would not only exceed the capacity of the vulgar but the understanding of all Mankind for who could possibly retain and comprehend so great a Number of Histories and so many circumstances and parts of Doctrine as might be collected from so many and different Histories truly I cannot be perswaded that those Men who left us the Scripture as we now have it abounded with so much Wit as to be able to find out such a demonstration of its Doctrine much less do I believe that the Doctrine of the Scripture could not have been understood unless we had been told of Isaacs strivings about the digging of Wells of Achitophels Council to Absalon and the Civil Wars between the Children of Iudah and Israel with other Chronicles of like kind or that the Iews who lived in the time of Moses were not so capable of understanding the Doctrine of Scripture by Histories as were the Iews who lived in the time of Esdras of which more hereafter the common People are therefore obliged to know only those Histories which stir up their minds to Devotion Piety and Obedience but they are not competent Judges of those Histories because they are more pleased with the narrations and the unexpected events of things then with the Doctrine it self and for this reason beside the reading of Histories they need Pastors and Ministers in the Church to instruct their weak understanding But not to digress from what we principally design'd to prove we conclude that the belief of Histories whatever they be doth not belong to the Divine Law nor doth of it self make Men happy or blessed nor are Histories profitable except it be in point of Doctrine which is the only thing that makes some Histories therefore contain'd in the Old and New Testament excel those that are profane and common and Scripture Histories mutually compared are more excellent one then another for sound and wholsom Doctrine He then that reads Scripture Histories and in all things gives intire credit to them yet if he follow not their Doctrine and amend his Life it is all one with him as if he read the Alchoran a Comedy or any vulgar History but as we have already said he that never heard of Scripture if his Opinions be true and his Life righteous he is truly blessed and the Spirit of Christ is in him but the Iews are of a contrary Opinion for they say let a Mans Opinions be never so Orthodox and his Life never so vertuous yet if he be guided only by natural Light and not by the Doctrins which are Prophetically revealed to Moses he can never be blessed and happy which Rabbi Maimonides boldly affirms in his Eighth Chapter and Second Law concerning Kings He that receiveth the Seven Commandments and diligently performeth them is one of the Pious among the Nations and Heir of the World to come that is if he receive and Practise them because God in his Law commanded and revealed them by Moses and because those precepts were also given to the Sons of Noah but if he Practise them by the guidance and dictates of natural reason he is none of us nor is he to be thought one of the Pious and Learned of the Nations It was an opinion among the Iews that God gave to Noah seven Commandments and that all Nations were obliged to observe only those seven but that God gave many more Commandments to the Iews that he might make them much happier then other Nations Rabbi Ioseph the Son of Shem Tob in his Book called Kbod Elohim or the Glory of God likewise saith that tho' Aristotle whose Book of Ethicks was in his opinion the best that ever was written had omitted nothing which belonged to that Subject and he himself had diligently Practised all he Writ yet he could not be saved because he embraced those Doctrins he taught as the dictates of reason and not as divine and Prophetical Revelations But these conceits are meer Fopperys grounded neither upon reason or Scripture and need no more confutation then doth the opinion of some Men who maintain that by natural light and reason we cannot know any thing belonging to Salvation a Tenet that cannot be rationally prov'd by Men who do not allow themselves any reason but what is corrupted and depraved and if they boast of any thing above reason 't is meer Folly and far beneath reason as sufficiently appears by their manner of living so that of this we need say no more I will only add this that no Man can be known but by his works and therefore they that abound in the Fruits of Love joy peace long suffering Gentleness Goodness Faith Meekness Temperance c. against whom saith Paul Galat. chap. 5. v. 22. there is no Law whether they be taught by reason or Scripture they are certainly taught of God and are truly blessed CHAP. VI. Of Miracles AS Men use to call that knowledge Divine which exceeds human capacity and understanding so when any thing is done in nature of which the common People know not the cause that they call the Work of God for the vulgar believe Gods Power and Providence do most plainly appear when they see any thing strange and unusual happen in nature contrary to the customary opinion they have of Nature especially when that which happens is for their benefit and advantage and they think the being of a God never more clearly proved then when nature seems not to keep its constant course and therefore conclude that those Men deny the Being and Providence of God who endeavour to explain and understand what they call Miracles by their natural causes They indeed think that while Nature goes on in her wonted course God doth nothing and on the contrary when God Acts the Power of Nature and Natural Causes are idle and at a stand so that they imagin two numerical distinct Powers namely the Power of God and the Power of Nature appointed and directed or as most Men now believe Created by God but what they mean by either or what they understand by God and Nature they know not but fancy Gods Power to be like that of a great King. And the Power of Nature nothing but blind force and violence the Common People therefore call the extraordinary Works of Nature Miracles or the Works of God and partly out of Devotion partly out of a desire to contradict those that love the Study of Natural Sciences they affect being ignorant of Natural Causes desiring to hear of things they do not know and those things which they least know they most admire by taking away Natural Causes and by imagining things out of the order of Nature they think God is most adored when all things are immediately referr'd to his Power and Will neither do they think the Power of God at any time so wonderful as when according to their fancy it conquers and subdues the Power of Nature Which Opinion was first brought into the World by the Iews who to
other Power whatever contrary to Nature that must also be contrary to those first Notions and so be rejected as absurd and against Reason or else we must doubt of our prime Notions and consequently of God and all things else Miracles therefore in what manner soever we apprehend them as they are understood to be Works contrary to the Order of Nature are far from proving God's existence they rather bring it into Question for without Miracles vve may be assur'd of it namely by knovving that all things observe the certain and immutable Order of Nature but granting that to be a miracle vvhich cannot be explained and made knovvn by natural Causes vve ought then either to conclude that it hath natural Causes but such as cannot be found out by Human Understanding or that it hath no immediate Cause but God or his Will but if all things which are effected by Natural Causes are done only by the Power and Will of God we must necessarily at last come to this that whether a Miracle have natural Causes or not it is a Work which cannot be manifested by a Natural Cause that is 't is a Work which exceeds Hnman Capacity and from a Work that exceeds Human Understanding we can understand and collect nothing for whatever we clearly and distinctly understand we do it by the thing it self or some other and that which is clearly and distinctly understood by it self ought to be perfectly known to us therefore by a miracle or any Work exceeding Human Capacity we cannot conceive God's Essence or Existence nor can we absolutely understand any thing of God or Nature but on the contrary when we know all things to be ordained and establisht by God and that the Operations of Nature ncessarily flow from the Essence of God and that the Laws of Nature are the Eternal Decrees and purposes of God it must necessarily be concluded that we so much the better know God and his Will by how much the better we understand and know Natural Things how they depend in their first Cause and how they operate according to the Eternal Laws of Nature So that in Respect of our Understanding with much more Reason are those Works to be called the Works of God and his Will which we clearly and distinctly understand then those of which we are totally ignorant tho' they strangely effect our imagination and cause our wonder because only those Works of Nature which we clearly and distinctly know render our Knowledge of God more sublime and more evidently declare the Will and Decrees of God So that those Men do but trifle who when they do not understand a thing run presently to the Will of God and ridiculously betray their own Ignorance moreover whatever we conclude from miracles yet the Existence of God cannot in any manner be concluded from them for since a miracle is a limited Work and expresseth only a certain and limited Power we cannot from such an Effect conclude the Existence of a Cause whose Power is infinite but only of a Cause whose Power at most is greater then that Effect I say at most because from many concuring Causes there may follow an effect whose Vertue and Power may be less then all the Causes together and yet much greater then the Power of any one of those Causes taken single but because the Laws of Nature As we have already shewn extend themselves to things Infinite being conceived by us under a kind of Eternity and Nature by them proceeds in a certain and unchangeable course so far do those Laws in some measure declare to us the Eternity and Immutability of God and therefore we conclude that neither God's Being or Providence can be known by miracles but may much better be concluded from the fixed and unalterable Course of Nature I speak now of a miracle as it is taken for a Work that is above Human Capacity or believ'd to be so for as it is supposed to be a Work that interrupts or perverts the Order of Nature or is repugnant tc its Laws it is so far from giving us any Knowledge of God that it takes away that which we naturally have and makes us doubt of God and all other things Nor do I know any difference between a thing done contrary to Nature and that which is done above Nature that is as some explain themselves a thing which is not done contrary to the Order of Nature but yet is not effected and produced by Nature for seeing a miracle is not wrought out of Nature but within the Compass of it tho' it be concluded to be above Nature yet it must necessarily interrupt Natures Order which by the Decrees of God we conceived to be fixed and immutable and therefore whatever is done in Nature which doth not follow from the Rules of Nature that must necessarily be repugnant to that Order which God to all Eternity by Universal Laws establisht in Nature and consequently being against Nature and its Laws the believing it must bring all things into doubt and lead us to Atheism So that by what hath been said I hope I have so proved the Second Particular that we may again conclude a miracle whether contrary to Nature or above it to be a meer absurdity and that by a miracle nothing can be understood in Scripture but a Work of Nature which is indeed above Human Understanding or at least believed to be so Before I proceed to the Third Particular I resolve to prove from Scripture that we cannot know God by Miracles indeed the Scripture doth no where Litterally say so but we may conclude it from the 13. Chap. of Deut. Where Moses commands the People to put any Prophet to death who went about to seduce them And tho' the Sign and the Wonder come to pass whereof he spake unto thee an yet thou shalt not hearken to the Words of the Prophet for the Lord your God proveth you that Prophet shall be put to death From whence it clearly follows that miracles might be done by false Prophets and unless men were fortifyed with the true Knowledge and Love of God they might be induced by miracles to worship false Gods as well as the true Moses adds because the Lord your God proveth you to know whether you love him with all your Heart and with all your Soul. The Israelites notwithstanding all their miracles had no right Notions of God which appears by Experience for in the Absence of Moses they called upon Aron to make them visible Gods who to their Eternal shame made them after so many Miracles done a Calf to represent God. Asaph who had heard of so many miracles yet doubted of God's Providence and had he not at last understood what was true Happiness he had gone out of the right Way Psalm 73. Solomon also in whose time the Iews were in their highest Prosperity believed that all things happened by chance Eccles. Chap. 3. v. 19 20 21. and chap. 9. v. 2 3. The
