENTS Letter 1. OF the Atheists casting off the awe and sense of a Deity the better to enjoy and indulge his Lusts page 1 Letter 2. Of his solving the Phaenomena of the World without a Deity p. 11 Letter 3. Of his endeavouring to stifle the Convictions and Notices that Conscience gives of a Deity p. 24 Letter 4. Of his ascribing the Notion of a God to easiness of Belief and fond Credulity p. 34 Letter 5. Of his resolving it into the Principles and Prejudices of Education p. 43 Letter 6. Of his attributing to Fear or a Superstitious Dread of some invisible Powers p. 50 Letter 7. His ascribing it to State-Policy p. 58 Letter 8. Ascribing it to Common Compact p. 64 Letter 9. His denial of the Notion and Being of a Spirit p. 70 Letter 10. Of the unequal Distribution of Earthly things p. 78 Letter 11. Of his taking advantage from the Disputes and Differences in Religion p. 86 Letter 12. His making use of the Hypocrisie of Pretenders to cast off all Religion p.
and washed mine hands in innocency Meaning that he had taken pains to be Religious to no purpose when others that neglected it far'd much better than he Again we find these things objected in the days of Plutarch Seneca and other Heathen Moralists who by the bare help of Natural Light went a great way to the solving of this Riddle of Divine Providence Tho' many of the Poets concluded the World to be govern'd by blind Chance and Fortune from the promiscuous event and distribution of these things And there are but too many still who observing the Miseries of Good Men and the Prosperities of bad are led to arraign the Justice of Providence and from thence to deny the very Being of a God But is this any tolerable Plea for Atheism No in no wise for some of the wiser and soberer Heathens have discover'd such weighty Reasons for this kind of dealing with the Sons of Men as are abundantly sufficient to vindicate the Justice of Divine Providence God's forbearing the Wicked may be to propound the Example of his Goodness and Patience to give them time for Amendment to leave them without excuse and to make their Punishment the more terrible and remarkable at last Beside Their Prosperity is not so great as we vainly imagine for 't is oft-times embitter'd with the sting of an evil Conscience and attended with fearful Expectations of Wrath and the Terrors of an approaching Judgment Neither are the Sufferings of the Righteous founded on less weighty Causes for these are no other than the Discipline and Corrections of a Heavenly Father for their future good They are design'd merely for the exercises of patience and the tryals of their Faith and Constancy which if manfully born will tend to the encrease of their Reward and add a greater weight and lustre to their Crown of Glory These with many other Considerations of great Moment sufficient to solve this difficulty you may find insisted on at large by Plutarch Epictetus Simplicius Seneca and others to whom I refer you all which being the plain discoveries of Natural Reason render this Objection so far from any just Plea for Atheism that 't is a plain proof of the contrary and may make all Men say verily there is a God that judgeth the Earth But how then come Men to be so misled by this means or where lies the mistake in this matter Why this proceeds partly from a fond and immoderate estimation of worldly Prosperity and partly likewise From some wrong Notions that are entertain'd about the Afflictions and Miseries of this present Life For when Men so overvalue the good things of this World as to think it impossible for any to be happy without them and so mistake the Evils and Adversities of it as to judge all Men miserable and unhappy that fall under them 't is no wonder if they accuse the dispensations of Providence and quarrel with the manager and disposer of them He that takes Wealth and Honour to be the sole Rewards of Virtue and consequently to be the proper Lot and Portion of Righteous Men may be easily induc'd to complain of the hard fare of good Men that want them and he that hath such terrible apprehensions of Adversity as to look upon it as the punishment and wages of Unrighteousness may envy and applaud the good Fortune of bad Men who so often escape them Now both these are gross mistakes and have unhappily led some Men into Atheism To Rectifie which you must know that Affliction is somtimes a greater Blessing than Prosperity the one serving to make Men better the other worse There be few that in Pindar's Phrase can 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rightly manage great Prosperity Yea too many are undone by it to Eternity and make that which was design'd for their good become the Instrument of their ruin But Where lies the danger of Prosperity Why First It tempts many unto Pride and makes them too apt to forget both God and themselves Jesurun waxed Fat and kicked his Abundance made him bold and insolent and lifted up both his Heart and his Heel too against his Maker David observ'd of the wicked that prosper'd in his days that Pride compassed them about as a chain and violence cover'd them as a garment And this made them speak of wicked Blasphemies and set their talk against the most high Psal 73. 8 9. Yea he himself felt something of this Tumour for he said in his Prosperity that he should never be moved he began to cast off all dependance upon God and to rely only on his own strength And therefore we find Agar praying against Riches lest being full he should deny God and say who is the Lord Prov. 30. 