Hospitality from minding their Function as they ought and from discharging the Duties of it with Authority and Zeal It forces them to have recourse to several mean or unlawful Methods to supply their Necessities and those of their Families and to do many things which do not comport with their Employment From thence proceeds likewise the want of able Ministers A great many Persons who might have the necessary Talents Qualifications and Means to be very useful in the Church take a disgust at that Profession by the fear of Contempt or Poverty As long as things are in this state Religion will be despised and Corruption will still be in vogue It is not so easie to remove this Cause of Corruption as it is to detest it The re-establishing of Order seems to be a thing extreamly difficult To this end it would be requisite that Princes arid Church-men should act in Conjunction But there are few Christian Princes who lay this to heart and Divines have quite other things in their thoughts Their great business is to maintain what is established and to dispute with those who find fault with it On the other hand Knowledge or Resolution is wanting and there is not enough of honesty or greatness of Soul to confess the Truth Few Writers have the Courage to speak so impartially as the Famous Author of the History of the Reformation in England has done in the Preface to his Second Volume It is thought by many Persons that all would be ruined if the least alteration was made Some of those Defects which have been mentioned in this Chapter are now become inviolable Customs and Laws Every body fancies true and pure Christianity to be that which obtains in his Country or in the Society he lives in and it is not so much as put to the question whether or not some things should be altered As long as Christians are possessed with these Prejudices we must not expect to see Christianity restored to an entire Purity But yet it is to be hoped from the Grace of God and the force of Truth that Christians will open their Eyes at last and that Divines will grow sensible of the necessity of minding these Things The main Point here is to shake off all Prejudice and to consider things in their Nature and Original Our Saviour has left us an Excellent Rule when speaking of the Abuses which had been so long received among the Jews in reference to Marriage he tell us PLACE = foot n = * Mat. XIX That from the beginning it was not so This Maxim is of great use and a lover of Truth and Vertue should always have it before his Eyes It were to be wished that we should still appeal to it and that instead of Governing our selves by the Custom of the present Time we should run up to the Ancient Constitution and compare what is done at this Day with that which has been and ought to be done This would be the true Way to Reform Abuses and to draw near to Perfection and to bring things back into the Natural and Primitive Channel CAUSE II. The want of Discipline IT is not my Design in this Chapter to speak of Church Discipline in general I shall only insist upon that Part of it the End of which is to Regulate the Manners of Christians And this is an important Matter The want of Discipline is one of the greatest Imperfections which have been observed in the present State of the Church and one of the most evident and general Causes of the Corruption of Christians But because some Men have pretended that Discipline such as I suppose it in this Chapter was a Humane and Arbitrary Institution the observation of which was not absolutely necessary and might be dangerous I think it proper to say something here concerning the Original and the Necessity of the Discipline of the Church It is certain in the first place that all Societies and Bodies have a Right to establish an Order to Regulate themselves by and to provide for their Security and Preservation When several Men or People unite to Form a Body they have Power to make Laws and Regulations to which all the Members of that Body may be tyed and to exclude those from their Communion who will not submit to them But these Laws ought not to clash with other Laws already established nor with just and acknowledged Rights I think this Power which is granted to the meanest of Societies cannot be denied to the Church and this proves already that the Church had a Right to Appoint a Discipline to which all her Members should he subject provided that Discipline did not on the one hand prejudice Publick Tranquility and the Authority of the Magistrates nor any ways contradict on the other hand the Laws of the Gospel Now as Discipline is not liable to either of these Inconveniencies but does rather perfectly agree with the welfare of Civil Society and the Spirit of the Christian Religion as will be proved hereafter so the establishing of it seems to be equally lawful and necessary II. But further Discipline is an Order which has God for its Author We find the Institution of it in Holy Scripture and in the Laws of Christ and of his Apostles I shall recite the Chief of these 1. In St. Matthews Gospel Chap. XVIII 15 16 17. We read these Words If thy Brother shall trespass against thee go and tell him of his fault between thee and him alone If he shall hear thee thou hast gained thy Brother but if he will not hear thee then take with thee one or two more that in the Mouth of two or three Witnesses every word may be established And if he shall neglect to hear them tell it to the Church but if he neglect to hear the Church let him be unto thee as a Heathen Man and a Publican For the right understanding of these Words We must know that our Saviour does not enact here a new Law and that an Order like that which is here prescribed was already observed among the Jews But here as upon many Occasions Our Saviour did comply with the Customs and Practice of that Nation because he judged that those Customs were good and fit for his views and purposes The first Christians did the same in matter of Order and Government they did form the Christian Church upon the Model of the Jewish Assemblies and upon the Method which was there observed This is the Key of the Place I have now quoted Our Saviour approves the Jewish Practice and enjoyns his Disciples to observe the same Order amongst them It cannot be doubted but that this was his Meaning For he speaks to his Disciples and it appears by all the circumstances of this Passage and by the sequel of his Discourse that he is giving here a Law which concerns the Christian Church It is true indeed that he properly speaks of private differences but what he says ought to applied to
