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
Reason and Wit to argue against the Being of a God and seek to dispute him out of the world To this end they labour as well as they can to weaken the force of all those Arguments that are brought for the proof of a Deity and make the best shift they can either to answer or evade them Again they magnifie the strength of those Arguments that are brought against such a Being And tho' to prove a Negative in this as in many other cases be both irrational and impossible yet to shew their good-will to their Maker the slend'rest Cavils or Probabilities of this nature shall have a mighty force with them and the slightest Sophistry be advanc'd into Demonstration But if this will not do they endeavour 2. To banish all thoughts of God out of their mind and to cast off the remembrance of him Because they cannot sin quietly for him they resolve not to think of him and therefore put those thoughts far from them that give them this disturbance This was the Atheists course in David's time who tells us That God was not in all their thoughts yea that his thoughts were always grievous to them and therefore they removed them far out of their sight that they might have no fear of him before their Eyes And the thoughts of a God that observes and records our Actions and will one day reckon for them are still irksom and grievous to impenitent sinners which makes them use their Art to get rid of them Indeed could they but reconcile the belief of a Deity with the enjoyment of their lusts the thoughts of him would be easie enough to them and this temptation to Atheism in a great measure cease Could they serve the true God as the Heathens did the false ones with riot and uncleaness none would be greater Votaries than they But since the sense of him strikes such a damp upon their Pleasures and puts such a curb and restraint upon their Vices they cannot away with the thoughts of him and therefore labour to rid their minds of the belief that they may be rid of the fear of such a Being But is this a wise or safe course No extremely foolish and dangerous for tho ' it be weakness to fear where no fear is yet not to fear where there is a just cause and a proper Object for it is the height of Folly And to shut our Eyes against a certain Danger for fear of being frightned by it is no better than madness Indeed could we put out the Sun by winking or avoid the danger of Divine Vengeance by shaking off the dread of it there might be some shew of Reason for our Unbelief but since the truth of things depends not upon our belief or disbelief of them and the very Notion of a Deity implies a necessity of Existence it must be monstrously senseless and unreasonable to cast off the awe and dread of him Again To regulate our Faith by interest and affection is to walk by a false and crooked Rule For these being frequently corrupted clap a wrong Biass upon the Mind which too often turns it from the Truth and turns it unto Fables And consequently to steer our course by these measures is to follow a false Guide which must lead us out of our way Indeed would men rightly understand and follow their true Interest it would then lead them aright into the paths of Religion there being no comfort or security at all to be had without it But when they weakly mistake their Interest and vainly wish there were no Superior Being to obstruct it they do but court misery and fondly chuse their own destruction In short the vast risque that these men run plainly shews it to be extremely unsafe and dangerous For if the Atheist find at last that there is a God whom he hath all his life-time deny'd and despis'd what unspeakable Horror must seize his guilty Soul which must groan for ever under the wrath of such an Almighty Being and be eternally miserable without ease or remedy The Good-man runs no risque at all for the sense of such a Being hath made him more healthful and easie to himself more useful and serviceable to others and more honoured and respected of all men for both And if there be no God at last he can find no inconvenience in this belief but if there be one he hath infinitely the better on 't being sure to be Eternally Happy in his favour and presence So that if this were but a doubtful Case common prudence teaches men to chuse the safest side to which therefore 't will be our Wisdom to incline I am SIR Your hearty Friend A. B. October 16. 