8 9. Again Prosperity tempts many unto Wantonness and Luxury Men's corrupt Natures too often turning the Encouragements to Virtue into the incentives to Vice and making their Plenty the fewel of their Lust and Vanity By which means their Riches serve only to inflame their reckoning and their abused Gifts and Talents do but sink them the deeper into Eternal Misery The sense of this rectified the Psalmist's mistake in this matter and kept him from grieving or grudging at the short-liv'd Prosperity of the Wicked for when he went into the Sanctuary he soon Vnderstood the end of those Men how they were sate in slippery places from whence they were suddenly cast down and came to a fearful end from whence he learn't rather to pity than envy that Prosperity which had so fatal an issue and serv'd merely to fatten them for the slaughter As you may Read at large in the 73 Psalm But is Adversity the cure of these Evils and do Afflictions best tend to prevent the danger of them Yes for these help to keep Men humble sensible of their weakness and dependance upon a superior Power and make them look up to him from whom both Trouble and Deliverance come Indeed Afflictions naturally lead Men to consider he that feels the smart of the Rod will naturally look to him that strikes and consider too the Reason of his inflicting it and since Afflictions spring not out of the Dust they direct our Contemplations higher and shew us the Divine Hand that sends them by which means we are brought to hear the voice of the Rod and of him that appointed it In their Afflictions saith God they will seek me early the Mariners in a Storm call each upon their God whose Being and Providence in a Calm they had utterly forgotten Before I was afflicted saith the Psalmist I went astray but now I have learn't thy Statutes and therefore thankfully acknowledg'd that God of very faithfulness had caused him to be troubled Adversity and trouble have reduc'd many that were miss-led and corrupted by Prosperity Riches saith the Philosopher are not to be reputed good things therefore the worst as well as the best have them neither are Afflictions to be reckon'd evil things therefore the best as well as the
93 Letter 13. Of Scoffing at Religion p. 99 Letter 14. His charging Religion with a Foolish Bargain p. 106 Letter 15. The Close containing some Directions for the Cure of Atheism p. 113 LETTER I. SIR I Received yours wherein I find you passionately bewailing the growth of Atheism and very desirous to know something of the Causes and Cure of it I am sufficiently sensible of the Justice of the Complaint and because this Evil hath so malign an influence not only on the private but publick Welfare cannot but commend the Charity of your Request and therefore shall endeavour something towards your Satisfaction 1st And here the First and Grand Device of the Atheist that occurs to our view is The casting off the awe and dread of a Deity the more securely to enjoy and indulge his Lusts This is indeed the great depth of this Mystery of Iniquity which must therefore be a little searcht into and unravell'd that we may the better see the malignity of it 'T is most certain that the Loosness and Debauchery of mens lives is the prime fundamental Cause of all Atheism for Sin and Wickedness make a Party against Religion whose Chief design it is to check and controul them and where Religion is not strong enough to subdue mens Lusts there mens Lusts will be strong enough to subdue their Religion these are contrary one to the other and as the one gets ground the other loses it When Vice and Wickedness have taken possession of the heart and prevail'd over the Affections they soon draw the Mind over to their Party and engage it against all Religion Corrupt Practices naturally lead to Corrupt Principles and the debauchery of Manners of course brings on the debauchery of the Mind That there are strong Propensities and Inclinations in mens Natures to wickedness and vice is a thing too sensibly felt to need any proof and that these may and frequently do wear off and obliterate the Natural Impressions of Good and Evil the Course of mens lives too sadly verifies and what a natural tendency this hath to Atheism half an eye may discover For whilst men retain any love to Virtue and keep the mastery over their Lusts and vile Affections so long they retain their Religion and keep up a due sense and veneration of the Divine Majesty but when they strike off from the love and practice of Virtue and let loose the reins to their vitious Inclinations they naturally run into Irreligion and Atheism for Virtue and Goodness being the only Curb to restrain this Extravagance when that is gone they have nothing left to stop them in the Career and so are hurried on headlong into the gulph of Atheism If you observe it Good men are never dispos'd to Atheism 't is the grief and abhorrence but never the Choice of such Persons 'T is only the profligate and prophane who have sinn'd away the sense of a Deity that fly to it for shelter and to give their lusts the freer scope make their last resort to it Yea these too must in a great measure un-man themselves before they can so far degenerate and in a manner turn Beasts before they can turn Atheists But what influence hath the looseness and debauchery of mens lives upon the producing of Atheism Why Great every way As First Mens wicked lives make it their Interest that there should be no God and this gives a Biass to the mind that strongly draws it into