far doth this fall short of expressing the unreasonableness of such as will rather enjoy present pleasures than prepare for future happinesse A Child is bound to an Apprenticeship and he perhaps dies before his time be out and so all his labour and charge is lost or he doth not live seven years a Freeman after he hath lived seven years in a hard service But he that gives up himself to the service of Christ let it be imagined to be as hard as some mens prejudice perswades them the sooner he dyes the sooner his service is ended and though he dye never so soon he loseth not his Freedom but is made a Citizen of Heaven and once entred there he never dyes but doth for ever reap the fruit of his labours Do we not give twenty times as much for the Fee-simple as they speak of an Estate as it will bring us in one year and according to the same rule were we sure to enjoy the pleasures of sin twenty years and could imagine them to be equal to the joyes of Heaven yet we should quit them for those everlasting pleasures which we should enjoy for ever our selves and not only for some Ages as we hope to do Estates on Earth not in our selves but only in our posterity Further yet we see it is in vain to lay a snare in the sight of any Bird. Prov. 1.17 they will not come into the Net to feed if they perceive it or swallow the bait when they see the hook yet foolish men do venture on Hell which they are told will certainly be the wages of sin and will enjoy the present pleasures of it though they have all the assurance that a man can have of any thing which he sees not with his eyes that it will cost him his life and that his Soul must rue for ever in Hell God indeed doth not manifest himself to us ordinarily here nor take us up as he did Paul into the third Heavens to shew us the Glory thereof but he will have us to exercise faith here and to take his word which he hath so fully confirmed to us that we may as certainly trust to it as if we had the clearest evidence in the world The Husband-man casts his seed into the ground without any fear or suspition of losing having been confirmed by many experiments in the hope of receiving it again with increase but a thousand experiments will not so fully perswade as a divine testimony confirmed by Covenants Oaths and Seals the ordinary wayes of confirmation amongst men so that a Divine faith founded upon the word of God is as the substance of things hoped for which are but future and makes them as it were really subsist and is the evidence of things not seen confirming them to us and as fully perswading us of them though they are not obvious to the sense as any Philosophical demonstration can confirm any truth so that notwithstanding the Apostle owns sence to be a great means to move affections in this frail state wherein we are yet faith serves believers for a sufficient foundation of love and delight Though they see not Jesus Christ they love him and rejoyce in him with joy unspeakable and full of Glory 1 Pet. 1.7 We are short sighted and cannot see a far off 2 Pet. 1.9 but faith as a perspective brings things nearer to us that we may judge of them as really present Let not our senses therefore usurp authority over Faith and Reason but lot Faith and Reason have their perfect work let not the Men of the World be wiser in their Generation than Children of light let us not be wiser in the things of the World than in the things of Heaven We chuse not the fairest of things for the most part but such as are more serviceable and durable nor the sweetest but that which is wholsom and nourishing we chuse not the cleanest or pleasantest way but that which leads to the place which we are going to So let us judge of things not according as they present themselves to our senses but as they have a real intrinsick worth to commend themselves to our judgments and let us not judge of things according to their suitablenesse to our present fancies but as they conduce to our abiding good measuring every thing not by Time but by Eternity SECT XV. Inconsideratenesse another great cause of Atheism against which the best remedies are a serious apprehension of the great moment and importance of spiritual things frequent reading and hearing the word of God Christian communion and conference about matters of Religion mutual admonition The prevalency of evil customs and habits the folly of deferring repentance ANother chief reason of that Atheism which abounds so much in the World is inconsideratenesse the most important truths do not affect us any longer than we consider them The Platonists observed this who made knowledge nothing but remembrance or an actual consideration of that which Man knows not reckoning that to be knowledge which lyes dead in the habit and doth not at all affect the Soul And we find that the Scripture layes much weight upon this consideration or remembrance yea as much as Mans salvation comes to We may observe Isa 1.3 There is an Epimone wherein the Prophet layes the sin of Israel upon this that they did not consider So 1 Kings 8.47 We may observe affliction brings men to bethink themselves that brings them to repentance and repentance is a means to obtain pardon and we find by experience that when Men are by sicknesse brought to a serious weighing of matters they are easily perswaded to make good promises and resolutions which when their minds are afterwards by the pleasures of the World diverted from the thoughts of they turn to their former course yea we see many times that Men are so ingenuous as to yield to reproofs and to condemn themselves and their own wayes when they are admonished of them as if they stood in need of no more but to be put in mind of such things as they have in their own hearts and only to have conscience awakened and we find Ezek 18.14.28 that the turning away of a wicked man from the evil of his wayes depends chiefly upon consideration I have already shewed that the Devil is the remote cause of that wickednesse and prophaneness which abounds in the World yet he useth this as the great means to draw Men from God to divert their minds from the thoughts of such things as may have an influence upon their affections and actions to make a change in them as we see plainly in the Parable of the Sower Luk. 8.12 Men hear the word then comes the Devil and takes it away out of their hearts lest they should believe and be saved First we find by experience that Mâ—n are oft seriously affected with those things that they hear while they are lively represented to their minds and pressed seriously upon their consciences