is lawful for every Man to think as he pleaseth and to speak what he thinks CHAP. I. Concerning Prophesy PRophesy or Revelation is the true Knowledge of any thing revealed to Men by God and he is a Prophet who declares and expounds those things which God hath revealed to Persons that cannot have any certain knowledge of those Revelations but must therefore only by mere Faith receive and embrace them A Prophet was by the Iews called Nabi that is an Orator or Interpreter as appears in the 7 th chap. of Exodus v. 1 st And the Lord said unto Moses see I have made thee a God to Pharaoh and Aron thy Brother shall be thy Prophet as if he should have said Aron by Interpreting to Pharaoh what thou say'st shall Act the Part of a Prophet and thou the Part of God. We will speak of Prophets in the next Chapter but in this only of Prophesy It follows from the definition which hath been given of it that Natural knowledge may be called Prophesy for those things which we know by the light of nature depend only upon the knowledge of God and his Eternal decrees but because this knowledge is natural to all Mankind being founded upon Principles common to all Men 't is of no value with the vulgar who always affecting things rare and out of their Road despise the Gifts of Nature and therefore whereever mention is made of Prophetical knowledge they totally exclude Natural which may with as much right be called Divine as the other whatever it be seeing the Nature of God of which we participate and the decrees of God dictate it unto us neither doth Natural knowledge differ from that which Men call Divine but only because Divine knowledge exceedeth the Limits of Natural and because the Laws of Humane Nature considered in themselves cannot be the cause of Divine knowledge but Natural knowledge in respect of the certainty which it includes and in respect of the Fountain from whence it proceeds namely from God himself doth in no wise give place to Prophetical knowledge unless some will think or rather dream that the Prophets had Humane Bodies but not Humane Souls and therefore their perceptions and knowledge were of a quite different Nature from ours But though natural knowledge be Divine yet they that possess and propagate it cannot be called Prophtes because the things which they teach may with equal certainty and in as high a degree be Apprehended and Embraced by others as well as by themselves and that too not by Faith only Since therefore our Mind for no other reason but only because it containeth in it self the Nature of God as its Object and also participating thereof is able to Form certain Notions which explicate the Nature of things and teach us the use of Life we may with reason conclude that the Nature of Man's mind being what 't is conceived to be is the prime Cause of Divine Revelation for all those things which we clearly and distinctly understand the Idea of God as we have already shewn and Nature dictate to us not in words but in a much more excellent manner and such as best suites with the Nature of the Mind as every one finds by his own experience who hath but tasted what certain knowledge is but because my cheif purpose is to speak of those things which belong only to the Scripture that little I have said of Natural knowledge shall suffice and I now proceed to other causes and means by which God reveals to Men those things which do exceed and also those which do not exceed the bounds of Natural knowledge for nothing hinders but that those things which we know by the Light of Nature God may by other ways communicate to Men of which now I will more fully Treat But whatsoever is said upon this Subject ought to be fetcht only from Scripture for we can say no more of things that pass our understanding then that which the Prophets have deliver'd to us either by word or writing and because we have not any Prophets that I know in these our days all that we have to do is diligently to peruse the Sacred Volums which the Prophets have left us but still with this caution that we determin nothing positively of things of this Nature nor attribute any thing to the Prophets themselves which they have not plainly spoken and taught But it is in the first place to be observed that the Iews never used to make mention of mediate and particular Causes nor ever regarded them but for the promoting of Religion Piety and Devotion had always recourse to God for Example if they got Money by the Trade of Merchandizing they said God gave it if they earnestly desired to do any thing they said God disposed their Hearts to it if they seriously thought on any thing they said it was declared to them by God so that every thing which the Scripture saith God declared to any one is not to be taken for Prophesy and Supernatural knowledge but that only which the Scripture expresly declares or from the Circumstances of the narration plainly appears to be Prophesy and Revelation If then we run through all the Sacred Volums we shall find that all those things which God revealed to the Prophets were revealed to them either by words or by Figures and Signs or else by both together and that the words and Signs were either real and true without the imagination of the hearing and seeing Prophet or but imaginary that is the fancy and imagination of the Prophet even when he was awake was so disposed that he verily thought he heard words or saw and beheld some thing or sign God in a true and real voice revealed those Laws to Moses which he prescribed to the Iews as appears by the 25 th chap. of Exod. v. 22. where he saith And there will I meet with thee and I will commune with thee from above the mercy Seat from between thee two Cherubims which plainly shews that God made use of some real voice seeing Moses where-ever he pleased found God ready to speak to him and that only this voice by which the Law was Published was a true and real voice I will presently shew One would think that the voice by which God called Samuel was real because in the first Book of Sam. the 3 d. chap. and last verse it is said The Lord appeared again in Shiloh for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord as if he had said the appearance of God to Samuel was nothing else but Gods making known himself to him by word or signifyed no more then that Samuel heard God speaking but because we are forced to distinguish between the Prophesy of Moses and that of the other Prophets it must be concluded that the voice heard by Samuel was but imaginary because it was like the voice of Ely which he had so often heard and therefore the sooner
Law which depends upon the necessity of Nature is that which necessarily follows from the very Nature or Definition of any thing and the Law which depends upon the Pleasure of Men and is more properly called Law is that which Men for the greater safety and benefit of Life or for other Causes do prescribe to themselves and others for Example that all Bodies when they hit or dash against other less Bodies do loose so much of their own Motion as they impart to those other less Bodies is the Universal Law of all Bodies which follows from the necessity of Nature so likewise when a Man remembers one thing he is presently mindful of another like it or as soon as he sees them together is a Law which necessarily follows from Human Nature but that Men voluntarily part with or are compell'd to part with that Right which every one hath by Nature and oblige themselves to a certain Rule and Manner of living depends upon the Will and Pleasure of Men and tho' it be absolutely granted that all things by the Universal Laws of Nature are ordain'd to be and Operate according to a certain and determinate Rule yet I say those Laws do depend upon the Pleasure of Men. First because Man as he is a great part of Nature makes and constitutes a part of the Power of Nature and therefore those things which follow from the necessity of Human Nature that is from Nature it self as we conceive it regulated by Human Nature tho' they follow necessarily yet they follow from Human Power wherefore the Sanction of those Laws may very well be said to depend upon the Will of Men because it so depends upon the Power of Mans Mind that the Mind of Man as it apprehends things under the Notion of true or false may nevertheless be clearly understood without those Universal Laws but not without the Law of necessity as I have defined it Secondly I have said those Universal Laws of nature depend upon the Pleasure of Men because we ought to define and explain things by their next and immediate causes and that Universal consideration of Fate and the chaining together of causes can no way help us in the forming and ordering our thoughts concerning particular things that is we know not how things are ordered and tyed together so that it is better yea absolutely necessary for the benefit of Life to consider things as they are possible and so much of Law consider'd absolutely But because the name of Law by Translation is apply'd to natural things and commonly by Law nothing else is meant but a command which Men may or may not perform so that it confines human Power to bounds and limits beyond which it might go and yet commands nothing which it is not able to do therefore Law more particularly defined is that rule and manner of living which Men for some end prescribe to themselves or to others but because very few know the true end of Laws and Men being for the most part incapable of Understanding it do not live according to the dictates of reason therefore Law-givers that they might equally bind all have wisely establisht an end very different from that which necessarily follows from the Nature of Laws namely by propounding to those who keep the Law that which they most love and by threatning the breakers of the Law with that which they most fear and so endeavor as far as 't is possible to rule the multitude as a Horse is govern'd with a Bridle so that Law in its common acceptation is that rule of living which by the Power of others is prescribed to Men and consequently that they who obey Laws are said to live under Law and may be called Servants or Subjects he that giveth to every one his due because he is afraid of the gallows is under the Power of another and being compell'd by the fear of punishment to do what he doth cannot be called just but he that giveth to every one his due because he knows the necessity and the true end and reason of Laws what he doth is free and voluntary and he may therefore be deservedly called a just Man which I suppose to be St. Pauls meaning when he said they that lived under the Law could not be justify'd fy'd by the Law for justice as it is commonly defined is a constant Voluntary resolution of rendring to every Man that which is his due and therefore Solomon Prov. chap. 20. v. 15. saith it is joy to the just to do judgment but the wicked fear Seeing then Law is nothing else but a rule of living which