1698. LETTER II. SIR I Find you sensible in your last of the great evil and danger of that Artifice which hath drawn so many into Atheism viz. The casting off the awe and sense of a Deity that they may go on the more securely in their Sins I proceed in this to another Device made use of to the same purpose and that is some Mens endeavouring to solve the Phaenomena of the Universe and to give an account of the Existence of the World without a Supream Being 'T is well known that one of the Principal Arguments and Demonstrations of a Deity is taken from the Works both of Creation and Providence The Invisible things of God from the Creation of the World being clearly seen even his Eternal Power and Godhead And 't is evident as the same Apostle told the Men of Lystra That God hath not left himself without witness in that he doth good and giveth rain from Heaven and fruitful seasons filling our hearts with food and gladness Indeed the admirable frame and order of the World together with the wonderful Provision made for all the Creatures in it plainly bespeak an Almighty Agent to be both the Contriver and Preserver of it Yea there are those visible marks of an Infinite Power Wisdom and Goodness stampt upon every Creature that manifestly shew the Finger of a God and direct our Minds to the Knowledge and Contemplation of him Now to evade this clear and palpable Proof of his Being the Atheist racks his Brain to find out a way of accounting for these things without a first Cause or Orderer of them And of these there are two sorts viz. The first Of those that assert the Eternity of the World The other Of such as make it the Product of Chance and Fortune The Former are the followers of Aristotle and the Latter of Epicurus Both which shew their great unwillingness to believe a Deity and how desirous they are to live without God in the World But let us Examine the Account they give us of these Matters To which end let us begin with the first sort 1st Who to set aside a First Cause affirm the World to have had no beginning but to have been from Eternity as it now is there having been an Eternal Succession of Men and all
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
of such a thing But is nothing to be believ'd but what we have some information of from our Senses How then shall we believe we have a Soul of which none of our Senses can give us any information for if it be at all it must be a Spiritual and immaterial Substance which cannot incur into or be discern'd by any of them Beside are there not many noble Effects and Operations that proceed from an invisible Cause Do we not find that we can reason judge and inferr one thing from another tho' we see not the Principle from whence they come Have we not an Understanding Will and Affections to know chuse and affect things tho' the Spring of them occur not to any of our Senses Do we not find a World made and preserv'd tho' we see not that invisible hand that first did the one and still continues the other Indeed had we no higher Principle of knowledge in us than our Senses it would be hard to form a Notion of God or any Spiritual and immaterial Substance because these things cannot be the Object of Sensation but having a superior Principle that is a Mind within us that can raise us above all gross and Corporeal Objects 't is easie to conceive that a Spiritual Substance may be discern'd by the Mind tho' it cannot be the Object of our Senses Are there not many Truths in all Arts and Sciences that fall not under the Cognizance of any of our Senses Yea are not the Essences of all things invisible and discoverable only by the Powers and Sagacity of the Mind which from the outward Effects can judge of the inward Nature of the Causes The Understanding can penetrate much farther into the inside of things than our Senses or Fancy can enable us to do we find the Mind can and frequently does correct the Errors of Sense and Imagination of which many instances might be given if it were needful to enlarge But this is sufficient to make it evident that there is a higher Principle of Knowledge within us than that of our outward Senses and that many things are knowable and intelligible by the one that are not convey'd by the other So that 't is false Reasoning to infer that the Mind cannot have a Notion or Idea of a Spiritual and immaterial Substance because it cannot be the Object of Sensation Again the Atheist tells us that the Notion of a God supposes him to be Infinite and Incomprehensible and therefore it must be altogether unconceiveable by Human Understanding which cannot grasp Infinity or comprehend what is Incomprehensible But may not the Mind apprehend something of a Deity tho' it cannot comprehend the whole of him Is it wise arguing because we have not all knowledge therefore we have none at all If we know as much of him as the greatness of the Object and the slenderness of our Faculties will admit that is if we know him to be a Being absolutely and eminently perfect without the least degree of defect or imperfection is not this sufficient to create a Notion and Belief of him There is scarce any inferior Being that we can fully comprehend and because we understand not all Mysteries in Nature shall we conclude from thence that we are quite ignorant and can have no Notion or Idea of any thing This will lead to downright Scepticism and make us believe we know nothing Beside we may know as much of him as 't is fit for us now to know we are not at present able to receive