their fault and neglect of good education are addicted to nothing but idleness and luxury and as Midwives form and fashion the head while the bones are tender so Parents should fashion their Childrens minds and form their manners while they are tender and plyant which if then neglected do very hardly afterwards yield to Discipline Ecclesiastical or Civil Thus far I have shewed how Godlinesse doth promote the good of a Nation in a way of natural causality There is yet another way whereby it doth conduce thereto and that is by a moral causality God delivering often the Island of the innocent which is delivered by the purenesse of his hands Job 22. 30. These are as the Trees in a Cawsey which having life and substance in them though sometimes they cast their leaves do keep it from going to ruine and mouldering away to which the Prophet is supposed to allude Isa 6.13 I know Ahab looked upon the good Prophet as the troubler of Israel who indeed was as the Chariot and Horsemen thereof for its security and defence And he justly retorted that crimination upon Ahab himself So in the primitive times if there were War Earthquakes plague inundations the poor Christians must to the Lions as if they were the cause of it When Aurelius upon experience found that they prevailed more by their prayers for the good of the Empire than others could by prayers and arms so that he desired the Senate to cease their persecution against them lest they should turn those spiritual weapons against the Empire the effects of which he had found in such an eminent instance and that they might pray for the good of the Empire As Darius defired that the Jews might offer sacrifice of sweet savors unto the God of Heaven and pray for the Life of the King and of his Sons Ezra 6.10 Upon the same ground Justinian as we may see Constit 6. ad Epiphanium took such care for the establishing of the true Religion and for the observation of those sacred Rules which were given by the Apostles as that which would conduce much to the happinesse of the Empire and especially for the setling of a pious Ministry by whose prayers he hoped for so great blessings upon himself and his Government And a wise and great Prince in our own memory doth not only acknowledge that natural influence which Religion hath upon the obedience of Subjects whereof I have alittle before spoken who himself doth best expresse his own sence of it It is no wonder saith he if Men not fearing God should not honour their King They will easily contemn such shaddows of God who reverence not that supream and adorable Majesty in comparison of whom all the Glory of Men and Angels is but obscurity but as knowing also how far it doth conduce morally to the happinesse of a Nation gives it in charge to his Son his Majesty now reigning in England to begin and end with God and alwayes to keep up solid Piety and those fundamental truths which mend both the hearts and lives of Men it being not only the Glory of Princes to advance Gods Glory but the means to make them prosperous and keep them from being miserable Whereupon his Majesty as remembring such pious words and counsels of His Royal Father did at his first restoration expresse his just displeasure against such as pretending a great zeal to his Cause and Service did not only discredit it by the licence of their lives and manners but hazard the driving away those approaching mercies which they should rather have acknowledged in their several stations with circumspection integrity and reformation in their lives It is ordinarily said Delirant Reges plectuntur Achivi But it is true on the other hand also that Rulers are punished for the sins of the People 1 Sam. 12.25 God ordering it so in his wise and righteous Providence not only as they partake many times in each others sins but as they have a joynt interest so as one suffers in the sufferings of another I remember Machiavel who was never thought to be over-precise or to be troubled with a bogling conscience complains of it in his Common-wealth as that which he feared would be the ruine of Italy that wickednesse did so much abound and that there was such a decay of Religion amongst them and they were so far degenerated from the purity of the Primitive times that they had reason to expect the vengeance of God upon them Whereupon he shews how necessary it is for Princes to have a special care for the preservation of the purity of Religion which I am sure is an innocent policy and the wisest maxim which he layes down for besides that the Church hath alwayes been a burdensom stone which hath broken in pieces all that have burdened themselves with it Zach. 12.13 Whilst Righteousnesse doth exalt a Nation Prov. 14.34 Wickednesse like the talent of lead in the Ephah Zach. 5.8 sinks it down We know ten righteous persons would have saved a Sodom and God would do nothing against it whilst there was one in it And if God did not for the sake of such many times spare Nations and shew them some peculiar favour there had been no ground for that which he himself hath pronounced of them that they are such of whom the World is not worthy SECT XIV An enquiry into the causes why Religion is so much neglected The remoter causes the corruption of Mans nature the malice and power of the Devil the nearer cause the prevalenccy of sence against Faith and reason which is removed by shewing in how many in stances of our Lives we do by reason correct the errors of sense HE that shall read what I have hitherto written and observe the general practice of the World will perhaps wonder that if these things be so Men should no better understand their own interest but generally neglect this which is pretended to conduce so much to the making of the World happy what I have said though it may seem to some to have some shew of probability will hardly obtain belief but lye under some suspition like the honest projects of some well-wisher to the publick good which never obtained so much credit as to be reduced to tryal Wherefore I shall a little enquire after the causes of that ungodlinesse and prophanenesse that so generally reigns in the World And first we know the Scripture hath oft taught us that the nature of Man is so corrupted by that which is called Original Sin That the imaginations of the thoughts of his heart are only evil and that continually his heart desperately wicked and deceitful above all things his understanding so darkened that he is alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in him filled withall unrighteousness fleshly lusts warring against the Soul and prevailing in our members to bring forth fruit unto Death The Wisdom of the flesh is enmity against God so that man is
think I might periturae parcere chartae or rather better in ploy precious irrevocable hours than in Apologizing for that which needs no defence and which there is such a reverence of so deeply implanted in every Mans nature but upon a nearer approach and exact survey of things we shall find there is nothing in the World doth either need or deserve a more serions consideration and just defence The Speculative Atheist is such a Monster that many will hardly admit of such a thing in nature And it seems incredible to them that any should doubt of a Deity yet daily experience and observation refutes our more rational and retired Speculations and hath put many Learned Men to the labour of proving that there is a God this being the utmost we are able in the Theory to make good That there are none think that there is no God but such as for whom it were well if there were none and these being judicially given up to be seduced by their own lusts first think it would be well for them if there were no God finding his commands crossing their Carnal interests and corrupt desires thence they proceed to wish there were no God and by degrees arrive at flat Atheism inordinate passions converting Desire into Opinion as we easily believe that which we earnestly desire that so having baffled their Judgments and drawn them into the same confederacy with their Lusts they may sin without their control or contradiction and avoid the reproofs of their Consciences while they give up themselves freely to satisfie their vile affections His gradibus itur I affirm the Practical Atheist is yet a greater wonder and a more horrid Monster than the Speculative Atheist As Mirandula hath well observed it is a wonder that any should doubt of the truth