all those disorders which may happen in the Church and particularly to Scandals And surely it is evident that if we may proceed in the Methods here enjoined when the Case is only concerning some differences between private Men we have much more right to do so relation to with public Sins since they are Cases which Concern the whole Church and that directly and which do yet more properly belong to her Cognisance than the quarrels of private Men. The Meaning of Christ is then that there must be an Order in his Church for the removing of Scandals He supposes that the Church has a right to interpose upon those Occasions and he commands that those who shall refuse to hear the Church be looked upon as if they were her Members no longer and that Communication with them should be avoided This is the import of these words Let him be unto thee as an Heathen Man and Publican 2. The V. Chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians ver 2 3 4. decides this matter St. Paul having been informed that there was a Man among the Corinthians who lived in Incest he writes about it to that Church and first he reproves them for not having cut off from their Communion the person who had committed so Infamous an Action In the next place he does himself Excommunicate that Man and deliver him up to Satan I know that perhaps this Power of delivering up to Satan belonged only to the Apostles and it is likely that this was one of those extraordinary Punishments which they had a Power to inflict upon Prophane and Rebellious Persons But as for Excommunication it is the common and ordinary Right of the Church This Right or rather this Duty of the Church is clearly asserted by the Censure which the Apostle addresses to the Corinthians because they had not taken that Incestuous Person from among them and because they had not observed the Order he had given them before not to suffer Fornicators * Ver. 4. I wrote unto you already not to company Fornicators He repeats this Order in these Words which contain an express and general Law against all Scandalous Sinners †Ver. 12. I write it unto you again not to keep company if any man that is called a Brother be a Fornicator or Covetous or an Idolator or a Railer or a Drunkard or an Extortioner with such a one no not to eat This is positive And what the Apostle adds Do not ye judge them that are within is a confirmation that the Church has a Right to do so with relation to her Members Lastly he concludes with these Words * Ver. 13. Therefore put away from among your selves that wicked Person for thus this Verse is to be rendred as the Drift of the whole Chapter of which this is the Conclusion shews it evidently I desire the force of this Proof may be considered It is not one single Passage which I here produce it is a whole Chapter it is a Thread of Arguments and of express and reiterated Injunctions St. Paul describes those whom the Church ought not to suffer in her Bosom he appoints what is to be done in reference to them which is that they ought to be cut off from the Body of Christians and that their Company is to be avoided There cannot be a clear and express Law if this is not so 3. There are some other Places which have no ambiguity in them 2 Thess III. 6. We command you in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ this Preface is Remarkable here is a Law in due Form which the Apostle is going to deliver he proposes it by way of Command and he interposes the Auhority of our Lord Jesus Christ We command you in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ that ye withdraw your selves from every Brother that walketh disorderly and not after the Tradition which he received of us This Law is repeated ver 14. If any man obey not our word by this Epistle note that man and have no company with him that he may be ashamed 4. The 1st Epistle to Timothy affords us Proofs unanswerable The design of St. Paul in this Epistle is to establish Order and Discipline in the Church To this purpose he gives several Precepts to Timothy he Instructs him exactly how Pastors ought to proceed about Information Censures and the Principal Offices of Church-Government * Chap. V. Rebuke not an Elder but instruct him as a father and the younger men as brethren the elder women as mothers the younger as sisters with all purity †1 Tim. I. 20. 