the full knowledge and splendor of the Deity a great part whereof is reserv'd for the Happiness of a future State when we shall see God as he is and tho' we here know but in part shall then know even as we are known and therefore 't is monstrously unreasonable to quarrel with the Notion and Idea of a God or think it altogether unconceivable because we cannot comprehend his infinite Perfections in this present imperfect state wherein we know but little of any thing else But how does the Atheist account for all these noble Effects and Operations of the Mind without the Notion of a Spirit Why by resolving all into Matter and Motion For he tells us that some of the finer and more subtle parts of Matter call'd Atoms being in continual motion luckily fall into those configurations by which all this is perform'd without the help or direction of a Deity And that some happen to be wiser and more knowing than others proceeds from some of those more refined parts of Matter falling accidentally into more happy forms and contextures in them than they do in others and so instead of believing in God they believe only in Matter and Motion A great piece of Subtilty indeed to sublimate Matter into Spirit and to ascribe the Noblest Acts and Operations in the World to the most unactive and sluggish of all things in it But whence should Matter have this Motion which neither is nor hath in it any self-moving Principle Why of this no account can be given without some Spiritual Being that must give it all its activity Can dull Matter of it self infer one thing from another and perform those reflex Acts which we find in rational Beings Can it range the Universe in Thought and Contemplation Or dive into profound Speculations No these things require another and higher Principle than stupid and senseless Matter and owe their rise to some more refin'd spiritual and intelligent Being In short The Notion of a Spirit is so necessary to the solving of these and a thousand other difficulties that none but such as are wholly immers'd in Matter can doubt or disbelieve it I am SIR Yours A. B. LETTER X. SIR ANother Device of the Atheist is his taking occasion from the unequal distribution of Earthly Things to question both the Being and Providence of a God They see Good Men afflicted and the Wicked in great prosperity which they think could not be if the World were govern'd by so Wise Just and Excellent a Being as is pretended This is a Quarrel of an ancient date or an old stumbling Block that hath trip'd up the Heels of many We read of it in David's days who was himself in great danger of stumbling at it for himself tells us that his Feet were almost gone and his Steps had well nigh slipt when he saw the Wicked in great prosperity that they were not in trouble like other folk not plagued like other Men but were lusty and strong their Eyes standing out with Fatness having as much as heart could wish whilst better men than they look'd meager and thin being pinch'd with want and chastened every morning This made him begin to doubt whether there were any wise and Supreme Being that order'd these things I beheld saith he the Vngodly flourishing like a green Bay-tree and the Righteous Man at the same time drooping and hanging the head like a whither'd leaf verily I have cleans'd my heart in vain
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
better than their Actions and in such cases the wisest course is to do as they say and not as they do This direction we find given with Relation to the Pharisees who sate in Moses's Chair and spake many good things from it tho' their doings ran counter to their Doctrines what therefore they say we are bid to do but not to do after their works for they say and do not Certainly 't is a much better course to learn from others bad lives to amend our own than to take occasion from thence to grow worse and to cast off all fear of God from before our Eyes Beside have not some Men bad designs to carry on And do they stick at any ways or means to promote them May not the best things be abus'd to evil purposes And is nothing true or good because it may be made to serve bad ends Now tho' these false tricks of Hypocrites may be a good Reason why we should not believe every Spirit or be carried away by vain pretences yet they can be no Argument against the Truth of Religion no more than it would be to affirm that there are no true Diamonds because there are so many counterfeits How then comes it to pass that so many are caught in this snare and mis-led by such an apparent fallacy Why this must proceed partly From some Mens aversness to Religion heighten'd by a strong desire to follow the swinge of their corrupt inclinations and to be freed from any check or restraint it might lay upon them And Partly likewise from their too great proneness to Atheism which makes them lay hold on any thing tho' never so mean that may give any countenance or encouragement to it In short then The