of the Gospel after so many evident proofs of it but a greater wonder that any should believe it and yet live as if it were not true But Affrica hath not so many monsters in nature as Europe hath in Religion How many thousands of Zealots have we that professe the name of Christ and presume violently that they shall be saved by him yet look into their conversations and you would not believe their own mouths or imagine that they are seriously perswaded that there is a God an Heaven an Hell a Judgment to come wherein they shall be sentenced to their everlasting home Nay hear O Heavens and be astonished O Earth hath any people dealt so with their Gods which are yet no Gods as Christians deal with Christ Do Turks deal so with their Mahomet Do they scorn those that are most careful to observe the Rules of his Alcoran Are they ashamed to be seen to have any respect to his Laws Yet I call Heaven and Earth to record against Christians that he that turns from his wickednesse makes himself a prey yea as Salvian complained of old Mali esse coguntur ne viles habeantur Men are fain to turn Rebels against Christ and cast off the fear of his commands to free themselves from the scorn and hatred of Christians amongst whom he must go for a Melancholick dull sot or sneaking fool and one that hath nothing of generosity that dare not set his mouth against Heaven or defie the authority of his Maker insomuch that he that cannot harden himself against scorn shall be jeared out of Heaven he shall forfeit the reputation of his breeding that shall speak a word of the Scriptures he shall passe for a silly fellow that will abandon the pleasures of Sin in hopes of an unseen-Glory and he shall be accounted importunate or uncivil that shall interrupt Mens carnal mirth by casting in the ingrateful mention of God or his commands and be thought unsit for the company of Persons of quality and breeding Of old they accounted it the sum and substance of Religion to imitate him whom they worshipped Those that adored mortal Deities such as Alexander and Caesar were ambitious to imitate their Vertues yea some Emperors have been imitated by their flattering Courtiers in their Defects and Deformities The holinesse of God is his Glory and of all his attributes propounded to us for our imitation see 1 Pet. 1.15 Exod. 15.17 and compare Isa 16.3 with John 12.40 and yet how do men glory in their shame while they are ashamed of their glory Phil. 3.29 Jer. 2.36 but that some are wiser than to be so befooled out of Heaven holynesse would be hissed out of the World How many think it a greater reproach to call one a Saint than a Drunkard a Whoremongen or whatever is evil When the Scripture makes this a title of honor and that from whence they are so denominated absolutely necessary to Salvation O let not these things be told in Gath or published in Ashkelon Let not Turks and Heathens hear such things of Christians What God dowe worship What Saviour do we own Are they like the Idols of the Heathens who as Tertullian said of old are worshipped in vain and may be abused at our pleasure Quit your selves like Men awake your reason and consider what I shall say for God and for his holy Laws which are as the Apostle saith not only boly but just and good Rom. 7.12 So that as hath been well observed by Learned Men if God had never commanded what he hath done nor made any transcript of the Eternal Law out of the Idea of his holy nature yet what he hath commanded would have been best for Mankind to observe There is not only an equity in them but they are good naturally as well as morally conducing to the welfare of Mankind the good of the Universe insomuch that if we had stood on even ground with our Maker and capitulated with him on what terms we would submit our selves to him and what Laws we would be obliged to observe we could not have made conditions more for our own advantage or if Christ should wave his authority which he hath over us to command us though the authority of the superior is more to be regarded than the advantage of the inferior he might justly counsel us as Rev. 3.18 to observe his precepts as that which would be best for our selves and if we had no respect to his soveraignty yet regard to our own welfare and happinesse might oblige us thereto And having evinced the equity of the wayes of God and the benefit Men have thereby I shall endeavour to discover and remove the causes of this Practical Atheism that reigns so much in the World and though I know after all I can say the Disease will despise any remedy yet let me tell all the prophane scorners of Godlinesse till they can deprive themselves of reason that is become beasts God and his Saints shall have a witnesse in their breasts against their own souls SECT II. The equity of Gods commands Love which is the fulfilling of the Law founded on Gods goodness Patience Bounty Fear which with that observance
their Wisdom and indeed Wisdom doth make a Mans face to shine commanding reverence and a kind of veneration from others Now there is none to be compared to God for Wisdom he is so wise he cannot be deceived cannot be mocked he sees through the most secret designs of Men and laughs them to scorn takes the wise in their own craftinesse makes those that dare transgresse his precepts whether they will or no to fulfil his purpose over-reaching them in their most cunning contrivances making them serve his holy ends when they least intend it Further he requires that we should acknowledge him in all our wayes owning him as our Soveraign in the observance of his precepts as our Preserver in depending on his providence And what more just and equal when we had our being from him when we live and move in him when we are daily maintained at his cost and charges and are therefore sent to the Ox and the Ass to learn our duty it being he that gives us all things richly to enjoy and hath not only right and authority to command us but might and power to force us so that if we will do any thing without his leave or moral permission we cannot do it without his natural permission If we run away from his service he can command the Sea to way-lay us as in the case of Jonah and send a Whale to fetch us back If we would go out of the reach of his Rod he can make it reach us where ever we go as the Israelites in their going to Egypt Jer. 42.16 In short he commands the boisterous Winds the unruly Waves the Angels that excel in might and glory the Devils that are filled with rage and envy the Sun that as a Gyant runs his race and makes it stand still at his pleasure the Stars whom he makes as his Host to fight his battels the frogs the Flies the Lice the Bears the Lions the Ravens as the several instances in holy Scripture shew All these are at his beck and he sends them at his pleasure Degenerate Man only for whom he hath done more than for any of the works of his hands and whom he hath made capable of more happinesse than the whole visible Creation casts off the authority of his Creator in those things wherein especially it would be his Wisdom to make a vertue of necessity for when Men will venture upon any thing without asking Gods leave or taking his counsel he stands by and derides their counsels and tells them that he is wise also and will bring evil upon them and not call back his word what he saith shall be done none shall disanul it when their designs which they would undertake without him shall come to nothing and they perish in them Esa 31.2 thus God will sooner or later teach