Men for some end prescribe to themselves or to others the Law may therefore be distinguisht into human and divine by Mans Law we understand that rule of living which secures life and the weal public but the Divine Law hath respect only to our cheifest good that is the true knowledge and love of God the reason why I call this Law Divine is in respect of the Nature of our cheifest good which I will with all possible brevity and plainess declare Whereas our better part is our underderstanding it is certain if we seek our own good we ought cheifly to endeavour as much as is possible the perfecting our intellect because in the perfection of that consists our cheifest happiness and since all our knowledge and certainty which removes all doubt depends only upon the knowledge of God because nothing can be or be known without God and because we may doubt of all things while we have no clear and distinct Idea of God it follows that our perfection and cheifest happiness depends only upon the knowledge of God. Moreover since nothing can either exist or be known without God it is certain that all things in Nature in respect of their essence and perfection do imply and express the Notion of God and consequently the more we know natural things the greater and more perfect knowledge we acquire of God because the knowledge of an effect by its Cause is nothing else but knowing the true Nature and Property of the cause so that by how much the more we know natural things so much the more perfectly do we know the being of God who is the cause of all things and all our knowledge that is our cheifest happiness doth not only depend upon but wholly consists in the knowledge of God which consequence is made good by a Mans becomming more or less perfect according to the Nature and perfection of the thing he most loves and so on the contrary He therefore is most perfect who pertakes most of the highest Beatitude and who above all things loves and is most delighted with the intellectual knowledge of God who is the most perfect of all beings Hitherto then our cheifest good and happiness still returns into the knowledge of God the end then of all human actions so far as we have an Idea of him being God the means which this end
convince the Heathen that then Worshipt the Sun Moon the Earth Water Air c. told them their Gods were weak inconstant mutable and subject to the Power of the invisible God whose Miracles they proclaim'd and by them endeavour'd to prove that the whole frame of Nature was by the Power of that God whom they worshipt created chiefly for their good and benefit with which Opinion Men were so pleas'd that ever since they have not ceased to fain Miracles that they may be thought better beloved by God then others and that the end and purpose of Gods making and preserving all things was chiefly for their sakes How arrogant is the foolish Vulgar who conceive nothing rightly of God or Nature but confound the Ordinances of God with the imaginations of Men and think Nature so narrow that they believe Man to be the principal part thereof Having thus discovered the Opinions and Prejudices of the Common People concerning God and Nature I will proceed in order and shew first that nothing can happen contrary to Nature whose order and course is eternal constant and immutable explaining also what is a Miracle Secondly that we cannot know the essence existence nor consequently the providence of God by Miracles but they more manifestly appear in the constant and unchangeable order of Nature Thirdly I will prove by some Scripture Examples that the Scripture it self by the decrees purposes and providence of God means nothing else but that regular course of Nature which necessarily follows from its eternal Laws Lastly I will shew how Scripture Miracles are to be interpreted and what we are principally to observe in the Relations we have of Miracles all which particulars are the subject of this present Chapter and will be very useful to the design of this whole Treatise The first Particular is proved by what we have said in the 4 th Chapter Concerning the Divine Law namely that whatsoever God willeth and decreeth implyes eternal verity and necessity for the Knowledge of God is not distinguisht from his Will and we say the same thing when we say God willeth and God knoweth any thing because by the same necessity derived from the Nature and Perfection of God whereby he knoweth any thing to be what it is by the same necessity must God will that thing to be what it is but since nothing is necessarily true but what is so by the Will and Decree of God it clearly follows that the Universal Laws of Nature are the very Ordinances of God which flow from the necessity and perfection of his Divine Nature Whatever therefore cometh to pass in Nature which is repugnant to its Universal Laws that must necessarily be contrary to the Decree and Knowledge of the Divine Nature or if any one conclude that God doth any thing against the Laws of Nature he likewise must grant that God Acts contrary to his own Nature which is the greatest of all Absurdities As therefore nothing happens in Nature contrary to its Universal Laws so neither doth any thing happen which doth not agree with and follow from them for whatever is done is done by the Will and eternal Decree of God that is according to Laws and Rules which imply eternal Verity and Necessity and therefore tho' the Laws in which are contained eternal Verity and Necessity be not known to us yet Nature always observes them and consequently keeps her constant and unchangeable course No rational Man can believe the Power and Vertue of Nature to be limited and its Laws confin'd to some particular Operations and Effects and not fitted Universally to all for since the Power and Vertue of Nature is the very Vertue and Power of God we ought to believe the Power of Nature infinite and the Laws of Nature so general that they extend themselves to all things which fall under the comprehension of the Divine Knowledge otherwise it must be granted that God Created Nature so weak and impotent and its Laws and Rules so defective that to preserve and maintain Nature he must upon every new occasion assist and succour it that things may fall out according to his Will which is very irrational for any Man to suppose If then nothing happens in Nature which doth not follow from its Rules and Laws that its Laws are extended to all things within the compass of Divine Knowledge and that Nature keeps a fixed immutable and regular Course it is manifest that whatever Men call a Miracle is only so in respect of their Opinions and signifies nothing else but some work or thing done of which we cannot discover the natural Cause by an example of any thing that ordinarily happens like it at least the Person cannot who relates or records the Miracle I might call that a Miracle whose cause cannot be made out from any natural Principles known by the Light of Nature but because Miracles were wrought according to the Capacity of the Vulgar who knew not the principles of natural things it is certain that the Antients counted that a Miracle which they could not explain as the common People use to do natural things namely by recurring to their Memory for bringing to mind some other thing of the like kind which they did not admire for the common People think they very well understand a thing when they do not admire it By this Rule and no other Men in old and later times have judged of Miracles and it is not to be doubted but many things are related in Scripture for Miracles whose causes might have been made manifest from the known principles of natural things as we have hinted in our 2 d Chapter where we spoke of the Suns standing still in the time of Ioshua and its going backward in the time of Hezekiah on the Dyal of Ahaz but of these things more at large when I come to speak of the Interpretation of Miracles I will now go on to prove the Second particular namely that we cannot by miracles understand the Essence Existence or Providence of God but that they are more clearly apprehended by us in the fixed and immutable order of nature which I thus prove If the Existence of God be not of it self known to us it must then be made out and concluded from Notions whose verity is so firm and unshaken that there cannot be a Power by which those Notions may be changed at least they ought to appear so to us at that time when from them we conclude the existence of God if we will have that existence to be indubitable for if we could think those Notions mutable by any Power whatever it be then might we doubt of the Truth of those Notions and consequently of our conclusion namely God's Existence nor could we be certain of any thing and seeing we cannot know what is congruous or contrary to Nature but that which we prove to be congruous or contrary to those Prime Notions if we could conceive any thing in Nature to be done by any
not well acquainted with them will take many things in Scripture for Miracles which were never thought so by the Penmen of it so that he will not only be mistaken in the Things and Miracles that happen'd but will be likewise ignorant what was the meaning of those by whom the Scripture was Originally Written for Example The Prophet Zachary chap. 14. v. 7. speaking of a future War saith but it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord nor Day nor Night but it shall come to pass that at the Evening time it shall be Light in which words he seems to predict a great Miracle but they signify no more then that a doubtful Battle should be fought whereof the Success should be known only to God but towards Evening the Iews should be Victorious In the like Phrases and Expressions the Prophets were wont to foretel and write the Victories and overthrows of the Nations Isaiah chap. 13. v. 10. declareth the destruction of Babylon in these words the Stars of Heaven and the Constellations thereof shall not give their Light the Sun shall be darkned in his going forth and the Moon shall not cause her Light to shine which no body believes did happen in the destruction of that Empire nor that which the Prophet adds v. 13. therefore will I shake the Heavens and the Earth shall remove out of her place In like manner Isaiah chap. 48. v. 21. they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts he caused the Waters to flow out of the Rock for them he clave the Rock also and the Waters gushed out by which words nothing more is meant then that the Iews found Fountains in the deserts by which they quenched their thirst for no such Miracles happen'd when by the consent of Cyrus they returned to Ierusalem many expressions of like Nature occur in the Scripture and are only fashions of speaking amongst the Iewish Nation I need instance in no more but let it be observed that the Iews made use of such Phrases not only for Ornament to their Language but also to express their Devotion and therefore attributed all things to God so that the Scripture seems to relate nothing but Miracles even when it speaks of things meerly natural We are therefore to believe that when the Scripture saith God hardened the Heart of Pharaoh nothing more was signified then that Pharoah was very obstinate and disobedient and when it is said God opened the Windows of Heaven nothing more is to be understood then that there fell abundance of Rain whoever then will but consider that many things in Scripture are related very briefly imperfectly and without Circumstances shall find nothing repugnant to natural Reason but many things which seem very obscure may with a little Meditation be explain'd and easily understood so that I think I have sufficiently proved what I intended but before I put an end to this Chapter I have thought fit to intimate that in speaking of Miracles I have taken a course different from that I made use of in treating of Prophesy for I declared nothing positively concerning Prophesy but what I could conclude from fundamental Princiciples revealed in the Scripture but what I have said concerning Miracles I have drawn from Principles known by