Atheism All siin and wickedness being repugnant to the Purity and Perfection of a Supreme Being and contrary to the express Declarations of his Will must necessarily incur his displeasure And tho' Infinite Goodness may warn Sinners of the danger yet Infinite Justice cannot suffer the wilful Violations of his Authority and Laws to go unpunish'd Now resolute and obstinate Sinners being conscious how they have affronted such a Being and thereby rendred themselves obnoxious to his just Indignation and Vengeance have all the reason in the world to dread him and if they can to fly from him from whom they can have no other than fearful Expectations of Wrath and the Revelation of Righteous Judgment And having thus made him their Enemy 't is plainly become their Interest that there should be no such Being Now Interest you know hath a mighty Influence on mens Inclinations and as they easily believe what makes for them so they are hardly perswaded to that which makes against them Hence we see that Good men easily believe a God from whom they have well-grounded hopes of Happiness and a future Reward whereas wicked men are very hardly brought to it because they have reason only to fear him and can look for nothing but eternal misery and destruction from him And if at any time they have any Faith in him 't is but like that of the Devils to believe and tremble Again 2dly Mens wicked lives having made it their Interest that there should be no God their next step is to make it their wish that there were none This is another piece of this Mystery of Iniquity and a farther advance to Atheism For the belief of an Incens'd Deity must needs sit very uneasie upon the mind it cannot but fret and gall and fill it with continual horrour and perplexity The Sense of this serves to imbitter the Pleasures of Sin to put a check upon mens Vices and will not suffer them to enjoy their Lusts in quiet which being resolv'd to do they grow impatient under this Check And this makes them desirous to rid themselves of the awe and sense of such an uneasie Being The good man finds that ease and satisfaction in the sense of a Deity that he wou'd not for any thing be without it for it fills him with joy and content now and gives him Peace and Happiness at the last Insomuch that were he to wisn himself the Chiefest Good it would be in the comfort and complacence he feels in the belief of a Deity Whereas the loose and wicked person is haunted with perpetual Fears and Terrors and the disquietude he feels from the apprehensions of a God drives him to wish there were no such Being to observe and punish him and then a small matter will perswade him to it for Facilè credimus quod volumus we easily believe what we long and desire should be true 3dly And this leads to the third and last step to Atheism which is from wishing there were no God to endeavouring to perswade themselves that there is none there being an easie and natural transition from the one to the other for the Will and Affections have a great sway on the Understanding and when Interest hath engag'd the former they soon draw the latter to their side so that what men make their Wish quickly becomes their Choice and from a desire to discard the Deity easily come to deny and disbelieve him But by what Means do they endeavour and effect this Why 1. First They muster up all their
worst undergo them These things are not only agreeable to but discoverable likewise by the Light of Reason to which if we add the greater Light of Revelation in this matter you will see greater cause to dread than desire Prosperity and that we should be so far from being afraid or asham'd that we ought rather to glory in Tribulations In a Word If we rightly consider the many and great dangers of Prosperity and compare them with the many and vast advantages of Affliction we may soon see this stumbling-block of the Atheist to vanish and that the Prosperity of bad and Afflictions of good Men are so far from an Argument against the Being and Providence of God that they are a very strong Evidence and Confirmation of Both. I am SIR Yours A. B. LETTER XI SIR HAving in my last remov'd that ancient stumbling-block of Atheism taken from the Adversities of Good and the Prosperity of bad Men. I proceed now to a later Device of the Atheist which is his taking advantage from the many Sects and Differences in Religion to lay aside all and from Mens Disagreement about the way and manner of worshipping God to settle in a total neglect and contempt of him This is too obvious in experience to need any proof for may we not dayly see the sense of Religion to wear off from the Minds of Men by the stir that is made about it Are not the impressions of Virtue and Goodness mightily defac'd by our Divisions So that it cannot be doubted but the different Sects and Opinions of our Age are a great Cause of that Atheism and Irreligion that so much abound in it 'T is too well known that some Persons who have been well enough affected to Religion and had no small zeal for and satisfaction in it have yet by falling into the ways of Separation contracted that giddiness and instability as to lose all and by running from one Sect to another have run themselves out of breath and made their last resort into Atheism and others perceiving their clashing and inconstancy have gone the same way and thrown up all But what influence have Differences and Divisions in Religion upon the producing of Atheism Why great sundry ways As First Divisions tend to expose Religion