all what it is to despise his authority or to dispute his commands As for our outward actions what I have already said concerning our internal affections and those acts and attributes of God whereon they are grounded being supposed though they should not be of any natural right or have any intrinsick goodnesse in them antecedently to any command of God concerning them which yet doubtlesse some have and are therefore commanded because good as those which are grounded on the precepts of the Law of Nature yet as we say of the credenda or the things which we are to believe though our finite understandings be not able to comprehend the nature and causes of some of them yet we have reason enough to believe them because they are spoken by him that cannot lye so I may say of the agenda of Religion though they should not be of natural moral right which yet many of them are yet being commanded by him who is so wise and so good to whom we have such obligations lying upon us and on whom we have such an absolute dependance we have all the reason in the World to do them without murmuring or disputing and though the soveraignty of God is such that he might justly try our obedience and make us know our subjection to him by requiring of us such things as are meerly of positive right yet it is evident that in what he hath required he hath not stood much upon his Soveraignty and Authority but hath commanded such things as he might justifie at an impartial Bar though man were an Independant Creature and co-ordinate with him and this will sufficiently appear by the ensuing discourse SECT III. The advantage which Men have by Religion in respect of their good name honour being both a moral and a natural effect of vertue and holinesse The Hypocrisie of some that professe Christianity an argument of the excellency of it Shame the present reward of sin None dare speak against holiness or holy men as such WHat I have hitherto said hath been ab aequo I shall now argue ab utili and shew what advantages come to Mankind by a due observance of the Rules of the Gospel whereby the truth of the Apostles assertion will evidently appear that Godlinesse is profitable to all things and is the chief interest of the 〈◊〉 And first let me consider man in his personal capacity and his several interests in such a respect and I will begin with that which is most extrinsick to him viz. his good name which Solomon justly saith is rather to be chosen than great riches and he adds a reason of it loving favour is better than Silver or Gold That is the effect of it it commands a friendly respect from all and so entertains him where ever he goes is his harbinger to bespeak him in all places an honourable reception it is his surety to vouch him in all his dealings with others so that there is nothing can more sweeten a Mans life to him and indeed nothing which generous spirits do more esteem No greater incentive to vertue among the Heathens than honour and it is ordinarily seen that Men can more easily bear the losse of Goods than disgrace or contempt a breach in their Estate than a wound in their name Now I will not here speak of that honour which after a few days shall be put upon all Godly men when they shall appear with Christ in Glory and shine like the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father while others shall be cloathed with perpetual shame Nor will I speak of honour as it is a moral effect of Godlinesse God having promised to honour those that honour him and he that gave the Israelites favour in the eyes of the Egyptians and made them to be pityed of them that carryed them away captive can give a Man esteem and repute among others But I shall speak chiefly of honour as it is a natural effect of Godliness and it is worthy to be considered that that which at first view seems to reflect dis-honourably upon Religion and which many improve to the reproach of the professors of it doth upon a
serious weighing of the whole matter exceedingly commend it and argue something of more than ordinary worth in it and that is the Hypocrisie which is found among Christians this implies that there is something in it which is attractive that men should use such industry to counterfeit it and seek by a feigned shew of it to insinuate themselves into the esteem of others whose good opinion they think most considerable However as I have already said and shall say again in due place there are many scorn men for it yet this is an evident proof that it is a thing of good report and praise-worthy though we do not esteem every thing that looks like Gold because it is sometimes counterfeited yet this is an argument of the worth of that which is Gold indeed so though 't is true every one that makes profession of Godlinesse doth not presently deserve the honour and respect of a Godly Man because there are many Hypocrites yet it is an argument of the greater worth of such as are Godly indeed Pearls and Diamonds are oftener counterfeited than those things that are of mean value What is there that begets an higher esteem amongst Men than that Humility Meekness Goodnesse Charity Justice which the Gospel requires and which every true Christian in some measure hath It makes a Man as was said of Vespasian the Darling of Mankind and makes his memory blessed What is the ordinary Character which you shall hear of such a Man He was a good Man a quiet Man you might have put your Life in his hand his word was as good as his bond and however the Devil cheats men with the hopes of esteem in the World by a carelesse neglect of Religion though they gratifie the greatest part of the World in some respect as they justifie their wicked wayes by their own practice yet we shall observe through the just judgment of God shame is the present wages of sin Prov. 13.5 Rom. 6.21 and indeed the Heathens themselves made honour the reward of vertue so that a wicked Man according to them is not capable of it Pride is that which all abhor swearing and blaspheming are such sins as none gain by and therefore will commend no man for Drunkennesse discovers so much of a Mans weaknessse that it makes him obnoxious to every Mans pity or scorn lying injustice oppression and other sins against the second table being immediatly against our Neighbour and so prejudicial to the interest of Mankind cannot purchase any man any honour or esteem and though it is true as I have before complained that a Godly man is exposed to scorn and reproach yet first it is of such whose reproaches we may glory in and bind to us as a Crown What was said of Nero is true of them that it is likely to be something that is good which they speak against yea commonly such before they dye justifie those whom they reproached and when they grow wiser come to be of their mind when they come to lye on their sick beds and to be convinced by sense and experience of what they would not believe or at least consider before that there is a vanity in every Creature that they must dye and that their former pleasures will yield them no comfort at such an hour then they reproach themselves more than formerly they reproached others then they find that they were the fools for despising instruction and wish now they were in the case of those whom they despised and which is yet more observable Godliness doth command such an esteem from all that none dare speak against it and you shall hardly hear any Godlyman reproached as such as the Jews would not own that they stoned Christ for a good work but for Blasphemy