2 Tim. III. 5. Against an Elder or a Priest receive not an accusation but before two or three witnesses Them that sin rebuke before all that others also may fear I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the Elect Angels that thou observe these things without preferring one before another doing nothing by partiality I might add other Places out of this Epistle and the following and out of that to Titus | Tit. III. 10. Here is then again a whole Thread of Discourse prescribing the Order according to which the Church is to be Governed Here are particular Rules and St. Paul uses an Adjuration to oblige Timothy to observe them These Laws do not concern Timothy in particular but St. Paul speaks here of the Episcopal Function and of the Duty of the Pastors of the Church in general We need but read the Epistles to Timothy and the beginning of that which he writes to Titus to be satisfied that he intends this Order should be settled in all the Churches Either there is nothing plain in Scripture or it appears from all these Places That Discipline is Instituted of God that the exercise of it is committed to Pastors that scandalous Sinners are not to be tolerated in the Church that private Men ought to avoid their Company and that the Governors of the Church are bound to proceed against them by private and publick Censures and even by Excommunication If the Passages I have cited do not prove all this we may wrangle about every thing and all Arguments from the Sacred Writings may be eluded The Institution of the Sacraments is not more express or positive III. But tho' these Places were not so positive and so clear as they are yet we may be asssured that this is their true meaning because this is the sense in which the whole Primitive Church understood them The Practice of the First Ages in conjunction with the Laws of Christ and of his Apostles amounts to a Demonstration which cannot be withstood besides that we are to presume that what has been practised from the Foundation of the Church and in the time of Her Purity was settled by the Apostles themselves or by Apostolical Men so that we ought as much as possible to conform our selves to it Now we know that Discipline was observed in the Primitive Church notwithstanding the
in Sin and Impenitency Who can be sure that God will give him â—he Grace to recover himself as those Hoâ—y Men did Those who presume to sin as they did in hopes that they shall in like manner wipe off their Sins by Repentance and Amendment reason just like a Man who should swallow down Poyson and conclude it would not kill him because some who have been Poysoned have Escaped Death But that which deserves here our greatest Consideration is the time which those Saineâ— lived in There is great difference between 〈◊〉 Christians and the good Men under the Old Testament Men before Christ haâ— not by a great deal that Light which we have and did not know as we do the Duties of Holiness Our Saviour teacheâ— us that distinction when he says * Mat. XII 1. The John the Baptist was the greatest among they who were born of a Woman but that the leâ—â— in the Kingdom of Heaven was greater theâ— John the Baptist that is to say that Christians have a much greater Light than either John Baptist or all the ancient Prephets had Now the measure of Knowledge ought to be the measure of Piety and therefore Christians ought to excel the Jews in Holiness What God did bear with as that time would be in us altogether intoleable and how can it be lawful for us to imitate the Ancients in their Vices when we are bound to surpass their Vertues This Principle is of great moment and without it we can hardly silence Profane Persons a Libertine insisting upon Presidents will say That Polygamy he keeping of Concubines Murder Divorce upon the slightest pretences and such like Disorders are not so criminal as they are imagined to be he will produce the Instances of Abraham and Jacob of the Judges of Israel of David and the Jews Far be it from us to detract from the honour and praise due to those Ancient Worthies they have done much for the Time they live in But God forbid too that we should lessen the Glory and the Advantages of the Christian Religion If we speak like Christians we will say That God in his Goodness did pass over many things by reason of the Time and of the natural Temper of the Jews who were a gross and carnal People Our Saviour's Answer to the Pharisees coneerning Divorce is very much to our purpose * Mat. XIX Moses suffered you to put away your Wives but from the beginning it was not so And then he adds that whosoever should imitate the Jews and do that which had been done and tolerated till then should be guilty of Adultery We may easily apply this Answer to the instance of St. Peter since before our Saviour's Ascension the Apostles were weak as yet and possessed with various Prejudices But I think my self bound to add a Word or two concerning the Example of St. Paul because it is commonly mistaken That Apostle says †1 Tim. I. 13 15. that he was a Blasphemer a Persecutor who was not worthy to be called an Apostle and that he was the chief of Sinners At the first hearing of these Words many imagine that St. Paul had been a profligate Man a Swearer and a Godless Wretch and yet he means nothing else but that he had once persecuted the Church For otherwise St. Paul before his Conversion to Christianity was a good Man and his Life was blameless and exemplary for this he appeals to God and the Jews Acts XXIII 1. and XXVI 4. If he did persecute the Church then it was through a blind Zeal and Ignorance and for that reason as he tells us himself ver 13. he obtained mercy from God Is not this quite another Case than that of those Christians who knowingly and wilfully allow themselves in Sin It is another mistake to make St. Paul say as some do that he is the greatest of Sinners he does not say that he says only that he is the chief or the first of those Sinners whom Jesus Christ did save His meaning is that he holds the first rank among converted Sinners that he is a remarkable Instance of the Divine Mercy and that Jesus had begun by him to shew his Clemency and Goodness Thus he explains himself Verse 16. For this cause says he I obtained Mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all long-suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him This is exactly what he meant for as to what some imagine that St. Paul out of Humility acknowledges himself the greatest of all Sinners I think that explication is wrong and