the Light of Nature which I did designedly because I could not know wherein Prophesy consisted nor could I aver any thing of it it being a meer Theological question exceeding human Capacity but what I could derive from revealed Principles so that I was forced to make a short Historical Collection of Prophesy and from thence to form some Maxims which might instruct me as far as 't was possible in its Nature and Properties but because that which we inquire concerning Miracles namely whether any thing in Nature can happen which is either contrary to its Laws or doth not follow from them is a Philosophical Subject I thought it much better to clear the Question by making use of Principles known by the Light of Nature as those that are most obvious I say I did it purposely because I can also prove it from fundamental Principles of Scripture which declareth that the course and order of nature in general is constant and immutable Ps. 148. v. 6 he also establisht them for ever and ever he hath made a decree which shall not pass and Ierem. chap. 31. v. 35 36. thus saith the Lord who giveth the Sun for a Light by Day and the Ordinances of the Moon and the Stars for a Light by Night which divideth the Sea when the Waves thereof roar if these Ordinances depart from before me saith the Lord then the Seed of Israel shall cease also from being a Nation before me for ever the Philosopher in his Book of Ecclesiastes chap. 1. v. 10. saith is there any thing whereof it may be said see this is new it hath been already of old time which was before us v. 11. he saith there is no remembrance of former things neither shall there be any remembrance of things to come with those that come after by which words he means that nothing happens which hath not happen'd before tho' it be forgotten in the 3 d Chapter v. 11. he saith that God hath made every thing beautiful in its time and v. 14. he saith whatever God doth it shall be for ever nothing can be put to it nor any thing taken from it v. 15. that which hath been is now and that which is to be hath already been which clearly declares that Nature keeps a constant fixed and unchangeable course that God in all Ages known and unknown it still the same that the Laws of Nature are so large and perfect nothing can be added to or taken from them and lastly that there is nothing new in Miracles but what seems so to Mans ignorance these things are expresly declared in Scripture but 't is no where said that any thing happens in Nature either contrary to its Laws or not proceeding from them so that Miracles require Causes and Circumstances and are not immediately wrought by I know not what Kingly and absolute Empire which the Vulgar attribute to God but by his divine Power and Decree manifested in the Laws and Order of Nature and that Miracles may be wrought by seducing Impostures as appears Deut. chap. 13. and Matth. chap. 24. v. 24. from whence it manifestly follows that Miracles were things natural and therefore to use Solomons expression are not to be thought new or contrary to Nature but have as neer an Alliance as is possible to natural things which may be easily made out by the Rules I have laid down drawn from the Scripture but tho' I say we are taught these things by Scripture yet I do not mean that the Scripture delivers them to us as Doctrines necessary to Salvation but only that the Prophets received them as we do and therefore 't is left to every Mans Liberty to have such an Opinion of them as
for divine Doctrins that Credulity was accounted Faith and Philosophical Controversies were maintaned both in Church and State with so much animosity and heat of dispute from whence I perceived that not only cruel hatred and dissention by which Men are easily stir'd up to sedition but many other mischeifs too tedious to be here mentioned took their beginning I resolved diligently to examin the Scripture a new with a free and unprejudiced mind and neither to affirm any thing positively of it or admit any thing to be it's Doctrine which was not clearly Demonstrated by it Under this caution I Composed a method of interpreting the Sacred Volums and furnisht with it I began in the first place to inquire what Prophesy was why God revealed himself to the Prophets and whether they were acceptable to God because they had sublime thoughts and notions of God and Nature or only for their Piety These things being known I could easily determin that the Authority of the Prophets was of greatest weight in things relating to real vertue and to the use and benefit of Life but in other matters their opinions did very little concern us This being likewise known I further inquired what it was for which the Iews were called Gods chosen People and when I perceived it was only because God chose out for them a particular part and climate of the World where they might live conveniently and securely I thereby also learnt that the Laws revealed by God to Moses were nothing else but the Statutes of that particular government of the Iews and that none but the Iews were bound to receive them yea that the very Jews themselves were not bound by them any longer then their Government continued That I might know whether it can be concluded from Scripture that the understanding of of Mankind is depraved by Nature I inquired whether the Catholic Religion or the Divine Law revealed to all Mankind by the Prophets and Apostles were any other then that which natural Reason teacheth and Lastly whether Miracles happen contrary to the order of Nature and whether they do more certainly and clearly prove the Being and Providence of God then those things do which we clearly and distinctly understand by their first Causes but when I could find nothing in whatever the Scripture expresly teacheth disagreable or repugnant to human understanding and when I likewise saw that the Prophets taught nothing but what was plain and might easily be understood and that they adorn'd and confirm'd their Doctrin with such a Style and such reasons as they thought would most affect the minds of the multitude with Devotion towards God I was fully perswaded that the Scripture left reason perfectly free and had nothing to do with Philosophy but that each stood on its own basis But that I might plainly demonstrate these things and put an end to the whole matter I shew which way the Scripture is to be interprepreted and that all its knowledge of things Spiritual is to be drawn from it self and not from those things which we know by the light of nature Then I pass on to shew those prejudices which spring from thence and that the common People addicted to Superstition prizing the reliques of time above eternity do rather adore the Books of the Scripture than the very word of God it self After this I shew the revealed word of God not to be any certain number of Books but a simple knowledge of Gods will revealed to the Prophets that is to obey God with the whole heart by practising Justice and Charity I shew that the Scripture teacheth this according to the capacity and opinions of those to whom the Prophets and Apostles were sent to Preach this Word which they did that Men without any reluctancy might cordially embrace it The Fundamentals of Faith being discovered I Lastly conclude the object of revealed knowledge to be nothing else but obedience and so distinct from natural knowledge as well in respect of its object as its foundations and means that it hath nothing in common with it but each maintains its own proper dominion without any mutual disagreement and that neither ought to be subservient or a hand-maid to the other Moreover because the dispositions of Men are very different one being possest with this and another with that opinion and that which moveth one Man to Devotion provokes another to Laughter every one ought to have the Liberty of his own judgment and the Power of interpreting the Principles of Faith according to his own reason and that no Mans Faith is to be justified or condemned but only by his Works so that all Men may obey God with Freedom of mind and only Righteousness and Charity be in esteem After I have by these things shewed the Liberty granted by God's revealed Law to all Men I go on to the other part of the question which is that this Liberty may be allow'd without any prejudice to the Peace of a Common-wealth or to the Rights of the Supream Powers nor can it be taken away without great detriment and danger both to peace and the whole republick To demonstrate this I begin from every Mans natural right which reacheth so far as every Mans Desire and Power can extend it self and no Man by the Law of Nature is bound to live according to another Mans Will or Inclination but every Man is the assertor of his own Liberty Further I shew that no Man departs from this right but he that transfers the Power of defending himself to another and that he must necessarily and absolutely be the keeper of that right upon whom every one hath devolved his own natural right of living as he pleaseth together with the Power of Defending himself and from hence I prove that they who are possest of the Supream Power have right to all things within their Power and that they only are the Protectors of Law and Liberty all other Men being obliged to Act according to their determinations and Decrees but because no Body can so far deprive himself of his Power of defending himself as to cease from being a Man I thence conclude that no Man can be totally deprived of his natural right but that Subjects do still retain by the Law of Nature many things which cannot be taken from them without very great danger to Government Those things being granted to be their rights either by tacit implication or by express agreement and stipulation made between them and their Governours These things being considered I passon to the Commonwealth of the Iews which I fully enough describe shewing upon what Reason and by whose Decree Religion first began to obtain the force of a Law touching upon some other things by the By which seem worthy to be known After this I shew that they who have the supreme Power are not only Protectors and Interpreters of the Civil but also of the Divine Law and that in them only is the right of Judging what is
to be understood by Gods calling or Election for since no Man can do any thing but by the predeterminate order of Nature that is according to Gods eternal direction and decree it is a necessary consequence that no Man chuseth for himself any way or manner of living or effecteth any thing but by the particular Will and Calling of God who chose him before others so to live and so to Act. Lastly by fortune nothing else is to be understood but Gods disposing and directing human Affairs by external and unexpected Causes These things premised we return to our first purpose of inquiring what it was for which the Iews are said to be chosen by God before other Nations and to make it out I proceed in this manner All those things which we can honestly and lawfully desire may be referred to these three Heads First to know things by their first and immediate Causes Secondly to Master our Passion and affections and acquire a constant habit of vertue and Lastly to live in Bodily health and safty The means directly conducing to the two first of these heads and which may be consider'd as prime and efficient causes are contained in human Nature so that the obtaining of them is within our Power or cheifly depends upon the Laws only of human Nature and therefore it must be concluded that those gifts are not peculiar to any one Nation but were always common to all Mankind unless we can perswade our selves that Nature first procreated diverse kinds of Men but the means which conduce to our living in health and safty consist cheifly in things external and are therefore called the gifts and goods of Fortune because they depend upon the disposition of outward causes of which we are altogether ignorant so that in this particular the Fool and the wise Man is alike happy or unhappy yet as to secure living and to avoid the injuries both of Men and Beasts