when Wicked Men reproach others they will not by any means acknowledge that it is for Godlinesse but for Vngodlinesse for Hypocrisie for being too nice and superstitious doing more than God requires for Covetousnesse or such like sins so that by their own confession sincerity observing what God hath commanded charity c. are good and commendable and so they are condemned out of their own mouths Let sin seek excuses and subterfuges Vertue as truth seeks no corners knows no shame SECT IV. How much Godlinesse conduceth to the preserving and increase of Mens Estates which Sin doth like a Canker wast and consume An illustration of Jer. 17.11 and Hos 9.11 Objections answered which Men make from that Justice and Charity which Religion obliges Men to and from those expenses and losses which it exposes them to as also from experience and daily observation THe next interest of Man in his personal capacity which I shall consider is the furniture of this life for bearing his charges in his Pilgrimage while he is on his way towards his long home and though Riches by reason of the abuse of them sometimes seem to be undervalued both by God and Man in the Scripture and other writings yet in themselves they are useful and desirable and if we should understand these things absolutely and simply which are spoken of them not in a certain respect and secundum quid as they speak it might rather be said the curse of the Lord makes rich than his blessing thereby a Man is capable of doing good to others and our Saviour hath pronounced it more blessed to give than to receive he is able to command his own affairs he is freed from the temptations of poverty to a sinful flattery and pleasing of Men incroaching upon Gods time or Mens Estates from distracting cares about the necessaries of this life they are a defence to him not only in his own conceit but really lifting him up that the foot of contempt may not trample upon him and that whatever is praise-worthy in him may be more conspicuous to others which is little taken notice of in the poor whose wisdom yea all other graces and vertues are despised Now as the race is not to the swift nor the battel to the strong so neither are Riches alwayes to the diligent or industrious or wise but to those whom God favours with his blessing Godlinesse hath the promise both of this life and that to come though God hath not absolutely promised abundance or superfluities necessaries he hath so that though the Lions whereby we may according to the language of Scripture understand those who have both cruelty and power to oppresse others may lack and suffer hunger those that fear the Lord shall want no good thing Again Godlinesse may be ranked amongst the natural causes as well as amongst the moral causes of riches Do but consider what diligence the Gospel requires in our particular callings and though according to what I lately said this is not the only or solitary cause of Riches yet it is a means which God doth ordinarily blesse Do but further consider what sobriety and moderation is required in Meat Drink Apparel and we shall easily conceive how
will confidently affirm what may seem a Paradox to many that the precepts of Christ well observed would free as many from Diseases as his Miracles they would prevent as many diseases as his miracles cured How many are there whose bodies are filled with the sins of their souls which they have tired and worn out in the service of their insatiable Lusts which are like furious Riders that tire out their Beasts they ride on before they be tired themselves Though Men are not presently sensible of decayes in their health by riot drunkennesse and such like sins they lay in daily the seeds of those diseases which many groan under in their old age though others feel them sooner We ordinarily say that excesse kills more than the Sword By excesse we are not to understand only eating and drinking to surfeiting and drunkenness or till nature be so oppressed that it dischargeth it self of its burden but when Men make their appetite not their reason the measure of their allowance It would require the skil of a Physician to enumerate the Diseases which are the effects of Mens sins but every one may easily observe that the ordinary Rules which the best Physicians prescribe for the preservation of Health require nothing more than Temperance and exercise the former Religion strictly injoyns and though it do not require the later as such or under such a notion yet in effect it requires it of most commanding diligence in Mens callings and condemning idlenesse which is the source of so many diseases as daily experience will evince it being obvious to the observation of all that Health is the poor Mans priviledge and sicknesse most common among the Rich who live in idlenesse though they have many other advantages above the poor for the preservation of their health besides those two causes of sicknesse there is a third which religion doth remove or at least much correct and that is inordinate passions such as Anger Fear Sorrow Envy which have a very malignant influence upon the Body and there is scarce any thing which tends so much to the poizing and ballancing of the humors of the body which is so necessary for the preservation of the health as a well composed temper of mind and calmnesse and quietness in the Soul which Religion doth not only teach but which is more doth in a great measure effect and therein exceeds the morals of Phylosophers as we shall in due place more fully see SECT VI. Religion forbids us not any pleasures which are agreeable to nature reason or Mans own interest None can more freely enjoy pleasures than a Godly Man THere is yet another thing which many account their great interest and their great prejudice against Religion is that they conceive it inconsistent therewith and that is Pleasure Now if we take Pleasure in a large sence as it is taken in Scripture that inward Joy Comfort and satisfaction which accompanies an holy Life and those everlasting pleasures at Gods right hand which a holy Life leads to will fall afterwards under consideration And as for those bodily pleasures which in this place are chiefly intended Religion doth not at all forbid them nor deprive a Man of them and it is an unjust calumny of some that God hath put inclinations into mans nature to such things as he hath forbidden him and that this is the chief cause of so much sin in the World But these men know not what spirit they are of It was the suggestion of the Devil to Man in Paradise that God as if he envyed mans happinesse had laid a restraint on them to keep them from that which as the Devil would perswade them he knew might better their condition and advance them to an equality with himself as if it had been a small matter that he had allowed them such liberty to enjoy all the pleasures of Paradise and to eat of all the fruit of it save only that in the midst of the Garden But they received a just recompence for believing the Devil rather than God It is the same spirit which now perswades Men that God hath dealt hardly with us to interdict us the enjoyment of that wherein we might find such pleasure and satisfaction whereas he hath rather manifested his goodnesse to Man in that he hath put into him such inclinations as he may take pleasure in those things which are necessary for the propagation of the species or for the conservation of the individuals of Mankind and he doth not forbid our pleasure in these but only forbids Gluttony