that it neither agrees with Truth nor Piety nor good Sense A good Man is not bound to think himself worse than the greatest sinners on the contrary he ought to bless God for that Good which the Divine Grace has wrought if him But as the last Refuge of Sinners is the Mercy of God so they commonly abuse those Places which set forth the greatness of that Mercy They found this principally upon these Words Where Sin does abound Grace does much more abound Under the Covert of this short Sentence the most flagitious Sinners think themselves safe But the bare reading of St. Paul's Discourse will soon convince us that this is to wrest the Scripture into a false and pernicious Sense The Apostle's Design is to shew that all Men being rendred Sinners in Adam and by the Law the Goodness of God was so great that he was willing to Save them through Jesus Christ In order to establish this Truth he had prove thâ— before Christ Sin and Death reigned erery where not only among the Heathen but also among the Jews upon this â—â—adds that where Sin did abound Grace â—â—mercy more abound to signify God's havâ—â—â— mercy on them when they were involved in Sin and Death In a Word St. Pâ—â— sets the happy Condition to which Mâ—â— were advanced by Jesus Christ in opposition to that which they were in before This is the sense of that place and the drift of the whole Epistle Can any one infer from thence that now we may freely sin and that Grace will exert in self rewards us whatever sins we may commit It is fit to observe besides that whiâ—â— St. Paul speaks of Grace he does not only mean the pardoning but likewise the saâ—ctifying Grace which destroys the pretention of the Libertines The Apoâ—â— himself confutes it with a great deal of vehemence He foresaw that some would â—gue like those we now contend with aâ—â— he makes this Objection to himself * Rom. 6.1 2 3 11 12. Whâ—â— then shall we continue in sin that Grace may bound And this is his Answer God forbid how shall we that are dead to sin live 〈◊〉 longer therein We who have been baptized into Christ's death that we should walk in newness of Life Reckon ye also your selves dead unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your Mortal Body
that ye should obey it in the lusts hereof The Apostle pursues these Exhortations to the end of the Chapter 2. The Promises and Instances of God's Mercy are frequently also taken in a sense which favours Corruption and Security All that the Gospel says upon this head is interpreted by vicious Men as if the Son of God was come into the World to give Men a license to sin To this purpose the Instances of that Woman who was a sinner of Zacheus and the converted Thief are often alledged as likewise the Parable of the Prodigal Son of the Publican and of the Labourers And from these Instances as well as from our Saviour's Declarations †Mat. 11.13 that he is not come to call the righteous but Sinners to Repentance it is concluded that the greatest Sinners may obtain Salvation as well as the Just But if those who quote these Instances did narrowly examine them they would read in them their own Condemnation For first all these Sinners mentioned in the Gospel did repent and were Converted That Woman who had been a Notorious Sinner expresses the most lively Sorrow the Publican smites his Breast the Prodigal comes to himself again and detests his former excesses Zacheus if he was an unjust man restores fourfold From these Instance we may very well infer that God never rejects returning sinners But even this is an invincible Argument that there is no mercy for those who persist in their Sins and that too in hopes of Pardon Besides we must know that our Saviour's design in all these Parables and Instances was to inform Men that he was come to invite the greatest Sinners to Repentance and especially to let the Jews understand that for all the high opinion they had of their own Dignity and Merit the Heathens who lived in the greatest Corruption were to be admitted into God's Covena◠and to have a Share in his favour Which actually happened to all those Heathens who did believe in Jesus Christ These Instances and Parables then represent the Stare Men were in at that time and not the State of those who are entred already into the Christian Church It can never be said too much nor remembred too often in the reading of the Gospel that there is a vast difference between those Heathens who never heard a word of God or Jesus Christ◠and Christians who are born in the Church and live in the Covenant with God Thus I think I have examined those Places of Scripture which are most commonly abused by the Libertines If I have omitted any I hope what has been said in this Chapter may serve to suggest pertinent and satisfactory Answers to them CAUSE V. A false Modesty COrruption is not wholly to be imputed to that Ignorance or to those Prejudices and loose Opinions which prevail among Christians For men do not always sin through want of Knowledge or out of mere Wantonness and Libertinism There are many who acknowledge the viciousness of the Age and the necessity of a good life and yet they neglect their Dury intirely or at least they are very remiss in the doing of it acting for the most part against their own persuasions There must be then other Springs of Corruption in Men besides those which we have hitherto discovered It is necessary to search into these and to find out if possible why many persons who want no Instruction and are solicited by the Motion of their own Consciences to embrace the side of Vertue and Piety do not withstanding continue in Vice and Corruption This seems to proceed chiefly from two Dispositions which Men are commonly i◠On the one hand they are restrained by an ill Shame from acting suitably to the sentiments of their own Consciences and on the other