human wisdom and diligence may contribute very much reason and experience teach us that to live in safty there is no way so ready and certain as to form Societies Subject to Laws to chuse a convenient part of the Earth for habitation and to unite every individual Person 's strength to preserve the whole Collective Body but to the forming and preserving of Societies no little wisdom and diligence is required and therefore that Society shall be more secure more lasting and less Subject to Fortune and Accidents which is founded and ordered by prudent and careful Men and on the contrary those Societies which are formed and govern'd by Men of gross and mean understandings do for the most part depend upon Fortune and are of no long continuance but where such a Society stands long it owes its duration not to its own but to some other conduct and if it overcome great dangers and the Affairs thereof prosper it cannot but admire and adore Gods disposing and ordering things by external and hidden causes when he doth not Act by human Nature and Understanding seeing whatever happens to such a Society of Men beyond their Expectation and Opinion may be counted a Miracle Nations therefore are distinguisht one from another in respect of Society and Laws under which they live and are govern'd so that the Iewish Nation was not chosen by God before others in respect of their understanding and tranquility of mind but in regard of their association and Fortune by which they arriv'd to that government which lasted so many Years it manifestly appears by Scripture that the Iews excelled other Nations only in the prosperous management of those Affairs which concern'd their Living Securely and that they overcame great dangers only by Gods external Assistance but in other things they were but equal to other Nations and God was alike good to all it is evident as we have proved in the preceding Chapter that the Iews as to their knowledge had very vulgar Notions and thoughts of God and therefore as they were not chosen above others upon the account of their knowledge so neither were they chosen in respect of their vertue and good Life for in that they were but like other Nations and but a very few of them were chosen their calling and election consisted in the temporal felicity and advantages of their government neither can we perceive that God promis'd any more to the Patriarchs and their successors yea by the Law nothing else was promised for a reward to obedience but the continual prosperity of their Government and some other benefits of this Life in case of disobedience and breach of Covenant they were threatned with the ruin of the Government temporal misery and destruction and no wonder for the end of all Society and Government as hath been already and shall hereafter be more fully declared is to live in Happiness and Security But Government cannot subsist without Laws which every Man must obey for when the Members of a Society refuse to be govern'd by the Laws in that very instant the Society is dissolved and the Government destroyed to the Commonwealth of the Iews nothing else could be promised for the constant Observation of their Law but the safety benefits and conveniences of this Life and for their Rebellion no other punishment was prophesy'd but the destruction of their Government the Miseries which would thereupon ensue and perhaps some other Evils which might peculiarly happen to them from the ruin of their Government which was singular and different from others but of these things we need say no more at this time I only add that the Laws of the Old Testament were revealed and prescribed only to the Iews for when God called and chose them to a particular kind of Society and Government they were necessarily to have singular Laws whether God prescribed peculiar Laws to other Nations and revealed himself prophetically to their Law-givers under those attributes which they in their imagination used to ascribe to God I am not certain however it appears by Scripture that other Nations had Governments and particular Laws by the external direction of God to prove which I will only quote two places Gen. chap. 14. v. 18 19 20. where it is said that Melchisedech was King of Salem and the priest of the most high God and that he blessed Abraham which as we may see Numb chap. 6. v. 23. was the Priests Office and Abraham the beloved of God gave to the High Priest the tenth part of all his booty which plainly proves that before God founded the Iewish Nation he constituted Kings and Priests in Ierusalem and prescribed them Laws and Ceremonies but whether he did it prophetically I cannot affirm however I am perswaded that Abraham while he continued there liv'd religiously according to those Laws for Abraham received no particular Religious Rites from God and yet it is said Gen. chap 26. v. 5. that Abraham kept the Commandments Statutes and Laws of God which must necessarily be those of King Melchisedch Malachy
always particularly exprest yet we ought to believe that miracles were not wrought without them Which appears by the 14 th chap. of Exod. v. 27. where it is said that only upon the stretching out of Moses's hand the Sea returned again to its full strength without making mention of any Wind yet in the 15 chap. of Exod. called Moses's Song v. 10. it is said thou didst blow with thy Wind that is a strong Wind and the Sea covered them So that this Circumstance was omitted in the Story to make the miracle appear the greater but some will urge that we find many things in Scripture which cannot in appearance be explain'd by natural causes as that the sins of Men may be the cause of the Earths Barrenness and Mens Prayers the cause of its Fertility that Faith may give sight to the Blind with other things of the like kind recorded in the Old and New Testament but to this I have already given Answer in shewing that the Scripture doth not give us the knowledge of things by their next immediate causes but only relates things in that order and expresseth them in such Words and Phrases as are most likely to stir Men up especially the multitude to Devotion and for that reason speaks many times very improperly of God and the things it treats of not so much to convince our reason as to affect and possess our minds and our imaginations if the Scripture should relate the destruction of any Empire in the same manner that Historians and Politicians use to do it would not at all affect the Common People but when the overthrow of a Kingdom is poetically described and declared to be the immediate Work of God's own hand how strangely are Men moved with it When the Scripture saith that for the Sins of Men the Earth is barren or that blind Men are restored to sight by Faith it signifies no more then do those other Sayings that God is angry or grieved with our Sins that he repents of the good he hath done or intended and that God by seeing a Sign called to mind his promise all which Expressions are spoken poetically or according to the Opinions and Prejudices of the Writer so that we absolutely conclude that all things which the Scripture relates to have happen'd did happen as all things do according to the Laws of Nature and if in Scripture there be any thing recorded which by plain and evident Demonstration may be proved to be repugnant to the Laws of Nature or impossible to follow from them we ought to believe it was inserted by Sacrilegious Men for whatever is against Nature is against Reason and whatever is against Reason ought to be rejected as absurd Nothing now remains but only to say somewhat of interpreting Miracles or rather to recollect what hath been already said and illustrate it by some Example which is the fourth Particular I promis'd to treat of That no body by mistaking a Miracle may think there is something in Scripture which is contrary to the Light of Nature It seldom happens that Men relate any thing that comes to pass so nakedly and truly but that to their Relations they add somewhat of their own conceits yea when they see or hear any thing unless they beware of their own preconceived Opinions they will be so far prepossest that they will never rightly understand what they see or hear especially if what hath happen'd be above the Capacity of the Spectator or Relator and it be for his advantage that the thing should happen in that very manner hence it is that Men in their Histories and Chronicles rather vent their own Opinions then make faithful Relations and one and the same Matter of Fact related by two Men of different Opinions shall be so diversly represented that it shall seem two different Cases so that oft times it is not very difficult by the very Histories to discover what were the Opinions of the Historians to Evidence this I might cite many Philosophers who have Written Histories of Nature as well as Chronologeis but I will make use of only one mention'd in Scripture and leave the Reader to judge of the rest In the time of Ioshua when the Iews believed that the Sun was carryed about the Earth by a Dyurnal Motion and that the Earth did not move at all they fitted the Miracle which happen'd when they fought against the five Kings according to this their preconceiv'd Opinion and did not say simply that the day was longer then ordinary but that the Sun and Moon stood still or ceased from motion which at that time served as a very good Argument to convince the Heathen who Worshipped the Sun that their God the Sun was under the Power of another Deity who could at his pleasure make him change his Course and therefore partly out of Religion and partly from the Opinion wherewith they were prepossest they apprehended and related the thing much otherwise then indeed it was therefore to explain Miracles and to understand by their relations how things did truly and really happen it is necessary to know the Opinions of those who first reported the Miracles or left them in Writing and to distinguish their Opinions from that which was represented to them by their Sences else we may confound their Judgments and Opinions with the Miracle it self It is likewise necessary to know their Opinions that we may not confound the things which really happen'd with the things which were only imaginary and but Prophetical Revelations for many things in Scripture are related and believed as things real which were but representations and meer imaginations as that God the first and highest of all Beings descended from Heaven Exod. chap. 19. v. 18. Deut. chap. 5. v. 23. upon Mount Sinai and that the Mountain smoaked because God came down upon it in the midst of Fire we are likewise told of Eliahs going to Heaven in a Fiery Chariot with Horses of Fire all which were but representations suted to the Opinions of them who delivered to us those things for realities when in truth they were but meer representations whoever is but little wiser then the Multitude knows that God hath neither Right or Left Hand that he neither resteth nor moveth that he is comprehensively in no place but is infinite and in him are contain'd all perfections These things I say are known to Men who judge of things by the perceptions of a pure understanding and not as their Fancy is affected by their outward Sences as is usual with the Vulgar who believe God to be Corporeal and imagining he Exerciseth Kingly Dominion fancy his Throne to be in Heaven above the Stars at no great distance from the Earth to which and the like Opinions many Cases in Scripture are Accommodated but yet ought not to be thought real by Wise Men. Truly to understand how Miracles happen'd it concerns us to know the Phrases and Figures of the Hebrew Language for he that is