and Drunkennesse which is excess in the use of meats and drinks and Adultery which is the misplacing of these desires which he hath provided for the satisfaction of mankind without sin and we have no cause to complain of Gods bounding of us in these things but rather wonder that there should be any need of any Laws to forbid such irregularities therein as we should wonder that any should make Laws strictly to forbid Men to burn their own houses to cut their own flesh to drink poyson if we consider the mischiefs that ensue upon our exceeding the limits which God hath yet set us in these things in impairing our Health wasting our Estates staining our honour breeding discords in Families depriving us of reason and turning us into Bruits exposing us sometimes to Mans rage sometimes to the penalty of human Laws In short God hath not only provided for the supply of our necessities but for our delight and comfort Psal 104.15 2ly Religion allows a Man to enjoy and take comfort in these things which God hath given us Eccl. 2.24 25 26.5.18.9.7 8 9. Yea requires we should rejoyce in them Deut. 12.7.12.18 cap. 14.26 cap. 16.11 14. cap. 26.11 3ly There is none can take more pleasure in these things than a Christian Eccl. 2.25 Solomon might hasten as much as any to such pleasure not so much as he was a King and had all things in abundance but as he was a good Man and in the favour of God Eccl. 9.7 But this I have elsewhere touched Sect. 4. and sect 8. If any account it hard to be restrained from unnatural pleasures I may say as Joash of Baal Judges 6.31 Will you plead for these He that will plead for these let him presently be put to Death He that cannot content himself with moderate pleasures without excesse let him go and learn of Bruit-beasts that will not eat and drink to Gluttony and Drunkennesse He that cannot satisfie himself unless he may wholly prostitute himself to pleasure and spend his whole time therein as if he were put into the World as the Leviathan into the Sea to play therein Psal 104.26 Let them learn of a Heathen who would say He is not worthy the name of a Man thà t would spend a whole day in pleasure So that Religion restrains us no more in the use of Pleasures than nature reason or our own interest restrains us but rather teacheth us
be terrors to good works but to evil To be Fathers to the poor and to search out the cause which they know not to break the jaws of the wicked and pluck the spoil out of their teeth Inferiors are thereby likewise instructed to submit themselves to their superiors to give them due honour and tribute to be Subject for Conscience sake which is the best foundation of disloyalty and fidelity As Constantius would say those that would not be true to God would not be true to him If any shall here say Quid verba audiam We have found the contrary true and have oft seen Religion made a Cloak to palliate Sedition and Rebellion I might answer by an Antistrophe retorting the objection It seems Religion is good in it self because it is made use of to palliate that which is evil Men do not counterfeit ordinary stones or Iron but Gold and Pearls as I have already upon occasion observed If Satan be transformed into an Angel of Light what wonder if his Ministers be sometimes transformed into the Servants of God I may again say with Tertullian Si accusasse sat est quis erit innocens None can maintain their innocency if upon a bare accusation they shall be condemned without a fair hearing Not Christ himself John 19.12 Nor his followers Acts 17.7 This odious crimination hath been used in several Ages as the most effectual means to subject Christians to the displeasure of Princes and to popular hatred which they had some pretence for in those times when the Emperors enjoyned such things by their authority as Christians did justly scruple which occasioned that wicked policy of Julian that he might avoid the imputation of persecution which he saw was grown odious to set the Heathen Idols by the Emperors statue that while they refused to give Religious honour to the one they might be accused of denying civil respect to the other Let us now descend to consider the aspect that Religion hath upon fellow Citizens or Subjects or how it conduceth to the mutual benefit and advantage of them And first let us consider what an influence that general rule of Christ Mat. 7.12 would have upon all Mankind to bring back again the Golden Age if when we have to do with others we would put our selves into their condition and consider how we should desire to be dealt with in such a case How gently and tenderly would superiors carry themselves towards their inferiors and with how much respect and observance would inferiors carry themselves to their superiors the Rich would not withhold from the poor when he had wherewith to relieve him and supply his wants but would bring upon himself the blessing of him who is ready to perish and make the heart of the peor to rejoyce and sing The poor would not by his idlenesse be unnecessarily burdensom to the Rich or commit rapes upon his charity but would labour diligently with his hands and abate the allowance which men ordinarily give to their lusts that so he might be in a capacity rather to give than to receive The lender would not take advantage of the necessity of the borrower nor the borrower ingratefully defraud the lender the seller would not deceive or over reach the buyer nor the buyer undervalue the goods of the seller Consider further how Christ more particularly requires that we should be like God in goodnesse doing good to all forgiving injuries and making their condition our own ready to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for each other as Ignatius oft speaks laying down our lives for our brethren dwelling in Love which works no ill to her neighbor envies not vaunts not it self is not puffed up behaves not it self unseemingly seeks not her own is not easily provoked thinks no evil rejoyceth not in iniquity but in the truth bears all things believes all things hopes all things suffers all things If such commands of Christ were observed Men might beat their swords into Plow-shares their Spears into pruning hooks there would be no leading into Captivity no complaining in our Streets no vexatious 〈◊〉 no groaning of the oppressed no extremity of poverty or want to put Men upon violence private injuries publick sedition If men would according to the command of Christ obey their teachers prove all things hold fast that which is good prefer others in honour before themselves not thinking of themselves above what is meet not being wise in their own eyes but humbly enquire after truth suspecting their own judgement following after those things which make for peace and edification studying to be quiet letting their moderation be made known to all Men. And if those that are Teachers and Rulers in the Church would not Lord it over the heritage of God but be gentle towards them as a Nurse to her Children not seeking theirs but them doing all things for their edifying we should soon see an end of divisions and Schisms and separations in the Church If any here object that I fancy a Church of Catharists and such purity and holinesse in Men as is not to be expected in this World I answer I speak of what is rather to be desired than hoped for and what religion would do towards the happinesse of Mankind were the rules of it duely observed and would Men be faithful to the principles of it which is sufficient to this Apology