hand they put off their Conversion hoping that they shall one Day make up all the Irregularities of their Conduct by Repentance I look upon these two Disposition as two of the principal Causes of Corruption and therefore I thought in might be proper to consider them both distinctly I design to treat of false Modesty in this Chapter and to shew 1. The Nature and 2. the Effects of it 1. By false Modesty I mean that Shame which hinders Men to do that which they know to be their Duty I call this Shame vicious or illl to distinguish it from another kind of Shame which is good and commendable which consists in being ashamed to do ill things If false Shame is a source of Corruption that other Shame which restrains from Evil is a Principle of Vertue and a Preservative against Sin And therefore it ought to be as carefully cherished and maintained as vicious Shame should be avoided or shaken off For as soon as the sense of this commendable Shame is gone Innocency is irrecoverably lost It is a part of the Character of Sinners in Scripture that their Wickedness raises no blushing or confusion in them I say then that this false Shame keeps Men from doing at the same time what they know and approve to be their Duty and it is under that Notion particularly that I am to consider it here It is not my design to speak of that Shame which arises from Ignorance or Contempt and which is to be met with in those profane and worldly Men who because they do not know Religion or judge it unworthy of their Application think it a disgrace to follow its Maxims I refer such Men to the first Chapter of this Book and to some further Considerations which I am to insist upon elsewhere The Shame I speak of at present supposes some Knowledge in the Mind and some value for and inclination to Piety From whence it appears how dangerous the Effects of that Shame are and how important it is to know and observe them since it seduces and corrupts even those who are none of the worst Men and of whom otherwise we might reasonably hope well Now to apprehend the Nature of this vicious Shame it must be observed that Shame commonly springs from two Causes Sometimes it proceeds from the Nature of the thing we are ashamed of or from the Opinion we have of it Thus Men are ashamed of things which either are or appear dishonest in their Nature But sometimes also Shame is an effect of the regard we bear to other Mens Judgment and then we are ashamed to do things which may bring Contempt upon us and Disgrace us in the World One may soon perceive that the Shame that is vicious does not arise from the first of these Causes Religion has nothing in it that is shameful arid dishonest for far from that it is of all things the most Comely and Honourable and the most worthy of a Man and it appears such even to those who by reason of a groundless Shame dare not practise the Rules of it The true Cause then of this false Modesty is a feeble regard to Mens Judgment and a fear of falling under their Contempt
uncertainty and obscurity in a Religion where there is nothing but Controversy and different Opinions The want of Union is then a most considerable Imperfection in the present State of the Church It were to be wished that some Remedy might be applied to so great an Evil and that those Controversies which produce and cherish it might be turned out of Doors The way to compass this would be to endeavour in good earnest the Reforming of Manners and the restoring of Order This great and noble Design will no sooner be pursued but Men will be ashamed of all these Contentions they will look upon them as trifling Amusements and find no relish in those Disputes which to say the truth do only employ such Persons as are conceited with vain Learning and narrow-spirited Men who are not capable of larger and higher Views IV. If we examine the present State of the Church with relation to Order there we must ingenuously confess that great Defects are to be found In Matters of Order and Discipline Christians ought to Regulate themselves First by the Laws which Christ and his Apostles have set them and then by the Example of the Primitive Church and of the Purest Antiquity it being evident that what has been practised in the First Ages of Christianity and does besides agree with the Rules and the Spirit of the Gospel should have a great regard paid to it by all Christians Now it cannot be denied but that most Churches have considerably departed from that Ancient Order To prove this by some Instances it is certain in fact that the Ecclesiastical Order and Government which obtains in many Places is not such as it ought to be None caâ—n be ignorant of this but those who are altogether unacquainted with Antiquity or who being full of Prejudices find what they please in Scripture and Church-History Can it be said that the Elections of Bishops or Pastors are Canonical as they are managed in many Places arid that the Practice and Order established by the Apostles and the Primitive Christians are observed every where It is certain likewise that all Churches are not furnished with a sufficient Number of Persons to perform Divine-Service and to Instruct and Edify the People When we look back upon the Primitive Church we find that tho' it was poor and persecuted yet it had its Bishops its Priests its Catechists and its Widows At this time we see yet in several Places that one single Town maintains a great Number of Church-men who indeed for the most part are very insignificant but elsewhere it is quite otherwise one single Man does often perform all the Ecclesiastical Functions nay sometimes many Churches have but one Pastor This Disorder as well as many others proceeds partly from the want of necessary Means and Funds to supply the occasions of all Churches Here it might be proper to speak of the Pastoral Functions