Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n
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A66485
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Reflexions upon a pamphlet intituled, An account of the growth of deism in England together with some considerations about the Christian religion.
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Willis, Richard, 1664-1734.
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1696
(1696)
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Wing W2816; ESTC R38311
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32,108
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81
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as this and nothing but the mighty Power of God concurring with them could ever have brought it to effect The less internal Credibility there is in the Nature of the Things themselves the more external Evidence is necessary to gain 'em Belief especially if for the Belief of these Men must go against their former Prejudices and hazard the Loss of all they have I have now considered the chief Causes of Deism assigned by our Author there are some other matters still behind but it was not my Intent to take notice of every thing that might be found fault with in his Pamphlet but only to make some Reflexions upon those Calumnies or Mistakes in it that were like to do the greatest Mischief As for those things that remain they are either only Repetitions of what has been spoke to already or else Matters of small consequence or such things as the World will easily see through and therefore I do not judge it proper to trouble either him or my self about them I hope I need not beg pardon either of God or the World for the manner of handling these Matters and I am sure I need not beg pardon of the Person who wrote the Pamphlet I reflect upon A Man that has a hearty Concern for Religion cannot but sometimes shew that Concern where he sees Religion in Danger and upon that account speak his Mind plainly But I am so great an Enemy to all Wrath and Bitterness in Writing that I do not think it justifiable even in replying to one of the spitefullest Pamphlets I ever saw for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God The Cause of God and Religion does not need the Passions of Men to defend it And whoever brings them into the Controverfie whatever Good he may do it one way will certainly do it Prejudice another Having now dismissed our Author I think it proper before I conclude to prevent any Prejudice which such a Representation of things as he has given may do to the Christian Religion to say something to that In doing this I shall not insist upon those many Arguments commonly brought to prove the Truth of it such as the exact fulfilling of the Prophecies of the Old Testament concerning the Birth and Life and Death of our Blessed Saviour the many Miracles that were done in Confirmation of this Religion for several Ages together especially the Resurrection of our Saviour himself from the Dead the Purity of its Precepts the Nobleness and Excellency of its Promises the Divine and Heavenly Nature of it which whoever well considers will find it to be a Doctrine worthy the Care of a good God These things have been largely insisted upon by others and do indeed effectually prove what they are brought for But I shall at present pass them over and desire leave only to insist upon this one thing which I chose to do because it contains in it a full Answer to the whole Method of arguing which our Author puts in the mouths of his Deists and that is this That the Persons who were the first Preachers and Promoters of our Religion and who have delivered us an Account of the Miracles done in Confirmation of it were Persons who could not propose to themselves any Interest of their own in what they did they could have no Expectations but of that Reward which their Religion promises them in the other World as for the things of This we see plainly they did not pretend to them Their Master had told them that Persecution was like to be the Portion of his Disciples which accordingly they did very sufficiently meet with being persecuted from one Place to another till at last they laid down their Lives in Confirmation of that Truth they had preached But we see however that while they had their Lives they went very zealously and cheerfully on being joyful if they could but do their Master's Business and contribute toward the saving of Souls whatever became of themselves Of this S. Paul gives us a pathetical Account in his Farewel-Speech to the Church of Ephesus as you may see at large in the 20th Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles You know says he from the first day that I came into Asia how I have been with you at all times serving the Lord with all lowliness and many tears and temptations which happened to me from the lying in wait of the Jews And now behold being led by the spirit I go up to Jerusalem not knowing what shall befall me there only that the Holy Ghost hath told me that in every City bonds and imprisonments abide me But I regard not these things neither count I my life dear so I may but finish my course with joy and the Ministry that I have received of the Lord Jesus to preach the Gospel of the grace of God These and many other things he there speaks to them with that Air of Seriousness and Concern and true Greatness of Soul which became an Apostle of Christ and plainly shewed that he was in good earnest The truth is it seems to be impossible that there should be so much Zeal and Earnestness to promote that which they were not fully convinced in their Conscience to be true and much more impossible that they should with so much Joy suffer for that which if it were false they must know to be an Imposture and an Impudent Lye But it may be some may object that the bare Suffering for any Cause is not a sufficient Evidence of the Truth of it because we see that there is scarce any Religion but what has had those who have Suffered for it And therefore if that were a good Argument of the Truth of any Religion it would prove Contradictions to be true it being a very common thing in the World to see some Men suffer for Affirming and others for Denying the same thing As to this it may be answered That there seems in several Respects to be a great Difference betwixt the Sufferings of the first Christians for their Religion and the Sufferings of any other Party but this I would not insist upon All that I would prove from their Sufferings is That they were honest Men and did really believe That for which they Suffered to be Truth and this I think cannot well be denied if we grant 'em to have had Flesh and Blood as we now have And this may perhaps be said for those that suffer on other Accounts That they are honest Men too And therefore the best way to see the difference is to consider the different Natures of the Things for which they suffer As for Matters of Opinion or the Sense of doubtful Expression in a Book or the like these are Cases in which an honest Man may be mistaken and therefore if he suffer in such a Case tho' it may prove him an honest Man yet it does not prove him to be in the right because in Cases of this kind the honestest Man