for us to interpret Scripture for most of the things we meet with in it cannot be deduced from Principles known by natural reason as we have already shewn and therefore the Truth of them cannot be made manifest by the strength of natural reason and consequently the true Sense and meaning of the Scripture cannot appear to us without some other light Moreover if this opinon were true the common People who are ignorant of or at least do not mind Demonstrations would entertain no Scripture but what they received from the Authority or Testimony of Philosophers and consequently ought to suppose Philosophers cannot Err in the interpretation of Scripture which truly would be a new Ecclesiastical Authority and a kind of Priesthood which the vulgar would rather scorn then reverence And tho' our method require the knowledge of the Hebrew Tongue which the vulgar have no time to Study nothing can upon that Score be objected for the common People of the Iews and Gentiles to whom the Prophets and Apostles Preached understood the Language of the Prophets and Apostles and by it understood the meaning of the Prophets tho' not the reasons of the things they Preached which according to the opinion of Maimonides they ought to have known to make themselves capable of understanding the Prophets meaning It doth not follow from the rule of our method that the common People must necessarily rely upon the Testimony of interpreters for I have given an instance of a People that knew the Language of the Prophets and Apostles but Maimonides can never shew me a common People that knew the causes of things which he says was the knowledge whereby the mind of the Prophets was to be understood and as for the common People of these days we have already shewn that all things necessary to Salvation tho' the reasons of them be not known may be easily understood in any Language because they are so common and ordinary and for this knowledge the vulgar do not depend upon the Testimony of interpreters in other things they follow the Fortune of the Learned But to return to a stricter examination of Maimonides opinion first he supposeth that the Prophets did in all things agree one with another and that they were most excellent Philosophers because as he will have it their conclusions were drawn from the Truth of things but this I have proved in my Second Chapter to be false Next he supposeth that the Sense of Scripture cannot be made out by Scripture for as much as it doth not Demonstrate any thing nor doth it prove the things of which it Treats by definition and Primary Causes wherefore according to the opinion of Maimonides the true Sense of Scripture can neither appear or be deduced from Scripture But I have likewise proved this to be false in the present Chapter For I have made it appear both from reason and examples that the Sense of Scripture is found out only by Scripture and to be derived thence even when it speaks of things unknown to us by natural light Lastly Maimonides supposeth that it is Lawful for us according to our preconceived opinions to expound and wrest the Words of Scripture and to deny or change the litteral Sense thereof be it never so express and plain which Liberty is Diametrically opposite to what I have Demonstrated in this and other Chapters and Savors of too much boldness but should I grant him this Liberty what advantage will he get by it none at all for those things which cannot be Demonstrated make up the greatest part of Scripture we cannot by this way make out nor by this rule expound or interpret them when on the contrary by following our method we may explain many things of this kind and as we have already shewn safely dispute of them but those things which are in their own nature perceptible their Sense is easily drawn from the context and as Maimonides method is unprofitable so it takes from the common People all certainty which they and all that follow any other method can by diligent reading have of the Sense of Scripture and therefore we reject it as dangerous useless and absurd as for the forementioned Tradition of the Pharisees we know not that there is any such and as for the Popes Authority I for no other reason deny it but because it wants clear Proof for had they as much Scripture to shew for it as heretofore the Iewish High Priests had for theirs I should be as little concerned that some of the Popes of Rome have been Hereticks and wicked Men as that the High-Priests of the Iews were sometimes as bad and yet by the command of Scripture had still the Power of interpreting the Law as appears by the 17 chap. of Deut. v. 11 12. chap. 33. v. 10. and Mal. chap. 2. v. 7 8. But because the Popes can shew us no such Testimony their Authority is very much to be doubted and that no Man may deceive himself and think that according to the example of the Iewish High-Priests the Catholic Religion also wants a High Priest it is to be observed that the Laws of Moses were the public Laws of the Country and needed a public Authority to maintain them for if every Man have a Liberty of interpreting the public Laws as he pleaseth no Common-wealth can stand but presently dissolves and public Laws become private but in Religion the Case is quite different for seeing Religion doth not so much consist in external Actions as in Truth and Singleness of Heart it is of no Public Power or Authority for Truth and Sincerity of mind is not infused by the command of Laws or by public Authority and no Man can be compell'd by force or by Laws to be made holy nothing but good brotherly Council education and a mans own free judgment can do that Seeing then every Man hath right to think of Religion as he pleaseth and it cannot be imagin'd any Man can part with this right it is in every Mans Power to judge of Religion and consequently to expound and interpret it to himself for as the cheif Power of interpreting Laws and judging of Public Matters resides in the Magistrate upon no other account but because they are public so likewise for the same reason the Supream Authority of explaining and judging of Religion is in every particular Person because it is every private Mans right The Authority then of the Iewish High-Priest to interpret Laws is far from proving the Popes Authority to interpret Religion but rather the contrary that every particular Man hath right to do it So that it is evident our method of interpreting Scripture i. the best for seeing the supream Power of interpreting it ought to be that natural reason which is common to all Men and not any Supernatural light or external Authority this method ought not be so difficult and abstruse that none but acute Philosophers can make use of or Compose it but it must be
thereby more inclin'd to obey God in those things which relate to Justice and Charity but we blame the Sectaries for not allowing other Men the same liberty they themselves take they count all Men be they never so honest and vertuous who are not of their Opinions the Enemies of God and persecute them as such but call those who are of their Mind God's Elect be they never so very Knaves which is the most pernicious wicked humour can possibly be in a Common-wealth To make it clear then how far in point of Faith every Man may extend his liberty of thinking what he pleaseth and upon whom we are to look as Believers tho' they differ in Opinion I resolve to shew in this Chapter what Faith is to declare what are the fundamentals of Faith and to distinguish Faith from Reason or Philosophy which is the chief design of the whole Treatise To do these things in order 't is necessary to put you in mind again what is the Scriptures principal intention for that will shew us the right Rule of determining what is Faith. We have told you in the preceding Chapter that the chief design of Scripture is to teach Men Obedience which no Man can deny for who doth not plainly see the Discipline of Obedience to be the main scope of the Old and New Testament The only End of both is to make Men obey God with all their Heart I need not repeat what I have already told you that Moses did not endeavour to convince the Israelites with Reason but to bind and oblige them by a Covenant by Oaths and Benefits he threatned those that broke the Law with punishment and encouraged the observers of it with Rewards which were means not to increase Knowledge but only to procure Obedience The Doctrine of the Gospel contains nothing but plain simple Faith namely to believe God and to reverence and worship him or which is the same thing to obey him There is no need of demonstrating a thing so evident or of heaping up Texts of Scripture that commend Obedience whereof there are many in both Testaments what a Man is to do to obey God the Scripture in many places declares namely that the whole Law consists in loving our Neighbour so that it must be granted that he in the Judgment of the Law is obedient who according to God's Command loveth his Neighbour as himself and that he on the contrary who hateth his Neighbour or cares not for him is rebellious and disobedient Lastly it must be confest that the Scripture was written and published not only for the Wise and Learned but for all people in general of all times Hence then must it follow that we are not commanded by Scripture to believe any thing else but what is absolutely necessary to enable us to perform and obey this Commandment so that this Precept is the only Rule of Catholick Faith and by it only all those fundamental Doctrines of Faith which every one is oblig'd to believe ought to be defined and determined which being clear and manifest and that from this Foundation only all things ought to be rationally deduced and derived Let any Man judge whether the many Disputes and Dissentions sprung up in the Church could have any other cause than those I mentioned in the beginning of the seventh Chapter which force me here to shew from this Foundation I have laid the manner and reason of stating and determining what are the true Doctrines and Principles of Faith for unless I do this and make it good by sure and certain Rules I have indeed hitherto done very little seeing otherwise every Man may introduce what he pleases under pretence that 't is a necessary means to Obedience especially when any thing comes into question concerning the Divine Attributes To proceed orderly in making the thing clear and plain I will begin with the definition of Faith which according to the Foundation I have laid ought to be thus defined Faith is to have such Thoughts or Opinions of God as make a Man obey him where such thoughts are not there is no Obedience and where they are Obedience necessarily follows such Opinions which definition is so clear and evidently follows from what we have already demonstrated that it needs no explication What follows from this definition I will briefly shew first that Faith of it self without Obedience is not able to save a Man as Iames saith Chap. 2. 17. Faith without Works is dead which is the Subject of that whole Chapter Secondly That he who is truly obedient must necessarily have Saving Faith for where ever there is Obedience there as I have said must be Faith which the same Apostle saith expresly in the 18 th verse of the said 2 d chap. Shew me thy Faith without thy Works and I will shew thee my Faith by my Works and Iohn in his 1 st Epist. chap. 4. v. 78. Every one that loveth his Neighbour is born of God and knoweth God he that loveth not knoweth not God for God is love from whence it likewise follows that we can judge no Man to be a Believer or an Unbeliever but by his Works that is if his Works be good tho' in his Opinions he dissent from other Believers yet he is a Believer and if his Works be evil tho' in words he agree with others that believe he is an Infidel for where there is Obedience there must necessarily be Faith and Faith without Works is dead which Iohn in chap. 4. 13. expresly declares Hereby know we that we dwell in him and he in us because he hath given us of his Spirit which Spirit is Love for he said just before God is Love and concludes from his own Principles that he certainly hath the Spirit of God who hath Love and because no Man ever saw God he concludes that no Man can have any sense or knowledge of God but only by Love and that no Man can know any other Attribute of God but Love by partaking of it which Reasons if they do not absolutely convince yet they sufficiently explain St. Iohn's meaning What he saith in the 3 d and 4 th verses of his 2 d chap. in express words fully proves what we maintain And hereby saith he do we know that we know him if we keep his Commandments he that saith I know him and keepeth not his Commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him hence it again follows that they are Antichrists who persecute honest and just Men that differ from them in Opinion and do not maintain their Doctrines they that love Justice and Charity are thereby only known to be Believers and whoever persecutes such Believers is Antichrist Lastly it follows that Faith doth not require Opinions that are in themselves true but such only as are pious and incline a Man's Heart to Obedience There are many things that have not the least shadow of â—ruth in them which a Man may believe and yet be