and render it vile and despicable for when Men behold it to set one another by the Ears and to engage them in endless quarrels and disputes they come to despise and think meanly of it and so are easily induc'd to abandon that which breeds so much discord and animosity They are apt to think that Religion if there were any such thing would be a more peaceable quiet and harmless thing and have other Effects upon the Minds of Men but finding it to create little else than fewds and differences among the Professors of it they come to entertain low and contemptible thoughts of it and being made only a Bone of Contention think it good for nothing but to be thrown away Again 2dly Divisions beget those doubts and uncertainties about Religion that unsettle Mens minds and bring them into such a Maze that they know not where to fix And in this tumult and confusion of thoughts many are tempted to throw up all rather than wander about in such uncertainties and lose themselves in a crowd of endless and disputable Opinions Moreover 3dly Among the numerous Sects and Parties that are in Religion there can be but one in the Right for tho' error be Infinite yet Truth is but one and where to find this among a numberless Sett of Pretenders is they think a matter of so much labour and difficulty that they chuse rather to let all alone than to be at the pains and trouble of such an Enquiry Beside 4thly Some persons having discover'd the folly and falshood of some darling Opinions they formerly admir'd are thereby induc'd to suspect all the rest And others having found out the Cheat and Imposture of many more are apt to conclude the rest to be no better All which have an easie and natural tendency towards Atheism and are made use of by many to that end Yea all that are indifferent in matters of Religion and with Gallio care for none of these things of which the World affords but too many all such I say will be glad to have so plausible a pretence and excuse for their Irreligion and they whose interest and design it is to have no Religion will be sure to lay hold of this and all other advantages against it In a word Divisions naturally destroy that Love and Charity which is the Bond of perfectness and the life of all true Religion and likewise necessarily beget that Hatred Strife and Animosity that is the ground-work of Atheism Confusion and every Evil work Now here it may not be amiss to stay a while and consider the great Evil and Danger of our unhappy Dissentions what unspeakable mischief they do in the World and particularly what an apparent handle they give to Atheism being too great an occasion for it and putting too fair a colour upon it For by raising these disputes they do but raise a mist before the Eyes of the People whereby many are wrongtided and led into Atheism and harden'd in their disbelief and contempt of all Religion and there fore 't was a wise and wholsome piece of Advice of the Apostle to mark those that cause Divisions and avoid them Neither will it be amiss if the Authors and Abetters of these Divisions will set down and consider what account they will be able to give for those many and great Evils that apparently proceed from them For if we are forbidden to lay any stumbling-Block or occasion of falling in our Brother's way how will these Men answer for all that Irreligion that hath been evidently occasioned by this means Or what Plea will they make for all that Schism and Atheism into which so many are hereby betray'd This is a Consideration of greater Moment than some are aware of for tho' offences may and will come yet woe be to them by whom the offence cometh But are these Differences and Divisions in Religion a sufficient pretence and excuse for Atheism No far from it for tho' such are accountable to God that give the occasion yet that will not justifie or excuse those that take it this being an Evil which they are sufficiently forewarn'd of and therefore should be forearm'd against it So that all the Atheism occasion'd from hence proceeds rather from an Obstinacy and Perverseness in the Will than from any defect of Light or Knowledge in the Understanding And here we find the Atheists who would be thought Men of the deepest reach and insight into these things guilty of very foul and false Reasoning in this matter For First What tho' some Opinions in Religion have been found to be false will it follow thence that there is none true There are some that have entertained wrong Notions in all Arts and Sciences
and satisfaction than any sensual Delights ever did or can do And if this pure delight flow at last into fulness of joy and run into those Rivers of pleasure that are at Gods right hand for evermore there is infinite Reason why we should abridge our selves in these sensual Enjoyments for the fruition of a far more glorious and durable Felicity But still the uncertainty and want of Evidence for these things sticks with the Atheist and makes the parting with the one for the other a foolish Bargain for we never saw saith he nor experienc'd these things our selves nor ever spake with any one that did But what kind of Evidence is it that he would have of these things I hope he does not expect more than the nature of the thing will bear for that would be unreasonable and shew him to be both unwilling and uncapable of Conviction Now God being a spiritual and consequently an invisible Substance cannot be prov'd by the Evidence of Sense for no man hath seen God at any time Neither can a future state which