in the World may be sometimes Mistaken and because he is an honest Man will if there be occasion suffer for that Mistake But the Cause for which the Apostles and first Christians suffered was of a different Nature and such as they could not be mistaken about A great part of what they Preached to the World were plain and open matters of fact that they saw their Saviour frequently do Miracles that they saw him heal the Sick cast out Devils raise the Dead by his bare Word that they saw the Wonders at his own Death that they saw him frequently after his Resurrection that he gave them such and such Instructions to Preach to the World that they saw the miraculous Effusion of the Holy Ghost at the day of Peutecost that they heard the whole Multitude of their Friends and Acquaintance whom they knew before to speak with Tongues they had never been taught that this Gift and that of working other Miracles was common in the Church and frequently and openly exercised These are plain and open Matters of fact such as they could not mistake in such as must be true or else the most impudent Lies that ever were told and yet these are the things for which they did so joyfully suffer the Loss of All and undergo all that 's hard to human Nature To conclude this Head There can be no Reason imagined why Our Saviour and his Apostles should chuse such parts to act in the World without a full Conviction of the Truth of what they said as for our Blessed Saviour he was to be a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with Grief to live a mean and a despised life and at last to be cut off for the sins of his people which certainly was no eligible part unless upon those noble motives upon which we suppose he undertook it And as for the Apostles and first Christians it cannot be imagined what should make 'em take so much Pains run up and down the World with so much Zeal preach with so much Concern and suffer Bonds and Imprisonments Ignominy and Contempt and at last Death it self with so much Joy unless they were fully satisfied of the Reality of those great things they preached to the World This being plainly the Case of the first Preachers and Promoters of Christianity we may from hence infer That the Christian Religion was no Politick Invention or Trick of State to serve any Ends or Designs of Government upon the People This is indeed a very common Objection against Religion that it is only an Art of Governors to keep People in Order and so to serve their turns of them And it must be confessed that to Persons who do not examine things to the bottom there has been Occasion given to make this Objection for in most Ages and Nations Persons in Authority as well as private Men have served their own Designs under pretence of Religion sometimes by inventing things to work upon Peoples Superstition at other times by encouraging Parties or any particular Opinions as may best serve their own Interest These things no question have been frequently done and therefore we have reason to suspect any thing if we can give no better an Account of its Original But as for those who argue from hence against Religion in general and say it 's all a Politick Device I desire they would not be too hasty but consider well what they mean by Religion As for the Principles of Natural Religion that God is the Maker and Governour of the World that he is therefore to be worshipped and served by his Creatures that Men are to be just and honest and true to their Words and the like these are things we have plain Reason for and therefore these tho' they may be made use of to serve a Turn yet cannot be Inventions of State And as for the Christian Religion none of its Enemies ever pretended that it came into the World in this manner All that States or Kingdoms had to do with it for several Ages was only to persecute it and its Professors Not but that the Christian Religion may have been since made use of to serve Designs as well as any other and have had several things added to it with that Prospect But I now speak only for so much of it as is to be found in the New Testament and it 's as plain as any thing can be in History and no Man that I know of ever yet pretended the contrary that this is no such Invention And if they will but grant us the Principles of Natural Religion and the Christian Religion we will grant them if they please that all the rest is only Trick and Design 2. Since it 's plain that the Apostles and first Preachers of Christianity could propose no worldly Interest to themselves in what they did but on the other side met with Scorn and Contempt Bonds and Imprisonments yet for all that went very zealously and cheerfully on as long as their Persecutors would let 'em live We may from thence infer that what they did was not to serve any End or Design of their own it 's very plain there could be no Priest-Craft here And therefore whatever may be laid to the Charge of After-Ages in this kind has nothing to do here the Christian Religion must be freed from this Aspersion And this is at once a full Answer to the whole method of Arguing used in that Pamphlet I have reflected upon That supposing the worst that all those ill things he says of the Clergy were indeed true that is really nothing to the Christian Religion which was either true or false many hundred Years ago and cannot now be made either by any thing that can be done now the Credit of it does not depend upon the present Times or Persons or any thing they can do but upon the Character of the first Preachers of it and upon what they did if they were Men of Integrity and Honesty and did and saw done what they tell us then this Religion must be true and therefore that 's the thing to be enquired after but he that will but reflect a little upon what has been said can hardly doubt of that unless Human Nature were a different thing then from what it is now and Men had then as strong a Desire to undergo Contempt and Sufferings and Death it self without any reason as we see they have now to avoid them It is therefore no Reflexion upon Christianity that the Clergy now live and live handsomely by their Profession Time was when their Religion was in a state of Persecution and then none suffered so much as they for it and I do not question but a great number of them would cheerfully do the same now should God call 'em to it but the Times are altered our Religion is now encourag'd and when that is so certainly both God and Nature and the common Reason of Mankind require that the Ministers of it should