difference in Religion and is believed to be pious There was no Reason why their Hatred should decrease for all other Nations did as mortally hate them Let Reason and Experience judge then whether the Liberty of the Subject Devotion towards their Countrey Absolute Power over all Nations against whom their Hatred was not only counted lawful but pious Singularity of Religious Rites and manner of living were not powerful Arguments to perswade the Iews with great Courage and Constancy of Mind to suffer any thing for their Countrey For while Ierusalem stood they would never endure any other Government therefore was it called the Rebellious City Ezra chap. 4. v. 12 15. The second Government which was scarce a shadow of the first after the Priests had usurped the Power of the Princes was with great difficulty destroyed by the Romans as Tacitus tells us in the second Book of his History Vespasian saith he put an end to the Iewish War by the taking of the City Jerusalem an hard and difficult work because of the Peoples Disposition and Obstinacy in their Superstition and because the besieged had Courage and Strength enough to suffer all Extremities Beside all these things which only Opinion made dear and valuable there was another thing in this Government which was a fingular and solid Argument to continue the People in their Obedience and take from them all thoughts of deserting their Countrey and that was Profit which is the Strength and Life of all Humane Actions In this Particular their Advantages were very considerable for Subjects had no where greater Right to any thing they possest The Iewish Subjects had an equal portion of Land and Fields with the Prince and every one was an eternal Lord of his part for if any man forced by poverty sold his Land when the Year of Iubilee came it was to be intirely restored There were likewise other Institutions of this kind so that a fixed Estate could never be perpetually alienated Where could poverty be more tolerable than in a Country where every man 's mutual Charity was that part of his Religion whereby he hoped to purchase the Favour of God who was his King so that the Iews could never live well in any Country but their own and out of it were sure to meet with Injury and Reproach To keep them in their own Country from Civil War and to take away the Causes of Contention their being subject to no Equal but only to God himself contributed very much so likewise did their mutual Love and Charity which was not a little increased by the general Hatred all other Nations had against them Another thing which beyond all that I have mentioned much contributed to keeping the people within the Limits of their Duty was that strict Discipline of Obedience under which they were educated for they were to do nothing but according to positive prescriptions of Law they could not when they pleas'd but only at certain times and in certain Years plow and that but with one sort of Cattel they had likewise prescribed Rules for sowing and reaping and indeed as we have shewn in the Fifth Chapter concerning the Use of Ceremonies their whole course of Life was but a continual practice of Obedience so that being accustomed to it it seemed rather Liberty than Servitude This was the Reason they desired not what was forbidden but that which was commanded At certain times of the Year they were to give themselves up to Mirth Pleasure and Ease not to indulge their own Appetites but to serve God the more chearfully Thrice in a Year they were God's Guests see Deut. chap. 16. v. 16. Every Seventh day of the Week they were to cease from all kind of Labour and take their rest at other set times rejoicing honest Recreations and Feasting were not only allow'd but commanded which above all things prevail upon mens Minds especially that Joy which ariseth from Devotion that is from Love and admiration together Their Worship prescribed on Festival Days being short and various kept them from loathing and weariness To all this add the high Reverence and Veneration they had for the Temple which was still preserved by the particular Worship they were to perform in it and by many things they were to observe and do before it was lawful for any one to enter into it So that even now we cannot without great horror read that abominable wicked act of Manasseh who caused an Idol to be set up in the Temple Nor was the Reverence much less which the People had for the Law which was religiously kept in the Sanctuary so that no Rumors or Discontents among the People were here to be feared for no body could meddle or pass any Judgment in matters of Religion but every man without consulting Reason was to do all things which God by his Answers in the Temple or by the Laws already given commanded them It now then appears under what manner of Government the Iews lived of which I hope I have given a very clear though but brief Account It now remains that we enquire Why the Iews did so often forsake the Law why they were so often conquer'd and why at last their Government was totally destroyed Perhaps some will tell me Their stubborn and rebellious Humour was the Cause That 's but a childish and frivolous Answer Why was this Nation more rebellious than any other was it their Natures Nature doth not make Nations but only individual Persons who are distinguish't and divided into Nations by diversity of Language Laws and Customs From Laws and Customs every Nation acquires a particular Disposition a particular Condition and peculiar Prejudices and Opinions If it must be granted That the Iews were more stiff-necked and rebellious than any other Nation it must be because they had Bad Laws and Evil Customs and it is a certain Truth That if God had decreed their Government should have had a longer continuance he would have given them other Laws and Statutes and another Administration of Government Therefore what can we say more than that God was offended and angry with them not only as Ieremy saith from the building of their City Ierem. chap. 32. v. 31. but from the very time he gave them their Laws which Ezekiel testifies chap. 20. v. 25. saying I gave them statutes which were not good and judgments whereby they should not live and I polluted them in their own gifts in that they caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb that is the first-born that I might make them desolate to the end that they might know I am the Lord. That these Words and the Cause of their Destruction may be rightly understood we are to take notice That God's first Intention was to commit the Administration of all things pertaining to Religion to the First-born not to the Levites as appears Numb chap. 8. v. 17. where God says all the first-born of the children of Israel are mine I
well as a Divine and to busie himself in unprofitable Speculations fit only to take up private mens time who have nothing else to do But it was far otherwise in the Iewish Commonwealth for their Church began with their Government and Moses who was the Supream Magistrate taught the people Religion setled their Forms of Worship and chose their Priests This was that which made Kingly Authority so much esteemed by the People and put the Right and Power of all things pertaining to Religion into the hands of Supream Magistrates for though after the Death of Moses no Man governed so absolutely as he did yet the Right and Power of determining all things concerning Religion as well as other Affairs still remained as we have already proved in the Prince and the People to be instructed in Religion and Piety were no more bound to go to the High Priest than they were to the Chief Iudge Deut. chap. 17. v. 9 11 12 Thou shalt come to the Priests the Levites and to the Chief Iudge that shall be in those days to enquire and he that will not hearken unto the Priest or unto the Iudge that man shall die Though the Kings had not power equal to that of Moses yet the Priests and Levites were appointed and ordered to do what the Kings thought fit for as it appears in 1 Chron. chap. 28. v. 11 12. King David order'd how the Temple should be built according to a Model he prescribed and as it appears in the 23 d Chapter of the same Book David out of all the Levites chose twenty four thousand to set forward the building of the Temple six thousand to be Officers and Iudges four thousand to be Porters and four thousand to praise the Lord upon musical Instruments he likewise divided the Levites into companies and set Rulers over them which Companies were to serve and wait in their turns For other particulars I refer the Reader to the 28 th Chapter of the 2 d Book of Chron. v. 13. where it is said That King Solomon commanded Offerings to be made according as Moses instituted And ver 14. it is said That Solomon according to the order of David his Father appointed the Courses of the Priests and Levites to their Service and Charges and ver 15. the Historian saith They departed not from the Commandment of the King given to the Priests and Levites concerning any matter or concerning the Treasures By all which by other Histories of their Kings it is evident that the whole Exercise of Religion and all the Service that concerned it depended only upon their King's Command And tho' their Kings had not as Moses had the Power of chusing the High-Priest or of consulting God without him or of condemning the Prophets that prophesy'd in their Reigns the Prophets having power to chuse a new King and to pardon any that had taken away a King's Life yet I say the Prophets themselves had no power to call any King to an account for breaking the Laws or in any judicial manner and form to proceed against or condemn him And therefore if there had been no Prophets who by particular Revelation could pardon the killing of a King Kings in the Jewish Commonwealth must have had absolute Power over all things both Sacred and Civil as Supreme Powers have in these our Days who have no Prophets nor are obliged to receive any being in no wise bound by the Laws of the Jews Commonwealth And this Power tho' our Kings marry they absolutely have and may keep if they do not suffer Doctrines and Articles of Religion to be multiplied or mingled and confounded with Arts and Sciences CHAP. XX. In a Free Commonwealth it should be lawful for every Man to think what he will and speak what he thinks WEre it as easie to command Mens Minds as it is their Tongues all Supreme Powers would reign securely and no Government would be Violent or Tyrannical For then every Man would live according to the Will of those in Supreme Power and would think every thing true or false good or evil just or unjust according to their Determinations and Decrees But it is impossible as we have observed in the beginning of the 17 th Chapter that any Man's Mind or Thoughts should be in another Man's power because no Man can transfer or be compelled to transfer his natural Right of Reasoning and Judging of Things upon any other Man And therefore that Government is counted Tyrannical which would reign over Mens Minds and Supreme Powers do their Subjects wrong and deprive them of their just Right when they command them to receive or reject according to their Prescriptions whatever they declare to be true or false and positively appoint what Opinions and Notions Men in their Devotions shall have of God which is a thing wholly in a Man 's own power