which I here make against such as would reproach it and bring it into disgrace in the world and to prove that the more Religion flourisheth in any Nation the happier it is and the better ordered and that we may conclude with the Tragedian Where modesty righteousnesse holinesse piety and faithfulnesse are neglected that Kingdom cannot long stand and if any think this would do well indeed if all would agree to do thus I answer the neglect of others doth not discharge us from our duty we owe it to God though Men should not deserve it or requite it with a reciprocal care of Justice and equity And further it is a great advantage for raising our honour when others neglect their duty Sometimes singularity is the only means to get a name as the Satyrist could say Aude aliquid brevibus gyaris aut carcere dignum Si vis esse aliquid probitas laudatur alget There is yet another way whereby good men do promote the weal-publick and that is by the education of children which in well governed Common-Wealths there hath alwayes been a special care taken for Those are counted good Common-wealths-men that build and plant such things as the Common-wealth may be the better for and enjoy the furit of when they are dead and gone But those that stock the Common-wealth with Plants of righteousness which may in future times bring forth the fruits of Justice and equity do more promote the publick good and those who let go Foxes and Wolves are not more worthy of punishment than such as bring up Children in a Common-Wealth which through
wise to do evil but he hath no knowledge to do good Now experience doth more confirm us in the belief of this than a thousand Arguments Again we oft read of the enmity of the Devil against Mankind and though his power be not much discerned by many yet it is like the influence of Coelestial Bodies Sun Moon and Stars upon these sublunary things powerful and effectual though not discerned but in the effects hence we read of his working effectually in the hearts of the Children of disobedience of men being taken captive of him at his pleasure of the strength of delusion of his going about like a roaring Lion of wrestling with principalities and powers and resisting the Devil stedfast in the Faith He that should have seen the Poor Man cured by Christ offering violence to himself and casting himself sometimes into the fire sometimes into the water would have easily concluded that he was acted by some evil spirit to such things as were destructive to his own nature so to see men sin against their own souls and run such desperate hazards against their own interest is a clear argument that they are acted by some other nature which seeks their ruine and destruction Now these may be remote causes of the prevalency of that Atheism which we see and lament in the World but yet there must be some nearer causes searched out for unlesse it be in some secret Sympathies and Antipathies Man doth ordinarily act according to reason that is what is either really so or seems so to him and there must be some ratio motiva to elicite or draw forth the acts of his will The Grace of God is powerful in good actions yet it works congruously to our natures moving by the means of some rational arguments and principles so the efficacy of the Devil is very great in evil actions yet he makes use for the most part of moral arguments though he had such a hand in Judas his Treason and Annanias his cosenage as that he is said to put these things into their hearts yet by the whole tenor of their story we find that there were some moral motives he made use of and that it was covetousness that did more immediately sway in these sins Now it seems one main reason of Mens Atheism which is more near and immediate is the prevalency of sense as there are some actions which do prevent the reasonings of the mind which we call actiones hominis but not humanae which indeed are actions of Men but not humane actions proceeding from the essential principle of man objects coming to the sense before they can have access to the understanding the spirits move disorderly till the understanding taking cognizance of the matter do rectifie such motions of the spirits as in a sudden noise or unexpected sight the senses as the Centinels take the first alarm but as soon as the news is carryed to the understanding as the main guard or principal officer and found to be of no dangerous consequence this sudden commotion is allayed so in more important passages of our lives sense makes many disorderly sallies and motions without taking counsel of the understanding and objects do make very deep impressions upon them and the Scripture doth take notice how much we are led by sense in this frail state wherein we are so as we may all say with the Propher Law 3.51 Our eye affects our heart this is the foundation of the Apostles argument 1 John 4.20 He that loveth not his Brother whom he hath seen how can he love God whom he hath not seen We have a thousand times more reason to love God than to love our Brother considering the perfections and excellencies that are in God to render him amiable and the obligations which we are under to him who hath done more ten thousand times for us than all the friends which we have in the World but whatever reason there may be in the thing it self the Apostle argues according to our poor capacity the access that things have to us and doth clearly suppose that things which have accesse to out senses are more effectual for moving our affections than such things as are only the object of faith So though we hear of an infinite Majesty that created and sustains our selves and all other finite beings who seeth all our actions and will one day call us to an account for them and likewise of an eternal weight of glory made up of things which eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor ever entred into the heart of Man to conceive these things do not move us because they are far out of our sight and the things of the World which are nearer to our senses and are the immediate objects of them pleasing the tast delighting the smell tickling and flattering the Ear dazling the eyes have more prevalency upon us But yet upon examination we shall find this is not sufficient to prevail against those important considerations which I have already proposed nor to leave mankind excusable for abandoning himself to the pleasures of this life so as to neglect those better things which are propounded as the reward of holiness Let us but quit our selves like men and exercise those common principles of reason which we exercise in other affairs of our lives and though we cannot perhaps thereby silence the clamors of sence yet we may confute them and reject them Do we not ordinarily see men correct the errors of sense by reason Do we not see them part with their blood to prevent the inconveniency of a disease which for the most part they do believe or suspect not upon the evident demonstrations but probable conjectures of a Physician or at best by their own reason Do not men endure the cutting off of a member to save the body and lengthen out a miserable life for some days or years Do not men drink the most unpleasing potions for the recovery of their health or repairing their decayed strength Do not men cast their seed into the earth in hopes of receiving the increase of it Doth not the Merchant send away his goods in hope to receive others for them which may bring him some gain and advantage And what is all this to denying ungodliness and worldly lusts denying our selves the pleasure of sin for the pleasure of Heaven yea do we not see men ordinarily binding their Sons to some Apprenticeship for many years that so they may learn a Trade to maintain themselves in some repute in the world when they shall come to years rather than let them live in idlenesse and pleasure giving up themselves to childish sports and vanities when they are young which would afterwards expose them to poverty and contempt And he is accounted a cruel and unjust Father that will not thus love his Child with such a prudent severity rather than undo him by a foolish indulgence yet how wide a difference is there in these cases And how