and of the Administration of Discipline but these Two Heads being important I reserve what I have to say about them for the Two next Chapters We ought here not to omit the want of Union and Correspondence among Churches If they had more Communication and Intercourse one with another great Advantages would follow from thence Right Measures might be taken for the Edification of the People and for the Redressing of Abuses and Scandals that Uniformity which is so necessary both in Worship and in Church-Government and Discipline might be established And that would contribute much to the Honour and Safety of Religion in general The Church would appear then like a well-ordered Society and like One Body of which all the Parts should maintain a relation to and a strict dependance upon one another On the other hand it is a great unhappiness when Churches have little or no Intercourse or Communication one with another so that every one orders its Matters and Customs the Form of its Worship and Government within it self Thus in many respects it would be easie to shew that Things are not altogether Regulated in the Church as they ought to be with relation to Order Men are not sensible of these Defects because they are apt to judge of Religious Matters by the Practice of the present Time and by the Customs of their respective Countries besides that Antiquity is but little known And yet these Defects contribute more than is commonly imagined to the decay of Piety and Zeal The want of Order in any Society does most certainly bring Confusion and Licentiousness into it V. The Worship of God being the end and the essence of Religion we cannot but inquire whether all things are well regulated with relation to that To speak here only of the publick Worship it would be very necessary that it should be performed every where in such a manner that the People might understand the most essential parts of Religion and Divine Worship to be Adoration Praise and the invocation of God and that the discharging of these Duties is the end of Publick Assemblies I remark this particularly because in many places Devotion is placed only in the hearing of Sermons Churches are properly nothing else but Auditories People fancy that Sermons are the chief thing they meet for and that preaching is the principle Function to be exercised by Ministers in the Church The Prayers and the Psalms are looked upon only as Preliminaries or Circumstances to a Sermon This is a dangerous Notion because on the one hand it makes Christians neglect Divine Service and on the other it renders Religion contemptible when Sermons are not so edifying as they should be which happens but too often And therefore it would not perhaps be amiss if as it is practised in several Churches Divine Service was distinguished from Sermons by some circumstances of times or persons so that it might be one thing to celebrate Divine Service and another to hear Sermons Several Reflections might be offered here concerning the principal things relating to Publick Worship such as Forms of Prayers Liturgies the Manner of praising God and Sacred Hymns It would be a question worth the examining whether we ought in Christian Churches to use only Psalms and Canticles out of the Old Testament among which tho' some are most edifying and full of excellent expressions of Piety yet there are many which relate altogether to some particular passages of those times or if they speak of Christ it is only in a Prophetical style very obscure to the People One would think that Christian Hymns which should be sung to the honour of God and Jesus Christ chiefly to celebrate the Wonders of our Redemption might be extraordinary useful to nourish Piety and to stir up Devotion as well as more agreeable to that which the Apostles prescribe and which the Primitve Christians practised in their Assemblies Would it not likewise be necessary to agree about giving the Holy Sacrament to sick and dying Persons and to restore the more frequent use of the Eucharist acpording to the
of Religion with relation to Order But having done this already in the beginning of this Second Part I shall only say in general that nothing contributes so much to the maintaining of Disorder as Custom does The most beneficial Laws and Institutions are looked upon as dangerous Innovations when they are not Authorized by Practice Men dare not so much as attempt to introduce them On the other hand useless or ill Practices are thought Sacred Establishments as soon as they are confirmed by Time and Custom If Men do but endeavour to lay aside some Ceremony to make some alteration in a Liturgy or in the Form of Divine-Services It seems to many that the very essence of Religion is struck at Thus it happens that Abuses which are palpable and acknowledge by all Men of Sense subsist for whole Ages and cannot be Reformed The difficulty of reviving the Apostolical Discipline and of restoring Church-Government and the Ministry of Pastors to the State they ought to be in proceeds from the same Cause Because a certain Form of Ecclesiastical Government and Discipline obtains in a Country it is pretended to be the best and most perfect in which nothing is to be altered and those are not so much as heard who propose the establishing of another If any one thinks it a Fault to suffer Scandalous Sinners in the Bosom of the Church if he thinks that they ought to be Excommunicated and that Christians ought to maintain no familiar Intercourse with them tho' such a Man has the Laws of the Apostles on his side yet he shall be called an Innovator Tho' he should plainly shew the Inconveniences of the ordinary Practice and the necessity of Discipline from Scripture from the Pattern of the first Christian Ages and by the most convincing Arguments yet Custom will still be urged against him