and from which no Man tho' he would can part I confess a Man's Judgment may be so many ways prepossest that tho it be not directly and absolutely in another Man's power yet it may have such a dependence on him as to be thought very much at his dispose but in spite of all that Art can do Men will abound in their own Sense and there will for ever be as many diversities of Opinions as there are of Palats Tho' Moses not by Craft but by Divine Power had so prepossest the Minds of his People that they believed he said and did all things by Divine Inspiration yet he could not escape ill Reports and sinister Interpretations much less then can other Monarchs Were the thing possible it might rather be done in Monarchical than in Democratical Government which is managed by an Assembly of all or the greatest part of the People and the Reason I think is obvious Tho' Supreme Powers have right to all things and are believed to be Interpreters both of Law and Religion yet they could never keep Men from judging of things according to their Reason and Capacities nor from being this or that way affected They may indeed account all men Enemies who do not in all things absolutely think as they do but we do not here dispute of their Power but of what is most convenient and profitable I grant that Supreme Powers may Reign Tyrannically and put Subjects to death for very slight Causes if they please but all Men will deny that this can be done with Reason or Prudence because it will prove dangerous and destructive to the Government Yea it may be denied that Supreme Magistrates have absolute Power and consequently have not absolute Right to do such things as these because we have proved that the Right of Supreme Magistrates is determined by their Power If then no Man can part with this Liberty of Judging and Thinking what he will but every Man by the Sovereign Right of Nature is Master of his own Thoughts Supreme Powers in any Commonwealth can never hope for Success in prescribing to Men of different
Man's Fidelity to the Commonwealth as his Faith towards God ought to be judged and known only by his Works namely by Charity towards his Neighbour we cannot doubt but that the best Commonwealths will give every Man the same Liberty of Reasoning that they do of Believing I confess by such a Liberty some Inconveniences may sometimes happen But what Wisdom and Prudence can prevent all Inconveniences He that by Laws thinks to prevent all will sooner provoke then amend vicious Men. Inconveniences that cannot possibly be prevented or avoided must be tolerated we must bear with them tho' we suffer by them Of how many Mischiefs are Luxury Drunkenness Envy and Covetousness the Cause Yet these are tolerated because tho' they be Vices it is not in the power of Laws to restrain them How much more then ought Liberty of Judgment to be allowed which is truly a Vertue and should not be supprest No Inconveniences can arise from it which may not as I will prove be avoided by the Authority of the Supreme Magistrate Beside this Liberty is very necessary to the Advancement of Arts and Sciences in which the greatest proficiency is made by those men who have their Judgments free from preoccupation But suppose mens mouths may be stopt and so awed that they shall not dare to utter any thing against the Determinations of the Supreme Power yet 't is still impossible to keep them from thinking what they please and when men think ill of Magistrates there breach of Faith soon follows and nothing is to be expected in such a Commonwealth but abominable Flattery Perfidy and the destruction of all ingenious Arts. 'T is not so easie a matter to keep men from talking the greater care is taken to keep them silent the more many times will they talk Perhaps Covetous men Flatterers and mean-spirited People who place their chiefest Felicity in filling their Bags and their Bellies may hold their Peace but vertuous honest men who have had Liberal Education cannot be silent Such is mens Nature that nothing is a greater Vexation to them than to see those Opinions which they verily believe to be true condemn'd and themselves accounted wicked and sinful for doing that which they think is their Duty both towards God and Man. This makes them detest the Laws and count any seditious Attempts against the Magistrate lawful and just In Laws against Opinions wicked men are seldom concern'd such Laws are commonly made not to restrain bad but to provoke good men and cannot be defended without a great deal of danger to the Government Such Laws are likewise useless for men cannot obey Laws which condemn those Opinions they firmly believe to be true And on the other side they who think those Opinions false take the Laws that condemn them to be be their Privileges wherein they so triumph that afterward the Magistrate if he would is not able to repeal them Lastly The making of such Laws hath often caused great Schisms in the Church for if men did not hope with the general applause of the People to insult over their Adversaries and get Preferment by procuring the Magistrate to favour and the Laws to countenance their Opinions Learned Doctors would quickly leave their fierce Disputes and bitter Contentions Reason and daily Examples tell us That Laws which command what every man must believe and forbid speaking or writing against this or that Opinion are commonly instituted to gratifie or give way to the Passions of those who rather than endure a Baffle from ingenious men will with their stern and morose Authority turn the Peoples Zeal into Fury and hound them on upon whom they please But would it not be much better to suppress the Anger and Rage of the Multitude rather than make Laws against men that love Vertue and Learning and bring the Commonwealth into such a Condition that honest harmless men cannot live in it What can be more mischievous to a Commonwealth than to send Honest men like Rogues into Banishment only because they are of this or that Opinion and cannot dissemble Can any thing be more pernicious than to treat Persons of a free ingenuous disposition like Enemies and for no Crime or Wickedness put them to death making the Scaffold which frights none but Villains a publick Theatre whereon innocent Persons give such Examples of Courage and Patience as turn to the shame and reproach of the Supreme Magistrate's Majesty They that know themselves to be honest never fear Punishment as the wicked do neither will they by base whining Submissions and Recantations endeavour to avoid it Their innocent Minds are not troubled with Guilt or Repentance they do not think it shameful but glorious to die for Liberty and a good Cause To whom can their Death be a Terror The base ignorant Multitude know not why they suffer honest men are their Friends and none but seditious Persons their Enemies and all but base Sycophants and Flatterers are ready to follow their Example That Faith and Honesty then may be in greater esteem than Flattery and Dissimulation that Supreme Magistrates may keep their Power and not be forced to yield to seditious Persons Liberty of Judgment ought to be allowed and men are so to be govern'd that tho' they be of different and contrary Opinions they may however live together in peace and amity Without doubt this way of Governing is best and subject to least Inconveniences seeing it is most agreeable to Mens Nature For in Democratical Government which comes nearest to the State of Nature all covenant to act but not to reason and judge by common Consent my meaning is because all men cannot think the same things they have agreed to make that a binding Law which had most Voices reserving still a Power of repealing that Law when they thought fit And therefore where there is least Liberty allow'd of Judging there men are farthest from their natural State and the Government is full of Force and Violence To make it evident that from this Liberty can arise no Inconveniences which the Supreme Magistrate may not with ease avoid and keep men of contrary Opinions from hurting one another I need not go far for Examples The City of Amsterdam hath to the wonder of all the World and its own great advantage tasted the Fruits and Benefit of this Liberty for in that flourishing Commonwealth and famous City men of all Nations and Religions live together in peace and when they would trust any man with Goods or Money they only desire to know whether he be rich or poor or whether in his Dealing he be a man of his Word or a cheating Knave they never enquire of what Religion or Sect he is neither is that regarded in any Court of Justice there is no Sect so odious but hath the Publick Magistrate's Protection if they do no man wrong live honestly and give every one his Due How great a Schism was there occasion'd not long since by a Controversie in Religion between the Remonstrants and Contra-remonstrants And it appeared by many Examples that Laws made to take away Disputes concerning Religion did much more provoke than pacifie People and made some take the greater Liberty Schisms proceed not from the study of Truth that Fountain of Meekness and Moderation but from an imperious Humour of prescribing to others And therefore they are rather to be counted Schismaticks who damn other mens Writings and stir up the waspish Multitude against them than those that write to Learned men and call nothing but Reason to their aid So that they are truly Disturbers of the Publick Peace who in a Free Commonwealth would take away the Liberty of mens Judgments which ought not to be supprest We have now shewn First That 't is impossible to take away mens Liberty of speaking what they think Secondly That this Liberty may without prejudice to the Rights of Supreme Power be granted to every man and that every man may use this Liberty provided he design no Innovations in the Commonwealth and act nothing against the known establish'd Laws thereof Thirdly That this Liberty which every man may enjoy if he do not break the Publick Peace can cause no Inconveniences which may not easily be restrained or remedied Fourthly That all men may make use of this Liberty without being guilty of any Impiety Fifthly That all Laws made concerning Opinions and Matters meerly speculative are useless and unprofitable Sixthly and lastly we have proved That this Liberty may not only be allow'd without any Danger to Publick Peace Piety and to the Right of Supreme Power but ought to be granted for the Preservation of all these For where there are Endeavours to take away this Liberty and men are arraigned only for Opinions without examining whether they have any evil Intentions there honest men are made Examples and suffer a Martyrdom which doth not at all terrifie but irritates and moves the People to Pity and Revenge Learning and Arts decay Faith is corrupted Flatterers and perfidious Persons are countenanced Adversaries triumph in having their Will and prevailing on the Supreme Powers to embrace their Doctrine which at last inclines them not only to undervalue but usurp their Authority boasting they are God's Elect that their Power is from God but the Magistrate's Authority only from men and consequently the Magistrate's Power subordinate to theirs which absolutely destroys the very Being of all Commonwealths and therefore as I shew'd in the 18 th Chapter a Commonwealths greatest Safety is to place Religion and Piety in the Practice of Justice and Charity and to make things Sacred as much subject to Supreme Power as things Civil and to take cognizance of nothing but mens Actions suffering every man to think what he will and speak what he thinks I have now in this Treatise done what I design'd and I do again sincerely profess That I have written nothing which I do not freely submit to the Examination and Judgment of the Supreme Powers of my Country If they think any thing I have said be contrary to the Laws or Publick Safety thereof I recant it I know my self a man subject to Errors but my chiefest Care hath been to write nothing but what is consonant to Reason to the Laws of my Country and to the Rules of Piety and Good Manners FINIS