their causes that were holy men and such as could not be imagined to have a design to deceive especially the things which they delivered being such as exposed them to danger and trouble and were not likely to bring them any advantage in the World Or should Moses or one of the Prophets or Apostles arise from the dead tell us they did indeed live here upon the earth in such times and preach such Doctrine and work such miracles yea and they have found since their Death that those things which they Prophecyed or Preached are true they see those who obeyed their word triumphing in Heaven and those who contemned it tormented in Hell might we not as easily suspect that this might be some Spirit which appeared in their shape to delude us as that the Jews who are Enemies to the Christian Religion should devise a writing and disperse it abroad in the World which should so plainly confirm the Christian Religion as the Old Testament doth which is at this day owned among the Jews or that those Antient Writers should conspire together to deceive the World in recording the same things which we find in Scripture or that the Scriptures should be translated into so many languages and dispersed all the World over so soon after the Apostles times and none be so false to the divulgers of it or so true to the World as to give notice of it if it were a forgery or that these things should be recorded in the Roman Registers and the acts of their Senate to which Tertullian durst appeal if there had been no such thing This one thing would I learn should one come to us as from the dead in the likenesse of Alexander Caesar William the Conqueror Wickliff Luther Calvin and tell us in sober sadnesse that they were such a one that lived in such a time did such things Preached such Doctrine whether should we believe such a Testimony sooner than the unanimous consent of History concerning them and those Books and Writings which are generally received as the works of such Men If any shall say that Turks and Heathens are as confident of the truth of that Religion which they were brought up in as we are of the truth of ours I answer they have not like ground for their confidence as for the Heathens what became of their Gods their Oracles when the Hebrew Child was born and when the Gospel began to spread in the World Compare the miracles wherewith other Religions have been confirmed with those wherewith the Gospel hath been confirmed and see whether they be so many so confessedly above the power of Nature or Art so evidently wrought in the sight of all as those whereby the Christian Religion hath been confirmed What is the reason that the Turks admit no enquiry or dispute about matters of Religion but require an implicite Faith Truth seeks no corners error shuns the light Examine the Laws of Turks and Pagans whether there be that Purity Equity Wisdom consonancy to right reason and the light of Nature in them which is to be found in the Scriptures Examine the ways and means by which they have been propagated whether they have reached any further than their Swords have made way for them whether the Weapons of their warfare were spiritual or carnal whereas the Gospel prevailed through the evidence and power of the Spirit against the pretended authority of the Jews the Wisdom and learning of the Grecians the power and force of the Romans and Fishermen were too hard for Rabbies Philosophers Judges Generals Armies If any object the improbability of some things delivered in Scripture I shall only propound whether there be not some things which we are fully assured of either by experiments or Mathematical demonstration which to others seem as improbable as any thing in the Scripture seems to us and shall we not grant God to be as much wiser than our selves as we are wiser than other Men and suppose he could as easily convince us of those things which now seem impossible to us as we can convince others of those things which they cannot at present believe And if the seeming contradictions that are in Scripture be urged to weaken the authority of them they are rather an argument of the integrity and sincerity of the Penmen and their leaving things so securely which do not at first sight seem to accord with other Scriptures shews clearly they had no Plot to deceive the World otherwise they would have conspired to make their testimonies agree in words more exactly yet upon examination of the matter and considering the several circumstances of time place Persons scope occasion the several uses of the same word and phrase the latitude which all Authors use in their writings the several places and Persons of the same name the several names given to the same place or Person the shortnesse of Scripture History and supplying in one place what is wanting in another the attending rather to sence and substance than to words and phrases in citing Scripture we shall find that there is a very fair accord between those places which seem to be at the greatest variance and if we cannot reconcile all places yet if we consider that we have by attending to such things as I have mentioned already composed so many seeming differences we may conclude it is from our own ignorance that we cannot compose the rest and that there is yet somewhat else that we are ignorant of which if we could find out we might as easily reconcile the rest which at present seem most irreconcilable and it is obvious to every one how many difficulties and contradictions seem to be in every Science while Men are but smatterers in it which presently vanish as soon as they come more perfectly to understand it But now if this objection be framed against the differences which are among Christians which professe the Gospel I will by the way observe this that differences do most abound where men upon serious apprehensions of the weight and importance of the matters of faith do diligently apply themselves to understand themselves the mysteries of the Gospel and to see with their own eyes being affraid to be deceived in matters of such moment by depending upon the testimony of others and unwilling to lose their Souls and Heaven and God to save the labour of searching after truth and in those Nations where I have had opportunity to be conversant I have found most differences amongst them which have been most addicted to Religion and most sollicitous about the condition of their souls and most agreement amongst them which have contented themselves to follow others by an implicit faith without troubling themselves much to search after truth and where there hath been such a coldnesse and indifferency in matters of Religion that all have quietly accorded together as the Philosophers observe that cold doth congregate Heterogeneal things or such things as are of different kinds making them all