the Divine Laws shall give place to common Usage and the present Practice shall prevail above that of the Primitive Christians III. Example and Custom have a great force especially in those things which concern Manners Men are not altogether such Slaves to Custom in Matters of Opinion about Religion because Opinions are shut up within the Heart but in Practical Things and in Manners there are few Men who are not carried away by the Stream of the Multitude People think themselves excused from the Observation of the plainest and the most Sacred Duties as soon as they cannot observe them without departing from Custom and so they conform to the common Use how bad soever it may be Those who Condemn the vicious and corrupt Manners of the Age and practice the Rules of the Gospel who for instance abstain from Swearing and reprove those who do it who make scruple of Lying and of transgressing the Rules of their Duty are looked upon in the World as Homoursome People and stigmatized with Odious Names and Imputations If they plead the express Commands of Christ and his Apostles instead of giving up the Cause Men will strain the Scripture and by force Explications and impious Glosses endeavour to fix a Sense upon it which may favour the ordinary Practice While Piety dares not shew it self Vice is respected and bad Men carry it boldly every where because the Numbers are of their side Maxims directly opposite to the Moral Precepts of our Saviour are not only received and tolerated but they are defended as innocent for this single Reasons That the generality of Men approve and practise them This might be confirmed by innumerable Instances We can hardly imagine any thing more contrary to the Precepts of the Gospel than that worldly Life which is led by many Christians They spend their whole time in the Cares of the Body they wear out their Lives in Idleness Gaming Pleasures and Divertisements they deny themselves nothing they make it their study to live Luxuriously and to gratify themselves This kind of Life is inconsistent with Piety but because it obtains among Persons of the higher Rank it is very hard to persuade those who follow it that they ought to quit it It is by alledging common Practice that Men defend a soft and effeminate Life Fashions contrary to Chastity and Modesty the too great familiarity of the Young Persons of both Sexes the reading of ill Books the Plays which would Honesty and Religion scandalous Diversions and those Assemblies where the most inticing baits and allurements to Vice are to be met with and where the Minds of Young People receive the most dangerous Impressions All these Things I say are defended by Custom So that when Luxury and expensiveness and state in Apparel Eating or Furniture are once established we endeavour to no purpose to bring Men to Christian Moderation and to banish that multitude of Scandals and Vices which must needs attend such kind of Excesses Thus in some Nations where Drunkeness is in Vogue it is in vain to oppose so vicious a Custom In spight of all that can be said against Drunkenness and Intemperance People are so far from parting with that Vice that they fancy there is no sin in being Drunk To put up no Injuries to indulge Revenge to be tender and nice upon the Point of false Honour to stick at nothing that can promote one's Fortune to assume all Shapes to disguise one's Sentiments and to supplant others All these are Maxims which are followed without scruple because they are authorized by Use and by the false Opinions of Men. It would signifie nothing to alledge to those who are possessed with such Sentiments what the Gospel enjoins us concerning Patience forgiving of Injuries Humility Sincerity Justice and Charity such Morals will not be so much as hearkened to because these Matters are otherwise determined by Custom By the same reason it it pretended that in Offices in Trade in Arts and in the various Professions of Life every thing which is usually practised by Men in those several Callings may Lawfully be done Nay even an Oath is not sufficient to undeceive People most Men explain their Oaths and regulate their Consciences by the Example of others they use all the Methods of Gain which Custom has introduced without enquiring whether they are justifiable or not When I speak here of Custom and Example I do not only mean that which is established by general Use but that likewise which is authorized by Men in Credit The Quality of Persons produces the same effect that great Numbers do one single Example has sometimes as much force as the united Examples of a Multitude All that is done and approved of by Princes great Men Magistrates and Persons of Quality is a Law to a great many People A small Number of Considerable Persons who join their endeavours to bring a Practice into fashion is enough to make it in a little time to be generally followed how bad soever it may be This is so commonly seen that I think it needless to give Instances of it I shall add Three Considerations which deserve a