Atheists great aptness to draw such bad Conclusions from Lives may be a good Caution against all Immorality and Vice by which the name of God is Blasphem'd but can by no means be made a Plea for Atheism or give any just Cause to discard Religion as an Imposture I am SIR Yours A. B. LETTER XIII SIR HAving in the foregoing Letters shew'd the weakness of the Atheists Arguments against a Deity I proceed in this to another Artifice he makes use of to undermine the Belief and Worship of him and that is to Scoff at and Deride Religion and if he cannot Argue it to endeavour to Laugh it out of the World This is done by those who would be thought to be the knowing Men and Wits of the Age who first try the strength of their Reason and when that fails fly to Art to support their Atheism and set their Wits at work to Rally and Ridicule Religion This is a degree of wickedness which Men are not wont to arrive to presently for the Psalmist intimates that they must walk a while in the Counsel of the Vngodly and stand in the way of Sinners before they can set down and settle in the Chair of the Scorner Psal 1. 1. When they are seated there and accustomed themselves to this vile practice they soon lose the sense of a Deity and so perswade themselves and others that there is no God because they have the impudence to scorn and despise him But do these Men think by Laughter to alter the Nature of Good and Evil Or that a God of Infinite Power Wisdom and Justice will be thus play'd or droll'd out of his Being Can they hope to prevail by leveling their Blasphemies against the most High setting their Mouth against the Heavens and causing their Tongue to walk through the Earth No certainly this is both a fruitless and frivolous attempt for he that sitteth in the Heavens will laugh them to scorn the Lord shall have them in derision What end then can these Men propose in such a vile piece of Wickedness Why this is done First to gain to themselves the Reputation of being Wits which they endeavour to do by exposing the most serious things The life and picquancy of Wit as one hath well observ'd lies in the surprizingness of its conceits and expressions and consequently to Ridicule things Sacred which ought in Reason to be Priviledg'd from it is most apt to astonish and surprize the hearers and if any as light and vain Persons are wont to be are thereby moved to Laughter they are tickled with the conceit and thereby please and inure themselves to this impious practice This way the dullest persons if they will be Prophane enough may be easily dubb'd Wits by venturing to say those rude things of God and Religion which no wise Man would presume to utter and this proves a strong temptation to many who have no other way to be thought witty Again 2dly This is thought by some a genteel and brave thing to go out of the common Road and to cast off those fears which others are aw'd and terrifi'd withal they reckon it a sort of Gallantry of Spirit to be above the frights that possess Vulgar Minds and to shake off those Fetters of Religion with which the generality suffer themselves tamely to be bound and the better to break these Chains they labour to break their Jests upon them Moreover 3dly This is done to give the better countenance to their sinful practices and immoralities for if they can expose Virtue and make Religion ridiculous they may act their Vices with the greater grace and follow the sway of their Lusts without shame or controul Beside they think it a good Plea for their Wickedness that they do not therein contradict any Principle they profess they act suitably to what they pretend and therefore to put the better Face upon their Vices they laugh at those for Fools who do not believe and act as they do Thus by accustoming themselves to ridicule the most serious things they bring on a Contempt of God and Religion and droll themselves into Atheism But is there any Wisdom or Safety in so doing No quite otherwise nothing can be more sottish or dangerous for all such Mirth is no better than Madness and this kind of Laughter will shortly end in weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth We have heard of some that would rather lose their Friend than their Jest but 't is strange that this drolling humour should carry any so far as to make them venture the loss of the favour of God the best Friend and Benefactor in the World for the sake of an idle prophane Jest which taints the Air that gives it breath and either grates upon or corrupts the Ears of those that hear it But because this is become a too frequent and fashionable practice and hath betray'd many into Atheism 't will be requisite to lay open the folly and danger of it And First if there were nothing else the unpardonable rudeness and indecence of this practice is sufficient to shew it highly unbecoming any person of Sense or Breeding for since Mankind generally profess a high esteem and veneration for God and Religion it must be a