commences not till after this life be at present visible or fall under the tryal or experience of any of our Senses so that this kind of proof cannot in Reason be requir'd in this Case neither can the Atheist exact it without wounding his own Cause for neither can Epicurus's Atoms nor Aristotle's Eternity of the World be prov'd this way What Assurance then have we of these Truths Why we have the proper that is a Moral Assurance grounded upon the evident and necessary deductions of Reason which is sufficient to beget a confident Perswasion of the truth of them and to remove all doubts and distrust to the contrary In short we have as great an Assurance of these Things as 't is possible for us to have supposing that they are true which is enough to satisfie any reasonable man in the belief of them Let us suppose then that there is a God that is a Being of all possible Perfections how may we come to know or be assured of it Why not by the Evidence of Sense for being a Spirit he cannot fall under the Cognizance of any of our Senses the only proof we can have of him must be either from some secret impressions of him upon our Mind or from some visible Effects and Operations that can only be ascrib'd to such a Being and both these we have in this Case Again Supposing there be a future state for the Rewarding of Good and Punishing of Bad Men what proof can we have of it Why none from the evidence of Sense for things future and at a distance are incapable of that kind of proof all the Assurance we can have of it is from the Attributes and Perfections of the first Cause and Maker of all things whose Truth and Faithfulness hath declar'd it and whose Mercy and Justice necessarily require it for since the Observation and Violation of his Laws are not usually rewarded or Punished in this life there must be another state where the honour of those Divine Perfections will be more openly and throughly vindicated The truth is 't is not want of Light but mens shutting their Eyes against it that miss-lead's them in this matter 't is a false heart that suggests these doubts and a corrupt Will that pretends lack of sufficient assurance For Men dayly act upon far less Evidence in all other matters and venture their Lives and Fortunes upon things that have no higher than this Moral Certainty what wise Man ever doubts whether there be such a place as the Indies Spain or Turkey tho' perhaps he never saw either Do not many transfer their Estates by way of Traffick into Foreign Countries of which they have no other knowledge than from the Testimony and Relation of others And he that should refuse to believe or act upon this kind of Certainty would be reckon'd no better than a Fool or a Mad-man And if this sort of assurance be sufficient to justifie our discretion in the affairs of our Body why should we distrust it in the matters of our Soul especially since 't is not possible in our present state to have any higher But tho' this Evidence saith the Atheist be sufficient in Temporal Matters yet a greater Certainty is requisite in Divine Things and the weightier Affairs of Eternity Now tho' this be not wanting to all that are willing to receive it yet what Reason can be given why that Assurance which guides Men in the pursuit of a Lesser Good should not influence them much more to obtain a Greater And that Evidence which is sufficient to prompt them to avoid Temporal Evils should not more strongly encline them to escape those that are Eternal In a Word The vast odds that is on the side of Religion shews it to be far from a foolish Bargain for if there be no God or a World to come the Good Man can be no loser for he only parts with his Lusts which are the shame and scandal of his Nature and instead of following them is directed to do what is most for his health interest reputation and every way most conducing to the Peace and Comfort of the present life But if there be a God and a future state as 't is more than ten thousand to one there are he will be vastly a Gainer for beside the present quiet and satisfaction he enjoys here he is secur'd of everlasting Peace and Tranquility hereafter and for the poor perishing trifles of Time which he now parts with shall be rewarded with the ineffable Joys and Glories of Eternity and sure no wise Man will charge this with Folly For if he who hath exchang'd Pebbles for Pearls is by all thought to have made a wise bargain he that parts with the light Momentany things of this Life for an Eternal Crown of Glory in a better will in the end be found to have made a much wiser I am SIR Yours A. B. LETTTER XV. SIR I Have in the foregoing Letters according to promise set forth some of the principal Arts and Devices that are made use of to support and countenance Atheism and likewise according to your desire laid open the Evil and Danger of them But because the Request of your Letter extended not only to the Cause but the Cure of Atheism it will be requisite for a Close to subjoyn some few Directions to that end And here what hath been said touching the Rise of this Evil may help us to find out the Remedies of it for as to know the Cause of a Distemper is a fair step towards the Cure so to discover the Devices of Atheism is the readiest way to prevent the Danger and to be preserv'd from the Contagion of it But because the Rise of this Evil is more from the Will and Affections than from the Mind or Understanding we are to apply our selves rather to rectifie the former than to inform the latter for Men are not