and solid enough We find nothing else in some of them but a heap of Thoughts which have no dependance upon one another of Rhetorical Figures Allegories and Comparisons fetched from the Old Testament or from prophane History These things may have their Use they may be place in a Sermon But not to say that sometimes those Thoughts and Comparisons are not very apposite or suitable to the Subject I shall only observe that something more than this is necessary to stir up Devotion in the Communicants I do but just name this because I have delivered my Opinion more at large concerning this Defect in my three Reflections upon Books of Morality and in the 5th upon Books of Devotion 2. Other Books of Preparation are too general They only consider in the lump the Duties of Christians in reference to the Communion they speak of Self-Examination Repentance Faith and Charity But all this is of no great use to many gross and ignorant Christians who neither know those Duties nor how they ought to be performed Besides all those who come to the Sacrament are not in the same Condition some being good Men and others impious and hypocritical Persons There are likewise several degrees of good Men as well as of Hypocrites and ungodly Persons and the same Man may be better or worse at one time than he is at another Therefore it would be fitting that Books of Preparation were composed in such a manner that every Reader may be led by them into those Reflections which are suitable to the State he is in It is a gross Error to imagine that a general Preparation or Discourse concerning the receiving of the Sacrament is proper for all sorts of Persons I confess that this is not the Fault of all the Books of Preparation some we have which are particular enough The true Characters by which every Man may know his own State are very exactly described by some Authors but it is an unhappiness that such Works are not better calculated for the use of the common People 3. I think I may safely say in the third place that the too severe Notion which some Books give of the Communion is one of the Causes why so many People do neither live nor receive the Sacrament as they ought It is a sad thing that the Minds of Christians should be filled with so many Scruples in relation to the Sacrament by inconsiderate Discourses and over-strained Maxims Writers and Preachers do sometimes speak of the Holy Sacrament as if every thing in it was full of Snares and as if Hell and Damnation were constantly waiting about it They represent the Communion as so extraordinary so difficult and so dangerous an Action that those who read or hear those Discourses are tempted to keep off from the Holy Table and despair of partaking of it as they ought So that whereas there should be nothing but Joy when the Eucharist is celebrated in the Church many are then agitated with extream Perplexities and Terrors By this indiscreet Severity it happens that many good Men receive the Sacrament without Comfort because their Consciences are disturbed with divers Scruples which proceed from the reading of those Books There is a great number of pious Christians who never receive the Sacrament but with strange apprehension and dread in so much that several think they receive it to their Condemnation Nay this discourages likewise many Sinners who have some inclination to Good and some desire to set about the Work of Repentance Indeed we must take heed not to flatter Sinners in their Vices nor to propose to them too easie a Devotion and Morality It is very fit in my Judgment to give them a great Idea of the Purity which is required in so Holy and Solemn an Action as the Communion is and of the State which a Christian ought then to be in But as this State of Purity and Holiness is attained only by degrees that Idea how true soever it may be is apt to fright a Sinner in the beginning of his Conversion because he does not find in himself at first all the Characters of true Repentance and sincere Regeneration He ought therefore to be informed that the beginnings of Repentance are weak that it has its Degrees and its Progress and so that he ought not to be disheartened that God will accept of his Devotion and Endeavours provided his Repentance increase afterwards and he forsake his Sins honestly The Matter is over done in point of Devotion and Morality not only when we propose Rules which are too rigid but also when we say things which tho' true and consonant to the Gospel are not sufficiently accomodated to the State of those we speak to These are the principal Reflections I thought fit to bestow both upon Books of Religion and upon bad Books All that remains now is to enquire what Remedies are to be applied to the Cause of Corruption The surest of all would be to exterminate all the ill Books and to take care that none such should be made for the time to come But as this is not to be hoped the only Remedy which can be tried is on the one hand to prevent as much as we can the Effect of bad Books and on the other to engage Men to read and to make a good use of good Books The Books which are contrary to Religion and good Manners may easily be known but how to keep Men from reading and being corrupted by them is the Difficulty And in all probability this is a Point which will never be entirely gained Yet I think it is not impossible to prevent in some measure the Mischief which those Books occasion in the World In order to this it would be requisite to take care in the first place that young people might not read Books which inspire Libertinism To this end the Authors who have writ things repugnant to Modesty and Honesty should be expelled the Schools It is a surprizing thing that the Ecclesiasticks who have the direction of Academies and Colleges and who are bound by their Character to redress this Abuse have not done it yet In the next place it would be necessary that in Families Books which are apt to corrupt Youth should be taken out of their way and that they should not be indulged in dangerous Readings As for the rest I see no other Remedy but that Preachers should strongly insist in their Sermons upon the Reasons which ought to make Christians averse to the reading of ill Books I I know that all these precautions will not wholly suppress those Books nor prevent their being read by divers Persons but we may however gain thus much that ill Books shall not be so freely and so commonly read as they are and that they shall do less hurt As for Books of Religion every one should endeavour to discern those which are good and to make a good use of them Indeed the discerning and the Choice of Books of